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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/02/15 in all areas

  1. All done! 1/72nd Lockheed Ventura, GRV. Target Tug. 2254, RCAF early 1950s. Academy kit, Aviaeology decals, Falcon vac for turret and cockpit cover, white metal props and undercarriage legs. Humbrol gloss yellow, black stripes by decals and black paint. WIP link:http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975103-rcaf-ventura-tt/ Aclose up of the side blister only seen on a couple tugs. I found the clear part in mt spares box and as luck would have it, it was perfect in size with just the aft end needing rounding off. Not that you can see it here, but I did add a touch of weathering as per comments in the decal set instructions. I enhanced all the panel lines with a pointed knife blade and very carefully followed the recessed panel detail by gently pushing the knife along he lines which cleared any paint and revealed the lines. Worked out quite effectively. More details on stuff I used and methods in WIP. See link mentioned at top of this post. Thanks for looking.
    18 points
  2. Hello from France PHANTOM here is what I came up there a little over a year. This is the KURNASS No. 119 Squadron 119 "Ha'Atalef" the BAT Squadron. This aircraft had several drivers court that career ... For me it was a challenge that produced a camo Israeli, I think it is the most beautiful worn by Phantoms ... Hasegawa model and decals SKY'DECALS humbrol of painting as usual, painted in freehand aero flight presentation yet .... see you soon didier
    18 points
  3. This is the Tamiya 1/48th Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik. It's built straight from the box. The only addition was the pilots seat harness. All the paints used were Tamiya acrylics. The wing joint was so good, I painted the fuselage and wings completely before gluing them together. Thank you for looking.
    14 points
  4. kit from hasegawa's special edition "samuri pilot". kit was old and box damaged by moisture which made me sad because i was about to save the box. the only ok choice of a6m2b in market, took lots of extra time to sand everywhere. i do not understand why tamiya still do not put their new 1/48 a6m2b into the market. maybe they try to give me some more time to finish all old hasegawa kits. well, thank you, Tamiya. i finished this kit yesterday. took little bit more times and i almost quit. unfortunately, zeke type 21 was my favorite zeke, so i have to finish my job. as usually, add gunsight, gun barrels, brake wire and seatblets, thinned seat, too. over all, i liked the looking. especially you put them in the same airport. enjoy pictures. comments welcome.
    13 points
  5. Hi folks here's one from about 5 years ago before I had even heard about Britmodeller and the trove of information here. This is Classic Airframes Defiant in 1/48. I always loved the Defiant, especially when I was a kid and it's good to see Airfix have finally got round to their 1/72. I wish they would put one out in this scale though! The Kit itself I seem to remember was harder than stuff I was used to at the time and unfortunately the 4 gun barrels have gone astray so I have just found a set of metal barrels I can use to replace them with. It was painted with Xtracrylix through a very cheap airbrush with a can of compressed air. Cheers
    11 points
  6. i finished this build around 3 weeks ago but did not get chance to take pictures until today. hasegawa kits, not as good her later editions like type 22,32,52. but still the best choice in the market, so i have not choice. but this is my last type 11 in stock, i will doubt if i buy more of this in the future. after i finished, i liked the looking very much. painted by tamiya acrylic, painted most of marks, decaled as Ace saburo sakai, one of the most famous pilots for zeke. enjoy picture, comments are welcome. PS: i really feel like i want to build a spitfire asap......
    11 points
  7. I'd like to present the second of my two Defiant nightfighter builds using the new tool Airfix kit: For the build thread of both kits please see here. The kit goes together very well with few pitfalls for the unwary and none for the wary; as long as you test fit and know what you are sticking to what, where and why, it more or less builds itself. Mine is OOB apart from the addition of an aerial wire from EZ Line. Once again I've painted the wingtip navigation lights in red and green; in real life they were clear perspex covers for coloured lightbulbs but I am content to let the colours represent what they are. I had a hell of a time trying to get a subtly distressed effect for the paint finish and was about 20% successful at a guess, though the camera then decided to overlook much of the subtlety so it was a largely wasted effort, however it was a laugh if nothing else I used the kit decals for most of the national markings and stencils, but the fuselage roundels, codes and serials are from the Print Decals set for the Defiant - I don't really know what to say about these... they are thinner than the kit decals and had very little carrier film but apart from that I felt they were inferior in every other respect which is a sad look-out for a set of aftermarket decals. The 'red' of the roundels and serial has a strange Fuchsia tint to it which does not look good next to the slightly bricky-red of the Airfix decals which looks better to my eyes. The colour density and printing was also inferior to the kit decals though perhaps with that fuchsia tint that is for the best. I might have got a dud set, I certainly hope so, as there are some very nice options on the Print Scale sheet. Anyway enough, I am happy with the end result; here are the two kits together: Thanks for your attention gents Cheers, Stew Edit: nearly forgot; here is the real N3313
    8 points
  8. Hi folks,another "saved" kit,it sat primed for nearly six months so I thought I would try another Maskol project.I wanted to show the state these Marine "mud movers" got into in the harsh Korean environment so sprayed the original dark blue then masked the recceses and panels then after a suggestion from Wolwe misted a light coat to break up the harsh edges.I then ran a white and earth wash into the panels and dry brushed the wheels etc.and toned down the markings.Thanks for looking hope you like.
    8 points
  9. Hi folks, haven't made much since before Christmas but I thought I'd post one from a couple of years ago. Here's Classic Airframes TA-4J Skyhawk which sits alongside my Hasegawa A-4E. It was painted with Tamiya and Humbrol acrylics and I used the kit decals. I'd make more of these in a heartbeat, I love em!
    8 points
  10. Hawker Hunter FGA.76 Abu Dhabi Air Force 1974 Revell 1/72
    8 points
  11. Hi folks heres another of my little forays into 1/48 armour. Tamiyas crusader, painted with Tamiya, weathered with oil paints and Mig products. Base was made out of a shelf, varnished and then flocked with two types of modelling sand. The sand is probably a little overscale but I thought the Tank needs something to sit on!
    7 points
  12. Hi, Next from Imperial Japan Navy my archive shelf: Kawanishi N1K project. Initially it was designed as hydroplan fighter (N1K1- Kyofu), than it was set on wheels instead of float (N1K1J - Shinden) and finally it was re-designed for wheel u/c (N1K2J - Shiden-kai). The whole family looks like that: Contrclockwise: Kyofu (top), Shiden (bottom left), Shiden-kai (right). About 35 years ago (!) I made N1K2J Shiden-kai from brand new these days kit of Hasegawa. I wanted to have two others as well. So I started (also 35 years ago) to do out of scratch fuselages for N1K1 and N1K1J. I was intending to buy two other Hasgawa kit and use wings from them with own fuselages. I am glad that I did not finish this plan (small kids, lack of time and lack of money for very expensieve in Poland of 1980's Hasegawa kits). I have still those fuselages, only a rudder of one I used for some other scratch build (Northrop Delta) recently: I never finish those scratch work projects. I came back to modelling in middle of 1992. Some years later I bought new kits which appeared in meanwhile: Kyofu from Hasegawa and Shiden from MPM. Here they are: Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu ("Rex") of Sasebo Kokutai, IJN AF, 1944 Kawanishi N1K1J Model 11 Shiden (George), 402 Hikotai, 341 Kokutai, October 1944, Phillipines Next is more than 35 years old one, Kawanishi N1K2J Model 21 Shiden-kai (George), Ltn. Kanno, 343 Kokutai, April 1945, Matsuyama They all should have upper surfaces in IN Dark Green, however this colour was deeply changing the tone, when heavy wethered and exposed to sun it went more bluish. My N1K1J is therfore more blue than other, despite the other reasin for changies - 35 yeras ago I was using Airfix 21 (with some drops of black) for this colour... Best regards and comments welcome! Jerzy-Wojtek
    7 points
  13. Hawker Hunter FGA.74B No.140 Sqn, Republic of Singapore Air Force, 1991 Revell 1/72
    7 points
  14. Both now finished. They have both had a light panel line wash using Flory Models dark dirt followed by two coats of matt varnish. First coat was with Tamiya XF-86 Flat coat but this came out with more of a satin sheen so I gave it a second coat of Alclad Klear Kote Matte. The canopy masking turned out not to have been 100% effective and primer had crept underneath in several places on both kits. This was gently scraped away with a knife and a coat of Johnsons Klear applied which has repaired most of the damage. The sidewinder pylons are adapted from ones that came in the kit by extending them forwards. I had to trim the rear ends of the missile rail once on the aircraft as they would have impeded the undercarriage closing otherwise. More pictures in the gallery.
    7 points
  15. Many thanks must go to Darby on this one for his advice and heads up on some tricky parts on this model. So here is the Revell 1:72 F-101 Voodoo in Oregon National Guard scheme. Lesson learned with this one..DO NOT use acrylic varnish on enamal it ruins a prefect paint job!
    6 points
  16. Supermarine Seafire FR.46 Airfix 1/48 Hi Guys Airfix's classic Seafire, build March 2014. I got this as a present from my cousin so, as it didn't cost me anything, I decided to splash out on a few AM accessories to tart it up a bit. so in no particular order. Quickboost resin seat Quickboost resin exhaust Barracuda resin wheels Rob Taurus vac canopy Montex paint masks (only used for the roundels) The Taurus canopy was pretty much essential as the kit part doesn't fit in the open position and mine was badly fogged anyway. The Barracuda wheels were fantastic, I'll definitely be using their stuff again. I was expecting a nightmare with the Montex masks but in the end they worked really well although it was a little nerve wracking pulling them off at the end, hoping that everything was in register. The only other additions were a few scratched details in the cockpit (which you can't see) and some brass tubing for the gun barrels. Hope you enjoy the shots Thanks for looking Andy
    6 points
  17. Hi folks, this is my first finished article to this part of the forum so go easy! Having enjoyed 1/48 I thought I would delve into some armoured vehicles so I started with this one. I really enjoyed this kit and for a tenner I thought it was excellent value for money given that all the internals are included. Its a shame you cant see the engine however. This was also my first time trying the colour modulation technique, (it's very much an ongoing learning process as you can see). I also used some oil washes and Mig powders.
    6 points
  18. This is Italeri Mirage 2000D. Its a Kinetic kit in Italeri box. I have used the following aftermarket to detail this model · Aires 4577 - 2 Martin Baker Ejections Seats for Mirage 2000D · Some bits of Eduard 48693 - Mirage 2000D Exterior · Aires 4553 Exhaust Nozzle · Olimp ORA48-01 Mirage 2000D Detail Set · Wolfpack 48-150 cockpit detail set There is no need for aftermarket at least for the decals as the kit comes with fantastic decal sheet. References on these links were very helpful during the build http://florent1973.free.fr/FrenchAirWings/francais/aviation/aviation_index.htm http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_colin2/mirage_2000d_walk.htm Overall it was a nice kit to build and en enjoyable experience. But there were some glaring mistakes like the exhaust, cockpit, fuel tanks & nose radome length. I used Olimp set to get fuel tanks with correct shape and PDL-CT/S pod. Aires seats were far superior to what was in the Wolfpack set. Its too bad sides of the seats had to be sanded down to fit. In any case, that detail would not have been visible. I have used Gunze H series paints and used the mix of following shades to get the colors that matched references Dark Grey : H331 H042 H057 H305 Dark Green : H309 H330 H73 Overall an enjoyable build. Still need to improve on photography.
    6 points
  19. I had hoped to get all the upper wing decals on this morning but I'm finding both the Airfix and the Tamiya decals take a lot of work to get them applied anywhere near decently. As a result I only managed to get the port wings' decals applied on each kit and sealed on with a coat of Pledge. The Airfix decals seem quite thick and reasonably tough but that creates problems when trying to get them to settle over surface detail. For example it took a lot of DecalFix and gentle pressure to get the large roundel to conform over the raised bump. I think nearly every Tamiya decal split or broke up while either soaking or being applied! They are not fun to work with! After a lot of work and some touching up I managed to get them in place: While waiting for the Pledge to dry I managed to get the tips of the prop blades painted yellow: So not the most relaxing of kit building mornings so tomorrow I'm going to do some work on my projects for the Achtung Panzer GB! The decal stage for these two Spitfires is going to go on longer than I hoped! Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix
    6 points
  20. I've been itching to start this since it arrived a couple of weeks ago: ... at least I think that is what has been causing the itching The surprisingly large box is stuffed pretty full; It was a bit fuller than that, but the first thing I did was sling those horrid little pots of paint and the tiny tubes of glue since I will be using these instead: I bought the RAF set for my Defiant nightfighters; the Luftwaffe paint sets... well what can I say, I like buying paints and decal sets and stuff which absolutely does not count as stash and I wanted some acrylics to lower the environmental smell as far as possible. I also got these: The Peewit masks were a bit over a fiver; I am quite capable of masking canopies reasonably well, but when presented with the opportunity to buy a canopy mask set I have to ask myself: "Would I pay that much money to get out of having to do it myself?" The answer almost invariably seems to be "Too right I would!" though I am glad that Peewit and Montex are providing a bit of competition for Eduard in this respect because frankly Eduard's prices for pre-cut Kabuki tape shapes had reached the point where I felt they were just taking the mickey; I hope that some credible competition might reverse their pricing process until it reaches a more agreeable level. As for the AML camo mask set - three and a half quid. Still feels like cheating a bit, but again, it is something I am capable of doing so really it is just a time saver. That's my feeble justification and I am sticking to it So my first task I think will be masking the Do17's clear parts, as I am keen to get that out of the way... Cheers, Stew
    5 points
  21. Later this year (hopefully around summer) Blue Envoy Press will be publishing a book on the Hawker P.1121, written by Barrie Hygate and me. Based on many years of research by both authors, this book tells the story of its birth from first drawing to cancellation and the historical context in which it was created. It will feature lots of previously unpublished manufacturer drawings, many photos of the P.1121 prototype, mock-ups and models, cutaway drawings, computer-generated and traditional artwork and more. Barrie Hygate has drawn many pages of new scale drawings for the book. Hopefully this could be of interest to some Britmodellers members. Paul Martell-Mead (www.secretprojects.co.uk)
    5 points
  22. My first completion of 2015, an F-117 Nighthawk. OOB build apart from the addition of a Revell NATO pilot for their box set. Fairly simple build and no fit problems but correct alignment of the top and bottom sections needs a lot of clamps as it's easy to get the wing edges slightly off. No flash problems but the lower exhaust section has a lot of ejector pin marks that need removing. The decals are good, but seem a little thick - Micro Sol struggled in softening them. Even so it is very easy to break the finer areas of the red stripes on the underside. Also the text of the "NO STEP" stencils seems as little large to me. The bomb bay is a bit lacking in detail but I suppose most folk will build it with them closed anyway. I decide on having undercarriage down and doors open just to break it up a little. It's a tail sitter so you'll need to add weight. The instructions say 20g (!!!) but I put about 4g behind the pilot and it's fine. It doesn't show on the pictures but most of the upper edges are highlighted with Revell Anthracite. It's very subtle though even to the naked eye in good light. Must admit I really like the Italeri stand, it's very good quality. A very enjoyable, straightforward build. Probably the hardest part is painting the canopy as there are some very thin lines on it. I put the underside decals on before I joined the two halves together as it made handling it much easier. That does mean I had to be extra careful when clamping as I didn't want to clamp on top of the decals. Finnthedude.
    5 points
  23. Hi, Two archive models from my German shelf - Siebel 204 it two appeareances. Siebel 204 - this was WWII Luftwaffe light transport and trainer airplanes - something like Oxford in RAF. I have two models of them - early version with step nose - Siebel 204 A and late model - 204 D, with all glass nose. Both I did about 10 yeras ago from the only one available these days kits in 1/72 by Kovozavody Prostejov. They have raised lines etc. Now there is modern kit of Sibel 204 D/E (bomber version) by RV Aircraft) I work a bit on them - for example I made new frames on glazing in 204, some minor correction and interior following mongraphy in Zlinek magazine. Markings of Siebel 204 A are taken from a photo (as far as I remember), which I found in Net. Double yellow belt showed that she served as trainer. The unit I do not know at the moment. The emblems on nose are free hand painting on decal. Other decals are from drawer. Markings of Siebel 204 D (BU+PP) are basicly taken from the profile published in book "Fighters 1938-45, transport and training airplanes" issued within Blandford Colour Series. In this book presented in Siebel after being captured by Allients and was impossed to RAF. So in profile she wears post -war (likely) markind with RAF roundels, and code "Air Ministry 4". "Basicly" means that I made model in very probably look - how she looked likely during war service in Luftwaffe, where she served for training of night fighters crews of Ju-88 and He-219. There is a variation of this marking without RLM-76 overpaints on the top in Wing Palette but I. There is a photo of her in the Net (obviously I did not know it 10 yeras ag, when I did her) where ther is lighter colour on the tope - perhaps RLM 76...(but also possible darker paint, RLM 75??? ): https://www.flickr.com/photos/austin7nut/5347005740/ I assumed, that like in case of night fighters 76 is more possible over 70/71 background. She is equipped with radars FuG 218 V2R and FuG 217. I hope you will enjoy them Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek Siebel 204 A: and Siebel 204 D:
    5 points
  24. Hi Folks It's been a while since I did a vehicle .....wanted to start the year with something different. Supposed to be completed by January but I was busy with other stuff and finally put it to bed today. Simple artistic based diorama......no bearing to anything real....just for the fun of it A short pause and on to the next build for the year Rgds and Happy Modeling Mr B
    5 points
  25. After several goes, this how I ended up masking the wing tips. I jammed in a small piece of foam behind the actuator and taped over it: This is how that looked by the end: I think that will work. The final job was the side door. I was concerned that if masking tape got stuck on the floor decal it would strip it off on removal so I blanked off the adhesive with a second strip of tape: Here is all the tape masking installed, with just the foam to go in: So here she is ready for some primer in the morning: I will give it a final once over in the cold light of day but I think that's it from me for tonight. Bye, Nigel
    5 points
  26. I was at a dinner event in Glasgow last night so I got nothing done and only got home at about 1pm today. I am just doing a sweep up of final jobs before things are ready for some primer. I thought this part could do with some location pins so it was out with the 0.4mm drill yet again: With some 0.4mm rod glued in, the corresponding 0.5mm holes in the fuselage were made: I then extracted this blade aerial to conduct a fit check, remember I said a while back that I was going to thin the top: This is what it looks like after the weight loss treatment: That was a thin as I dared to take it, here is how I mounted it ready for paint: Now the final push on the masking. I found I could re-purpose some of the Eduard masking and use it on the wheel wells: In fact I masked both wells just using bits cut from that sheet. Here they are finished: I had glued the door surround back on but during these operations it pinged off again. Right, no more Mr Nice Guy. Out came the Gorilla glue, its a bit thick so I mixed some thin CA with it: That will sort it permanently. Now I just have to mask the side door and wing tips. Should be primer tomorrow. Bye for now, Nigel
    5 points
  27. thanks chaps! woohoo! my custom Photo Etch just arrived and I have to say I think it is exquisite PPD just do amazing things - so in the spirit of the big reveal.... ..well packed as always... ...they helpfully did two copies - one in 8 thou and one in 6 thou brass... ..and the detail is fantastic... ..can't wait to get on with it now... TTFN Peter
    5 points
  28. Can I please point out, again, that, if a manufacturer wants to be absolutely correct, they need to supply two canopies for a Hurricane, one open, one closed, since it changes shape as it closes. The front frame is sprung slightly wide, when open, and, from the side, the canopy has a definite downward slant; as it closes, the canopy runners force the bottom corners inward, which push the top of the canopy upward as they go; this was all done to keep the canopy under tension, stop it chattering open during flight, but also to help throw it off should the pilot need to get out in a hurry.
    5 points
  29. Well, 2014 was a bit of a bust for me modelling-wise, as I didn't actually finish a single thing. Fortunately 2015 is shaping up to be a bit more productive (actually infinitely more, if you're a stickler for math.) Hot off the bench is the good old Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb, pretty much OOB. The only things I did to it were: - Refined the wing trailing edge a bit to fix the well known shape issue - Refined the shape of the nose a bit to make the rocker covers a bit less "broad shouldered" looking - Drilled out the canon barrels - Drilled out the exhausts And that's it. I didn't even add a seat harness, although I still have the option since the canopy hood is only tacked on. Paints are Gunze Mr Colour for the Dark Earth, Tamiya 75% XF81 Dark Green plus 25% XF49 Khaki for the Dark Green and 75% Tamiya XF21 Sky plus about 25% X2 White for the Sky. The roundels and fuselage codes were masked and painted, while the rest of the decals came from the new Airfix Mk.Vb kit (which will be next off the bench, as it happens.) The markings themselves are neither fish nor fowl, BM597 having never actually been painted in this camouflage scheme during her service career, although she did wear the codes JHoC while flying with 317 Sqdn. As a restored warbird, BM597 does indeed wear these colours, but there are several airframe details that are post-war modifications that the Tamiya kit does not include (obviously). So I've painted the model up in the restored colours, but weathered it as if it were in service, just because I felt like it. Questions and constructive criticism are always welcome! Cheers, Tony
    4 points
  30. Latest of the bench is the Tamiya 1/48 Fairey Swordfish Mk ll. 819 NAS based at RAF Manston in June 1944. I saw a picture of this aircraft in the Swordfish, From the cockpit book and as Manston is just up the road from me I thought it would be rude not to model it. The kit is a dream and the decals are from the xtra decal / MDC sheet. And yes there is a cover from the engine cowling to the oil cooler, a mod used on the Arctic convoys. Hope you like her, please feel free to comment etc. Thanks for looking Dick
    4 points
  31. Well, I have finally completed this beasty for the Bf110 GB. It is the last BF110 flown by Heinz Schnaufer’s , who was the wars most successful night fighter pilot with 121 confirmed kills. Though with this aircraft, his final, he didn’t record any kills. There is not too many details on this particular and the only parts to survive the war are the rudders which are now on display (one each) in the Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Museum. I could have chosen a simpler build than Eduard’s 1/48 Bf110G and a simpler scheme then Schnaufer’s last aircraft!!! Eduard’s Bf110 is not a simple model to build, plus add extra bits and she becomes a bit of a challenge. On top of this a colour scheme for the most successful night fighter of all times last aircraft...for which there is little to no real info or photos for and you have the makings of an interesting build (I have other words to describe it but there may be children reading!!!). A big thanks to Max (“galgos”) for invaluable help on some of the details. It was a hard build plus for those who know my work routine one that had serious time constraints! But she’s finally finish, there are quite a few things I could have done better but in the end she’s a great addition to my night fighter collection (at least she’s finished). Lastly this model is dedicated to my Dad who passed away late last year......thanks for getting me into models and having the aircraft bug. Please enjoy, build thread: build link
    4 points
  32. I started thinking about closing the fuselage up today, but there was one last thing to go into the cabin.... way back in the cobwebs of my memory, I seem to remember that there was a big orangey bag thingy in the cabin. Now, when I was out there, 28 Sqn Wessi were not fitted with any type of flotation gear, so I assume this was a dinghy. I had a ratch around my (somewhat barren) spares box and happened across this left over claw from my Robby build..... looks promising dunnit? I forgot to take any more photo's, but the appendages were removed, a bit of shaping, painted orange, then a strap added from wine foil. The whole thing was dirtied up slightly using Flory sand wash. Then it was stuck into the cabin, never to see the light of day again. (it can just be seen from outside) Next up was the engine bay. As mentioned before, the more I get into the Italeri kit, the more disappointed I get, and in some cases, just downright frustrated. The kit is not symmetrical and it's not because of warpage - it's just plain old sloppiness on the part of the designers. As best I can tell, the engine access door on the port side is at least 1mm lower than the same door on the starboard side. This has led to some slight twisting of the interior panels to get them to line up between access doors. It is noticeable if you look at it head on, but thankfully the nose door will be in front of this area and prevent any direct viewing into that particular area. I lined things up as best I could despite Italeri's best efforts to prevent me doing otherwise. All the main panels are now in place. I have a couple of pieces of styrene to fit at the back to close everything up, but the majority of the work has been done now. I opted to go the easy route and just build up the center console with scrap styrene to close the gap shown in my previous post. (yup, I snapped one of the side pieces off!) - and I also added another piece of styrene on the bottom side as this can be seen from inside the cabin. Then I found this little PE boxy thing left over from my Dauphin build Which got painted up and fitted to the shaft cover which will fit on the underside of the cockpit floor ... eventually! A word of warning to anyone attempting this kit - if you follow Italeri's blind lead and use their molded in location pins...... this is the type of step you get down the spine of the a/c - flippin' amateurs!!! Wel, despite Italeri's best efforts to get me to riled up because of their sheer incompetence, I persevered and .....whoodathunkit ? I finally got the fuselage closed up! It aint pretty, but it's closed. Some clean up will be required and a little bit of sanding, but nothing major that I noticed (yet!) I did spot a gap along the side of the trans deck floor. And that was easily sorted by inserting a sliver of styrene and here endeth today's episode with Italeri!
    4 points
  33. Renault FT-17 Riveted Turret Meng 1/35 Hi Guys This was built back in August last year, finished in about a week as it was such a fun build. Although it doesn't include the full interior of the previous cast turret release, the addition of a full vignette base more than makes up for it, especially as it retails for nearly half the price of the first release. I thought the multi-part nature of the hull and turret would make the fit iffy but it went together really well although the eagle-eyed among you might notice that the rear hatch on the turret is on the rear right instead of the rear left were it should be which is very much down to me not paying attention, not the kit. The base sand was airbrushed but I hand painted the green and brown camo as I couldn't face the masking job required. Wish I'd changed the coil springs for ones a bit thicker but I couldn't find anything suitable at the time. Hope you enjoy the shots A couple of the finished build before being based And the finished vignette Thanks for looking Andy
    4 points
  34. The main and mizzen masts are now complete, and also the standing rigging on all three masts. At the moment, it is looking a bit unbalanced. The next task is to fit the four jibs to the bowsprit, and finally, the five square sails on the foremast.
    4 points
  35. G'day All, Well this is embarrassing. I knew it had been a long time since I'd done anything but I didn't realise it was nearly two years! Crikey! Oh well, in the interests of still trying to "follow this through", I thought I'd update this thread anyway for anyone who may still be interested (or even remember it ). First up; while the kits had been languishing on my bench, there was a bit of a disaster. I keep my aftermarket decals in several, large, ring-binder folders on a shelf above my desk, and one day when I checked in on the modelling room, I noticed one of them laying on the chair (not where I'd left it). Sure enough, a quick look around revealed that the F-4 kit had taken some battle damage. Both of the outer wing joins had broken open, the leading edge of the left wing had split and I'd lost the left leading edge slat and some of the mounting rods; This was a little disheartening to say the least, but it could have been far worse, considering the size and weight of the folder. After finding all the bits (which took a while) I eventually repaired the damage and carried on a few months later. The next thing which had been bugging me was the lack of rivet detail on the F-4s's tailplanes. This is a fairly distinct feature and would stand out under a metalic finish. I eventually struck up the courage to give it a go, and took the opportunity to remove the triangular strengthening plates (which are not present on Navy F-4s) at the same time. I used a Trumpeter riveting wheel for the job and was quite happy with the results (I was after the "effect" rather than absolute accuracy). Another few months passed before I found the interest to begin the next, major step; painting! Typically, as I was doing this I thought of more things I should fix, namely the lack of detail on the Sidewinder launch rails. I used the relevant parts from the old, Airwaves etched set that I had also used for a couple of cockpit details (note that I'd already undercoated the parts when I thought of this). I also started preparing the Aires burner cans and exhausts that I will be fitting. These required a bit of trimming and sanding to fit together but nothing major. The worst part was that I needed to remove some of the area where the bottom half of the Hasegawa fuselage joins together, above the lower wing, to allow the resin bits to fit. This meant trying to snap off chunks of plastic, inside the fuselage, through the exhaust openings. A little nerve wracking. I also plodded along with assembling the undercarriage of both kits (I'm using the hi-grade, white-metal gear for the F-4) Then, finally, at the beginning of this year, some real progress. Painting! After undercoating both kits with Mr Base White 1000, the respective blues were applied to each. But, sure enough, even this didn't go smoothly. These kits are the first time that I have used Mr Color lacquer paints (I normally use Xtracolour and Humbrol) and, whilst I expected a learning curve, the biggest lesson I learned was that they need to be thinned a lot more than I'm used to. I actually ended up going through a whole bottle of blue and still not quite finishing the Skyhawk. Thanks to some help from a friend of mine (thanks again Andrew) I managed to get another bottle and carry on (thinning a lot more this time). It also seems that, although I thought the bulk, automotive lacquer thinners I was using already had a leveling (or retarding) agent in it, the paint still benefited from some dedicated Mr Retarder. The Blue for the F-4 is a mix of a metallic and dark blue. Although I couldn't tell for sure from photos, Hasegawa has specified a metallic blue for both editions of this kit so I went with that. No sooner had I finally got some colour onto the kits than they disappeared again under a flurry of masking, so that I could paint the wheel wells, doors and undercarriage on both kits gloss white, the black walkways on the A-4 and some red edging and metal areas on the F-4. (I didn't want any overspray. And so, finally, here's what they look like at the moment, after the coverings have been removed. I am quite happy with the new (to me) Gunze paints. I think that, once I lean the finer points of using them, they will be great. They go on very thin, dry fast and the finish seems very tough (even the metallic colours, which look great too). So there you have it. Finally, some significant progress after almost two years! I wont even pretend that any future updates will be any better but thank you to those who have dropped in again after such a long delay for a look-see. Cheers, Motty.
    4 points
  36. Thanks for that compliment, Julian. Not much modelling the last couple of weeks but yesterday, i made some progress: Some toch ups on the RV bands, wing leading edges, improvements on the camo scheme and spirals for the spinners. for the masking of the white primed spinners i used a masking foil from Revell. This product is a bit more flexible than the Tamiya tape but not enough. Some corrections still had to be made. We had some sunny moments today, so i used the beautiful light for photos outside
    4 points
  37. Right, I am calling Number 2 complete now; after all my fiddling around scrubbing and scraping and washing to produce a subtly distressed RDM2A effect, the camera appears to have swallowed it all and I may have well have just painted it black: ... which would be a bit disheartening, were it not for the fact that I still enjoyed building and painting it, and in the end I have a fairly nicely finished model from a very nice kit. I'll set up an RFI thread (here) after I finish this bit with more pictures. Thanks to everyone who chipped in, tuned in, turned on, dropped out, swung by, spoke up, piped down or took part in any shape or form I leave you with a picture of my two Black Beauties. Cheers, Stew
    4 points
  38. Today - Paint First, Alclad grey Primer over the top of everything - a couple of touch ups with Mr Surfacer, but nothing major. Preshading with thinned Black Sprayed the Grey Green XF76 Finally spots - XF13 Green Well that was a fun relaxing 2 hours of green spots Peter
    4 points
  39. - A very strange bird which always attract attention on exhibition tables. Hobby Boss has done a good job, the kit is easy to assemble without any use of putty. I ve used after markett resin cowling and propeller as well as glazing mask and Eduard interior adhesiv photo-etched .
    3 points
  40. More done today. Attached the two parts of the hull together, added the metal cable for the front lamp, along with the etched parts for the rear grilles and a few other pieces: Made a brief start on the turret: And built up the brilliantly detailed 88: Few extra bits arrived: Will crack on with the turret tomorrow. Dave
    3 points
  41. I gotta build two more for the front office, so may as well help a fellow modeller at the same time and other here migth appreciate it too. Colin
    3 points
  42. Howdy kindred spirits! Been off doing other things but got a bit done today. Earlier in the week went to the SAPMA meet (thanks Paulo for encouraging me to go!) Great modelling association in South Australia and on top of that the bar at the Glenelg Lacrosse Club was open for the meeting so hey!...what could be better than that! Back on topic I'm just sort of getting ready to do some pre-shading. So.... Masked some stuff for puttying......I hate putty and sanding ...vulgar and awful activity it is.. Bit of stuff on the underside. This looks like rubbish doesn't it!? Anyway moving along she looks like this Other photos aren't uploading from my stupid phone! Oh well....quick post! While that was happening I drilled out the guns.... Buggered one on the other side and ended up replacing it with brass rod...best I can do.. Now I forgot to mention that my mate Paulo performed a weird and intricate surgery on the "long" legs of this P-47 at the SAPMA meet to make sure the finished kit sits squat and just right. Thanks heaps Paulo.....best trade I ever made for a couple of eggs of silly putty! LOL Douglas Bader eat your heart out... The picture doesn't tell the story! There's cuts and bits taken out and drilled out bits plus joins made with stretched sprue plus weird angles to get right and gluing and there's no chance I would have got it right!. My solution (knowing the legs were a bit long) was "cut off the top of the legs and stuff it back in the wheel well hole thing" Thank goodness there are those among us with class, insight and skill! That's about it for now. I'm keen to get onto some pre-shading ...might even do a primer first to pick up on any major flaws..... Wow...how nerdy am I getting with this modelling stuff now Cheers!
    3 points
  43. Fitted the payload last night - that torpedo and fuel tank under the sponsons was a tight squeeze. Then masked and painted that exhaust area. Declaring completion: Enjoy the rest of the GB - this is Tim signing off
    3 points
  44. In respect of the metallurgy, the variance of apparent shade is caused by the alignment of the panel in relation to its granular structure. Heating and rolling metal into thin sheets causes the crystalline structure of the material to lengthen and align in one direction due to stretching effects. This structure is clearly visible, particularly in lighter alloys and it scatters reflected light in a particular way. Where the metal is aligned with the grain at right angles to the reflected light, it appears a differnt shade to that aligned parallel to the light, hence the evident light and dark areas. In surfaces that have been treated, by painting or other means and subsequently stripped, the effects of oxidation and chemical contact will also affect the appearance of the underlying metal.
    3 points
  45. Cockpit sides made a bit grubby with a wash of raw umber acrylic diluted with floor polish and then dry brushed with some light grey Tamiya acrylic. I painted the radiator XF56 metallic grey, dry brushed with XF16 flat aluminium. The separate central part of the radiator (filter?) was painted XF16 and then was just a press fit into the main part of the radiator - no need for glue. I gloss coated the whole assembly with some Tamiya clear gloss and then made it mucky by slapping on a thick sludge of water colour and soapy water. When this had dried a bit I wiped of the excess with a cotton bud. The bottom part of the cockpit on top of the wheel wells was painted and then given a wash of the raw umber acrylic in the floor polish. Close up of the seat, which was painted XF16 flat aluminium with the seat pad painted a sort of brownish colour (a mix I had to hand made up of the dregs of whole bunch of different acrylic paints). This was also received the raw umber acrylic wash. I can't believe I have done so much, and so far not a whiff of Tamiya Thin Cement! Instrument panel done, may need to tidy up the dry brushed detail a bit (although it won't be easy to see in the cockpit)
    3 points
  46. I've made a little progress on the seats whilst I ponder moving that port-side window. Added 0.5mm frame and the start of some tamiya tape seat belts. I think it spruces things up a little and agrees (mostly) with reference photos that I can find.
    3 points
  47. I found a load more pics actually, some of the more scenic end too, forgive the colours my camera seems to make everything much brighter in colour than it actually is. Some of this is train close ups too when they were work in progress:
    3 points
  48. I was not happy with the current effect. I had to change something.I changed propeller, because was too large and was not spinning .Made dust filter. And equipped Hurri with additional fuel tanks. You know. Pacyfik. Long range was needed. And repaint tail.Was too dirty.
    3 points
  49. ah - I learn something every day! thanks chaps ...the next part on the F7F bench is all the control rods underneath the throttle quadrant - they are helpfully picked out in different coulours on this restored bird... ..I made a shaft and many, many tiny cams & lever arms added some tube and banjo fittings for the rods that go upwards to the throttles - these parts were super-tiny and pretty tricky to assemble... ..also made up the control rods from albion alloy tubes - crimped & drilled the ends to take tiny rivet fasteners... ..after assembly I taped the unit to a square to get the control rods straight and make up a bracket to hold them later on... ..and eventually it was complete and ready for fitting... ..and fitted into place on the sidewall.. ..and another dry fit to make sure it doesn't foul anything and I can still get all the sub-assemblys in, and out of the cockpit opening... ..so thats it - about 50 parts in another little bit - at least at this rate in 11,756 days I will have finished... TTFN Peter
    3 points
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