Andy G

Thanks Ced, always good to see the product in use.

Thanks for showing the tail plane mod, it’s something I need to do on my Argentinian B62 when I get back to it, hopefully later this year.

That looks very nice, if i can achieve a finish something like that I’ll be very very happy

Glad it's finally arrived, Ced, I had thought at one point we had a problem as there were six other packages out of a total of eight that were 'in transit'. To be honest Hermes have been pretty darned good during this Covid stuff and it's only the last week where they seem to have struggled. As for storing other stuff or customising units to fit, drop us a line either on BM or through the contact page on the website. We've done custom units for other customers and ourselves.

I've just done some quick drawing work to see what is possible storing the jars vertically. We can get twenty 60ml jars in a drawer and twenty-eight 30ml jars. A double height unit (240mm) would be able to take three 30ml drawers, two 60ml drawers or a mixture of 2x30ml drawers and 1x60ml drawer. I'd be interested in feedback as to whether these seem feasible units - what sort of mix of jars do people have?

Looking forward to this, I intend to do a display of 'Battle of Britain' film planes over the summer and have two of these kits to represent the mock Messerschmitts and Hurricanes. I'm currently building the Revell/MPM Hudson, I'm hoping these are better than that is.

We should be able to do something along the lines of the MRP bottle storage - https://www.ebmahobby.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_64&product_id=64 This is a double height unit. It may be possible to get three drawers of the Zero Paints in and the fronts would be enclosed rather than open in a new design.

Das, John, Thanks for the info and pointers. I'd set off painting the tank in Portland Stone a while back so I shall try and get it looking something like the one in that photo. Very grateful for the confirmation that it is likely to be the od showing through - now to just make it look believable and not over-done. Cheers Andy

Hello, I haven't done much in the way of AFV building. Very little - I built the Airfix 1:72(6?) Sherman many moons ago and this is my first 1:35 vehicle. On our trade stand at shows we have a Tamiya Grant as a 'prop' that is very slowly getting built. With the hiatus in shows I'd like to move it on largely to gain practice for building some of the other models in my stash. I understand that the Grants were originally delivered in Olive Drab and this was overpainted on arrival in Africa. Looking at several pictures on the IWM site there appears to be dark scratches and scrapes showing through quite commonly. The picture below appears to show worn paint revealing a dark colour underneath. Is this the green showing through? Taken from https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205203989 I can find guides for painting and weathering vehicles in Europe but I'm drawing a blank on Africa. Cheers Andy

Hi Neil, it’s something we could have a look at. We’ve had occasional requests about stock boxes but not yet put anything into action, perhaps it’s about time we did. Andy

This week we're introducing a new storage unit to house the Zero Paints bottles, both 30ml and 60ml. We've produced a drawer for each and the two drawer unit can be ordered with two drawers the same or one of each. Each 60ml drawer holds twelve bottles and the 30ml drawer holds eighteen.

Thanks Ced, much appreciated

Being cheeky and continuing the hijack of Ced's thread, we make this storage solution in Manchester EBMA Hobby & Craft. We've also got a subforum in the manufacturers' section - https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/685-ebma-hobby-craft/ It'll help give the possibility of a tidy desk but certainly won't guarantee it Cat looking nice by the way.

I’ve not long finished the A Model Hawker Hector so will tag along to watch a master transform these kits.

That is superb work both in the detailing and the painting. Thank you for posting it.

That’s very nice. I like the subtle weathering and don’t see anything wrong with the photos.

Evening, Thought I'd post some progress with my current build. Having just unexpectedly managed to complete an A Model Hawker Hector in time for the Dunkirk anniversary at the end of this month I thought I'd attempt another aircraft applicable to the operations at that time - the MPM/Revell Hudson Mk.I, this is the Revell boxing. I'll be doing the 206 Squadron option and there are plenty of photos of it on the IWM website, such as this I think I'm going to do the underside in Aluminium, seems to be the correct colour for the time period, end of May and very beginning of June. Also some of the shots on the IWM site appear to show a glint that I wouldn't expect from Sky - yes, guessing colour from a B&W photo. I'm not 100% convinced but it could be right and it will make a change. I've read a few threads on the building of this kit,especially @CedB's treatise on it Clearly there is some fun ahead! Most of the last week has been spent on the internals and anything interior green. The green is Mr Hobby H58 Interior Green, though I've just bought a new bottle and it is a very different colour to the above. The green has just received a wash of burnt umber and Payne's grey oil colours. I've painted the interior and exterior of the nacelles as I build wheels up and am hoping to get the undercarriage sorted and then masking off. Having got a nice finish with the Alclad Aluminium and Mr Hobby gloss I've subsequently found out that the exhaust is in the wrong place and doesn't look like the real thing anyway. The cowlings have received very careful attention from a dentist's burr so the engines now fit without losing any detail. The engines themselves have been painted in various blacks and silver washes with the gearbox in grey. On this pair of cowls one of the locating pins has been removed as it causes a step in the join. The kit includes quite a nice interior I'm not sure how much of this will be visible as the glazing is marred by flow marks. The grey 'stool' in the middle is the base for the wireless operator's chair. I can't fit it yet as I haven't sourced the operator chap. I think I'm going to be ordering some silicone rubber and resin later and trying to cast some replicas of various figures raided from the stash. It was disappointing to go through the Airfix Wellington, Whitley and Lancaster in the stash and find that the only crew member was a single pilot in the Lancaster. I've also opened the door on this bulkhead and replaced it with one made from plasticard. The office is quite nice if not accurate and is awaiting a driver. Up next is getting the crew sorted before they end up stopping the build, working out the correct orientation of the engines and assembling them into the cowls, correcting the exhausts and getting the gear 'up'. I've put a piece of 40 thou plasticard in front of the cockpit as suggested by the instructions but there will also be a piece of 10 or 20 thou going in front of the turret housing to try and improve it's fit. I think a spreader is going to be needed to the rear of the housing to push the fuselage out to match the housing. Plenty of fun ahead Andy

Thanks for the comments, very much appreciated. The paints for the brown and green are MRP Dark Earth and Dark Green. The underside is Mr Hobby Sky. The stand is home made, the benefits of running a business around a laser cutter. I'm possibly thinking of adding them to the business with custom name plates. Brass rod and tubing is from Eileen's Emporium and the greenery is from Green Scene Troy, many thanks for the photos and the link - I've spent a while perusing those, plenty of inspiration. As for the aerial, I missed that and as you say it would be very easy to rectify - one to remember for the future. Cheers Andy

I've recently been building the A Model Hawker Hector and as something of an easier distraction completed this starter kit in time for VE Day last week. It wasn't without its issues - the starboard wing was/is somewhat warped though hopefully not too noticeable now. The main problem though was the canopy, the kit came with that for a Spitfire Mk.22. Airfix are going to replace this once their spares start up again. Thankfully I have five others liberated from Home Bargains. So canopy number two came from the stash, was duly masked up and went through the paint process along with the rest of the model. Unfortunately when the masks came off something had got between the canopy and the doghouse. As I'd only used PVA to glue it on I tried to prize it off only for it to suddenly give and then split in two. So what you see in the photos is canopy number three which was painted by hand with the aid of a cocktail stick for cleaning up. Paint is mostly MRP. The Dark Earth seems a bit too dark to me. Metallics are Alclad and the chipping was achieved with Ammo by Mig Scratch effects. Not entirely happy with this as it's a lot more chipped than I was intending on, though having covered some of it up I discovered that some Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain were quite heavily chipped. The remaining weathering is a mix of Flory Models wash and oil paints. Exhaust stain is Mr Hobby Tyre Black followed by a mix of mid grey and light brown. Cheers Andy

Our Aircraft Paint Stand has always been a popular item. MOS6510 Models has done a review of it on YouTube and has some useful advice -

The camel is the Eduard mold. I’ve got one in the stash so looking forward to this.

It was straight from the pen. It's really easy, you just have to remember to leave it to dry for a long time.

This is the first car I've built since the 80's. It was started in the 90's (I think) but quickly shelved. This year I decided to finish it off. There are a couple of firsts for me - Zero Paints and Molotow Chrome pen. Alclad gloss was used for the varnish and AutoGlym car polish to get a shine (and polish out the fingerprints I kept putting in it). There are quite a few issues with the car such as the engine bay not bearing much resemblance to the real thing. This wasn't helped by having to remove the rocker cover in order to get the bonnet to shut. The windscreen is too wide, so the side windows taper in and there is no fuel cap or reversing lights (I think these were standard, but may not have been). The bonnet isn't fixed and has slipped on a few photos, but it doesn't fit particularly well anyway.

Eyebrow tweezers and a metal nail file. sewing pin for applying the glue

We've recently started work developing a new jig aimed at aligning wings and helping to ensure that each side is angled correctly. The photos below show the first developments on the tail plane. The jig will also aid the setting up of the main plane. It is early days in the development of this jig and we are very much open to ideas and suggestions. The plane shown is the 1:72 Hawker Hector from A Model. The initial development will be aimed at 1:72 but we intend to also produce it for 1:48 and possibly large scales.