moaning dolphin

Loving following this thread, I always seem to be a couple of days behind so haven't chirped in that much, just sat back and enjoyed the progress. Now with a tiddly Wessie as a bonus! Looking forward to seeing the "out of the box" effort, I always thought it looks nice when done but didn't realize so much was wrong with it until it was all pointed out, especially the intake, all I see now is a wide mouthed frog! But I look forward to this, it will be as entertaining as the others. Just as an aside, I had the Airwaves set for one of my versions and discovered it wasn't really worth the brass it was printed on, didn't fit very well at all. Keep cracking on! Bob

Nice work! I love these mini Seakings, great little kits! Bob

Very nice indeed, well done! Bob

Excellent work, she is a stunner! Bob

A great rendition of the mighty King, really enjoyed following along the WIP. She has turned out beautifully! Bob

Brilliant idea! Love to see a Bubbles CP140! Beautiful Seaking, Well Done! Bob

On a very basic level probably yes, the very basic airframe shape is the same. There are lots of differences to check out, the stabliser is different size, 5 blade tail rotor, no radome, no blister on port side of transmission fairing, different rescue hoist, no sand filter and I think there may be differences in the sponsons as well. Taking into account all the different aerials and lumps and bumps I think it should be a decent basis to start from! Bob

An exquisite rendition and it does more than capture the essence of the mighty king, I doff ones hat in respect! Bob

Thanks for the encouragement folks, we are nearly there in this project. I did a little bit more work over the weekend, first up was to finish off the prop, which has come out all shiny and new like! I have painted the hub blue but it turned out almost violet blue so may tone that down a bit, I have seen some pictures with a light blue hub. I also added a bit of brake wire to the landing gear before attaching that and also fitted the bubble windows for the Observers to observe out of (when they haven't got their curtains closed!). In the cockpit I readied the seat and hunted for a suitable harness from my spare etch stock. There wasn't much available and I opted for a harness from a Hurricane. I think this may be too old looking for this aircraft, I have fitted it but I'm not too sure, what do you guys think? Out of place? I also added a foil curtain behind the pilots head and opened it up to show the electronic boxes behind, quite pleased with this effect but doesn't show too well in the pictures, the canopy is just loosely fitted in the top photo. The last thing to add was the pylons for the drop tank. These are from the Esci kit as the Tamiya ones aren't the right shape, I will also use the Esci drop tanks. There is no positive engagement for the tanks to fit onto the pylons so they would be literally just hanging there. Having looked closer at the tanks there is a lot more to them than just simple tanks so back to the drawing board and I will modify them quite a bit. So here is an update on where we are sitting now..... Apart from the tanks, all that is left is a little bit of tweaking here and there and a bit of weathering although I shall try and have it in a clean fresh condition, so hopefully the next update will be a finito post and then I can put here out on the display shelf with Mojo quite restored! Thanks for looking in Bob

Sweeeet!

Good day all, Here is my latest finished effort, 1.72 Airfix newer tool Lancaster Dambuster. This originally started as a dual Lancaster build with a Revell version as well. As you can see only one has made it to the finish line so far, the other is a good few weeks behind! This kit was originally a birthday pressie a couple of years ago from my dear SWMBO, she asked what I would like and I said a model kit would be nice. In 20 odd years she has never bought me a kit, so I left it out there and this is what she got me. I'm not normally a Crabfat builder, preferring more of the Naval side of things but this one has a Canadian connection so qualifies under that genre. The build was quite laborious mainly down to my own incompetence of fitting numerous items the wrong way round! I used my favourite Model Master flat black and tried out Vallejo Air for the green and brown. I didn't like these at first as the first couple of coats were awful, but I persevered and in the end it looks ok. Also tried my first attempt at airbrush exhaust staining, a bit heavy but room for improvement. Finished with a Promodeller (Flory) wash and MM Matt varnish So here we have it a Lancaster BIII flown by Flt Lt Joeseph McCarthy DFC RCAF during Operation Chastise Cheers now Bob

So I have progressed onwards! I gave her a good clean up and then it was out with the matt so here she is in here final coat.... You can see that the matt coat has really lightened the blue and looks all right. One thing that did occur that I couldn't see under the gloss coat was the white stripe decals have a bit of silvering and air bubbles underneath them. It kind of ruins the appearance, you can just see it below the cockpit sill on the footstep marking above, but ho hum what can you do after ive sealed them in! I might look at seeing if I can puncture the decal and soak some more Micro Sol in there. Also above you can see the difference of the two blues with the sliding canopy which hasn't yet been matted, quite a change indeed! And now for her underside..... The above were taken with a flash so that does bleach the colour a bit. I have also assembled the ancillary items ready for a bit of detail painting, here a fuzzy shot of them The rears of the main wheels were painted metallic to represent the brake disc and unit. Next is a close up of the main landing gear. You can see the changes to the fairing and the scallop where the catapult hook is situated. The hooks are fitted but blend in nicely so I need a bit of a wash and highlight to make them more obvious. I got them from an old Airfix Seafire, They are a tad undersize but will do. Like I said Ive got a bit of detail painting to do and then I will fit everything in. Final thing to do is the prop. I was sure I had already painted that when I did my Lancaster props but as you can see its a bit blank, so once the ancillary stuff and the prop is done I reckon this will be transferred to the shelf of hope and joy!...........Oh and the seat, mustn't forget the seat! Cheers now Bob

Looking rather proper job now! She is really starting to come alive. For me the Ace of clubs doesn't detract from it. It was only because it was pointed out that I noticed, although now I've seen it I cant unsee it lol! Can't wait to see her in all her glory! Bob

Splendid work!

I've decided not to put more stencils on this and have just kept it as it is. I let the decals settle for a few day, given it a good wash (I had used a lot of micro sol to fry and get the decals to settle into the recesses). I then dug out some ProModeller wash (from before Mr Florys coming together with a large model company and still going strong). Now for this I have gone for a lighter shade for more highlights as opposed to a probably more correct dark wash. Let me know what you think? Does it work? Without a flash And with the flash The flash does bring the panel lines out alot but it is refined in reality. I do need to go back over the whole lot and give it a good clean before giving it a final Matt coat. Nearly there now, just need to sort out the wheels! Bob