VonkeyVong

So, I have eventually got round to painting the pilot and gunner, and they are in position. I need to put something in the gunners hand and it will probably end up being a folded up chart or a magazine. The only thing which is bugging me now is the lack of any sort of structure behind the pilot and a think I an going to have to give in and build something to go there.

Having had a break from kit building since Christmas to concentrate on some railway modelling it gave me a chance to get the Quickboost Ju87 B exhausts for the Hasegawa kit. This week I picked the model up again and decided that to make any progress I needed to carve off its very big moulded on exhausts and install the resin items, I could then put the top part of the engine cowling on and get it ready for some paint. Above is a picture I took as the kit came out of the box showing the tubby exhausts. Above are a couple of pictures of the finished result, quite a transformation and well worth the effort. So, if the mood takes me I will start painting the crew figures this evening, the sooner I get them finished the sooner I can get the canopy on and start to mask it ready for paint. Matt.

I second what Tony said.

Duff looks great, I have a Bachmann BR Blue with Head code box which I intend to paint in XP64 scheme one day. The Heljan Duff is a nice model though, I have three of them myself, one in BR two tone green with small yellow end and two in EWS livery. Would like to make it four if I can find EWS 47792 'Robin Hood' Matt.

Just read through this thread and two things have become apparent: There are a lot of much more patient modellers than me here. I am so glad I hung on to a couple of my Classic Airframes kits now. Keep up the good modelling.

Hi Adrian, I am going to add the crew figures that come with the kit as the cockpit is a little empty and they will help to fill it out a bit. Matt.

They do. There are three actuator rods which go into the recesses and two balance weights which dont per side. The two which are outside the oval recesses are balance weights and the recesses are clearance for them to go into so they dont limit the travel of the aileron. One thing I am not sure about is the accuracy of the balance weights or the angle they should be installed at so I have guessed based on what would be a sensible deflection angle for the weight to need to go inside the recess. Matt.

Great work, I really like the effect you get with your weathering. Matt.

So, I am now home from visiting family over Christmas and have picked up the Stuka again. I have now completed the majotity of the assembly and am almost ready to start painting. Above you will see that I had to lengthen the tail plane struts as they are both to short, I did this with some thick plasticard and then sanded to blend to the original strut. Above you can see the aileron and actuator detail. The detail is nice as all the actuators and balance weights are separate parts. The ailerons did take a lot of cleaning up and careful sanding to get them tidy and in a decent shape, I also scribed lines where there would be a break on real Stuka. You can also see the wing racks, they are very simplistic but I will find some nice bombs to go on them and hide them to a larger extent. I have deliberately not attached the dive brakes as the cross decal sits directly under it, there are also no decal sections to apply to the dive brake so the missing insignia segments will need painting on. The above image shows the wing from the rear with the ailerons attached. Above is a general overview of the model with the canopy, upper engine cowling and propeller placed on but not yet secured. I hope to make some progress over the weekend with finishing the cockpit and crew figures so I can complete the fuselage assembly ready for paint. Matt.

They aren't doing a new Halifax, according to hannants it is the old kit.The Shackleton is great news, another long over due kit.

Great choice of subject and LONG over due. So glad I didn't buy the fly kit now. Guess I should build my frog kit before the airfix kit arrives. Matt.

How about the jet version next? Sci-Fi isnt my thing but you have done a great job of producing this model. Matt.

All those rivets are exactly what is missing from the Hasegawa kit.

So, more progress made and its starting to take shape. The main fuselage and wings now have most of the major components assembled. As you can see in the above picture I have used a piece of sprue to spread the nose sides slightly so the upper engine cowling panel fits better. In the above image you can see a strip of plastic card along the rear edge of the cockpit, this is because the fuselage top is short and there is a gap between it and the canopy. There was also a little filler needed to hide the join between the fuselage halves. I have also used my scriber to make the rudder hinge line deeper. Above you can see that it takes quite a lot of filler to produce a good join on the lower fuselage. To achieve a good wing to fuselage join I removed the locating pegs from the wings and lined the joins up myself. I have also scribed panel lines on the radiator gills. Above shows where the radiator front fits inside the nose, this should be more of a rounded 'V' where the bottom of the nose meets the radiator, you can also see that some filler was required. In order to give the radiator front some depth I represented the radiator matrix with stretched sprue laid over the kit's raised lines. Tonight I hope to get the tail planes, ailerons and wheel spats tidied up and ready to go on the model.

As I am enjoying building this kit so much I have changed the title from 'obsolete' to 'classic'. Matt.

In terms of the amount of detail, the fit of parts and the crude nature of things like the gun blisters, the radiator opening which the back of it looks into the open fuselage, and the thick edges on things like the vent on top of the engine coweling it is eclipsed by the Hasegawa kit. However this kit only cost £5 on offer from Airfix, and I had low expectations to start with, but with some applied modeling skills and a little added detail here and there it will build into a decent replica which I believe will not look out of place next to the 'uber' kits we have now become accustomed to. The most satisfying part for me is that it is a cheep and simple kit that you could have done from start to finish in one week and have a decent result at the end of it (if you dont rush assembly and take time test fitting and trimming a little off here and there). Matt.

So, progress to date is that I managed to reshape the gun fairings on the wings to better represent the real thing: As you can see the top one has been reshaped, it is still a bit prominent but is a vast improvement. I also put the cockpit together and painted it. I intend to add the two crew figures to fill it out a bit. I have not compared it to any reference on the real thing as I want this to be a quick build and dont want to start scratch building parts for it. The paint process on the cockpit was: Black shading (to give depth) RLM 02 (leaving some shadows and shading) Pick out the radio boxes and other odds and ends in black Some brown enamel wash (to make it look well lived in) Pale blue dry brushing (to lift the detail out) Some selective aluminium dry brushing in areas of high wear So tonight I hope to paint the instrument panel and close the fuselage, then tidy up the wings and dangley thingies!!

No, N.O.R.C.S. isnt a proper club, just three mates having fun building lots of model kits, and exhibiting at the odd show here and there. I got some work done on the Stuka today, pictures to follow later. Matt.

That sounds 'logical' to me. I build models for exactly the same reasons. I enjoy building them, it is my escape from the chaos of every day life, and I enjoy the end result and sharing my work and experience with like minded people. I am not bothered about absolute accuracy and am happy with a result that gives a good representation of the subject. I will make some improvements to my models but I am not in the business of making my relaxing hobby difficult, and tend to go no further than some small scratch built improvements or if it is to much work to improve a bad kit part like wheels that are way too small or have bad sink marks I will then look to the after-market, otherwise its build from the box all the way. Matt.

As a member of N.O.R.C.S. (No Old Rivet Counters Society) I have decided to practice what we preach and have a go at the venerable and obsolete Airfix 1/48 Stuka. I have obtained the most recent boxing of this kit for the bargain price of £5. It has had a bit of a make over in the form of some nicely printed decals and a colour painting guide. Here are some pictures of what you get in the box: Not a bad looking kit, a bit soft in detail, lots of raised rivets, some flash here and there, but the shape looks good, the transparencies are clear and for its age the cockpit is quite detailed. So, I will start cutting plastic this evening and see how I get on . Matt.

Airfix Shuttle and boosters obtained from fellow BM'er 'cmatthewbacon' plus decals and motor nozzles on the way from RealSpace Models.

I have just ordered an Ar234 B-2 direct from FLY, much cheaper than it is available from a certain big model shop and wholesaler, plus the post is free. Happy days.

Looks like I will probably go with the Revell kit as there are tile decals currently available for it, just dont fancy the idea of trying to paint them on in such a small scale.

Beautiful, I have just bought these kits and will be very happy if they turn out as nice as yours have.

Thanks for all the replies, I suppose if they are all inaccurate which is par for the course with a 1/144 model of such a complex aircraft, my question should have been which kit best captures the essence of the Space Shuttle? I have not built any space vehicles in the past but have looked at the kits from time to time. With Airfix offering their Saturn 1B and Saturn 5 kits at good prices I have bit the bullet and bought three kits, I will not build them oob but I will not put to much effort into correcting them, I will basically just tidy them up and replace anything which looks crazy. Matt.