BikingLampy

.Airfix Typhoon 1b 1/72 Straight forward OOB build, with the exception of a Yahu IP and a Quikboost seat (mostly for the seatbelts). Alclad primer and varnishes, Vallejo paint, Flory washes, pastels. Invasion stripes, wing yellow leading edges and the mint band round the tail are all airbrushed, which I'm pretty chuffed with. Ballsed up the main canopy though - tried dipping it in Future, and it dried with a big sag in it which I struggled to clean it off. Sprayed it with Alclad gloss varnish and its not too bad now to the mk1 eyeball although not great on camera. I might well get a vacform one at some point and redo it.

So this one took WAAAY longer than it should have done. Major issues with my (then) choice of primer, Stynlrez - as soon as I started applying masking for the topcoats it all just peeled straight off the plastic. No adhesion what so ever, so a full strip off job (mostly with parcel tape!) and start again. OOB, except for some masking tape belts, Vallejo Model Air, Alclad primer. Enjoy

bit of a bump now I've hopefully got the pics working!

**update**. So it appears that Dropbox is no where near as use friendly as it seems, as I can see the pics fine, but you lot can't. Have now wrestled the utter gaping bungholes at Flickr into submission, so hopefully these will now work... Latest one off the bench. Got it just before Christmas in the Aldi special offer - supposed to be the Red/silver "Lollipoop" machine, but came with decals for "Rose Marie/The Kelly Kid 2", so that's what I built!. Yahu IP, Quickboost seat with harness (way easier than trying to faff with photoetch belts! Filled the wing panel lines as per the real thing. In the plastic, you can just see the faint lines of the panels, so it comes out quite nicely. Usual (I'm told) wonky undercarriage, but I managed to get both joystick and aerial off the sprue, intact and usable. A first attempt at big areas of metal paint. Reasonably happy, although some of the shades haven't come out as expected and others have got lost by the camera (there's 5 different paints there). Also an experiment with pastels for weathering, which seems a bit more controlled than oil dot. A couple of annoying canopy related flaws. - the glue leaked under the windshield and is visible in the side window - didn't spot it as the windows were all masked up; and the masking at the tail end of the hood was a bit pants, so the border is a bit indistinct. Alclad primer and varnishes, Vallejo for the rest. Enjoy! BL...

I've just got to the end of painting a 1/72 Mustang, which is my first attempt at a "natural metal" finish. It's come out alright so far, but its showing up some pretty obviuous greasy fingerprints that I'd like to lose before I gloss coat it for decaling. The finish is all Vallejo acrylics - Model Air and Metal Colour What will be the best solvent to use that will cut the grease, but not damage the paint; and applied how - whenever I've tried wiping a model down before, I usually end up with more lint left on it that I started with and getting rid of it is generally quite arduous. (the next NMF finish will involve a pair of gloves...!) Thanks all!

Howdy, Next up on the bench is a 1/72 Airfix Mustang - one of the Aldi specials. It's going to be my first attempt at a natural metal finish. I understand I need to fill most of the wing panel lines (and found a diagram on here some time ago, so know what to aim for). ...but what colour paint should I be picking to do the silver(s)? If I understand right, they were largely painted in "aluminium paint", but various (removable) panels appear to be different shades - made of magnesium alloy? eg here I'm planning on using the Vallejo Metal Colour paints, as they seem, on relatively limited experience, to spray nicely. Polished Aluminium seems a popular choice for the bulk but isn't a Vallejo name... I'm sure this has been done before, but my google-fu is feeling weak today, so please feel free to call me a pillock if I've missed the bleedin' obvious. (although a link would be handy too! Thanks! BL.

So here's the Airfix FW190 starter kit which was on special in Aldi just before Christmas Built OOB, plus masking tape seatbelts. Vallejo Model Air paints, Flory washes. On the whole pretty happy with it. Went together fairly easily, despite some fairly wonky parts. The big success was spraying the white crosses on the upper wings to avoid all the silvering that would come with the kit decals. You can tell if you look closely, but ONLY if you look closely! First attempt at exhaust and gun staining - passable for a first go, but could be better. I'm still having problems with the gloss coat - as soon as I start trying to spread the oil dots, the varnish (Vallejo Acrylic) gets wiped off as well... Demarcation between the blue and the upper camo is possibly rather more wiggly than it should be... Panel wash is a bit OTT, but it's a bit binary, especially in 1/72.... Annoyingly the hairial was drum taught until I carried the thing out into the cold damp conservatory this morning to take the pics whence it went immediately saggy...!

Hi, After some advice please re: Stylnrez. I'm having no end of trouble with it just not adhering to the plastic This is the second model I've tried it on. It sprays lovely (0.5 needle @ 30psi straight out the bottle), but there's patches where it just flakes as soon as I come near it with anything - I've just had some come off when trying to sketch camo demarcation lines in with an HB pencil. The first model I tried I had ended up handling a lot and there had been much filling & sanding, so I wondered whether I'd managed to contaminate the surface, but this one I've been very careful to a) wash and rinse the sprues b) only handle the model with clean dry hands. There are plenty of areas where it seems to have taken properly and doesn't chip when poked, but there's plenty of bits that it's just falling off. As I now have to mask for the camo, I'm not looking forward to the next bit, as I can see trouble ahead when I try to get the tape off - even detackked before use! Is there anything else to try? I've used Vallejo (yuk - pulled off in great sheets) and Halfords rattlecan primer for plastic, which is tough as old boots but doesn't level very nicely at all. Thanks BL.

Lovely thank you chaps - works for me...!

A question for the cognoscenti here. I've just started building the Martlet version of this kit. There's quite an area between the top of the instrument panel and the windshield (scuttle?). How should this be painted? Could be exterior colour (EDSG in my case), could be interior green, could be boring black (which would make sense for low reflectivity)? Googling suggests models get built roughly 50/50 interior green (which looks a bit weird) or exterior colour (which looks 'right', but that's not necessarily 'correct'). Not found any good shots of the real thing (Wildcat or Martlet) but the impression I get is certainly closer to black than interior green. Thoughts...? Cheers, BL

Thanks for all the kind comments. Wonky wheels (both of 'em) will be an awkward fix as it actually seems to be the angle of the axle rather than anything else (they're symmetrically on the piddle).I've already had to replace one of the axles after I broke it, and I suspect trying to dismantle things at this stage will just end up in woe. In reality, its not that obvious unless you get down to a scale eyeline level and look from either end. Weaponry wise, I did ask the question here. There's plenty of pics of "my" aircraft carrying Sidewinder launch rails, so having lashed out on the rails (and the missiles that came in the box) I kinda figured there wasn't much point in the effort of fitting the bits needed to launch the missiles, if they never actually carried them. (although with hindsight I should have looked up the appropriate markings for dummy ones). Bit of artistic licence, eh..? Very much hoping the next one is rather faster. Going back to my more usual WWII single engine efforts in 1/72, so should be a damn sight quicker! Cheers, BL

Thanks all for the positive comments - much appreciated! They have all had one - Windsor & Newton Galleria Matt. IME it comes out more satin than matt, but not as shiny as the pics make out. I've been trying Vallejo matt on my Tomcat, and that comes out proper matt, so if I can figure a way to mask the canopies neatly, I might try slapping a coat of it on and see where we get to. Desperately want to avoid any nasty reactions that ruin what's already done though! Cheers, BL

This was the last kit I bought in my first modelling career. A combination of sex, drugs and work (which just happened to be rock'n'roll at the time) left little time or enthusiasm for playing with bits of plastic. I rediscoverd the part assembled kit in my parents loft last summer, and it's taken me a solid 18months to get it together. I reckon that makes for a 23 year build... The slightly strange (compared to Airfix) Hasegawa plastic hadn't been glued together desperately well and I was able to reduce it to component parts with not too much difficult. A certain amount of alchemy removed all the paint and we were good for take 2. I decided to add an Aires cockpit and jet pipes, Wheeliant wheels (the original vinyl tyres had perished) and the missiles courtesy of Brassin. All in all, it's been a massive learning curve. The plastic/resin bashing itself wasn't too bad, but the assorted painting has taken much girding of loins, finding (then losing) of mojo, thought, prevarication, more prevarication, deciding I'll look at it tomorrow etc. It fought me the entire way, and to be honest I'm quite glad to be done! It's the first model I've used "big" resin extras (ie not plug'n'play exhaust stacks or wheels) It's the first model that preshading has worked for me on. (thin the paint. Lots.) It's the first model I've tried using "modern " metallic paints (Vallejo in this case) It's the first model I've used Flory washes on (thanks @The Spadgent for making it look easy enough to try). Hell, the first model I've tried weathering fullstop! (these birds were end of life by now and looked it) It's the first model I've tried a "dot wash" on (looked far too new and shiny and toylike otherwise) - again inspired by @The Spadgent on his exemplary PA474 build. There's flaws all over the place. Some horribly obvious (main wheels are wonky), some less so. I'm not sold on the topside colour - too blue, but by the time I'd figured that out it was on the model. ho hum. On the whole though, I'm pretty chuffed with how it's come out. The photos make it look rather better than it actually is I think. But anyway... Pics are a mix of DSLR for the longer distance stuff and iphone for closeup. Cheers! BL

Finished this one 18 months or so back (you can tell by the bright sunshine in the pics!) but never got round to posting them. Mostly OOB with the exception of an Eduard Zoom cockpit kit for the IP and seatbelts, plus masks for the transparencies. This is the 6th kit I've built in my return to modelling, and on the whole a consolidation effort rather than trying anything new. 2nd one painted with the airbrush, and I was quite chuffed to get the zebra stripes on the dive brakes masked & sprayed in decent order. Oh, and the no-slip areas on the wings are painted too. Most of the preshading got lost though... The varnish looks very shiny in the pics. Not so obvious in real life. ...and with some period friends... Cheers, BL

Thanks Tony. I'll proceed on the basis of less is more. I'll admit the weathering is worrying me a little as I've never done anything like that before. This is a kit I started (badly!) 20 odd years ago, and its taken me a year to resurrect to this stage and I don't want to bollix it all up at the final hurdle, but equally the dilapidation is such a feature of the real thing...! BL

I've finally reached the decaling stage with my build of a 1/48 Hasegawa F-14D. I'm going for a VF101 Aircraft - no 165 BUNO 164345 and using the Fightertown decal set (which are lovely to use btw!) According to the (slightly limited) info given, this particular plane has very few stencils on the upper and lower surfaces - typically the "no step" text etc. However there's a good few inconsistencies -v- the pics I can find online of this airframe - according to the instructions, there's no "A D" lettering on the inside of the rudders (blatantly visible on the pics), and there are walkways on the air intakes shown, which don't exist on the (rather tired) real thing - although you can see where they were. I can't find high enough resolution images to make a call about the stencils, as its all grey on grey, but there's another decal sheet (from DMXdecal) for the same airframe which says to use the full works. Personally I'm not sure why, even on an end-of-life plane (as these I believe were) you wouldn't have safety critical markings? Thoughts? Happy to not apply half a hundred tiny decals, but I'd rather do it right than easy... Thanks, BL

Thanks all. I did indeed start with Halfords rattle can primer, and yes, it's tough as old boots, but the finish quality was pretty dreadful - "powdery" for want of a better word - and trying to buff that off without losing raised detail or going through the paint was on a hiding to nothing. I did try decanting it into the airbrush, but seemed to be a lot more faff for average results. I tried Vallejo Primer next - unimpressed - PITA to get it to go on smoothly, and tended to ball up and peel off if sanded. Stynlrez is a Badger product that a lot of guys on the BM aircraft forums seem to use. Goes on lovely from the airbrush and is a nice finish, bar this 2 or 3 places (now down to 1) where it just doesn't stick. ...and yes, it's exactly as per BigX's description. Noted about Mr Surfacer as an option, also about de-tacking the tape. Cheers, BL

I'm starting to get a wee bit peeved with this. I've got a couple of areas on a plane I'm building where the primer is pulling off the plastic when removing masking (it's the wing leading edge so there a colour spilt top to bottom and a need to mask). It's now just happened for the 3rd time. I'm using Stylnrez primer and Vallejo Model Air paints. I'm leaving the paints at least 24hrs to dry before masking. (so its 3 days work to prime, 1 coat, then mask & second coat), during which I'm getting nothing else done, all over an area about 5mm x 5mm. Masking tape is Tamiya. Now there's obviously an implication that the plastic surface is contaminated with something, but I don't want to go near the thing with any kind of solvent/chemical at this stage and risk making the problem worse. Ideas for cleaning? Secondly, I'm assuming the contamination is probably from my hands - how do you go about avoiding it (especially given how warm it is at the mo)? I'm cack handed enough at the best of times, let alone trying to handle small parts whilst wearing gloves! Thanks, BL

Thanks for the replies. Training unit makes life easier & cheaper - no need to buy extra weaponry and no need to assemble and paint it all. I have actually just managed to find a pic of 165, which is completely devoid of any dangly bits, so I'll use that as my reference! Cheers! BL

Hi, Normally a WWII builder, but my parents unearthed a Hasegagwa 1/48 F-14D that I started 20 odd years ago. I'm rebuilding it pretty much from scratch and now getting to a point where I need to make decisions about weapons pylons/pallets etc. I'm planning on building a 2004 'plane from VF101/Grim Reapers - either Gunfighter 160 or 165 using the Fightertown decal set. What would be an appropriate loadout for that era? The kit comes with what I think is a TARPS pod, plus a pair of drop tanks (?), Phoenix pallets and 2 variants of wing pylon. My google-fu is being sadly deficient at the moment, so any advice or pointers greatly appreciated. Cheers! BL

I took this pic of the 3 Horsemen at Flying Legends a couple of weeks ago:- ...and figured it might make an interesting little diorama in 1/72, given a bit of artistic license, some acrylic rod and the optical illusion of how close they were flying - like this:- But sourcing decals seems to be the stumbling point. The Tamiya 1/72 kit is a good starting place for Miss Helen, but still needs the specific airframe markings (and there's an Airfix vrsion that's not far off too), and I think I've found some for Frenesi here:- https://www.1001modelkits.com/p-51-mustang-model-kit/61796-microscale-ss72907-north-american-p-51d-mustangs-357-fg-3-414879-g4-d-gash-hound-lt-pete-pellon-363-fs-413318-c5-n-frenesi.html]. However that still leaves GA-S completely unaccounted for - most of the available RAF decal sets seem to be for the high back versions. Any ideas, help, pointing & laughing or generic urine extraction appreciated! Cheers, BL

Tell me about it. There's a Stuka with most of a cockpit on my bench at the mo, which would make 2 trios of BoB planes, so I could call it a day there. Or as I've started with BoB bombers with the Stuka, I could do He111, Do17, Ju88... However I'm also under orders from the missus to do a Lancaster at some point (we live I Sheffield and have seen PA474 fly over the Ladybower dams a few times) And I have an idea for a bit of "wall art" that involves a Black Buck era Victor & Vulcan (although I'm waiting for a Vulcan that won't drive me potty to build and I need a Victor with IFR tackle) And I'd like to do a Lightning/Canberra/Hunter/Bucc set for cold war stuff. And possibly a range flown by Eric Winkle Brown It goes on... Ha. Lucky photography, flat light & matt varnish help no end! Thanks for all the kind comments. I'm in awe of some of the work displayed on this forum. These pale into insignificance in comparison.

So a couple of years back at the grand old age of 40 I decided I needed a cheap (HA!) hobby to keep me from staring at t'internet all night. The natural option was to revert to my childhood and start building models again. As I've developed a deepening interest in aviation in general and WWII specifically, it seemed like a decent area to aim for. First build was predictably enough an Airfix Spitfire. It was originally a Mk1 - 2 bladed prop, b&w underside, flat canopy. Then the final coat of matt varnish ate the decals & paint. 6 months later I resurrected it as a MkII. OOB, brush painted Far from perfect, but not too bad given the grief to get that far. It's stablemate the Hurricane was an obvious next choice. I added an Eduard Zoom interior - mostly for the seatbelts & IP, Brush painted. Oh, and some resin wheels To complete the trio - a Defiant. Eduard interior again, plus aftermarket wheels, exhausts and guns. Also discovered canopy masks. Rattle can painted. On the whole, rather pleased with this one. A bit "box fresh", but neat & tidy. And all together: Then came a 109. I followed CedB's build on this quite closely. Complicated paintjob. It's OK, but not as tidy as the Defiant. Rattlecans and Eduard interior bits again. Discovered "haireals" which are much more in scale than my attempts at stretched sprue. Followed by it's bigger, less useful brother. Gave in and bought an airbrush - this was my first attempt, so its not too bad if you don't get too close! Aftermarket decals to avoid sharkmouth disaster. The 2 germans together. A nice contrast in size. ...and finally the whole gang... All pics - Nikon D5000, 18-200 lens at full zoom, min aperture (f36?) It's been an intriguing, frustrating, fascinating learning process so far. Bits I need to improve on:- Handling silly tiny bits and gluing them solidly without making a mess Airbrush technique - the real biggy. Keeping the dust down. The pics have actually been quite flattering in hiding the bits of lint glued forever to any flat surface under layers of paint & varnish. Weathering. - after taking the best part of 6 months per plane - I'm terrified of doing anything more to them that could bollix up all that work! Comments/criticism gratefully received! BL

Hi, Just gloss varnished a model aircraft with the above. (airbrushed with a couple of drops of W&N Acrylic Flow Improver over Vallejo Model Air colour). I now have a very shiny aeroplane, but after 36 hours it still feels very slightly tacky to the touch and having just tried to apply a decal, it absolutely will not slide, despite microset use - more like a sticker! I've brushed the varnish before with perfectly acceptable (but not very glossy) results, but not over the VMA paint. (this is the first model I've painted with an airbrush) a) Am I being premature and need to leave it longer to dry (its warm, but fairly humid due to the weather at the mo) b ) Have I made a mistake by using the flow improver? or c) there's a nasty reaction going on between the paint and the varnish. Bit concerned as I don't want to have cocked up an almost finished model! Advice gratefully received! Thanks BL

So I gave in and bought myself an airbrush - H&S Evolution Silverline 2 in 1. Now I need to get to grips with using the thing. I'm generally wanting to spray onto 1/72 planes, and I'm hoping to use Revell Aqua colour acrylics. I've had a couple of experiments so far - using the 0.2mm tip. Compressor set to 20psi (or at least that's what it says on the dial!) First attempt was with a citadel oll wash on the basis that I could get used to handling the airbrush without needing to worry about paint thinning issues. That all seemed to behave as expected, and I was quite impressed with how easy it was to get fine lines. Then I tried with the Aquacolour and it started going down hill rapidly.... Firstly - any recommendations for quick, faff free, accurate dilution methods - especially for small quantities. I've bought a bunch of disposable 3mm pipettes, thinking I could suck up a bit of paint, a bit of water, squirt it in the cup, job jobbed. However there's not enough "suck" in the pipette to pick up the viscous paint out of the pot properly, and then it won't squirt out of the pipette either, so accuracy is out the window. Another option would be to have a complete second set of paints diluted ready to go, but that seems quite extreme (and expensive!). Doing "big batch" dilution for main colours obviously makes sense, but when I want to just spray a couple of ml, there's got to be a better answer. I'm relatively time limited, so I want to get my workflow sorted such that once I sit down at the bench I can be spraying in under 5 mins. Ideas? Secondly - even diluted pretty damn thin, I'm having issues with lack of paint flow. If I stop spraying - even for a second or 2, then it clogs up and unless I give it full beans for a few seconds I get no paint flow, then suddenly get lots. It wasn't too much of a problem for painting entire parts, but trying to do some preshading didn't really work. The paint (when it did arrive) was also coming out very splattery. is this the "tip dry" phenomenon (plenty of encrusted paint on the needle cap & airhead - even after a short spray session)? If so I understand I need to add some flow improver? Or is more likely to be that the paint is too coarse for the needle (have read about this, but generally with really fine needles)? After clean up I sprayed some cleaner through with the 0.4mm needle and that came through in a lovely big fat spread, but I suspect I'll struggle to do fine stuff like that. Tips and advice, gratefully appreciated! Many thanks, BL.