specky

Time for a proper Made In Britain motor sporting icon from the 1970's, the Ford Escort RS1600 Built at Halewood, dismantled and rebuilt properly at Boreham and then handed over to some hooligan under strict instruction to 'Thrash the living daylights out of it' - Awesome! Sadly, not an adjective that can be readily applied to the kit, which in a number of respects falls someway short of expectations, but with the assistance of some excellent WIP's on this forum, we'll see what we can do over the next few months Cheers for now Craig

Hi everyone After a period of absence thanks to a touch of the old pneumonia which had kept me out of my cold, damp and draughty garage and away from the airbrush, I was finally fit enough and the weather had improved by enough to re-engage with what had already become something of a love/hate relationship! People keep banging on about how 'great' this kit is and whilst I have no argument with the subject matter, the plastic is another matter entirely! The quality is really rather poor, the wings & fuselage especially are covered in sink marks, all of which need to be filled & blended seamlessly for any chance of an even remotely convincing NMF The design, engineering and therefor fit leaves a lot to be desired. Air-brakes, belly and nose cannon inserts are just a sample of the 'challenges' that await. Although, very obviously, none of these issues is 'un-fixable' and it's entirely conceivable that I have become rather spoilt by the vastly superior quality of most of their newer kits, but given that it still receives rave reviews, every one of the wtf? moments came as a very unexpected and unanticipated surprise and disappointment. But, after weeks of hovering 1/2 a step away from being tossed back into the box & returned to the depths of the stash, there is light at the end of the tunnel. As I've said, I was rather ill and neither the medication nor the plastic was really agreeing with me, but these are wip images that I did manage to record... ...the cockpit, which apart from being far too dark, but by then I was far too ill to even think about re-spraying it, doesn't actually fit! The tub is too wide at the front and the ip is at least 20% too large in area to fit within the fuselage or beneath the coaming. In retrospect, I should obviously have test fitted it all, but as I've said, everyone raves on about it so I wasn't anticipating any dramas - lesson learnt! It all did, eventually, fit and the fuselage closed-up pretty well, although very few of the panel lines meet across the joints - top or bottom! What appear to be gaps around the belly and cannon inserts, for example, are gaps that have been filled with super glue which dries clear, so it will all look a bit 'iffy' until the first coat of primer! Still a fair bit to do, but I'm optimistic that the worst is behind me now, so I expect some brisk progress towards paint Craig

Hi everyone Despite my best efforts to dodge it, I find myself struck down by a particularly nasty cold that's doing the rounds, so although that means I wont be sitting in my cold garage airbrush in hand any time soon, it doesn't mean that I can't crack on with some prep work in between blowing my nose and coughing my lungs up! Sprue shot - not the best I'm afraid, but I had to stand back to get it all in one picture - its certainly a big old bus! 153 parts, or so the box says, but, if you remember, this will be an F.2A in flight so I wont be needing the undercarriage, over-wing tanks, refuelling probe, Red Tops, F.6 belly parts or the early tail fin. So, I wont be using much more than half of what you see. Odd bits and pieces have been assembled and some black paint has been 'hairy-sticked' into place as a pre-shade, but nothing worth showing apart from these... ....I think the pilot looks great after a quick clean-up and a wash of acrylic. Someone put a lot of time & effort into sculpting him..... ....and although Airfix makes no mention of the 'gear-up' option, the doors have proven to be an almost flawless fit - its just a shame the lower wings, especially, are badly effected by sink marks. Hopefully, much more to show next week Craig

Hi Hans The GR.1 & GR.3 were fitted with the Martin Baker MK9 seat and a majority of AV-8A's with the Stencel SEU-3A. Google both and compare images, as I've just done and, I think you will find that seat looks much more like the AV-8 Stencel I'm afraid A trip to the after market? Craig

You're absolutely right - both were infra-red homers, but the Red Top was a vastly improved development of Firestreak - more manoeuvrable, larger warhead and with a far more sensitive seeker head that could lock onto a friction heated airframe making it an 'all aspects' weapon. But since neither were suitable for use in cloud or bad weather, its unlikely that they would have been much use over the UK for more than 2 or 3 weeks during the average year!

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I started that very same kit on last years edition of this series, only to lose my way with it at about 1/2 way. But don't let my failure deter you! In my opinion. for what its worth, you would be better-off with some Eduard PE rather than that resin set, unless you are planning to expose the engine? Its a very typical Tamiya kit, in that most of the major parts almost snap together, but it is a little 'short' on the fine detail. And metal gun barrel is absolutely the way to go, you wont regret it! Best of luck and I'll be following your every step Craig

I've seen your build in RFI & its a belter that's for sure and its very encouraging to hear your positive opinion of the kit since its 1/72 cousin seems to get some 'bad press'. Your right Col, there are 2 at the moment, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a load more before we're done!

Sorry about that Dave, but I blame Airfix for being lazy! There were so many colourful markings on nmf Lightnings to choose from, that there really is no excuse for duplicating in 2 different kits! But I really don't think anyone will worry, I certainly wouldn't, since you can never have too much of a good thing! Craig

Hi everyone. Although this might not be the most original of choices, there's no denying that the English Electric/BAC Lightning was a proper Cold War icon of the 1970's and totally deserving of my attempt to replicate one. Despite the obvious difficulties involved in replicating a realistic scale nmf, I find myself drawn to the F.2A as the box top artwork..... ....but to minimise the stress, it will be gear-up, in an appropriately dramatic pose, finished with AK extreme metal paint.......possibly! Cheers for now, Craig

Nice one! I'd kept my eyes peeled for ages looking for that conversion set, without any luck, until I decided that all I really needed was an Airfix B-26 for the extra upper turret and the rest looks like simple enough scratching. Craig

This looks like the perfect excuse to (slightly) delay starting a YB-40 conversion, so count me in please Craig

Thanks for taking the time to post that Jean - great idea!, but since masking of the kit glazing is almost complete, I'll see what that looks like first. Craig

Hi everyone Despite being thoroughly distracted by the final stages of the US election in a 'My God, I cannot believe they're gonna do this!' sort of way, I've managed to find time to move this one forward - but not without a few hiccups.... I'm well aware that this 'patch-work' style isn't everyones 'cup of tea' and that thanks to a major attack of 'brain fade', I've managed to paint the patches the wrong way round - panels intended to be dark are light and vice-versa, but at least it gives you an idea of the direction its going. Now all I need to do is re-mask and re-paint! I'm also aware that the gun barrels are now bent. After losing my grip, I instinctively made a grab for it before it hit the floor - but I don't want to push my luck by having to straighten them more than once, so that'll be one of the last jobs! More to come Craig

Hi everyone With the P-47 dragging its feet, I'm thinking maybe I should try and squeeze in 'quick one' with this 'near miss' carried over from the recent GPW GB. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get paint to adhere to the 'vac-form' canopy. No matter how carefully I tried to remove the masking, it always left a torn and jagged edge to the 'framework', so now I'm going to use the (terrible) kit glazing fixed with PVA or something equally temporary, so I can call it finished for now, but with the option to revisit at a later date! The auxiliary fuel tanks have disappeared from the face of the earth, so I'll be adapting it to take some Eduard spares. I may also try and use the vastly superior Eduard main gear wheels & tyres and there are some other odds and ends to add/fabricate - pitot tube, aileron mass balance weights, aerial wire, but nothing too taxing. Cheers for now Craig

Hi Simon I ordered my paint from Creative Models because they were the only retailer which offered a courier service. The Royal Mail don't ship these kinds of 'hazardous materials' outside the mainland UK. I really rate them - very easy to spray, quick drying and super tough. Perhaps the only real down side is the limited selection of 'reflective' colours. It'll be finished with the kit decals as 'Balls Out', but the box is long gone, so no image of what that looks like. Craig

Hi everyone. So ... after a bit of time in the paintshop (aka garage) this morning, its now in 'Polished Aluminium'... ... way too bright and shiny, I know, but I have a 'cunning plan' to deal with that! What I really like about this AK stuff is the quality of the pigment, straight out of the airbrush you can even read the writing in the reflection, even though the picture's slightly out of focus... ...more tomorrow. Craig

Sorry, got a bit excited and posted the image before any words! Craig

Hi everyone A refugee from the P-47 STB has the rather dubious distinction of being the first in an unbroken chain of abandoned 2016 builds, and so it seems only right that I should at least make an effort to finish it by the end of the year. Despite being casually tossed into an open top box all those months ago, it has, remarkably, emerged undamaged and with all the odds and ends present and correct, so it looks like a reasonably simple finish. Images to follow once I figure out how to share photos from Flickr because Photobucket is being even more of a PITA than usual tonight! Craig

I'm with Stosh, a 'Dog Fight Double' sounds like a plan to me Craig

Hi everyone, I was waiting untill I had something really worth showing, but after more than a month, I figure I'd better post something! An initial burst of enthusiasm saw me invest another 25 pence on this project in the form of 5 pence pieces as nose weights - they're a perfect, almost 'interference fit' within the fuselage, but from there it went down hill very rapidly. The fit is just terrible apart from the horizontal stabilisers. Although they are a bit 'gappy', compared with the rest, you could almost consider them decent! After spending what seemed like forever 'tickling' the relatively hard plastic with a selection of files and rasps from what I would normally regard as the 'coarse' end of my selection and getting nowhere fast, it was time to wheel out the 'big guns' in the form of a quarter sheet of 60 grit and a sanding block and really go to town. After a couple of sessions, I finally have a reasonably 'cylindrical' fuselage but the transition from wing trailing edge to fuselage still has a step, maybe 0.25mm, but since that is now thin to the point of being translucent, I'll have to shim the upper wing root to level it off Not the best photo, but you get the idea I had planned on 'gear down', hence the nose weight, but after losing all the detail from the fuselage and by the time I'm finished, I'm sure the wings will be just as bare, it'll now be 'gear up'. I'm now going to finish it in a similar manner to the models that might have been seen through a Travel Agents window 40 or 50 years ago - 'representative' rather than an accurate scale replica, so that really lets me off the hook! In other news, and I really cannot believe I missed it, the second decal option in the kit is an Olympic Airways machine - so that's a 'no brainer', assuming I finish it this year! So, this is how it stands... ....but it looks nowhere near as good, or less bad, in the flesh. Plenty to do. Craig PS Thanks for posting that photo Kev, terrific finish and it gives me a much better idea of the engine intake shape!

Hi everyone Well... this has begun to unravel a bit now. I was a little premature earlier when I thought I was ready for paint because whilst having a quick pit-stop to throw a mug of tea down my neck, I realised most of the larger parts needed removing from the sprues and cleaning-up first, so that was another hour and a half lost - remember, its all x6! By the time I got down to my garage to start spraying, it was getting well late and after 2 hours, I had to pull the plug. Its been another very warm day here and everyone has their patio doors wide open and all they've been able to hear since 17.30 is my compressor knocking away! This is how it stands... ....every thing has a base coat of olive drab, effectively a pre-shade, and one 'fade' coat, but I had intended 3 'fades', so its all rather darker than I wanted. Having thought about it, over another mug of tea, the plan is to put 4 away for another day and finish 2 here and if they end up too dark, then I will have only lost 2 sets of decals. Craig

Hi everyone So, after a stuttering start, 3 hours in, I'm ready for paint. Center front 'jump seat' rebuilt. Before... ....after.... Armour plate behind driver.... ....and rear mud flaps....but PB wont let me add that last photo - what a pile of it is today, of all days! It doesn't look like much, and I have to admit, when I was planning, it didn't seem like much, but its easy to forget its everything x6 More later Craig

PB working yet? Yes - result! Craig

Hi everyone, well, I am a proper clown for forgetting the Belgian GP this weekend, so I've brought this forward by a couple of hours to ensure I'm finished and ready for the start of the race tomorrow. I know a lot of you guys moan constantly about Photobucket, and for the first time, its let me down at the worst possible moment - I'm already 20 minutes behind! Sprue shots with the time are on my hard drive, I'll try and post later when, hopefully PB is working again As I explained in my opening post, these will be added to the vehicle pool for use on my model railway, but since they will spend their lives very much in the background, I'm not losing too much sleep over their fairly obvious quick-build/wargame origins, but these are by no means the worst of their breed, that's for sure! Despite the tight time limit, to ensure a degree of consistency with my existing M3's, I'll be adding some very quick and simple improvements and, hopefully, it'll be worth the effort. 'Family Guy', seasons 1 to 14, are ready to load into the DVD, Icelands finest 'stuffed crust' pizza is in the fridge and I'm ready for the off. Craig

Hi everyone My, admittedly, rather clichéd D-day themed model railway has been cruelly ignored for a couple of years now, but this GB offers an excuse to re-visit with a handful of fresh vehicles to add to the motor pool.... Although this might appear rather ambitious, in truth these are proper QB kits that only really need 4 spots of glue, 2 to fix the headlights, 2 to fix the front axle and the rest is snap together, plus a single colour scheme - Olive Drab. For my needs, they will be finished with minimal markings using decals from old Airfix & Matchbox kits and no crew or personal gear - 'factory fresh' machines fixed to suitable wagons, coupled to a Class 8 or WD 2-8-0, trundling around in the background at a scale 15mph - great stuff! I had considered building these... ....but after studying the sprue, I think Italeri is the better option for this build, although I may mix it up a little by using some 'option' PS parts to create a bit of variety. My particular circumstances mean I will start at 14:00 on Saturday, aiming to have them essentially built and basic paint on by tea time, leaving me with time and opportunity to wash and matt coat Sunday am. Bring it on! Craig