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I recently moved house - and accordingly my 'model-zone' has been reduced in size by half... I am looking at this however as a good reason to take more time, work more carefully, and try out new and more compact techniques. As a first build for the new work bench I got a second hand 190 off ebay - which was intact, though the decals had been partly used. I didn't intend to do this kit as a WIP, but was quite happy with how it was going, and as I was taking my time with it I guess it felt worth doing. That said - I missed out some stages, so this will be a WIP-in-brief! One thing to be clear on from early doors is that this is going to be non-historical, and mainly a test-bed for me trying to nail some new-ish techniques, and refine some others I have been trying. So apologies to all for infuriating inaccuracies. One thing I am hoping to do is cut down on my use of rattle cans, which I have primarily used as I don't have an airbrush. So for all lots of small parts of this kit I just primed them with a rattle can, then brushed the rest. I will still be using rattle cans for the top side camo, but plan to try mottling using oil paints... we will see how that goes! The tub was painted with a variety of vallejo greys, then dry-brushed with neutral grey. The only non-kit part was the belts which are rolled flat solder wire. I have never really tried riveting before - and this was my (very tame) first attempt. I just added some lines of rivets along the existing panel lines, using them as guides. It went OK and I think that next kit I might be more adventurous and start filling in the gaps... The various sub-assemblies I like to do while not attached to the main body, as I always break them off before the kit's complete. So I did the canopy, fuel tank, engine, prop and legs already. The fuel tank was painted with a rattle can of Belton grey-green paint, then weathered with oils. The nose was brush painted with valejo grey black and a various lighter shades were then sponged on to try and create the image of light wear and tear, with a very light bit of aluminium last for heavier scrapes. I used some rolled flat solder as the 'belly band'. The prop was brush painted with a mix of valejo paints to try and achieve the dark green that seems to be normal for 190 props. I then made various paler shades and dry brushed each blade's leading edge before scraping on a bit of valejo aluminium with a toothpick. The spinner chipping was sponged on. The latest stage was doing the wings' undersides. A bit risky doing this without them attached to the body, as errors / filling later might destroy this work, but it being Tamiya I am banking on minimal headaches. I painted the undersides with rattle can Tamiya bare metal silver, then masked it before painting the remainder with the Belton grey-green spray. I then mixed a yellow/aluminum shade and a grey-black/aluminium shade of silver from valejo and brush painted some panels to break up the metal areas. I then cut my own masks for the first time (using kit decals as a guide) and sprayed on black markings. I brushed on some valejo aluminium to wear these a bit. Finally I weathered it with oil wash, and raw white oil paint in panel midels to break up the grey-green areas. Next we will paint up the torso before marrying it to the wings! Thanks for looking, and all tips / comments very welcome. Bruce

I am currently wrestling with Zvezda's PE-2 - which is a beautiful kit, but extremely parts-heavy. So I jumped at the chance to knock out a quick build for a friend's desk. My mate in the office's IT dept. is English-Polish and got envious because I made the other IT guy a Tamiya Zero (as requested because he likes anime, and specifically The Wind Rises). Needless to say the kit threw itself together, with major parts only just needing glue in places. I used a mixture of decals because the only stipulation was that it be a Polish RAF 'plane, but with 'some colour' - hence the red spinner and blue markings. Outside was painted with Tamiya rattle cans - RAF Dark Green, Ocean Grey, Haze Grey. Then post shaded with oil paints before a brushed on layer of Vallejo satin varnish slightly watered down. Thanks for looking - back now to the PE-2! All notes, criticism welcome! Bruce