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Showing content with the highest reputation on 12/10/17 in all areas

  1. This is my recently finished AMG Bf 109 Anton in 1/72. The full build thread can be seen here: Construction of this one was a challenge, but in the end I was very pleased with the appearance of the finished kit. AMG has captured the shape and "sit" of the early 109s better than any attempt so far.The parts are well defined and the subtleties of the Anton are represented very well, even including the spade grip on the control stick. This build was out of the box, since I wanted to see how kit assembled. In a word - lousy. The fit and engineering of some major assemblies terrible. But nothing some putty, superglue and Mr. Surfacer 500 couldn't overcome. All of the gory details are outlined in the build thread. The entire airframe was riveted with various sizes of Rosie the Riveters and the model was painted with home-brew mixes of Gunze Sangyo paints to represent the German "Silberweiss".
    27 points
  2. Ok so over the last couple of weeks I have been finishing off projects that I started some time ago and this is one I started over 2 years ago! It is the HobbyBoss 1:48 Tornado F3 which I had given up on as the fit was poor and I got bored of it. Anyway I decided to have another go at it and this is the result. Its not bad but far from perfect but 'in flight' it looks pretty good in the special scheme. It was largely out of the box with resin seats and Xtradecal decals. Paints were Gunze and Tamiya with some Alclad. I love the Tornado F3 and am eagerly awaiting build reviews on the Revell kit which I am hoping is much better than the HobbyBoss one cheers chris
    25 points
  3. Hi Squadron Leader Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle DFC*, usually known as Pat Pattle, was a South African-born Second World War fighter pilot and flying ace of the Royal Air Force. Wikipedia His score could be as high as 51. A total of 26 of Pattle's victims were Italian; 15 were downed with Gloster Gladiators, the rest with Hawker Hurricanes.[He is considered to be the highest-scoring ace on both Gladiator and Hurricane (35 victories) I have chosen to model his Gloster Gladiator using the current Airfix 1/72 Gloster Gladiator MkI when he was based in North Africa. This is the second biplane I have rigged using nylon invisible sewing thread, which is visible at this scale. Next time I might stain the thread with dark grey felt tip. I have used xtracolor RAF Dark Earth and Tamiya XF81 Dark Green 2 for the upper surfaces and Tamiya Titanium for the upper wing undersurface and finally Tamiya White X-2 and Tamiya XF1 flat black. I used an artists oils muddy black pinwash for the panel lines and another pinwash of a light dust colour for panel lines on the black underside and to give a dusty weathered effect to the general model. I used Humbrol Clear matt originally as the final cote and this was TOO matt and left white residue so I oversprayed it in Humbrol Clear Satin which gave a much more realistic finnish Unlike peace time Gladiators the propeller was painted black with a dark earth leading edge and the exhaust collector ring was modelled on images of pegasus engines that had actually been run as the brass shows subtle changes in colour from different temperatures of exhaust gas with an aluminium coloured front and back edge. I hope you like the photos on a makeshift diorama
    21 points
  4. Here my new Model: Mengs`cement-free P-51D Mustang. A nice kit with only minor issues, the bigges one is the canopy in open position wich is not close enought to the fuselage. Add some Eduard PE parts and used the Cartograf decals OOB. Hope you like the result
    14 points
  5. My fellow modellers good evening. Today I've finished my Bae Hawk T Mk1 in 1/48 scale from Airfix. I've probably exaggerated with my modeller's skills, but I've tried to replicate this beautiful (for me) display airplane as appeared in 2010 and piloted by Flt Lt. Tom "Cinders" Saunders. This is the real airplane: Bae Hawk display by Franco Segato, su Flickr photo taken from www.valleyaviationsociety.net Photo right to Neil DunridgeI and published only for modeller's discussion. I was a little bored of the Hawk in all black or grey as in my display every models have this colors, and I would like to try something a little bit more colorful. I found a beautiful decal kit from Model Alliance to replicate the airplane, with such a beautiful union Jack on the fuselage. All the decals are very nice made and they react very well to Mr. Mark Softer I've used, but I didn't trust the cover of the white decals (the stripes) as the colors below are very dark and bright. I've checked in this, and also other, forum previous works on the Hawk but I couldn't find anybody that did this replica, and for this reason I had to immagine, and think solutions. For this reason I've duplicate the white stripes using my inkjet printer and I made an exact mask of them. Then I have colored the airplane keeping my mask below and when I've striped down the model, this was the result. It's not 100% perfect but I can live with it, also because this scheme was, for me, really difficult. The model had the improvement of a new CMK Cockpit as I wasn't satisfied with the kit's interior, everything else is as Airfix made it. Three hands of Future wax made it very bright and clean as a display airplane should be. I hope you will enjoy the kit and the effort to make it as real as possible. Here some shots: P_20171011_164828 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164625 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164854 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164704 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164646 by Franco Segato, su Flickr Dall'alto 2 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164958 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164727 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_165050 by Franco Segato, su Flickr P_20171011_164742 by Franco Segato, su Flickr Now It rest on the Royal Forces part of my display: P_20171011_165346 by Franco Segato, su Flickr As always your judge and suggestions are very welcome as I'm still improving, with everybody help, as modeller. Franco
    13 points
  6. 21/2017 Finally the Persian quartet is completed. The Iranians were supplied with 75 F-84G, in service from 1957 to 1965 as fighters, fighterbombers and for aerobatics in the Golden Crown Team. Tamiya kit, main markings from Hi-Decals, stencils from the kit and sparesbox, as with the other IIAF birds, not all stencils are completely correct and some are missing. Painted with Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium, airintake and exhaust with Tamiya Titanium Silver. Streamlined (practice) bombs from the Academy Sabre kit. The model shows an a/c of TFS-41 in 1960. DSC_0001 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr
    12 points
  7. This was buried in the stash for years until I finally took pity on it and decided to give it a go. It's a nice package with everything you need in the box (p/e, masks), only problem being the fit of the nancelles. Regards J A
    11 points
  8. Course were still in 1/72. That's half the fun Ok so. Experimental MDC artwork scaled to 1/72: At 100% they're less than 20mm long and the zig zags in the MDC are tiny - very tiny. On reflection I think they are smaller/finer than the etch process (my home brew efforts anyway) can cope with. The definition I can achieve just ain't that good. But that's no reason not to crack on bull headedly as a test is it? Here's a couple of piccies after the developing stage. Like I thought - the zig zags proved to be too small/fine and haven't reproduced all that well (but a bit better than I feared): On the other side part of the rear MDC came off in the developing stage. Have to say tho' that I was pleased and relieved that such thin lines (by and large) survived the UV exposure/developing. And so to the etching........ Promising. I did at least get the front and back artwork lined up accurately enough! This is 0.003" brass btw. And after stripping away the residual resist: And a few comparison shots against the Airfix supplied canopy (rescued from the junk box): I'm pleasantly surprised tbh. A tad crude perhaps (although this is unforgiving macro of course) but a very gentle swipe with the diamond file might neaten things up a bit. With a bit of refinement it might actually be doable. As long as I can get the brass MDC to conform/stick to the inside of a home-brew vac canopy of course I might try redoing the artwork with the zig zags rendered a tad rounder or overscale. It's been fun so far tho'
    11 points
  9. evening folks I just had either a major brain fart that means I am slightly potty, or a stroke of genius ..before we get to that, I spent today making all the fuselage formers... used the printouts to score and break out the shapes, removed the 2mm strip from the centre and then balanced each one with each other by clamping together in a vice and shaping as one... ..soon had them all done... ..now about that idea... I have two challenges - 1) the perspex keel is actually quite flexible along its length and I was a bit worried that even balsa packing & glue won't make it 100% rigid and true as it is when it lies on my bench. For this reason I would have to make up one side with formers & balsa and then flip it over to do the other side once it had stabilised.. 2) if I do want to put this in the Telford comp one day it needs to be predominately plastic - the rules do say something about that so a plastic keel with balsa, skinned with metal is not really compliant... ..then the brain fart... what about this... ..Lego :)... it will make it super rigid, it is plastic, and all I need to do is contour the surface with P40 automotive filler ..for now I think it is bloody clever, but am going to sleep on it before I commit.. just thought I would mention it hehe TTFN Peter
    10 points
  10. Well, I'm calling this finished. This is the Revell boxing of the Dragon USS Independence CVL-22. This has been hanging around for many years waiting the opportunity to get it finished. No major modifications were done to the basic kit except for etched details from the Gold Medal Models set for USN CVE/CVLs. The model is finished with Lifecolor acrylics. Thanks for looking!
    9 points
  11. Hello, i have finished another of Eduards Fw 190 kits in 1:48 scale. This time a Weekend Edition kit in the colors of Jagdgeschwader 5, based in Norway 1945. Only photo etched seat belts were raided from another 190 for this. It rested roughly six month in a nearly finished condition in my area of doom but now it is done. Thanks for watching ! Cheers Bernd
    8 points
  12. Before i make a short break to visit friends, here the Crimson Test Tube, a Navy jet in full polished color! 3 speed records but lost Mach 1 race against X-1. I love it. As in April/May 1947, before cockpit conversion. Cheers!
    7 points
  13. This is the 3rd or 4th Hasegawa P-3C to be posted here in the last month or so. I am not sure of the reason for this. I would say great minds think alike, but I am not sure where I would fit in . Anyway here is my offering. I am a bit unhappy with this build, not the fault of the kit, but related to my spaying. I wanted a nice gloss finish on the white, so I gave it several coats starting with a dry dusting and working up to a a wet heavy final coat with light sanding in between. This has worked fine in the past, but this time I was getting a lot of dust infiltration, and the occasional blob of paint. At one point a fairly large black spec of dust suddenly appeared and in a vain attempt to hide it under more paint I ended up with a drip, (sigh). This meant sanding idown and basically starting over. . I finally decided cut my losses and live with some specs. As far as the kit itself, it is from some pretty old molds and it shows with plenty of flash and raise panel lines, but the fit was good and while I can argue with some of the engineering it went together well and looks good. The decals worked well with virtually no silvering and look good. My only complaint is that they implemented to walkways, "no steps" and other line on the wings in 3 big decals. They were hard to work with and maneuver into position and had large clear areas. When first put down the clear areas severely wrinkled, but with several applications of MicroSol they flattened out. So on to the pictures; I used the Eduard interior, but with the small windows it is hard to see inside. Next up is the equally old Hasegawa OV-1A. Enjoy.
    7 points
  14. OK, I admit it - everyone's photos and wonderful display of Matchbox stashes has got me hooked - I'm now seeking official permission to join this Matchbox II Group Build? Below is my meagre stash of Matchbox kits. The classic Heyford was a gift from my Sister for my 12th or 13th Birthday, however I'm sure most of the others were purchased either via online websites or at local swap meets. So which one of these kits do you think I've chosen to build for this GB?? Well actually, I'm afraid to say its none of these! Believe it or not, all this chit chat and wonderful images of completed Tempests had me thinking a fair bit over the last few days. I was scouring the online web stores and various forum market places, however as someone else pointed out tracking down a copy of a Matchbox Tempest is not exactly a cheap exercise these days. To be honest, most Matchbox kits on eBay are way too expensive, however someone must be buying them otherwise they wouldn't be this price I suppose. Now in my teenage years I had attempted to cross-kit a Heller Tempest V with the radial nose and wing root intakes of the Matchbox kit. It all took shape, however for one reason or another never got finished. When I saw Black Knights silver painted Tempest Mk.VI it got me thinking - whatever happened to that old project? To my great surprise, I delved into the stash and found an old box full of Tempest, Typhoon and even parts from an old Frog Sea Fury! Amongst all this light grey plastic was the tell tale green and dark grey sprues of around 95% of the Matchbox Tempest kit!! As you can see at top left, the wing intakes had been cut off, however I salvaged these bits from the failed Heller project and (I reckon) with a little effort they are useable. I do not appear to have the right hand side of the Sabre engine cowling, however BM Member Scimitar (and a top bloke) has come to my aid here and a set of cowls and a prop spinner are making their way over from the UK as we speak. I'll need to use a prop from the Heller kit and have a set of Falcon Clear Vax canopies that I may try, but think they could be too much effort. So here we are - I have a kit ready to go with more bits on their way. I have no idea of colour schemes as yet, so will get to that a little later. Should it all work out, I intend to finish this kit in good time in order to tackle one of the (smaller) subjects in the first photograph. I will probably need to take a 2-3 week pause in-between as I've promised someone that I will need to build and review a new kit, not yet for sale!! So with your permission I would like to join and start this Tempest kit in this great Matchbox II GB. Cheers... Dave.
    7 points
  15. Perhaps this thread should be called " Confessions of another serial Spitfire starter " This is something I have been intending to build for some time now, having watched this aircraft displayed for about 35 years, firstly by Neil Williams and then Ray and Mark Hanna, surely three of the best display pilots ever. I will be using the Hasegawa 1/48 kit ( actually the Mk VIII boxing ) with the Aeroclub Mk IX correction set specially designed to address the deficiencies of the Hasegawa fuselage, an Aires resin cockpit set also designed for the Hasegawa kit and the decals from the Airfix Mk IX from a few years ago. The Hasegawa wings come with the teardrop bulges over the wheel wells which is correct for MH434 and I decided to use the Aires set because the cockpit sidewall detail is a little soft on the Aeroclub fuselage and the Aires set also has a representation of the wobble pump, featured on MH434, on the starboard upper wall. Some photos below of the assorted bits and pieces with a comparison of the Hasegawa and Aeroclub fuselages showing the significant differences in length. This build will run in the background while I finish other kits from the ' shelf of doom ' so the updates will probably be even more infrequent than usual, but I hope I've shown you enough to whet your appetites. Cheers John
    6 points
  16. Hello everyone, My name is Ales and this is my very first contribution on this forum. The Britmodeller website is the reason I have started building models again, after 20 years break, and the work that can be found here has been a great inspiration to me, I dare to say The Spitfire model shown below is my ninth model since the comeback. It is from the Eduards limited edition 'Nasi se vraceji' (Boys are coming home) and represents version Mk.IXc, BS461, flown by many pilots from the 222.squadron based in Hornchurch mid 1943. From the book that was a part of the limited edition, the plane appeared to be a quite worn. I have used Airbrush IWATA Neo TRN1, Tamiya acrylic paints, ALCLAD Aqua gloss varnish, Vallejo sating varnish, Abteilung Oil paints and pigments. The photos were taken by an old Canon compact digital camera. Enjoy
    6 points
  17. Good day, gentlemen! This is my next model. The kit is typical "shortrun". Added metal masts, handrails, side steps, hooks, navigation lights, several interior details. Re-cut the paneling, riveted, grind all edges as usually.
    6 points
  18. Hello folks , these are the 72nd scale kits from roden with trademark poor fit and decals . I rather foolishly used the roden lozenze decals and they proved difficult to work with ! I left off the underwing lozenze for the D.VII Regards , Basu Roy
    6 points
  19. This is very frustrating. Don't panic! The Seafire is fine… However, I slipped over walking the dog a few days ago, and have trapped a nerve in my neck; either you are an old git like me, in which case you will understand, or you are a young whipper-snapper, in which case your turn will come along sooner than you think (so stop laughing!). The upshot is that I am as stiff as a very stiff thing (fnarr), but more pertinently the trapped nerve means that the thumb and index finger of my right hand are numb - and I am VERY right handed. This makes me as clumsy as a very clumsy person in Clutzville, with a particular reason to be clumsy. I am thus not doing anything even remotely complicated to the Seafire - let alone anything involving creativity, finesse or a steady hand. I am being treated by my friendly chiropractor, and it is improving, but only slowly. For the present, therefore, here is a picture of LA561 in her current state, banking gracefully away to starboard (thus defying the laws of aerodynamics, simce her ailerons are in the opposite sense!). The only things that have changed since you last saw her are the removal of the masking tape that covered up the black primer, and a clear coat sealing in the underside (especially the serials) to protect the paint. More when I can feel my bloody fingers! Crisp
    6 points
  20. Hi everybody; quick update for a not-so-quick job. First off, the other side of the radiator cover was completed Then I had to sort the wings leading edge; the biggest step was here: but actually minor steps were visible all along both leading edges, whereas the trailing edges lined up just perfect. Anyway, after a lot of filling (CA)/sanding/scraping/polishing, here's the result Then I had to enlarge the aileron mounting slots, using the two Dremel bits you see in next pic and after some refining A dry fit of the ailerons in what should be their final position This showed that I needed some plastic shims to reduce the gaps; port and starboard, still in progress I am very undecided if gluing in the ailerons prior to the painting stage, just like Crisp @Ex-FAAWAFU has done in his current Seafire build, or leaving them off till the end, for ease of masking Comments welcome, as ever Ciao
    6 points
  21. The clouds are gathering. John
    6 points
  22. I can hardly believe it, but the Anton is done. It has been a hate/love relationship with this kit. I hated it at the start; the stupid engineering, ill-fitting parts and somewhat gummy feeling plastic. But the further it progressed, the more I liked it. The shape is good and there is enough photo-etch and resin included to make up a decent out of the box build. The landing gear doors provided the most drama tonight. Photo-etched parts always give me grief. Even PollyScale paint, which usually sticks to everything, including the airbrush guts, flakes off of these beauties. Very gentle handling minimized this, but that coupled with alignment challenges caused me to make a combined seven attempts to get them right. Tiny drops of white glue were used first, followed with thin superglue. Then these spots were touched up with paint. The rest moved quickly. Among the final steps was making the wingtip lights using tiny drops of white glue tinted with food coloring. They were applied with a piece of stretched sprue. Here are a few photos taken right after completion. I'll take some glamor shots later including some of the undersurface. Again, thank you for the comments and compliments along the way. Now...which one will be next. I'll tell you, I've taken a liking to silver 109s...
    6 points
  23. Hi all, So these kits were built by my two sons (9 & 12) for the recent IPMS Ireland Nationals where they managed to scoop themselves Gold and Bronze respectively in the Juniors class. Myself and the missus are so proud of the boys as it's their first ever model builds and it's not normally their kind of thing. First up, Tom's bronze U-Wing. In terms of build, he painted some of the engine rear deck and engines with acrylics and the interior cabin and seats too. The guns got a coat of Steel.. Tom's_Revell_U_Wing Tom's_Revell_U_Wing (3) I then explained to Tom about how to do a wash to bring out the detail - this is lots of Flory Models dark dirt just wiped off after an overnight soak (we didn't Klear the model) And yes, the lights still work! Tom's_Revell_U_Wing (4) And the base he made for it - I printed out his chosen concrete design and he cut and glued it to an Ikea frame. Tom's_Revell_U_Wing (5) And with his winning gong.. Tom's_Revell_U_Wing (1) Hugh built Poe Dameron's X Wing from Force Awakens. Again, he painted some of the engine parts and I gave him a 1/72 pilot to paint which i superglued into the cockpit. (c'mon Revell, kids need crew for these fighters!) Hugh's_Revell_X_Wing_1 Hugh's_Revell_X_Wing_ (1) Hugh's_Revell_X_Wing_ (2) He then also gave it a wash but with Flory Models Grime wash. For his base, Hugh wanted to recreate the lake on Takodana from the movie so he used the toilet paper and white glue tip we found here on the Diorama forum. It's not that hard but just needs patience in leaving it to dry. He the gave it a good lashing of acrylic paints using green, black and brown followed by Klear. I then cut some coat hanger wire for him and stuck it in (the weekend's excitement means it needs a repair hence the blue-tac) Hugh's_Revell_X_Wing_ (4) Hugh's_Revell_X_Wing_ (5) And with his gong... Hugh's_Revell_X_Wing_ (6) And that's it. I must admit without any prizes, the lads were really excited to see their models on display with a host of other junior entries, right beside the 'Grown ups' table of super-detailed, super-builds. I don't know if the modelling bug has bitten either of them but they had plenty of fun and some good memories. Sorry about the pic-heavy post. Cheers, Dermot
    5 points
  24. Hi guys, this is the final reveal of the Martian War Machine Diorama. This was my way of breathing new life into an old 80's vac form kit, I've also added a few pictures of how the project started out and also showing the modifications to the house, hope you like the results. Finally, you can see my work in progress of this build in the link below.
    5 points
  25. I used an etched MDC from Eduard on the inside of my Harrier FRS.1 kit, and it was fairly easy to get it to conform to the compound curves required. It retained the curvature nicely and I attached it to the inside of the canopy with Future. It's still there - hasn't fallen off yet. I like your work on the homebrew MDC. With that and the vortex generators earlier, you've given me more reasons to invest in an etching set. My wife thanks you in advance for the caustic chemicals in the house! Cheers, Bill
    5 points
  26. Update 3: IMG_2542 by G DSC, on Flickr IMG_2543 by G DSC, on Flickr IMG_2544 by G DSC, on Flickr IMG_2545 by G DSC, on Flickr So from the top: fuselage joined, and two of the three crew installed. The gunner position. Hmmm...a tad over engineered on my part! It looks like hes sitting in a back cage ladder! This little structure was perhaphs too difficult a scratch for me. Once i had it all put together it bent out of shape somewhat. Still not too much will be seen once its installed in the cockpit. Wings: gear doors at the back rescribed and front doors tidied up a bit. Finally fuselage with the start of the scribing on the raised panel lines. A bit tedious to be honest but too late to change my mind now!! Anyway thats it for now. Next update should present somes thimg that looks like an aeroplane, i hope. Cheers Greg
    5 points
  27. Wow Ced. You must be totally made up. That picture of you in front of the spit reminds me of this. I'm not one for being jealous but I might be tempted by this. Bravo indeed! Johnny.
    5 points
  28. Whew! I wasn't kidding when I said there was a lot of masking involved with the wings. Here are the wings, slats, and flaps after all the painting was finished. Lots of little things to mask around and/or protect when painting something nearby. I used a lot of Kabuki tape! As far as I can tell from my photos, this is pretty close to the way 151972 was painted. Here is a shot that shows the spoilers painted white on top of the wing - not all F-111Bs were painted this way: The actuators for the wing flaps look to me like they're red, but there are areas that look natural metal, as in this photo: This photo is 152714, which has a lot of differences from 151972, but it looks like the tops of the actuator rails (or whatever they're called) are a silver color - maybe the paint has been worn away with deployment of the flaps? Looks like I have some detail painting ahead... In the meantime, the wings and tailplanes are getting a coat of floor polish in preparation for a plethora of stencils. I've also been working on the exhaust - the nozzles look somewhat dark in the photos, so I've used a combination of Alclad Magnesium and Steel. This might be too dark, though, I have to think about it. The real aircraft, during its time at Hughes during the Phoenix missile testing also had several additional antennae used for telemetry, and I'll be adding these with photoetch. Oh, and I have a resin IR pod for under the nose. This was part of the conversion set from Pete's Hangar. I think I've only used three parts from the conversion - the radome, the arresting hook fairing, and this IR pod. Cheers, Bill
    5 points
  29. Good evening gents. A quick test using "Rock salt" I've never had a go at this technique before so let's have a go on Mr Mule. first up the whole wing was flooded with water and two lots of RS was sprinkled on. Ground and full rocks. this was dried with a hair dryer for about five minutes on medium heat which left us here. The salt is lightly welded in place so I can spray the original blue colour of the cat. Low PSI at quite a far distance we get this Seems ok once dry the salt gets brushed off with an old paint brush. This gives us..... which seems harsh but it's kind of what I was after. this will be the actual under coat for the black top coat that will either get a chipping fluid pass or salted again or possibly both. Here's the test nest to the cat. and the wing. I think it might just work. What to you guys think? My only worry is my love of pre shade. My plan is to post shade the silver with smoke, I might do this darker so that it shows through when I do the blue? Any ideas are more than welcome on this front. I think I'll sleep on it for tonight and see what it looks like in the morning. Thanks for dropping by. Pretty sure I'll get signed off on Friday from the Doc's as all is going well on the healing front. hope you all have a lovely evening. take care ya'll and Happy Modelling. Johnny boy.
    5 points
  30. Well it is RAF time right now and , of course, I have to share some of my Spitfires from some time ago now! The Vb is from the 64th squadron and was the plane of Lt Plagis when he went back from Malta, it is the Tamiya model with some improvements, the other is the very good Airfix from the new generation plus some Ultracast goodies! Best regards, jean; DSC_0019 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0020 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0021 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0022 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0019 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0020 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0021 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0023 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0024 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0025 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0026 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0027 by jean Barby, sur Flickr DSC_0028 by jean Barby, sur Flickr
    5 points
  31. Thanks Chris, Bill, Jaime, Phil, Joe, PC, Stew, John, Simon and Grey. Hopefully the video will be up soon I've taken lots of pictures of G-ILDA and have the AZ kit ready to go. I'll start a new thread and post the pictures there when I start it, hopefully soon. I'll post a link here, of course. PC's right when he says that the flight was living a dream for me. I know many here share my love of the aircraft, an interest in its history and respect for the people that flew them. I must remember though that not everyone 'gets it' and not bore people too much! As Grey says it's hard not to be smug and I apologise in advance if sharing the experience comes across like that; not meant as a boast, of course, it's just that I was taught to share my toys. Also like Grey I'd recommend it to anyone, but make sure you check the restrictions before you book - she's very tight for chaps like me and two of the people there yesterday couldn't fly; one over 17 stone (too heavy) and the other too, er, 'portly' and the pilot couldn't get 'full and free' movement on the elevators. There's a 6'4" height limit too. We all felt really sorry for them; even though they got a full refund this was no compensation for the disappointment - one had been waiting for his Christmas present and the other had brought his whole family The grin started for me when I arrived, an hour early (of course). There's a replica of JE-J in the car park. It may be plastic but it's still a Spitfire. Then they rolled out G-ILDA and the excitement mounted. There's a nice, comfortable 'crew room' to wait in and wasn't not long before others started to arrive. There's a forty-minute briefing on safety and some of this was a bit 'dumbed down', I assume to make sure that it's clear to everyone that flying in a 'War Bird' is not the same as flying on holiday. Just to make sure, they then tell you that; more than once. I loved the "Airliners are designed for your safety, War Birds are designed to fight" bit. The 'what are the risks of flying a Spitfire' section started with a comment that, historically, the most dangerous aspect of flying was 'combat with the enemy - but this is highly unlikely today'. We were also briefed on preparing for a forced landing and abandoning the aircraft, including operation of the parachute. Apparently they're modern 'chutes designed for the task and yes, you sit on them. Surprisingly for me, any forced landing would be wheels up - I guess it's one less worry when you're trying to find a suitable field and avoids nose-overs. Fitting on the flying suit was fun - I'm... how can we put it... built for comfort, not speed, and the largest flying suit they had was, to quote "Father of the Bride', a little snug. Its corset like fit did help me attain a 'look of the Tom Cruise' though. After a very large lunch, obviously. With two puddings. Kid gloves (without the 'L' and 'R' on so obviously not proper pilot gloves) and a modern bone dome completed the outfit. They did have boots for those who'd come in leather soles. We were then allocated our slot (I was #3) and watched as the first guy was strapped in and the pilot started up. There are some great videos on YouTube, including this detailed one from the pilot's view so I won't bore you with that. Loud and draughty sums it up. Eventually my turn came and I walked out across the apron, my bone dome under my arm and 'Top Gun' playing in my head (obviously). After a couple of photographs on the wing: ...one of the ground crew prised me into the cockpit. Stand on the seat, hold on to the sides, slide down into the fuselage. When you're walking out it hits you how BIG the Spitfire is compared to most things I've flown in (Cessnas, Pipers and the like). Not so the cockpit. It's very narrow. And full of stuff. No wonder the kit pilots don't fit (especially the Chubbies). Because she's a training aircraft everything in the back works so 'don't touch that, or that...' is part of the briefing. You can see the parachute straps in the first photo and the 'foot boards', just in-board of the rudder pedals, in the second. I should have know this but the control column doesn't move side to side (phew) BUT the rudder pedals go backwards and forwards on their runners - a lot. So you have to keep your feet on the foot boards and your hands on your knees. Cosy. Tighten the straps a lot, especially the ones between your legs - in the unlikely event of bailing out, they're your parachute and they don't want you coming back talking in a high voice. THEN on with the harness - elbows in the vertical straps and then connected by the little round clip we all paint so carefully (it's black, with a brass catch. Rats, got that wrong then). I now "had a Spitfire fitted to me". Pilot has a chat and promises to let me fly her. Woohoo! Canopy wound closed, seat up. Startup and taxy out, pilot on intercom. You really can't see anything under the nose so zig zag down the taxyway to the holding point. Engine and mag tests, noise deadened by the headsets. Line up... full power and she's off! The punch in the back and the acceleration is impressive and very quickly she's flying. Lars did very well (of course) and there was no wiggle as he changed hands for gear up. Then climb away, turning gently to the right into the space you can see is clear. We quickly hit the cloud cover at about 900', head off towards Portsmouth, turn over the Solent and fly down the north coast of the Island. "You have control". Crikey, she's sensitive. The slightest movement and she responds, almost 'sensing' what you want to do. Amazing. Too soon I hear "I have control" and we're circling the Needles. Back down the white cliffs, past Bognor with a couple of barrel rolls (can't wait to see my face when that happened), circle over Arundel Castle, back over Tangmere talking about WWII airfields. Overhead Goodwood, right hand circuit. Lars tells me it's hard to bleed off the speed - she want to fly. From 200+ MPH cruise he has to get down to 'gear down' speed and then around 100 for approach and 80mph landing speed. Sweeping right hand finals (still can't see under the nose) and a perfect three-point landing. VERY bumpy at the end of the strip, poor GILDA. Fifty minutes of flying around a lifetime of memories. I'll post a link to the video soon, I hope.
    5 points
  32. Hello fellow Matchbox lovers, So all this recent talk and nostalgic images of good old Matchbox kits has peaked my interest of late. This wonderful subject matter has forced me to park some of my other builds in order to join this great GB. After first attempting to source a cheap Tempest kit online (no luck), I then remembered about an old stalled project from my teens that got me thinking (that was well over 30 years ago!). Long story short, I delved into my stash and found approx. 95% of an old Matchbox Tempest kit that was initially used as a donor subject to convert a Heller Tempest V into an Mk.II. I was missing the prop, spinner and the right hand Sabre Engine Cowling parts, however BM member Scimitar has come to my aid after quickly answering my 'wants' post in the Wanted section. Here is an image of the parts I currently have. On the top right you will see the salvaged wing root intakes that I broke off the never completed Heller conversion. There is also a Heller prop and a few Falcon Clear Vax canopies that I 'may' use. The first hurdle however will be to assemble the wings and neatly re-attach those wing root intakes. This will result in a heap of sanding to get right, so naturally I will loose some of those lovely trench panel lines. As a consequence of this, I've decided to make an effort to fill and rescribe some of these panel lines to something a little less 'Matchbox' like - yes I know, not in the true spirit but serves me right for chopping it up in the first place! So here are some progress shots so far. The first shows the wings being glued together with some of my favourite weapons of choice - Loctite 401 CA and Tamiya's Extra Thin Cement. The lamp on the left is serving to aid my failing eyesight and on the right is probably my third cup of coffee for the day - already getting cold. The salvaged wing root intakes are sitting in the middle of the dirty cutting mat. Not that long thereafter, I cut up a few oversized sections of plastic card and mounted them where shown. The previous cut all those years ago had naturally removed a bit too much plastic, so I needed to build this up so that the intake parts would sit level with the wings leading edge. Wing root intakes now attached to wings and left to dry for a short while. The plastic card backing sits proud of the surrounding plastic and if my skills are up to it the whole area will be filed back to a smooth finish! So did I win? Yeh, not bad. Some heavy sanding has removed a few panel lines but these babies will be going off anyway - my god aren't they deep! The next step is always a bit of a nightmare, however I find it to be the best filler around. The Loctite 401 CA is applied with a Toothpick to all areas that need filling. I find that CA dries clear, fast and super strong. It looks horrible when applied, however with a little (actually quite a lot) of Wet n Dry elbow grease it will sand down to virtually new plastic. Hard to believe from the image below! And here is the final result. One pair of smooth and polished wings without all those nasty trenches. To get this finish I've started with Wet n Dry grades 400, 600, 800 & 1200, then moved on to some well used Micromesh graded 1500, 1800, 2400, 3600, 4000 and finally 6000. A polishing cloth is then vigorously rubbed everywhere until the plastic shines like it's brand new. I have slightly rescribed the ailerons and Cannon bay panel however will apply a few more scribe lines a little later on. I've now applied CA to the lower sides and will repeat this sanding work tomorrow until I'm happy with the finish. So that's the end of day one and this GB Intro. I was not sure at the start if I could resurrect this chopped up kit to a level that I would be happy with, however the completed wing surgery turned out OK so I should see this one through to the end. I've got a few days off work now, so unless I get dragged away to do some boring household chores (which is very likely), I'll post more progress pics later.. Cheers.. Dave.
    4 points
  33. Thank's guy's,I've got the base coat NATO green on and tinkered a shade or two for the canvas cover which I remember from our 3 tonner's in the T.A. would shade differently with age.
    4 points
  34. Slow progress, mainly as I've decided to perform some minor surgery on the turrets so that they can be put in post-painting. Both the front and mid-upper turrets have flanges that sit on small shelves inside the fuselage, so those need to be removed. The transparencies aren't too brittle, so that was a relatively straightforward chisel and sand. The mid-upper turret was also surprisingly badly scratched in patches, so I've tried to polish them out with Micromesh, not entirely successfully (but an improvement). Then some plasticard shelves into the fuselage to give the turrets a base. A faff, and a bit of a bodge, but I think I'm more likely to get a good result from this than from cutting the barrels and trying to mask the turrets so that they can go in before paint. Here's the mid-upper turret. As you can see, the framing on the mould is sufficiently distinct that it's possible to hand-paint, though since I did this before opting for surgical intervention, much has been worn away. The ragged edge at the bottom will be hidden inside the fuselage, but the scratches won't! (This was before Micro-meshing)
    4 points
  35. Hi. I've now done all 200+ stencils on my egyptian FL. 014 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr 015 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr 016 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr And I've done some small work on the Mirage IIIB as well. It's a dog of a kit, and it's taking eons to finish. url=https://flic.kr/p/YkzSrX][/url]017 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr To be continued.... /Bosse
    4 points
  36. Released - ref.87261 - Northrop P-61A Black Widow Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=1366&l=en V.P.
    4 points
  37. No modelling today - Backgammon game, over the pub, nap and then the new Concorde documentary (BBC 4 for UK residents) followed by the Apprentice. Still a bit washed out! Thanks Bill - ah, the Spitfire smell! We were told in the briefing that, sadly, they can't bottle it Thanks Keith Entry in the log book? You bet: 172, 172, 172... 27 year gap, Spitfire! Bit of a jump eh? Thanks John, Benedikt, malpaso, Giorgio, Ian, and Steve Agreed PC - bloody marvellous! Thanks celt and Keith - hopefully I'll be able to bash some shape into the Grumman and save it from 'recycling'. We shall see!
    4 points
  38. I’m surprised that I haven’t sent you a comment yet about that great photograph of your Matchbox stash. Wow - what a trip back into memory lane. You should really display these on a shelf in typical Hobby Shop fashion. Imagine walking into a room within your very home and thinking that you were 10 , 15 or whatever youthful age once again. I’ve often wished that I could just go back to the late seventies or early eighties just for one day to rekindle that Magical period, however I probably wouldn’t be able to jump onto my phone and post my thoughts on BM - would I!! We’ve certainly come a long way, however I’m glad that pictures like this still generate a level of excitement in an slightly aging chap like myself.. Thanks for hosting Arniec and I’ll promise to join in the next few days now that I’ve got a few days off work. Cheers and best of modelling luck with the Do18.. Dave
    4 points
  39. Following yesterday's traumatic session in which the model came very close to getting binned, I stayed up most of the night and have managed to feather out the areas where the Stynylrez lifted and re-sprayed them with the appropriate colours. I added a bit more levelling thinners to the Gunze paint to let it grip onto the bare plastic and this seems to have worked well enough. I shall let things be until tomorrow to give the fresh paint time to settle before breaking out the hairy sticks for detail painting. The whole model will then be getting a good coat of Tamiya clear to ensure there are no more dramas prior to decaling the model. It will then be on to finishing painting the rotor assemblies. Off to catch up on some sleep now. Thanks for looking Exhausted of Mars
    4 points
  40. Thanks Benedikt - great tracks! Thanks Jaime - your confidence is appreciated! I dry fitted the nacelles and guess what? They don't fit, too narrow. I've cut them apart again and will apply some TLC Thanks Joe Whatever his age, he's not worn well... Thanks Bill, Giorgio, Benedikt (again), Keith and Nigel... wait no longer! I'm on an post-adrenaline crash at the moment and a bit worn out but happy... Tired but very happy by Ced Bufton, on Flickr 900' cloud base 100% of the flight so no loops but flying at 800' has its advantages. Two barrel rolls. Flew her myself down (part of) the Solent. I have to wait for the video to be processed but should get a link soon. More tomorrow.
    4 points
  41. I don't remember when this project transitioned from drudgery to fun, but it has become a very enjoyable project. She's on her legs now. Just a handful of parts remain. I'll say again that this model is, despite the fit challenges, an accurate replica. I used the Thinnerline cutter to make masks for the tailwheel. It took two attempts. After roughly painting the tailwheel PollyScale grimy black, I cut a mask to spray the RLM 02 wheel. The tailwheel hub is rather ill-defined so plotting the center can involve some guesswork; both sides were slightly off. No problem; I cut a slightly smaller circle to mask the wheel and spray the tire. This time it was successful. Just a quick testimony to the usefulness and capabilities of the Thinnerline.
    4 points
  42. Tonight I finished the oil wash and weathering then sealed everything under a coat of Gx-100 clear. Now on to adding the canopy frames. I used the technique I first tried on my Bf 108 from earlier this year. Cleal decal paper was painted RLM 02, then gloss black, and finally Silberweiss. This time I embossed the screws using a Rosie the Riveter with 0.065 spacing. A few of the frames have been applied to test the effect.
    4 points
  43. BAC Lightning F3 53-692/L 13 Sqd RSAF, Tabuk 1977 Ok so just finished this today and rather pleased with the outcome! It is one of two Saudi Air Force machines they did in camouflage in 1977 - this being the one with the wrap around camo. The other one had a sky blue underside with camo top. It is the Airfix F6 kit and I used Model Alliance decals and some aftermarket for the bang seat. Paints are Tamiya and Gunze and Alclads and I am particuarly pleased with the nose ring as I must have re-done that 10 times to get it right! Chris ty pleased with the nose ring as I must have re-done that 10 times before I got it
    3 points
  44. Finished build of Tamiya's exquisete 1/48 Sturmtiger, full build review article on Armorama's website Will be building a simple base / scene of an abandoned tank
    3 points
  45. Hi Yeoman You did spy right with your little eye - that is Randy Coopers 1/96 sand Crawler that is being "fiddled" with between drying times while these 2 ISD's come to a close - it should look something like this once completed - this was Randy's picture he sent me with the assembly instructions
    3 points
  46. And our photo 1: I was inspired myself from this photo for Bordino's dress, more than from the one on photo 9, taken after the race.
    3 points
  47. Ok, thats a big YES to that too, as Matchbox showed all those years ago, you don't have to be very clever to incorporate the differences between a II & a VI, so wing inserts for flush leading edge for a V, wing leading edge radiators for a I, cockpit insets for car door & bubble tops & nose inserts for any of them, a basic fuselage/wing sprue with alternative sprues for the different versions. Simples. Airfix, you listening? ! Steve.
    3 points
  48. Yes. Good idea. I have long thought that carefully concealed LEGO blocks and other LEGO bits and pieces have many possible uses in scale modelling, especially if you want to make a model that is modular and can be broken apart and rejoined at will throughout construction. LEGO is also very good for ensuring truely right-angled corners are achieved. I am highly likely to use it extensively in my next project and will watch your use of it with great interest. 👍
    3 points
  49. I might see what armour is out there for a second entry,I would love to get the Char B and Renault tank set but they are pretty rare my LMS has Revell's re-box of the white half track which had a great base as far as I can remember,built the firefly a year or two back
    3 points
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