tomprobert

I’ve got lots of sets by KitsWorld and was nothing other than impressed with their sets from 5 or so years ago. Nice and thin, printed in register and went down without issue. However, more recent sets have been nothing other than a complete waste of money. I don’t know if they have changed printer, but they are pebbly in texture and the colour density is really poor. I’ve got a 1/48 B-29 built and painted, but the KitsWorld decal set was so poor the build has hit the buffers. I won’t buy a set of their decals now unless I’ve actually got them in front my me and can check the quality. Buying online is too much of a gamble. Tom

Thank you. It was just a case of carefully cutting away the rear of the nacelle where the air bypasses with a very sharp blade and then extending the exhaust cone forward a little into the engine itself as otherwise it leaves an unsightly gap - I did this with very thin plastic card. I then added the reverser rails and the cowl supports from more plastic card. Time consuming, but worth it in this scale. That is an exceptional model in my favourite KC-10 scheme - one I was tempted to do myself. However, being a proud Englishman I have decided on British Airways instead. I built the 747 a few years ago (see pic at the start of this thread) and it makes an impressive model in this scale. Handling it for painting etc was a struggle 😆 Many thanks, Chris! Very kind, thank you. The kit actually provides the intake ducting and fans as injection moulded parts. When I’ve next got the camera out I’ll snap a few piccies. They didn’t fit all that well to the vacformed engines however, but Milliput came to the rescue. I got the engines attached to the wing last night so hopefully I’ll get the joins made good soon and post another update. More when there’s more! Tom

No not yet. It’s more or less built, but I’ve made and boxed up lots of parts and have put them somewhere safe for when final construction could begin. So safe, in fact, I’ve never seen them again. And I just know if I was to remake those missing parts, you can bet your last penny I’d find the missing ones as soon as I’d finished. Therefore, when I do eventually stumble across them, I’ll get going again.

When I built my rendition of this kit, I tackled the intakes by spraying the components white before any assembly, then gluing everything together. I then used Milliput White and applied it directly to the joints, and before it hardened I smoothed everything in with a wet cotton bud (or two). Then, all that was needed was a very light coat of some additional white and, as if by magic, perfectly seamless intakes appeared. I also did something similar with the 1/48 one I did - the method is my ‘go to’ when tackling areas of kits of this nature. Tom

Yeah… it’s been a while. I started it and lost interest so boxed it up and then suddenly I got the itch again. Connie? I don’t recall starting one of those, but the length some of my builds drag on it’s entirely possible it has got lost in the mists of time… A 1/32 Shackleton, however, I do recall starting… 😆

Howdy folks. More, albeit slow, progress on the DC-10… I’ve got the engines more or less done. From fairly non-descript bumps I’ve managed to make something that’s a reasonable resemblance of a pair of CF6-50Cs. I’ve hollowed out the bypass sections, made the vents on the pylons and generally tidied and sharpened up the kit parts. Before: After: Now to get them hung on the wing… More when there’s more! Tom

Sweet Jesus and all things holy - that is just incredible. I have bookmarked this for inspiration - I've just picked up the Matchbox/Revell 1/72 scale Snowberry so your build will be an invaluable resource. Tom

It may be worth dropping Juan at 8A decals a line. I had the same issue with my Mach 2 DC-8 and Juan enlarged a 1/144 set for me to 1/72 for a very reasonable price and the decals were excellent. He’s a really good bloke and was happy to help me out.

The prototype was kept by the company and used as the test airframe for the two stage Merlin set up. Therefore, it’s been preserved in its last iteration for all to enjoy ☺️ Another great show - a thoroughly enjoyable day out and it was good to catch up with some fellow Britmodellers.

That is utterly superb. Tom

Hi folks, I’ve been tinkering again… White metal gear struts installed into my home made bays: Retraction struts and further details need adding to the bays but that will be done in time. I have also made the elevators from plastic card and added these to the stabilisers in a slight droop: Overall picture as it is now: The challenge will be trying to make something resembling General Electric CF6-50C engines out of these lumps in plastic… More when there’s more! Tom

This is because, over the course of recent years, this is what many modellers have been crying out for. Have you not seen the craze of highlighting every single rivet, divot, panel line and anything else on the surface of a model with panel line washes and the like to make them *super realistic*? You therefore need such surface detail to 'bring a model to life'! I think as Dick points out above, under some paint they look OK - but Dick has also gone for realism over the latest fads and not highlighted everything with washes. DBMK would be accused of not providing enough detail by some if they didn't add rivet details, and equally are now being accused of over-doing it by others. Damned if they do, damned if they don't!

I've somehow missed this - it's an absolute masterclass in 'proper modelling' and the result is looking fantastic. I doff my cap to you, Sir! Tom

Yeah... it's big old lump. Span is more or less B-17 sized so it takes up quite a bit of space. The simple ideas are the best - steal away! Yes I can see that you mean - but perhaps lay off the wine for a bit

Thanks, Frank - I think the whole fuselage is slightly bloated but it no doubt looks worse in the photos due to some of the angles of the photos. This is just brilliant information - thanks for sharing. I just went on the information provided with the decal sheet so to hear a more detailed and accurate account is amazing. Full respect to your father and his service. Thanks, Kev. You know me and B-17s… I just can’t resist them!