jeff1200

Thanks for your kind comments, I might try the Artists Gesso idea: still got 8 figures in the box. I must say I am pleasantly surprised that anybody bothered to reply. Thanks again. Jeff

British Paratroops Airfix 1:32 scale This is more of an experiment with painting soft plastic than a serious attempt at figures. I picked out 6 different poses from the pack of 14 figures. Cleaned them with detergent (office label remover) Filled in the dimples in the backs and filled and smoothed the moulding join line. Painted with acrylic paints. Comments on the Kit: Advantages, one-piece Disadvantages, not poseable, limitations of moulding mean some of the limbs are joined to the body where in reality there would be a gap. Sten gun muzzles are very fragile. As expected, even after cleaning there are adhesion problems with the paint, although 2 or three coats seem to work.

I can almost hear the "turbines to speed" (or was it power?) on that Batmobile! Great work.

vostok 1 Gagarin on launch pad at Baikonur, Mountford scale 1:1200 The photos include that unit of measurement of miniatures: a one pound coin. The kit is multi-media with a one-piece resin pad and terrain and several white metal parts for the rocket and gantry. I added a photo-etch "ligting tower" as seen in the few images available on Google. Most of the colour images from Baikonur are of more recent Soyuz or NASA cargo launches, with different colours and orientation of the gantries. All agree on a non-descript concrete/rust/sand colour for the terrain. My painting skills are not really up to the challenge, I tried washing thin greys and sands but in the end the colours come out too bright and sharp edged. Advantages Doesn't take up much space! Conclusion A nice little thing.

Thanks for letting me know that my Romulans are inverted! Oops! I don't suppose that in space it makes too much difference.... Thanks also for the image of the original AMT kits. As you say the Round2 re-issue is changed. The Airfix multiple stand would be a better solution. I'm afraid that as a kit looks more and more complete I tend to speed up and just grab at anything to "finish it off", I will have to learn patience. (But I am Homer Simpson's alter-ego after all!)

amt 763 star trek cadet the original series 3 ships scale 1:2500 The 3 ships comprise: USS Enterprise, Romulan bird of prey, Klingon D7 battle cruiser Scale The photos include that unit of measurement of miniatures: a one pound coin. Is there a "bottom" in space? anyway here is the underside view: Comments on the Kit: Cute little models. Comprehensive decals are included. Display stand(s) are NOT included. Problems Poor fit: the tightness of the "snap-fit" parts is very variable. The Enterprise pods were sloppy and very difficult to align, the "V" shaped support was a very poor fit and needed lots of filler. The Klingon upper wing surface needed so much force to "snap" it into position that I popped the seams on the "neck" of the ship. The decals "grabbed" and needed lots of micro-set to allow them to be manouvred into position. Some of them were slightly too large for the surfaces and needed to be trimmed to fit. My Build notes This is my first sci-fi kit and I (foolishly) rushed into the build. With the benefit of hindsight I should have test fit and measured everything and carefully worked out how to locate the parts and how to align them. In most cases I think it would be best to drill out the locating holes and glue the parts rather than "snap-fitting". The Enterprise pods are not properly aligned, do do so would have required me to trim the mating surfaces of the left pod and the "V" strut more than I did. I didn't follow the painting instructions exactly, in the case of the Klingon ship I used part join lines as my painting demarcation lines, rather than masking off as directed (so sue me!). Stands I bought a set of clear Airfix stands and bodged up little "Y" shaped holders on top to support the craft. Conclusion With care this can build to a nice model. If I could figure out how to do it a "tree" stand supporting all three models in formation would be nice. (However I seem to be in a junior league compared to most of the posts on this site, some sort of levitation device would be better?)

Thanks guys, Glad that the colour seems to be acceptable. As for donut sprinkles I might have to do a taste test on a real one or two to get an accurate colour sample!

F/A-18 Hornet Mackit 1:100 scale Here's a wacky idea: a metal die-cast with plastic appendages sold as an unpainted kit. I bought this kit on special in 2004. Plus points: The completed model has the "heft" of a die-cast. The decal sheet includes options for US, Swiss and Australian aircraft. Plenty of plastic underwing stores are included, but no instructions as to which are appropriate for which nationality. Negative points: Stand model: no undercarriage is provided, nor are gear doors even marked on the fuselage. Parts fit is not good. In the absence of a grinding or milling machine removing imperfections from the metal fuselage and wings is extremely difficult. The underside of the tailpane has the copyright information in raised letters, which I think detracts from a scale model. My build notes The assembly of this kit dragged on for years, I eventually decided to just finish it off, with most of the imperfections as they are. I made a mistake in the decal application and thus not all of the kangaroo markings face the nose of the plane.

Homer Simpson Heller 79500 no scale stated Background The assembled model is 175mm tall, which would give a scale of 1:10 if Homer is "really" 5ft 9inches in his shoes. Apparently Heller aquired the moulds of a vac-formed Homer and turned it into an injection moulded kit. Comments on the Kit: Advantages, a rarely seen injection moulded kit of a popular TV cartoon character. Disadvantages Poor fit: the vac-form heritage shows in very thin plastic parts with lots of gaps. The moulded recesses for the strands of "hair" are very shallow and do not seem to match the parts. Ditto the eye sockets. The hand grasping the beer can does not have any surface that it can be located on. The decals are slightly too small for the beer can. My Build notes This is my first figure kit and I (foolishly) rushed into the build. With the benefit of hindsight I should have test fit and measured everything and carefully worked out how to locate the parts and how to hold them while painting. I used Micro-Sol to apply the decals and this worked very well. Conclusion With care this can build to a nice model. Further remarks I filled the gaps in the body halves by applying filler from inside using a long stick. The gaps in the head and arms were filled from the outside. If I were to do this again I would make a plasticard inner overlap for the joins and then fill from the outside. I would cut the ends off the head and arms so that the inside would be accessible after the halves were glued. This would also allow a clamp to be used to hold the parts for painting. I would make a little pin on the right hand to locate the beer can. I would paint the can silver overall before applying the decals, then any gaps would appear silver and not need touching in after the decals were applied. I would also try to mix a rather brighter "banana" yellow colour.

I visited Modelzone Portsmouth today. Kits are 20% off and Paints and tools 30% off. Apparently that shop is going to be open for at least a week. As it happens I don't need an airbrush or a compressor, but if I did I would be tempted by such savings, if a problem developed there would presumably be a UK agent to provifr support. Kits: Airfix and Revell are well represented, also some Dragon and Round2 (AMT/MPC/Moebius). I was tempted by a "Jules Verne Nautilus" but the £40 pricetag with discount was still outside my price range. My own feeling is that Portsmouth was probably part of the "over-reaching" problem and it may well not be saved in any buyout. As it happens there are a few independent model shops along the South Coast and so the demise of Modelzone would not be a total disaster for modellers in the region. Indeed they might be hoping that that will happen? It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Jeff

UDT 35 scale Revell the Revell kit has a long pedigree being first released by Monogram in 1959. In those days it came in multi- coloured plastic and was clearly more of a toy than an accurate model (the hull and frogmen will float). The most recent re-release in 2012 did not seem to sell well in the UK and kits can still be found, often at discount prices. Plus points: The kit is as much a set of figures with a boat as a boat with crew figures. Negative points: The fit of parts is not good. There are a lot of sink marks. The figures are not poseable. The facemasks of the frogmen are not flat. I regret not having made flat inserts to simulate the appearance of flat glass. A lot of the detail is crude and reveals the age of the kit. Conclusions: I remember this was a nice toy in the early 60's.

Harbour Tug 108 scale Revell the Revell kit has a long pedigree being first released with the name "Long Beach" in 1956. It is often seen in toy and hobby shops, so it must keep being re-issued. Mine was produced in 2001 and had a little flash and some sink marks but nothing too bad. Plus points: The kit is moulded in bright red plastic and would make a colourful toy/model with no, or little painting. The crew figures are a nice touch. Negative points: The fit of parts is not too good. The red plastic makes painting a chore, especially light colours. Although the instructions show rigging for the masts there are no obvious locations for this to be secured to the deck. Ditto for the lifeboat: the provided hook in the lifeboat is far too small to allow realistic sized thread to be fed through. The provided fenders don't really look like rope. There are a lot of sink marks, those on the bulwarks are highly visible and would be very difficult to smooth out. What I did to make the build even more difficult: Cut the hull at the waterline, I prefer waterline models, but there is no doubt this is a lot of work, expecially on a rounded hull. Put glazing in. Put baffles inside the superstructure to prevent "seeing right through". Cut the moulded ropes off the deck. I did not think ahead and drill out holes or hooks large enough for "proper" rigging thread. Doubts about the accuracy: I am not an expert, nor have a I spent a lot of time researching the subject. However the tug looks characteristically American and I am very doubtful that the supplied decals "Lucky XI of London" are correct. So I left them off. I have done a search on the Miramar ships database and not found this name. The colour scheme is similar to an American firm that used and still uses girl names for its tugs. The configuration of the lifeboat, jutting over the narrow deck walkway looks very odd, even for a ship clearly built before "health and safety". Conclusions: I suppose, with a bit of research it would be possible to confirm the accuracy or otherwise of the ship and modify the kit accordingly. With the benefit of hindsight I would build it out of the box as a colourful model of "A Tug" and leave it at that.

I think this kit is good value for money. There are enough planes included that one can "fold" most of them and still have a busy looking deck. Before Modelzone went bust you could get an extra set of planes for £5.

Revell USS Nimitz photo with the supplied aircraft: all have wings and rotors extended, which makes for a crowded deck. With a bit of work cutting and glueing, the same number of aircraft can be depicted folded. The difficulties I had with the kit were the superstructure, that seems to need several hands to hold it together while the glue sets. The decals, the instructions say to use decal setting solution. Humbrol Decalfix did not do a great job and I had to use white glue to stick down one or two that lifted. And there was the self-imposed problem of cutting the bottom off the hull, but I prefer waterline models.

In response to Foxy's comment made about Deacon's Matilda Hedgehog here is my photo of a 1:100 scale model of a Matilda with add-on protection in the form of idler guards and steel mesh engine deck. The best reference I am aware of is a book: Paul Handel, Dust Sand and Jungle, RAAC Tank Museum 2003 Neither model is of great interest of itself. For your information: On the left of the photo is a quality castings metal kit of the 3" howitzer armed tank, unmodified. On the right is a battlefront resin and metal kit of the 2pdr armed tank with my add -ons.