moaning dolphin

Thanks for the encouragement! Much appreciated! I had a couple hours today so I built up the wings and flaps, I glued in the wing, added flaps and also that tail planes, at least I'm not having to constantly pick them up off the floor now! After they were dry I looked at a bit of weathering. I didn't want to go overboard but looking at old pictures these machines showed quite a bit of wear. I had previously sprayed on ally, then chromate primer before the top coat. My first thought was to gently remove upper layers of paint down to the ally (which I did protect with a gloss coat). Initially I tried a cotton bud (Q tip for us Canadian dwellers!) dipped in nail varnish remover. Now my bottle is probably several years old so has lost a lot of its volitility and I also dried out the bud as well so it wouldn't just strip everything!. My first attempt was on the starboard wing, but I mistakenly started at the wingfold instead of further inboard where the wear should have been! so that's an area I may have to revisit because I got excited and removed too much! I took a lot of care on the wing walk areas. I am not sure if RN aircraft had walkways painted on so I opted not to paint them in (I've seen them with and without). My Q tip was very dry and it took a lot of rubbing to wear the paint down to show the undersides (which is a good thing!). I tried to keep it refined and natural, I think it looks ok... Here is the starboard wing, this would have worn a lot more as it was used for entry by the pilot as well as ground crew. Normally the flaps are housed and used as a step up onto the wing so they got a rubbing as well. I also masked off a couple of step panels to simulate wear to just those areas. The port wing was used a lot less, mainly for maintenance and a ground crew strapping the pilot in. There are also a couple of areas I rubbed down with 4000 grit wet n dry to just reveal the primer area. Again just trying to make it look natural (and I have since refitted the flap above! That just doesn't want to stay in) You can also see above that I have started the landing gear. These come split in two and Tamiya have you insert a .7mm metal rod in there to strengthen the oleo. I built these up more and they are now ready for a splash of paint Again a lot of nice detail I don't really need to add any more to them. After that is sealing in the airframe colours. I want to do a gloss coat as I still have the kit decals to apply but I have notorious problems with a decent acrylic gloss. I think I need to work on my technique. But that's all for now. Laters! Bob

Good day every one! Before I start on this upodate I had a PM regarding this particular aircraft, just as I had fitted the rear tunnel windows a kindly gent in the know pointed out that this particular aircraft was quite unique as it didnt have any! I had never noticed but have a look at this image Where as if you compare it to this image you can see it is really quite obvious ... ...if you know what to look for, so I am grateful to this intervention and learned something new to boot! So I continued to mask up, the 7M was a right pain and im a bit worried that it might go to put, but lets just have a bit of confidence, so ready for the top coat, here she is (edit: this is just before i masked the 7M!) You can see I have also highlighted the fabric ribs, not sure how this will come through but we'll give it a go! It was out with the paints. First was Model Master Acryl Gunship grey, this is very similar to the primer and plastic so its quite hard to see it going down, after that I used my special mix of Model Master Acryl US drab and dark green. This went on much clearer! However my airbrush really struggled today. It was really hot and humid and I had to stop and clean every few minutes. I persevered and this is the result You can see a few areas on there that need a bit of touch up, so got that done and its time for the big reveal! Oooh my nerves were a wreck but this is how she fared So it looks not too bad! I'm going to put it down for a few days, walk away and then come back and see if anything needs addressing, my OCD is already looking at that 7M! But thats all for now, thanks for looking in and encouraging this! Bob

I do have a Fulmar on the go but that was started way before I started researching Jackie Sewell so it is in an early scheme and I don't have another in the stash …….. yet! So it may happen. Well today I plucked up the courage for, what was to me, the hardest part of this scheme. Producing the 7M letters. One of the initial reason for picking this particular aircraft was the ease of the lettering (requiring only straight lines) before I started looking into the pilot and fate of this aircraft. I don't have dimensions of the lettering so a lot of it will be by eye, this picture being a good reference In this picture you can also see that the area around the code has been scrubbed and looks faded. I am wagering that the code was recently changed and getting rid of the old code left a lighter patch. So I will try and replicate this. I don't have any pictures for the other side but I will assume that set up is similar to this one. First up was to mask off the lighter area and cut out my figures from masking sheet. So like I said I don't have the dimensions of the code but I have the picture and also a copy of a 1:72 set of decals for this aircraft. This allowed me to work out the heights in relation to the fuselage roundel. My rough estimate suggested a height of 14mm and a width of 2mm. This equates to 17.6 inches, just shy of 18 so allowing for my Bobby fudge factor I was happy with that. Also rounding up the mm allowed me to use my Tamiya masking sheet which has 1mm graph printed on it, an absolute god send in this instance! So I set about with my drawing skills and the sharpest blade I could find. Now ready for the white backing I also cut out a second stensil as close as possible for the other side. While doing this you can see above I also sprayed the area behind the cockpit so I can apply that glazing as well now as shown below. I then lined up the stensil, on the first picture you can see it is in line with the panel line above so again with the grid paper this made it easy to line up staright. After a bit of faffing and to-ing and fro-ing I hit it with some red, very carefully and lightly at first of course. I gave myself a drum roll for the removal …... Not bad at all if you ask me! Yes it is a little bit lower than the original and also a bit wider as well, and on the other side …. Looks a little bit messier close up but generally work able. Next is to try and mask over the code to leave a thin outline of white before I go ahead and add the top coat. That's when I find out if my lines are parallel lol So its coming on, and I'm not even into the panic of the last week yet! Cheers now Bob

One of the things about doing this build was to find out more of the Pilot, FAA Ace Jackie Sewell. Information regarding him personally is quite sparse from what I can find, including his early Naval Career, age at joining up and age at which he perished. There is a bit more of a comprehensive history of his flying career. I have dug out some valuable information from various sources across the net. Below is an abstract from his time onboard HMS Illustrious flying Fulmars in Sept 1940 to his untimely death. It may seem rather long but is well worth a read. He also crops up in Mike Crossley's biography 'They gave me a Seafire'. Alfred Jack Sewell DSC RNVR SLt ‘Jackie' Sewell served as a Fulmar pilot on HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean during 1940-41 usually flying with Leading Aircraftman Denis J. Tribe as his observer. His first claims came on 2 September 1940 when he claimed two S.79s of 235a Squadriglia, 59o Gruppo BT (this is probably wrong since 235a Squadriglia belonged to 60o Gruppo BT) west of Malta During the great air strike against Rhodes on 4 September 1940 by Swordfish from HMS Eagle and HMS Illustrious he took part in the Fulmar patrols off the island. At 10.30 Lieutenant Barnes and Sub Lieutenant Sewell of Yellow Section engaged four S.79s, these escaping after each pilot had inflicted damage on them. The same pilots met two more of these aircraft at 11.05, the pair attacking down to 80 yards, shooting one down in flames and damaging a second, while Sub Lieutenant Godfrey damaged the engine on a third. The Italian aircraft shot down was a S.79 of 201a Squadriglia, 92o Gruppo BT. Three more S.79s of 92o Gruppo were also hit during this combat, two of them severely, and they landed with two dead and five wounded aboard. On 12 October, Regia Aeronautica was out in strength to attack the Mediterranean Fleet. At 11:45, a Z.501 shadower was shot down, victim of Sub Lieutenants Sewell and Roberts of 806 Squadron. They chased it from 3,000 feet down to sea level where it ditched. They strafed it, but saw no sign of life. Later a total of 31 SM 79 bombers from Sicily attacked the Mediterranean Fleet, finding the Fulmars from HMS Illustrious up and ready to intercept. The first formation of twelve bombers from 34o Stormo attacked HMS Eagle and the bombs fell so close to the old British carrier that the shock waves were critical in damaging it sufficiently to miss the upcoming Taranto operation for defects in the fuel system. All the bombers came back in damaged conditions caused by AA and possibly by the attacks of Lieutenant O. J. Roger Nicolls' Red Section of 806 Squadron, which at 12:30 sighted twelve SM 79s at 14,000ft. Lieutenant Nicolls (Fulmar N1879) carried out a beam attack on the second section of three and then a stern attack on a lone aircraft. He saw white smoke pour from the starboard engine, and pieces flying off. It was considered unlikely that it could get home. The subsequent formation composed by ten SM 79s of the 36o Stormo was also attacked by the Fulmars, which this time shot down two machines of the 108o Gruppo and the 109o Gruppo. These were almost surely victims of Blue Section of 806 Squadron, which attacked five SM 79s at 13:50, attacking these at 16,000ft. Lieutenant Commander 'Crash' Evans led Sub Lieutenants Graham Hogg and I. L. F. Lowe into beam attacks, claiming one shot down in flames and forcing a second to ditch; both aircraft were credited as shared by the three pilots. Another SM 79 returned damaged with one dead crew member and two wounded while another SM 79 of the 109o Gruppo, flown by Tenente Giorgio Pieri crashed on Mount Etna while coming back to base and was reputed damaged by the British reaction. In general the Italian crews were unable to claim any hits on the British ships because of the heavy opposition experienced. A third formation of seven SM 79s of the 34o Stormo attacked Italian ships in error, luckily without causing damage, the commander of the Italian formation was removed from his position at the end of the mission. Fourteen Ju 87s of the 96o Gruppo and SM 79s of the 105o Gruppo Aut. B.T. failed to find their targets. It is reported that Sunderland L2164 of 228 Squadron, flown by Flight Lieutenant McCall saved the crew of a shot down Italian Cant Z.501 seaplane. It was reported that after a two hours search, three Italian airmen (2nd pilot a Sergeant Major, observer a naval officer and the wireless operator) were found in a rubber boat, the pilot and the gunner were unable to escape from the sinking plane and were drowned The Z.501 was the one claimed by Fulmar pilots (Sub Lieutenants Sewell and Roberts) during the day and although there is little doubt that it was indeed shot down, it is still unidentified. On 1 November 1940 patrolling Fulmars from HMS Illustrious were vectored onto ‘shadowers’ and Sewell with L/A Tribe in Fulmar ‘Y’ intercepted two Z.506Bs. They shot one down in flames while the other escaped in a damaged condition. On 6 November 1940 two convoys sailed for Malta, one from Gibraltar and one from Alexandria, the later with codename MB.8. To provide cover for MB.8 directly and for the other vessels indirectly, four Mediterranean Fleet battleships, two cruisers, HMS Illustrious and thirteen destroyers put to sea. Because considerable aerial action was expected, the carrier also embarked two or three of HMS Eagle’s Sea Gladiators as reinforcements (at least N5513 and N5523) for 806 Squadron’s Fulmars on this occasion. First action came on 8 November, and it was two of the Sea Gladiators that made the first “kill”. At 12:30, Lieutenant O. J. Roger Nicolls and Sub Lieutenant Sewell caught and shot down a Cant Z.501 of the 186a Squadriglia RM. The Italian aircraft had left its base at Augusta at 09:00, three of the crew were rescued by a Sunderland while the pilot and the engineer died. At 12:20 on 10 November, a Z.501 from the 144a Squadriglia RM at Stagnone (was shot down by Lieutenant Barnes and Sub Lieutenant Sewell, after chasing it down from 4,000 feet to sea level. It was then strafed. At 13:30, nine S.79s from the 90o Gruppo, 30o Stormo attacked the fleet. Barnes’s Yellow Section of 806 Squadron again attacked one, which started losing height after being hit in the starboard engine, and claimed it as a shared damaged. On 10 January 1941, he shot down a S.79 together with Lieutenant R. S. Henley at 10:30. During this combat Sewell’s Fulmar was slightly damaged from return fire but he managed to depart for the carrier and landed successfully. He changed aircraft and was in the air when HMS Illustrious was damaged by a Stuka and he and L/A Tribe landed at Hal Far. After the damage on HMS Illustrious he operated briefly from Malta. On 16 January 1941, he possibly claimed a Ju 88 or Ju 87 at 14.55 when 806 Squadron operated from Malta in defence of the damaged HMS Illustrious in French Creek harbour. On 24 January 1941 Sewell was up in one of 806 Squadrons Gladiators on a meteorological flight when he noticed a string of tracers passing his starboard wings, followed a moment later by a Ju 88 diving towards Hal Far. Sewell followed the intruder down and reportedly shot it down off the coast. Lieutenant Vincent-Jones, who witnessed the action, added: "From the ground it gave the impression of a terrier yapping at the heels of a mastiff!" It is possible that this was an Ju 88 (L1+HM) of 4./LG1 flown by Unteroffizier Gustav Ulrich who failed to return from a sortie to Malta during this day. After the operations from Malta he was stationed on HMS Formidable in the Eastern Mediterranean until that vessel too was damaged. He made a considerable number of claims during this period and was awarded a DSC. Underway from Alexandria via Crete to undertake a bombardment of Tripoli, the Mediterranean Fleet sailed into the area between the North African coast and Sicily on 20 April 1941. At 10:43, an unidentified plot appeared on HMS Formidable’s radar to which a section of 806 Squadron Fulmars was directed. These fighters were flown by two of the unit’s most experienced pilot, Lieutenant Commander Charles Evans and Sub Lieutenant Sewell, and the intercepted a trimotor identified as a Cant Z.1007bis, apparently on its way from Cyrenaica to Sicily. This aircraft was claimed shot down as a shared at 11:15. It seems that the aircraft in question was actually a transport S.82 (MM60325) of the 607a Squadriglia, which had taken off from Benghazi and which was lost with the crew KIA. By the evening on 22 April, the Mediterranean Fleet was nearing Alexandria, having maintained anti-shadower patrols all day, many being reported but without interceptions being made. At 17:24 a raid was finally plotted closing with the ships, and two sections of Fulmars were scrambled; these were Ju 88s of III./LG 1 out searching in the area north of Tobruk. Two such bombers were spotted 30 miles from the fleet and at once every available fighter was launched until 14 were in the air by the time the intruders got close. The first pair, from 8.Staffel, were attacked by Green Section of 803 Squadron (Lieutenant J. M. Bruen and Sub Lieutenant D. H. Richards) and Grey Section of 806 Squadron (Lieutenant Henley and Sub Lieutenant Julian Sparke). Bruen’s section forced one bomber to jettison its load and make off into clouds, possibly damaged. The second (Ju 88A-10 WNr 2209), flown by Unteroffizier Gerhart Pfeil, was also seen to jettison its bombs, but was then shot down into the sea by Sub Lieutenant Sparke, Henley’s guns having failed to operate. Lieutenant Jasper Godden, the observer in Bruen’s 6A, N1951, recalled: “We saw nothing until the Fleet was well on its way back to Alexandria – at about 1700 hours we spent 30 minutes in combat with two Ju 88s. One was shot down – not by us – all I had was a Thompson sub-machine gun – you could see the .45 inch bullets trickling out of the muzzle – the muzzle velocity was so low!” Black and White Sections of 806 Squadrons also intercepted a lone Ju 88, reported to be a shadower, and this was claimed probably destroyed by Lieutenant Commander Evans, Sub Lieutenant Sewell and Sub Lieutenant Orr (N1988). No damaged was caused to the fleet. At 11:48 on 25 May four sections of Fulmars were scrambled from HMS Formidable against incoming intruders. One section comprising 806 Squadron’s new commander Lieutenant Commander Garnett, with Sub Lieutenant Sewell as his No. 2, encountered a pair of II/KG 26 He 111s. Sewell swiftly shot down Oberleutnant Oskar Klapproth’s 1H+CN into the sea. Within minutes two Ju 88s of II/LG 1 were spotted and Garnett at once attacked, observing hits. Sewell joined the attack and soon the bomber was in trouble, but at that moment Garnet’s Fulmar was hit by return fire. His observer, Lieutenant Desmond Vincent-Jones recalled: “We were hit in the engine by the rear-gunner (Gefreiter Günther Peschke) and ditched. Jackie Sewell remained in company and orbited over us until the destroyer Hereward saw us. The Ju 88 ditched about 200 yards away – their dinghy worked, ours didn’t!” Unteroffizier Heinrich Geisenhoff and his crew from L1+CV were rescued with their victors. Late in 1942 he commanded 804 Squadron aboard HMS Dasher from October to July 1943 taking part in the North African landings on 8 November 1942. 1837 Naval Air Squadron Officially formed in the US at US NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, on September 1st 1943 as a single seat fighter squadron under command of Lt. Cdr. (A) AJ Sewell DSC RNVR. Initial compliment was 10 Corsair Is. After familiarization with the aircraft and equipment the squadron began training in earnest to prepare for active service. Training included navigation exercises, low flying, formation flying and combat tactics. Training was not without incidents, the first occurred on 13th Sept when Sub Lt GW Wiley RNZNVR, crashed landed in Corsair JT144, his engine failed due to a shortage of fuel, the aircraft was a write off but the pilot survived. The Squadron then moved to US NAS Brunswick on October 1st 1943 to continue training. It was 3 days later when tragedy struck the Squadron as their Commanding Officer Jackie Sewell in JT190 and sLt David James Falshaw Watson RNVR in JT198 were conducting a formation flying exercise over Yarmouth in Maine. They collided in mid air, one pilot died instantly the other died while trying to parachute out of his falling plane which came down near Pownal, Vermont, both aircraft burnt out, unfortunately neither pilot survived. Their bodies were never returned to the UK, they were laid to rest at the Military Cemetery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Sewell was credited with 1 and 1 shared biplane victories and a total of 5 or 6 and 7 shared destroyed at the time of his death.

So am I if I'm honest 🤣 Here I am again with another update. Last night I had the bare metal on the wear areas and this afternoon I laid down the Zinc Chromate primer on these areas. I then applied a preshading pattern on most areas but mainly avoiding where I had applied the Zinc. I didn't want to have any black showing through when I did the wear so left well clear of that. This is the upperside before I hit the underside with a coat of sky. I've not gone too mad over this as the effect when I paint is very subtle. I haven't fitted the rear windows yet, Ill paint the skin behind then fit the windows over. I then flipped her over and applied the Sky, I'm using Vallejo Sky type 'S' for this which is a pretty good look. I have loosely fitted the closed undercarriage doors for this to protect the wheel wells which are already painted. I know the insides are sky as well but there are a couple of different coloured areas I wanted to protect and Tamiya nicely give us some good fitting blanks to cover that area. I also butchered the tail doors to cover that area as well. The preshading looks quite non existant in this phot but it is quite pronounced if a tad subtle. I also took this time to paint the flaps and tail planes. Bit of a quick fuzzy pic, but you get the idea. Not sure what to do for the fabric effect yet, maybe mask off the tapes and go lighter, or cover the tapes and go darker. Just want to get a bit of tonal difference for the fabric areas. Although I don't know how to go about it for under the roundels, Maybe I should have preshaded them first? Oh well this is turning into quite a learning experience! I think the next thing to concentrate on is the 7 M on the fuselage side. This will be masked and sprayed so out with the scale rule, calculator and fresh scalpel blade! So until the next time, take care, wash hands and stay safe! Laters, Bob

Mighty fine effort, don't listen to those niggling doubts, just get out there and buy another kit. Build and enjoy that's all there is to it. We are all artists! Bob

Very nice indeed! Bob

Just another quick update for tonight, been tinkering with this over the weekend fitting a few more little bits and pieces. I finally made my mind up about the engine cowling and decided to go for it closed. I just couldn't summon up the enthusiasm to build up all the working mechanisms so a bit of a cop out but I felt I just wanted to keep this build going. So this enabled me to finally get then engine on and start looking at painting the whole thing. I have assembled the front end now but the engine wrap around cowls are just slotted in place for now. They are a good fit loose and I want to have the option to have them installed or removed, you also get clear cowls and I would like to try those out as well.. I then carefully masked off all my markings so I didn't waste all that time, and I opted for a coat of Aluminium around where the high wear areas will be. I have been experimenting with gentle wear and this is the method I will try on this. A base coat of ally, followed by a varnish coat then a yellow chromate and finally followed by a top colour coat. I experimented with a gentle rub of a cotton bud lightly soaked in nail varnish remover and the effects for this looked quite favourable. So that will be the next couple of days worth of work, in the mean time her is where we are at today. The main wings haven't yet been fully secured in place, the flaps have been assembled and I just need to paint the wing root areas first then I can install the flaps and finish with the top coat. You can see the extent of which I am going for wear. It'll just be where the pilots and groundcrew stand on the wing and kick the fuselage. tail planes are complete but again I need to paint the fuselage first before installing them. The only are I haven't started is the main landing gear. Its all starting to come together now! Cheers now Bob

Well hello again, I have been tinkering away on this again and went ahead with the respray of the upper wing roundels. As well as bringing them in a couple of mm, I also shrunk the overall size by about 2 scale inches to what I thought was a better looking size. The extra paint didn't really hide much detail so it still looks good. Here they are in their glory. I next prepared the fuselage for their roundels and flashes, I gave it a prime as per the wings and then worked out the position and size of them, here we are mid way Its looking good so far, so opted for the outer colours! Job done I think! Although if you look close enough you can see where the centre of the masking disc is as I forgot to mask over the compass hole! So I'll let them dry for a day or so, mask them off and then do the top coat after a bit of pre shading. You can also see I have fitted the front canopy after applying the kit provided masks. They fit really nice but my only beef is that despite having spent nearly 3 figures on the kit I have to cut them out manually! I mean Eduard masks aren't that expensive and it seems a bit of a cop out from Tamiya, but never mind, at least they print them accurately. I also used the masks to cut another set to apply to the inside. I didn't want to apply the internal colour to the outside as it gives it a glossy look, OK for smaller scales, but not for a kit this size. After a couple of hours masking I sprayed the inside black and then finished off the front cockpit and secured it on. Ill mask off the rest of the cockpit before going ahead with the external colours. I am carrying out an experiment with some painting and wear on my paint mule so in the meantime I need to look at the engine cowling and also the main landing gear. Its all starting to come together now, so hoping to complete this by the end of the month err sorry next month! Until next time, stay safe! Bob

Just catching up with the builds over the last month, An excellent build, love the colour scheme, something different. Very nice indeed! Bob

Excellent work, she is mightily impressive! Love the weathering you've done. Bob

This picture does show a lot, I have heard it was taken at RNAS Macrahanish and I think this particular Corsair is a maintenance trainer, mainly due to the large amount of fading and wear, the fact that the wings are securely lashed to the hardstanding meaning this aircraft isn't going any where. I'm thinking the red patches are maybe repair areas? They are, I think, on the metal areas of the wing rather than the fabric. Its a great photo with loads going on, I like the uncropped version as there is a veritable array of aircraft in the scene. I would love to see more of this set up. Bob Correction, those red areas are on the fabric section so I would concur, doped patches, possibly a bit of Battle Damage Repair training? Another correction, It is apparently a WRNS training establishment called Mill Meece

Good day again one and all, and welcome to this weeks update. I finally went for it this week, the outer wing roundels were in my sight. First I managed to get some Vallejo Air red and blue and tried this out on a bed of grey primer on my paint mule. The red isn't as dull and the blue is a bit lighter but I don't have the hassles of trying to mix and match darker blue, so this was my test bed with a type B over my old type C I am happy with the way they turned out so went for it on the wings. This involved carefully working out the centres of each roundel and making sure the wings were exactly the same, starting with the red inner A quick dab of red Vallejo air and Voila! So far so good, you can see I have crosshairs to line up the centres, I'm not sure these helped much anyway! as subsequent layers were mainly done by the Mk1 eyeball + glasses. I masked off the inner red and for the lower ones went with a dash of white and then a dash of blue, then time for the big unveil, would it look ok? Hmm I think so! One of the red disks is slightly out of register, but I wont say which one lol, as it may just be my eyesight. So I was happy with them, looking at available drawings they look the right size (right shape!) and in the right position, So getting excited I masked off and hit it with a coat of sky (after applying some preshading) to see how it would all look together and suffice to say I am happy with it! (The ailerons are not permanently installed yet!) Although close inspection revealed a rogue inkdot that has bled through and wont disappear, Doh! They both look round and I think blend in nicely so job done! Now for the upper …... Again nicely done and in register ….but.... I don't like the position of them, I think they are too far outboard. I had trouble tracking down a good reference to do it so with then best available I went for it, after which I remembered this photograph! This confirmed my suspicions, My outers line up with the edge of the aileron but the example shows it should be about 2 ribs over. So I am pondering now, I don't think I can leave it as the more I look at it the sillier it looks, The coatings so far are thin so I might be able to just prime over it and go again without loosing too much detail. But I am glad I found this picture again as it shows a lot of detail for wear patterns on the wing, mine wont be as worn but I do have a better idea. Any hoo that's as far as I got this weekend, I'm also looking at priming the fuselage and going for the roundels and fin flashes on there. Hopefully more coming soon. Laters Bob

Good afternoon one again all! Hope you are all doing well! Updates haven’t been very forthcoming this last week but progress is coming along nicely. First off I went back to the engine assembly and looked at getting that installed onto the aircraft, before that I still have to do some work with the exhaust pipes. I sprayed the pipes initially with Vallejo Exhaust manifold, like a gun metal and then applied a thin coat of Vallejo Air Hull Red to give that dull burnt copper effect. As it was a light coat the metallic sheen came through but was less metallic than spraying on straight copper. I then added a thin touch of blue around certain areas to give that overheat/blueing effect. In the following pics the effect is quite bright as I have the flash on, but under the naked eye (especially without glasses!) it looks quite subtle. The engine is now ready to install but for one thing, the cowling ring. A lot of Corsairs have this open on the ground and it would show a nice amount of detail of the rear of the exhaust manifold. Unfortunately, this area has quite a bit of detail which for once isn’t replicated by Tamiya. The easy option is to close it up but that will loose a bit of character. So I will attempt some sort of detail before I end up making a decision. In the meantime, I sprayed the engine cowlings, Tamiya will say to do this in a dark grey type colour, but I was sure I had seen the FAA ones in chrome yellow, so sprayed it yellow …. And then went and checked on my resources … yep sure enough Tamiya are correct! A multi-million dollar company with a huge research department are right over my dim fading memories lol. I have now repainted in a dark grey colour. Next up was the center wing section, this is again a beautifully made part, there are quite a few pieces to it but they all slot in nicely, I went ahead slowly, painting the parts as I went and here they are all ready to be closed up. Again the kit will let you know if it isn’t located properly because nothing else will fit. After this just for giggles I loosely fitted the upper wings and just wondered how it would all slot together Like a dream is the answer, so then I went further and loosely fitted the outer wings, tail planes and engine to see how big it really will be The answer this time is Huge! So I have decided to go for spread wings and not folded. My space available isn’t great but an aircraft like this needs to be in all her glory and I didn’t want to try a bodge of a half and half. I am also going to drop the flaps for interest sake. No I know the RN “rarely” dropped the flaps when parked but I have seen a couple of Mk Is with flaps dropped and as it’s a training aircraft a student may well forget and leave the flaps down, although as this aircraft belonged to the Senior Pilot it may involve a round of drinks being bought! Talking of the Senior Pilot Jackie Sewell, I was reading an excellent account by Mike Crosley called “They gave me a Seafire” about his wartime exploits. Last night I was reading about just before he went to Seafires and he formed up with a squadron whose SP was Jackie Sewell. It was really interesting to read his account of the time just before Jackie went onto Corsairs, it wasn’t an indepth insight into him but you do get the impression he was a damned decent fellow. It was quite poignant as the last sentence of the chapter referred to him leaving for the US to join 1837 NAS only to lose his life a month later. Until next time, take care all. Bob

Great stuff, I have one in the stash started as a CP-140 which I really should kick back into production especially as I am now working on the real thing so would have a field day with references! Looking forward to seeing more of this! Bob

Good evening all, hope you are all well! Welcome back on this latest update. I've been plodding through the last few nights but just haven't got around to updating the progress. I added a couple more decals and then quit while I was ahead. As I was building up the decals some of the first layers didn't stick too well and caused a few snags but after sorting those out I then started assembling up the cockpit, as everything was already and prepared it went along quite quickly. Here is the front end of the cockpit And with everything ready to assemble, a big stage now as it seems to be coming together well! With regards to the seat, I am leaving the shoulder harnesses loose as I want to see if I can pose them hanging outside the cockpit. Just hope they survive that long! It was then time to slap it all together, and everything seems to slip together really well, I had a little bit of tidying around the joints but the fit was superb, I haven't used any filler yet! There was one area around the tail where the fit wasn't great but this was caused by another part not being fully housed, so if all is not well the kit will let you know! I'm not sure if I have the correct head rest or not, I went for the Naval version (version A) but have noticed from pictures that JT190 also has the characteristics of the Marine type (versions B & C). One point is the spine behind the rear cockpit. The Naval one has a clear panel line across it but the photos don't show it. Its a case of checking up as many references as possible. And the view from the spine I also fitted the tail wheel assembly, here it is before it gets swallowed up and now hidden away I'll add in the arrester hook later to prevent my clumsy fingers snapping it all the time. You can see the panel ahead of the tail wheel which again just slots in perfectly to keep it secure. With that all buttoned up, I looked towards the next area, the centre wing section, but before this I need to assemble the radiators in the wing root …. but first I need to let them dry. Well that's all for now folks, still lots to do but im feel like I am motoring along now! Laters! Bob

Good morning all! Another update today in record time, my pacakage was the one I have been waiting for, a load of Sea Vixen stuff and some decals for my cockpit. I think they cost me about 6 quid or so and I must say I am very impressed. Well over a hundred different decals, You can see below There are only about 48 actual placards but many are layered up and they are printed superbly, some of the tiny writing is quite legible! So with out further ado I set about fitting them. First I laid the background decals and have MicroSol'd and let them dry. I have tried before building up decals when wet and it doesn't go very well. So lots of little black squares and circles all over the place! The cockpit is about an inch or so in volumetric area (is that such a thing?!) and didn't think you would be able to squeeze so many into a small place but it can be done. The first dozen or so have been laid down You can just make out a load of small shiny black bits these will have lettering going on today, The right hand side console was one big decal with holes for the switches. It fitted perfectly and when soaked on Sol (not the beer!) it bedded down beautifully. For anyone investing in this kit I would certainly recommend these decals as it provides a level of detail I certainly couldn't produce! And also some airframe data plates Spoiler alert! I wont be using all the decals as I don't think my sanity would allow it! Ok I'm back onto it now, hopefully catch up soon! Laters Bob

Greetings one and all, hope you are all doing well! Not a great update today, progress has stalled quite badly over the last 10 days or so, especially since last weekend as my favourite model shop, The Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum, opened up its doors so I had a post Covid spree and ended up doing a couple of quick builds to fill the time. The reason for the stall is because I was waiting for the cockpit stencils from the UK which I ordered a long time ago. Good news though as I have heard that there is a package at home waiting my attention, and as I cant think of anything else that it could be, I'm hoping it is here! So what have I done in the time since? Well to be honest not a lot! I assembled the tail stabilisers, making sure I got the drooped elevators correct and built up the tail wheel assembly, I have since painted the latter in sky so that has been put away until I start joining the fuselage. So here is the progress! Looking at the stencils there are a lot of them and I am hoping it enhances the pit as opposed to just making it all untidy. It'll be fun of course and hopefully a lot better to place than my Phantom stencils I used earlier in the year! Hopefully the next update wont be so far off! Have a great weekend all! Bob

Doing another weekly catch up, excellent work, I did like the ZC over Ally effect, its coming on nicely! Bob

Just catching up after a short hiatus, great recovery on that paint finish. I too have an Iwata Neo but I have only ever used acrylics on it. Still going strong after a good few years but I feel I do need to upgrade. The only downside is that you cant set a stop on the trigger so have to gauge it all the time. She is coming on nicely now and cant wait to see the finished article! Bob

Just catching up on the last week or so progress, she is coming along nicely, great work! Bob

Good day again, just an update on my adventures in roundel land today, I've kind of hit on a slow time at the moment, its amazing how glorious sunshine can impact model making, even in a lockdown! But enough of the yard work excuse, the roundels ….. so as I mentioned above I dug out another paint mule, I wanted something to practice the full size markings on as well as introducing a couple of curves just to complicate things a bit. I dug out this drone for the SR71 which I was going to build up but lost interest. I coated it in grey primer and added some panel line shading to see how that would effect it. For this effort one side will be a type B and the other a C1 using sizes and proportions as close as possible to the markings I will be using. I am also going to mask and spray each individual colour so I am not dealing with any overspray, again I am using industrial 'Frog' masking tape as my Tamiya tape stocks are low and I am still waiting for replenishment from Japan (apparently). So I masked off the red and sprayed. A nice crisp red dot, this is where I discovered my first flaw, having one example on each side doubles my picture count! So the other side is exactly the same just a touch bigger. So the method was to cut out a circle and use the outside for the initial masking then after spraying use the inside to cover the paint (apologies if I'm stating the bleeding obvious!). Doing this step by step I built up the colours, for the white and yellow I did undercoat with white primer first to make them stand out a bit more and applying very thin coats at a time to limit underspray as much as possible. For the blue I added a touch of black, about 1:4 ratio. So having done all that this is what I ended up with for the type 'B' My final masking was a bit shady on this but it turned out not bad, for the airframe colours I chose MM Acryl Gunship grey and RLM 71 (I think or it may be 70!) as this is not a million miles from slate grey. For the type C1 I used the same gunship grey but tried out Vallejo Slate grey All in all not too bad, the contour made it a bit trickier and the Corsair fuselage isn't as pronounced but worked ok. I used the same blue for both sides. Next I compared to a kit decal, its amazing how few type B and C1 decals I have in use but I found this one on an Airfix Lancaster, which I had to dig out from the deep as being RAF its not aloud to taint my Fleet Air Arm display 😁 The flash has thrown out a bit of the contrast but its close enough for government work! So there we have it, happy that I've proved I have the paint and touch to pull it off, just need to do it on the kit now! I'm thinking I can do the markings first on the kit and then apply the external colour over the top. At the moment I am building up the seat harness which is an aftermarket fabric set, more on that later but it is killing my fingers and eyes! Until later, take care and stay safe! Bob

Its trial by error ….. lots of error and lots of masking tape

Good day all, just taking a short break from the assembly to try and figure out one thing, I’ve never painted my own roundels before and as I cant get any decals this looks like a great time to try! First though I need to have a practice, so rummaging through my spares bin, I came across an old wing from a 1:48 Hasegawa spitfire. This was good because it was largish and had fine engraved detail so I could see how that looked. First thing was to prime the area and for this I chose to experiment, upper surfaces were coated in white primer for the white in the roundel, the lower, half was white and half grey primer to see what my colours look like with various undercoats. Now here is my disclaimer! This is only a practice so where I put my roundels bear no resemblance to their final position on my Corsair! This wing is what has been referred to as a paint b*tch! So what have I got to go with? We are in lock down so my usual sources are unavailable for a restock so that limits me. I have a Model Master Acryl signal red and a Vallejo Model red. I hate using Vallejo Model for spraying (this isn’t Model Air range) so that leaves just the one red. A nice red that sprays well so we will see how that goes. For the blue I have Model Master Acryl French Blue and Dark Blue as well as a Vallejo Model blue which isn’t going to get looked at for the same reason as the red. I also have MM Gloss white and MM Chrome yellow gloss. After the white priming, I went over the upper wing with a white gloss and I was going to build up from there. The under surface are for type ‘B’ and don’t have white so went straight onto the red. Upper surface are going to be Type A and type C, although the proportions may be slightly out of whack, I tried to keep the B and C types close. For the C I am starting outside going in and the type A starting inside going out, So laid down the yellow and red This was followed up with masking and then the blue So on the upper the Type C has the French blue and Type A has the dark. The French is too light for the C and I think the Dark blue is also too light, it doesn’t have that wartime dark tint to it but that is on a gloss white build up … the type C doesn’t have the red dot because everytime I sprayed it I got really bad bleed so just gave up on it! I think the red on a white underside is too light. I then added some Gunship grey for the EDSG and olive drab for the slate grey, this would give a better insight in how they looked on the aircraft So what about the underside, Type B After the red and blue I added some external colour as above. The left hand side is on a white primer and for the blue I sprayed the front half dark and rear French. It doesn’t show very well because there is some glare on the picture, but both blues are really too light. The red on white is close but the red on grey (Squint one on the right) looks good and under a coat of matt would, I think, be acceptable, maybe do with a touch of brown to give it a more brick red colour? so may have an experiment with that later but red on grey primer is good! The blue on grey is a little darker but still too light, I have experimented by brush to get a darker blue by adding black so will try that on my final testing mule (more later!). Ignore the offset red roundel, I had a major failure there and its not like I can soak it and move it! That’s where we are now, I am going to dig out another paint mule, grey primer it and try building up a Type B and type C roundel from the inside outwards with the correct dimensions and proportions to what I need for the Corsair. Unfortunately for the masking I was hoping to use the Tamiya masking paper you get in large sheets but alas I have nearly run out so will need to replenish that. In the meantime, I am using bog standard painters masking tape which seems to be working ok so far! A bit of a long winded update with more to follow! Thanks for looking in. Laters, Bob

Good day all! As I posted earlier this is the picture I am basing my internal colours on, quite clearly the tail area is yellow. In this case it is a golden yellow similar to the ring on the roundel, which I think is more to do with the film colours and I'm going to apply some Artistic license and tone it down a touch. There is so much going on in this photo and it provides a nice amount of detail. The '7M' has a very distinct '7' and the area behind looks like its been scrubbed which suggests the coding may be quite new? or restyled? I also like the open tail panels, I would like to have a go at replicating them but think it may be a tad difficult. The interior of the panel is well represented on the kit but cutting it out to be able to use the part may be stretching it. Also the tail wheel is rotated 180 degrees as well. For those that have seen the full link the 2 chaps working the guns on the ground are seen in later pics on a wing which suggests that could be another view of 7M as well which provides a bit more detail. Also enjoying looking back at these old pictures, a fascinating subject! Bob