Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 20/03/19 in all areas

  1. Afternoon all - well, it's finally finished. Here's the new Eduard kit, converted to a MK II using the old MDC set - which needed a wee bit of love and the odd stiff talking to, to work Finished as the MV416 XC-D, the CO's aircraft from 26 squadron, Zwelteg 1947. Paint is Tamiya with oil wash and weathering, finale finish W&N Galleria matt. Decals from a selection of codes and kit. Alas the squadron crests on the fin are spurious- Mr Chris Thomas confirmed this with photos he sent - and I suspect the drop tanks should also be silver - but MSG was too good to resist for contrast. Tank & RP load is accurate - although the RPs do locate very close to the drop tanks - which shows in photos but is still a bit tight ( if I did one again I'd nudge the RPs out just a tad) I was always a bit "meh" about the MkII thinking it aesthetically the poor relation to the Sea Fury with it's flatter fuselage lines. But it's grown on me and I now think it rather sleek in a greyhound sort of way. Hope you like her - please comment as you see fit. Jonners
    37 points
  2. This is my build of Maj Prillers FW 190 on 6 June 1944. Based on research. This is the Hasagawa 1/72nd FW 190A-8 with the "light wing" (No outer guns). I used this based on Photos of Major Priller and this aircraft. I used Peddinghaus and Sky decals for the markings. Really loved the Peddinghaus decals(Note,,,The white outline on the makings is there but almost invisible on the backing paper . I used Gunze paints with the RLM 74/75/76 color scheme . Thanks for taking a look Comments are always welcome Regards Bill
    29 points
  3. After recently returning to the hobby after a very long break I jumped straight in feet first with an aircraft I never managed to make during my childhood, a Messerschmitt Bf 109. This has turned out as a build of many firsts for me, mainly: First model but for 33 years. First time building anything from the German Luftwaffe. First time using acrylic paints. First time airbrushing. First time using PE. First time I have applied weathering. Probably the first time I have publicly shown anything I have built. The aircraft was flown by Oblt. Frank Liesendahl 0f 10.(Jabo) Staffel/JG 2. I chose this as it had a mottled camo scheme that would not be too difficult to replicate for my first attempt. As far as the kit was concerned, it went together really well, very impressed with the detailing of the Eduard kits and a big improvement over the kits I used to make. My greatest achievement while building this, is that I never managed to break the pitot off once (although I did manage to break the antennae mount from the tail). The oil cooler flaps didn't seem to want to sit right and the canopy seems a little narrow but it will do for me as a first attempt. I used Vallejo Air acrylics, Flory washes and AK pigments. The weathering is perhaps a little heavy, however considering the amount of action it saw I am quite happy with it. I have learnt a great deal from this forum and hope I can one day contribute as much as others to its pages, maybe even a WIP next?
    22 points
  4. Hi All, "Gooney Bird" is cooked! She's all dressed up and ready to serve! This was a fun "Out of the Box" project, first time experimenting with "dirtying it up". Model got initial overcoat of Pollyscale acrylic "Grimy Black". Upper surface was sprayed with different shades of Model Master acrylic "Olive Drab" tinted with Pollyscale acrylic "Insignia Yellow" . Lower surface was sprayed with different shades of Model Master acrylic "Neutral gray" tinted with Pollyscale acrylic "White". Used water color pencils (Black, Brown, Yellow, Orange) to simulate various stains and color bleaching from the sun. Also, used fabric silver pencil to simulate paint chips. Also, upper surface was "Dried Brushed" with light shade of yellow oil paint. Lower surface was "Dried Brushed" with white oil paint. Sprayed a coat of Tamiya acrylic "Clear Gloss" paint. Majority of panel lines where highlighted with Tamiya acrylic "Smoke". Some panel lines were highlighted with thinned oil paint (black, burn umber, white). Let dry for a few minutes and remove excess with Q-tips. Custom decals were printed by Mark Tutton from Starfighter decals. Model was painted with Pollyscale acrylic "Clear Flat". This is a bird from 90th BG, New Guinea, 1944. Enjoy the pictures! Thanks, Alex Bernardo
    16 points
  5. Its been a while since I posted owt new, been in a bit of a slump... well new image anyway, this was finished in March last year for Club 'RAF 100 years' theme. Hope you like...... ..... All comments welcome.... DaveH
    13 points
  6. Here is my recent build. The venerable Lancaster bomber, the famous “Dambuster” as flown by Guy Gibson. The aircraft and mission need no introduction. The kit itself is the Airfix new tool, and for the most part is excellent and a good fit. I think my fuselage was slightly warped so it needed clamping and filling. The wings, tail, fins, undercarriage and transparencies are an excellent fit. Some fettling is needed in parts. Build thread is here: WIP Build Can’t really find many faults but a few quibbles. The transparencies are a little thick, so one could invest in vacform replacements. Also the forward turret guns cannot be fitted on last unlike the rear guns – yep you’ve guessed it, I ended up busting them off! If I had my time again I would cut them off and add them at the end, but if you’re going to that much trouble you may as well invest in some aftermarket replacements. I drilled out the muzzles but reckon the brass replacements would look much better. This was OOB, but I did add quite a lot of detail inside, unfortunately much cannot be seen, but I’m resorting to the usual cliché in that “I know it’s there”. I also added quite a lot of detail to the internals of both turrets; you get some glimpses of it here and there. Not much else, little lights for the Aldis lamps, aerial wire from fishing line, drilled out and added the escape hatches, drilled out the odd duct and intake. Added navigation lights to the wing tips, and improved the formation and landing lights. The wing roundels were painted on. Paint was Airfix enamels as per the kit instructions. I used Tamiya NATO black on the fuselage and wings so it didn’t look too black, the turrets and other bits were normal Humbrol matt black. Alclad aluminium on the undercarriage. I painted the upkeep mine in red oxide as I understand some were delivered fresh from the factory still in red oxide primer. Not sure if that was the case with Guy’s aircraft but it is plausible and offers a splash of colour against the black. Weathering was done using oil washes and pastels. Thanks for looking. You can just about see the wireless headset I added (sorry about the fuzziness)
    13 points
  7. Howdy y’all, heres my latest creation. It’s ammo’s July 1945 king tiger. I built it mostly out of the box with the exception of some fruil metal tracks. The kit went together pretty decent but the lower and upper hills were slightly warped so that took a little bit of “umph” to mate up properly. But other than that the kit was awesome. I believe this is just a reboxing of a Takom kit, which is great because I have a full interior takom king tiger I’m going to be building for the upcoming tiger group build. I’ve left the weathering lighter on this one as I’m going to build my first diorama or base for this and wasn’t sure if it was going to be based in a city scape or countryside yet. I’m leaning towards cityscape, but anyways I digress. Hope you enjoy it and I’m always interested in feedback!
    12 points
  8. My first F-14 kit, OOB with small corrections, some rivets, panels, hydraulic pipes added and signal lights made with MKK. Very good cartograf decals included. Vallejo acrylics.
    12 points
  9. I don't build many big grey jets, but when my son came home from a car boot sale having found this rather box battered kit thrown in with a bag of old PC computer games I could not believe my luck. £20 sealed the deal so it is a real bargin. Contents were all fine, and the decal sheet was the real motivation, I don't know how old this particuler boxing is but it went together without problems. Painted with extracolor enamals and humbrol satincote. Phantom by Untitled by peter crossman, on FlickrUntitled by peter crossman, on FlickrUntitled by peter crossman, on FlickrUntitled by peter crossman, on Flickr pictures taken on ipad, sorry about the quality.
    11 points
  10. Hi all, Another off the production line, and this time it is my conversion of a Trumpeter F-105D to a B-model, allowing me to build another test machine, F-105B-5-RE 54-0107 (the 3rd F-105B built). She is built to depict her when she was operated by the ARDC as part of the Wright Air Development Center. At that time she was used for, at least, cold weather trials in Alaska in the late 1950s, and went on to spend her entire career as a test machine, finishing her days as a preserved machine at Lackland AFB, Texas. I recorded her there during a repaint in May 1979. She is still there, as far as I know. My build WIP is here for the background on how I got to where I am now with her. What did I do/use? Well: 1. Kit – Trumpeter F-105D 1/72 and nose from Hasegawa F-105B (thanks @rossm) 2. Aftermarket – Aires seat and wheels, pitot from a Master MIG-21PF 3. Paints – All Humbrol - 27002 Polished Aluminium, 155 Insignia Red, 60 Scarlet, 3 Green, 130 Satin White (I had not Matt at the time), 140 Gull Grey, 33 Matt Black, 155 Olive Drab, 191 Chrome Steel, 121 Stone, 27003 Polished Steel, 226 Interior Green, plus ModelMaster International Orange. I have to thank @Giorgio N for his help producing the paint masks. 4. Decals – Xtradecal National insignia, a mix of kit and Microscale stencil and warning markings, Home printed the lettering and numbers (many thanks to @Rob de Bie) and the unit badges. Black walkway lining from Xtradecal. 5. Panel lining and general dirtying – Tamiya Weathering Powders and Flory Dirt. Again, like my Voodoo, I tried to dirty the NMF to show use and the grime picked up over time. Certainly there is one image on line showing her polished for an air show, but I wanted to show her as she would have been day to day. I’m not convinced that I got there, with the Flory Dirt adhering too much to the NMF in places. Unfortunately once done there is no way back other than a repaint! I guess I’m never 100% happy! I hope you like her. Certainly for any of you wanting a B-model this is an easy way to go. Martin
    10 points
  11. Hi all. Here is one of the two finished builds from 2018. It is Eduards rather nice Airacobra kit as a Weekend Edition build out of the box with aftermarket seat belts from Eduard. My P-400 is finished in the colors from the 67th FS/ 347th FG on Henderson Airfield, Guadalcanal, 1942 using the decals from the kit and some from Hasegawa. This was my last RAF aircraft type build using a blue tinted color for RAF Dark Green. I have also followed the painting instructions of Airfixs P-40C kit which recommends Humbrol HU 129 pale gray as Du Pond RAF Color. The biggest error was to put not enough weight in the nose so my Cobra needed "wheel chocks". Beside this i am quite happy with it and i hope you like this one as well. The photos were taken today between rainshowers outside. Cheers Bernd
    9 points
  12. Its been a while since I have posted an RFI (work, travel and children!), but here is the 1:48 KittyHawk SU-22M4 Fitter. Not a kit to cut your teeth on, but certainly not as bad as some of the online reviews would have you think. My biggest issues were: The multi-part fuselage (take your time and try not to introduce an error, ask me how I know!). Wing Fences needed a little bit of dry fitting, trimming and fettling (not that difficult). Pylon locations were indistinct and the instructions were vague and missing detail. Jet pipe was too long, easy enough to cut out a section. Nose cone has no wedge shaped splitter, either FOD guard it or use AM. However there are some very good bits in regards to the kit, the wing fit was exceptional. Huge selection of stores and a plethora of potential options for users both in the kit decals and aftermarket. Aftermarket used: Eduard Interior 49829 Eduard Brassin B-8M1 Rocket pods and pylons 648 041 CWS nose cone Wolfpack resin seat Master Pitot (very, very fragile) and Model Maker decals and stencils (really thin and lots of stencils, instructions got a bit vague with the high numbered stencil identification but they are reccomended) Paints were Gunze with levelling thinners, oils used for cockpit, seat details, wash and weathering. I have been informed since taking the pictures that the dorsal spine blade aerial has been updated, so that's a minor job for later this week to scratch and correct.
    9 points
  13. It's gonna be rough, Perds. All those empty hours, sleeping in a bed without an eighteen-month-old bicycle kicking my head at two in the morning, eating whatever I want when I want it, no macaroni or watermelon to clean up off the kitchen floor...Terrible.
    8 points
  14. Hey there. Finally a build that I am hapy to stop now and have it placed here. Some of your might know my 5 fists for Takom build thread. This was the last built I did of the 5 Takom kits I bought at the end of 2017 and I plan to only have them finished once placed on a small bas. I really liked the box artwork and wanted to do the one tone green DDR tank. Base is a nice contrast in just grey enriched with some grass. The build was completely ootb great detail present in the Takom kit. Some nice PE as well, although this kit doesnt make use of all that is supplied in the box. So here it is now:
    7 points
  15. Another Airfix Meteor in 1/48th scale. This one from 245 Squadron as usual painted with Xtracolor and Compucolour paints and finished with a mix of Rowney varnish. Decals are from one of the Marmaduke decal sheets,these decals are first class and I would recommend them to anyone with an interest in Meteors. Cheers Ian
    7 points
  16. All the bits on now and shiny due to gloss coat. Last few steps are the white squadron bars (perhaps with a bit of overspray), weathering, a flat coat to seal it and finally, the moment of truth, all the masking comes off. Also a clue on what's up next!
    7 points
  17. Here it is as of this evening. Interior mostly finished but working on painting and decaling shells to fill all of those racks. Then I guess I have to eventually start adding all of those teeth to the track links, not looking forward to that. Then some wheels, some paint on the outside and call this done. Went to the LHS yesterday to pick up the second 1/16 Panther and it's gone, someone grabbed it. Probably just as well as there are some extra pieces in this kit that look like they belong to a "late" Panther G so maybe I'll wait or maybe, just maybe, there is a 1/16 Jagdpanther coming. That would be excellent. There are 2 Jagdtigers in 1/16 scale at the LHS and I'm awful tempted to build Jagdtiger #3 but in a different camo and maybe some whitewash thrown in. Anyway here is the Panther.
    7 points
  18. Hello all. Amazing footage showing just how heavily aircraft involved in combat weather. Video duration 8:56. Heavily weathered marauders.
    6 points
  19. Hello, this is a model from three years back, took part at the 35th IPMS Greece Nationals and won a Silver in Masters Category. I have used Eduard's BIG ED and resin wheels, Aires's beautiful resin Junkers Jumo 213 engine, Quickboost's resin propellers & resin MG151 barrels and Master's excellent turned brass antennas. Other than that, I have scratch built some detail inside the main and tail wheel wells, cut open the cockpit windows, opened the access hatch, cut open the ejector chutes for the underside MG151s and opened and scratch built the port side engine access panels. Colours are all Gunze according to their RLM range. Hope you like it, comments are most welcome! Alex.
    6 points
  20. This is the one that's broken my slump (I Hope)... started just Before Christmas, and finished in time for this years Bolton show. Nice kit, but not without a few issues. Finished with MRP paints, which are a joy to use. So here's the pics..... All comments welcome, just waiting for traffic warden... cheers DaveH
    6 points
  21. A quiz for those of you who have been following this build. Can you tell what new additions I've made to the model's deck in the photo below? Here's a hint. Yep, new ropes! I mentioned in an earlier post that "I've ordered a little something to add more realism to the model. It's new for me, so I hope it works out." That 'something' is scale rigging rope. I was so impressed with Rob's (robgizlu) rope cheesing on his ML 196 Fairmile B build, I decided to look for a way I could make the ropes on this build look more realistic. I found a company called Syren Ship Model Company located in the US. Among other things, Syren makes ropes for rigging model sailing ships, in a number of scales. I ordered their 63mm dia. rope in tan colour. It turned out to be a great quality product that was very easy to work with. As you can see in the following photo, at 1/72 scale you can't see a lot of difference between my original 'solder' rope and the new product. But close up, the rigging rope looks amazing. I've got to thank Rob again for giving me the incentive to improve this build. Now, back to the crew. Thanks for looking. John
    6 points
  22. Latest build folks Leningrad front, Baltic area 1944. Mod 1942 as per instructions Only add - ons seat belts, gunner sling seat made from Tamiya tape and instrument panel marked up with a Rotring pen, as no decal supplied. Pity not really visable as I was pleased with the results. This is a rebox Torro kit I believe. For the price it's not bad, but throughout the build I did keep saying to myself wish I'd got the Tamiya version. Very little flash, but no alignment pins on wings or fuselage. The alternative canopy was awful regards fit and in a nutshell unusable. The decals went on easily and nice quality overall. Anyway here she is:
    6 points
  23. Hi all, this is my first finished of the year. The model is rather correct in shape apart rear engine fairing where I removed 1.5 mm in height, Decals come from the excellent Syhart sheet, the only issue was that they refused to slide as they should and apply the "Sécurité civile" ones was a nigthmare. I hope you enjoy. Alain
    5 points
  24. NASHORN TAMIYA 1/35th FRIULMODEL 'WINTERKETTEN' TRACKS. TAMIYA BRASS 88mm SHELLS FOR KING TIGER PZ IV STGB ENTRY 'PACHYDERM PACKS A PUNCH' The WIP *(Be warned, it's quite long!) can be found here: This is my second attempt at a Nashorn - the first having reached a similar stage, but then deciding to fall apart whilst I was rinsing bicarb/hair lacquer 'snow' off the thing! Whereas previously I've used chipping fluid to aid the chipping, fading and general worn appearance of the whitewash, here I've used nowt - the whitewash consisting of many, many layers of white acrylic ink which were each 'rubbed back' with a dry, damp, or sometimes wet, stiff brush. Here, I also had a bash at AM tracks - primarily because there was the option for Winterketten - the wider tracks making the Nashorn look even more beastly than the usual narrow ones. I was slightly apprehensive about forking out that amount of dosh for tracks that apparently drive some people insane with boredom, but once I had sussed out my methodology for joining the links, the initial slow progress was overcome and construction not only accelerated, but became very easy. In fact, I constructed the tracks whilst watching TV. Nassy isn't finished here BTW. I refrained from adding mud and snow in anything other than a token measure, because I plan for it to feature in a diorama, and until the mud colour and consistency is sorted for the diorama, I can't add any to Nassy. There are also a few bits of kit and stowage that I want to add, and of course, the crew figures. Whilst the crew figures were completed to some 'reasonable standard' for the gallery photos, I ended up not using those photos. BTW, the photos were posted to the gallery with 5 mins until the deadline, and were taken under fluorescent light. Oddly, some of the camo colours haven't been picked up by the lens (the greens especially) I will take photos in daylight and post them here at a future date. Oh, and there's errant snowflakes stuck to Nassy here and there - snowflakes that should have been brushed off after I tipped out a 'bed' for the Nassy to sit on for photographic purposes. That snow can be seen in the last group of shots with the crew in place. With snow and crew - all temporarily added for photographic purposes. The crew were rushed to meet the deadline - hence the commander's glossy yellow/orange hand. Still - better than having a 'pointy-finger[ man...... ahem...... TFL Better photos to follow at some point. Rearguards, Badder ps. A final big thanks to @Ozzy for the 'swap'.
    5 points
  25. Hello, my latest achievement an EF-18M kinetic 1/48, Tiger meet 2016, decals ModelMaker D48090 Best Regards
    5 points
  26. Here with my recently finished Italeri 1/32 Mirage IIIE What can I say about this kit? Well I love Mirages and particularly the Mirage III. If I didn't, this kit would be in the bin! Soft and sometimes incomplete surface details. The surface is rough. The instructions are unclear in a number of areas. The nose cone in particular and some other major parts are poorly fitting - in fact I would go so far as to say the nosecone is an appalling fit for a modern kit! The wheels are a joke - the tread on the main wheels, well, what there is, bears no resemblance to the real thing. I wasn't helped by a strangely moulded canopy which didn't even start to fit and was strangely flexible (Italeri did replace this after an argument). The afterburner area is horrible! The indicated position of the holes to mount the underwing fuel tanks are in the wrong place and if, like me, you choose the large 1700l tanks, they foul the U/C doors. I filled and repositioned after much swearing. The sprue with the ECM pods on has some weird short shot areas, luckily on the inside, out of sight (though I am going to tackle Italeri again for some replacements). I certainly didn't find this easy. I was going to use some Berna decals and build something a little different but ultimately, the kit did not seem worth it to me so I went with the kit decals which worked superbly - but some of the decals are horribly over-scale and unreallistic. In the end, it looks quite nice but I am truly fed up with it now so I'm calling it finished. I did intend to do some more weathering/chipping etc and I may go back to it later. I replaced the nose probe with a Master turned one and I replaced the wheels with IIIC ones from Eduard which luckily include the later E type brakes. So without more ado - some pictures (And yes, I do need a bigger base LOL!) Cheers Malcolm
    5 points
  27. Don't know, not sure if I do..... the Devo item to have is the 77 Mabuhay show, oft bootlegged, don't know if it got a legit release. neat little piece here from Jon Savage with clips https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/feb/19/devo-five-great-moments the films they made back in Akron are still pretty weird, (first clip) the NYC clip of Gut Feelin/Slap your Mammy is worth it for the drummer alone... Also well worth checking out are the Hardcore Devo CDs (and LP's I think) of 74-76 era demos. Not a vast amount of progress. Under matt varnished, but also to show the wheel problem... this neatly shows how oversized they are (the retracted ones are better...they fit) 50620616 by losethekibble, on Flickr I also solved the rudder butt joint problem, small drill and bits of paper clip.... I tried to do it quick.... which inevitably took longer. 50620621 by losethekibble, on Flickr anyway, it's on, needs a matt coat. Finally remembered to Kleer the UC doors, so hopefully some last touch ups and a final thinned matt coat, and can attach UC and prop, windscreen and small bits Did manage do damage the spinner backplate by not paying attention, but can nab one from another kit. What causing a major delay is the canopy, I brushed painted it, didn't like it, mostly stripped it and then Kleered it, had another go a brushing, not happy again. I'm going to try painted decal film, assuming I can find some decal with enough spare film....I'm I have something, just finding it! the windscreen took paint OK though. cheers T
    5 points
  28. Hi all. First of all - a big thank you to everyone who has voted so far! Looking at some past GBs we've had more votes cast in a couple of days than some have in the whole time the poll is open! But I am greedy.............. If you have already voted then please ignore this post - I'm sure most of you will have voted - but we officially had 47 modellers taking part (see below) and so far only 30 people have voted (and I know some of the latter did not take part in the GB!} If you haven't voted yet in the poll - please can you do so? It would be great to have a truly representative result in each section of the poll. @theplasticsurgeon @Lawzer @BIG X @RJBud1 @06/24 @Hewy @Mitch K @Churchill @badger @Foxbat @Silver Fox @exdraken @Plasto @SoftScience @bull-nut @Bonhoff @stevej60 @Yetifan @modelling minion @Ozzy @wimbledon99 @mahavelona @GREG DESTEC @Mig Eater @DaveJL @FrancisGL @MarkSH @Retired Bob @Arniec @Robert Stuart @Enzo Matrix @Badder @Scargsy @Threadbear @Meteors @John @ijs302 @tk009 @diases @Davek72 @fatfingers @SleeperService @sdk_uk @sampanzer @the South African @Redcoat2966 @Sgt.Squarehead The poll can be found here: The Gallery can be found here: Thank you. Kind regards, Stix
    5 points
  29. Hi All Hmm, I did wonder what all the fuss was about! At least if it does all go South in the final reel I can paint it white (it's still a Revell kit) Anyhoo, some light sabre fiddling. The wings are a pretty good fit once about 1mm is taken from the front edge of the underside locating tab Also been snuggling the control surfaces into their pockets Yes, apparently it does stick out past the wing trailing edge. Had me wondering for a while too. The rudder needed the most work on reshaping the bulb on the lower front, but fits ok now too Actually I'm just putting off starting the paint until I've completed a current experiment. Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve
    5 points
  30. Finally, after being in my mind since 2009 and in build since mid 2013, The Hybrid is *finally* done. I'll try to get some better photos taken soon. Photo by Rob Sullivan IPMS Tyneside. Thread named after a track by Welsh Nu skool Breaks band Hybrid. Finished Symphony was released in 1999 after several years in development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuWAO9QSG2Y
    5 points
  31. only if you call 450 miles close CC I remember drinking Colt 45 way back around 1977 when it was pictured on the front of some punk album... no idea which one now though I must admit I'm not one of those who drink beer for the ABV - the flavor is the be all and end all for me. I'm not a great hop lover either and can't abide the current penchant over here for killing beer flavor with a severe overdose of hops
    5 points
  32. Bill, you're close... just across the line in MD, and just below the PA line. Ne'er fear mon, my local liquor store has a steady supply of this magical potion, along with Dark Island, my two favorites. I have been known to resort to quaffing the local party juice every now and again, but on those more formal occasions which require dignity and respect and a degree of sartorial elegance, there's no substitute for the real thing
    5 points
  33. As promised and to prevent further collective biting of the mahoosive's nails, I bring you the second part of my sorting out of the fuselage transparencies. Not really much to say here other than the fact that micromeshing the windows with grades starting at 1500 grit and carrying on down to 12,000 grit, followed with some vigorous polishing with Novus polish gave the result pictured below. No looking away or hiding behind Heather's aspidistra necessary, it all went very smoothly and there were no dramas. I would however caution people to be very confident in what they are doing before copying this procedure and to use good quality CA (I mostly use Rocket). If one is at all unsure whether one's glue is suitable, try it on a bit of clear sprue or a scrap canopy first. I would hate to see someone ruin their kit due to a technique I have advocated. In addition, if one has any doubts about one's total control over their Dremmel, skip the Dremmel bit and just resort to gently filing the transparency to shape. Above all go gently at all stages and take your time. Thank for looking Martian 👽
    5 points
  34. Thank you all for the comments. I feel quite humbled. I’m glad to have made a contribution to the forum and influenced future Lanc builds. Anyroad up. This is the penultimate post as I have got all the bits and bobs on and it is now complete. I still have to do a few touch-ups, but they are quite minor. Last night I got the aerial cables on. They are a bit of a faff at the best of times. I used 1.7lb fishing line brushed with some silver permanent marker. First I glued them to the canopy. As you can see I was over cautious with the masking tape – a slip and a big blob of cyano glue on the canopy was just waiting to happen… I’d already pre-drilled the holes in the canopy and fins. After the glue had cured the line was cut to length (a bit of trial and error here, the holes in the fins were about 2mm deep, so I had to cut little bits off at a time – long enough to go into the hole and provide enough line to take up the glue, but avoiding slack). I dip the end of the line in some G-S HYPO so I get a tiny blob on the end, insert that into the hole, then dap a little cyano on the edge of the hole. This draws a small amount of cyano via capillary action which generally fuses it solid – I hope that makes sense. I use a Heath Robinson affair to hold it in place while the glue cures. I need to add a little matt around the area where it meets the fin (one of the touch-up jobs). Here they are complete. It was then on with the rear guns. Certainly gives it a bit more menace! A comparison with the real thing. For the avoidance of doubt my model is the top photo … A few piccies of the internals. Difficult to photograph, but you can see some of the details I added, including the maps. You can just glimpse the radio controller’s headset through the window. Finally I stuck the propellers on (does help for an aeroplane) and then re-attached the forward guns which had been busted off. They fit nicely. However, they need a little touch-up but that can wait overnight for the glue to cure – I don’t want the blinkin’ things pingin’ off again. A few more rough and ready shots. Come the weekend – on account of natural daylight lighting and the sheer blinkin’ mess my bench is in – I will do a RFI. That’s all for now. Prep for my next build is afoot.
    5 points
  35. Hi Guys let me introduce you to the Tamiya F-16 CJ, the kit was dream to build no issues what so ever, this was also my first Time using MRP paints, and I have to say they are a dream to use, just brilliant. the kit has the Aires cockpit and undercarriage, and I used a reed oak fire along with a PG productions figure, the decals are from fox 1 vipers on guard. enjoy Mike
    4 points
  36. This is the second one of my RFI's that I'm digging out and adding the photos to that Village Photos hid. So once again, apologies to those who've seen this before, and thanks for your patience. There was a WIP, but again, the photos have been "hidden" by VP. If anyone wants any info on the build, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for looking and for any comments. John.
    4 points
  37. Williiams bros 1/48 pitcairn autogiro Williams bros kit is basic but nice. needs work to get everything to fit. both cockpits are completely scratchbuilt, resin engine, rescribed etc. originaly painted red and white for the detroit news aircraft, the decals fell to bits and where unuseable. so it has sat on the shelf of doom for about 18 months. about 6 months ago i tried to strip the paint off and broke the model. picked it back up about a week ago, painted in beechnut gum colours, the decals had about 4 coats of liquid decal film and went on well. made turnbuckles with thin brass wire and rigged with EZ line. i lost the windshields some time ago. its a double boxing so i may make the other one!! thanks for looking
    4 points
  38. I'm working on a MultiCast's resin conversion (1/72) of the Italeri C-130 Hercules to an RCAF C-130J-30. The MultiCast set is great, beautifully molded, and the decals are world class. I made things more difficult for myself by using and ancient and incomplete Testors boxing of the AC-130a Spooky. This meant I had to fabricate all the missing doors, and fill the extra gun ports. step one was, after cutting the fuselage apart, tape the whole thing together, and find the appropriate nose weight. The easiest way was to wire fishing weights to the forward cargo bulkhead. I wasn't sure how much would be visible in the cockpit, so I scratchbuilt a lot of details, adding side consoles, belts, flight engineer center, crew rest bunks, etc ... The resin stretch fuselage sections were attached with 5 minute epoxy, all locating pins removed, tabs installed, and because the fuselage shells were to flexible, I had to add a lot of bracing. A wing spar (wooden dowl) was added to prevent wing droop, and the bending moment and cracking from such a long wing. The airframe was completely rescribed, then filled (milliput white), scribing touched up, primed and the prominent external doublers were added. The doublers were added with .010" x .040" strip, then .003" thick tape placed on either side a sanded down to flush. The engines were attached ( the inboard kit engine nacelles had to be trimmed back by 2.25 mm to align all the engines) and faired in with milliput, and rescribed. At this point, I've installed and masked the fuselage windows - but not the canopy, filled the fuselage seams and primed again, loosely fit the wings, tanks, and stabs to check everything. Still miles to go, but it looks like and airplane. Hope you like so far ... Colin
    4 points
  39. A number of modelers have asked me to share how I finish my models in foil and how I add rivets. Following are photos of a few airplanes that I have finished in Bare Metal Foil. In the past I have tried to attain a natural metal finish using a paint product such as Testors' Metallizer paints or Alclad. I was never satisfied with the results because the final finish always looked like a painted surface. I never figured out what the problem was until I studied photos of actual airplane with natural metal finishes. Each fuselage/wing panel of the 1:1 planes had a subtle difference in appearance. The colors of the panels were different and the natural grain of the aluminum panels varied. These differences are difficult to achieve using a painted product. My first attempt at finishing a mode in foil was the P-47 in the above photo. TOOLS: To apply the foil you will need a magnifying device, hobby knife with replacement blades, metal ruler for measuring and cutting the foil from the backer sheet, good tweezers, paper stumps for buffing the foil, post-it-notes for making measurements around curved surfaces, and 0000 steel wool for adding grain to the foil. The tools for making rivets are a magnifying device, post-it-notes for spacing the rivets, a rivet tool and a flexible straight as a guide for the rivet tool. I use a RB Productions rivet tool. It includes four toothed wheels with different tooth spacings. CLEANLINESS: All work surfaces and tools must be kept super clean. Even small bits if dust, fuzz and hair will be amplified in appearance if trapped under the foil. The only way to fix the foil in the photo above is the remove the foil, clean the model and start over. APPLY THE FOIL: I have tried to make my own adhesive backed foil using kitchen foil and an adhesive specially made for aluminum foil. The result was a mess. So now I only use Bare Metal Foil, which is an adhesive backed aluminum foil that is available in multiple colors. I use Matte Aluminum and Chrome. I have tried other foil products but none even come close to Bare Metal Foil's realistic appearance. All of the other metal foils were just too thick and too shinny. I spray the Matte Aluminum BMF with Simple Green glass cleaner to reduce the shine of the foil. Just spray it on and wipe it off. First: Clean the panel that will be covered with foil. Then cut a piece of foil that is slightly larger than the panel to be covered. Lift one corner of the foil from the backer sheet with your hobby knife and remove it from the backer sheet with tweezers. That's right, each panel must be individually foiled. Smooth the foil lightly using a finger. Next, smooth out the foil starting at the center using a paper stump (available from a craft store). Rub, rub, rub, and rub until the foil is smooth. Note the natural grain of the foil. Trim the edges of the foil along the panel lines. If you have steady hands you will not need a straight edge to help trim the foil. The foil's grain can be enhanced using 0000 steel wool. Lightly rub the foil only once. You can use different colored foil to add visual interest to your model. The foil on the left is Matte Aluminum, the foil on the right is Chrome. The majority of foil on my models is Matte Aluminum with a few panels finished in Chrome. If too many panels are finished in Chrome the model will look like a checker board (not good). The foiling is finished, now it is time to start the riveting. I use a flexible straight edge and a rivet tool to make rivets. The straight edge was made from an old lettering template. It is extremely important that the lines of rivets are straight and that they are equally spaced. I use a ruler to equally space the lines of rivets and mark the spacings with a black marker (note the black dots on the wing). The marker is easily removed with a wet finger. The rivet tool punctures the foil and slightly lifts the foil. I lightly rub the rivets with a paper stump to smooth out the rivets. The final result is realistic looking rivets and metal panels. There is no need to highlight the panel lines with paint. One more thing, make sure that all painting, such as the deicing boots, is performed prior to applying the foil. Masking tape will pull off the foil. I realize that finishing an airplane in foil is not for everyone. My 1/48 B-29 and B-47J took over 100 hours to complete. Foiling an airplane is a marathon, not a sprint. All that is required is a lot of patience and steady hands. If you find the foil to be too shiny you can weather the foil with weathering paint. Just don't go overboard or the model will look like it was painted. In the event that you would like to try foiling an airplane I would start with a 1/48 P-47. It has simple fuselage shapes and not many compound curves.
    4 points
  40. Ok Guys and gals, not posted here as a build but here for your delication. The EBBRO 1/24th Cirtoen 2CV Pick-up depicted as an RN hack in Malay early 1950's. Kit was built OOB excepting for cutting out the back quarter windows. Nice kit and builds well, if you follow the instructions!!! Paint was Hubrol, airbrushed then a couple of coats of artists acrylic varnis, brush applied. not the best result!!! Enjoy. Colin
    4 points
  41. Italeri's 1/24th Willy's Jeep kit, nice to build and good fit of parts. The figure is one of the Masterbox range. Nice but need some attention and carefull assembly. I wanted to depict a 'Follow Me' Jeep but they looked too gaudy, so I plumbed for the chequered bonnet... Enjoy. Colin
    4 points
  42. The resin wheels and tires are really nice. The tires were painted black. Then the treads were painted with a mud colored wash. I used a thin wire to simulate the brake lines. I used hose clamps from one of my car models to attach the brake lines to the struts. First I painted the bombs flat black. Then I held a Olive Drab rattle can about three feet from the bombs. I lightly pushed down the nozzle until the paint sputtered and spit out of the nozzle. The result was a nice rough finish. Next I used a black and mud colored wash to make the bombs look dirty. I used Eduard precut masks for the canopy. A word of warning. Pay attention to the words "liquid mask". The particular area of the canopy will not be covered by the pre cut mask and it will need to either protected by a liquid mask or some masking tape. I used tape. The result is a nice looking canopy.
    4 points
  43. So I chopped about 10mm of the front of the tank and added a square section of styrene that will be used to hold the front fenders, the new white parts. Some winglets found in the box of spears that look ready to use and cut and fitted a splitter into the air intake.
    4 points
  44. Progress is going well, add the build is flying past. The wings are attached, as is the bomb bay (which was a nightmare, it's too short, nothing an old credit card cut up can't fix), and the filler has finally been required. She is huge! I have no clue where I'm going to put her, along with the two other v bombers, and then the inevitable purchase of more v bombers..... This kit so far has been thoroughly enjoyably, 100% would recommend, even to someone fairly new to this (of they have the patience for such a large kit). Dreading the Vulcan build to come, and the more I look at the kit, the more I want to convert it to some sort of b1....
    4 points
  45. The actual representation of the instruments and dials isn’t bad. They appear reasonably accurate when compared with the plans Patrik sent me and some reference photos (museum restored so the proverbial pinch of salt is required). However, the moulding is a little lumpy come blobby. I thought I’d see what I could do to add a little more definition. Rather than faff around sanding back and drilling out the kit bits, I started again from scratch. Some beer can foil was glued to some thin plastic sheet to give it more depth and marked out approximately. The dials were punched out. With this being the result. It was then sanded to shape and tidied up a little. Here it is compared to the kit original. And here it is with little bits and bobs stuck on. And here is the forward IP: What I will do is glue a sheet of acetate to the back, and then either paint the back of the acetate black or stick a sheet of black painted plastic sheet on the back, whatever looks better. I suspect there will be little difference between the two options so the former sounds less hassle. The IPs will be painted NATO black and the raised bits proper black, yellow for the thermometer. Once dry-brushed they should look pretty respectable. Here they are together. There is a little dial on the bottom right hand side of the pilot’s IP which I will glue onto a little stub of slater’s rod. By the way Bill here is your shilling. If you want it back then it’ll cost you 12p! As you can see they are not wholly accurate in comparison with the originals and reference data but not far off – let’s just hope they fit… Next up is the forward cockpit section, co-pilot or navigator. Not a lot of reference piccies of much detail for this area on hand, so some edjumucated guessifaction may be in order.
    4 points
  46. Some more on antenna's ... all are installed, including 2 small blade antenna's that are .020" wide, and .002" thick! These are made by squeezing .015" brass wire in smooth flat pliers, filing the blade square, and installing the wire into a pre-drilled hole, (this can be used to replace the turbulators found in front of some control surfaces) So far, between antenna's, static wicks, drain masts, wiper blades, sensors and probes, I've had to add 53 separate, tiny items to this airframe! The wipers will be added as a last step after masking is removed... ... and now it's time to move to the paint shop ...
    4 points
  47. Ray Charles of 26 Decals and I got talking the moment the BA retro livery BOAC 747-436 landed at LHR last Month - with his website already advertised his plans to release his 1/144 sets of the BOAC 747 livery, Ray kindly sent me over a picture of his test livery in 1/200 that immediately tempted me to purchase a pair of these new laser printed sheets (one set as a spare just in case that nose wrap did not go to plan on my first attempt) Arriving just a day or so later, the set is really very nice and includes all you need with the exception of the white rectangular bars that sit above the BOAC logo block on each side of the 4 Rollers. I am in the process of producing some white decals for these which will be applied above the BOAC engine logo. I could have masked and painted them but I felt it quicker to use decals. I have used Contrails resin 1/200 RB211 engines for the model. All in all - I thoroughly recommend Ray's 1/200 decal set. The pictures below show her before I added the correct satellite pan and made some alterations to the top antenna placements. Gold is not a forgiving colour to print out in 4 colour process LaserJet so I intend also to produce my own golden Speedbird tail logo decals this week Keep Calm and Bo-wac On...
    4 points
×
×
  • Create New...