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caterhamnut

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Everything posted by caterhamnut

  1. Few more updates - the sub assemblies are getting bigger now! Some more PE parts found in the Eduard set - various panel details... Tonal work with oils - I had mixed the colour, but needed it with more red so used red oil paint brushed over. In hind-sight I was about to try some of those 'dry' decals on these two tanks....I should have done that before I used any oils or panel wash on the parts, as there was some reaction with various fluids. The decals I am talking about are the ones that you 'soak' on to the model for a few hours, and then you can totally remove the clear support layer that you can often see (silvering etc) - Attaching PE straps... These are the decals - in these shots I am trying to show the very very thin clear layer that I am very carefully peeling off - biggest pain is actually finding the 'edge' to peel without scratching the paint...because I had already applied oil, the clear film removed some of this 'weathering' - so defeating the object of the exercise, but as these parts are well hidden, I'll live with it and learn! Similarly, some of the decals cracked and peeled off - it's fine, the parts are well worn!! You can clearly see the decal carrier lifting off the oil finish I had applied - should have done decals first... Wing taking shape - screws hold the ends to the central section - it is super stiff and very even and well-fitting... Magnets are used to hold some of the very thin panel in place... Couldn't resist... Nothing actually attached yet... One of the biggest learning curves is knowing at what point to paint something - before assembly or after - you kinda have to imagine how complicated any masking is going to be!! More tiny straps - 3 parts! Wing top panels going on - again, a precision fit...
  2. Nothing special - just put 'metallic' pens into Amazon or ebay. You get sets of 10 or so for less than $5 - I have got a few sets as each have slightly different tips, or shades....some are 'softer', some are more 'pointy' or more 'silver'...but so easy to use for detail stuff - and quicker and cleaner as well. If you haven't tried them, those 'Molotiv' (spelling!) silver pens are also incredible for chrome....
  3. It is a beautiful kit - very sharp, and helped by the Eduard additions. waiting for the 1/32nd Lanc...[drool]
  4. Nose guns... There is an alignment issue here - sorted later... Added some more PE details to the ammo boxes - the chains. Not at all tiny!!! Also matched the 'weathering' a bit better as I updat emy techniques... Back to the engines, and some of the engine nacelle panels. These are a silver finish (I assume aluminium) - I found the Tamiya dull ali and bit sparkly, so I chose to use the Alclad version, which is much 'smoother'. Unlike most bits, I primed these so ensure and even tint. Some nice PE parts (ribs) in these sections... I used a combination of oils and black panel wash to give a 'used' oily look. The panel wash marks the 'edges' well, the oil is good for the 'flat' bits in between. I am liking the oils, I'll keep working ont the skills for these...
  5. Thanks Mike - that is appreciated. Learn something new everytime I do anything or look at the darn internet!
  6. So - I also have the nose gun and belly (?) gun detail kits from Eduard. I'm going to build the Tamiya engines and guns OOB as well to compare - seems a shame to waste the kit parts. Also have different display options then as well... Extensive use of my metallic pens for these parts... Silver, bronze and some black wash to pick out the detail. As before, I'm touching up as I go...and revisiting parts after completion. Went together pretty easily - this module will benefit from some fine chipping I think - very much learning the weathering game...at the moment it is all shiny until I dull it down later... Note the PE parts on the ends of the guns - these come with the tamiya kit as a way to align everything whilst gluing - a nice touch. I'm aware that it is very easy to over-do the weathering effects and general grubbiness of these models, so I am experimenting a bit at the moment...these may be too dirty... Nose cone guns... Nice brass bits but a bugger to align! I'm re-visiting the cockpit area a little as well, to try and match earlier finished with ones I have learnt about more recently...
  7. Finally back on this after a lot of moving and office relocation. Packed up and sent a load of modelling stuff back to the UK, so just left enough to be able to carry on with some specific kits. These are the first pictures uploaded with something other than Photobucket . I think the rest of this thread will disappear around Christmas, so I will try and update those images to keep this complete.... So I am carrying on with this engine detail kit - Lots of rather thin framework and piping in the kit that has to be trimmed away from carriers - they actually come off quite well, and are not that hard to clean off - I found scraping with a blade pretty effective... PE parts included... I painted the main block - kept re-touching as I went, adding parts etc... Don't fit this PE part at this point - I was too early and had to remove later for clearance....doh! I used my trusty metallic pens for details and highlights,,, I painted and added some wiring to these engine frame parts before fitting to the block... I've also started with some light weathering, as learning that is one of the reasons for this project (F1 cars tend to be pretty clean) - I am learning as I go so trying lots of things - oil wash, tamiya panel wash, pencils etc etc - The copper metallic pens are great for this - really smooth and no visible 'flake'... Also the first time using 'lead' for the wires - so much easier to shape and form, without putting any strain on anything (unlike trying to bend solid wire) - usual battle trying to identify where the wire it shows you to fix at stage 12 actually disappears to!! Although black here, I painted these pipes a dark grey later on... That is one engine structurally complete - I'll go back over it all and tidy up finishes etc, and add some more wiring, before trying it in the Tamiya kit wing (which I have not started yet) - I was going to build the other engine 'OBB' to compare, but I will now just build the detail version (like this) for the model. Maybe I will build the Tamiya verison for display next to the finished plane - or perhaps the other way round - mount the super detailed version on a 'trolley' - choices! Because I keep coming back to this model after long breaks, I am learning techniques elsewhere that I want to apply here, so I am re-visiting other elements and re-doing some finishes etc - particularly the cockpit (actually, that is all I have completed!) - Gun detail kits next!!
  8. Thanks Mike - at least it gives me some time to migrate somewhere else for the WIP's
  9. Grrrrr - I did upgrade to the $99 recently simply because as I started posting threads, already had a PB account etc, I decided to use it for all my modelling pics (back-up, storage). My few threads (WIP) are very very photo heavy. So no I shall also be looking for alternatives to host on 3rd party sites. I'll leave my account alone for now, but won't renew. At the moment my pics are still showing - I am sure I read somewhere that the links will still work until me renewal date? Have I just made that up? Don't seem to have had any emails from PB yet either....
  10. So made a start on the first engine (I think I will do one at a time and learn!) Detail really is nice - I have some shots comparing the ones from the kit that I had started, and you can see the clear difference (there should be - this engine kit is not cheap!) - a bit hard to make out detail on the gloss black engine (it was ready to be weathered)
  11. Right - bit more time on this again. I discovered and decided to try the Eduard accessories - don't think these were out when I originally bought the kit at launch...so I have the gun detail kits and the engine sets... Although I had started the engines from the kit, I wanted to try these. Super sharp detail, so I am going to max these out with wires and cables etc etc... Many pages in the instruction booklet - covers each engine separately as they are slightly different, hence double the sheets. Like many 3D printed kits, the pipes in this are well supported - so lots of very careful cutting out and trimming required. The plastic is hard enough that this is not too big a deal - not like the plastic and tiny parts on the D7 'dozer kit I have started, that break if you look at them. Lots of bags of bits, a small PE sheet (x2) The kit includes the engine pod panels as well - these are very thin and nicely detailed... I also bought this magazine, which actually features a Merlin engine (Spitfire) amongst others, so is a great source.
  12. That's looking very nice indeed. I'm building the same, so picking up much-needed tips. I like what you did with the black primer, and then allowing it to show through randomly - making the fuselage look weathered - really effective. In fact all the weathering/paint looks great...
  13. Nothing finished here by the way...nothing fixed yet! On the older pictures earlier on this WIP, you can see where I had used Tamiya panel line colour to bring out detail - but inexperience meant I had not used a gloss layer first, and it all looked a bit messy...now I have watched a few vids (highly recommend PLASTO on youtube) I feel I can try oils with a bit more confidence. I tried the panel gap first, but concluded this is great for fine detail, but not flatter areas - when I wiped the excess off using thinners, it wiped it all off on this sort of smoother detail. So I took the step into oils - thinned down loads, painted on, then taken off with cotton buds - I'm a convert. It will take time and practice, but I can see the potential. ...for sure this commits me to the grubby used look, but that's cool.... Mid-rub... Here you can see some of the Eduard PE parts fitted to the front of Tamiya components... In the shot below you can see where I have painted some of the round discs again to vary the tone (tip from someone elses WIP) - I believe that these are wooden discs that were fixed to the frame/skin and provided mounting points for fixing instruments and fittings too... This is a similar part pre-oil. The fittings and instruments are Eduard - more later. Yellow wire is Tamiya molding - I may replace with 'real' cable... Some more Eduard parts (the PE) with the Tamiya part also shown... Most of the internal detail kit from Eduard is instrument panel - you cut the molded detail off the front of the tamiya parts and glue the PE on - I'll leave the main instrument panel, as it is not bad and hard to replace - but there are lots of ancillary radios, boxes, batteries etc that I can upgrade. Many of the panels use multiple layers of PE to make them more '3D'... In this shot you can see the rear of the instrument panel. It will be hidden...but damn it I am tempted to add some wiring...grrr! So that is where I am now - I 'oiled' a few more green bits and hope to carry on a little bit quicker now!
  14. Riiiiiight. Been a slight delay in this one - lol. I moved to the MFH F1 cars, and having 99.9% finished the BT52b, I'm going back to this one for the variety. I also want to learn about weathering, and the F1 cars don't really have much of this! The military models tend to, and the skills you see here and elsewhere are staggering - I've also got a tractor to work on for 'mud'! I want to learn about and start using oils - as I will need these skills on the older F1 car models - chassis of Alfa 159 for example... So over a year ago when I started this, I had done some weathering on the cockpit - as a first attempt I was pretty pleased, but you learn a lot in a year and I want to improve... I have also purchased the Eduard detail kits - front guns, belly guns, interior and exterior PE sheets and some engines are on there way. The Tamiya kit detail is still stunning - but I want to try stuff, and go even more detailed. That being said, I will also do some very basic scratch building - TBH mainly just with wiring etc. So, I got back on this kit at the weekend. I cant use all the Eduard PE stuff in the cockpit without starting again, but I have used selectively. This has involved a little bit of a dismantle, but it came apart easily enough. I also need to try and 'match' what I have already done. In hindsight I think what I had done a year ago turned out a bit dark and messy - I want to tidy that up a bit, and managed to over-spray a little green over some grubby bits so I could start again... I'm going for the used look though - so I am committing to weathering the exterior of the plane, which will certainly be a challenge - a lot of surface area. I'm confident I can do the engines and engineering stuff nicely, having done a few F1 engines... So - with all that said, on to the photos. I started by breaking the main elements apart. I'm happy with the basic weathering here - but I got annoying silver sparkles from using some tamiya weathering stuff - that is basically eye make-up! I'll be getting rid of that with careful touching up. Some of the 'old' stuff looks a bit 'muddy' so will also tone that down. Of course, almost none of this will be visible once closed up - but when you have fitted a head gasket and moving pistons into an MFH Mp4/4 Honda engine, and then sealed it all up in a stationary model, that doesn't matter - the detail is still there ! So - this bulkhead is a major swap out - the grey one is from the Eduard nose gun kit - it has a bit more detail, and the upper fitttings for the ammo-boxes molded in, so I will use this. Only real pain is 2 yellow decals on the other side - I'll have to mask and paint these on the 'new' bit - don;t have a circle cutter so will come back to those with some fine scalpel work! Location of bulkhead... There are 4 ammo boxes in the nose - one molding in the Tamiya kit. These are separate in the Eduard kit. I painted these and picked out the detail with oil paint - thinned and painted on, wiped off with cotton buds and thinners - early days but I am liking it - more detail later. These are just 'clipped' (very precise this Eduard stuff) into place - lots of PE straps and chains to add to each one... Comparison shot with the Tamiya part... Whilst there are some decals and detail missing on the Tamiya bits, you can clearly see the difference in the Eduard versions... One of the biggest improvements in using the Eduard internal PE set are the foot pedals - old shot below shows the Tamiya version... New versions - obviously much finer, but a bugger to make straight... You can see the updated versions below...
  15. loving the look of this, rather than 'shiny' red....
  16. So - remember, not finished - quite! Spot the loose rivet! ...I expect that is almost that for this thread! YEAH!!!! Thank you SOOO much for following...my first MFH (and indeed finished kit for decades!) and I have learned so much from loads of you guys on here, wither through looking at your superb models, or from you guys answering my questions - cheers! I will do a 'conclusion' post as well - highlighting any problems with the kit, issues I had, tips, errors, corrections etc etc...
  17. So close... Right - needed quite a dark blue tint for the windscreen, so I used airbrushed clear blue Alclad on the 'inside' - went on fine, taking care to keep it even. I'd cut the screen out with shark small scissors - needs to be 'riveted' in place...test fit before colouring: Wing end plates went on...I also added the gurney flaps. ...and you know what - that is ALMOST it! Need to fit the wing mirrors, rivet screen into place, fix rear wing (in any shots here it is just resting in place) - go over the whole model and tidy it up - touch up the chips etc! I also want to give a little depth to elements with VERY light highlighting etc. But it is SO close I couldn't resist taking some nice pics - I'll post them here, finish the last bits and bobs and then do a 'finished' thread hopefully at the weekend!!
  18. The balls-up's are coming thick and fast If you look closely at the picture below, you will see that I had sprayed up these two end plates both as 'left handed' - they are blue on the other side so cant be reversed - anyway, corrected now - but grrr! Here are a few pics of the extra wiring I have added - first shows quite a big pipe - a breather I think - that you see on a lot of pictures, but wasn't detailed in the kit....I've also added some 'ground' wires - and wired the wet-weather light! Once I get the dust off all these, I reckon these will actually look like the 'real' version
  19. Thanks mate - I'll certainly do a test piece! I guess if there is a 'clear' blue used for those lexian RC car bodies, that would work also...
  20. Who's Ian? Thanks mate - again, very kind, but I still aspire to be way closer to some of the guys out there, who do incredibly clean builds - Suber etc...need to learn/practice using oil washes next I think... Still - its a start! I'll just be glad to finish something!! Question to all - I want to cut back some of the bodywork clear cote (Zero Paints 1K lacquer) as there are some lines - can I 'wet n' dry' sand it back (need to cut down slightly - more than just polish) or will it forever be frosted? I have some Tamiya fine rubbing compound, but this feels too delicate for what I need... And - will Alclad clear blue airbrush directly onto the vac. formed clear plastic windscreen?
  21. Lots of nice precision fittings - as long as you cut the wire to the correct length! No real issues here - I did the end plates and small wings by eye again...one tiny thing I noticed after glue had dried, was that the black tube that runs across the front of the wing assembly is possibly 1-2mm too long, so it is spreading the front of the main side wing endplates slightly...will only be visible on a directly-above shot - next time! Those wires are also going to make any final polishing of the wing elements a bit of a b*gger to do... Coloured rivets! Had to add a slick! ...or two. Just the front wing end plates to do now - which I have lost (the risk in having to unpack/pack everytime I want to do any modelling - oh for a shed!) I'd obviously popped them out of the PE sheet and probably painted them when I di the rest of the wings months ago - but cannot find them anywhere...I thought about using the 'spare' main wing endplates as cutting new ones, but settled on using very thin plasticard - they are so tiny. The PE worked as a perfect template - width of the biro accounted for the thin split line that there had been... Painted the blue side last night - white tonight, lacquer, decal and fit. Then wing mirrors....and that is almost it - except I keep forgetting about the windscreen! Have to cut that out of the vac forming provided, and tint blue! It seems the first few kits had blue screen provided - not sure why later ones didn't - I ordered mine pretty early on! I may contact MFH and ask...
  22. I'm so close to finishing now, and as I progress I come across bits I'd do differently, bits I should have spent more time on, c*ck ups etc etc...this is a learning process (I guess all builds are) as my first model (finished) for a very very long time, and first mfh. So - almost done: Rear wing - complicated! Front wing end-plates - recreate as I seem to have lost the PE ones! Wing mirrors All the bodywork fittings. Polish! 'stance'... So - that rear wing. These are all the rivets that stick through to insert into the hole son the wing elements - waaay too short for any meaningful support! They are enough to 'locate' but that is about it. Although the PE wing end plates have recesses for the wing aerofoils, I have managed to 'round them off' quite a bit with the paint and lacquer - the blue colour required about 6 layers to get the dark colour, which has built up - no big deal in the end. I have used two-part epoxy to glue - CA would not have been strong enough - in fact i have gone back to a few parts and re-glued with the epoxy due to breakages... I also admit to doing this 'by eye' (and used a steel rule for the 90 degree bits initially) - I had plans to make a jig etc, but in the end I trusted my designers eye and I seem to have got it pretty good! (in terms of being square) The most time consuming part of this was colour coding the rivets! About a dozen white and blue, and one red (Fila logo!) Of course, have to balance in place to see how it will look! That top element is only wedged in to place for now - for reasons that will become apparent... BIG ERROR: So, when applying the decals to these wing elements, I thought I was being clever by positioning the top half of the parmalat logo up slightly on the thin top element, so that when it was in position, slightly tucked behind the next bigger element below it - the letters would line up. Of course all this was done waaay before the wing was being assembled - and is all nicely lacquered. On fitting this top element I see that MFH allowed for that overlap, by 'overlapping' the decal coverage. If I had simply lined up the decal along the bottom edge of the top element, all would have been well....it is all much clearer in the picture below! arrrrrgh!! Most obvious on the 'a's. So - plan is to try and get a replacement decal part, strip that side of the top element, and re-paint etc - but just not now. I'll loosely fit the wing as it is now for 'finished' photography then replace in the future - I'm not going to wait a couple of weeks at this stage. You can't see it from any other angle, and I may well even photoshop the completed photos for now! :shock: Next stage is all the wire supports and the end winglets...
  23. Thanks Shaun, appreciated. I have read about the tissue paper elsewhere (on MP4/4 kits!) - it is by no means a new thing - but new for me, and a bit of an impulse as I had these laundry clothes on my hand doing chores! The weave is certainly a bit large for smaller scales, but normal tissue will surely work - I know that you do have to be careful 'painting' on the diluted PVA as the normal tissues will tear easily... You will love the MFH kits - but hard to 'hide'
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