Bandsaw Steve

Very good!

So how long before someone, (say aitfix) does a decent1/48 spitfire XIV do you reckon? Everyone knows the academy one is seriously flawed and the XIV is just so cool it's disappointing there's no high quality modern kit availble. Your posted work is looking good by the way. 😄

Hmmmm... Migs in Egyptian markings. What's not to like? ⭐️👍

Looking good. Nice to see some 'between war' modelling going on.

😁I'll try to make the next posting a bit quicker as the next job is a small one. So pleased you are enjoying the ride Mackem01. Happy New Year. 💥🍺🥃💥

Thanks for the comments everyone - much appreciated. It is now New Year's eve and I've got this one last update for 2016 for you to peruse. The basic airframe shape is now essentially complete (tailplane excepted as discussed above) and so now it is time to start priming. I use a wood-primer which is supposed to sink in and seal and protect the wood from the surrounding environment - humidity, moisture, wood-eating microbes and so forth. I am not completely convinced that it is necessary to use wood primer as modern spray on model primers like Tamiya and Mr Hobby seem to stick to wood very well and I think they would probably suffice. However, as I am trying to re-visit the techniques I used to use many years ago - I'm going to do what I did 'back then'. So, after a quick look around the shed I found this 'primer, sealer, undercoat - I reckon that looks like the right kinda stuff. Thin it down a little bit and just brush it on. No need to be too particular as this coat is going to have the daylights sanded out of it anyway. The PVA that I used to stick the paper pattern onto the bottom of the plywood before cutting out the wing has left a nasty messy residue. This will need a good primer coat and some serious sanding to fully cover and smooth out. If anyone has a better alternative to PVA for attaching the paper, something that doesn't leave this mess, I'm keen to hear about it. First coat done - pretty rough - but that's of no real consequence - just get good coverage - and don't be too afraid of putting it on a bit thicker than you might with a kitset. Underside view. Most of the PVA residue is now obscured. And sand it back to this...Nice and smooth... Paint it again with a somewhat thinner coat. Inspect for surface flaws that require further filling and cleaning up. This is especially necessary given that some very mean people have voted for this model to be finished in natural metal. :-). You know who you are! Apply liberal amounts of filler. Now that I am no longer working directly onto wood and am just working on the primed surface, I am no longer using plastic wood. This is Vallejo model filler and this stuff is awesome! Regardless of what you build or how you build it I strongly recommend you get some of this stuff. It spreads like soft butter and dries, quickly to a very hard tough finish. It's the best modelling putty I have ever used. BTW - I have no commercial interest in Vallejo...just in case you were wondering. And now - guess what - it's back to sanding...and sanding...and sanding....with finer and finer grades of paper until you get to about this point - a nice smooth shiny model. The model is actually much shinier than it looks in these photos, I think that apple I-phones have a polarising lens that prevents me from capturing the full shine on this finish. Suffice to say the model feels and looks about as smooth and shiny as a kitset would after priming and sanding. The only limitation that I struck is that I could not use 'wet and dry' sanding. I tried a tentative experiment with wet sand paper, but the wood primer just sort of detached and little plastic globules of it 'rolled up' under the paper - so that's a no-go. Below I have attached some authentic air-combat photographs - taken by me while flying my imaginary F86 in the neighbour's back-yard. Combat started with a high-speed, head to head cross-over. As you can see, I started with a slight height advantage which I managed to hang onto in the ensuing fight. Here I have maneuverered into a position above and behind my unfortunate opponent. Who, despite his desperate attempt to escape with a severe break to port and high-speed Yo-Yo was unable to escape the fury of my six imaginary 50 calibre machine-guns. The fact that his aircraft was not fitted with tailplanes may have contributed to his defeat. I won't post the rest of the footage as it is too graphic and violent for general public consumption. We must think of the youngsters you know! Next time - There's something that's really bugging me about this model at the moment, and I'm going to fix it once and for all. Am hoping to have the next posting in a week or so. Happy New Year to one and all. I hope 2017 treats you all well and that we all build plenty of good stuff and have heaps of fun doing it. Best Regards, Reconcilor.

That brass tuning technique is wotth knowing. Thanks for sharing it. I don't own a lathe and probably never will so it's nice to see a simple alternative.

Congratulations on a great job. I think the wheels are especially good - a good technique to know about. 😄👍

So pleased I'm not the only one who resorts to fictitious markings.

Remember Air New Zealand operated a fleet of six of these on various trans-Tasman routes. Less than an hour from Auckland to Sydney. They looked great in The All-black World Cup colour scheme. 😋

Good luck. I love concorde and will watch with great interest. I assume you will be doing this in qantas colours?

Congratulations. Finished product looks superb. Difficult kit - but a great outcome.

Nice to see something a bit out of the ordinary. There's so much more that can be built beyond 'trains, planes and automobiles. Not that there's anything wrong with them - it's just nice to see someone going a bit off the beaten track.

He's very cute. We need more modelling like this!

Don't worry 'sovereign hobbies'. I have not forgotten your excellent suggestions. Will be visiting my local hobby shop tomorrow to investigate further.

Looking good so far

Oh dear. That was the fifth vote! Natural metal finish it is then 😵. I must insist however that I reserve the right to paint camouflage over the top of it if it's a total disaster. Let's see if I can pull this off!😕

Looking good. Keep going😊

This guy's not a modeller. He's an aeroplane factory! Wish I could build 'em that fast and that well. Merry Christmas, will be watching in the new year.

It actually looks pretty cool as is...just finish it in 'Rogue 1' colours and stick it in the sci-fi section. 😜

Hello, It's Christmas eve and time for an update. A few posts back I asserted that my woodwork was dreadful. On this post you will see exactly what I mean. This one is all about bodging and filling and sanding away mistakes in full confidence that all of this wood-butchery will be hidden under primer and paint. I've said it before - you don't really need any special skills to build models this way - you certainly do not need to be an expert woodworker. So if you feel inclined to have a go - just have a go - it's actually all fairly straightforward. Those of you that have been following along might remember that when I was carving out the hollow for the cockpit a fairly large chunk of wood snapped off from the port side just beside the pilot. This hole needs filling - otherwise the pilot will be able to climb in and out of the cockpit without opening the canopy. Here's what I've done to alleviate the situation. Using a set of dividers to measure a few of the hole's key dimensions (length - width etc) I reproduced the offending hole's shape on an appropriately thin sheet of wood. In this case it's New Zealand White Pine (re-cycled Kahikatea). I only mention that it's Kahikatea to distinguish it from 'Pinus Radiata' the white plantation pine that is found almost everywhere but is not IMHO really suitable for this kind of work because it is too fibrous and tends to 'chip out' when carved. You can see what I've done in the photo above, I've just cut out the wood to the right shape and stuck it in the hole. I used a variety of glues in this case - two part epoxy for rigidity, some liquid nails for strength and then a generous amount of PVA to fill most of the remaining gaps. Once the glue had set hard I just took to the Kahikatea with a number 11 hobby knife and whittled it to match the fuselage's cross section. This wood carves and whittles beautifully. Where-ever you are in the world the woodworkers will know the right type of local wood for carving so have a chat to them and get something that's suitable for the work you have in mind. With the majority of the hole plugged I just smeared plastic wood all over the plug to fill the numerous small gaps and cracks. I also filled over the joints between the fuselage and cockpit rebate and worked a tonne of the stuff into the wing roots. The wing roots on a Mig 15 have a small blending fillet between the wing and the fuselage and I'm going to use the wood-filler to sculpt this shape. a plywood insert that I put on top of the wings (see a couple of posts earlier) helps to fill out this volume and gives something for the plastic wood to grip onto. On the starboard side there was another gap, but as it was a smaller and simpler shape I just filled it with plastic wood. In fact - while I was working with the filler I went a bit mental and gave the entire airframe a close inspection and just plastered any surface imperfections that I saw. Now you can see why my woodwork teacher was never too impressed with my approach! Just look at the state of the tail in the photo below. And so, after letting the wood-filler set for 24 hours in the 40 degree Western Australian summer sun it had cured and was ready to be sanded. Nothing surprising here; start with a coarse sandpaper - sand everything. Select a finer sandpaper - sand everything again. Select a very fine finishing paper - sand everything yet again... For some reason I really enjoy this - it's therapeutic and as time passes the mess diminishes and the model 'emerges'. And here she is - all filled and smoothed out. To get to this point I actually went through a second, more detailed sequence of 'inspect, fill, sand' but it's just repetition and If you have ever built a model you probably know about it anyway so I won't labour the point further. By the way - if you are wondering about the tailplane - it's made but I'm not sticking it on until as late as possible as I fear at the moment it will just get in the way and / or get damaged. A few posts ago I showed the model with the tailplane (sort-of) attached. But it was just stuck on with blue-tack 'for illustrative purposes only'. And that's about it for this post. I'm hoping I'll get one more in before the end of 2016. Once again thanks for the interest and the comments, I am really enjoying keeping this log of the build and appreciate each and every reply. Have a very merry and safe Christmas. Best wishes, Reconcilor.

Wicked looking jet in a rarely seen colour-scheme. Press-on with this in 2017 please👍

Woah! That was quick! Good result too✔️

Sorry, I see that should be 'Martian' not 'Martin'. My mistake. Have a really good Christmas Martian 👽 and don't fret too much about a 1/48 scale piece of plastic. Reconcilor.

I will look into that. Thanks for the suggestion . There's an excellent hobby shop not far away and I'm sure they will have all the gear. Could open up a world of possibilities...