Edge

She looks great John.

We can but hope!

Thanks to John (Biggles87) I have a canopy winging it's way to me as Airfix are out of stock at present. Massive thanks to him for the rescue. I've used microstrip to build up the edges of the cockpit and shaped this with some sanding sticks, protecting the edge at 90° with masking tape. A quick test-fit shows the fit has improved over my previous disaster.... Not perfect, but getting there.... I couldn't help just resting the wing sections on too, just to get a feel that I'm building a Spitfire! This last pic might highlight where I've polished the grainy finish from the wings, and how that contrasts with the original fuselage texture? Right, back to that cockpit!!

John. you are an absolute star! I'm slowly adding slithers of microstrip to the cockpit edges & sanding them to hopefully create a flatter edge. Thanks again - hope the finished product does justice to your generosity.

Hi John Thank you! Airfix have replied - very quickly so no complaints there. But they don't have stock of the spare parts & have put me on a wait list. I'll drop you a PM in a mo. Thank you again. Edge

Thanks for the comments guys, and good spot John, the throttle does stand out a bit! But that's the least of my problems at present. Due mainly to my ham fistedness, aided by some poor QC at Airfix I've come to a a slight impasse as they say. Deciding that all that lovely(ish) Eduard detail in the cockpit should be seen I referred to the Airfix instructions & noted that the rear of the cockpit opening should be cut out (they have the rear section & centre/sliding portion moulded as one. At this point delicacy, care and common sense left the building & I proceeded to hack the rear sections away using a combination of scalpel, razor saw, Olfa cutter & blind stupidity. Only then did I think to remove the Airfix canopy to check it's fit, which is where I discovered a rather large air bubble in the plastic..... As well as the various scratch marks visible. So I've Emailed Airfix to request a replacement part. Realising that I can't undo the work so far & resort to a closed canopy build I checked the fit of the canopy I have and began to understand just what a bad job I'd made of cutting open the cockpit.... The white section at the top is a piece of microstrip which I've glued & begun to sand to a better shape, but as you can see I have more work to do on the vertical sections. Hopefully some careful glueing & sanding over the weekend will put right some of my ineptitude. Ah well, at least I'm learning! Edge

Hi Having followed & stolen ideas from a great number of builds over a long time, I thought it only fair to share a build of my own. As the title says, it's the 1/48 Airfix Spitfire XII with Eduard's lovely (but fiddly & 2D in places) etch set. I also have a set of Master brass cannon barrels, True details resin wheels, Rexx metal exhausts & Montex masks (I hate masking canopies!). I am no expert & I'm very much learning as I go, so any comments & advice is welcome. And so to the some pics. Taken with my work Pentax WG-III camera (great for holiday snaps, but not so good for photographing models!). So far I've removed the horrid mold mark on both ailerons, polished off the rough texture of the kit plastic & attached then to the constructed wing structure. Hopefully, the difference between the original (wing) and cleaned pieces is obvious? I've battled through with the mainly etch cockpit, which I found to be hard work. I learned that very thin superglue is the best for attaching the pieces & that nail polish remover, with acetone, unsticks things when they go wrong! I haven't fitted all of the etched pieces in there because some of them are just too small for me & to be honest the Eduard instructions are quite vague as to where some of the pieces fit. So that's it for now. Hopefully I can crack on over the next few weeks & keep adding to the thread. If nothing else it'll help keep me focused on the build! Thanks for looking. Edge

Every one a work of art!

Wow Perdu, that's a bit errrr faded! Good luck in finding a match!

or maybe here.... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6777-rn-helicopter-olive-green/

Hi 825 I had the same thoughts some time ago as Emailed Hannants to ask if they had plans to produce their RN Helo Green in the Xtracrylix range as well as in enamel. I received a reply from David Hannant to say that they would look into it, but haven't seen anything as yet. I'm sure I found a close match looking up the BS code from a different paint company, but as usual, I can't remember it!

Can't help with the colour Dave, but good luck withe build. It's a kit I have my eye on.

Wow, just wow!

Thanks Tony. Hope mine (when I eventually find/start it) looks half as good!

Just to confuse matters, I have a Special Hobby 1/72 target tug version squirrelled away somewhere. Does this suffer the same shape issues as the AZ kit?

Nice job Mish. Puts my measly output to shame!

Much better job than I managed when I was a nipper! Love the old box art, Roy Cross I assume. Used to spend hours looking at the different ones trying to decide which to spend my pocket money on. Usually went to whichever one had the most explosions painted in!

Double take there. Thought you said 'sniff a Mancunian.' Not to be recommended....

Cracking start & fab colour scheme. Chair pulled up fit this one!

It sounds much harder than it is as the FAA style wing tips end on one of the panel lines & there's enough thickness of kit plastic not no need any added to make the profile.

Sorry Bob, should have said - it's 1/72.

Calling this one finished. Lots of things I could improve on, but that's what this game's about! Tamiya kit, xtracrylix paints, Flory light dirt wash 'cos it's the only one I have. Thanks to Tony O'Toole for the wingtip help & Workinprogress and Housesparrow for the advice on painting.

I'll give that a go Houssparrow. Been thinking along similar lines.

Thanks Work In Progress. I've got some Micromesh so I'll wet flat with that, working through the grades & try again with some flow improver.

Hi All I'm looking for some advice on spraying Xtracrylix gloss. I'm using an Iwata airbrush with a 0.3 set up at around 15psi. I mixed the gloss with about 50% Xtracrylix thinner mixed in the cup. The gloss seemed to go on well enough but has has a rough, pebbly finish. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong & also what can I do to repair the mess I've made? Thanks