SimonL

How unusual! Great background story.

Thanks @Pollitt! Still decalling. It’s pretty hot here in Perth, so I’m doing it in stages. I think these must be the best decals I have used from Airfix. Slide off the backing really easily, easy to move around on the surface, and pretty strong so can take a bit of handling. However they are really thin and once they have dried they really conform well to surface detail - maybe that’s due to the warm conditions? Started work on the underside today - the dayglo is VERY bright, the photo doesn’t do it justice.

Decalling underway. This may take awhile...

Very nice. I just up to the decal stage with mine

Braver than me Tony!

My pleasure- although from memory this one was tough and required a lot of fettling.

Hi Al. I must admit I was a bit worried about coverage with the brush painting. What I did first was spray the whole airframe first with Tamiya white primer from a rattle can. I then painted the orange bits - I was surprised that it only needed a couple of brushed on coats. I then masked and sprayed the silver from a rattle can. Then all that was needed was a few little touch ups with the orange. Very happy with the result- much more confident about the Gnat and Vampire that are in the queue.

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I think so as well Steve

I was fossicking around in a cupboard in the back of the garage and found a bit of (my) modelling ancient history. Its the High Planes 1/72 Sea Fury - purchased way back in early 2000's, if not before, when I first started back in the hobby. It was my first experience of a limited run model, and it shows. Abandoned well over 10 years ago, and looking rather sad. I cleaned it up, and did the last few bits to finish it off (heaven knows how I managed to not lose the canopy). Doesn't look too bad. Paint is a patchwork of enamels and acrylics - and laid on rather thicker than I do these days. I had to glue back various bits and bobs that had fallen off, painted on the walkways. I faked up the metal exhausts from some thick foil I had lying around. Finished with a brushed on coat of the last of my jar of Tamiya Semi Gloss Clear, which was also a bit claggy. Completed with the markings from the kit, which I must admit to not knowing the background of. Thanks for looking.

I am at the gloss coat stage. Canopy attached, last bit of painting done and then a coat of floor polish added with a large flat brush, specially purchased for the occasion! Always happy to get to this stage - the gloss coat protects what can sometimes be a the fragile surface of the acrylic paint. Decals next....

Doesn’t help me I’m all the way over in Perth, Western Australia. Local hobby shop had the latest issue at A$25

Thanks for all the positive feedback! I’ve just bought another one

I had this sitting in my stash for awhile. It was an absolute joy to build - up to the very last stage. I had intended to do the very attractive XP629 of the Macaws display team from the Xtradecal sheet X72291. Here is the only photo I have of the almost complete model (sitting next to my in progress Victor). On spraying a coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss clear from a rattle can, within seconds I got a nasty crazed look on the paint which starting lifting. Somewhat odd, as I hadn't done anything different that I was aware of from last time I used the rattle can. After much gnashing of teeth I stripped back the paint, and started again. This time I decided to do XN577 from the RAF College at Cranwell in the 1960s. I have a Gnat and a Vampire T11 in the stash Sio I figured it would be good practice for the silver/orange-red colour schemes. Obviously this time round I don't have a complete set of stencils, and I had to bodge up some walkways by cutting up some spare decals. Paints are Tamiya Bare Metal Silver from a rattle can, orange is a home brew of brush painted Tamiya acrylic. I scraped, sanded and polished the frame across the top of the main canopy as I gather this is correct. The lights on the nose are 1 mm little-lenses dropped into small indentations drilled in the appropriate places. A fairly light oil wash, as I guess this aircraft were kept pretty clean. Finished off with a brushed on coat of Tamiya Semi-gloss clear. She looks a bit bashed up, but I am pretty happy with the rescue job. Looks nice in the early evening sun. Have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for looking.

Thanks! I will be adding it to the model shortly, and then add a final coat while it’s in place. I’m using a new masking tape and wanted to leave it off in case there was a little disaster. From the view “underneath” it looks like it has worked just fine.

Last few days have been taken up painting. The masking took a surprisingly long time to do. I added a bit of white to the XF-20 for the light aircraft grey, the XF-57 I used as it came. It took a while, even with my largest brush, but I am pretty happy with the results. There are a few places which need some attention, but the main paint job is done! Didn’t break the pitots, but did knock off some of the blade aerials. Easy enough to fix. Also in the picture - my rendition of the Airfix Jet Provost T3 which I hope to have finished over the weekend.