Dr Jimbo

Thanks. Where do you get thin brass tubing from? I dont have a clue where to look(other than google). James

Good job on a good looking bird. The weathering is spot on. I always have a tendency to overweather my builds, but you've got the balance just right. Impressive. James

Hi Patrick, thanks for your advice. I am actually a Dr and didnt think to use what I use every day to take blood from patients! I'll nick some from work and try them out. To get a straight clean cross section, do you mean score the needle first with the pliers then snap the end off? James PS I know there are more rivet counters out there who must have ideas...

Evening all. Am building italeri's hurricane 1.48 and have sanded away some of the rivets. The rivets that just look like dots are easy to replace using a pin vice, but I don't know how to redo the rivets with small circles inscribed around them. Is there a trick or tool I'm missing? Please advise as have reached the point where there is nothing else to do before painting. Someone mentioned fine tubing. Where do I find that? Thank you in advance, James

Erik, glad you're still with me! I got so tied up in the flippin wing/gunport thing that I neglected the thread. I became quite obsessed with getting it right and not letting it beat me. It did nearly end up on the spares shelf and I nearly threw it out and bought an Xbox game to immerse myself in instead of modelling for a few weeks. Anyway, kept going... Thanks for your tips on fat panel lines and Mr Surfacer. I will see how it turns out and if they are too obvious then I will use your advice next time. Everything takes so long if you try to do it perfectly and I really want to get on with the Hurricane so I can start the He111 I have been itching to do for over a year but not been brave enough. Been watching Madmen and drinking Old Fashioneds, so sentences rambling. Must go to bed. ZZZZZZZ James

Si, just seen this thread and spent the last hour reading it from start to finish. You say you're not brave enough to rescribe a wing? Your work is fabulous, imaginative and a joy to see unfold. It's a pity I'm joining it at the end, but hey.... James.

Erik, Looking good so far. I know nothing about WWI planes either. You're braver than me. Will watch with interest... James

Si, thanks for watching. What tubing are you talking about? Sounds like a good idea but not sure where to find what your suggesting. James

Believe it or not, I've just spent the best part of the last month sorting out the wings. The gun ports on both wings are a terrible fit. I eventually got them in, sanded them, broke them, reglued them, sanded them, filled them, sanded them again losing most of the panel lines along the edges, had a beer or too, then did much the same with the wing light covers which were an equally bad fit. With only a few minutes here and there to spend on modelling recently, this has taken me ages. I then had to replace the panel lines, and having never used a scriber before this took me a bit of practice and a new thread just on this topic. Using a pin vice and Tamiya scriber I have rescribed the wings completely, probably overkill but when I got started it was difficult to know where to stop. Used Mr Surfacer for the first time, good stuff at covering little blemishes and making it obvious what needs to be tidied up before painting. Not perfect by any means, but after some sound and very helpful advice from everyone, I'm happy with how it turned out. The panel lines along the leading edge were hard. I used Dymo tape which worked a treat. Loses tack quickly but that is a minor problem. My only concern now is whether the panel lines are to thick and obvious, I guess we'll see later when I get some paint and washes on it. Having sorted the wings, the rest is coming on much quicker. I've stuck the engine and cockpit in and attached the fuselage together. For once this was a good fit requiring a bit of gap filling cement and a quick sand. I have decided to leave the cowlings on and permanently hide the power plant. I'm not brave enough to try and make an engine look like an engine yet. Maybe for the He111... Anyway, the cowlings don't fit well and are thin, not allowing much room for sanding vigorously. Tried to keep as much detail as possible but lost a few rivets along the way. Not sure how to replace the rivets with circles around them. Is there such a thing as a rivet punch? Any ideas? Next, try to remember how I mixed the interior green for the wheel wells and then glue the wings on. Progress. Thanks for your following. James

Thank you. There's no chance of giving up! This is the only thing that keeps me sane! Gently is the key. I find that difficult as the scriber needs a bit of pressure to bite into the plastic, even for a gentle line. That's practice I guess. I've got enough scrap builds to try it out on... The flexible steel ruler sounds like a good idea and I'm going to get a pair of dividers. Thanks. Thanks for the link. Very helpful. I like the look of the 471 stuff. My problem with tape has been that the scriber warps the edge and the resulting line is wonky, but then I was probably using too much force... You say you run a small amount of Tamiya cement along the finished line. What for? I can't work that one out. I never thought of Tipex as a fine filler. Every day is a school day! I'm glad I've got the right scriber, but I'm going to get a vice grip or use a drill bit holder thing to use as a handle for a needle. I'm sure my wife won't notice if one of her needles goes missing! Dymo tape has been mentioned a couple of times. I'm going to get some. I've got some of these templates, but I can't see work out how to use them effectively as they are quite large and positioning and holding firmly them in the correct position is difficult, especially on curved surfaces like fuselage. What do you do? Keep the advice coming. It's invaluable. Thanks. James

Need some help scribing for the first time. I am building a 1:48 Hurricane and have lost a fair bit of detail sanding the leading wing edges. Have bought what looks like a relatively fine scriber but first experiments gave ugly results with wobbly deep gouges and before I ruin the model and confine it to the spares box I wanted to get some tips. I can't find any scribing threads, but then not looked hard as I knew I had all your experience to call on. 1. Can you tell me how they learnt to scribe and if they know anywhere to pick up tips(threads, articles, general advice etc)? 2. Are there different scribers for different jobs? i.e. are some finer than others or do they all do the same. 3. Does anyone use anything else, eg pin or blade? How did they work? 4. What do you use for a template? You obviously need something with some flexibility to bend around curves but also has a hard edge that isn't going to warp when running the scriber along it. Thank you.

Looks beautiful. Good job with the washes, pulls it all together nicely. I gotta get me one of those... James

Erik, good job. You achieved your goals alright. The NMF looks smooth and blemish free. The weathering is just right. Most of my builds look like they've been in a house fire and my next build will have the same goals as yours. What's next? James

Good job with the NMF. Looking forward to seeing the decals on etc... James

The salt just didnt sit on the seat edges properly and I thought that would be where there would be significant wear. The liquid mask tip was someone else's tip but works well. James.

That canopy looks sharp. Beautifully done. Such a cool plane and I love the colour scheme, black nose etc. On my wish list. James

What bliss, 4 hours uninterrupted modelling time. Wife and kids in bed, music playing and nothing to think about but making this cockpit. Have got a lot done(yeah Don, you sceptic!). Cockpit finished apart from last touches to the IP. The salt chipping technique worked wonders. Primed with Alclad duraluminium yesterday, salt applied with water and small bit of washing up liquid. Washing up liquid essential to reduce surface tension and stop the salt granules from clumping together. Used a bit of masking liquid to for the edges that the salt didn't want to stick to. Left it to dry for 30mins then sprayed with mixture of Gunze 70 and tamiya flat green. The photos make it look much greener than it really is, but in reality it is a good match for the cockpit green grey in the reference manual that came with the kit. Went out for a pizza and when got back brushed sand off with one of the kids toothbrushes(he's got 2 so don't think I let him use it afterwards). Am really happy with the result, thanks Erik. Then put some washes on, thinned MIG dark wash all over and then a bit of dark earth and fresh mud for depth on the cockpit floor. The harness was a fiddly job. Sprayed tamiya buff, then washed with MIG dark wash. Then did buckles in flat aluminium which was too bright so another wash put on. Then attached to the seat with canopy glue. They are small buggers those straps and I spent a good 15mins on the kitchen floor looking for one of them, cursing loudly and causing my wife to come downstairs and ask what I was going on. Eventually got them on. Here are the pics. I am chuffed with the result and grateful to all who gave me tips on chipping, colours and reference photos. Thank you. The lighting is a bit weird, but there you go. Will attach the IP tomorrow. Unfortunately the holes in the PE fascia do not match the decal underneath which is a pain, but nothing I can do about it. Comments please, including any constructive criticism because I want to learn from this. I am going to bed now to dream of losing PE harness straps. James.

Just seen the salt demo on youtube. It's not rocket science is it. Lets see if I can put it into practice. Everything primed and ready to go with salt and top coat tomorrow if get time. Alclad is amazing stuff. Goes on easily. Not too messy. Shows up every(and I mean every) blemish there is on the plane. Erik, I can imagine you were right about the amount of prep time you would need. That will not a problem for this interior that will hardly get looked at anyway. Just watched 'The Breakfast Club'. Last saw it 25 years ago. What a movie and surprisingly not dated. A classic. James.

Afternoon gents. Thanks for your comments. I don't know what you thought I was going to do to the seat, but all I am going to do is exactly what Nobby mentioned, i.e. 2 aluminium layers of differing shades with a bit of salt in the middle. No primer. I'll get some proper primer for when I do something with a metallic finished exterior. As for Don's comment about the sun swallowing usup before I finish the build, I would like to quote my English teacher when I was 10. In my end of term report he wrote 'The seasons will change, the years will pass, wars will come and go, and still James will not hand his homework in on time.' I am in no rush and enjoy taking my time, what little of I can spare on modelling anyway. The only reason I was experimenting with the different shades of aluminium was because I was full of cold and didn't feel up to anything too challenging. I don't want to sacrifice my seat to the carpet monster as Nobby has. An expensive price to pay. Keep watching, I'll get on with it. James PS Don, the enamel had dried for over 48hrs - it's a mystery.

Morning Eric, thanks for your tips. Don't worry, I will be polishing excessively as soon as I'm brave enough to try a plane with a metallic finish. Might try one after my He111. Thinking P-51D like you or Lightning for a change of era. I will get some Alclad primer for that project but currently just thinking what to do about the Hurry seat. Had a look at your profile and saw your excellent posts about using salt for chipping. Always thought it was a bit of an odd idea and couldn't see how it worked, but when taken through it step by step it makes sense. My brain is telling me that the salt should blow off when the top coat is airbrushed, but I'm going to trust you on that and give it a go. Now where is the salt? James

I've got to me me one of those. Beautiful plane, beautifully made. I love the lines and especially the nose shape. Looks like a nice model to make too. Good job. I am tracking this one... James

Evening all, after coughing and sneezing my way through the last few days I can get back to the model. I've been experimenting with aluminium paints to see which 2 would be best for the seat. The pic doesn't show the difference well, but I've never used Alclad before and wanted to try it out with various primers before spraying the seat. Top left Alclad duraluminium on enamel gloss Bottom left Alclad aluminium on enamel gloss(odd cracking) Middle top Alclad aluminium on tamiya primer Middle bottom Humbrol Met 11 enamel on tam primer Middle right Tamiya silver chrome on tam primer(or flat aluminium - they looked identical) Far right Alclad aluminium on tamiya primer (again) I'm going to go with the Alclad duraluminium base then a few spots of masking liquid before spraying Hu met11 for the top coat. You can't tell from the pic but I think those are the closest to the reference photo above. Note Tamiya silver chrome and flat aluminium are near enough identical and look a bit too speckled to be realistic. Tomorrow I will prime some bits, maybe bend the harness into shape and get on with it. Apologies for slow progress and my need to put in these seemingly irrelevant bits of info, but I need to test this stuff out and this thread is as much a reference diary for me to remember what I've done! In previous builds I've got stuff wrong then forget the next time and make the same mistakes again! I'm feeling inadequate having subscribed to Nobby's thread and seen the absolutely amazing scratch building business he's upto with his Defiant. Nobby's Defiant masterclass Anyway, everyone has to start somewhere... Tomorrow I will prime some bits, maybe bend the harness into shape and get on with it. Bring on the weekend, James PS the Alclad seems to settle better on the tamiya primer. It went a bit wierd and cracked like crazy paving on the gloss enamel black coat. Odd...

I am amazed. The turret is breath-taking. It looked good before the paint job, but now.... wow! James

Thinking about the seat reference pic, it looks like shiny aluminium metal(Alclad aluminium?) with a layer of slightly less shiny aluminium on top(tamiya acrylic matt aluminium?) Wont do it til this evening, so if you think I'm drastically wrong please tell me. I am colourblind which gives me little/no confidence at picking/guessing colours. For this I need your help. Also, what do you use as primer for Alclad? I've only got tamiya stuff. James

Here we go. My first build log. I've been modelling for about a year and have completed 3 kits so far(started and abandoned several others) . My interest in modelling started when reading 'Reach for the Sky' and my first builds were a Spitfire, a 109, and most recently an 87, all in BoB livery. I enjoyed making them all and have learnt new techniques with each one. The often overlooked Hurricane is the obvious next choice to add to my collection. My finale will be Monograms He111 but that is somewhere in the future. I will be looking for advice and help, and welcome criticism(positively encourage it, as long as it's friendly). This is OOB with no aftermarket stuff this time. If I can achieve a 95% accurate build I'll be happy. My main aim with this one is to get the weathering right. 'Less is more' I keep hearing, and I'm going to go with that. My previous builds have been over weathered as I've got carried away with learning new techniques. My biggest problem has been modelling in the evenings in a poorly lit room, only to wake the next day to see how heavy handed I'd been the night before. Every day is a school day... I'll post as many pics as I can. They will be of varying quality as I work out how to use my camera, use a light box etc. It will be slow progress as I have a busy job, small children and a wife who thinks I have many better things to be getting on with. I may post after I've had too many beers, or I may not post for several days if I'm away. There will be several occasions where I don't know the correct terminology for various bit of the plane and kit, and will refer to them as 'that bit next to that thingy there'. Most importantly I want to have fun and learn from the build and from you all. Right. Let's get on with it. I've already put the basic structure of the cockpit together and am about to embark on the PE harness. Within 10 minutes of opening the polythene bag I'd lost a piece of the cockpit frame(one minute held in my tweezers, next minute disappeared into thin air with no trace, gone to live with several of my odd socks, my last pair of glasses, and the gunsight from my first spitfire build), hence the fuse wire addition you can just make out. Having struggled with paint chipping on PE before, I've washed it in vinegar and soapy water this time. I'm going to mould it to the seat and glue it into place before airbrushing the seat then brush painting the harness. I nearly went crazy last time airbrushing the harness separately then glueing it to the seat with CA(wrong, doesn't work). Am going to try canopy glue this time. Happy days! James. Here are some reference pics for no particular reason other than they are interesting. I'm going to try to replicate the seat weathering.... AND IN THE RIGHT FORUM THIS TIME