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Showing content with the highest reputation on 22/09/19 in Posts

  1. Evening all, I'd been suffering from a serious case of modeller's block and had ground to a halt on all my projects and just couldn't get restarted. I'd actually built this kit on and off a while back, and all it needed was painting and decalling so in an effort to restart the mojo I splashed some Halfords and Tamiya paints on and just went for it. It's far from perfect but has got me back in the groove and keen to get going on some of the other kits I have on the go so its purpose was well-served. The decals actually represent a B-36B rather than the Mongram kit's RB-36H configuration, but all I did was fill the slots for the jets and round off the prop tips. A proper B-model would have a different bomb bay set up, different tail radar and various other slight differences but I didn't want to get bogged down making any further modifications so left it as is. Anyway, here it is: DSC_0261 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0255 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0288 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0263 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0266 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0284 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0279 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0276 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr DSC_0274 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr I saw a real one of these in Datyon a few years back and it's MASSIVE - hence it's no surprise the 1/72nd version is also MASSIVE! Happy modelling, folks. Tom
    34 points
  2. My first F-14 on a 1/144 scale. I used the following add-ons Shelf Oddity – photoetched metal plate Res-im – resin elements Master – pitot tube
    21 points
  3. DH.2 'Lanoe Hawker' 1:32 Wingnut Wings The DH.2 entered service in February 1916, putting an end to the 'Fokker Scourge' of Eindekkers that had been dominating the Western Front with their synchronized machine guns firing trough the propeller arc. Highly maneuverable, the DH.2 was a good fighter despite it's fragile looks. Lanoe Hawker was already an experienced ace and Victoria Cross holder when he took command of 24 Squadron, and led them to France in 1916. On 23 November 196, flying 5964 (the subject of this model) with 'A' flight, Hawker encountered Jasta 2 and in particular Manfred Von Richthofen flying a twin gun Albtaros D.II. A lengthy dogfight ensued, with Hawker eventually breaking off due to low fuel. Richthofen fired one last burst before his guns jammed, and Hawker was killed instantly, becoming the Red Barons 11th victim as 5964 crashed to the ground. Wingnut Wings have released some of their superb kits with equally high quality resin figures to depict famous aces and their aircraft. I just had to have the brilliantly sculptured figure of Lanoe Hawker, holding a map and with his coat slung over his arm. The figure is absolutely perfect, beautifully cast and a pleasure to assemble and paint. The DH.2 is a real beauty to build, but complicated to rig, and I was forever thinking I had finished when I spotted a bit I had missed. I think I have finished it now though, I will create a proper base and case for it, as it deserves to be properly displayed with the figure next to it. On with more photos: Weathering is subtle, I did some chipping around the cockpit area where the dark green was scuffed away to reveal the grey beneath. You may just notice the clear tube fuel gauge on the upper wing tank, showing the tank nearly full! I masked and pained the see through effect of the upper wing roundel on the under side of the wing. Sunlight from above would have created this effect as 5649 was delivered in clear doped lined, and later painted with dark green PC.10, painting around the roundels. Thanks for looking, John
    20 points
  4. Gah! Where am I? What am I doing here? Who are you people? It's been a long time, hasn't it, folks? Sorry for my lengthy absence, so much has happened since I last posted. Not with the model, of course. Nothing was done there. Grant turned two, Mrs P got a metal detector, Winston has nine (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) cavities, which will cost me two thousand five hundred American dollars to repair and which have necessitated the selling off of a not insignificant portion of the stash and will further require a payment plan (literally the MONTH we'll have finally paid off the $1200 ER visit from the summer of 2018 for both of the boys, naturally) to avoid financial destruction and to ensure that I don't have to pack two weeks worth of bag lunches and sell myself down at the docks during my trip in November. Exciting. One of the very cool things about being married to someone with a masters degree in Early Childhood Education is that you come to learn how little it actually teaches them about keeping human children alive. I was told (multiple times) that brushing his teeth in the morning was a wasteful extravagance, but I should have thought twice about that, because only one of us has cavities when we go to the dentist, and it's never me. Apparently it's child abuse if I just pull them out with heated pliers, but really, aren't they all just baby teeth anyway? All of this, plus a joint birthday party for the boys (Winston turns four on the second) which temporarily reduced us to penury has greatly increased my stress level as of late. On the plus side, I've apotheosized myself into the ranks of middle management, since my organization has deigned to hire me a subordinate/deputy, and even had the grace to pick the internal candidate who was my first choice. I'm actually really excited about this; we had some promising candidates with a lot of experience, but I got my start at social media basically by chance (the only time I've ever shown any initiative whatsoever, in fact; when our social media guy quit, I immediately walked into my then-boss's office and asked for his job, despite having no background in the field), and my deputy is young and newish to it, but with a lot of raw talent, so it will be cool to help her develop her skills, and it's also nice because the position pays really well and represents something like a $20k raise from her old job, and it makes me really happy to be able to have that kind of tangible effect on someone's life. Now I just have to not suck as a boss, easier said than done. My current boss told me I'm "a natural rallier of the troops", though, and while nothing could be further from how I see myself (essentially introverted, awkward, furtive, shy, weirdly overinformed on a few esoteric subjects but strangely ignorant of much of modern life, a classic hobbyist, if you will), maybe if I pretend to believe that, it will come true? So this week in particular has been long and frustrating, not helped by a vicious late-September heat-and-humidity-wave that's seen temperatures hit 86 F/30 C and humidity levels of around 90%. There were three cold days in a row the first week of September, which convinced Mrs P that we'd soon be up to our eyebrows in snow, so all of the window units were removed, giving our home the approximate climate of the Black Hole of Calcutta, except far more humid. This has done nothing to improve my temper. My ancestors lived in peat bogs like warty trolls and never evolved to face temperatures greater than 60 F /15 C for any meaningful length of time, and I'm the same. Tonight, I finally made it downstairs to finish masking the camo for the Lanc. Out came the Colourcoats, and it behaved beautifully for me, as always. Unmasking is always my favourite part: It looks pretty nice, I think! And only one spot where the masking failed.
    20 points
  5. Hi all. Wanted to post this Avia S-99 from Eduard in 1:48 scale. As most of you can see its a Bf109G10, the Czechs had a fully functioning aircraft factory left behind by the Germans and decided to continue producing after the war. The markings is actually for a police force plane. Police fighter planes are not so common anymore I guess. Have been at this one since Christmas (was a present from my lovely wife and kids) and finally calling it done. The kit did fit together quite well, but was a lot more complex than the Airfix kits I have built before. Tried my hands at photo etch for the first time as well. Painted in Humbrol enamels, Mission Models Clear coat. Aerial wire is a strand of hair. Feel free to comment and criticize. Regards, Isak
    15 points
  6. Just finished - the Modelsvit kit of the record-breaking MiG E-166...... It's really a MiG-152M............. ....... .but the designation was changed for the FAI record-breaking flights - to fool the west. The three stars representing the record-breaking flights...... It is a typical Modelsvit kit - highly detailed, but with large spue gates and every part had to be 'fettled' to clean them up. The decal sheet is superb - as are the instructions, etched brass parts and canopy/wheel masks. It fought me all the way though - but I won in the end. More pictures of the build here :- http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_e-166.html The real thing resides at Monino..... The E-166 completes my collection of Modelsvit 'BiG MiGs' ........ Ken
    15 points
  7. P-40M Warhawk "Ruth Marie", 90th FS, 80th FG, Moran, Assam, India, April 1944 I finished this on 9/21/2019. It is the Hobby Boss easy assembly kit. The P-40 was, for some reason, my favorite US plane when I was a kid. I don't know if it was the mystique of the Flying Tigers, or the fact that the first kit I finished by myself was a Revell snap-together P-40E. More recently I started learning about all the different P-40 variants and how to tell them apart and decided I'd like to do a kit of each of the "major" variants (no 'D' or 'G' models for me). About that snap-together... it had a skull on the front that was very dramatic, so I thought I'd make a new version of it and as a bonus, the decal sheet I found was for 'N's and 'M's (well, N-1's and N-5's, more on that later). There were only 2 P-40M kits readily available, this one and the Academy boxing, but looking at finished Academy models, it appeared to have some serious shape issues, so this kit it was! Hobby Boss easy assembly is a love/hate thing for me. They are inexpensive and often have very nice surface detail, but... the cockpits have little or sometimes no detail and there seems to always be one major flaw that need fixing to get it to look right. And, that was the case here too. There are lots of great photos, many close up, of the Burma Banshee P-40s so I was able to match the wear of the P-40s in a couple close up photos. Also, the Banshees flew P-40N-1s. A book I have said that the N-1 was basically an 'M' model with 2 wing guns removed and a lighter landing gear (which somewhere I read was a P-51 gear, but I can't confirm that). This book said that in the field they would re-install the two guns in the wing, and put the older, heavier and more robust gear on, which effectively brought it back to the 'M' standard. So I think I'm justified in calling this an 'M'. WIP is here Finishing: Seams filled with CA (superglue) Paints: Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black primer > Mr. Color 303 (green)/Testors Olive Drab/Mr. Color 22 (Brown) marbled on top / Mr. Color FS36270 marbled on bottom > Testors Model Master Olive Green (Top) / Testors white/black mixed to match FS36270 (bottom) > Alclad Aqua Gloss clear coat > Decals > Testors dull coat for sealing in the decals > Testors zinc chromate for the wheel wells > Decanted Tamiya Silver Leaf spray for the landing gears > Tamiya acrylic NATO Black for the tires > Testors Chrome silver for paint chipping > Tamiya Royal Blue for spinner Decals: Rising Decals RD 72084 "The Burma Banshees Pt. II" Weathering/Wear: Oil wash on the landing gears, thinned watercolor and Tamiya pastels for various dirt and oil streaks, 0.2 mm Pencil for panel lines, sun fading by dot filtering with oil paints The grill behind the spinner is very prominent and the molding for it was shallow and wouldn't take wash well. The holes in the grill are very prominent, and this grill is the defining feature that AFAIK is the only way to tell a 'M' model from a late model 'K', so I had to paint the holes on. About the big fix I had to make in the Hobby Boss kit: They made an insert for the canopy behind the cockpit so they could make an 'N' or 'M' just by swapping out inserts. Problem is, it didn't fit well at all: I thought I'd sand the bottom of it to drop it down, but luckily I dry-fit it first and found that the canopy would hold it in place, so any sanding on the bottom would just make a bigger gap. So I had to sand down from the top. I cut off the antenna mast (to be reattached later) and sanded away. then glued it in, filled the gaps and filled/rescribed the mis-matched panel lines. Build notes: The sun fading came out pretty subtle, so I still have some to learn about that technique, especially how the dull coat changes it. So I'll be doing more experimenting! I was at the hobby store yesterday, and on a whim bought Testors burnt iron metallizer for the exhaust. It came out looking just as good as the more cumbersome methods I've been using, so I may be using more of it in the future This was the first time I used a 0.2 mm mechanical pencil to go over the panel lines. Where the panel lines were deep enough, it was really easy to run the pencil lead through them, where they were more shallow, I used 3 layers of Tamiya masking tape stacked on each other as a guide. The nice thing about the pencil is any goofs can be removed with the eraser. I find this to be an easier and more reliable method for panel lines than a wash. For fun, this was the first kit I finished by myself and inspired this build: Thanks for looking! Questions, comments and constructive criticism always welcome!
    14 points
  8. My take on Amodel's Sud Aviation Caravelle III finished off in the markings of VIASA. I enjoyed the build although the undercarriage was an absolute nightmare to put together. Wings fences were made from thin plastic sheet as this boxing didn't come with photo-etched parts. (Luckily I had Amodel's 10-R version to hand, so their parts were used as templates). Classic Airlines decal sheet (CA144-419) was used and it will come as no surprise that they were beautifully printed and performed flawlessly. (It does give you the option to paint the tail and this is the route I took). Thanks for looking. mike (P.S. Looks like my entry for next year's Latin American competition has been completed 😋)
    14 points
  9. Here is my Dragon 1:72 Heinkel He 162A-2 which I built in 2005. It represents 'White 11', Wk.Nr. 120074, flown by Oberleutnant Emil Demuth, Staffelkapitän 3./JG1, at Leck, Germany, in May 1945. I used an Eduard etched set to add/improve details and added some wires to the engine. Thanks for looking Miguel
    12 points
  10. #22/2019 Tamiya kit with decals from H-Models, AK Real Color Russian AMT-7 Blue, Russian AMT-4 Green, Tamiya XF-10 Brown and a selfmixed tan for the camo, EZ Line for the antenna wire. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235058173-soviets-in-disguise148-mikoyan-gurevich-mig-15-north-korean-airforce/ As you may know, many Soviet pilots flew North Korean MiGs . They only were allowed to operate over North Korean territory so they wouldn´t be captured by US/UN troops in case of being shot down. The model shows the aircraft of Major S.A.Fedorets, 913th IAP in April 1953. he was credited with 7 Sabre kills in total. For years there was a Ta-183 on our display stand, now it has been replaced with its "successor". DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr
    11 points
  11. I hope not Bill - I'm trying to take all Fly's fantasy and make it look more like a Wessex ta muchly Steve of course it is you guys - it's a Wessex! Or at least, a bit of one thanks Crisp. (and it doesn't even float y'know) thanks Colin. I aim to please thanks Phil Thanks Ian, I hadn't realized that. Hmmnn, my 1/48 build took me two years... Now ((1/48)/(1/32)) x ((731days/#leapyears)/Number of parts), carry the 1... I think I'm still gonna be here a while you should see me in leather chaps thanks HJ Thanks Chris. Who knows what Fly were thinking when they designed this kit Thanks Tony. Now if only getting the color right was as easy as making it! Dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why does this site keep posting when you use the scroll button? I said I would post a comparison shot - yes, I remembered to bring the bits back home with me. I slapped the kit parts together and gave everything a squirt of primer. To be honest, the kit effort does not look too offensive once some primer is on though when compared to the one on the left you can see just how much Fly missed. I'm sure a lot of folks have built it as is and are quite happy with it. However if you know the Wessex then I am sure it would cause a few shudders among the Illuminati Basic bluey grey applied. 'Scuse the quality of the photo's - I used flash to try and capture some of the detail and the color is now all weird. After that effort I painted it again. Then it was to light and too grey. Then I painted it again. Then too dark. Then painted again. Eventually I ended up with something approaching the right color (as far as my memory can ascertain) At this point I have added the 4 oil feed hoses from the reservoir, painted the rubber parts black'ish and used Testors steel to pick out the nipples and a few bolts here and there. Flory wash applied and tomorrows task with be to try and remove the excess wash I don't know if this photo is any better. I'll try and take some decent shots tomorrow
    11 points
  12. Here is my second vehicle for my diorama posted under dioramas " Battle of Fallujah-operation Phantom Furry" another great Academy kit I wont bore you with too many construction photos. You can also see the Meng Bradley on this forum. I did add allot of Live Resin armaments I have seen some funky weapons configurations for the SAG save -a-gunner turret. Live Resin parts arrived excited to get building! So pros of the live resin is great detail as advertised, cons are no instructions and the type of plastic used to cast the parts is extremely brittle and can only be bonded with crazy glue. Paint was a primmer coat of AK interactive desert sand primer then a coat of AK interactive 686A CARC Tan. After drying over night started weathering with Vallejo model wash 76.523 Tierra European Dust on all bolts and panel seams. I did the weapons in 2 coats of Vallejo black wash and picked up the details with Vallejo pigments dusted on. I also used the desert pigments to add a layer of dust on all the gear and vehicle. Check out my diorama " Battle of Fallujah-Operation Phantom Fury"- Work In Progress - Dioramas to see the vehicles on the scene I look forward to your comments. Sneak peek "Battle of Fallujah-operation Phantom Furry"
    10 points
  13. Hi Guys Spitfire Mk VIII very quick built, I started Friday evening and I wanted to complete it yesterday but rain was spoiling my mood however since it has stopped since morning I complete and took some pictures before rain arrive, This is the NH 631 of the IAF with number 65, the number 65 is painted and it is not a decal. The kit was Arii one so it is very basic and easy to build. there are some problems with fit and need some dry fit. I use Tamiya silver and gunze for silver paint. I kept a very subtle weathering as I wanted to highlight more of the metal parts. I will be building this aircraft with better kit in the future for and with hopefully decals for the said aircraft. I have a pro fi kit but that am gonna do for SEAC one. Thank you for watching. Cheers
    10 points
  14. Somewhere in the Soviet Union... This started as a build of an old Tamiya T-34 kit to test the hairspray technique. The model was left for two years before I found the inspiration to complete it again a couple of months ago. Figures are Miniart.
    9 points
  15. To improve my skills I purchased this inexpensive Academy Hellcat kit. It is my first ever 1/72 scale kit and I was pleasantly surprised by the detail. I put my Spitfire builds on hold, and worked solely on the Hellcat, which has become my first completed build in over 15 years. I tested new paints, weathering pastels/enamels, decal solutions and glues. It was a great learning experience and I enjoyed every step of the way. Thanks to everyone here for answering my Hellcat specific questions. Feel free to comment (I am anticipating dings for too much weathering!). I will take it as constructive criticism. I have 4 more Hellcat models on standby and want to improve my skills. It is 'out of the box' and what I would call a 'what if', in the sense that I didn't try to copy any known existing Hellcat (as far as markings). One last note - I got very lucky with my photos. Up until last week my pictures were terrible, but somehow, moving my spray booth (which also serves as my light box) to another location corrected lighting issues and I am very pleased with the results. The bottom 4 pictures were taken with my new macro lens, and you can see some difference in the levels.
    9 points
  16. Here's my Novo 1/72 Herald, just finished in the Frog Squad GB. More or less out of the box, ignoring any inaccuracies and the lack of detail (check out the 10cm scale thickness nose gear doors!), built as G-APWJ of Air UK (now preserved at Duxford). Decals were bodged together from the 26 sheets for a BIA Herald and Air UK F-27. Build thread is here thanks for looking Julian
    8 points
  17. Frog kit no. 229 Bristol Beaufort in the colours of L9967 of 32 OTU RCAF, Canada 1942. Scratchbuilt interior. Aftermarket canopies, engines, and decals from Tasman Models, Propellers from spares. WIP is below:
    8 points
  18. Well I’m back and painting has resumed... Thanks for looking, Adrian
    7 points
  19. 🎵...and he drove the most flamboyant beer lorry in the East... 🎶 Spot on Bill. Plus I've enough shots of Tom's neck now to begin making a brass replica.... It involves significant neurolinguistic programming AW. Impress upon the mind the fact that the words 'necessary' and 'visible to the viewer' are now redundant terms. Train the gaze to ignore kit instructions and only to focus upon detailed engineering drawings. Repeat steps 1 & 2 until you have acquired sufficient tools to equip an actual aerodrome. Why dear boy - just curl a langorous finger to summon the waiter as per usual... 🍷 So. In the absence of information about any modifications to the aircraft aerials, I figured it must need a big one to picked up the Knickebein signals: That looked a bit stupid upon reflection so cut it down to form the mountings for the navigation lights: Much less silly. Rather than a coloured bulb inside the glass, these lights seem to have red/green glass surrounding the bulbs instead, so the idea is to add some appropriately-tinted blobs of CA on the end of those stumps once the aircraft is painted. After this it was time to face the job of removing all the accumulated gunk and primer that has built up over several months from the flaps and flap trays in preparation for further detailing: Those all got a light wire-wooling to give good keying surfaces for gluing small parts onto. If you recall the kit flaps were too short which rendered my first use of the Flightpath etch redundant once I'd discovered this, however I did save some of the parts and some even survived op on the shelf in a pot. Marking out the intervals: Those irregular edges were filed square end the edges thinned to scale appearance before a check fit into the flap trays: Not all of these ribs/framing (whatever they're called) in the shot below were original etch parts - I was short about six so made these up from scrap PE runner: In the final state of the aircraft it's going to be posed with flaps only slightly dropped by a few degrees similar to what you see in this shot I've posted before: Not quite as open as you see here in the next shott, which it gives an idea of the limited amount that will actually be seen inside there: Need to add corresponding framing to the upper flap trays and some scrap tubing (possibly) to give expression to the operating links. We'll see. That was enough of a strain on the eyes now that we'll call it a day and I'm going to head over to finish roasting a couple of chickens for a late lunch for everyone. They should be nice and moist - I roast them upside down in a 1/4 bottle of white wine..... Bon chance modellers! Tony
    7 points
  20. Ok that's a weird one. Chickens sorted and boys laptop borrowed. the cut and paste seems to work on PC but still not on my phone so I'll post from here. First up the hurri gets set up in my expensive painting booth. ( a wellie box on a stool ) I have sanded the gun bay covers and gators gripped them in place ( only a little blob ) so I can pop them off later on. first blast of primer on. All looking good. after drying the top half got some action. that was left to dry. Here she is ready to pre shade. I will pre shade the main lines in black then hit the lesser marks in blue grey for the underside and matching colours on the top. First pass on the underside done. The top looks good too. I'm currently thinking about the top colours. I was going to do green brown, you know green and brown right. Then I got to thinking Blue and green. Is that a Sea Hurricane? Is there any difference? I'm guessing there is. If not I might go green and blue as that looks kinda sexy. any way while I wait for someone to say "Don't be so daft" I did the blue grey on the secondary parts.. squiggles and lines done I loaded up the brush with Sky. Here's one side with a first pass. Lot's of light passes wins the game here. first total pass done. I let that dry then hit it again. this is two more passes on just before I did a lighter pass with a mixture of sky and white. and by the window. I'm happy with that. I have given her a blast of clear after drying. I need to glue on the rear flaps and mask up for the top colours. luckily I found these. Still though they are sold out everywhere. I also need some TS 13. I hate not having a LMS I also hate my phone not working to post. Fingers crossed It'll get sorted. Any hoo. I'm off to start dinner. Hope you're all having a jolly weekend. Catch y'all later on. Johnny.
    7 points
  21. Good day, ladies and gentlemen! 10 years I have been making model of airplanes. But recently, I wanted to make figures. And I liked it. This is my fourth job.
    7 points
  22. Miscellaneous Bits We are getting closer and closer to painting but there seem to be innumerable little bits and pieces that need to be sorted out before any paint goes on. Here's a few of them. There's a panel on each side of the engine bay (if that's the correct term). It looks like it probably opens allowing access to the fuel system, instrumentation and whatever else is directly behind the engine's firewall. I have chosen to model it using the 'half-laminating' method - it's a favourite of mine. For a full description on how this works have a look at either my AE2 or Mig15 build. Suffice to say however, we laminate one side of a piece of paper with the panel in question printed on it... cut out the piece with a pair of scissors... and glue the remaining paper-side onto the job. This leaves a wafer thin sheet of plastic, cut to the correct shape attached to the surface that needs detailing. This is a quick and simple way to add a fair bit of surface detail and it has served me well in the past. I also need to cut some panel lines. At least they would be panel lines if the aircraft had panels. Here it's the point where the fabric covering the cockpit walls meets the fuselage. This just uses dymo tape to guide the blade and protect the nearby surfaces. In this case the cut is being made using a very fine jeweller's saw, it's basically just a serrated length of wire on a fret-saw frame. It leaves a nice consistent, fine cut. For trickier areas we can cut fine lines with a razor blade as shown. The tailplane has some struts supporting it. Drill a hole or two in the fuselage... and a few more in the tailplane. Slip a length of brass tubing through the fuselage... and bend, twist and wrestle them into place. Now drill some holes for the little sticky-outy pipes that @limeypilot has indicated are air-intakes for a rotary engine. Stick the pipes in place... and trim them to size. Affix the fuel tank. Add some reinforcing strips to the engine cowling. And firmly attach some brackets to the back of the cowling so that, when the time comes, it can be stuck in place on the front of the firewall. Add some knbbly bits to the outside centre of the wheels (these got cut down to size later on of course). And that's about it for now. There's still some more to go before painting but much of what remains concerns preparing the airframe for rigging and for accepting the second wing and all of the struts and bits and pieces associated with it. The fear and excitement associated with the painting stage is building... 😮 Still not sure if it will be an overall PC10 green or unpainted dope scheme. But I'm thinking I will start with the latter and if that fails - revert to PC10. Steve
    7 points
  23. well, things did not go quite as planned. I mentioned last time around that these appear to be more difficult to apply than standard waterslides. I'll correct that - they are a LOT more difficult to apply than the standard waterslides I am accustomed to. A lot more. I gave the test samples a coat of clear gloss and left that to dry overnight. What isn't clear from this shot is that you can still clearly see the carrier film. what you can't really see in this shot is that I managed to get a whole bunch of wrinkles in several of the transfers and that wasn't very obvious the other night when I applied them. A lot more visible on this shot. Now I'm not knocking the decals in any way - the quality of the artwork is top notch and I really couldn't have asked for better. However, I seem to be lacking some skill in applying these. When I left that last night I was sure all the carrier film was pressed flat and there was no air trapped anywhere. I couldn't have done a very good job. Bear in mind that some of the decals are going to be around 150mm long and 10mm high. If I can't remove trapped air from a smaller one like these I'm on a hiding to nothing on the larger transfers. I really need to consider my options going forward here. So after those shenanigans, I had a few failed attempts at upholstery on the chairs - I'll post more on that next time. Things were not going well and I needed to do something positive. I was determined to get into some actual construction - but there were a few things that needed done first. Part of the test sheet of transfers contains a few items that I need on the end vestibule (I'm sure you've heard me harp on about that many times) - I was about to cut those out and apply them when I noticed (or rather remembered) something about Pegasus - there is an orange line around the car just below the cant rail... something to do about electrical danger. Now, if I had been bright I would have had a transfer made up for that orange strip but no, I had completely forgotten about it, and it needed done before I go sticking transfers all over the place. Nowt for it but to paint the blighter. How do you paint a narrow very narrow orange strip along the length of a train car ? Thank heavens for Aizu tape is all I can say. I took a roll of 1mm wide tape and applied it along the top edge of the sideframe. Not an easy task keeping that straight by any means. It was a case of stick it down at one end then slowly, carefully grabbing the tape with tweezers about every 20 - 30 mm and touching it down with the tweezers, then using a cloth to make sure it was burnished flat. I got that as straight as I could and both sides probably took me a good 30 minutes to get that first strip of tape down. That was followed by Aizu 0.5mm tape. Again, starting off and using tweezers every inch or so to touch the tape onto the surface before burnishing the length that had just been applied. The tape was lifted and relaid many times along that length as I needed it to nest right into the previous strip. This shot shows the 0.5mm tape being applied - minus the hand with the tweezers as cludgey old me can't operate tweezers and a camera simultaneously in the same hand Once that effort was completed and my eyes had recovered, it was time to lay down a third strip. Again Aizu tape but this time 2mm tape (I think) - but again had to be very closely aligned with the 0.5mm I had just laid down. Once I was happy with the masking... grab one end of the 0.5mm and rip that stuff right off again. Yes really. All that time and effort to get the tape nicely in position, only to remove it again. Isn't this modeling malarkey fun ? As you can see for yourselves here - this leaves a nice 0.5mm wide gap between the first and third strips of tape. It should be a relatively even gap as well although I did spot a couple of places where it seemed to narrow down. No! I wasn't going to do it again! I mixed up some orange gloss with a few drops of dark grey just to take the brightness away from it. Then it was time to attack... I was taking no chances this time - my Tamiya tape with integral blast screen was used as protection. The same process was applied to the end vestibules. Painting was quite frightening - it was very difficult to tell how well the orange has covered the umber, and I was very conscious of laying the paint on too tick, and also terrified it would cover well enough. Once the masking was removed I'd never be able to mask to the same lines again and it would be a strip back and start again job. Again! I was extremely nervous when it came time to remove the masking - this paint job has been my worst nightmare and I didn't want to botch it up this late in the game. Thankfully the masking came away cleanly (another nice thing about Aizu tape) and the orange seemed to have covered sufficiently. Strong enough to be easily seen , and not too bright. Ditto on the side frames It even looks to be relatively straight. Large sighs of relief Then at long last, the transfers were applied to the vestibule ends Another milestone reached. I can now actually begin some construction on the ends now. (well, as soon as I have clear coated these first!) I seem to remember I had built a whole bunch of stuff made and ready to stick on... now where did I put them. Where's that safe place again?
    7 points
  24. Hi. Please entertain me if you will in this post documenting my first attempt at a scale model. Hopefully other beginners may read this and see what challenges await them (things the more experienced may not even think about anymore). For my first build I finally settled on the Airfix Triumph Herald Starter Kit. This is a car I really like, and the kit meant I wouldn't have to go shell out extra for paints. Having read many a post about building, and watched lots of videos, I decided to buy two more things. Tamiya Cement and some thinner for the paint. I pulled some snips, a needle file and hobby knife from my toolbox and relieved the wife of her spare nail file. And finally, I found some scotch brite in the shed that I'll use for cleaning up. I didn't want to go out buying loads of stuff, just incase this isn't for me. Finally I'm ready. When I opened the box I've had a real good read of the instructions. They seem pretty straight forward. However, only a handful of items are labelled with the paint colour. This is a bit unnerving as I'm pretty good at following instructions - not so good making it up myself. So I've spent some more time labelling the instructions with what I hope are the correct colours for the parts. Also, to be honest the amount af parts was quite daunting. Looking at the sprues, I'm surprised at the amount of extra material on the parts. I'm sure this is probably normal, but it's the first time of seen it up close, and it will deffinately take some time and care. I've now tidied up the parts where I think they need it, and decided to start painting. I've left as much on the sprues as I can following advice I've see online. The paint thinner is a deffinate good buy. I got the paint to the consistency of milk as I've heard mentioned quite a few times and done most of the black now. At first I thought the paint wasn't taking properly and considered wiping it off and rubbing the surface down to give it a key. But I'm happy to report that after a few minutes and them going straight away with another coat, a decent covering was achieved. I've now given the black 2 coats and it looks good. I'll give it a final 3rd tomorrow. I've also started painting the engine block too. The paint for that (humbrol 53) gives it a really good look that surprised me. With the thinners, brush strokes are all but gone. I'm now at the stage where I've assembled the suspension and have quite a few parts painted and I'm feeling pretty happy about the build. A word of advice for any fellow beginners though, patience is deffinately needed for the fiddle little bits of the suspension. The only frustrating thing is I think I've gone the wrong colour for the suspension and drive shaft. I've painted it all black, and maybe should have gone with the same colour ad the engine block. So far I think I'm doing OK. I've not come a cross any situation where I've not got equipment yet, apart from maybe tweezers (the wife's going to get mad) so it's also proving to be a cheap hobby. I'm looking forward to adding more colours and start putting it all together - but I'm absolutely dreading the wheels, and trying to make them look neat. Apologies for the long ramblings, and thankyou if you made it to the end. If one person finds it helpful, that's great, and if its give some of the pros somethi g to laugh at, I'm happy with that too. Any advice is well appreciated - especially with regards to brush painting.
    6 points
  25. Hello Dears !! For the ones who know me, if something is weird... I feel irrestibly attracted... So years ago, when I see it... I knew for sure that I will make one..... One of these day !! This day is today !! Soooo !! My first viet Nam serie Aircraft is a U.S Navy one !!! Yiiihaaaa !! The tamiya kit is a good and decent one, the best for a late Skyraider in fact But... The interior has been improved with resin parts from an Aires Kit ! and I also added some scratched parts that are missing even in Aires kit ! On the 20th of June 1965 L Cdr Greathouse was Canasta leader in a CSAR Mission These day, the Skyraider have been intercepted by 2 MiG 17... They jettisoned their ordnance... One point for the MiG And performed a Lufberry circle to protect themselves... But !! A MiG jockey have been a bit more selfish and tried to broke the circle... Comin'in just in front Of Lt Charles Hartman... Bad Idea !! The venerable Spad had teeth... So Hartman fired his 4 20mm and practised a scissor manoeuvre helped by Lt Clint Johnson... 10 point the the Spads... It has been registered as a shared victory since the MiG 17 received enough of lead to flip over and crash in the jungle... The second MiG take an evasive action and left the scene.... There has been a second MiG 17 kill by Lt Jg William Patton from the VA-176 But that's another story !! I suppose that L Cdr Greathouse choose to send his sqdn best wishes week later and dropped this unusual "Bomb"
    6 points
  26. Hi guys, I am new and hope I am in the right topic section for this one. I Got back to modelling a few months ago after 20y break. This is my Tamiya 1/72 F4U-1, number 13 flown by Ken Walsh from VMF 124. I know I overdid chipping on the right side of the fuselage but didn't want to make it worse by attempting to fix it, so there it is. Also, I accidentally damaged the pitot tube and the antenna tail attachment point during the photo shoot. It is my second model using airbrush and I am looking for some honest feedback from you bigger fish out there, hoping to learn, so don't go easy on me. Thanks in advance, Nikola
    6 points
  27. I was fortunate to be able to attend the Ex Cobra Warrior Media Day last week and here's a selection of images from the day. The heat haze and change of runway mid morning made shooting challenging, but enough of my excuses...! By way of background, Ex Cobra Warrior is a tactical training event that took place over the period 1-20 September 2019 with RAF Waddington acting as the main operational hub, with aircraft and crews present from the UK, Germany, Italy and Israel. Elsewhere there was also participation from Canada and the USA. Ex Cobra Warrior usually occurs twice per year, once in the spring and once in the autumn. It is the RAF's capstone tactical training event designed to conclude the training of Qualified Weapons Instructor (QWI), Qualified Multi-Engine Tactics Instructor (QMETI), QWI Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (QWI ISR), and Qualified Space Instructor (QSI) students. The exercise aims to develop tactical skills of aircrew and supporting elements with a Composite Air Operation and provides valuable training opportunities for all participating Force Elements to practice and develop tactics, techniques and procedures in complex scenarios against a near peer adversary. The Force Elements are divided into red (enemy) and blue (friendly) forces, and much of the flying part of the exercise scenarios were held over the North Sea off Northern England and Scotland. The foreign forces deployed to RAF Waddington included for the first time, 7 x F-15C/D of the Israeli AF 106 Sqn, supported by a Boeing 707 tanker from 120 Sqn. The Italian AF elements comprised 4 x EF-2000 from AMI 4 Wg, 36 Wg and 37 Wg, from Germany 10 x EF-2000 from Luftwaffe TLG-73 and TLG-74. Hope these are of interest and thanks for looking.
    6 points
  28. Hello all This past weekend was the annual NATO Day show in Ostrava, Czech Republic. We had great weather, sunny but not too hot and a decent variety of stuff on display. Here's a taste of what was on hand when I visitred the show on Saturday: Romania was the special guest host nation and they brought in a good selection of air and land gear. Their aircraft contribution included MiG-21s, IAR 99 Soim trainers, IAR 330 SOCAT helicopters and a C-27 Spartan transport: For the first time, Italy brought a Tornado and a pair of AMX light strike aircraft to the show. According to one of the AMX pilots, 2019 might be the first and last NATO Days for the aircraft as the Italian air force is planning to retire the type quite soon: Germany brought this Tornado and Sea Lynx as well as an A400: Hungary brought this Gripen and Falcon 7X as well as a "Hind" helicopter: Canada brought a CF-18 Hornet: Switzerland also provided a Hornet as well as their Pilatus PC-7 team: The Dassault Alpha Jet was a big presence on the ground and in the air this year, with two Belgian examples in the statics and the Patrouille de France making their NATO Days debut in the air: The Czechs and Slovaks had their shared corner in the statics with a mix or aircraft both old and new to their respective air forces. Here we have a Czech Yak-40 and Mi-35 along with a Slovak Blackhawk: A couple of shots of a Czech Mi-17 doing its thing in the dynamic displays: A Polish CASA 295 on its way to dropping some paratroopers: A Czech police Bell 412 in action: A few other residents of the static park this year:
    6 points
  29. A little more progress. So far the nacelle is looking like it might do. Next are the radiators, exhaust stubs and the struts. I’ll be finishing this as #6, which didn’t actually complete the course. Red hull and wings and silver nacell and struts. I prefer it to the scheme on #7, which appears to be all silver. Thanks for looking Dennis
    6 points
  30. Sunderland story. When I joined ATC as a callow youth there were still meany ex-aircrew in the job. One such was a jovial chap named Harry Shepherd who had been on Sunderland’s in the 1950s and was involved in the Malaya ‘ emergency ‘. While he was there they had a visit from Gilbert Harding, a journalist and radio/TV presenter for the BBC and Harry’s crew were selected to take him on a trip with them. Part of the sortie was to drop some small anti-personnel bombs on a suspected rebel encampment in the jungle, and as they approached the area and the bombs were loaded onto the racks ready to be winched out under the wings Harding remarked that it was a very time consuming and complicated procedure just to drop a few bombs. One of the crew replied “ oh, we’re only doing this for your benefit, usually we just chuck ‘em out of the hatch “ so when the hatches were opened,Harding picked up one of the bombed and threw it out, seeming very pleased with himself until someone pointed out that you had to arm them first. Harry said that he was very quiet for the rest of the trip. John
    6 points
  31. Hi, This is the very pleasant to build (and underrated) Italeri kit. Everything comes from the box except for the very efficient dual barrel MG81Z specific to the A-5 version, handmade seat belts and other details. The top RLM73 comes from the Real Color range. Quite a good range but it stinks and I find it maybe more fragile than the Gunze range. Thanks heaps for looking ! Antoine
    6 points
  32. Thanks Bill I’ve ordered some tube for the windows and am pondering how to make them look right. We shall see... Ced my friend I am not so worried (nor should you) about the openable portholes Hendon's has many of them open, many shut and when shut a scribed circle will more than suffice I rather refer to the panel lines Here a Sunderland, in the museum I know these show some linear distortion and hence visibility but these are the result of a very hard life in service AND a blooming hard time at the musuem (I know the man who was 'owner*' of the museum during the time she was placed into the hall and have heard harrowing tales of what they had to do to get her in) She'll NEVER fly again Oh here's a free interior picture, who knows... Looking up the fuselage to the tail turret Have funs chap *owner of RAF Hendon Museum, obviously a serving officer with a problem or - ten Now there is a civilian structure, blame them
    6 points
  33. Oh good grief... the bar has been raised again! How am I going to reach my wine now?
    6 points
  34. Evocative shot Benedikt. Can hear the faint whistle of wingtips from here... 😊 Yesterday evening. Last light before the Equinoxe. About a fortnight either side of the spring and autumn equinoxes the sun has moved south along the horizon enough at sunset that it hits the disco ball on the upstairs landing (don't ask) and turns it into a prismatic field of lights across ceiling, wall and floor: Drives the cats made when you turn it! Came across a great troll line on Twitter the other night from someone I presume of Goth predelictions: 'If I had one wish it would be to be able to shrink myself very small at will and crawl across the faces of spiders at night whilst they are sleeping.' The internet is basically the human race in TMI mode..... 😆 Sprang for one of these mini-towerss during the week to help tidy up all the power cables in the studio/workroom/dump: It reminds me of the interior decor of Moonbase Alpha in Space 1999. It of course remains a source of deep personal regret that we do not wear zip-up trouser suits with coloured sleeves. After some therapeutic digging in the garden this morning my thoughts had inevitably turned to cracking on with Annie but truth be told I'd been vacillating on building the baroque windscreen wiper fittings for the front of the windshield on account of lacking a couple of crucial shots of the lateral aspect showing the separation between (what the maintenance manual refers to romantically as) the 'eccentric gear units' and the surface of windscreen. 'Blow me down' and indeed 'it was meant to be' &etc. but wasn't me old Uncle Bill in a posish to send some bespoke shots of said structures. Bill. Let the work commence! At this scale it's going to be a case of building something representative rather than a slavish replica of those projecting 'eccentrics' on the grounds of strength. for the gear boxes themselves I resorted to filching a couple of circuit board components from an old Xbox controller: The mounting bracket for these needed to look accurate however but without @Fritag & @hendie levels of etch-alchemy had been approaching the task with (I must confess) some trepidation. It seemed time to unveil The Finger of God: I may have mentioned in cavalier fashion over the summer my intention of investing in one of these etching tools for the Silhouette cutter for etching designs into metal. I bought this direct from Amy Chomas herself who makes them over in the States as it's hard to get this side of the pond at any kind of a reasonable price. It's not that you couldn't cut out freehand the kind of basic shapes I needed as a one off but to maintain uniformity in making several this seemed to be a solid investment worth making. This is the design prepped and ready in the Silhouette software: The triangular sections at the end of each rectangle are the sides that need to fold backwards from the front mounting plate. When outputting the designs the brass sheet I tried both a one (upper) and two-pass (lower) setting for comparison that you can see in here: Not a huge difference when looked at through the magnifier, the line of the lower two-pass one is *slightly* more pronounced and although it was this one I scored with a scalpel and snapped out of the backing sheet, I'm pretty confident that one-pass version would have been sufficient to give a pre-existing mark to score along with the scalpel blade The scored lines at each end are of course to help with subsequent bringing-in of the ends through 90° in the etch folding tool, like so: The windscreen wipers themselves were made from 0.3mm tubing crushed along most of their length to form the wiper blade whilst retaining a barrel cross-section at one end to mount on the gear axles: Finally, the wipers, gear units and mounting brackets were all soldered together, along with some (currently overlong) lengths of 0.3mm brass rod that will later be bent into correct shape to form the flexible shafts connecting each gear unit to the electric motor inside the nose that drives the wipers: When seen from the front and Blutak'd into position for a dry fit they look a lot better: And thanks to Bill's photos, I've now a reliable guide to setting them at the right distance from the windscreen when the time comes: There'll be some tweaking and fettling to get them finally aligned when locking them into final position but otherwise we can move on from here now. Pretty sure I'm going to have to remount the cockpit windscreen prior to painting now as I'll need to shape the fairing along the bottom of the windshield with some Milliput before adding the windscreen wipers - a job that can't be done in reverse order. More and more bits of the snag list getting their fluoresecnt 'done' mark around them now! Night night. Tony
    6 points
  35. Thanks Greg Yes some more progress has been made . Thefloats are now completed and have had the photo etch added and then a coat of halfords primer . P1030214 by Alistair Pearce, on Flickr I have also masked ,inside and out all the transparences. This took almost as long as the float construction .Thank god i used the mask set as there is a lot of glazing on this bird. P1030213 by Alistair Pearce, on Flickr P1030212 by Alistair Pearce, on Flickr Now these two steps are completed its time to move on to the fuselage . let more fun begin
    6 points
  36. As stated previously, I made a start on a door yesterday and the first job was to tape the clear part in place and outline the door opening with more tape. I then cut out a door shape from a small piece of thin plastic sheet and added some framing to the back of this using 10 thou plastic strip. The window openings were cut to a rough shape before further refinement, leaving a small lip to support some clear acetate once the part has been painted. The door outline on the clear part has been taped up by John L, on Flickr The door after some initial fine tuning, I'll give it a final tidy up once I have cut out the opening. by John L, on Flickr And here is a shot of the door held in a rough position with some Tacky Wax. by John L, on Flickr
    6 points
  37. Wooo, quite impressed so far, a little box with lots of stuff. 5 sprues, two sets of transfers, P.E. and a cockpit canopy!
    5 points
  38. Hi all. Quack's back....... This is my second build on BM. I had initially hoped to work through a WIP and started it here.. Unfortunately my brain self destructed and I forgot how to post pics (or summat changed in the land of Flickr) and I found I couldn't continue. Having redicovered the means to post pics again it is clearly time once more to inflict damage on everybody's precious retinas...... The source is a Revell repop of the Airfix 1/48 Jaguar and the plan was to finish it as a Granby kite This was my second build and I used the opportunity to try some new (to me) tricks. This was my first time applying surgery to a kit to install a resin cockpit. Resin intakes were also used - another first for me. I also tried modifying the rather unconvincing fuel dump pipe with a bit of carving and brass rod, and tried also to scratch build in a minor / beginners way (FOD covers). The large Naca intake on the spine was carved out and floored with plastic card. minor stuff really just to have a go. Finished with Xtracrylix and pinwash/ oil / pastels to muddy things up. Aaaaaaand here's the result - second kit in errr....40 or so years. 100.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 80.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 94.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 82.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 82.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 88.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 86.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 96.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr 98.jpg by Niall Robertson, on Flickr I'm broadly happy with the construction side of things. I've definitely improved since my last build. I'm really not happy with the finish however. I think the Desert Sand (Xtracrylix) is a bit dark - I should have lightened it up a bit. I also tried using the Hairspray method to wear away the top layer to reveal cammo green / grey underneath but the top layer simply would not budge - hopefully somebody will tell me the correct way to do this. I'm also a bit disappointed with the Pink Spitfire figure (Xtradecals) which seems to have no facial colour resulting in a bit of a washed out white appearance and lacks definition. I'm already thinking of totally re-doing the finish on this one. So Questions as follows. 1/ do I need to take the finish back to plastic? 2/ could I just remove the decals (how best?) and spray on top? 3/ any tips for successful hairspray weathering? 4/ anybody got an old set of 1/48 decals for The (avid) Guardian Reader???? Cheers all. Q
    5 points
  39. Hi I'm unable to attend the show this weekend, so spent a fantastic day at Duxford today instead. I apologise for the quality of these images, but the lovely sun was in my face all day, which made photography challenging, to say the least! I hope that those of you who go to the show have a great time. Army Wildcat just passing through! My first sighting of the DH.9! Thanks for looking.
    5 points
  40. After completing two large bomber projects, both with natural metal finish, I felt a need for something simpler and, most importantly, lacking anything having to do with a metallic finish. Looking through my stash, I settled on Special Hobby's 1/72 Fairy Barracuda Mk.II and decided to do it as a well-weathered aircraft, in the markings shown on the box top. This particular aircraft operated out of Ceylon in 1946. The entire build was completed in three weeks, a near record for me. I did run into a few snags along the way, the most serious being when I cracked the kit canopy and was forced to try my hand at vacuforming a replacement. The WIP can be found here: On to the pics! This aircraft had replacement panels on the nose and port wing tip, still in primer: Also, a roundel on the starboard wing had been painted over at some point: I maxed out the Barracuda's load carrying capacity with four 250-lb depth charges under the wings and a 600-lb depth bomb on the centerline. I freely admit that it's unlikely any Barracuda ever carried this loadout, so don't give me any grief over it! The white line on the port flank is a kit decal representing the emergency dinghy release line (the other end is in the pilot's cockpit). I added red decal to simulate tape holding the dinghy line in place. The radio antenna line is made from Uschi "Rig That Thing" stretchable filament. I hadn't originally planned on having an open cockpit, so I did little detailing other than adding seat harnesses for the pilot and crew: I scratch built hydraulic cylinders to replace the kit's oversize flap actuators: In this shot you can see the underwing recognition lights (made using UV-activated acrylic gel) and the rib pattern on the control surfaces (thanks to Airone Hobby's fabric effect airbrush masks): My closing "beauty shot" Many thanks to everyone who gave advice and encouragement along the way!
    5 points
  41. I often tell her that her infiltration of the human race isn't going as smoothly as she seems to think it is. She's wanted a metal detector to look for coins (she loves old wheat pennies, and likes the idea of digging them up) for a while, and it turns out a basic model can be had fairly cheaply, it costs about two Profipacks or $50 USD with tax (given sterling's current trajectory, this is probably several wheelbarrows' worth of pound notes), and so I got her one, along with a ring she wanted, shortly before she turned us into paupers with the boy's party, because if I knew then what I know now... In any case, she loves it, and will take any excuse to go detecting, usually bringing the boys with to dig for her. Our yard looks like a colony of enraged gophers hit it. Here she is with Grant at the beach earlier today. Ah, Jonners, with that rakish beard, you're sure to find buyers. It's been murderous. Since the boys have been born, it's probably cost us close to $25,000 in healthcare costs over the last four years, which is not, technically speaking, money we really had lying around to give away. What's old Max "von" Hastings got to say about them? I read his book on Normandy and ended it confused as to how the Allies had won the war, let alone gotten out of France and into Germany by 1945.
    5 points
  42. Things moving along with the old Lanc. I got the cockpit finished off and crew settled into their new home and then fixed the fuselage halves together. I've slightly modified (i.e. hacked off some plastic from) the front and middle gun turrets so they can be added towards the end of the build. It's hard to see with the photos of the black plastic but the fit is really good so hopefully I won't need too much filler. The engine nacelle halves also went together with a minimum of fuss and I was able to get rid of most of the seam lines by just sanding and painting on some surface primer. While sanding these I masked off as much of the raised detail as possible and I'll do something similar when I start tidying up the fuselage. While I really like the rivets on this old kit I decided the wings needed to have a bit more going on so I've been scribing my own panel lines. I've not done much of this before so pleased to be learning a new technique - I'm using a Tamiya scribing tool and thick black tape as a guide. I know there's a big debate to be had about the best way to represent the surface details and the pattern I've gone for comes from a mixture of others models, photos, drawings and a bit of artistic interpretation. I've also tried to stop before going over the top, to my eye it looks busy enough now and will hopefully help make things look more interesting once painted. Finally, with one wing done (hence the two engines) and the other one half way there I couldn't resist a dry fit: Don't you just love a Lancaster!
    5 points
  43. We think that Italeri got their surface detail inspiration from Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright: I had a lot of similar issues on the engine tower of the Do-18 Ced (bloody great trenches) and found the best approach then to be using a Stanley blade held twixt thumb and forefinger as a spreader for Humbrol filler. Small amounts each time scraped at 45° across the lines and there was very little excess to sand away afterward. At this size I reckon hendie's pencil lining technique is a winner for scale effect subsequently. Never trust anything that's yellow and smells a bit. Particularly snow.
    5 points
  44. Obviously Ced it's your choice, but if mine was going on the ceiling I think I'd be tempted to build it 'as is'. The reason mine is back in its box is I started trying to fill & 'refine' the panel lines and after a few days seemingly getting nowhere it just sucked the will to live out of me. Maybe just filling them all in might be an easy fix.... I've a Sunderland story too. Back about 50 years ago the Hendon machine was still at RAF Pembroke Dock. My late dad at the time worked for Mothers Pride bread, his round being all around the Pembroke area. I used to help him on a Saturday and after leaving Swansea at 4am one of our first drops was RAF Pembroke Dock. Being ex mob he was welcome in the Sergeants Mess for brekkie. I would have been too, but instead preferred a pint of milk and free rein of the Sunderland! I have about 40 hours as 'pilot in command' in my 'logbook', and lost count of the number of U-Boats I 'bothered' as they appeared below us (if only in my vivid imagination!) Keith
    5 points
  45. Today’s update shows the control panel (apologies if that isn’t the correct name) and the firebox door (not really visible in the first picture) on the black panel below. Then there are a couple of pictures of this assembly mounted on the footplate area.
    5 points
  46. That is just taking the piddle. How can we mere mortals ever hope to emulate this level of skill? I think you can already do this as you obviously shrink yourself to 1/72 scale at will to work in your aircraft components factory. AW
    5 points
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