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Gaia1984

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  1. Gaia1984
    Thanks guys! It's taking me some time to get back to it because work reasons. This week I had a chance of doing some little progress in the rear avionic bays and did the painting of the cutaways in the tail section. Also noticed I made some mistakes: 1)the second bay below the cannon it doesn't really exists. So I had to refill the gap with green putty and rescribe the panel lines. 2)all the avionic bays are far too shallow compared with the real thing. I haven't found any way to solved this as it's pretty tight in the section because the cockpit it's right there. So at the end I have decided to do a compromise with fidelity and practicality. I'm going to leave the bays as they are and represent the components that are present in the bay in a flat way. I think it still does the job fairly well. 3) also one of the landing gear at the back snapped after an accident, I have managed to fix it but I'll have to redo some cable work. Future work: I want to do the very frontal bays. The ones with the radar electronics. I'm also pondering to scratchbuild the nose and make the radar antenna. Regarding the painting I've been looking at f-16b patterns and really like the blue aggressor (I don't have the info with me but will post the squadron when I upload next update pics, they are coming!!! ) All the best, Alex
  2. Gaia1984
    Hi guys! Been busy working on some panels! Still loads of work to be done, especially in the internal avionics. I have been working on the compartment housing which I intend to paint before adding the avionics, which also should be painted before putting them in place. As I said I worked out that compartment in the tail section. Here is a pic: Also the hydraulics of the frontal wheel bay has been added, you can also see in the following picture some of the avionic bays I have scratched out. One side finished other one I still have to work on it a bit more. I carved out the compartment from the original kit and extended it a bit using plastic card and flatted it out using some Squadron green. Borders of the bays are also made with plastic card. Here are some lateral views of the avionic bays: Thinking whether to do a cut out of the nose of the plane and make a scratch-built radar..... I definitely will be adding some more bays on sides of the plane, maybe not so much on the top. Also have to work on the wings. Any way if you have any suggestions/comments please feel free to drop a message! Hope you enjoy it! Cheers, Alex
  3. Gaia1984
    Definitely BMW cars it's the way to go for getting extra material for the models!
  4. Gaia1984
    Hi guys! I just wanted to share with you some cheap alternative sources for wiring especially for 1/72 scale. Here are four different examples: 1st one it an extremely thin wire I got from an old broken USB cable. This is 0.2mm or even thinner, not very malleable but great for small scales. There are plenty of this type of wire withing an USB cable, the are around the main cable and I think there are to reinforce the strength of the cable. Just an advice if you want to get these, use gloves because they leave a metallic residue on the hands. 2nd one it is a 0.2mm wire I bought from a modelling brand. I just put it there as a reference. 3rd one it comes from the wire around the a bottle of cava or champagne. It is a bit hard to shape but not very difficult. I believe it's about 0.4-0.5mm thin. 4th last but not least it is regular Pb/Sn soldering wire about 0.6-0.8mm thick. Really malleable but a bit thick for the 1/72 scale. There the reason for looking for alternative thinner sources of wiring. I have been using them in the build of my F-16 if you want to see some examples of how they look like. Anyway hope you find this useful! Cheers!
  5. Gaia1984
    TIny update. I have been working this morning in some of the side bays from the tail section. Carving the tail took most of the time! Here are some pictures: All the best!
  6. Gaia1984
    Hi Jean, Thanks a lot for the comments! I will definitely try the CA glue for the panels. Yeah I know about the issue of the front wheel I still have to sand it properly to give it an effect of weight as well, also gonna do some more detailing on the frontal landing gear with cables and add-ons. After this I will try to do some side internal bays and finish off the bolts on the wings. Menai Bridge is a little town in North Wales. Cheers, Alex
  7. Gaia1984
    Hi all, It´'s being a while since the last time I posted anything on the F-16 but couldn't find the time with work to sit and do something with it. I managed to get back on it for a couple of days and I have almost finished detailing the frontal wheel bay. Here are some pictures: I had to craft out of an old sprue the two hydraulic bars that control the opening/closing of the bay lid. The kit came with nothing of the sort. See at the bottom of the reference picture: One (the one already glued) I craft out a old sprue by profiling it with a knife and loads of patience. The other one I stretched a sprue and then I used milliput to sculpt the rest of the structure. Here is a pic of the sculpted bar and a ref pic of where should be added: That's about 0.5-1 mm thick in the main part. I think I will add some more cable work although the main work I think it's done already. The golden cable you see comes from the net bit that comes in the lid of cava/champagne bottles. I found it quite useful for making thick cable/pipes. Just in case you were looking for cheap sources of cables As always comments/recommendations are always welcome! Hope you like it! Cheers, Alex
  8. Gaia1984
    Thanks for the comments falcon and woody37 also to the people dropping by to have a look! Today I bring you some pics of the fuselage scribing and bolt drilling, some details of the cockpit and what I have been working during the weekend: the exhaust nozzle. Regarding the fuselage, as I said before this kit had raised panel lines which I sanded down and scribed again using a tamiya scriber. Bolt holes were made using a 0.3mm drill bit, although I am thinking to start using Trumpeter´s riveter for the wings and just use the micro drill, which snaps quite easily, for detailed work. Here are some pictures of the fuselage, I have added a black wash so it's easy to see: You can see that there are some mistakes here and there which I will correct with filler and rescribe when I have a chance. Here a pic of the detail on one of the sides: Now, the cockpit! This kit is quite simplistic out of the box so I decided to add some details to the cockpit as well. You will see them at the back plates behind the seats and also at the side of the seats. Bottoms and knobs are made of stretched plastic sprues. The ejection lever? (not sure this is the proper term, the yellow thing) was made with some soldering wire. I have decided this is going to be a closed canopy model, so I will not go too crazy on detailing the cockpit. I will add some more details here and there but nothing major. Regarding the exhaust nozzle. The end of the exhaust was just a flat surface, I shaped external bit of the turbine using plastic card, also the internal bit of the nozzle (internal feathers) was done using plastic card, this bit required cleaning the "internal feathers" of the original kit (just a flat layer of plastic), carved the shape of the outer feathers and make the plastic card feathers. Also there seems there are some small panels linking the main fuselage with the nozzle which were made of 1x1mm plastic card pieces. As always comments/suggestions are more than welcomed! Cheers, Alex
  9. Gaia1984
    Hi all! I just want to share with you the things I have been doing to a 1/72 Heller F-16 A/B old issue, I got this kit to tinker with it and learn well... everything! I haven't done any aircraft modelling in a really long time and last time it was just a gluey mess with pieces of plastic attached to it. So I decided to go for a cheap kit and learn all the basic and try some advance stuff as well. This kit has raised panel lines which I decided to sand down and scribe them with a tamiya pea cutter I am also doing the riveting bit by bit using a small 0.3mm drill bit. I will get some pics when I have some more done. I also got inspired by the fantastic work of Diego Quijano detailing a F-18 also on a 1/72 scale. The more I work on my F-16 the more respect I got for the level of complexity and the attention he put on his model! I have been working during the past week in detailing the landing gear bay and getting it to a more interesting level and the original kit had absolutely no detail whatsoever. Here are some pictures of it: Still want to do some more cable work and also start working on the landing gear per se to detail it a bit more. I am also thinking in cutting some part of the fuselage to scratch build some of the internal bays. Any comments/suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks! and all the best
  10. Gaia1984
    Thanks Lee! Will look to do some more on the side skirts! Thanks MrBurns! Thanks Tony! I didn't want to zimmerit the top, just the little bit that was covered by the modification I made for the turret and the side of the curved bit of the turret and also the kruggle machine gun at the front of the hull. Can't wait to start painting it! Also been thinking of an idea for a diorama with it
  11. Gaia1984
    Hi everyone, Just a quick update. I have been working on some battle damage on the zimmerit. I have also added the holdings of the track links at the turret and on the side of the hull. Still have to add some welding marks on these. I have also prepare two alternatives to the damaged side skirts, what do you think looks more realistic? Was thinking in a bazooka like impact but couldn't find many pics of bazooka impact on the internet. Hope you like it!
  12. Gaia1984
    Hi all, Here is an update on the panther. After doing a bit more research decided to remove the cover on the top of the turret as apparently that modification was only present after the Ausf. G. I have added more details to the side: the holdings for the track links at the back, some brass mesh on the top of the air intakes and made some track links out of styrene. The tow cable was made using three strings of soldering wire twisted together. The rubber cap was made with a normal cable, I made the hook shape and superglued together, after gluing cut it to give it a flat surface to sit on. The tool straps are made out of masking tape and the sledgehammer was made with some styrene rod and styrene card glued together. Hope you enjoy it also if you have any comments please feel free to go for it! Still have to add some more zimmerit plaster to the sides and the top of the turret Detail of the track link holders. This was made using styrene sheets with different thickness. Also the track links at the side of the turret. Still have to drill the holes in the erect parts but just waiting to get some drill bits to do it. I know these ones don't look very right at the moment but I think after painting I can get a much more realistic effect on them. Also thinking in adding welding marks to the tracks holders. I think this project is coming slowly to an end and be ready for painting, still have to do some bits and bobs on the back of the hull and the turret. I am wondering now to make the antenna, do you have any suggestion on this? is it just using an old stretched sprue? All the best, Alex P.S. Also a near future project did just come this week!
  13. Gaia1984
    Thanks Justin! Some sneak preview on the work on the side tooling, more to come!!!
  14. Gaia1984
    Very nice and inspiring! I am also working on an old L-29 from KP 1/72. Yout build is being really helpful in terms of the the scratch building I am making on mine. Will post some pics soon! Best regards, Alex
  15. Gaia1984
    Very nice! and inspiring! Looking forward for updates!
  16. Gaia1984
    Hi everyone just a quick Sunday update on the Panther Ausf. A: Keep on working on the detailing. I have added the support lines for all the equipment attached to the side of the tank. The original pieces were a bit too rough so I just removed all the tools and I am planning to fix them later on and work on the over straps. Also added the lids for the storage boxes at the back of tank and some handles for the hatches Still thinking on what to do with the tracks... so if you have any idea please let me know! It would be much appreciated! Also thinking if I should build the front hatch by the machine gun.... We'll see Here are some pics of the tank, hope you enjoy them! All the best, Alex
  17. Gaia1984
    Hi all! Just a quick update. I have been working last days on the top of the hull. Had to removed the frontal blocks of plastic as I did with the one on the top of the turret and replace them for some pieces I did with styrene. You can see it in the pic but I actually added a clear plastic piece on the top of the black styrene based on some walk-pictures. These are what I assume to be the front lights? This is what I mean: I have also been drilling the upper hull to make the bolts. I would like to had made these with a punch and die.... but don't have the tool nor can I afford it at the moment so hey! what can be done? Also had to remove the circular piece under the cannon bracket as it was far too small for the original dimensions: I have also made the locks of the frontal hatches out of styrene. Here is a detail of one of the pieces assembled and other just in pieces: I am now focussing the detailing at the back of the tank. I plan to do some lids for the storage compartments at the back and customise the exhaust. The Ausf. A apparently has some hatches at the back but not sure if these would show up under the zimmerit. Here is a pic of the back at its current stage: Also was wondering. This kit has quite crappy tracks. They are basically just a couple of rubber bands.... :_( I was thinking in building the tracks my self out of styrene as I couldn't find any after market 1/48 tracks for the Panther. Have any of you guys done this before? I can imagine it must be EXTREMELY time consuming also couldn't find any instructions of any other kit of how the pieces should be for assembly. If you could help me with this I would much appreciate! All the best , Alex P.S. It was like the holy hand granade from the Monty Pythons ! Totally an halo! xD
  18. Gaia1984
    Hi guys! Yes I have been looking at some pics of the Ausf. A and you are right maybe the guys from Academy got messed up using a Korean keyboard and what they wanted to write was A instead of G! I have been working the past days on the turret detailing. I have added the hooks on the top made out of cut cables, also I have made from scratch the rail for the machine gun on the top of the commander's cupola as the original didn't fit at all. The handle on the cupola is also made from styrene. You will notice I have remove a "block" of plastic from the original model, this was supposed to be that flat hook Ausf. A has but Academy just put a block of plastic there and it was going to be more complicated to cut through it and shape it than to build it from scratch. I am not sure if you can appreciate it in the picture but I have drilled the cupola's observation points (right under the machine gun rail). These were also solid pieces of plastic and they were a pain to drill and shape seriously... also drilled the observation points in the frontal low profile hatch more fun there! Also did the welding lines parallel to the edges of the turrets. I want to add some welding details further ahead in places such as the flat hook on the top. Regarding the modified turret cover, I know that the Ausf. G had this type of modification but not so sure about the Ausf. A Any comment on this would be much appreciated! Here are some pics! Hope you enjoy them!
  19. Gaia1984
    Hi tonyG! First thanks for the comments! I was actually drilling the exhaust hole literally 5 mins before I read your message! I know what you mean about the hulk... I was also a bit confused about it as the Ausf. G seems to have that modified vent at the back and also a modified turret although the Ausf. G was pretty much advance Ausf. A. I am quite sure they had installed the curved plates to protect the exhaust in Ausf. G although I haven't researched the Ausf. A model... Working on the turret at the moment. Any recommendation to make scratched-built handles?
  20. Gaia1984
    First of all, thanks Crossy! Here are a quick update on the tank. I have finished off the zimmerit, well at least most of it... Surely there will be some small parts I still have to add a bit more of the plaster. I am planning to make some battle damage on this side, that's the reason behind leaving that rear part without the plates. It will probably be a damaged hanging side plate in that last position And a frontal view of the zimmerit: I have also been working on the lateral armour plates. Here you can see a picture of the detail of the anchoring point I built using plasticard: And a rear view with the curved plate protecting the exhaust. I tried to curve it by applying a bit of heat and then trying to reshape it, though this didn't prove to be easy. Do you have any suggestion to bend plasticard to give it a curved shape? Anyway this is what I managed to do over the weekend. Feeling quite happy on how this is advancing and evolving. I like the way it's looking much better that the original kit out of the box. If you guys have any suggestion / recommendation please feel free to say so! Hope you like it! Best regards, Alex
  21. Gaia1984
    Dear Martin and Jessica, Thanks four you reply and comments! Certainly it's proven a much more difficult kit than I expected but just for the reason that I wanted to build at least a more realistic plane than the one out of the box. I am actually working on another 2 old issues: a L-29 Delfin 1/72 from KP and a F-16 1/72 from Heller and to be honest they are a bit disheartening to work with because there's sooooo muuuch work to do on them..... but the thought behind of choosing those kits was just better to mess with them than with a valuable nice looking new kit. Jessica - I actually haven't had a look yet to the painting schemes on the Yak but from what I've seen in the pics, many were painted with that Russian light blue/grey. Also thank for the comment on the ailerons and the rudder! I will put it definitely to good use!
  22. Gaia1984
    Hi everyone! I am bringing you a project I have been working on for a while on and off. The model is a 1/72 Yak-9D from Airfix. This model has been sitting at the back of a drawer since I was a kid so I thought it would be a good way to reintroduce me again into scale modelling. I haven't done anything in ages and I have to relearn everything again. Regarding this project... uhmmmm required more work than I imagined as I didn't want just a quick build. Right from the start when I started to do the research on the plane I notice that the air intakes in front of the wings were just absent..... There were plenty of fitting issues and gaps to be filled. This was good and bad at the same time, good because I had just to buck up and deal with it and help me to practice, bad because there was plenty of work. Any comment/suggestion would be much appreciated! One of the first things I did was to make the air intakes out of Milliput. This kit has raised panel lines and because I also wanted to practice panel scribbling I sanded it down and scribed the panel lines using Tamiya's scriber and Hasegawa scribbling stencils. Here are some general pics: The undercarriage central section wasn't the greatest. There were several big issues with the injection marks and imperfections, so I had to remake part of it using Milliput, you can still see the Milliput colour where applied. As you can see I also cut out the tips of the wings in order to put clear parts where the position lights go, still have to finish this off. Here is a frontal view of the plane. I am planning to add a brass mesh to the frontal main intake. I also wanted to do some detailing work this the wheel bays. You can see here I added some bits and bobs of plasticard and lead wire. You can also see some of the detail of the scribbling, I did the bolts using a microdrill. I sadly lost some of the detail on the ailerons when sanding. Do you know how to bring back lost raised panel lines? Any suggestion? I have found a tutorial in the forums of how to bring them back using layers of airbrushed paint and masking tape but haven't tried this... I also did some work on the exhaust frames using Tamiya's grey putty and plasticard, although I am not very happy with the results of the putty. So I am thinking to scrap it off and make a custom mould of Milliput. You can see some more detail on the panel lines and the scribbling. I also did some work on detailing the landing gear using lead wire and plasticard. I did the rings round the wheel by flattening some soldering wire with a metallic bar and rolling it over wire. Anyway this all for now! All this was made over a month on very sporadic work on the model. I think it's coming to the point when it is ready for painting. I think it's just a matter of spending a few more hours on it. Hope you enjoy it! All the best! Alex
  23. Gaia1984
    Hi all! First just to say a quick hi to everybody! This is actually my first post and my first model in a really long long time, actually it's my first armour kit. The model in question is an old issue of a Panzer Ausf. V G 1/48 from Academy, which is a motorized version. Although I am not planning in focussing much on the motor bit. I got this model back when I was a kid so I had to go through undoing a big gluey mess I did back then. As I am using this model to learn all the techniques back again I would much appreciate comments on how to improve things! As you see I cleaned the side objects there were glued to the sides of the hull and have started adding Miliput plaster for the Zimmerit cover. I have made a custom mould for the zimmerit pattern out of plasticard with a scribbler. I have also added some brass mesh to the air intakes at the back to the tank. Here is a detail of the zimmerit pattern: And here from the back of the tank: As you see there is still plenty of fitting issues at the back of the hull and also on the front. Here is a detail of the front: Also as you can see I have started adding some plasticard to the sides as I plan to add some scratch-built armour plates to the side. This is it for now. I plan on keep on adding the zimmerit and give it a light sanding. Also finish adding the armour side plates and modify the upper bit of the turret where the gun joints to give it the proper shape of the Ausf. G. I was also thinking in adding the curled protection plates to the exhaust at the back of the tank. Thanks in advance for your comments! All the best, Alex
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