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Showing content with the highest reputation on 16/04/19 in all areas

  1. Finally finished this one after ignoring at it on my bench for 5(!) years. The photo-etch rigging totally owned me and I cried mercy before getting it all on there. Would love any tutorial references you may have for photo-etch rigging techniques, though don't know if I'll be attempting it again any time soon, haha. Overall a fun build, but definitely challenged me a good deal. Flickr Album
    27 points
  2. Just getting the hang of Village Photos after the Photobucket debacle. As requested by @CedB here is the Condor in all its glory. The original decals were toast so Ced kindly did a trick for me and scanned the orginal decals before putting them through his CNC cutter. The resulting masks allowed me to produce the engine masking and curve around the nose. Thanks Ced, much appreciated! I sprayed the model black, masked off then applied the Vallejo chrome from their metallic range. Other decals were from LF as seen here https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LFMC72198 The aircraft depicted is Hitler's personal transport. Not that I wanted to do this one especially, I'd rather have done the Danish version, but I couldn't obtain the decals for it. Overall a nice if simple kit, it went together quite well with no real hiccups. Aerials are EZ line. Precious few reference shots it must be said.
    20 points
  3. The brief: Take the cheap Italeri Merlin HM1 I picked up at one of the stalls at the Birmingham IPMS Show a couple of years ago and attempt the heavily varied colour effects seen on most of the Royal Navy's Merlin fleet after nigh on twenty years in service The aircraft entered service in the Medium Sea Grey scheme and over the years various panels have needed repairs or replacement which resulted in a large number of versions of the Grey all over them Much of the variation might be down to issued touch up and respray paints having various property changes in service, maybe some didn't get as mixed up as they should and maybe different manufacturers supplied 'off spec' paint Who knows? But the effects of the colour changes are visible all over the Merlin fleet, possibly on the Lynx/Wildcats too I have not looked into their colours Yet Any road up, this is what I was looking for... Pretty and intriguing for me So I present for your critical eyes, with much help from Scimitar and Pinky Coffeeboat and many other helpful friends ZH847 of 814 Sqn NAS The Un - Italeri details you can see dotted around are mostly thanks to kind efforts of Richard who sent me lots of pieces of etch and resin bits and later moulded alterations from redundant (I hope!) Revell kits which have far better detail added to the original Italeri mouldings The cabin interior has its sonobouy launcher and ready use racking inside and also the sonar winch assembly has been scratchbuilt and added The exterior Defensive suite has been scratchbuilt and popped onboard too as has the starboard side mounted FLIR Wescam Slight change of perspective More I hope you like it, I rather do Thanks for looking
    19 points
  4. Hello All. This is is my first “go” at posting photos and one of my models here, so hope it works Bear with me if not! A bit of a back story first. I returned to building model aircraft last summer after a long break since school days. Most of the time in between has been occupied with Model Railways but that is another story. This Airfix Mk IX was the second kit I bought. It came from the model shop in Barmouth last July while on holiday in Fairbourne. Since starting up again, a small but growing group of Spitfires and Hurricanes have appeared mostly Airfix but also Revell. I’m finishing an Arma Hurricane just now together with an Eduard Mk IX. Anyway this Airfix Mk IX is one I’m quite pleased with as (far as I know) I’ve not made too many mistakes. Excuse any rookie mistakes. It is finished as VZ-B of 412 RCAF Squadron circa Dec 1943 as flown by George Buerling using decals by Xtradecal. It is out of the box except I sanded off the bulges over the wheel well which I read somewhere are wrong. It was primed with Tamiya rattle-can surface primer and then sprayed with their Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Sea Grey Medium with the help of a vinyl mask by AML. I’ve not had courage to weather anything yet (maybe one day) so it’s is clean. Here are are a few photos take. Outside at the weekend with my phone. Shown for comparison is my JE-J from my school days. Airfix kits have come on a bit since then! Cheers, John
    18 points
  5. Vampire F.1 5 Squadron, Chivenor 1949 CMR resin kit - 1990s vintage And with something of similar vintage i.e. late 1940s - Airfix P-80 converted from P-80C to P-80B: Heller / Revell Vampire F.3: Frog Vampire FB.9: Frog Venom NF.3 converted from Sea Venom: CMR resin Vampire T.11: Aeroclub Vampire T.11: Frog Sea Vixen FAW.1 conversion: Frog Sea Vixen FAW.2:
    18 points
  6. A while ago I bought a job lot from evilbay as it included some decals I wanted, and it was cheap Included in the bundle were 3 Airfix GR1 Tornados (original 1983 moulds). The quality of the moulding and detail was awful, and the kit decals had pretty much disintegrated. So I thought what to do? I already had the revell 1/72 made in 16Sqn black colours, so I thought I'd make the others and give them to my 4 Grandsons, each one painted up in RAF Laarbruch squadron markings (That is where their mum was born after all), so 15,16 and 2 Sqn decals were chosen. Paint colours represent each of the Tornado colours over the years but don't necessarily match the squadron or time frame depicted in the decals. Likewise weapon loads were whatever happened to be in the stash at the time and don't represent anything real or historic. I think they turned out well and the kids will like them, which is the whole point All built OOB except the black Revell item that has PJ Productions figures and a Pavla vac formed canopy (the dog ate the original!)
    18 points
  7. Here was a mojo restoration build! It's the Italeri boxing of the An-2 Colt. I really enjoyed seeing the Estonian airforce Colt fly over to RIAT (must have taken a few days to get over here!) and wanted to build the model. It's a bit of a composite of the few they still fly. A very basic set of decals were all that was available, so it's near enough. There's a small sheet of photoetch in there which I picked up from Hannants. Most is useable but an aerial and a few other bits were flung to the carpet monster by way of a sacrificial offering. Canopy was a two part affair, it went together OK but was like cutting the masking for the Crystal Palace, new blade in the Exacto and much tongue out of mouth corner required. Overall it was a reasonable build. EZ line used for rigging which was a bit tricky. Found a better technique for placing it now. Had fun and it sits nicely in the cabinet.
    17 points
  8. Hi everyone. Haven't posted here in a while, so here you go - I just built a 1/72 Heller Mirage 2000 twin seater and finished it in the colors of an Indian Air Force bird commemorate the 20th anniversary of the limited, but well-publicized Kargil war with Pakistan. The Mirage played a key role in turning the tide in India's favor with several sorties including some dropping LGBs at extreme altitudes. The war clearly cemented IAF's love affair with the aircraft and it has since then been it's go-to jet for tough jobs. I picked an unusual color scheme for an Indian Mirage, a two tone camo reminiscent of the older Mirage variants flown by rival Pakistan and strikingly similar to French 2000Ns. I believe this camo was worn by the two seater serialed KT201 temporarily for few years starting in the late nineties along with an equally interesting single seater painted in an even more uncommon desert scheme. This aircraft wears an unusual (for IAF) nose art depicting a Northrop BQM-74 Chukar (aka Chakor in India) drone kill. The build is mostly OOB except the following mods - I cut the canopy open, inserted a clear plastic partition between both cockpits, slightly detailed the seats, added PE frets for cockpit from spares, managed to salvage 1300L drop tanks from the spares bin with styrene fins, built a Paveway LGB with a PWII (from an AMK Kfir) + 1000lb bomb + fins from FAB-500, cut open the elevons for droop, added a homemade pitot tube with toothpick and Dremel, fashioned a Remora EW pod with heated sprue. Overall, not my cleanest build with poor fit, terrible decals and raised lines, but throughly enjoyed putting it together. Hope you all like it! fullsizeoutput_7b fullsizeoutput_7a fullsizeoutput_76 fullsizeoutput_74
    15 points
  9. Finally finished my first Spitfire. Thanks for looking. Stephen
    15 points
  10. Finally - what feels like forever I have something to post. I seem to have been constantly doing bits and pieces in the background but haven't managed to get anything completed for months. The model I've managed to get finished is Revell's 1/72 P-47 D-30 Thunderbolt. There were 2 options in the box so I opted for P-47 - 28 - RE GC II/5 Lafayette, Armee de L'air, Amberien, France 1944 - I thought it would be good to do something a bit different from the usual American schemes. The model itself was excellent and went together without any hassles - the only real issue being the silvery plastic the model is moulded in which becomes annoying when you have to sand it as you end up with two different coloured plastics making it difficult to check seam lines etc. For a 1/72 model - there is plenty of detail which shows up nicely with washes and weathering. I've probably gone a bit overboard with photos so apologies in advance. Feedback is always welcome so please let me know what you think.
    15 points
  11. This is it! Finished last night. Airfix kit from a poly bag issue(see WIP) Falcon Vac canopy with decal striping for the framing in silver and yellow, scratch made exhaust and pitot, cockpit interior from Pavla resin set and decals by Ventura. Xtracrylix paint for the red and light grey. Almost forgot, I also replaced the wheels as I lost one of the original kit wheels but found a suitable matching pair. Might need to overlay the yellow framing with another set of yellow decal stripes... currently they look a bit dull. Well there you have it. My modelling mojo restored, for how long I don't know but stay tuned for another I put together in between working on this ole feller. PS: The Ventura decals performed really well! Very pleased with them!!!
    15 points
  12. I attach a few pictures of completed in October 2018 model of Convair B-58 "Hustler" from the recently reissued Italeri offering - probably the only one in 1/72 scale. I have used the following aftermarket upgrading: Airwaves PE set, Eduard PE inspection panels and 'Remove before Flight' steel flyers, Aires resin exhaust, metal MasterModel Pitot tube and electrostatic dischargers. I have reworked the crew compartment hatches, crew seats (to the early type) and landing gear. I have used the Caracal decals. The model has been painted with Tamiya acrylic and finished with Gunze and Alclad lacquers. Thanks for watching!
    14 points
  13. After an enjoyable 6 Months work on this project I am happy to say that she has now joined my Fleet. Am very happy how she turned out.....Cheers mark
    13 points
  14. So here it is my RAF Phantom. I used the F4B kit and therefore it's definately not accurate I'd say however I personally can't tell so it's good enough to me. I wanted it on a stand as it appears now as I just think it looks better in flight. Anyway I hope ypu guys like it and all constructive criticism is welcome.
    11 points
  15. 11 points
  16. Started this just after Christmas as a relaxing, no-stress build. I bought 3 different MPM boxing's of Hasegawa's Beaufighter when a seller on E-bay had them at a fairly cheap price, each one has several different marking options, Montex masks and PUR exhausts. The kit instructions cover ALL the decal options and are the same in each box, with colour Markings instructions with the variants in each boxing. This is from the RAAF box and covers Mk I, Mk VI and Mk21 in RAAF service. Each kit includes all parts to do early and late tail-planes, long and short intakes, tailwheels, AI aerials, etc. Also the Sperry Auto-Pilot housing. I chose to do an overall Aluminium finished Mk.21 and on doing a bit of research (unusual for me!) I discovered several Beaufighter's were stripped of their Overall Foliage Green finish. An interesting article here; http://www.adf-serials.com.au/newsletter/ADF Telegraph 2018 Autumn.pdf A8-196 is pictured if you scroll down the page. Of note was the fact that the instructions tell you to fit the long filter intakes and long (PUR) 'Hedgehog' type exhaust's, but the photo shows short intakes and the Mk I type short exhausts. I removed the framing from the later type rear canopy to try to represent the Australian style frameless type (not in the kit), it's not perfect but it'll do me. I left off the rear gun. Modified the starboard wing to the two gun type. Basically filling and re-scribe. Modified the wing tips to show the rearward 'Stem' type navigation light. Vallejo ModelAir Aluminium was used overall with a bit of AK Extreme to a couple of panels to add variation. A light wash into the panels while varnishing, doesn't show up much in the photo's but I'm still learning. The call out for the small Roundel's in the instruction's for the upper and lower wing I think is wrong, but I didn't spot this till this evening while putting this together! I think the photo shows the Larger style. I may change them later, but I might just leave them for another RAAF build (Overall Foliage Green) The kit went together well, hardly any filler used. I think the pilot's canopy looks a bit too tall and the whole fuselage is a bit 'pinched in', especially towards the rear. But, it looks the part I think. Last photo's show comparison with a High Planes kit I did last year. Criticism's and comment's welcome. Davey.
    10 points
  17. This is a 1 72 scale dio of a german 10.5 cm gun on a B E F chassis left at Dunkirk ( U M kit) coming across a massive Russian K V 2 tank that's hit a mine . tracks were that rubber stuff that's a pain to shape and glue, figs are Ceaser
    9 points
  18. I continue to find models to post from a seemingly inexhaustible modeling well. This is from six years ago and was done more or less at the same time that the 230, posted here at BM: Yet another Morane Saulnier plane used by Michel Detroyat, this time the M.S.225, modified for its use as a racer and aerobatic machine. It was painted in an attractive red/black/silver scheme, and demonstrated its capabilities –and of course those of its pilot- to a great extent. Again an old good Heller kit provides the canvas for this project, the parts being a tad chunkier than the M.S.230 just finished. Some accurizing is needed too but the basics are there. My sample was provided by the ever-smiling, spanakopita-rider, Mr Psarras of Floridian. Thanks again! As you can see in the photos, a new cowl was made, the ribbing and rivets were toned-down, the cockpit was refined and some internal structure added. The engine will need an oil radiator and a new prop, the armament needs deletion, the ailerons need to be completed –as with Heller’s M.S.230 the intrados of the wing has no aileron separation lines- and other details will have to be taken care of. As I always say: look at your reference photos. Heller kits of course are not perfect. But they do have a very logical and practical part breakdown. If you considered when were they designed -during the kit-making stone age-, your admiration may increase even more. The outer upper wing panels follow a real separation on the plane, but you will have to engrave that separation on the intrados yourself. The stabs were dynamically balanced in the original plane, the kit has them wrong, correct as per photo here.
    9 points
  19. But if you have this kit in your stash, give it a go: the build is really straightforward, and it's totally enjoyable Sorry for the lack of updates, everybody; last week was a very busy one and I was away for the WE, so I managed very little bench time. Which went into brush painting some of the odd bits, like the Venturi tail wheel (apologies for the blurry pic, and I'm afraid it's not the only one) this "thing" that goes under the belly, in the wings area main wheels, with a bit of dirtying up using the sponge technique and the propeller assembly, now weathered and flat coated. Also, the main struts got painted and weathered Some detail painting on the external tanks too, but no weathering because there are stickers that need to go on first (!) That's really it. All comments welcome Ciao
    9 points
  20. .... in white! This build was done in secret alongside the Harvard I just completed. Must have had a rush to the head as it took next to no time to complete. BAsic current 1/72nd Airfix Mustang kit with gun ports removed, waste shell slots underwing filled and resin replacement prop blades by Pavla to get the post war square tipped HS prop. All decals from the limited run Ventura set(fairly expensive here (£11.99)for such a small set but I had to have it and use them! I didn't do anything different in the cockpit because I have no idea what it looked like and being it was an ex RNZAF aircraft presume it as standard... except later it had the head rest removed. Enjoy the pis... The windscreen and front edge of main canopy had white decal stripe to replicate the frame. Not really visible but directly under the nose is a decal (from the set) showing the military serial number of ZK-CCG as NZ2417. Again the Ventura decal worked very well.
    8 points
  21. Boeing 737-400 Thai. 1:144. Siam Scale Decals. This is the Daco/Skyline Boeing 737-400 in the previous livery of Thai Airways, which I think is one of the best ever. It looks lovely on all aircraft it has ever been applied to, it is a shame they replaced with a new livery. My Thai friends very kindly obtained the decals for me from Siam Scale, and I collected them on my last visit to Thailand. They look to be screen printed on moderate thickness carrier film, (rather like those in many Tamiya kits). The colours are spot on, and they go on to the model with no trouble at all. I was quite impressed with them. The only thing I did was to also apply the standard window decals from the Daco kit as they have the fine silver surround that the Siam Scale ones lacked. I hope you like it, this is the only 1:144 Thai 737 model I've seen, so it is something of a rare bird. As usual I cut away the solid cockpit section and replaced it with the clear part. This obliges me to scratch build a cockpit to fill the interior. My 3 Thai friends are crewing this flight, complete with the captain wearing the red LFC cap! The model awaiting the application of the decals: Thanks for looking, John
    8 points
  22. Afternoon All. This is my latest finished model the Tamiya 1/72 A6m3 Hamp. This is a really nice kit that goes together really well. I can't think of any problem areas at all. The only issues were a self-inflicted decal disaster which ended up needing a complete strip-down and repaint. I always have at least one DOH! moment per kit. Anyways here are some pics.
    8 points
  23. Thought this deserved it’s own thread. This arrived today, designed for the Airfix kit. Early tail booms, fixed seats, brass pitot and x2 vac early canopies plus decals. Mine came from Freightdog, who do it either on it’s own or with the Airfix kit.
    8 points
  24. Hi All You know what it is, occasionally a blinding flash of "YES! EXCELLENT! WHY WOULD IT BE ANY OTHER WAY!?!" comes along, and it all make sense. Brilliant, thanks! And then, to crown it all Looking with renewed purpose through t'Interweb photos, I can now see the blurred grainy pattern appearing. I missed them all first time around, @71chally frood and no mistake! I used to have a bright yellow one of those for the steering wheel on my Fiat 126 as an Anti-Theft Device. One night someone broke in and stole it, left the car. Anyhoo, time to assemble the motly collection of parts Tail dry fitted Wings just as good Underside has a slight gap Here's where the Hudson Experiment comes in A drop of Tamiya XF-21 Sky in with the PPP Aaand... Might give them a second application if they niggle me, might not. So, after a couple of sessions Flaps and, er... flaps to add to the wings, then let's see what happens. Comments and suggestions welcome Cheers Steve
    8 points
  25. Hi all There are a number of 'firsts' here: Posting to Ready for Inspection Model in more than 20 years 1:32 scale model Attempt at airbrushing Attempt at weathering This is a straight OOB build; it was difficult enough without adding more firsts. The kit wasn't difficult but I need to think about the order that I do the construction and painting. I have learnt a lot from this project that I will be able to use in my future builds. Thanks for looking. Graeme
    7 points
  26. Oi! Keith and Bob - that's one thing that winds me up about modern 'clinicians' in General Practice; they seem to have general opinions that are often not backed up by any facts. Like them telling me that my cholesterol was 'above average' - I'm always above average and, if I took their stay-on-them-for-life drugs my level would go down but then so would the average! Lose/lose (except for the drug companies) Thanks Simon and well done on the weight loss Thanks Bill and Giorgio - great tip Thanks Jont The masking stuff didn't turn out that well to be honest. It certainly masks well and comes off cleanly with a damp cotton bud: … but not being able to draw a straight demarcation line against the frame is an issue. Pushing off with a cocktail stick also works: … and both methods leave no residue that I can see. I'll be using it with tape on curvy canopies I think. Should have used it on the Lightning! Top seam is fine: … but the bottom needs more work (fnaar!): I think I'll put some filler in those door gaps too. Trouble is we've limited the puppy to hard floors until she's properly house trained so I won't be able to get to the bench. But wait, look what I've found: Should allow me to move downstairs with some carefully chosen material and tools?
    7 points
  27. This is the Kits for Cash model of the Angel Interceptor from Gerry Anderson's "Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons". It is studio scale and is a hefty piece of resin! This is it alongside the Airfix kit of the Angel. Thanks for looking Angelo.
    6 points
  28. Arr mateys, it be such a great story I wanted to capture it in 1/350! Shortly after midnight on April 1, 2010, the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Nicholas came under fire from Somali pirates while deployed in the waters off East Africa near the Seychelles on anti-piracy operations. The pirates mistakenly attempted to hijack the Nicholas, believing her to be an unarmed freighter. Nicholas immediately returned fire and pursued the pirate skiff, disabling it and subsequently seized the pirates, several AK assault rifles, ammunition and an RPG rocket launcher. The Nicholas sank their skiff and went on to capture the pirates’ mother ship where more pirates and weapons were seized. At the specific request of the US Department of Justice, the pirates were detained and brought back to the US to face trial for piracy. In November 2010, a federal jury in Virginia convicted five Somali men - Mohammed Modin Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali, Abdi Wali Dire, Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher and Abdi Mohammed Umar - of piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees, conspiracy to use firearms during a crime of violence, and multiple firearm counts, including the use of a rocket propelled grenade. On March 14, 2011 the five were sentenced to life plus 80 years in prison for engaging in piracy and related offences – the first conviction for piracy by a US Court since 1820. This is the modified Academy kit with MK1 and WEM PE, Veteran Models RHIB, SRBOC and 25mm chainguns, Master antennae and 76mm barrel plus Eduard and GMM figures. I put a lot of work into it, but it was a lot of fun to build. Alan
    6 points
  29. Last one (probably) built for a 1/32 automobiles Classic British Kits Group Build elsewhere... The kit I picked up for £5 on eBay was a bit tired, but its actually not a bad starting point, with plenty of detail parts for the engine and running gear. With the parts cleaned up, the fit is pretty impressive: the lengthy exhaust pipe was a snap fit between the end of the header pipes and the silencer, for example. The engine is detailed a bit and wired for plugs etc, where my multicoloured drum of "wrapping wire" came in very useful. The rest is just detail painting of the parts they give you. As it comes, the kit has rectangular headlights, but all the Mexicos I found online had the round variety, so they were replaced with slot racing detail parts from Pendle Slot Racing, which also came up with the decals and and windscreen wipers as Scalextric spares. The wheels had their pie-dish centres replaced with something a bit more sporty in resin from RS Slot Racing supplies. The figure, now known as "Young Shaun" for reasons we need not go into, began life as a rather buttoned up dude with side parting, sports jacket and tie. He's acquired a more appropriate "boy racer" look, and also undergone major surgery to his lower parts to fit properly. The steering wheel was glued into his hands, and if you look REALLY closely, doesn't quite meet the dash in the right place. But he's holding it, which was never going to happen if done the way the instructions suggest, fixing him to his seat waving his arms in the air, and the dash and wheel to the body shell, and then putting the one inside the other... All in all, a kit that scrubs up surprisingly well with a bit of TLC... best, M.
    6 points
  30. Just resurrecting this thread now my Photobucket images have reappeared. Moved to Village Photos for new pics though. Concorde was going to go in a café on an airfield but the display area was moved and no long suitable. Here's the basic diorama components just tacked into place temporarily.
    6 points
  31. so how exactly is the doggie going to use that? I'm all ears.....
    5 points
  32. Hi guys, Well i finally got this caddy finished. There are things i woul go back and change but i will learn from those mistakes and improve upon them in the next model. This was a Revell 1/24 VW Golf GTI, with a C1 Models Transkit to a Cadddy. The engine was swapped out for a VW DOHC 16v Turbo engine from Clearly Scale and the rims were upgraded to a set of 14" Equip Short-Rims from Aoshima. It was a challenging model for me as it was my first Trans Kit. A few things to highlight before the masses do, there are some body panel gaps, there are no windscreen wipers or front/side indicators. Nor is there a front Number plate. I would have added the wipers but the screen fitment meant that i couldn't display it bonnet up with them fitted, so they were left off. Any way, thanks for looking and here are some photos. The build thread is here and the shared google album is here.
    5 points
  33. Another first for this build courtesy Dan / Cosford a ' Grassinator ' plus static grass Pleased with the effect. Not so pleased with the belt I got, not once but twice Doooh! I still can't believe the jolt I got from two AA batteries. Next new discipline rust . . . . One galvanised roof aged and rack dressed and overall with bits just resting in place Thanks for stopping by, hope you like it . . . Kev
    5 points
  34. Me too Keith! Though as we had a colour TV I wonder were the BBC screening a cheaper black & white copy.... Given the complexity of the turret framing Adrian I suspect it will end up being a combination of the digital and the handmade.... There's a beautiful photograph here by Herbet Nott that in its sunlit metal seems to sum up flight and skies: https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/all-20000-in-canadas-great-aerial-army-will-be-thoroughly-trained-picture-id499310855?s=2048x2048 Thanks Johnny. NIce to find where you'd got to in the garage with the Torino last night! 🚨 😊 Take note as in 'avoid' or take note as in 'worth a go' Pete? Ooo-eerr. I read that first line and thought 'Bugger! He's from Interpol...' Nicest quasi-religious compliment anyone's ever paid me Tomo.... I shall offer libations of hot chocolate to to promote the fertility of your allotment Tomo. As for the gathering of the Clan Plastique in Telford it's quite possible I may have to miss it again due to being over in Holland for work... Very kind of you Benedikt! As I have this week off I intend it to be very nice indeed - even it a lot of it involves spring cleaning the house and garden... Finally got the masks for the front of the cockpit sorted: and turned into Oramask for both inside and out painting: It's only when you go looking for references that you come to realize how few photographs there are out there of the Anson seen from directly above (at least with the later upright canopy). To matters turretly. Using reference drawings mapped on to photos of the Aeroclub moulding (which is not entirely accurate in the manner that the actual turret narrows inwards at the waist, so my designs are a compromise between the actual and the moulding as a result), I imported them into Maya to act as modelling references: I'm not intending to build a full set of accurate masks out of this (on grounds of the time it would take up) but want to generate a single set of upright masks for that sides that I can duplicate and then hand-make any more elaborate detailing. Basic geometry: Unfolded mesh to produce a mask blank (the shades polygon): If I can get that into the Silhouette sotware tomorrow we'll see how foolishly optimistic I've been.... Tony
    5 points
  35. Thanks chaps! Bell209 and Wanthony, I decided to fill the windows with Micro Krystal Klear and it worked a treat. In fact some were dried so clear I did wonder if they were actually filled, a gentle prod with a cocktail stick proved they were. Filled windows... Light positions were painted silver and got eh Krystal Klear treatment to make a 'lens', the wing root lights had a photoetch ring to help outline them and the MKK can be seen curing. It should flatten a little on drying. The ones in the gear doors got a later dollop of MKK. Undercarriage fixed...she's up on her feet properly now. Door fixed into the open position with the section of decal added. ...mind the ste-eeeeeeeeeeaahhhhhhhp! Antennas added, there are three of the little blade ones in photoetch and they are a more refined than the kit. The decals (added after this shot) are a tad wider than the antennas so Micro sol was added to make them wrap around and comply. That's a 5p piece! Slippy little suckers they were. I also cleaned up the CA glue area with a drop of paint afterwards. Bumper wheel added. Angle of attack vanes installed from the photoetch sheet.....vury-vury-tiny.....don't inhale quickly when handling... Other probes and things added. Visor cleaned up with white decal strip (the way to go!). Pitot tube added, it would benefit from an aftermarket metal job but nobody makes one. I did consider one from a Tornado which is quite similar but the mounting 'cone' practically disappears up the hole in the nose, so the kit part stays. Tail aerials and rear light fitted. This is her 'hangar', she only just fits in, 5mm more and she'd be wedged
    5 points
  36. I’ve recently completed my 1/72 scale 80’ Elco PT boat, United States Navy hull number 620. A short history of PT 620: PT 620 was one of the last group of 22 Elco 80' PT boats to be laid down & launched in 1945. She had a full complement of weaponry - four 21 inch torpedoes, a 37mm canon, a 20mm Oerlikon, a 40mm Bofors, four .50 cal machine guns, & two rocket launchers. She did not see action as WWII hostilities had ended. 620 was one of four boats that remained in service after WWII, under the USN's Operational Development Force, and were the last WWII PT's in service in the US Navy. She was transferred to South Korea in 1952 and re-named Jebi (PT 27). She was returned to USN in 1963 and was scrapped in 1964. The build was started in November, 2017 & completed in April, 2019. Using a hull from a Revell green plastic PT 109 kit #310, I scratch built the model from the deck up using plastic card, rod and stretched sprue, balsa wood & bits & pieces found around the house. I painted the model in the Elco grey paint scheme used after WWII and during 620's service with the South Korean Navy. Torpedo colours include a primer grey nose cone and transparent yellow over steel paint colour body to simulate the actual steel torpedo bodies rubbed down with 'Crotin Oil' as a corrosion inhibitor. The Work in Progress thread can be found here. The following purchased parts were added to the build; - Four Attack Squadron Mk XIII Torpedos - Four .50 caliber machine guns, one 37mm canon, and one 40mm Bofors gun from Atlantic Models. - Four Shapeways 3D printed torpedo roll off racks - One Eduard PE ammo belt set - Syren Ship Model Company 63mm dia. rope in tan colour. - Shapeways 3D printed -1/72 USN PT Crew Set 204 - Tamiya display case Here are a series of walk around photos showing the completed model. It was a fun build & I learned a lot about the Elco PT boats. Thanks to many of the Britmodeller members who stopped by the build thread & provided comments & advice to keep me focused on completing the build as accurately as possible, in 1/72 scale. Thanks for looking in. John
    4 points
  37. My dear modeller friends, I've just finished my interpretation of the last moments of the USS Indianapolis. I bought this Tamiya waterline series kit, on an eBay's auction, a few months ago, already provided with Gold Medal photo edge parts. I kept it on my stash for future building, but, when my company sent me on vacation in this period, I couldn't resist building. My plan was to realise the USS Indianapolis last navigation's moment when she was torpedoed by the Japanese I-58 submarine. It was the 12:14 am of July 30 1945, when she was navigating in complete radio silence on the Leyte Gulf. I think everybody saw Nicolas Cage's movie, and so I think the story is quite known. For this realization, that involved the torpedo on water, I explored a new seascape building material, the epoxy resin. A material for me absolutely unknown, and for this reason, I saw a lot of tutorials on the YouTube Channel. My first attempt was using a sea blue painted wood base with a 1 cm. thick layer of light blue painted epoxy resin over. Then when the first layer was cured, I added the torpedos on place and the second thinner layer of same light blue epoxy resin. The result wasn't so bad, but I found the torpedo's shadow on the wood base very annoying. Trying to solve the problem I came up with the idea of placing the seascape on a transparent base, and, for this reason, I used a glass, lightly back painted with a different tone of blues and greens, in order to simulate the Pacific Ocean water, and the same procedure with the epoxy resin as the previous attempt. The final result it satisfies me more, and I think it is more realistic. Anyway I don't want to bother you with unwanted explications and so, this is the result, I hope I'll like it: IMG_20190413_143222 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143233 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143300 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143245 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143321 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143426 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143440 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143450 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143533 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143557 by Franco Segato, su Flickr IMG_20190413_143628 by Franco Segato, su Flickr Comments and suggestions are always very welcome: Thank you and see you soon. Happy modelling! Franco
    4 points
  38. As shown in the below thread in the WIP section I have built a Ferguson TE20 "Little Grey Fergie" Heller kit Here are some pictures of the finished tractor.
    4 points
  39. I’ve been following BritModeller for a while, but having seen a couple of Hudson WIP builds, I felt I had to contribute something of my own. This is my version of the Revell 1/72 Lockheed Hudson, which started life as a limited run by MPM, then was picked up by Italieri, before finding its final resting place in Revell’s back catalogue. I was lucky enough to find one in my local model shop in Saint Paul, MN. I chose to make P5120 of No. 206 Squadron, a Mk. I variant from 1940, based at Bircham Newton. The Hudson played an important role in coastal defenses during WWII. An American aircraft, it was adopted by the RAF after a series of hasty redesigns to meet their exacting specifications. Built in the US, one of the first shipments was dragged by mules over the Canadian border and put on a boat to Britain to be outfitted there as a patrol bomber. As reported by others, this kit is not an easy build. Its vintage engineering was a real challenge to my limited skills, requiring shimming, filling and sanding over numerous sessions. Despite this, seeing the iconic shape of the Hudson emerge over time was worth the effort. I wanted to depict it in flight, and as this was not a supplied option, I had to chop the wheels down to fit in the too shallow wheel wells. I added some detail to the cockpit and navigator's area - all completely invisible through those tiny windows! I also added a very nice pilot and navigator from PJ Productions, and used Montex Masks for roundels, windows and gun turret. To finish it off, I replaced the kit guns with Master .303 Browning barrels - tiny brass miracles. Not conventionally attractive, the Hudson’s bulbous silhouette nevertheless makes for a striking appearance. I remember my dad’s Airfix version, built in the 70’s and gathering dust for a couple of decades after. This build is a homage to that memory and all the pilots who mastered this bulldog of a plane.
    4 points
  40. 4 points
  41. On joining this Forum nearly two years ago, after getting back into modelling after a long while, I did a few Group Builds, some successful, others not so. After giving up on my M3/M4 build a week or two ago I scanned my stash for a bit of inspiration and decided to start one of the WnW kits I have collected this last 8 months or so. Now, I'm not generally into WW1 subjects, not that I don't find them interesting, it's just all that rigging, but still, somehow, have ended up with 1/2 a dozen of these fine kits. Not having read a bad review of any of them, and the quality of the engineering begs them to be built, I decided on the Fokker D.VII as this has no rigging apart from aileron wires. I decided to put this in a WiP as it will make me finish it but not under the pressure of a deadline! So, here we go. First off, it almost seems sacrilege to start snipping off parts and laying out the instructions before you. Everything about these kits is excellent, the instructions are like a reference book and leave no ambiguity as to where parts go in relation to one another. You have to decide early on which of the (5 in this case) subjects you are going to model as there are alternate parts/painting options to consider. I'm going to build option 'A', an early aircraft, just because I want to try covering almost a complete kit in decal (a first for me as well!) I started at the beginning with the cockpit/interior parts, care needs to be taken when removing the fine framework from the sprue's and cleaning them up, not that there is much in the way of mould lines, but they are there. So, a little progress and nothing untoward to report, everything fitting as it should. Some parts have a basic coat of paint, (Vallejo ModelAir), Aluminium for the ammunition boxes, bulkhead and seat. I've used IJN Light Grey Green for the framework. Vallejo Wood plus Umber wash and Transparent Orange for the floor, but I haven't quite got the effect I was after, but it's all a learning curve! More frame work ready to get primed and painted. By the way, I'm not an expert on WW1 aircraft (or anything else for that matter!), just relying on WnW's good research and colour call-outs.
    4 points
  42. First release expected in June 2019 - ref. SH48170 - Siebel Si 204D 'German Transport and Trainer Plane' Source: http://www.specialhobby.info/2019/04/news-from-special-hobby-052019.html V.P.
    4 points
  43. So the PE work went on. Including things like trying to match these platforms with this railing. I the end I chopped off a small part for each long side, put a pillar in each other outer corners, and then tried to glue a small bit of brass across at the top at the outer end. Hopefully no one will look at that bit all too closely... Then it was time for the masts and, well, here's the bits (with em having doodled a bit as part of the identification process). The flank parts on the left block are just there to protect the rest, good thinking I'd say. And here's how I'm supposed to identify them. So Π2 and E2 are on one block, and then E1, E3, and Π 1, 3 and 4 are on one block. Some reading of the instruction texts told me E4, E5 and Π5 were supposed to be stretched sprue. Π1 was the only part with significant side detail, so that one was kinda easy to identify. For the rest I just ordered them by length and hoped for the best, though looking at Π1 this pattern wouldn't have worked there... As for E2 and Π2 I thought I'd use the distance between the legs at the open end to identify them. But if you look closely at the actual parts you'll see two flat pieces stuck to one of them. The next page in the instructions eventually tells us that the rear masts legs have searchlight platforms on them, so that bit is for the rear mast. Had I followed my plan to have the bit with the greater leg spread in the manual be the part with greater spread in reality, well, I'd have gotten it the other way around. And possible cleaned off the platforms thinking they were some odd kind of casting artefact. So yeah, that took some time to sort out. As for actually building the masts the manual has you build them and then attach, but with basically nothing on them guiding you as to what angles the support legs come in at I started with adding the bottom mast and the support legs to the hull, and then built upwards. Thinsg ended up a bit crooked here and there, but at least I could get everythign to attach to the deck in the right post code this way. And with that it's time for paint.
    4 points
  44. The first thing to ensure when using Milliput is that you’ve got it nice and warm - I usually mix it in my hands for a good 10mins and this makes it very soft and malleable and therefore it doesn’t need to be thinned. When I’ve got the approximate shape needed, I remove the majority of the excess by using water and smoothing everything out with my hands - like you would sculpt clay. This will drastically reduce the amount of sanding needed. When it comes to sanding, I initially use a fairly course paper with lots of water, which stops the paper clogging. I gradually progress through to finer and finer papers, finishing with a good polish with some Micromesh sheets. It’s quite labour intensive, but Milliput is my ‘go to’ filler - it’s non-shrinking and once set, is like concrete. I hope that helps. Tom
    4 points
  45. She is finally finished. I replaced the broken antenna mast with a gun barrel super glued in placed, it is not very strong so there is no antenna wire. The Hasegawa stencil decals didn't adhere very well and some have fallen off. RFI here Thanks for looking. Stephen
    4 points
  46. One last shot in virtual water (with the crew this time ). John
    4 points
  47. Yes, what could possibly go wrong....??!! WIth Telford being between Ireland and Holland Tony, surely you can get the private jet to divert into Birmingham on the way? K
    4 points
  48. I hate when that happens. Here's a little trick that works for me: I brush paint some Aqua Gloss along the mask edges. They will just stay in place no matter what you spray on top of them. HTH Ciao
    4 points
  49. Little 'un is saying to Molly - 'look at the mess he's made of that canopy masking....!!' K
    4 points
  50. Thanks John Not that well, although I suppose as expected. Here's the results so far… The pens come 'clean': and need a good shake and pump but then the fluid itself is nicely runny. So runny that it pools: but it goes on much easier than the (thicker) bottled stuff I have from Humbrol and Mr Hobby. I've sprayed it with primer and we'll see what happens later. I did see a video on YouTube where the guy removed it (from paint) using a damp cotton bud. Fingers crossed. Thanks Tony - looks yummy Thanks Keith, Simon and Bob I'm near my best fighting weight I think but the skinny brigade don't, of course, agree! Primer on the Lightning: This is not what you want to see after spraying: Rats. No doubt some cleaning up to do. Back to these two now: I think they're conspiring against us!
    4 points
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