SiMCard25

Really sorry, one & all - combination of working in Dublin, Christmas and a couple of family issues (no sympathy required) have put this on hold temporarily. I have weathered the plane lightly and need to complete the calming of the varnish, but its nearly there. I'll update once it's done. Should be a couple of weeks. Got a 1:48 Mossie for Christmas and a couple more coming according to Mrs Card, so i want to finish this & move on as and when possible. Thanks for the interest - please be patient with me. Si M...

OK all - really sorry for the gap. Work has been bit manic & whilst I've found time to slowly progress the build, writing it up has not been possible. Thanks again for views & comments. Anyway, the kit got masked (note the canopy masks that came in the box). Lesson learnt for next time: Apply masks - then apply varnish to seal them. I ended up with my first coat (the interior colour) going under the masks and having to be corrected with a +5 Cocktail Stick of Enormous Usefulness. Next, the main layers of paint sprayed all over the place on: Paintwork was tidied a little with a Mk17 Hairy Stick and varnish applied in 2 coats, wheels & ordinance added: Note I had to apply, sand & re-apply about 362 coats (mebbe slight exaggeration) of red to the spinner to get it to look half decent. As a result I've lost the line that's supposed to go round it - I will have a look at rescribing it later. Then ready for decals (and the rear MG has magically appeared): Then applied decals and re-varnished: I confess I got a little frustrated with some of the PE parts and haven't fitted them all, but I'm reasonably pleased with my stretched-sprue antennas. I have varnished it repeatedly as I want to be able to weather it decently without knackering the paintwork. So just a hint of weathering and a calming coat of Alclad semi-matt to go, I hope! Thoughts & comments / criticism welcome as always... Cheers Si M...

Quick update. Wings attached to wing root. Almost seamless. Now to attach to the fuselage - bearing in mind Learstang's comments: It's difficult to see in this pic, I now realise, but there is a tiny tongue on the trailing edge of the wing root to positively locate the parts. I wonder if Tamiya have added this after difficulties - who knows? Anyway, test fitting the sections together was just about snap-fit. Very easy and good and tight, as hopefully these pics show: Upper join: Underside join: I have now cemented these in place in the short time I've had - next to decide which bits to attach prior to spraying. Also obvious to me from the pics - it could do with a damn good wash before any paint gets near it! I have toyed with the idea of adding the fuel line as previously discussed, but as I am building it 'cockpit open', I'm not sure it would be visible - it's a choice I can make later, anyhow. Cheers again! Si M... PS: Off to Dublin next Monday with work - is anyone aware of a Sturmovik in any local museums?

OK - fuselage together and the wing root started Fuselage (NB: as ever, the pics make the paint job on the fuel tank look rubbish - I have since tidied it up a bit): 2 points re the fuselage / cockpit: I know the colour may not be accurate, but I'm actually rather pleased with it - it looks 'used' to me. Eagle eyed observers will notice some PE issues - one seatbelt upside down, a lever missing. I'm planning to make my usual bodge of the canopy, so these will fade to insignificance, I hope. Learstang - I've seen some yellow feeder pipes from the fuel tank in some pics of the museum examples - should I scratch build some wire representations of these, or are they a later mod of the real thing? Wing root (note PE grilles on oil coolers - currently struggling with the PE intake / extract flaps so not present in the pics). Hopefully get a little more done soon & update as necessary. Overall, though - going together like a Tamiya should - good fit, good instructions and no major headaches (except with the Eduard PE!). Si M...

Gaaah! Can't believe I was about 5km from a real one and didn't go to see it. Shall have to get myself on another course. Weekend would have been ideal, though SWMBO came out and we did some touristy things. Still, I rubbed the saint on George Bridge, so I should be going back... and to be completely fair, Mrs Card would've enjoyed me enjoying it - she's like that. Have managed to put the fuselage together, but have come across my first glitch (with the PE, not the kit). There's a small recess in the instrument panel that the Eduard PE covers up and a tiny piece (compass?) doesn't fit properly. This forces the piece out and prevents the cockpit sliding in properly. I have managed to work round it, but it was irritating for a while. I'll try to post some pics between now & the weekend. Cheers again. Si M...

Thanks Learstang. Interesting points and thanks for the comments. I've been away on a training course in Prague for 2 weeks and I'm just about to start the fuselage build. Two of my co-trainees were Russian and one showed me a site: www.iremember.ru that he uses for background on Soviet GPW modelling. It's tricky to read in places using Google translate, but is a fascinating insight, based on interviews with vets and technical documents. You may have already seen it, but there's hours of research in there if you dig a bit. I'll post more when I make some progress. Cheers Si M...

You see, Troy - that's why I use this site. Encouraging and helpful as ever, thank you! Yup - that Soviet warplanes site is the one I couldn't find on the top post - it has this link: http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/il-2/il2-camo/pavlov/pavlov.html which, I believe, is info specifically about the aircraft on the Tamiya box cover ('White 1'). Thanks again - and I'll keep a lookout for Learstang. Just one other thing - removed the fire extinguisher as per Eduard instructions, which promptly tore a hole in the side of the gunner's pod. This afternoon I've been having 'Fun with Filler'. Cheers again. Si M...

I made a couple of decisions... Internal areas will be painted Cockpit Green, over painted with watered-down Tamiya's RLM Grey, then over painted again with Light Grey, and weathered up a bit once put together. This will hopefully reflect the various colours I've seen in various sources, laid down in the order they were, er, sometimes. Had some issues with the rudder pedals and I'm hunting for one of the levers that exited my tweezers at a fair rate of knots - may have to jimmy together a new one. Really like the instruments and side control panel. Seat belts were fun, but went in OK eventually. Have mostly enjoyed my first taste of PE... So, here's where I am (pre-weathering): I'm also getting used to the camera on my new phone, so I can only apologise for some of the pic quality. The colours in the photos look more 'green' than it does in the flesh - I'll have to keep an eye on that. Thanks for looking. Comments & criticism welcome. Cheers Si M...

Afternoon all. Quick catch up - as an irregular poster, I'm sure you're all dying to know what I've been up to since my last thread . Well: Got 2nd hand display cabinet from computer shop in Oxford. It cost £100 but it was almost perfect. Shelves 30cm high by 35cm deep, so I have added home-made 'half-shelves' 15cm high and 20cm deep, almost doubling the capacity. The 1/24 Mossie just about sits on top. To fill it up, I've since built Dragon Ju88, Airfix Hurricane and Stuka, Tamiya Mustang, Corsair, T-34 and Sherman Firefly and an Academy P-38 Lightning, all 1/48. Mrs Card kindly got me Tamiya's IL-2 for my birthday in July, and it's my next project. I really want to do it justice, within my limited skillset, as well as trying out a few new things. So whilst it will largely be an OOB of the one on the box, I've got Eduards PE set for it as my first attempt at these details. There is a really good site detailing this particular aircraft which is unfortunately bookmarked on my tablet, not my PC, so I can't find it right now. Should also point out I'm starting a new job Monday, so this build will take a while and will probably be weekends-only as I really want to take time & care with it. Anyway, piccies: Box All parts Decals, including canopy masks. Eduard PE bits After thinking how the ~@/*_~+#'+ am I going to fold them, did some research, got these (sorry it's blurred - getting a little excited): The Hold 'n' Fold (holding the razor blade for safe keeping). I have found absolutely buckets of resources and pictures online - however, my first dilemma has already arisen. What colour should the cockpit interior be? Tamiya give XF-22 RLM Grey. This doesn't match the PE painted parts. Resources suggest ALG (cockpit green) was painted over wood and aluminium, then overpainted with AL14 (effectively steel grey). The PE parts look pale blue. Here's a couple of shots of XF-22 (RLM Grey) and XF-23 (Light Blue) on a snippet of sprue next to the PE part (again apologies for exposure - colours show reasonably clearly): It seems to fall somewhere between the two, so a mix may do the trick. Or should I be trying to match to the PE at all and just go with RLM Grey. Personally, I think that would leave the 'pit too dark. Here's a real one: Thoughts appreciated, though as I say, it may take me a while to come back. Cheers Si M...

Looking forward to the remainder of this! Finished one of these about a month ago and whilst it was just about up to my standard,I will be interested to see what a good modeller makes of it . Built a Sherman Firely in the meantime while I psyke myself up for a serious crack at the Tamiya IL2 Mrs Card got me or my birthday in July! Good stuff so far! Cheers Si M...

This is on my wish list. Will be following avidly. Si M...

Cheers, Shalako. Also heard good things re: Alclad - not just their varnishes - will definitely give them a go on the next flyer. Anyhow, promised photos... Where I'm up to... and the offending varnish skulking in the background... The disastrous effect... Otherwise, I quite like it Reasonably pleased with colour choice (US Gull Grey - a little 'blue', but not too much) and 'dirtying' on the underside. Personally prefer the gunsmoke on the starboard wing to the port side. A pose that shows the good, bad & ugly: For the eagle-eyed - yes, that is a scratch pitot tube. The original disintegrated on me so I hacked a spare aerial from the sprue into a similar shape. Hopefully I'll get a chance to have a go correcting the varnish this week. I'll let you know how I get on. Si M...

Apologies for the gap. Been a bit manic at Chez Card. Have worked on this sporadically and only just realised how far I've got and forgot to photo... Grrr. Yes, it is OOB, but I've been a bit liberal with the colours, that is I've used those I liked the look of rather than following the instructions. Basic colours done, varnish and decals applied, weathering (still developing some techniques) done. Unfortunately, the satin varnish coat has gone horribly wrong -I'll post a pic later. Insufficient agitation - totally mea culpa. So next job is correction of varnish... Thanks for the comments. As noted above I do get a little intimidated by the sheer quality of work in some of these threads - that's not a 'poor me' - more like eye boggling astonishment at the builds which I hope one day to emulate. Once transferred & cropped, I'll post some more snaps. Cheers again Si M...

Happy New Year all! Mrs Card kindly got this one off my wishlist for a Chrimble prezzie. Wanted to do it as never built a Hasegawa before and everyone (surely?) has a Warhawk in their collection. Anyway - progress so far. Just using a phone camera, so pics not great, but I hope it's all bearable... Box & most of the sprues: Cockpit & radiator: Went together well - it's one of those 'test fit the whole thing' before touching the glue jobbies. Nearly screwed the seat mounting up, but spotted my mistake just in time. Used the instrument-only decals - there are decals with background and instruments supplied as well. Sight was painted later. Dirtied up the radiator prior to fitting with some weathering powders. Test fit & actual build of fuselage halves: Some filling & sanding needed (mostly fixing my overenthusiastic sprue mark sanding): Added tail unit - I like the linkages between the control surfaces - wondering whether to highlight them when painting: Built the wings - again, nice fit after some testing: Airframe built - some gaps but I have filler and new tools to fill with. This is nearly as far as I've got... Just added some underside paraphernalia: Now starting the basic paint job - underside colour is causing a bit of a headache. Says 'Neutral Gray' in the destructions - Tamiya's Neutral and Light Greys are far too dark for my eye - going for Humbrol's US Gull Grey. We'll see how it pans out. Cheers Si M...

OK - firstly an apology - slightly grape juice-fueled promise to post pics yesterday. I was 'working from home' Friday, so thought I'd have an opportunity - as it turned out I had work to do (and quite a lot as it turned out). Also, my caveat, I am by no means up to the standards of many on here (oh...my...god...total scratch built Fortress front end... impressed almost to the point of intimidation). I am on a steepish learning curve since relapsing into modelling a year ago. I've not tried PE parts or fine cockpit detailing yet, though I plan to as I hope I improve. Anyway... In true Radio 4 style - absolutely! It is almost snap-fit at times - really impressed with this. As mentioned, I did the 1/48 Panther from Tamiya and that was the same. Very pleased with the moulding and the materials. However it appears that for the Mediterranean theme I want, Tamiya make virtually none of the colours for it - they're all mixtures. More later. OK - piccies - I am quite a way in, but this is where it stands this morning: This is my first major venture with the airbrush and it's turning out OK - I am learning to trust it and my use of it more and more each time. It's a proper dual-action gravity-feed jobbie bought with a compressor in the Modelzone fire sale for £50 (half price). So - topside colours are the Tamiya recommended mixes - underside is Vallejo Air's UK Azure: I've done the exhaust collectors silver as an 'undercoat' - I plan to weather them down to a good 'old motorbike exhaust pipe' look when finished. The separate undercarriage bays I was able to practice some techniques on using Humbrol washes post-varnish - here's the outcome: I am reasonably pleased thus far. Next job is a second floor polish coat then getting to work with those washes and powders. Hmmm. Cheers Si M...

Hello again all. Finished the big Mossie last year and have since built a few OOBs. I have finally settled on 1/48ths as my scale of choice. Built the Airfix Spit and 109 and the Tamiya Panther (weathering in progress!). The latest project is the Tamiya 1/48 Beaufighter, with which I am trying my hand at some proper weathering,which I have spent many a happy hour reading up about online and watching some interesting Brummie YouTube footage. My main resource for the Beau has been our antipodean cousins version of this site, link here: http://www.kiwimodeller.com/index.php/forum/38-follow-as-i-build/23211-bristol-beaufighter-mk-vi-tamiya-1-48?limit=10&limitstart=0&start=10 I confess I do not want to go to the lengths he has,as I am not convinced it is necessary, but there are some useful tips there. I appreciate I should have taken some box shots, but I will post some pics tomorrow with my progress so far. Thanks in anticipation... Si M... PS: I notice the bronze exhaust collector issue has reared it's ugly head in many places. Suffice to say, mine are NOT bronze...

Oops - better link: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234937204-good-evening-im-a-noobie/#entry1274739

Really interested in how you get on. Built mine last year link here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/user/13710-simcard25/ It was my first foray back into modelling world - been looking for 30 inch square display cabinets ever since! Will probably end up self-building one. Si M...

Hello all, Only joined BM a couple of weeks ago - found the site whilst researching tips for the big Mossie Mrs Card got me for Christmas. It's very close to completion now, so I thought I'd post a couple of pics of where I am and what I've learnt on my return to the habit after a long break. Here's the beast as is (astute observers will spot the bit I've left to do - more later): I really wanted the AEAF stripes, and spotted the Xtradecal scheme at Hannants, so I've followed that. I'll post some build pics later on. Lessons learned: 1) The cost of the kit is about 1/3rd of what I spent in total (starting from scratch, you understand). I now have paints galore, an airbrush, brushes by the dozen, files, masking tape etc etc. 2) The internet is the second best thing you can use for a build. This site, amongst others, has provided a mine of hints, tips and tricks. 3) Cocktail sticks are the best thing. From fiddly repositioning to decal placement to getting paint out of that hole to cleaning transparencies to chewing vigourously when my patience is running thin - they're my new best friends. 4) Don't just test positions before gluing for the step you're on. Mispositioning can throw out steps a long way further on (I'm talking about the MG adjusters in particular here). 5) Probably most frustrating - Humbrol Decalfix works beautifully on the Airfix decals. Got the 'Keep Off' decal to hug all the rivets which amazed me. Using it on Xtradecal decals made them disintegrate. Hence the missing 'W' and shiny patch on the port side - gold star if you spotted it. New set ordered and will be applied at the weekend. 6) Xtracrylic paints do not like Isopropyl alcohol. I now have a tub of blue & yellow cake mix where I tried to thin their 'Sky' colour for the underside. Lots of other things that I'm sure all the vets here have all been through. I am now looking for an old shop display stand to put the thing in (dimensions: 75cm x 60cm x 15cm at least to hold the thing). I'll post on Ready for Inspection when complete. Enjoy Si M...