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Showing content with the highest reputation on 19/03/24 in all areas

  1. Hi Everyone! I would like to present you with freshly finished lovely kit from Eduard no 82101. Pretty straight forward kit from the box. Few bits and pieces to rescribe and rivet, but not a huge amount of work. I have filled the wing panel lines with a mixture of VMS Black Flexy CA and their Filler Powder. That works great as it is fast drying, non shrinking and easy to sand. Only the area around the guns was filled with Mr Surfacer 500. I have also replaced gun barrels with hypodermic needles which improved the look in my opinion. Drilled the exhaust pipes and filters on the lower nose. The kit provides decals for the tail, but I have decided to mask it and paint it and I'm happy with the result. Painted with Tamiya LP-8 over white and Black Mr. Surfacer. Nose red is a AK Interactive RED. Anti glare painted with Olive Drab. Fuselage has been painted over satin black with Mr.Color Super Fine Silver, where the wings are painted with Tamiya LP-38 Flat Aluminium. Weathered with Abteilung's oils and some panel washes from AK. Then everything sealed with satin on the wings and the rest of the coloured parts, and gloss on the fuselage, bare metal surface. I had a massive disaster during the build. Once I painted the tail and nose, I have followed an advice from more experienced friends from the model club, to use LP-11 as the aluminium colour, but that for some reason turned out not nice, so I covered it with Extreme Metal Polished Aluminium which was much better. Then I sealed it with Gauzy Agent pre decaling. This is where I think it went wrong. Well not from the start. Stencils were great, film was easy to remove and I was absolutely amazed with the result. The problem started with the larger decals, where they did not stick properly and despite waiting over 2 days, I still removed the film with part of the decals.. Thanks to club friends for supplying me with their decals from the same kit. I stripped all the paint back to plastic (apart from the nose) and painted it again with the paint mentioned above. This time decals went on better and I also restrained from removing the film. And here we have the result, let me know what you think: Thanks!
    4 points
  2. As my own rule dictates, the next topic can be made when the previous one has disappeared from the first page.:) And soon my arsenal of finished builds will be empty too. But in the meantime, I offer you an elegant bird. Farman F 223 1/72 from Azur box. Mostly straight out of the box, with a few small details added.
    4 points
  3. I left my original day job after 38 years and 5 weeks when my employer closed our office and left me (as a non-driver) with nowhere else I could get to without spending half the day getting to and from. By then the job had become a nightmare of self-justification and political-correctness gone mad and I couldn’t wait to go. The next morning, lyrics no in bed well after normal getting-up-time the feeling of relief that I never had to go back to the Fun Factory again was overwhelming! I vowed that I wasn’t going to slob around the house all day, although I had (and still have) a fair few d-I-y projects to get on with, and Her Late Majesty’s DWP wanted me to justify my entitlement to Jobseekers’ Allowance by actually seeking a job (WHY....?), so I wound up doing a number of training courses of dubious long-term value, but found a part-time job in a local department store coffee shop for 6 months and a volunteer post with a local charity which led ultimately to full-time paid employment there; I‘m still there over 7 years later but maybe for not much longer as, guess what?, we’ve had a bad attack of box-ticking, self-justifying politically-correct capability reduction seasoned with a big dollop of management ineptitude. I suppose that if I chuck the job, or it chucks me, I can get on with the d-I-y and to get some of my stash built before the Grim Reaper hauls me away to the manure tanks adjacent to the fire pits of Hades for eternity, but my state pension doesn’t kick in for another 29 months and my daughter’s petrol habit isn’t getting any better, so a further spell of low-paid employment beckons but I’ll see what I can get from it.
    3 points
  4. Only a couple of months to go now, and I can tell them they can poke their job 😁
    3 points
  5. Thanks fellows for your interesting! This person just announces his model on polish modelling-forum, Modelwork. He even has no his web-site so it is a little bit mysterious matter. 😉 Top-secret industry??? "Birdie is his second or third model, earlier he produced cold-war era soviet Osa-class missile boat. 13 such boats served in Polish Navy during 1964-2006. Quite small (39 meters) boat but quite complex, I think. I am very sorry I don't know why you can't see my pictures. I always load these from Imgur. Has anybody the same problem? Meanwhile I still work with water on my Hibiscus-model... Regards, Michal
    3 points
  6. Hello, Here is my recently completed Hasegawa 1/48 Barak block 30. I have used isracast conversation and decals. Thanks for looking. Cheers.
    3 points
  7. Mixed update. First, the paint plan didn't work. Tamiya Nato black spray and Tamiya Nato paint don't match. The paint is way more matt and even after varnish. the areas I had touched up stood out. So, I gave up with that and went back to Vallejo paint, as I should have done from the start. Then Vallejo Hull red was way too dark brown (imho), loads of Fire Red later and I'm sort of OK with it. Also, using the mask to spray the draft marks was also a bit of a disaster, the pattern I had didn't match the way Victorian's painted their draft marks. So, all in all, a bit of a bad start to the painting stage really. I'll post on the draft marks later, still worrying that one The hull after painting Meanwhile the Sea Grey for the turtle deck looks OK, thinks that's a keeper. I've also been busy making deck canvas edging strips from 0.2 mm Aluminium, cut into 1.7mm wide strips and indented with a pin wheel to give the impression of fixings, using 3inch lengths which at 12 ft seemed a reasonable stock length for handling and also trying to get that pin wheel to behave on longer lengths with these narrow strips is just a route to insanity. I'll post a couple of pictures once I'm happy with the effect,. The actual canvas arrangement is not obvious so I'm interspersing other stuff while I consider this all To cheer myself up, I made a cleat for the ensign, there will be more of these needed. At least that worked... Then as a distraction, I went back to the forward gun platform planking and tried a version with a margin plank, seems much better, three stage iteration below. The laser reversing burns the wood slightly, hence version 3, I may try one more to see if I can make it better, its hard as the planks converge so the reversing is inevitable. This will be painted, so any final burning will not be obvious (I hope). Anyway, I'm much happier with this So much so, that I remade the capstan platform planks, way better While I was on that platform, I turned my attention to the handrailing. This is permanent round the platform and then run in wire rope to the bow jackstaff. The stanchions here are very low and non -standard @ 28 inches. I didn't have that size but cut down some 20mm stanchions and fitted rings to get the height right, soldering frame shown below. The existing legs on the platform are 1mm thin wall tube so they can take the stanchion pins The curved rail (0.7 mm) was beaten flat at one end and drilled to take the wire rope later before shaping and soldering it in a template Trial assembly, more fettling needed. Note the deck lights on the turtle back polished brass rings. Anyway, it's still all a little rough, but coming together. Lots more detail to go on this turtle deck..... Cheers Steve
    3 points
  8. Today I purchased new kit of small polish producer. If you think Flower Corvettes are small, look and compare: "Birdies" were 6 small (45 meters) coastal minesweepers/minelayers bulit in Poland during 1935-1939. They carried up to 20 mines and were armed 1 75 mms gun and 2 machine guns. e Jaskółka class was a versatile design which allowed the ships to serve in the role of either a minesweeper, small minelayer or a sub chaser. More here: ORP Jaskółka - Wikipedia and here: Jaskółka-class minesweeper - Wikipedia In September 1939 they laid some mine fields around polish coast, supported with guns polish infantry and fought against German airplanes. Some of them were bombed by Ju-87 Stukas and sunk. Later, a few birdies served in Kriegsmarine as atorpedo trials craft and after war again in polish Navy as patrol crafts while Żuraw (Crane) was survey vessel and training ship. Railings are really tiny! Various details. Boats are rather simply and I'll give them covers. Mast is 3D printet too and has various details: And some photos of real ships (threre were Crane, Swallow, Lapwing, Heron, Seagull and Tern): ...and in German Navy with quite spectacular camouflage: I think build will be short and simply however I want finish Hibiscus at first. So if you are interested in - be patient and stay tuned, please 😉 Best regards, Michal.
    2 points
  9. Just catching up on your thread. What a great project, I’ll watch with keen interest. The B-47’s significance to aviation is underrated, but just look at the layout of almost every large Boeing since… Gerard
    2 points
  10. Hi all. This is the first model with desert decoration that he has made in many years and the second in total. I hope that the mistakes I have made in this one will not be made again in an Arma Hobby 1/72 Hurricane MK IIC that I have in stock. I would have liked to have placed the ventral fuel tank but I realized that I had not placed it once I had glued the model to the base. Now I think it could cause damage that is difficult to repair and if it were, I honestly don't feel like undertaking it. I really enjoyed this kit from Special Hobby and I can't recommend it enough. Thanks to everyone who has followed the build and encouraged me with their kind comments. This can be seen in the following link. Andrés.
    2 points
  11. Finally got the 14" bird done. The main color coat was an attempt at a custom Diamond White I read online. It consists of the following Tamiya acrylics: 200 drops (full bottle): X-2 (gloss white) 1 drop XF-16: (flat aluminum) 2 drops XF-21: (flat sky) The command module sensors and engine bells were done in AK Interactive Extreme Metal (polished aluminum); the main and booster bells were lightly oversprayed with shades of clear blue and purple for the heat discoloration effect. The small vernier thruster bells were carefully hollowed out by hand with a small Dremel ball-end bit (and it was nerve-wracking!) Everything less the metallics was tied together with a final Tamiya flat clear coat. Since the paneling decals weren't included (at least in my kit), gray panel details were masked and airbrushed. Now Eagle 1 has some company on the display shelf. Enjoy!
    2 points
  12. I’ve painted all the interior elements and assembled the cockpit. The seat looks crisp in reality, but not quite up to my expectations in the photo! I need to find an oil wash technique that doesn’t just go glossy when it dries. Nonetheless, and most importantly, I really enjoyed making it this way, and will try some of the above tips next time. Now I can start to look at closing up the fuselage.
    2 points
  13. G'day, retirement does have it's down-side. Weekends don't quite have their significance and public holidays slip by without you knowing, you don't get them off anymore. But I can live with that. 😁 But seriously, I don't miss getting up at 5.00AM to start cleaning the school at 5.30, and yeah, not so much in a hurry any more. I take the dog for a walk - when - whenever I want. Been that way for just over two years now. If you think you can get by in retirement, give it SERIOUS thought. Regards, Jeff.
    2 points
  14. Kit Manufacturer: Revell. Scale: 1/106. Paints used: Archive X and one black and one silver paint (Vallejo). Clear coats: Windsor and Newton Galeria Satin. Weathering products - a black clay wash overall. Aftermarket - Arduino nano and LEDs (plus 2 CR2032 lillypad battery holders, wires and solder). References - https://modelermagic.com/shuttle-tydirium-studio-model/ So, this was intended to be a quick build over Xmas 2023. At least that was the plan, due to health issues and other things getting in the way that plan went out the window!! Here's the WIP thread to show some of why it didn't go to plan... Anyhow I've reached the point where I want to call it done, I could do more weathering but I've had enough... Photos below, unfortunately I don't have a large enough work area/backdrop to photograph this properly, so these photos aren't the best... And if a picture speaks a thousand words a video speaks volumes (just took this to test my new turntable and so y'all can see the timing of the nav lights.) It's a bit naff, especially as I moved the tripod down towards the end to show the underside nav lights also... Made a slight error in placement of the wingtip nav lights, they should be further out, I forgot to account for the "trench" I added! Had to re-solder the wires for one of the battery holders (again), that'll be the third time during progress of this build that I've had to re-solder in awkward areas with short wires and I'm useless at soldering!! FYI the battery holders are in what was the cockpit, accessible by folding down the "canopy"... If I were to do this again, I'd use a better power source (probably a 9v battery) to power the Arduino and run all LEDs off it (I ended up putting the engine LEDs on their own power source in this one), and I'd cut the bottom of the hull to make an access panel for the battery (there's loads of room inside), and I'd put a switch somewhere through the underside of the hull so it's external. I'd use better/different COB LED strips because I had a bit of difficulty soldering wires to the one's I used, and I'd make a proper lightbox inside to stop light bleed. I'd also make a larger base, it's comically small, I'd also probably make the rod a bit thicker. I'd also try to route the wires from the wings to the hull better so I could keep the wings foldable. I can sit and plan these things here at my PC, but when I sit at the "workbench" my mind seems to go blank! Anyhow now it's done I'm fairly happy with it, just a shame I also have nowhere to display it! Thanks for looking. C&C welcome.
    2 points
  15. In three days, it will be 9 years since I left work, after 35 years at the plant. Best career move ever! Chris
    2 points
  16. Evening All, I have been seriously distracted in the last month and have not had a great deal of time either to comment or to do a great deal on the current project. Added to which what I have done has been time consuming and laborious, so what follows is not a great deal but did take a lot of time and effort, both of which have been in short supply of late. I used 1/16 x 1/16 inch (2mm x 2mm) pine strip to make the deck planking. For those who like me know little or nothing about the construction of armoured warships, the decks were covered in wood: teak in the case of British warships. This was because these ships operated in oceans and seas around the world, which meant that in the tropics and sub-tropical waters a bare steel deck would become so hot during the day that sailors would not be able to walk on it. In addition the crew quarters below the decks would have been unbearably hot. In Arctic and Southern Ocean waters in winter, ice would rapidly build up on the very cold bare steel decks and rapidly make the ship top heavy and unstable. Wood acts as an insulator and thus helps to keep the ship cool in the tropics and slows the build-up of ice on the ship in high latitude seas and oceans. After that lesson in marine construction I glued the strips of pine to the lime base, starting at the front centre and working outwards: After several sessions and what seemed at the time like an eternity I had managed to cover the whole of the deck area: Making the strip fit the different curves of the barbette, edge of the deck and fill the gaps between the ventilation hatches involved another steep learning curve for me. The decks of those old warships were teak as stated above, but the wood rapidly discoloured in the salt air and under the influence of the sun. In addition sailors were expected to scrub the decks with honeystone, an abrasive stone which was supposed to make the decks white: an affectation of senior naval officers, some of whom seemed to think that they were still living in the age of sail. Indeed it could be said that if the Royal Navy prior to 1914 had spent more time practising gunnery and other military activity than burnishing the brass and decks of the warships, they may have been more effective, even successful, when they finally engaged the enemy. However that may have been, the decks of warships were not the colour of pine strip, so I had to find a way of representing discoloured teak. Colour photographs of modern preserved battleship wood decks show that they are a dull grey. I stained the pine with a dark red wood stain (Peruvian mahogony), to try to represent the teak deck when new: In the process I managed to remove several areas of the acryllic grey on the barbette and ventilation covers, so these will need to be repainted later. When the woodstain was dry I used a wash of Revell Hellgrau(76) mixed with white: I applied many coats of this until I had something close to the grey in my reference photographs: The slightly uneven colours are what I wanted to achieve: the deck areas of these ships was huge and the variation in colour on the originals was considerable. Now all I have to do is to repaint the barbette and ventilation covers before I attach the turret and guns and start to make the bridge structure which will form the rear of the display. Thanks for looking. P
    2 points
  17. I've got some delay due to a "side kick" - a pair of P47s... The P 47 N (Sword kit ) and P 47 D 28 (Revell kit, but with slimmed belly amd in Brasilian livery...) The "N" is ready, maybe I will manage to do photos tomorreow for RFI, "D" need some finish still" But now - I am returning to Savoias. Some small progress on SM 73 (exhaust pipes, ventilation devices on fuselage top, glued engines on positions) was achieved... To be continued,,, Regards J-W
    2 points
  18. When I first saw this kit previewed on the net over a year ago I said I want it!!! And I was very happy with it, hats off to Airfix for this one, great kit, well thought out construction and well fitting parts too. It took me just under three months to build and it was time enjoyed. I would like to thank all those who followed, commented and liked on the WIP. Paints: Tamiya, Mr Hobby, Alcad2. Varnish: W&N Galeria. Filler: Hardly none. Thank you for looking. Simon.
    2 points
  19. Hi Everyone, I present to you my Bristol Beaufighter TF.X from the World War 2 Twins Mega Group Build (GB). The kit is old, a Mark IC version from Revell circa 1974, and its accuracy is questionable at best. That said, as the saying goes only a bad workman blames his tools, so the result of the build, good or bad, rests with me. So what did I like about this kit? The engines, landing gear and wheel wells stand out but I think the most obvious attribute is the sheer size of the thing. It’s a beast. It’s large and ungainly but I cannot help but liking the Beaufighter. I modified it by extending the tail plane and cobbled together a workable thimble nose; though I am unsure if the dimensions are quite right. The twin schemes I used were of a Coastal Command strike aircraft and as an RAF night fighter, depicting just two of the many roles in which the Beaufighter was successfully employed. Participating in the Group Build was a great experience and I highly encourage people to sign-up for one or more that appeals to you. All thoughts, comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Attached is a link to the GB if you are interested: Bristol Beaufighter Mark X - World War 2 Twins Mega GB - Britmodeller.com Regards, Tomcat101
    2 points
  20. 1/48 Halifax MkI… 1/48 Halifax MkI… 1/48 Halifax MkI… 1/48 Halifax MkI… 1/48 Halifax MkI… Did I mention a 1/48 Halifax MkI..?
    2 points
  21. Kitt from IBG. Photoetching from the kit. Rivet rows and some details have been re-made. Alex.
    2 points
  22. Clearly it will be a 1/48 Sunderland, There is no need for any further conjecture.
    2 points
  23. Evening All Thank you all for the kind comments. @Bandsaw Steve I apologise for causing you outrage by not using a bandsaw yet - I promise that I will try to do so when I make the turret and deck base for the model. I will certainly be using quantities of wood when I do get around to that part..... I have made some progress with this project, but did have a case of two steps forward and one back, which meant that I had to dissemble and re-assemble some parts. I completed the addition of the interplane and boom struts after the initial assembly had dried out: this was a straightforward task as it involved gently placing the ends of the struts into the pre-drilled holes in the wings after I had place a small drop of glue into the relevant holes. The boom struts were cut to exact length and fixed in place with CA: When I added the supporting struts for the upper wing overhang I did not cut them to the correct length and as a consequence I distorted the wing and boom structures. It took me a whole evening of fiddling and thinking before I realised the cause of the problem, by which time I had partially dissembled the top wing. Fortunately as soon as I removed the outermost interplane struts the problem was resolved: the wing was re-assembled and new outer struts cut and glued into place and all was square again. I made the front booms from brass bar as the originals were square section. I measured the gap between the wings using a pair of dividers and marked the where the ends of the booms needed to be with a pencil on a piece of paper. I could then lay the brass bar on the paper to form two V's which I was able to solder: After the joints had been cleaned with a file I was able to CA the repective booms to each side of the front of the model. I started rigging the model at this stage because some areas will be difficult to reach later. The wings and boom bracing was rigged using rolled copper wire held with CA: I have now reached a snag: the undercarriage was a simple structure consisting of two struts on each side supporting two skids. The axle ran across the skids. This will be an inherently weak part of the model which will require careful handling, especially when rigging. In addition if I finish the aircraft before I make the turret and foredeck on which I intend to mount it, I will have to be very careful in storing the aircraft model to stop it being accidentally damaged, so I have put it to one side for the moment while I concentrate on the base. I have made a small start on the base but am still in the process of studying photos of the deck and turret to work out some of the smaller details. I am not a ship modeller so I am on a very steep (vertical?) learning curve at the moment, but in the last couple of days I have had access to some very helpful information with the help of a fellow modeller and I hope to be able to present the results of my research in model form before too long. Thanks for looking. P
    2 points
  24. Here´s a big beast of a tank with a massive high velocity gun. Boxart and sprue shots. First port of call is to familiarize with all the instructions in the manual. I´m sure there are many parts in the kit that does not belong to the build. ⚓🤔
    1 point
  25. only one person's view
    1 point
  26. I’ve decided to give the putty treatment a go. I primed the Me 262 with Stynylrez black, and then gave the undersurfaces a light coat of XF66. This will be the putty colour, and I’ll use thin Tamiya tape to cover the lines that should look puttied. Once masked I’ll then go back and do another black base, followed by aluminium. In reverse order, but it should be quicker that way. I’m contemplating ways to rough up the tape edges a bit so the putty lines look more manual. The canopy is in place on the top side, finally displaying the shark like lines of the aircraft. I found this very difficult to fit and line up (swimming against the current, I always long for single piece canopies) so I ended up just flooding gaps with Revell Contacta Clear. I’ll need to tidy that up later…
    1 point
  27. Instrument panel is given as a decal, so I've positioned it and sealed with a layer of Gauzy. Cockpit and tail wheel area are painted in Interior Green. Cheers, S.
    1 point
  28. making flint arrow heads
    1 point
  29. Evening folk's got an hour in today and after a few passes with a slightly darker silver to break up the base colours main decals applied I'll do the stencils next then gloss again and put in a pin wash.
    1 point
  30. I really have to show off my latest acquisitions. Accurascale have issued a selection of Southern Railway banana vans in OO gauge. Most are in sets of three but there is a limited edition singleton wagon in British Railways departmental livery. This version is to Diagram D-1478 with an arc roof. More about this later. Like all Accurascale models, this is stylishly presented in high quality packaging. The inner packaging is very secure. As it is a limited edition, we get a certificate autographed by the Accurascale team. They did the same thing with my recent Class 37. And there is also a nice monograph. There is a bag of superb detail bits. Those couplings are articulated! So... here is the van itself. As you can see, it is partly weathered. I'm not a big fan of factory weathered models as they tend to all look the same. However, I like this one as it leaves scope for me to add grime and track dirt. Maybe a touch of soot over the roof. The model has a diecast chassis so it is nice and heavy. The couplings are in NEM pockets so they can be replaced with whatever close-coupling device one wishes. All in all, it's a quality package. It set me back 30 beer chits. It seems very expensive for a single wagon but when you consider the quality of the build (all the details such as brake gear and door locking mechanisms are seperately fitted) and the excellent finish then it doesn't seem so bad.
    1 point
  31. Small update of this Malta edition of Eduard's Spitfire Story. I finished both cockpits. For me this is becoming something of a second nature. I used an oil wash to accentuate certain bits but a lot of it won't be visible anyway. I just love doing it I guess. Adding the harnesses was quite easy this time. I decided to add them in two steps, starting with the belts over the seat and adding the longer set that continues behind the seat once that was firmly attached. I think my CA glue has lost most of its CA though and it feels like I'm trying to glue it all together with the solvent. Guess I need to buy me a new bottle. Anyway, both cockpit interiors are now clamped between the fuselage halves. I have not yet added the aiming devices since they have the unfortunate tendency to break off. So that's the state of things. Started the wings so now I need to take care to glue the correct bits to the correct wing and fuselage. Pics for the fans. Starting with the fuselage halves. Cockpit in detail And now they are safely nestled in their respective fuselages.
    1 point
  32. and silence the screams. (Crocodile tastes a bit stronger than chicken....nice though)
    1 point
  33. yes, and brown sauce
    1 point
  34. Y'want vinegar with that?
    1 point
  35. Welcome to vacforming! A few observations... No concavities! I approached adding blisters to a canopy (Pink Spitfire PR 1G conversion) in a different way. I made the bubbles separately using a simple plunge mould. They were glued to the canopy by a liberal coat of Future. Not the most robust arrangement, but they haven't fallen off yet: Vacforming works best for pure convex shapes. If you think about it, once the plastic has made a cone over a raised feature and touched the glasswork all around the edges, the air is trapped and it so it will never bed down. To solve that you end up having to drill tiny holes in the hollows in the mould to make sure that all the air is sucked out. That's what the "pips" on professional vac forms are - the impressions of those tiny holes. Plastic choice I have never got "second time around" plastic to work, even though you'd think it should. I buy PETG on ebay. Go for the thinner stuff (20 thou/0.5mm) because it won't bubble up when you heat it. Steer clear of acetate as that goes yellow after a while - you're young enough to care! Other flexible plastics can work (eg: clear folder binders, the clear flimsy folded boxes that chocolate Easter bunny rabbits and salt and pepper shakers come in) but PETG is the gold standard. Clear polystyrene sheet doesn't work - opaque polystyrene sheet has additives that make it more pliable and it works well (but not for canopies). Bubbles PETG absorbs moisture from the air and when you heat the thicker stuff the moisture turns into bubbles. So PETG, especially the thicker stuff, needs to be warmed slowly to start with. I'd rather have a wobbly thin canopy than a thick bubbly one - after all, you don't pick your models up by their canopies, do you? If it's not hot it won't mould The plastic needs to be hot. It should be sagging before you try to mould it. Playing heat over the plastic when it's stuck on the mould is the quickest way to ruin the mould. Closer I use drawing pins rather than bulldog clips to pin my plastic to the supporting frame so it's as close to the vacuum bed as possible before any vacuuming happens. Tendrils "Tendrils", where the plastic folds up on itself radially away from the mould rather than sticking to it, are caused by the plastic being drawn together to other bits of plastic rather than the mould because of the local geometry. Sharp edges and sharply rising forms cause that. Adding a bit of blu-tak at the back of the canopy to make a gentle ridge instead of a cliff will avoid tendrils there, but do leave a step down from the canopy to the blu-tak to give you an edge. If you are getting tendrils at the front of the canopy, put a little wall of blu-tak ahead of it (but make sure there are some vacuum holes between it and the canopy). These will stop the plastic bunching. Ring: Plinth (with vent holes to suck the air away at the plint/mould border): In both cases, you can see the tendrils started to form but then got disrupted by the defences. Lift for sharper bottom edge Raise the canopy a couple of mm above the bed with a blob of blu-tak (smaller than the canopy ) to help it get sucked down tightly at the edges. Check that the air has an escape route all the way around so it won't form little pockets. That's all folks! Er, that's all I can think of for the mo. On a reasonable day. I get maybe one in three attempts to work well, and I like to produce a spare because accidents happen when trimming. On a bad day... well I just go and do something else instead! It's all a bit frustrating most of the time but when it works, it works! Regards, Adrian
    1 point
  36. This is my attempt at the old Frog Westland PV.6/Wallace. I had originally intended to convert it to a Wallace in RAF service, but in the end built it as the PV.6 which was part of the Frog Trailblazer series as it was one of the two planes involved in the Houston Everest Expedition. Here is a link to the build thread. Other than a few improvements to the cockpit and adding exhaust pipes and rigging it was OOB. The fit was actually pretty good so it was quite an easy build. Pete
    1 point
  37. I had a part-time job, almost 3 yrs ago, when the company sourced out the lab I was working for. I was almost 3yrs from official retirement but I took the plunge to give up work for good and I have to say it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Still not at official retirement age, (66 for me now), but the rest and enjoyment that I have had over the previous years has been time that I would not have had, been able to get back, so I am happy that I could take time to build a few kits, continue writing and drawing as well as time to visit my siblings. If you have the opportunity to retire early then grab it with both hands, we men are not expected to live very long after retirement . . . .
    1 point
  38. Shut up, keep paddling
    1 point
  39. I filled the nose with small tungsten pellets and poured thin CA glue onto it. I thought it had dried when I picked it up the next day, but some of the tungsten fell out. I tried again using thicker CA glue, then let it sit there for several days. Tungsten is a lot denser than lead, and the small pellets really let it pack in there. This plane's nose will stay down even in typhoon winds now! I went a little overboard with gap filler over the entire model. I suppose a lot of the raised detail will be gone. I'll see if I can try scribing some panel lines. I have some special tape just for that, if I can find my panel line scribing tool!
    1 point
  40. This will be my entry in the GB: A look at the sprues: Looks and feels very much like Sword kit. Decals and Master brass pitots: I will be doing the second option with the red diamonds: I wont be starting straight away as I’ve still got builds underway in the Frog Squad and WWII Twins GBs. AW
    1 point
  41. Thank you, everyone! Your fingers and toes did the trick - I dodged the bullet. The remaining three tests came back negative, which means everything that was identified in the first round of tests can be attributed to the crazy sinus infection that I've had for so long. Good news on that front as I mentioned previously - the surgery opened everything up nicely and I am not currently experiencing any symptoms of an infection. I'm not a guy who tends to worry about stuff, but I can't tell you how much stress I was feeling. I've gone through cancer twice and I've never felt this stressed out. Ugh. Now, where was I? Cheers, Bill
    1 point
  42. The project is very close to completion now. Engine bay is complete with battery, washer bottle and various fluid bottles, etc. Some resin bolt heads were used on the shock towers and I was able to use the top hose from the same kit that the engine came from, the fit to my ultra slim panel radiator was perfect, that doesn't happen very often. All the final parts such as mirrors, wipers, bumpers are ready to go on. I found these chrome emblems left over from another conversion. I think they will look good on the front wings 😉 Hoping to wrap this up today. Should be able to post in RFI later on 🤞 Atb, Steve.
    1 point
  43. Small update. The windscreen is supplied with window masks for the inside and the outside to make spraying easier, and it is better to glue on the wipers now and the kill switches. The instructions say to fit the windscreen from the outside. This is actually physically impossible due to the width of the scuttle panel *and* the kit has so very clearly been engineered to enable the windscreen to slip in easily from the inside, I'm amazed the instruction writers and illustrators could get this wrong. Having been an assembly instructions illustrator for a decent part of my early career (sadly not model kits) - instructions are a lot easier than say - matched metal tooling for the kit itself. And yet here we are, Nunu and also Belkits both fail here somewhat in what should be the easiest part. The glue area is quite small however and the tolerances of the kit are so tight as to require some clamping. With the glass I feel perhaps the tolerances are *too* perfect.
    1 point
  44. Today I airbrushed the dark sea grey on the upperside. Not much darker than my primer which was a bit tricky. After it had dried I gave it a coat of my local Future equivalent (Pascoes Long Lasting). Thanks for looking. AW
    1 point
  45. Fantastic build, very nice finish too.
    1 point
  46. Quite a busy load. I just wonder how they would have got the limber in and out?
    1 point
  47. Your metal panels and rivets look better than on the original plane!
    1 point
  48. Don't jump to conclusions, Steve. He will still have to trim off the ends of the rigging wires. 😁 Regards, Jeff.
    1 point
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