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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/11/16 in Posts

  1. Hi Everyone, `Popped` my Classic Airframes cherry at last with my attempt at their 1/48 Fiat BR-20 kit. Finished to represent an aircraft used by the Japanese Air Force during the war against China just proir to WW II Built pretty much from the box contents, I added some radio gear in the fuselage but you can`t see it Other additions included some structure in the nose, that you can barely see and some imagineered walls in the wheel wells Stuff you can see includes wiring harness and push rods on the engine cylinder, some dodgy seat belts and the usual antenna wires Quite a bit of filling and sanding and reinforced the fuselage join with tabs of card like you would with a `vacform` kit Overall not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking Cheers Russ
    21 points
  2. The Matchbox Messerschmitt bf-110 kit built using the Russian front, winter 1941-2, staffel 4 ZG1 decal option. I built this kit for the recent Great Patriotic War group build. a few missing parts were botched together with bits from the spares box and a bit of time was spent with making a few enhancements but it was mostly built straight from the box.
    11 points
  3. First off, many thanks to @TheBaron for the incredible shirt he's sent me for Winston: 20161103_174818 by Edward IX, on Flickr Here you can see it adorn my Future World Leader. So in 1989, my younger brother was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma tumor at the base of his spinal cord, and the other three of us were all farmed out to friends of the family. I was assigned to the Muttons, who had come over from the UK to manage the Chicago Ritz-Carlton (my mom makes unique friends), and so Mrs Mutton basically ferried me around after I got out of school on the weekdays. I was about six at the time and kind of a weird kid already, and I suppose she sensed that, because she had the audiocassetes of the BBC Radio version of THHGTTG in her car, and my special treat (along with one Imperial pound of lemon-flavored Jolly Ranchers, a flavour now sadly in abeyance) was getting to listen to this as we tooled 'round the northern suburbs of Chicago. Pretty heady, and dare I say formative stuff for a six-year-old! I certainly enjoy all three of those things! Though I found the end of Blackadder Goes Forth to be extremely poignant. So, the Fencer! I closed up the nose section, though a trifle inelegantly, and needed some filling, especially on the underside: 20161103_213346 by Edward IX, on Flickr 20161103_213353 by Edward IX, on Flickr Think I must have slightly misaligned the parts: 20161103_213404 by Edward IX, on Flickr Lightning F.3 for scale: 20161103_213554 by Edward IX, on Flickr She's about as long as a Lancaster. I'm not sure I follow you. In any case, I apologize for bringing up UK politics, even if obliquely. The end of the United Kingdom would be beyond an existential crisis for me.
    10 points
  4. Hello and welcome to another edition of, "We're Never Happy!" It's a bumper crop of the usual comments today and almost all the usual boxes are already ticked within the first 12 hours. Racing in at number one is, "It's not in the right scale! " A close second at number two is, "How dare they pick this subject over my favourite! " Bets are still being taken as to what will come in third; will it be, "That price is a rip-off! ", or can, "What boring decal options! " pip it to the podium as more details are released? But wait, what's this shock revelation? In breaking news we've been told that, even though they have been released for hours, no-one has found a fatal flaw with the CAD drawings. How can this be!?! Where are our hero's with their red pens in our greatest hour of need?
    9 points
  5. What sticks in my throat is the idea that we have in this country that we should be embarassed by excellence, whether academic or professional, yet we laud sports people and z list celebrities. Bonkers!
    8 points
  6. 1/48th Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 - ref. A06105 Estimated arrival in mid-September 2017 Sources: http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/spectacular-new-naval-fighter-in-148th-scale/ http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/hawker-sea-fury-fb-ii-1-48.html Still important - in my opinion - missing FAA post-war a/c injected kits in 1/48th are Supermarine Simitar, Blackburn Firebrand & Fairey Gannet AEW. V.P.
    8 points
  7. Hello! Here are the photos of one of the latest model i´ve built. It is the Kinetic 1/48 Mirage IIIE kit, and despite some shortcomings the "bang for the buck" on this kit is very good. This was also my first serious job with Alclad2 lacquers, and i know i still have a learning curve in front of me. This model was featured on the November 2016 issue of the Airfix Model World magazine. Here are the build and final photos! The complete photostory of this build is present on my blog: http://josepiresmodelismo.blogspot.pt/ Hope you like it! José Pedro
    7 points
  8. #31/2016 My dad has finished his next Latin American project. This time one of the Mustangs the FAG used for anti-guerilla fighting in the 60ies and early 70ies before the a/c were succeeded by the A-37 Dragonfly. Hasegawa kit, Aztec decals, Mk.82 bombs from a Hasegawa weapon set, Gunze and Tamiya acrylics used.
    6 points
  9. Finally finished, it has taken a while. Didn't use the strips supplied with the kit, painted them. I would have liked to have the canopy open, it wouldn't sit properly as the plastic is too thick. The depicts a plane from Flottille 14F - Aeronavale Suez in 1954 Some pics. Thanks for looking. Stephen
    6 points
  10. This pair is finally finished. I'm not sure I'd want to do them again so a D.III & D.IV will probably not be added to my collection! Although they started as Merlin kits, only the fuselages (very heavily modified!) and some of the white metal parts, were used, the rest is all scratchbuilt. A spare Roden engine went into the D.I, the Spandaus are Miniworld, the wheels are my own design, 3d printed by Shapeways, and the nose decals on the D.II were custom ordered from Melius Manu in Poland. As far as the history of these aircraft goes, they were both in service at the same time, the D.II having been developed due to a shortage of the inline Mercedes engines. Both were subject to structural failures, as was the contemporary E.III, (weak welds, wing attachment bolt failure, and metal tubing that had too thin a section were the usual culprits, basically a lack of quality control in the Fokker factory) and all Fokkers were banned from front line service in December 1916. The D.I and D.II both saw service on the home front and as training aircraft, as did the D.III and D.IV (basically a D.II and D.I respectively, with more powerful engines, ailerons instead of wing-warping, and twin Spandaus). The D.I represents 151/16, of Jagdstaffel 1, Bertincourt, France in early September 1916 The D.II represents an aircraft of Kampfeinsitzer Kommando (KEK) Ensheim, (later Jagdstaffel 16), based in Ensheim, Germany, in September 1916, flown by Ltn Fritz Grünzweig. (although some have speculated that he was not a pilot and merely painted the nose art...) For those interested in how a couple of shapeless lumps of plastic came to this, here's the WIP. I hope you like them.. Ian
    6 points
  11. HOORAH! Bought! As a wee girl growing up I was always amazed at the pitching of the Leander with the sea breaking across the bow during the opening credits. There is no way I could have become a WREN let alone go to sea. In fact a (rather short cos I PVR'd) tour on the Grimrod proved to me that going to sea is the refuge of very strange and mad people (despite the fact my GranDa commanded a fleet of Flower Class Corvettes during WWII).
    6 points
  12. This is a report of a very personal project I started on about a year ago, and which I recently finished. It is a tribute to my great-uncle, Willem Pieter Adriaan Ditmar, and a gift to his nephew, my father, Eric Willem Roubos. Historical background In the very early morning of 26th of February 1942, Catalina Y-63 was flying over the Banka Strait, north of Sumatra. The PBY had been flying through the night on a recon of the area and its commander, Willem Ditmar, had to decide to turn back to base or continue the patrol and risk an almost certain encounter with Japanese forces. Ditmar chose the latter. The PBY was part of the forces of the MLD (Marine Luchtvaart Dienst) the Air Force of the Royal Dutch East-Indies Navy which had been involved in a struggle with the Japanese for a number of months now, since a Japanese invasion of the Dutch colony was imminent. At 6:40 in the morning, while the plane was flying just under low cloud cover to avoid detection, the PBY was jumped by two groups of three Ki-27 'Nate's' of the JAAFs 12th Air Brigade. A fight ensued, during which the gunners on Y-63 succeeded to shoot down two Ki-27s. However, the numerical superiority of the Japanese proved too much. Co-pilot Noë was hit, the plane went into a dive and was only with great difficulty brought back under control. Severely damaged the plane landed on the water, where Ditmar ordered his crew of 6 into the life boats. Y-63 sinks within seven minutes, raked with bullet holes from continued strafing. The Japanese fighters disappear and Ditmar and his crew, with the injured pilot, manage to reach the Noordelijke Gebroeders Island and eventually, on March 3, Sumatra. From there, with canoes rented from the locals, they reach Anjer on Java on the 6th. To their dismay they learn that the Japanese have landed on Java and control most of Java, including the area they have just arrived at. Ditmar and his men leave the injured pilot with a local official for treatment and continue their journey to Batavia, hoping to avoid the Japanese troops. The remaining six men split into two groups. One group is captured by locals and all three men are murdered. Ditmar's group is spared this fate but is betrayed by locals and handed over to the Japanese. Willem Ditmar was sent to a POW camp in Siam (Thailand) to work on the infamous Burma railroad. He survived the war and rejoined with his wife and his two daughters, who had been detained in Surabaya not knowing for more than three years if Willem was still alive. After the war he became the most decorated Dutch officer in the East-Indies theatre and returned to work for the Royal Dutch Navy and later for the Dutch government in South East Asia in various capacities. He died in Bangkok in a traffic accident in 1982, remaining a legend in our family. This story is based on several post-WWII publications, especially the report by mariner Gerard A. van Schooten, crew member of the Y-63, and on personal communications from family members. The Kit Academy’s PBY-5 has been around for quite some time. I think it’s still a fine kit and the only serious option if you want a PBY-5 (Revell has an antique molding which is out of production). The lines of the PBY-5 are captured well, the fit is generally excellent and the recessed detail is quite good, if a bit soft in places. The fuselage is covered in rivets, but they are quite restrained and look good under a coat of paint. The kit does disappoint when it comes to the finer details, a general issue with Academy kits of this vintage: Interior detail is minimal, the engines are very basic and the propellers are nothing like the real thing. As this was to be a special project I decided to shell out the extra cash on some aftermarket parts to correct these areas. I acquired the QuickBoost replacement engines, props and cowlings, Eduard’s photo-etch (for PBY-5A, but many items are of use) and MiniWorld brass .50 machine guns for the blisters. Construction Yes, it starts with the cockpit! Eduard’s photo-etch really improves this area as it really is quite bland. The cockpit floor requires carving up to make the parts fit and the I substituted the horizontal bar on which the yokes sit by an n-shaped piece of wire that more accurately represents the real thing. There is a gap behind the bulkhead which allows you to see into the void of the fuselage, but nothing can be seen with the cockpit window in place so I left it. The observer position has a few PE parts to spruce up the machine gun supports. After installing the six small side windows I closed up the fuselage. Fit is pretty good with the exception of the area behind the cockpit. I had to use some Mr. Surfacer 500 here and rescribe the lost detail in the area. The wing assembly consists of six pieces which form a middle segment containing the engine nacelles and two outer segments. They go together very well with just a hint of Mr Surfacer 500 required to remove the seams between the segments. I taped off the area to avoid losing the fabric detail while sanding the seams. The nacelles require a bit of filler as well and a few swipes with a sanding stick. The triangular pieces that form part of the float areas on the wing tips were another matter: They left huge gaps with the wing tips and needed quite a bit of filler to get a smooth result. At this point I had to start considering the build sequence. I usually put as much of the model together before I start painting, but the floats and wing supports were rather fragile pieces and I estimated their chance of snapping off at some point during later construction work was 100%. They also got in the way of masking, so I decided to paint the wings and fuselage separately and put them together only after decaling. I drilled some holes for the antennas and aerial wires ( I always forget to do this and end up having to do it after painting – the pine vice will slip and…), then added the PE corrugated ‘shield’ in the nose. After some fettling I pushed it in a it just stuck – no glue required. To the paint shop! Painting First step was to do the preshading. I have only used this technique a few times and I find it a very easy way to add some interest to a model. On a big kit like the Catalina it is a great way to break the large surfaces, so I set to work and an hour later I had a rather patchy and fearsome looking amphibious creature (I know, the PBY-5 is not amphibious…)! On towards the real painting then. All my references on the Catalina indicated that the MLD planes had ‘milky white’ undersurfaces. Unfortunately, this is not a color any brand carries in their range, so I made my own by taking a fresh bottle of Gunze flat white and adding a few drops of yellow to it (my thanks to FlevoDecals for suggesting this). My milky white needed about three thin layers to cover the preshading just enough to shine through (I’m afraid it doesn't show up very well in the photos). This was followed by masking off the white, and it was at this point that my references started to fail me. Although there are many photographs available of MLD PBY-5s, I have been unable to find a picture of my subject, Y-63. This wouldn't be such a problem if the MLD had been consistent in painting its Catalinas, but my references showed they were anything but. Among the differences are the demarcation between white and grey, the color used to overpaint the orange triangles, the color of the prop hubs, the exhausts, the antennas and the painting demarcations on the floats and surrounding areas. Almost no MLD Catalina is exactly the same, and without photographs it is impossible to know which combination of options Y-63 featured. However, it also meant nobody could prove me wrong if I were to guess, so that’s what I did. Undoubtedly someone will sent me a photograph of Y-63 after reading this and prove me wrong on all counts! After making my choices, it was on to painting the upper surfaces. My references told me to use ‘Dark blue-grey’, the MLD description of the color. I hit the internet and the consensus was that Dark Blue-grey was actually identical to the well-known Dark Sea Gray, so that’s what I used. On removing the masking I was unhappy with the demarcations on the fuselage to I spent quite a bit of time remasking and respraying, but the end result was very satisfying. I left the finish slightly patchy to allow for the fact that these planes were used in tough conditions. Next up was masking the overpainted orange triangles on the upper wing surfaces and the orange rudder. I sprayed these with Dark Sea Gray with some black in it (yes, I’m aware this is cheating – I should have used lightened DSG on the whole plane and ‘fresh’ DSG on the triangles…). The little V-shapes on the fabric area of the wing were masked and sprayed yellow. On Revell’s PBY-5 kit these are supplied as decals in red but on a number of my photographs they very clearly have a light color that really contrasts with the dark color of the wing, so I decided on yellow. I think it looks goods, it adds some color to the plane but at the same time blends in pretty well. I polished the surface with a 6000 grit micro mesh cloth, then applied a few light coats of Future on the areas that would receive decals, which are few. Both Dutch Decal and FlevoDecals have sets that include the PBY-5, but FlevoDecals very importantly adds a full set of serial numbers, so it was easy to go beyond the included versions and create Y-63. These are some of the best decals I have worked with; there is virtually no carrier film around them. I only used some MicroSol and they settled beautifully into the panel lines and rivets. The horizontal stabilizers were also painted in this stage. Test fitting had shown they fit very well, and as they are large I decided to leave them off until the end of the build so they would not get in the way. I neglected to attach the cowlings before painting the wing assembly. Silly, as I had to respray the demarcation a few times to get it to line up exactly with the nacelle that is attached to the wing. While I had acquired QuickBoost’s cowlings, I ended up not using them as their diameter is about 2mm smaller than the nacelle! Photographs clearly show they are the same width. I don’t know how an aftermarket part can get it so wrong. I ended up using the kit parts, rescribing the very soft detail on them and they ended up looking perfectly fine. In future I will do a bit more research before buying what is supposedly a ‘direct replacement’ upgrade part… Construction continued With the main assemblies completed I returned to the smaller parts. Still lots to do! The floats required a lot of clean up: The idea is that you insert the thin supports before you glue them together, catching them between the float halves. This I felt was a recipe for disaster, and in addition would make cleaning up the very obvious seam a major pain. However, my solution was far from perfect! I cut off the vertical main support from the floats themselves. This allowed me to clean up the seam on the floats, as well as the sink marks on the supports. So far so good, but it did leave me with a nasty butt joint to attach the two together again. They would break a number of times throughout masking and attaching them to the wing in the days ahead… On studying a movie I found of the PBY-5s in use with the MLD I noticed that they carried not the rather standard single .50 cal in each blister (which I had acquired already) but a dual .303 Browning setup. The .50 cals went in to the spares box. It was an opportunity to reuse some of the PE Eduard had kindly provided to spruce up the kit parts (in combination with plastic card), and I got some Master brass .303 barrels to make the dual setup more convincing. I used a similar combination of Eduard PE, card and Master brass for the front gun. The Eduard PE for the blisters is really meant to represent .50 cals but no one will know. Right? Right. Ok – there is no way around it – you are gonna have to attach that wing to that fuselage! I’ve never been lucky with models that feature spindly supports, and this kit would be no exception. It started off fairly well – the fuselage fits perfectly into the central recess in the wing. Pleased with myself, I forgot to do the obvious (can you guess what it is?) and went on towards the part I dreaded most: The supports. I started on the starboard side. Not a problem – perfect fit! Port side then, and that’s where it all went wrong: Both supports were too short by over 2mm. I slapped myself for not checking alignment after gluing the wing on top of the fuselage. I checked, corrected, checked, corrected, checked, measured, corrected, in the process breaking off all four of the supports again. After finally getting the right alignment I decided that it would be a good idea to let the glue set for a night before continuing. The next day I attached the supports again. Starboard, again, not a problem. Port? Would you believe it? Still a 2mm gap! I checked alignment again, and, satisfied that that was not the problem, proceeded to flood the gap between the supports and wings with a mix of superglue, Mr Surfacer and Tamiya liquid cement. My concoction created a permanent bond (probably the strongest on the entire model!), and after two days of sanding, cleaning, respraying, and more sanding, cleaning and respraying, I was very proud and happy with my now winged Catalina! Final Construction Quite a lot of this really. Main challenge were the cowlings – the use of the resin engine means you can’t use the mating surface on the nacelles as they are too deep and I had to rely on gluing the circumference of the cowlings instead. This, it turned out, was a lousy idea as the weight of the resin engines meant the thin mating surface did not provide enough strength to glue them properly to the nacelles. I decided to create a new mating surface using the back of the resin engine blocks. For this I had to remove the half-circle shaped areas on the nacelles, and by building up the layers using thin plastic sheet I finally got a nice, big, smooth mating surface. All my efforts had resulted in some spilled glue so some more respraying was required. A final piece of aftermarket I used were Red Roo’s fishtail exhausts. These are cast in resin and look quite good, although they are not as crisp as some Czech items of this kind. I had to sand the attachment points quite a bit to get a good fit to the engine nacelle. The fishtails are a bit of conjecture from my side again; I know from photos that some MLD PBYs had them, and they make the plane look a bit different, so there we go. Other bits and bobs went on quite easily; stabilizers, antennas, wires, machine guns, blisters, turret, fuel ejection pipes. I sprayed the entire kit with a mixture of 80/20 Vallejo matt and Future, and removed the Montex masking (great item, no-brainer on a kit like this) on the clear parts. The final items on the to do list were the PE wind shield wipers (attached with Future) and some Little Cars lights to represent the landing lights. They were taped over with clear cellotape to represent the glass. After some touch up I had a completed PBY! Conclusion Academy’s PBY-5 is still an excellent kit. With a bit of aftermarket it can be turned into a great kit, and it really has no significant vices to speak of. I really enjoyed this build from start to finish. After a long car and boat journey from Norfolk to The Netherlands, the revived Y-63 made it to my parents' house where it currently has a place of honor in the living room. I'm very happy with the result and so is my dad! References Bosscher, P.M. (1990) De koninklijke mariene in de tweede wereldoorlog. Part 3. Van Wijnen, Franeker, 490 pp. Geneste, W.J. J. (1992) MLD-er met twee bronzen kruizen. Mars et Historia 26(3): 57-61 Meijer, H. (2008) Voor dapperheid onderscheiden. Nieuwsbrief Vrienden Legermuseum 16(1): 12-13 Postma, T, Visser, G., Van Schooten, G.A. (????) De Catalina Y 63 door de Jappen neergeschoten. http://www.visser-maritiem.nl/Catalina%20Y%2063%20%20(1).html Womack, T. (2006) The Dutch naval air force against Japan: the defense of the Netherlands East Indies, 1941-1942. McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 207 pp.
    6 points
  13. Thanks Graham - hopefully Santa will be good to you! So, fitting the beast as promised. I'll just show you the results and then have a rest so you can comment if you wish: Nose and tail I was worried about the steps between the tail and the fuselage at the bottom: but it actually spaces the wing join: I'm categorising those joins as 'not too bad with a bit of care'. Tomorrow is Saturday so I get a calm morning listening to 'Saturday Live'. There may be some glue in my future... if I can find some room: Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr
    6 points
  14. Cheers Matt, It is a lot of fun having free licence to do what ever you want. So, I was putting the legs together last night, and it was bugging me that the grey green chipping on his right lower leg didn't stand out more. There's not a lot I can do about it now, but I should have used a more vibrant shade. I added a dark green wash which helped define it more against the other leg, but I still wanted the left leg and upper right to be obviously different. So, to that end, he's now acquired a a rather jazzy stripe on the other leg parts. This was done with Vallejo Blue Green and hairspray chipped like the lower right leg The legs will need more grime added to blend the stripes in, then I can connect top with bottom and look at making a little base for him. Andy
    6 points
  15. Some from during the build...
    6 points
  16. 5 points
  17. Matchbox's 1979 Lancaster, No 9 Squadron the Tallboy option. My shot at this old kit, includes newly scribed panel lines, scrap parts from an old Airfix Lancaster and other little scratch bits like fuselage escape hatches. One of the things I like most about Matchbox kits is that they are an excellent blank canvas that allow me the freedom to depart from the instruction sheet and use my imagination. The kit was nice to build but we could still do with a new Tallboy Lancaster if you are reading this Mr Airfix. /I /
    5 points
  18. I think we'd all better steer clear of the politics, don't you? If nothing else, the period leading up to and since the referendum has demonstrated without doubt that the country is deeply divided. BM is a haven from the vicious, bilious exchanges (of which all sides are equally guilty) everywhere else. [I profoundly disagree with your post, but we are online mates and lets keep it that way!]
    5 points
  19. Hello gentlemen, here is my latest addtition to my collection of NVA-LSK aircrafts in 72nd scale. I tried to do some research from pictures around the internet. Build is out of the box with the exception of Master turned brass pitot tubes, few minor scratch built parts and custom marking since there's only 338 in the box (the only camouflaged L-29 in GDR Air Force as far as I know). I will be happy for more info on this airframe and I hope you will like the result of my journey.
    4 points
  20. Not my finest effort but put here regardless as it may be of interest as Whirlykits have a modernised version using the original Maintrack master which has addressed some of its shortcomings. Don't let any of the following put you off if the 508 is on your 'must have' list. The faults are correctable by anybody with some vacform experience. I'm sure I could have done a better job but I'm playing catch-up with my modelling after a rough year personally and ran out of patience. ] This was built from an original Maintrack kit. The 508 held a particular fascination for me as I first became aware of it not long after it first flew in 1951 as young lad of 11 and seeing it described as a 'powerful naval fighter powered by two RR Avons' I thought that it must be something special. Alas it was not so and it is interesting to compare it with the similarly powered CF 100 which had flown a year earlier and went on to have a successful career. The kit was designed by Gordon Stevens and at first appeared to have the makings of a nice model having lots of surface detail. However it was not to be. The wings and tails were produced first and went together nicely. The probelms started with the fuselage. The cockpit section consisted of two halves which had to be cemented together. This made a convenient receptacle for the nose weight so it was filled with 'liquid lead'. However when fitted in to nose it didn't quite and much trimming was required to get it to do so. Memo - check it fits before glueing the halves together. I believe the Whirlykits version has a resin cockpit. On glueing the fuselage halves together it was apparent that there was a major fault in the shape of one half in that one engine exhaust was higher than the other. This still exists in the current kit but It is correctable. See the link below for details. It should be easier now as there is a resin insert for the exhausts. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235009453-maintrack-supermarine-508-help-sorted/ The other problem with the fuselage is that it was somewhat floppy due that huge oval section and required internal stiffening. This should not be a problem as the current version has a resin u/c bay and engine intakes. I added the boundary layer bleeds and filler to make the intakes into tunnels. An ejector seat was supplied but when put in the cockpit it was evident that the floor is too high so it was replaced by a couple of pieces of sheet as nothing can be seen of the inside. The finish was Alclad airframe aluminium over gloss black enamel which looked too shiny so a dusting of aluminium was applied over the top. Decals were the original 'rub-down' type which still went down well although great care had to be taken when positioning them. I hope that this is of interest and has not put anybody off because if you want a 508 it's the only one around. Any comments, good or bad, and any queries welcome. John
    4 points
  21. Hello Few final pictures of my "production" . It is S-2 Tracker. Kit is made by Kinetic scale 1/48. Cheers Mike
    4 points
  22. Eduard weekend edition kit upgraded with resin cockpit. East German markings.
    4 points
  23. Thanks guys Yes, that makes sense. Why add the production cost of colouring the plastic when you don't need too. No, there's no need to thin it. It's airbrush ready strait from the jar. It's about the same consistency as Alclad, but it's enamel based rather than lacquer. If you're thinking of trying it, I'd say go ahead. It sprays well and the finish is as good as Alclad, but cleaning the airbrush is much easier with Xtreme Metal. Another option is Vallejo Metal Color, which I think is equally good and has the advantage of being water based. I did a little mini review of them during my X-Wing build. I've been working on a small base/stand for him, which I've made from the top section of an old solar garden light. The casing that held the solar panel had an aluminium frame which I've sprayed with some rust coloured streaks, then I've blanked the top off, where the panel was, with a square of styrene, which I'll paint up as a section of floor plating, maybe with some hazard stripes or something. I'll add more rust effects to the frame, which is just there as a decorative trim. He'll be attached to the base with a machine screw, through the hole in the styrene, into his foot B0-R15 (I think that's the name I'll be going with, cheers Sarge) has been fully assembled now. I'll add some more weathering, but only when he's bolted to the stand, as he's getting hard to hold without damaging the finish The hands have had some red primer added to bring a bit more colour in. The paint was chipped simply by scrubbing it with a brush before it was fully dry And the left foot has had a few rust washes just to make it stand out a bit To be honest, I keep looking at him now he's together and thinking he's not decrepit enough. I probably should have had more limbs in different colours. Well, I've got an R2 waiting to be built, so he may get the full abusive treatment. It'll be R2 and 3P0, the down and out years. Andy
    4 points
  24. Driller Thriller; the wiring support stud holes are done for Station 3: And Station 1:
    4 points
  25. Here is my completed Hobby Boss 1/72 P-38L--5-LO Easy Assembly kit. Hand painted with Model Master Acrylics and top coat of Model Master Flat Acrylic (I added a few drops of Future). Eduard Mask for the canopy. Great kit for the money! This is my 3rd first model in almost 40 years. A special thanks to member LaurieS for help with my masking problems. I am starting on an Academy P-47D BubbleTop. Let me know what you think.
    4 points
  26. Nine Reapers controlled by a bloke on a Sony Play RAF Station P.Mk.1 from a shipping container in Knutsford services, M6. Next option is 10 Lords a leaping
    4 points
  27. 1. PH Zeros were overall amber grey and all made by Mitsubishi - no dark green. Wheel wells and covers were also amber grey not aotake as so often depicted. 2. Most PH Kates had the overall Nakajima tan-like amber grey and were "field camouflaged" in various ways with a flat dark green paint approximately similar to 116. It is possible that some older aircraft were camouflaged in dark green over natural metal. 3. Later Kates are not straightforward but typically had black green over the Mitsubishi-type amber-grey. Nakajima ceased production of the B5N in August 1941 but had also been modifying B5N1 airframes (production of which began in 1937) to B5N2 standard. The amber grey colour was introduced during 1940. Later production was by Aichi from June 42 to September 43 following (by then) standard IJN painting practice. IJN No.11 Kukosho also produced about 50 aircraft and modified about 280 airframes from 1942 to March 1944. Whilst they would have followed current IJN painting instructions (black green over amber grey) some variance in actual hues would have been inevitable. 4. The Airfix series 1 Zero represents a training unit aircraft and is not in a typical factory scheme but probably camouflaged at unit level following the June 1943 instructions. The black green upper surface camouflage could have been applied over Mitsubishi or Nakajima-type amber grey or even over the orange yellow trainer colour (the presence of white outlined hinomaru under the wings strongly suggests the latter). Hope this clarifies it for you. Nick
    4 points
  28. I am now almost certainly going to contradict myself (but hey, this is my build!). I think the essential gist of my previous post about strict accuracy of rows of rivets underneath the tail is that there is a limit to how far we need to take the mania for complete accuracy. [I am a strong believer in this, however; many of the tiny detail parts of a model "look wrong" if they are 100% to scale; the art is to get them looking right even though in real life they'd be much too big [or, sometimes, small]). So guess who has now been doing silly tiny things in the interests of accuracy? Here is a real sidewall (i.e. facing across the cockpit) of a Broom Cupboard (albeit of a black cockpit SAR cab): Here is my equivalent, still awaiting its jump seat but otherwise basically complete. Hard to photograph (because even the biggest of these transfers is c.1mm across), but I have added 3 things to the Broom Cupboard wall. 1. A placard - the real one (I think) says something about the Emergency Undercarriage bottle pressure gauge which is round the corner. All 3 of these transfers are Airscale (of course!). This one actually says something about flap limiting speeds, or similar - but it busies up the view, which is the point. I might even have fitted it upside down. Sue me. 2. The AP sitting in its wee pouch now has a title block down its spine. 3. However, the thing that has pleased me out of all proportion is the black & yellow cross-hatching on the "Oxo Cube", which is that little black cube set at an angle at the bottom left of the wall (it will be immediately above the jump seat, once fitted). The Oxo Cube (so called because it is a c.¾" cube which looks vaguely like an old-fashioned Oxo cube) is part of the emergency undercarriage system. Because it is an emergency system, it is painted black and yellow. And thanks to Airscale, mine is too now. This pleases me inordinately! The pilots have 3 ways of putting the undercarriage down. - The normal lever (by the LH pilot's right knee) does it under hydraulic power in the standard way. - If that fails for any reason (probably because of a catastrophic leak of hydraulic oil from the Utility system), there is another lever (also close to the LH pilot's right leg, but further back) which fires a 3,000 psi compressed air shot into the hydraulics, thus operating the jacks. The pressure of this bottle is monitored by the gauge on the back wall of the broom cupboard (thanks to Moaning Dolphin for reminding me of that). - If that fails as well you are really having a bad day, so you revert to the Oxo Cube. If you pull that (and it is at that odd angle to enable the RH pilot to reach round and feel it with his left hand - Sikorsky thought of everything!), it bypasses the hydraulics entirely, allowing the undercarriage to fall under gravity. You then hover the aircraft close to the ground / deck to allow some intrepid Grubber to insert a ground locking pin into each leg, because falling under gravity is not enough to lock the wheels down. The Oxo cube is a one-off system; if that too fails, you're landing on the aircraft belly - which is a complicated process practiced at almost every Admiral's inspection (equivalent of RAF TACEVAL), involving lot of matresses from the mess - I am not making this up - lashed down under a cargo net. [As an aside - and I had forgotten this until I started talking Sea King undercarriage - when we came back to Ark in 014 after our ditching and un-ditching, we were asked to do this; our U/C was wire locked down for that sortie because of a problem with the hydraulics , and the engineers were concerned that we might have damaged it in getting off the sea. We didn't hover while ground lock pins were being inserted, but we did do a low slow pass along the deck at about 10', so the squadron Air Engineering Officer could have a quick look. He got a face full of sea water for his pains, and we landed normally!] Final aside; I have no idea what that grey box is between the AP and the First Aid kit in the photo of the real cab. It might be something to do with the Centricep filter system, maybe? Whatever it is, it wasn't there in my day, so out ain't being added to my Sea King model! More later Crisp
    4 points
  29. Thank you for the link, Nigel :). Over here, they change - or make - laws for the benefit of developers, multinational corporations, and other rich entities. It's a complete disgrace. One currently-popular wheeze is to set up coal mines and gas-fracking in water catchment areas, the Great Artesian Basin, and prime farmland. Not to mention what's happening to the Great Barrier Reef. The various townships along the Queensland coat are going to have an amusing time. Oh well, went it all goes pear-shaped and our arable land vanishes into the continent-wide abyss, we can import all of our food, water and concrete for flooding abatement from China instead. Excellent. As a trained ag scientist, it makes my blood boil. And I haven't mentioned the Roads That Ate SydneyTM (yet). And this isn't the best place in which to do that (and I would get Banned for certain sure). Nice . Ouch! See also my comments to Nigel. Ours are probably either on Facebook or looking for pictures of ---------, ----------, or ---------- and --------- with a ------------ in a --------------. Using a ------------. Or similar. (I wish I could work out how to make the background colour black for a nice, smart 'redacted/censored' look - I used to be able to I think, but maybe that was the Oz Woodworkers' Forums. Sorry about the diatribe: I get cross about short-sightedness, especially from those who are supposed to be running the joint, but are in fact running it into the ground. Life's a wossname, etc., etc. Now, wasn't there something about something called a Concorde...? Back to normal(?) programming. Cheers, Alex <-- looking for new pastures after the old ones got dug up or caved in...
    4 points
  30. Thus far it has eaten all of my original sample page (which had both doubles & singles on it, so is essentialiy the same as 2 modern sets (which are sold separately), and has started to make inroads into a second set of doubles (including a little section of triples, also on that page) & a second set of singles. I am just over half way (though belly and details like sponsons etc will add more than I think). I estimate that you could do a whole Sea King with 3 sets of doubles and 4 of singles (which would leave a few left over) - but when I ordered the modern sets I bought lots of singles and not many doubles... so a fresh order might be imminent! Ask me again when I have finished one complete aircraft - bearing in mind that eventualiy I will do three of them...
    4 points
  31. Thanks Hunter. Yes I agree, pale greens are great for weathering effects. I think in this case I should have gone with a more saturated green, just to make the chipping stand out better. Thanks Warren. I'm not lighting this one. There's just some silver paint behind the clear eye parts to give it some reflectivity. I think I might add some lights to the Gonk though. The bottom of the body is big enough to hold a battery, and feed an LED and fibres in the top half. I've got the upper body, waist and head together now. The body and head have had some further weathering with a brown AK filter which has added a nice stained look to the metal. There's also been some light rust stains and streaks added. I'll add more weathering, but only when it's all together or the weather patterning won't look cohesive Andy
    4 points
  32. Well folks, I have finally got to the stage where I'm going to call these finished. They won't win any prizes, but considering what I started with I'm pretty pleased with the results! The paintwork in particular is not up to standard. It seemed that whatever I did, I just couldn't get the clear coat to go on evenly or thinly enough, with the result that it cracked as it dried. I've been using an Aztec airbrush and it's an effort just to get paint out of it, let alone have any control over how much. No matter how much I clean it after use, I can't get any paint out of it the next time I use it as the needle actuator sticks. I bit the bullet yesterday and ordered an Iwata, so hopefully it's "onwards and upwards" from here! More pics in the Completed section when I get some decent light. Edit: RFI is here. Thanks to everyone who's followed along for the encouragement and support along the way! Ian
    4 points
  33. As part of my club's table for Telford, I undertook this massive build back in in June. It is finally complete! The water surface down to the sea bed is all scratch built and I've extensively weathered the platform and added some 1:200 scale figures to populate it. The whole thing is probably the biggest model I've ever built - 20£ wide, 10" deep and over 3 foot tall. Build thread here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235004743-1200-revell-north-cormorant-oil-rig/ I have no idea where I will put this after Telford, I don't have a shelf big enough to put this... oh well I'll cross that bridge (platform) when I come to it! Note: this is actually an Oil PLATFORM not a rig - its fixed to the sea bed rather than floating, which is an Oil Rig which is usually used during the exploration phase of an oil filed development. So here are the photos... Scratch built jacket It will be on the IPMS Farnborough stand in Hall 3 at Telford next week, come and say hi!
    3 points
  34. Morning folks - This is the new Fly 1:32 Hurricane IIC Tropical. I used Yahu instrument panel but otherwise OOB. I will need to replace the canopy however as i over stressed it and there are cracks in it which I discovered taking the photos! By my standards its not a bad build and I have done quite a bit of weathering on it as the photos I have seen show heavily used machines of the time. Paints are Tamiya and humbrol and the decals are OOB. They went on ok but if I had done the African scheme I would have needed some after market decals as the colour rendition was a bit off track. I was originally going to do the fancy North African scheme but when I saw the Royal Indian Air Force scheme I decided that was the one for me. It wasn't an easy build but I like the result and have plans to do another in the future. Chris
    3 points
  35. Just wanted to show the fruits of my labour with the AIM72 Vickers B.2 Valiant conversion. It was a surprisingly simple conversion with all of the parts fitting easily and really producing a nice rendition of the 'Black Bomber'. The white metal undercarriage builds up into nicely detailed units, and certainly weighty. XVTonker
    3 points
  36. Good day everyone, I've been waiting for the start of this GB for like, forever! So am just bookmarking my page. I am going to try for 3 of the blighters, 1st will be a 1:48th Italeri Mk5 version, probably done in the sand/green box version. Next up will be TWO 1:72 Italeri versions one a Mk5 of 771 and the final one a Mk3 version which will be the blue/yellow type (I already have a Falklands Humphrey). The 48th will have an eduard etch, I'm not planning to go all 'Hendie' on it but lets see how deep I get dragged in. The small Mk5 will be OOB with some aftermarket decals and will be a red/green SAR version. The blue/yellow bird will have a new radome, exhausts and dog kennel and I am not sure which version she will be, I think I have a couple of options (I can sincerely stipulate that on no account will the Mk3 be the all over yellow type!). So that is my plan, phots to appear soon. I intend to build them together so instead of 3 different posts I will document all 3 on this post........if that is allowed mods?? So far this year I have pledged 6 builds in GB's and have achieved 5 with 15 days left to get the 6th finished (which I should do) so it would be quite unprecedented if I can keep that going. Looking forward to seeing all the varieties of this magnificent beast coming alive in this GB........ Bob
    3 points
  37. Now, as a disclaimer, this is not my first time making Hasegawa's F-4J Phantom II (IMO the best F-4J kits in 1/72... that I can actually buy). But somehow that Phantom Phever hits again and I decided to bag this VF-31 jet home. At first I intended to make it an OOB... until I realized that the exhaust was wrong. Hasegawa's J79-GE-10 exhaust has 18 petals, whilst the real thing got 16. Tried to ignore that gave me a sleepless night, TBH. So I decided to scratch that itch and ordered Aires resin exhaust from my trusted kit shop... which was 100 miles away. I know, sad life. BTW, for this build I have decided to go for Felix 101 (BuNo 157293), the aircraft that shot down a MiG-21 in April 1972. To be honest this build is inspired by Giemme's magnificent Felix 100 (if only I can make it as good as he did) Obligatory box photo, because why not... Contents before they're unpacked... ... and the Aires resin exhaust. First time ever using resin aftermarket parts, I hope I can come out of this unscathed (it costs me a fortune to buy this. You'd better be good, Aires.) So that's the preview for the build, any comments and critics would be more than welcomed.
    3 points
  38. Hi Jon If you click on the link below and scroll down to the 14th photo you will find an image with T-B's R8845 in the background. This is the only image of the aircraft that has come to light, as far as I know. http://www.609wrsquadron.co.uk/Archives/Photo_Galleries/Lympne,Matlaske.pdf R8845 was built as a 'car-door' Typhoon and delivered to 20 MU at Aston Down on on before 19 April 1943, where it was stored like many other Typhoons, due to the acute shortage of serviceable Sabre engines. By 31 August 1943 it was back with Gloster Aircraft for modifications which included the fitting of a sliding hood (aka bubble canopy) and returned to 20 MU by 8 September 1943. It is next reported at 403 ARF (Aircraft Reception Flight) which prepared aircraft for operational issue, and thence to 609 Sqn on 22 September. Its arrival was noted in the squadron ORB as an aircraft with a sliding hood for use of the commanding officer. Sqn Ldr Thornton-Brown first flew it on an operation on 26 September. He flew it exclusively until 22 December and no other squadron pilots seemed to have 'borrowed' it. I have yet to read the ORB (which quotes serials rather than code letters for individual sorties) in detail but I have not found any reference to the code it carried. I thought I had a strong clue when I checked T-B's previous unit (56 Sqn which he had left at the end of August to command 609). He often flew 'P', presumably P for Pat. However during the time that R8845 was with the squadron there were at least two other Ps (sequentially JP750 and JP792). Other likely letters for the CO would be G, used by the 3 previous COs, or A, commonly used by unit commanders. However a close look at the photo in the link seems to indicate that the individual code letter had a horizontal bar at the top i.e. E,F, T or Z. I have a bit more digging to do to see if any other known 609 serials in the period carried those letters but at the moment by best guess is T for Thornton-Brown. Note the spinner is two-tone as 609's Typhoons seem to have been throughout 1943 and early 44. I know these are sometimes held to be in flight colour plus Sky but There are other photos which indicate Black/Sky. It had Typhoon identity stripes of course and very probably the earlier form of exhaust fairing. There does not seem to be any trace of the code being repeated on the inboard leading edge of the wing, but it could have been added later. This was common on 609's Typhoons and was in yellow with a black outline. I hope to get back to you on the E/F/T/Z situation over the weekend, tomorrow with a bit of luck. Chris
    3 points
  39. I sprayed mine gloss black, added decals and then a flat coat of Citadel Purity Seal (Not too heavy). Looks bang on. I have done both 1/72 and 1/48. The big one is going for a refurb since I got an Afterburner sheet for it. The kit decals were rubbish. I would also recommend laying the decals with Klear, as they tend to silver, even on a gloss finish.
    3 points
  40. September 2017? I want mine NOW !!!
    3 points
  41. Ah Brynglas tunnels, nothing says you're nearly home like wafting through the tunnels like a herd of meandering gazelles..... No wait... that's a dream....
    3 points
  42. Nothing there for me but happy for those who want it....three out of four new tools have been 1.48 scale. I really hope there's going to be some new British 72nd subjects announced at Telford
    3 points
  43. The Red Arrows are the pride of the nation. If you have ever been near Manston when the Reds were operating locally you would have thought the the world and his dog had turned out just to see them arrive and depart! They DO promote air mindedness and evoke a pride that is difficult to measure.
    3 points
  44. So, if it's indistinguishable, how do they know it's blue then?
    3 points
  45. Hmm taking Scimitar's point I went through my archive pics of Wasp and Scout and I do see more silvery jetpipes on Pusser's aircraft than Army ones but I still have copious numbers of burny Naval ones. So I decided to keep the burnt look but have greyed them out a bit more (blue pastel chalks powdered) Look OK enough to me now so that is it for now Just realised that the bluey pastel job came after this pic was uploaded so you cant see it yet I've been coming indoors these days feeling less inclined to make little Wopsey bits after hours tackling elderly rust on the Midget so there is not a lot to crow about I've been turning my attention to the hanging off the outside bits and the roof to keep the elements at bay (har har, can we see any doors peeps?) I modified the canopy buck to give me a snug cover after a pull moulding session and began making the main legs and wheels swivels which have a damned sight more to 'em than "four Airfix Hudson legs and the wheels off two Airfix Chipmunks" You can see a few lengths of stretched John Aero tube which gives the characteristically tapered main leg The wheel pivot forks have been cut out of the four slotted pre-prepared piece of double thick 0.080" polycard I showed you not long ago, I hope you have been paying attention The piece of bent white Slaters stiffer rodding is being used as guinea pig for the making of the lower rearward arm on each set which is the main load bearing/angle setting arm which the other members are bolted to This is basically the track control arm with the front arm on each set taking the place of the trailing arm link The track control arm also has a cavity in which the lower shock absorber eye is connected and the mainwheel strut bolts to the outside I see difficulties but foresee much chuffedness if I get it right The aforementioned piece of Slaters will be used to adjust the setting and angles before the real bits are carved out of these I'm making this one and a spare of most items for this (I dont want to get an urge to do it again without having reinforcements ready to go) Here you can see the blanks for the model's arms and the Slater's mule to set the suspension with first with the hole carved out for the shock fitment in it The arms will have flanges that allow the trailing arm's ball joint to be added so I have allowed over generous flangery in plasticard Also in the shot is one of the Scout seats I used the Airwaves etch set to make and subsequenty ditched because 'too big for an Airfix Scout interior' ... I am beginning to make the interior bits up but I am having difficulty finding details of the centre switch panels for non missile carrying Wasps I do have a rather tasty drawing made by a Mr Martin Hale for a magazine article some years back about the Westland twins which gives me some clues I wonder what ever happened to him... I wonder if Crisp got any interior shots when he popped into Old Sarum with his camera, I will PM him this evening
    3 points
  46. I started to add some of the decals this afternoon and having completed one side I have set it aside to dry off. The windows will need a little bit of touch up to line them up with the decal frames I may spray some clear decal film up and cut it up to fill them in.
    3 points
  47. There was a camera window in the rear compartment, behind the bomb bay; You can just seen the camera hatch on this Fleet Air Arm Blenheim Mk.IV; Also,.....the Navigator/Observer could open up the nose escape hatch and use a hand held camer too; All the best Tony
    3 points
  48. Thanks, all. I have been saying for a couple of days that the starboard fuselage is almost done, but after this morning's Rivet-Fest I think it really is done, so here you are (any shiny parts are newly applied rows, whose carrier film won't come off until tomorrow morning); Nose: ...and tail:
    3 points
  49. I'll throw in a controversial post here....... Disband them. As a taxpayer, I fail to see what value for money the Dead Sparrows actually provide. The argument that they act as a sales promoter for BAe was true once, but surely not anymore (who still buys T1? and as pointed out above, way too expensive and difficult to justify the T2). Recruitment?? again, how does the Reds reflect life in the modern RAF - cheaper surely to do the odd flyby by a UAV over a school (perhaps working both ways and spotting all the lads having a crafty fag around the back of the bike sheds?). As aviation enthusiasts, I'm sure we all enjoy watching aerobatic displays, but maintaining a whole squadron (+ support, salaries EVEN a whole bloody Airbase) when the crabs have only got 6 or 7 frontline jet sqns is an extravagance we can no longer afford. IF THEY WERE REALLY WORTH THE MONEY, THEN THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SOLD OFF TO CONTRACTORS A LONG TIME AGO - like just about everything else in MOD.
    3 points
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