Leaderboard

OOB, Sky decals.

Some pics of an Il28 I completed recently. Possibly the worst fit of parts I've ever encountered and persevered to completion! Even the panel lines on the 2 fuselage halves didn't line up needing a full rescribe. I added an Pavel interior up front. Still got there in the end with the help of you-all!

Hallo again Here is one Sopwith Dolphin in 48. Enjoy the photos. Happy modelling

So these have slowly (painfully) being built over the last two years. I really had a lot on and had really lost my Mojo, but it’s back now! They were part of the below thread (still technically ongoing, but now paused, as I would like to try any complete something other than a spitfire!) they are the second part of what ended up a built of 9 spitfires. I’m happy with how they turned out but also honest enough to admit they are far from my best work, however I really like them and what they represent and I’m over the moon to get them finished! so here they are. All painted with a brush and acrylic paints, and they are all the old airfix mkVb kit.👍🏻 Spitfire mk Vb AB263 GN-B flown by Robert (strong name) McNair of 249 (Gold Coast)squadron, from Ta’Qali Malta, 1942 probably some debate over colours of the 249 spitfires, but I followed the Xtradecal sheet, but may try and create one of the other options of the squadron in the future. Spitfire mk Vb BP964 X-I 601 squadron flown from Ta’Qali, 1942, this came in with Op Bowery and I have gone with the blue option as I love a blue Malta spitfire! The aim with these was to represent two stages of the defence of Malta and a bit of that myth that goes with it, like the blue of the spitfires etc. One (GN-B) represents and aircraft that would have just arrived and started its life defending Malta, with signs of quick turn around and dust... the other(X-I) represents an aircraft that has been adapted to suit the battle it was in and try’s to capture the wear and tear of the aircraft you see in the pictures, e.i. Really beaten up! Having visited Ta’Qali (now a stadium on an industrial estate with a lovely little museum) I can vouch for it not being hospitable with mainly cactus, rock, dust and really hot sun.... turns out the bus stops at the museum and you don’t have to walk across the industrial estate in 35 degree heat, my girlfriend was over the moon when we got to the museum to find our bus sat outside it.... Spitfire Vb JK792 WR-O 40 squadron SAAF Italy 1944 - I picked this as I just really liked the scheme! I’m ok with how this turned out, but not happy, the transfers silvered (probably my fault not theirs) and the paint was a pain, the dark earth (I tried mr hobby, then took it all off and repainted with Tamiya) didn’t play ball! And I won’t be using the MIG dark green again! overall really happy to have these finished and in the cabinet. group photo The SAAF shelf and the Malta shelf cheers, and onto the next build! Thanks for looking Rob

Steady on Bill, I need a gentle restart after the tour! Bill's Dad, better photo: The nasty Airfix plastic has taken its toll but that's the last time he'll be seen, like these bits: Nice seats and stuff. And 'that anchor and winch', bit blurred, sorry: Before close up I luckily checked the instructions for missing internal bits and saw that this was missing: A tip for you; when you're looking for an easy 'back in' after a break, don't start with something fiddly like this - all you'll do is refresh your Anglo-Saxon. Nice to see Italeri included the mooring point though, just like the real thing: Sort of. Another thing not to try is glueing bombs onto a rack: More Anglo-Saxon. Better take a break to calm down…

BOO! It's back! After rather more of a delay than anticipated I have brought this back to the bench. The brass and other supplies have all been received, the Pfalzen completed, and a very pleasurable (and unexpectedly successful) trip to Telford has been completed. Speaking of which, here's the unexpected bit..... To say I was gobsmacked is a huge understatement, there were some gorgeous models there! Anyway, back to the subject. Not too much for today as I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where I'd got to and what was supposed to come next! Since I have the PE bomb racks I decided to finish the wing ribs and added the cutouts for the rack mechanism. Drilled, enlarged with a scalpel, then finally shaped with half-round and rectangular jeweler's files. Here are the racks Those should work, although they'll need a little more detail added as the Battle had them mounted as a pair, joined together through the rib (hence the cutouts). and fitted I'll leave those to dry overnight, next step will be to squirt some paint at them and see how they look! Thanks for looking in, and welcome back everyone! Ian

Thanks Heather - it has been done! (See below) The bead lathe doesn't do slow revs but it worked (of course) nonetheless Well, you could take out a bomb and find that the tail ring was missing. Or something like that… Well it took me more than a minute Tony - one of those jobs where the prep and cleaning up takes much more time than to job itself, but as Bill says, 'tis true Thanks Bill, more ideas for the (mostly full) brain Ah, now then, it would be good to have that in the 'techniques stash'; if I could have designed an arc all would have been well (apart from, perhaps, the colours). Something to do with pies isn't it? Thanks PC I've not tried that stuff Steve but I do have some 'bait rings' for masking spinner bands… trouble is these are really small Thanks Jont but see above - they're tiny little things and getting the tape straight at this scale would have taken ages So: See that I've moved 'the rest' ready for the brushes? Once I'd realised that the chuck is left-hand-drive (weird) I was away: Four done and tail ring re-glued. Almost consistent too. Good enough for the ceiling. Sadly I'd already glued four of the bombs to a rack for Bill's Dad to fiddle with: Just glued him in place so worried about tilting the model for a better photo - I'll do that later. I need to get this closed up and progressed to restore my mojo after the stall. More later

Hallo again Enjoy the photos! Happy modelling

Hallo again This Salmson I built some time ago. Enjoy the photos! Happy modelling

Hallo again This is my Fokker E IV. In scale 1/32 from WNW. Happy modelling

Hallo again This kit is scale 32. Not easy! Happy modelling

Really chuffed when I managed to pick this little gem up from SMW Telford this year as it's been on my wish list for some time. Lovely simple kit, goes together so well. The only downside is the canopy, but had i took a little more time i could have thinned it out a little and made it fit a bit better. Painted with Vallejo, and decals from the spares box to represent an aircraft from No. 6 FTS RAF Ternhill....my local....so have a soft spot for this one! Thanks for looking...... Together with stablemates.....

ok enough about Christmas treats time for the important stuff.....and boy its been busy overnight! I can't tell if there's been any vote changing or not but we've had 7 new members cast their votes. While there has been no move in or out of the cutoff area there has been some jockeying for position in the 2 areas. It's still to close to tell for those last few positions, the top and bottom 3 position and now cemented.....baring massive vote changing!!!........... and around here anything is possible! I will refrain form any talk about grooming or pharmaceutical goods as the very though has been giving me nightmares!!!! Plus they should know better.....they should be practicing abstinence and waxing!!! Finally some may know I've been busy on a not so wee beastie, well she's 99% done, so here's a sneak peek before the final photos go up in the RFI section on the weekend.

Right I’m making a list too, Things I really don’t need to know about, @Col.s “Manscaping” @JOCKNEYs “blue pills” @modelling minions “odd member” Next you will be telling me @nimrod54 builds in bigger scales than 144 & that Santa isn’t real.

Here is a build of the Kinetic M-346 Master in the colours of the Republic of Singapore Air Force, albeit with a special scheme tail celebrating 20 years of training partnership with the French Air Force. In addition to the home-made decals for the tail, I also included the Yahu cockpit set. Aside from that, it's entirely from the box contents. Some of you will know that this is the first kit from the new "Gold Standard" in the Kinetic range and thus sets expectations for better quality. I think it meets mine and there really are no dramas putting the kit together, except the ones of your own making (e.g. trying to figure out the main undercarriage arrangements, just like the Rafale. You shouldn't need any filler and there's more than enough reference photos around for detailing beyond the kit. It's brush-painted with Hataka and Vallejo acrylics and finished with a Winsor & Newton matt varnish. Minimal weathering applied. My thanks to Tim for help with the tail decals. A delightful little kit of an interesting aircraft and I recommend you have a go at building one. As ever comments are welcome.

So; shortly after Telford, on the Monday, Mrs F and I went to Krakow for a week. Krakow is a beautiful city with an excellent cafe/food culture and it even has an aviation museum with a fine range of Cold War Warsaw Pact fighters and fighter bombers - oh and it’s even got an ex-6 squadron Jag in such a weatherbeaten and faded wrap around camouflage that even the most ardent ‘weatherers’ amongst the BM community might balk at replicating it Anyways. I only mention this cos I picked a up a cold (or rather a 'man cold') whilst I was out there and have been feeling very sorry for myself ever since we got back. Sympathy at home has been unsurprisingly non-existent (although I am getting given rather nice hot toddies at bedtime to shut me up). It is however my latest excuse for not having done any modelling I have been trying to do some modellling - honest - but the next thing I need to do is the main undercarriage doors and, given that the Airfix offerings are rubbish, that involves scratching and playing with etch and resin; and etch in particular is vulnerable to getting blown into the behemoth that is the carpet monster after a bout of violent coughing.... I did however hold my breath long enough to bring together for a group photo some of the the various bits and bobs from which I’ll try to cobble together some undercarriage doors: Part of the problem is that the Airfix undercarriage bays are very poorly shaped, and this before and after photo shows where I’ve tried to shorten and widen the outboard ends of the bays. They’re better - but still best described as ‘stand-off’ scale. Just as well they’re mostly out of sight underneath..... The etch I’ve got is mostly accurate - but I’ve got to reshape it slightly so that it looks as if it might fit in to the Airfix bays. The trick is going to be to modified enough to do that, whilst still looking sufficiently like the real thing to pass muster. Anyways - more of that later when the man cold has passed.... One thing I could do with the man cold was clear up my modelling work space; and as I was doing that I came across some old papers that provided me with some nostalgia and that some of you might find interesting. I mean the sortie reports from my advance flying training on the Hawk This one is from trip 11 (I did my first solo on trip 8): I’m not sure that “yuk” was ever really official RAF terminology for a bad landing! That said, touching down before the runway numbers probably gave the instructor a bit of a fright I should say that the RAF was obsessed, at least for fast jets, with aiming at the runway numbers on the approach and touching down either on the numbers or just slightly beyond. I think that civilian students are taught to land somewhat further along the runway (correct me if I’m wrong). IIRC the RAF was very keen on this, both as a demonstration of accurate flying but also cos it’s just a good idea when you’ve got quite a high landing speed and quite a short runway to make the most of the runway that you’ve got......As the old saying goes runway behind you is useless. Anyways. This one is my final handling test on the Hawk. Two days before my 20th birthday and the final hurdle to overcome to get the RAF wings. I can still remember the relief when it was over. Front: I’d forgotten that we used to take the Hawk to Mach 0.95. See that criticism for getting 100’ high when instrument flying - using the standby attitude indicator cos of a simulated main AI failure - and combined with a simulated hydraulic failure!!! RAF instructors are never happy...... Back: I'm gonna lay down now and try for some more sympathy for the man cold.........

After some trial and error I've managed to sort a few photos of my finished Airfix toom... my first proper 'plane kit in 30 years or so. Quite enjoyed the experience and there's a work in progress thread that I used to track my "build"... but this will do for now. One mistake I made at the end was to paint the flightpath etch steps in yellow (because that's what the instructions said to do) but these should instead be a dark red.... which they now are, and awaiting some gloss varnish to seal and give some gleam. I'll grab a few photos once that's all sorted. Anyway... crit welcome... and yes, its a bit clean underneath; it's just had a wash 😉 Phantom 2 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Phantom 1 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Phantom in profile by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Phantom 3 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Airfix 1:72 Phantom upper and lower by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr XT864 upper view by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr XT864 Starboard front quarter by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Thanks also for all the comments and support that I received during the build. It's what these forums are for.... thanks one and all Jonathan

@Hockeyboy76 and @JOCKNEY Not only do I work in larger scales than 1/144 guys (OK occasionally), I've also started to build small scale aircraft too. Just like this 1/600 Fairey Seafox, next job is to separate the floats and add some etch struts. : by John L, on Flickr

Arghh. There are times, and then there are times. Apparently, my age has reached a point where brain befuddleness is coming to the fore. Last night, I put a beautiful finish of Dark Sea Grey over the Javelin T.3. This morning, I had a look and thought that it looked a bit too dark. Hmm. Having a look at the bottle used in said painting, I realised that I did not see the word "Extra" in front of "Dark Sea Grey." Ha! I told you my name was Navy Bird. Cheers, Bill PS. Ever imagine a Javelin on a carrier?

\Disinclination is rife So many of the etch grid holes to clear out and this is it for today Bah humbug Pleasure abates when I have days like this one, let's see if tomorrow improves my mood Might be better huh?

This is Alby’s diminutive 1/72 scale resin Goliath!

Hallo again This is my Roland D.VIb in 1/32: Happy modelling

Wow, GrzeM, that movie was cool - thanks for the link! Placed on the base with a couple of 6mm swamp tuft weeds from Army Painter Battlefields, the tiny Goliath demolition vehicle looks ready for trouble! 😠

I saw the workings - basically every part is made - so far of this conversion and we had a discussion (myself, @Admiral Puff and others) about how it might best be manufactured. We don't like the full centre section option on the grounds of expense (mainly) and we appreciate that the most unskilled modeller wanting to do the conversion will be capable of a bit of cutting and replacing. So a remove and drop in system seems best. Apart from the complete power plant assembly we will include instructions for correcting the hatches and any other minor additions that people might like. So, it is well on the way. I want to do a couple of Catalinas so that's an incentive to get on with it. Timeline.........? https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/douglas_adams_134151

Not the usuall at all... For the last 6 months I've been unable to do any serious modelling. All my modelling equipment has been bought at ASDA, Hobbycraft and Scoonie Hobbies, Kirkcaldy and kept in a supermarket bag. My modelling area has been the back garden and a A4 modelling mat. My stash of kits and more serious equipment, air brush, thinners, extractor brushes and paints etc etc are in storeage. My goal is to complete a WIngNut Wings and to this end completed two biplanes last year and 75% completd a third but evrything came to a halt in May this year. The Itch to complete something has been helped by a Harrier with my grandson and this latest offering. The olive drab representing PC12 was from a Tamya spray can the rest was brush painted. I wanted to complete a biplane but at the time of visiting Hobbycraft Stockport the closest thing to one was Starfighter X wing. Undaunted i pressed on... So practising wood paneling oil dot blending and enhancing moulded structures I began "In a far off galaxy" Metals had become very expensive but plywood was very cheap! The rebels using all there recycling skills to eke out their limited resources built this special to celebrate their for fathers... of two World Wars back on Earth. Of interest too me the panel lines were brush painted in using water colour pencils. The metal paints used were Tamya silver, iron and metallic blue. The goldy colours were the silver mixed with Acrylic yellow ink which produced anything from a rich gold to a bleached out one. As you can see the base I couldn't really be bothered with it was the model and its use as a practice was where i concentrated my efforts. The underneath wing was painted with Enamel colour approximating to doped lined but then I sprayed with a Tamya acrylic varnish and yes the inevitable happened it crazed! The oil dot technique used Winsor and Newton dark umber, light umber and yellow. I wanted to get a graduation from a darker leading edge (straight edge) to a lighter trailing edge (diagonal edge) The panels lines brushed in with watercolour pencils varnished and then the oil dot technique. The end result not quite what I was after but alot better than monochrome colour. To make the moulded detail pop, again it was watercolour pencils and brushed round the details and adjusted. Overall I'm pleased and itching to get on with WNW kit.

Hallo again This is my Albatros in 1/32: Happy modelling

It's finally done ... for the third or so time, after having to remodel due to moves or new ideas ... Before you judge to harshly: - it was meant to be a display for photographing models - so it needs to be somewhat variable and have nothing in the foreground that blocks the pics - it was also to place my larger kits that don't fit in the shelves - so it needs a lot of free space - it was supposed to allow me to build all kind of aspects of daily live on an airfield: maintenance , hangar, refueling, fire trucks, all kind of aircraft weaponry and so on - so a lot of different things have to find a place within the limited space which means a lot of activities are in close proximity that never would be like that in real life - it needs to display all my 1/48 non a/c kits - so it is kind of main & central during rush hour wrt vehicles etc. and it needs to fit in my hobby room - so ... To sum it up: one giant compromise - and I still have things built that I cannot get onto it (like an aircraft shooting range). I guess that means that there is another remodeling in the future. But for now I'll leave it be Thanks for looking!

OOB, Xtradedals.

Wait.. WAIT!! Did somebody (somebody Belgian, to be precise) say that there is a realistic prospect of a 1/48 Firebrand and Shark?? Be still my beating heart! Give me those over made-up Nazi nonsense, any day of the week. OK, CC, I’ll humour your idea of a twin Triebflügel (Twiebflügel?). [Or, to pick up and run with @72modeler’s excellent description, a twin tub blender with MG151s]. But the rotors have to be counter-rotating, obviously, so good luck with designing that one. And someone will need to get one or two flight control computers back to 1946 in their time machine to make it controllable on take-off and landing, but these are mere details. Or maybe not; maybe the completely frictionless bearing (yeah, right!) that meant the first one wouldn’t need an anti-torque device, honest guv, has been perfected yet further in our Chimay-fuelled future, and supplemented with an anti-gravity device. By the way, what is “suspension of disbelief” in German? And “complete tosh”? [Incidentally (to be slightly serious for a second) one of the (many) things that nark me about the whole Luft 46 thing [which to my mind has distinctly uncomfortable overtones of how simply wonderful those lovely Nazi engineers were, if only we could overlook their lack of tact with the Untermenschen] is the way that the box art always portrays sexy science [*cough*] fiction machines scything their way through hapless Allied aircraft (qv flaming Liberator box art on this very kit). Always hapless Allied aircraft circa 1944, obviously; we wouldn’t want to puncture the delicious fantasy by allowing the other side’s technology to advance, would we? This is all about Nazi superiority!] Sigh. It’s no good. I loved the Martian Fallen Madonna /Herr Flick Haunebu build, so whatever my deep distaste for the whole Luft 46 genre... ya got me. I’m in, provided it’s completely bonkers. But this is a Martian build; why am I even asking?

Hi, if you allow, I will join with this one: It is beautiful resin model made by Lift Here Models 1/72, Yugoslav two-seater trainer SOKO 522 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/lift-here-models-lhm025-soko-522-trainer--988157 It will represent a movie star from our beloved classic movie Kelly's Heroes. https://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Kelly's_Heroes I started a bit around the engine, so I hope I will have some progress soon.

Hello again, Here is the second model I have completed this year after another Eagle. Started this one thinking it would be a fast build to get into painting quick, and just finished it after 6 months of not a lot of free time. Very decent kit, the main issues being the simplistic exhausts and the overly thick closed canopy. Still an enjoyable build with not a lot to fix, and trying to spruce up that gunship gray was also a fun painting experience. 1/72 Academy #12550, Twobobs Da'Heath decals, KA Models exhausts, Reskit wheels, weapons from the kit, Skunkworks, GWH and Tamiya. Thanks for watching.

Hiya Peeps, For those that don't know, the SR-A1 was a prototype flying boat fighter plane and was the first jet-propelled water based-aircraft in the world. The concept was a reaction to Japan's successful use of military floatplanes and the emergence of the turbojet engine. In 1947, the first prototype (TG263) made its maiden flight, with a further two built. Being outclassed by land-based fighters and lack of orders, the project was cancelled with the last flight in June 1951. Of the three that were built, two were lost due to accidents, one of them being flown by Eric Brown. Here I present my latest from the 'Flying Boats and Floatplanes' group build, a Saunders-Roe SR-A1 using the Planet Models resin kit. Built mainly OOB, with the exception of a scratch built cockpit and the addition of a scratch intake grill. Build here: Stuart

Man cold? you try being a Martian with no less than six nostrils to unclog! Unsympathetic of Mars 👽

Morning folk's,glossed fuselage for decal's and it's really starting to resemble what I originally had in mind.

As much as seeing competitors panned brings me joy, my sense of integrity forces me to defend them here. Most paints contain numerous pigments, and mid to light tones are generally made by starting with a lot of white pigment for density then tinting it. If you imagine a rainbow and the colours you see being the most intense versions of themselves which your eyes can perceive, then you can see that you can make less intense versions akin to more usual colours by adding intense colour pigment to grey. The pigments available are typically the most intense coloured 'thing' we can mine or manufacture then grind down. We can't make a colour more intense than the intensity of a colour pigment, but we can easily add them to one another and make less intense colours. Flourescent orange however is a very, very weak pigment with hardly any staining power. It's not possible to cut it with anything to cheat and make it more densely covering or the colour rapidly loses its intensity and stops being flourescent. Our's is no better for brushing. It's the pigment rather than the paint. We can't just keep adding more and more pigment either because the pigment needs to be fully suspended in binder if it's to work like a paint, dry and adhere in place. Trying to boost the staining power of flourescent orange paint by flooding it with more pigment will result in a substance that doesn't stay in place and you'll have orange fingers every time you touch it thereafter. It's just a pig of a colour to make as a paint, and really needs to be airbrushed over white or light yellow to get a good finish.

Well I only had a short opportunity to delight in PC’s company, but it did at least involve beer, and delight in it I did (the company I mean not the beer - although I enjoyed the beer too.......oh heck I think I’ve got myself in a muddle here.....). Ditto for cookie and Navy Bird too (I’m not going to enter the beer/company syntax muddle again). And as for PC’s impressive knowledge.....I’m still reeling from his immediate identification of a PZL M-15 Belphegor I was cluelessly looking at in the Kraków aviation museum last week (don’t ask - its a tortuous story - just accept that it was gob smackingly impressive)......

Blimey be careful those tentacles have a long reach ! All heil .........ooops i mean All Hail The Martian !!! Danke

No mate, you didn't Except when you realised I look more like Alan Partridge than Terence Stamp, that realisation probably should have been part of your internal monologue rather than vocalised Converstations do tend to become a bit disjointed when there's a small group of us, and due to time restraints I spoke with you a little less than would have wished, but I enjoyed talking to you (and everyone else) very much; looking forward to the next time. Cheers, Stew

Hallo again Some better pictures: Happy modelling

Hi all, well considering how basic this kit was when I first looked it over, I think it has turned out looking pretty spiffy. The kit really was going to have to be super detailed to make it look convincing; I used a basecoat colour that I had mixed for a motorcycle tank I was respraying for a client. It was Suzuki Maui blue; it seemed to match the full size car's colour perfectly. Not one of Hasegawa's finest, there was some nasty fit issues, around the front fender, the lower valance did not want to fit, as well as the rear wheel covers. I had to replace the front windscreen and quarter side windows with some clear acrylic sheet as the kit one was starting to split and was too poor quality to really use anyway. Overall I am pleased I took the decision to convert the car into a convertible and save the kit from returning to the stash and probably never being built.

Hi All, Long time in the making but I finally completed this 1/72 Italeri EF-111. This was my first attempt at weathering so would love some feedback on how it looks. The model was built out of box using no extra parts since it was to be more of a training mule than serious attempt to make this kit flawless. Relatively basic weathering to start with. Model was painted then gloss varnished, After this a wash was applied using Revell weathering powders watered down the sealed in using a Matt clear coat. I also attempted some pre shading however realised I applied the dark grey on to thickly so it can’t be seen very clearly however it does show through a little on the light grey areas (hard to see on camera). Definitely techniques I’d like to use again so I’d love your feedback to improve. Thanks BR60066

Well find out who’s got it and get it back! My moneys on @Col. along with the mince pies

That's the very same one. General! Brought back a lot of memories and a lot of time-outs and restrictions for targeting my sister and her pals. (Restrictions at that time consisted of not being allowed to fly my control line stunt models- very effective, too!) Thanks for the re-post. I guess in today's PC environment, neither they or the famous "spud gun" would be allowed! Used to plink our cat with one when sis wasn't around! Mike Sooooo, when do we get to see a Melchett-built Vulcan B2, if I might be permitted to stray off-topic?)

At least you can pick all 6 at the same time! Ian

Do I detect an air of skepticism here? That's it just set the General off why don't you! Bonkers is pretty much guaranteed. Ironically though, as one of the craziest designs, it seems to be one that had the most effort expended on it, both on the part of Focke-Wulf and the RLM. It would probably have ended up in the "too difficult" pile as it would have proved incredibly hard to land safely as did other tail sitting designs such as the Lockheed Salmon and Convair Pogo. The diorama is where the even more bonkers bit is likely to come in. Ideas for a back story to: Martian, Martian Towers, Poole. Planet Wibble The winner gets a night out with General Melchett. the runner up getting three nights out with General Melchett. I would be unworthy as a member of Britmodeller if I was! Martian 👽

I've reposted the image Mike, it's the Park Plastics Water Rocket from the mid sixties. I also had hours of fun re-enacting the early, and usually highly self-destructive V-2 launches either on the common, in the garden or on the school playing field, (generally, wherever there was a decently sized social gathering). Good to hear that you're down in the weeds with this one Crisp. I feel pretty much the same way but cannot resist some of the crazier designs, purely from a modelling point of view. Bonkers...I don't think Martian is capable of anything less...well, at least I hope not.

Looking great so far (as usual) ! Maybe a bit too late, but have you seen this build? http://i-am-modelist.com/2012/09/10/focke-wulf-fw-19-ente/ Made by Alexander Nevzorov, a guy who takes accuracy very seriously too.

Bit more done, should be more enthusiastic right? The front two compartment cabinets are done. I carved all the door handles. You may see a big difference on the side parts. I realized I had to widen them by 6mm on the inner sides. I built up the difference with some .040, .060 etc. New diamond plate on top and corner edge mouldings. Put on all the lights. I'm going to try set this up for casting. The center section called a wrecker subframe is built from a lot of guessing and a few pictures. It's a bit overbuilt. The cone looking thing covers the hydraulic parts for the underlift. It still has to be trimmed on the rear. The recess in the middle is for the two belly drag winches. These are optional on the wreckers, can never have enough winching power.

That would be a really strange football chant

Great minds Chris 👍