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Speedman

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Everything posted by Speedman

  1. Speedman
    I did one years ago, it was...interesting. Lots of glazing but not a lot inside, I don't know what's out there to add a bit of interior detail but if there is anything it would help.
  2. Speedman
    Out of curiosity, how old are the kids in the modelling club? While having modelling clubs in schools and other places is a great idea, fun and good for the hobby, unfortunately not every child will have the opportunity to do modelling as a group activity. I'll build anything from any manufacturer nowadays but my first proper kits (painted and decaled properly) were Airfix and Revell and they put me off those manufacturers for years. I wasn't basing my opinion on an adults point of view but rather from my memories of disappointment that the model never looked like the plane on the box. It didn't help that both used photos of the kit and not "art" at that point. I know skills have to be learnt but it would be nice if more kits out there gave those new to the hobby a confidence boost Back to the model... Is that just a huge amount of flash around the wheels or are they that badly misaligned? Also, what have you done with your pilots cup of tea??
  3. Speedman
    I never know what possesses Airfix to issue kit's like this as starter sets, It's almost as if they are trying to put people off If your first ever build was one of these, you would probably steer clear of Airfix after that. I think we've all built a particularly bad kit at some point and become wary of it's manufacturers other offerings. I never know why they don't go down the Hobbyboss route, basic kit with a one piece wing and a horizontally split fuselage. Give them enough parts to make it interesting to build but without the worry. Nice chunky tabs for fins and tailplanes so they fit and line up easily and a choice of snap fit or glue canopy. They could do the usual suspects, Spit, Hurricane, 109. Maybe some small jets like F-86, Hawk etc. and they could be easily designed for production in both 1/72 & 1/144. Stand alone & gift sets in 1/72 and stand alone in 1/144. I know I'm a 1/144 builder but they would be great as rivals to Revell's Micro Wing series and Zvezda's Art of Tactics series for wargamers. If someone received a gift set which they could build into a half descent model in a day or two as their first kit they would more than likely want to build more and progress their skills. OK, rant over
  4. Speedman
    I spent some time filing down the wing root steps that were on the upper and lower of both wings before I slapped some putty on them last night. I sanded them down this morning and rescribed the wing fold detail. Having finished that I fitted the tailplanes.
  5. Speedman
    The nose is finished, it's far from accurate but to be honest I'm governed by the oversized spinner which would be a nightmare to correct. The wing roots were corrected and wings fitted, needs a little filler but not too bad. I had scribed the doors but unfortunately the kits raised detail (which I stupidly used as a guide ) was off, too short and nearly a scale foot too far forward. I've filled this in and rescribed, again not accurate but I had to line it up with the canopy framing.
  6. Speedman
    I managed to open up the ventral intake and I'm still working on the nose. Having done the ventral I decided to fit the wings... More green putty on the way.
  7. Speedman
    I had a dig out of my old kits this morning All built 1986-2000, painted with a hairy stick and decals applied with nothing but good old water! I'll include the original release date because some of them shocked me! Monogram 1/72 Tigercat (1967) Esci 1/72 F-104 (1980) Tamiya 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf.F/G (1960s) Proof that I build some stuff without wings or rotors... Hasegawa 1/72 P-40N (1977) Converted to an operational "what-if" P-40Q. Donor prop and wingtips from an Italeri P-51D, scratchbuilt cockpit and a crash moulded canopy. Hasegawa 1/72 P-47D (1970s) Converted to a two seat trainer, scratchbuilt cockpit and crash moulded canopy. LS 1/144 F-4E (1970s) Delta "what-if" Matchbox 1/72 F-104 (1975) "What-if" based on the German experimental CCV F-104, I added a few bits and a F-111 exhaust. Airfix 1/72 SR.53 (1958) Operational "what-if" with wingtip rails, LERX & refuelling probe. Esci 1/72 F-16A (1983) US Navy "whit-if". Folded wings, beefed up main gear, twin nose gear with bar. It did have decals but a few years ago they were peeling so I just removed the lot. Matchbox 1/72 Hawk (1975) Possibly my favourite "what-if" build to date. Moved the kit wings to the rear, double cranked them and added wing tip rails. Moved the main gear back and beefed it up, changed the nose gear to twin wheel, added canyards, radar warning receivers, IR sighting system and radar...
  8. Speedman
    Tube of glue... No. I'm sticking with the XM64 turret and swapping the tail rotor from starboard to port to make it and early "G", I've also got to make a new clear nose for the landing lights. I'm going to be doing 66-15259 "Virginia Rose II" in the SEA scheme the Cobra NETT team applied when she first arrived in Vietnam and printing my own decals. Camo Cobra
  9. Speedman
    Were do I start... The wings: After removing the injector pin marks and the inboard locating pegs (too tall, stopped the wing from joining) I test fitted them a dozen times to find a solution for the huge (to scale) step at the wingtips. I tried shimming them but that split the flaps and would have put a twist in the wing if forced together. I thought about just sanding the tips right down but that would mean loosing the nice aileron detail. In the end I just went for the glue-fill-sand approach. The fuselage: There is a special level of Hell reserved for the designers of particularly terrible kits. I've no doubt that whoever designed this one will be there alongside the designer of Hobbycraft's Vampire... The tail end lined up nicely and there were only a couple of sink marks underneath at the rear of the wing roots to deal with. Unfortunately those wing roots do not line up, they're horizontally out by about 1mm and I'm going to .have to sort them out so the wings sit perpendicular to the fuselage. I've filled the nose with Liquid Gravity so it won't be a tail sitter, the handy thing with this is that it now acts as a mock wheel well were before it was just an open void. Two birds, one stone The nose itself is the wrong profile, lopsided and just plain wrong! I'm reworking it with lots of filler and sanding until it resembles a P-39's nose. The worst nose related problem is that the port side narrows at the front more than starboard by about 1mm, I'm having to correct the starboard side first and then try and match the port to it. I'm just glad the P-39 is mid-engine so I've no exhaust stacks to deal with. So, not a fun build so far with this one, but if they were all easy it wouldn't be much fun
  10. Speedman
    The fuselage went together with lashings of filler and lots of sanding. A step in the nose and an awful "L" shaped step in the fin were the major issues to deal with. The underside wasn't too bad with just the seam to take care of and a few sink marks. I still need to sort out the intakes, the nose needs opening up a bit as does the ventral. The ventral also need work on its shape as it's rather pointy when viewed from underneath Wings... The best of the three "Micro Wings" kits I'm working on! Went together like a dream and just a tiny bit of filler on the underside of the wing tips.
  11. Speedman
    After cleaninig up the main componants, the fuselage went together without much fuss and the wings were trouble free with only a few sink marks to deal with. I've now fitted the wings and I'll apply some filler around the wing roots later tonight.
  12. Speedman
    I gave up on Revell's colour recommendations months ago. Their mix for FS 36440 (light gull gray) comes out like a slightly pale hemp! Now I just make my own mixes up and try to match them to my old Humbrol charts (real paint chips) then compensate for scale effect. I'll do quite a few mixes for a model and paint them on the bottom of yogurt pots in quarters. I keep a track of the number of drops (I've got most colour pre-thinned ready for airbrushing) and write them on the chip once dry. I've kept all the chips I've done, even the ones that came out totally the wrong colour because you never know when it might come in handy. I also use the yoghurt pots (cut down to 1") for mixing in, they're disposable and were once full of yummy goodness.
  13. Speedman
    Call me insane, but here is my 6th and final entry. (Unless I find another gem on eBay cheap ) I've just won it, so until Mr Postman pops it through the door and it's in my grubby little hands you'll have to make do with an eBay photo. I built one of these in the late 80s but the skids ended up a bit lopsided, I was using Revell Contacta Pro and unfortunatly didn't leave it long enough to set. Those were the days before I trusted myself to use superglue. (I now live near a hospital as well...) I can't wait to get started on this one, the AH-1G is a beautiful looking aircraft and with my move to 1/144 (mainly) it's not often I'm going to get a second chance at building a kit from my early modelling days. ***Update*** Now I've got the kit here's a photo of my lovely sealed HueyCobra
  14. Speedman
    Ooooh, wiff schemes! May I suggest something from outside the box... Deutsche Marine I reckon it would look stunning on a Canberra
  15. Speedman
    Pilot (with cigar) finished I masked the canopy this afternoon as well, so I'll soon have him installed and the bubble top in place ready for priming.
  16. Speedman
    From the photos that looks like the S72023 seat, although it's an ESCAPAC 1A, on Pavla's website they only list it for A-4C/D/E/L. The new seat they brought out (same time as the replacement cockpit for the Airfix kit) is S72077 (still ESCAPAC 1A), it's listed as suitable for A-4A/B/C/E/L/Q/P. Looks like the eBay seller was a bit naughty, it might fit, with a bit of work, but it wasn't designed for it.
  17. Speedman
    Now that I've finished my Arado I can press on with the "Jug". I completed the main assembly last night with no real problems, just a little bit of filler for the tailplanes. After a few minutes of sanding to thin the tails down I put the two bombs together. I'm still looking for info on whether or not the Cuban P-47s used them, I've found a few photos showing the pylons but with nothing hanging from them. I've adapted the propeller, just a little fettling of the original shape and some masking tape wrapped around. I used superglue to harden them, gave them a quick sanding then used Mr. Surfacer to give a nice even coating. I let it harden overnight and this morning finished it with a rub down with 1200 grit wet & dry and a coat of Humbrol Clear.
  18. Speedman
    Cheers guys! I honestly thought the PE would take me ages but once it was done everything just flowed. It's a great kit and it's not like there were a lot of parts to deal with... or rivets
  19. Speedman
    Finished! I added a little bit of weathering this morning with some pastels then I gave it a final coat of Tamiya matt varnish, I tried satin but it didn't look right. I really like the resin wheels, so much better than the kit parts. More photos in the gallery
  20. Speedman
    Heller 1/72 Arado AR96B-2 сойка (Jay) Bulgarian Air Force. Airwaves PE cockpit set, Kora decals, Kora resin wheels, rescribed & scratch built exhausts. Build thread
  21. Speedman
    Unfortunately these Micro Wing kits tend not to be quick or fun. There will be filler, lots of filler... For quick and fun 1/144 WWII stuff see the Zvezda range. Built a LaGG-3 in 2 hours! Link The only downside are the canopies on the Zvezda kits, they're solid lumps.
  22. Speedman
    I've done a couple of the Micro Wings kits and I can tell you the fit is never good I did go a bit mental with my P-40E and added a few details though. Link
  23. Speedman
    I love the stuff from Sweet, they did two P-51 sets (that I know of), I've got the "Pioneer Mustangs" version. Choice of tanks, standard or Malcolm hood, choice of exhaust stacks, positionable radiator vent & six aircraft markings to choose from. If you ever want a great 1/144 kit I highly recommend them along with Aoshima's FW 190 A-8 (twin set) that comes with PE main gear doors!
  24. Speedman
    I remember the Monogram one well, I did a twin build of the Bearcat & Tigercat about 25 years ago. I've still got the Tigercat in a box somewhere.
  25. Speedman
    Originally released in the 1960s and available (yet again) this year it has been superseded by the offering from OzMods . I'll be building this OOB.
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