neillydone

Airfix 1:72 Mosquito in the kit scheme of No. 571 Squadron from the Pathfinders. Airbrushed with Vallejo Model Air, weathered with Abteilung 502 oil paints and varnished with Tamiya matt and gloss varnish from a rattle can. Overall the kit went together well. I used a masking set from ASK for the transparencies and CMK resin flaps and elevators. I did a fair bit of scratch building of parts in the interior (such as new radio set replacing the unit supplied with the kit; new bombsight, seat belts with tape and wiring and various gubbins. I also corrected the bomb bay doors, redrilled the red, green and amber lamps and added brake lines to the wheel hubs. I also modified the tailwheel to the anti-shimmy version and added ice guards to the Merlin second stage intakes (though they are a bit out of scale). i also drilled out the wingtip lights to add the green and red bulbs. What went well? Canopy transparencies and masking, learning how to fit aftermarket resin control surfaces (though in retrospect I didnt thin the trailing edges enough); redoing the bulged bomb bay. What could be improved? Interior painting was too thick, my scratch built radio set was not accurate for the airframe in the end (despite spending weeks pontificating on reference drawings in Richard Franks Modellers Datafile); the paintjob could be improved e.g. brush painting the u/c legs was a disaster; i was too heavy handed using the spray can and had to redo the camo template several times resulting in a poor paint finish with dust and hair all over the place. also over did it on the weathering underneath. anyhow thanks for looking Neil

hello, does anyone have any pictures or dimensions of the fuel cooler on the starboard fuselage side of the B.XVI underneath the wing root? Like many, I've been trying to correct the Airfix 1:72 B.XVI. thanks in advance,

thanks again! must be my dodgy memory must have been Shawbury! anyway off to see if I find my cadet log book at my parents place!

great many thanks!!

hello I've got the Airfix new chipmunk rising slowly to the top of my build pile and would like to do it in the scheme of No. 8 Air Experience Flight of (I think) RAF Stafford in the early nineties. can anyone point me in the good direction of suitable references (online or a decent book) particularly with codes or crest that I'd need to apply? I have already done a bit of digging and see that there is one photo of the same flight but from the 1960s. I'm also aware of the Hannants decal sheet. grateful for any assistance anyone can provide and good evening to you!

thanks for the valuable feedback - especially about the background, well noted!

here is my Bf 109 G-6 from Tamiya. Painted in Vallejo, Lifecolour and AK 3G colours OOB as the JG51 variant in June 1944. This was my first attempt at camouflage mottling and the finish suffers from silvered decals as I struggled with the Tamiya overly thick decals along with not paying enough attention to detail for smoothing the surface after the primer. also struggled a bit with the right pressure/thinner mix for the 3G paints which seem to be very finickity! Overall, a very easy kit to build with amazing amounts of detail for the price, scale and simplicity.

Does anyone use their completed model builds as reference for 2D fine art paintings in oil or acrylic etc as with the many talented folk who photograph their models with convincing backdrops. I've seen scale models used as references (I assume for dimensions) in the Youtube videos of Mark Postlethwaite or Darryl Legg, for instance. In some respects it might be useful, except the 'live' lighting would be very difficult to recreate...but in the absence of getting physically close to the intended subject it might be a better alternative than a photo... If this is a regular practice for us 2D artists out there, are there any tips or is it just a matter of applying the same principles as setting up a still life? Neil

Evening all, I'm building the Airfix 1:48 Tiger Moth in a UK Civil Registration scheme - G-AIXJ (purely cos I like the burgundy colour scheme - hope it doesnt offend anyone here) in a "competition" with a friend from my club. I'm trying to recreate the circular inspection hatches (??) on the vertical stab & rudder, upper surface of upper mainplanes and lower surface of lower mainplanes iaw the Eduard aftermarket PE destructions. I've tried the ones from the Eduard PE set which are too thick and seem out of scale hence my desire to try a home cooked alternative. I then tried circles of parafilm put through a punch & die to create circles of the right diameter. these seem a better thickness but of course looking at photos these hatches (if that is what they are) appear as rings. The nearest I've got is v thin brass wire wrapped around a bit of sprue, but I don't fancy doing 40 of these that Eduard says are needed.... I'd be grateful if anyone could advise me either of a good technique to recreate these, or which I can focus on (maybe just those on the vertical surfaces as they seem most obvious), or whether I ought to just not bother 🙂 Many thanks in advance,

Here is my model of USS Lassen in 1:700 scale from the Hobby Boss kit. I started this on 23rd Dec and with some fits and starts finished it yesterday. It was an easy kit to build, however, I rather bodged the paintjob as I painted the deck first, then the superstructures and when time came to attach them found some gaps needed filling, resulting in too many layers caused by masking and re-masking using Liquid Mask. As a result the sharp details have become rather lost and the decals exhibit quite a bit of silvering despite liberal application of Daco decal solvent. it was also my first time doing PE railings so they are bit wonky (I used transparent canopy glue & C.A. to fix them). The halyards are a combination of Uschi van der Rosten rigging and stretched sprue affixed with C.A. For the base, after building a frame using 20mm pine coaming from the local DIY shop the sea effect was created using stryofoam board, watercolour paper, then airbrushed Vallejo Dark Sea Blue, Pastel Green and Off White with the green & white closer to the vessel. I drew around the shape of the hull form using the bottom half of the waterline kit part and then gouged a seat for the ship. I created the waves using AK Interactive Sea Effect for the overall sea texture and then cotton wool soaked in the same for the churn, finished with AK Interactive Foam. I probably spent more time thinking and preparing the base than the model itself. Putting such effort on the sea taught me a vital lesson that despite the (perceived) shortcomings of my work on the model (paint job), once viewed as a whole, these somehow become less apparent.

thanks everyone for the great tips!

I am trying to create a diorama using the 1:48 Tiger Moth and put a car alongside it (probably something like a Morris Minor) - can anyone suggest if 1:43 or 1:50 would be ok as it seems there isnt too much choice in 1:48 scale car kits. thanks Neil

Hello everybody In full knowledge that there are plenty of these Arma 1:72 Hurricanes milling about I wanted to add my own humble contribution. Its from the Mk. 1 Expert Set in the kit scheme of Josef Frantisek of 303 Squadron. I finished it last week and am posting now because we are at the 80th Anniversary of the formal establishment of 303 Squadron and completely co-incidentally, as I was applying the last touches, the Historic Aircraft Collection were kind enough to also reveal the public certification flight of a 1:1 scale edition ;-) from Duxford. In terms of the kit, I found the cockpit very well detailed but a very tight fit - much fettling was required to get the wing installed. The wing root was very good but due to user error the leading edge wing to fuselage join needed a little filler. Nonetheless, I was pleased with the end result with much thanks to Bruno from the Dakota club here in Flanders for helping out with a spare u/c strut to replace the one consumed by the Carpet Monster (in addition to the PE rear view mirror after I had spent a good thirty minutes making the glass out of kitchen foil). Oh, and I hand made the navigation lights from clear sprue only to discover I could have used those on provided by Arma all along! Oh well. It was painted with a mix of Vallejo, Tamiya and Lifecolour paints, with Ammo of MiG weathering powders and pencils and W&N oil paints. Overall very enjoyable but I'd probably do the junior set as the trade-off of PE versus visibility for the cockpit is not necessarily valuable for my purpose (i.e. to go on my shelf at the office). On reflection I think the panel line wash on the upper surfaces of the wings is a bit Over The Top (vertical surfaces are more muted) and also the chipping on the gun panels but I'm quite happy how the interior and exhausts worked out in the end... As usual, errors and omissions are my own but as a long time lurker here on BM I would like to say how very grateful I am to all those who have posted their Arma Hurricane builds & experiences already (e.g. @Procopius, @CedB, amongst others) and those with seemingly boundless Hurricane knowledge, especially @Troy Smith all of which I found very helpful indeed!

Hello everyone Whilst I am a couple of days adrift for the 6th June, I present my 1:72 F-16AM in the magnificent 75th Anniversary markings of FA-124 of 349 Squadron, Belgian Air Force. Kit was the Revell Stingers F-16, with of course Syhart decals which went down wonderfully. Paints were a mix of Italeri, AK Interactive for the exhaust (which was my best attempt yet) MiG and Vallejo. I scratch built the static dischargers from toothbrush bristles. I had the pleasure of going to the Belgian Airforce Day on 23rd June 2019 and saw this beast from about 2 metres away as it went past on the taxiway! Many congratulations to the paintshop!

Here is my Arma Hobby Yak-1b finished as No 107 from the 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment, late 1945 subsequently in the given to the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. OOB except for Tamiya tape seat belts and telephone wire buckles. Painted with AK Interactive Russian colours & W&N oil paint fading (Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Paynes Grey). In these challenging times where every distraction is welcome, this was a very enjoyable and generally straightforward build.

This is my 1/72 Academy MCP F/A-18F Super Hornet done up as a line jet from VFA-122 Flying Eagles. This is a much delayed surprise Xmas gift for my brother, an aerospace journalist in London, who in 2012 was lucky enough to be taken up for 30 mins in the back at the Farnborough airshow. A blog about it can be found here - n.b. his pilot was actually from VFA-106 Gladiators. The Academy kit was simple to assemble, v well detailed and largely pain free apart from the forward fuselage join just below the windshield and the rear fuselage of which the top half is too wide - I should have put a spacer across to ensure a better fit. The kit was painted with Italeri Ghost Greys, MiG & Vallejo varnish and weathered with enamel panel line washes. I probably overdid it on the paint and varnishing... if you look closely obliterating some of the nice detail around the maintenance hatches. Decals were a mix of those from the kit, Eurodecals USN stencils and home made decals for the squadron codes and tail design. The kit decals were quite thick but I definitely learnt something new in preparing my own decals. This will go on a Coastal Kits base. To start with, here is the lucky blighter in the cockpit: The best side - decals worked the best on this side. With some photographic evidence. Thanks for looking! Neil

Hello everybody, here is the second oil painting I've ever completed. I based it on a photo of a Spitire at Flying Legends in July 2018 and added in the sky from my imagination. I'm aware that one or two aspects of the perspective & shape are not quite right but since my weak spot is tonal values I'm pleased with how it turned out. Paints used were Winsor and Newton Water Mixable Oils and it measures 18 x 14.5cm. It took me about three days. I'm gonna give this to my 11 year old nephew as a belated Christmas present.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, fixed the light colour and aerial... .

Thanks for the feedback! I read the wrong caption on the decals...I've edited the original post now Will also have a think about how to sort out the light and wire...

Here are some photos of my recently completed Spitfire Mk II.a. of 315 Squadron, August 1941. Its based on the Airfix Mk.I. 1:48 kit, with a small scratch built Coffman starter. - Interior was Eduard pre-painted PE - I found the steel seatbelts much easier to work with than the brass as they seemed to be less springy. - Paints were a mixture of Vallejo and Tamiya, with Mig lucky gloss varnish and then Vallejo matt varnish. - Decals from the Polish Spitfires ModelMaker.pl sheet - Weathered with various MiG pigments and washes. - Radio and IFF antennae were Uschi van der Rosten fine rigging line. To fix the well known fragile undercarriage joint I scratch built a m/f joint using short lengths of brass (0.6mm dia) and associated locating holes which seemed to work quite well.

Phil, I have one (in fact if you want the entire model) - feel free to PM me if you want it.

Hobbyboss 1:48 BAe Hawk T.1 XX172 of RAF St Athan station Flight 2001 with ModelAlliance 'Dragon Hawk' limited edition decals. Overall I am satisfied with it but the glue failed on the seat belts after I fixed the canopy in place and the gloss is not as glossy as I would like...plus I should have taken more time with the transfers....but overall from a distance I'm happy....

very nice indeed! does this exhibit the same problems with construction as the earlier Revell Typhoon - e.g. the airbrake fit?

Airfix Tiger Moth in 1/72 in the kit scheme colours of No. 10 Elementary Reserve Flying School, RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire 1940. Built oob except for scratch built seatbelts (from heavy duty kitchen foil), Albion Alloys 0.3mm brass tube (for the control horns in the tail) and Uschi van der Rosten Fine (0.02mm line). Paints were airbrushed Italeri RAF Dark Earth and Dark Green along with Humbrol yellow (I think it was 69 - colder compared to RAF Training Yellow) and Mig pigments and washes. I built this as I wanted to learn how to do rigging which was initially quite frustrating. I had many battles with medium and thin superglue and kicker just to get the lines to stay...so the surfaces around the struts became quite a mess in the end (along with the fuselage where it meets the wing). Despite my drilling out the lower wings and attaching the rigging lines to the upper wing with the intention of feeding the line through the lower wings, I only managed to do this for a couple, the rest were bodged in a pool of superglue. However, overall I'm pleased with the result even if the rigging is overscale and the rigging in front of the cockpit subsequently came undone.

BAe Hawk T.1a in the 75th anniversary scheme of 234 Sqn, 1 TWU, RAF Brawdy, 1992. Airfix kit oob with Xtradecal decals and scratch built seatbelts, cushions, nose light and pitot tube. I tried to replicate the grime toward the rear.... Overall went together very well but I could have improved the finish on the fin and around the canopy.