Airgunner

Which shop? Use both fairly regularly but haven't been down since 'the Incident'. Not linked I hope?

Yep, beautiful work on one of my old favourites. Great finish, looks just right..

After some freezing weather, then a lot of catching up to do in the garden left not a lot of time for modelling, I managed to get some bench time in so here's a bit of an update. Firstly, the wings. There are some pretty prominent ejector pin marks on the inside if the wing halves that need to be dealt with to get them to join properly. Not much effort, but frustrating nonetheless. On the ends of the wings there are some small inspection hatches that for reasons unknown are represented by three raised lumps, these were sanded back and then replaced with some very light punch marks. They for some reason look heavy and out of line in the pictures, but in reality they are not. Also, the join between the wing halves left a small step along the leading edge, but a little sanding soon sorted this. So after this work, I was left with this. I left it like this for the wing joins to cure properly so I could then attack what is supposed to be the main failing of this kit, the fit of the nacelles. Whilst waiting for this, I addressed the lack of detail on the rear of the cockpit, there appear to be a couple of holes and a small hatch on there so these drilled in and made from a sheet of thin card. Once it was dry, the card was sanded back to make it thinner and the holes tidied. So next up was the nacelles, and yes the fit is horrible. They seem to be a combination of poor design and execution, the fit is wrong in three axis. After much sanding of the nacelle, the wing and then some packing out with thin card, I managed to get an acceptable fit with the use of plastic weld and some clamps. The fit in this area really is poor and I can see many young modellers giving in here and just lobbing the whole shooting match in the bin. It's a shame, because the rest of the kit is nicely moulded and fits really well. Poor design, which hasn't recently been an Airfix trait, really lets the kit down. So after coat of Halfords Plastic Primer and a polish with 12000 grit mesh, it was on with the first of the camouflage colours. The call outs are for RLM81 over RLM82, I have some Xtracrylix colours which are pretty nice, but they seem to have been affected by the cold as I left them in my shed by mistake. I do however have a Vallego Modelair late war Luftwaffe set which includes these colours so I thought I give them a go. Paint was mixed well and thinned with the thinner medium that came with the set, then sprayed at about 13 psi. They went on quite well, a little differently than other brands, they needed quite a few very thin coats to get a good covering, but they dried very smooth. This is the first coat of 82, not a bad match for the Xtracrylix. Once this had dried, I masked up and sprayed the 81. This colour is a lot more different to the Xttracrylix, a lot less Violet and much more Olive brown. Not sure I like it, but will go with it. That's it for now, going to leave it overnight in a warm place to cure then it on with to the undersides. Hopefully not so long for the next update... Steve

“This.....is a shotgun, Sol..” ”it’s a f£&@“g anti-aircraft gun Vincent”

Update time.. After a weeks wait, the decal sheet has arrived, so I can now crack on having decided which scheme I'm going for.. I scheme I have chosen is an old favourite, Red13 of Heinz Bar. So this is where I am at after a few hours at the bench.. The tub has been painted, RLM66, panels black and a dry brush of light grey. IP base coated black then kit decal used. Simple but effective.. Other interior bit sprayed with Alclad Aluminium... Tub closed up and in place on the lower wing. Fit here is very precise so everything was cleaned of paint, and has now been left to set up so it all stays aligned. This is where I am now, fuselage joined and lower wing parts setting. Hoping to get up to Hendon tomorrow to get some reference photos of the 262 there as I need some good detail shots of undercarriage, engines and other bits and bobs. More soon hopefully. Steve

Will be following this one closely, I do like the Battle, always was a sucker for the underdog, and with no decent kit in 72nd will be good to see how you go about correcting it. Good you're going with a vac canopy, the one I remember from days of yore was about a foot thick!

After a six month modelling hiatus following my Defiant caused by life, work, family, Dragon-in-Law, I have managed to find some time to get back to the bench. To ease myself in gently I am going to have a go at the new Airfix 262, one of my favourite kits from years gone by, or one of my favourite aircraft. I must admit I was delighted when Airfix said they were going to retool it, and on a pre-Christmas visit to Salisbury I popped into Endless Models and secured myself the last one on the shelves. On that note, obigatory box top shot... On opening the box, as usual everything got a close inspection and as per Airfix latest stuff, it all seems beautifully moulded in their usual soft grey plastic. Having read reviews it does look as it will fit together tightly so the normal care on cleaning up painted surface will have to be done. I am not going with the decals in the kit, I have found Xtradecal set X72269 which contains decals for loads of different aircraft in a variety of schemes, so I suspect their will be a few more of these in my future. Cutting, cleaning and sticking wise, not much has happened yet, other than I have joined a few of the interior bits, and taken the rest off the sprue ready to get some paint on them. Not much to see really, but as I'm still trying to get used to Flickr, here's a few pictures I took as a test... I've also glued in the spars on the wings that locate the cockpit tub etc., so hopefully they will good and solid by the time I get some paint on there ready to get the thing together. Not much I know, but it's a start. Now I'm back in the saddle hopefully benchtime and updates will happen regularly. More soon Steve

Utterly astounding, I don't have the words... next question, how big is the queue of museums that want to display it?

Not been here for a few days, and was surprised to see no-one has mentioned the passing of another of the Few, Squadron Leader Nigel Rose. Just 11 left now apparently. RIP Sir.

Out at the farmshop and got a fly past by a Tornado, first pass low and slow, wings unswept, second burners on and a full tilt departure. Followed moments later by a display by a Griffon Spitfire but too far away to see which on. About an hour earlier two Apaches headed that way too. I'm guessing it may well be Odihams families day?

Bit more progress over the last few days... Dot filter on, and the colours used.. This took a good few days to dry, probably down to the warm weather.. Whilst that was drying I added a the reflectors for the landing lights, I used some small pieces cut out of a Swann and Morton blade packet as it is aluminium coloured.. The canopies and turret clear parts have been painted too, first the interior colour, then Alclad Aluminium and then the exterior colours.. Once these have been left a day I will start on chipping them. More soon... Steve

Hi all, can anyone suggest a good area to watch/photograph departures, I was supposed to be working Monday but have now been stood down so have the day free. I see the 'official' area is sold out so would like a decent alternative, happy to pay. Thanks in advance.

Well, that seemed to work so I'll try and get some more photos up later...

I've hollowed the exhausts out with a micro drill and a sharp 10A blade...

Now renamed to Upton in Severn I believe.. 😄