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Stew Dapple

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Everything posted by Stew Dapple

  1. Stew Dapple
    Nano-drills? I can't even envision a 0.2mm drill bit, I imagine it would snap just from me looking at it I've got a few sets of those Ian, but I was able to break them with very little apparent effort; as GregB's strapline goes: "Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool" and my natural talent has been honed by years of practice I had already ordered a set of ten 0.3mm collared bits as I had a minor panic-attack on finding my original set only had two survivors; as @Marklo notes, they are cheap, but so am I and it does pain me deep inside each t
  2. Stew Dapple
    I convinced myself I needed a second one of these: It took me literally several whole seconds Also some Infini Lycra thread, medium. Both from BlackMike Models, excellent service as usual Cheers, Stew
  3. Stew Dapple
    That depends on the manufacturer, I believe it is the underside colour for Mitsubishi-built A6M2's and Aotake for the Nakajima-built ones Cheers, Stew
  4. Stew Dapple
    Haha no I got your drift John, but since the model hopefully won't have to fly, the aerodynamics can remain purely decorative, not functional Cheers, Stew
  5. Stew Dapple
    It crossed my mind John; I let it keep crossing until it went out the other side Cheers, Stew
  6. Stew Dapple
    That's excellent, nice work on the improvised camouflage scheme, looks very convincing Cheers, Stew
  7. Stew Dapple
    Thanks Chris, Alistair I spent my modelling time over the weekend drilling holes, as a result of which my workbench now resembles what (in my mind, not in reality) I imagine the Wings Department at Gloster's Hucclecoats factory must have looked like: I found that I could use the .3mm drill bits by hand, so it turns out the electric drill set was a waste of money after all The plastic is pretty good for drilling, the mouldings aren't thick and it worked perfectly well. I did go for a larger drill bit for the holes in the upper and lower wings where the br
  8. Stew Dapple
    Isn't it though? At least they're straight edges. I see you got the spiky bit on the fuselage spine done nicely, that's the particular bit I dislike the most Ooh nice use of Middle English swearing *tips hat* Cheers, Stew
  9. Stew Dapple

    Re-boxings

    Stew Dapple replied to jackroadkill's topic in Chat

    I'll second what Avgas said; Scalemates is invaluable for that and finding reviews of kits you might be thinking of buying Cheers, Stew
  10. Stew Dapple
    Good start Adrian, I've always liked the SB-2, it puts me in mind of the Blenheim in some ways The consensus seems to suggest that the ICM kit is perhaps not the easiest of kits to build, so best of luck Cheers, Stew
  11. Stew Dapple
    Hi Charlie, Sorry I should have phrased my question better; I meant the apparent difference in the Xtracolors in the earlier and later builds of your 1/72 Spitfires; is the colour difference that pronounced in real life, or is it just a photographic effect like a change of light or the angle of the models? Regarding transfers on a satin finish; I always use a little Klear to bed the decals down from force of habit, and I'd definitely recommend something like that or as Alan advises, a gloss coat before applying the transfers. It might not actually be necessary with all
  12. Stew Dapple
    She's saying: "I can't help but feel the weathering is a bit overdone" Cheers, Stew
  13. Stew Dapple
    Always good to get to the stage where the paint starts going on, as you say a new chapter Glad the paint did its stuff for you Charlie The comparison shot of the 1/72 Spitfires is interesting too, both the colours look less saturated on the later build but I assumed it was just the sort of difference you might expect between two photographs until you mentioned the apparent lightness of the later Dark Earth - is the difference in real life similar to that in the photos? ... and don't worry - most of us who were building Spitfires in those days were gleefully painting
  14. Stew Dapple
    Hi Colin, My experience of Techmod decals, while it hasn't been extensive, is that they are very nice high-quality decals that look really good when you are done, but in application they tend to be really sticky so you need a pretty wet surface to land them on if you can't place them perfectly first time (and I think it's probably true for everyone that you can't land a transfer exactly where you want it every time). HTH Cheers, Stew
  15. Stew Dapple
    Thanks Chris, in the end I heeded your words and drilled them separately So this is the thing that was making me anxious: It's just a cheap hobby-type drill from Lidl. I usually hand-drill with a pin vice, but the .3mm drill bits I bought have a large... I'm wanting to say "shank"? Anyway they don't fit in a pin vice, so that dictated that I was going to have to use the electric drill for the first time since I bought it a couple of years ago Well I knew it would come in handy one day. It has a variable speed setting ranging from "Ooh that's quite fast i
  16. Stew Dapple
    Coming along very nicely Dennis Glad to hear it isn't just me that has a specific favourite colour for tyres Cheers, Stew
  17. Stew Dapple
    Happy birthday Paul, hope you had a good one - that dinner looks great Cheers, Stew
  18. Stew Dapple
    Excellent progress Charlie, and great attention to detail there Cheers, Stew
  19. Stew Dapple
    She really is lovely Alistair, very nice work Cheers, Stew
  20. Stew Dapple
    Lovely job Jean, she's a beauty Cheers, Stew
  21. Stew Dapple
    Hey Dennis no problem mate, good to see you and I know 1/32 isn't your customary scale but you probably won't get a better Gladiator kit any time soon Thanks Alistair, I've got the CR.42 as well, minimal rigging but complex paint job; swings and roundabouts I can't even remember where I stole the idea for the gunsight glass but it is quite effective, though will be unnoticeable in real terms, the gunsight itself being about 2.5mm across... I'll be using Infini Lycra Thread for the rigging, and where I can some of Bob's Buckles eyelets, but it's a prospect I do have so
  22. Stew Dapple
    Here's Jack: my avatar, my hairy lord and master; my sidekick; an enthusiastic friend to all humans and a raging psychopath to all German Shepherds and Huskies, for some reason: He just turned 11 and still behaves like a pup. Cheers, Stew
  23. Stew Dapple
    Hi Mark, Can't help you with 1) but for 2) it was advised on this very forum some years ago that the colour on the Gladiators was a fifty-fifty mix of RAF Dark Green and Dark Earth. I mixed up a pot for my current Gladiator build. It looks like a slightly aged version of the WW1 colour PC10. It's the one on the left here: RAF Dark Green and US Olive Drab all share the same origin (PC10), as I understand it. Regarding 3) I don't think I've ever seen mention of blue rudders on the Gladiators, I suspect this might be due to misinterpreting the dif
  24. Stew Dapple
    Thanks Chris; thanks Tony - it is a beautiful kit, what particular aircraft are you building, or have you not decided yet? From Tony's photo's the area aft of the pilot's seat and the interior framing are painted Aluminium; I repainted this area with Vallejo Metal Colour White Aluminium with a brush rather than try to mask it all off for spraying: You can also see the T-section bracing for the armour plate, which I made from Slater's Microstrip - this bit here: Also painted at the same time was the armour plate:
  25. Stew Dapple
    Thanks Chris, thanks Steve Yes, I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm getting near the stage where I have to start drilling holes in things As far as I can tell from the limited number of pictures I've been able to find, the Belgian Gladiators were not fitted with reflector sights which is logical given that they were top military tech at the time and therefore probably embargoed for exports. The mounting over the dashboard was fitted though; the kit part includes a part of the gunsight moulded onto the frame, but it's easy enough to remove if you are careful:
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