Bandsaw Steve

Looking very cool!

Looking good mate, but then again it’s a B1 so it was always going to look good!

Yep. Very informative.

Hang on. I spy a ‘like’ from @Vanroon in the post above and I happen to know that he lives in Victoria! Look out VanRoon the Sweeney Todd might be paying you a visit.

Underbelly In 2008 Channel 9 produced a new crime show called 'Underbelly'. It purported to tell the 'true but dramatized' story of various illicit drug production and smuggling operations in Melbourne. The remarkable thing was was that since many associated court cases were still in progress it was illegal for anyone in Victoria to watch it. This was a shame for our Melburnian friends as it was really good and was a huge hit across the rest of the country. Anyway - this post is my version of Underbelly. Victorians are not allowed to watch any further. Its the law. Here's the scene of the crime. Note the red line outlining a large bulbous underbelly on the lower fuselage of a Mirage III. We have strong suspicions that the bulge has been created specifically as a hiding place for methamphetamines and large wads of illegal cash. Despite what everyone says, we are sure it has nothing to do with aerodynamics or engines or systems or nothin'. Here's exhibit two. Same thing but again you have to try to see the shape of the fuse and not get distracted by the big fuel tank. It has to be modelled or the whole case for the prosecution will crumble like a cheap suit. I took the shots back to the forensics lab and started to see what I could make of 'em'. Us undercover operatives like to use easily concealed weapons like razor blades. Won't draw no attention ya see... Grinding everything down... no fingerprints this way. Plenty of white powder about though... if you take my meaning... This grainy photo is from a security camera. Date's intentionally been set wrong to try to throw us feds off the case - but it won't work - we is too sharp for that. I'm wondering who did the tampering though; can't help but think that someone on the force is enjoying some after-work benefits if you take my meaning.... More grainy photos. Two part Body-filler being used to try to cover tracks and try to build up a smooth approach to the Underbelly. Gotta be smooth and seamless when you are working on stuff like this. Yeah - Underbelly. Still too flat see... It's a jungle out there! Went to talk to 'Jimmy the Stick' down East-side. He's got a good operation going - running Tasmanian Oak Dowel. Any size you like. I went for the 25 mm... It stripped down pretty good. I took Mr hammer a little glue and a punch to it. Pretty soon I had a pretty sweet lead. Again - gotta cover your tracks with some two-part bog filla. She looks rough here - but this is a rough part of town... In work like this you always gotta check against the plan... We were taking some heat from City Hall. Seemed the Trailing edge fillet was sticking out too much - drawing too much attention to itself - not fitting in see? The Bandsaw made short work of that problem. Down here on the streets folks don't mess with the Bandsaw... Now we could really cut into the case. Seemed if we really wanted to fit in we could either cut more rebate from the fuselage or do a bit of this... Yeah - trim out some of society's dead wood to achieve... A nice seamless fit... Maybe not a perfect crime; but then there's no such thing. After some routine post-operation policework we've cleaned things up pretty good. A nice rounded Underbelly. I think you've got the idea. I think we can wrap this up. The mouthpieces can take this from here. Till next time... Let's be careful out there! Bandsaw Steve

Hi @RichO Great Progress! Steve

A beautiful piece of work, wonderfully complemented by the Combie van. Congratulations on this one mate!

She’s coming along really well Jeff. I’m hoping to see this one on the WASMEx tables in 2022.

Welcome aboard mate!

Looking brilliant!

Good to see this back at the top of the pile! Looking great!

Oil paints remain ‘open’ or workable for a long time (sometimes days) allowing a lot of adjustment of thickness and general effect. They can be almost completely wiped off if need be, or slathered on if you wish. In oil paints the pigments are very fine and can be used to subtly alter base colours without adding any visible thickness to the paint job. I find I get better weathering effects with oils than I could with acrylics or enamels. Other people may have other views but that’s my take on it.

Great work! Thanks for posting.

Excellent, painstaking and imaginative work. This is reminding me that I really should have a crack at some sci-fi one day. Thanks for posting!

Hi Dean, interesting stats. Is there a quick way to generate those numbers on this site or did you just count em up?