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Uncle Pete

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Everything posted by Uncle Pete

  1. I caught a bit of flak from a bloke on a modelling site (don't think it was this one) over my preference for props and wheels that turn, swing wings that actually swing and various other moving parts. The bloke thought that was a bit childish but the way I look at it, getting those things to work (and work smoothly) is another engineering challenge of kitbuilding. (I don't want to brag but I managed to install moving wing glove vanes on an F14A a few days back and they still work and haven't fallen out yet. Now to see if I can get the rest of the plane assembled, painted, decalled and on the shelf before they fink out on me).
  2. It can be a headache stuffing enough lead in to fill the space without gaps. I've had a bit of success making lead slugs that fill the available space by wrapping a couple of thicknesses of aluminium foil round the sharp end to make a conical mould, take the mould off then melt some lead into it. A bit of filing and it fits right into the nose, conforming to the shape. That way you fill the whole space with lead instead of a mixture of lead and air and, if you're lucky, it will stay put without even any glue.
  3. Me too... My relatives never had any difficulty figuring out what my Christmas pressie should be!
  4. Is that a painted spiral on the spinner or a decal?
  5. I'm in the process of beating the above mentioned plane into submission and have a question for anybody who might have tackled it in the past. It has these odd little "glove vanes" which I understand were eventually discovered to be as much use as a cat flap on the space station but which deploy when the wings fold back. They're mounted on studs about half the size of a flea's bedpan. My question is, since they were eventually left out on later marks, should I forget about trying to make them work? I'm usually of the opinion that if a part is designed to move, I might as well install it as such but don't want to end up with a jammed or falling-off part. Will that little stud stand up or should I just cut it down and glue it in? (I don't trust my measuring and cutting skills to replace it with a metal pin). Aside from that, the kit so far (aside from decals) has been reasonably cooperative, I've got the office installed and the nose buttoned up... even remembered to put a lead slug in there. But the decals.... The decals! I should have known before buying the kit since I built an Academy P51 a few months back. I found they have a window of about two seconds between still being stuck irrevocably to the backing sheet and floating free completely. And they're about as thick as a sheet of heavy duty MDF. I got the instrument panels on by floating them on big puddles of floor wax then hoping they didn't drift while it dried. On the good side, though, they sucked right down with a couple of shots of MicroSol and wound up looking pretty good. I'm sneaking out to the LHS before SWMBO wakes up to see if they have any Grim Reaper or Tomcats decal sheets (I wasn't crazy about the look of the decals in the box anyway), something with a bit of zazz (and a shark mouth!). (And something that won't be such a fight to lay on). (And I'll see how much self-discipline I have... A P38 and an A10 wouldn't go amiss). (Neither would a Camel and a Tripehound). (And maybe a couple of Spits and a 109). (And a Wallace and Gromit Austin A40 van).
  6. The gauntlet has been thrown, eh? Have at ye, varlet ... Monkeypoo at ten paces!
  7. Welcome aboard, Michael. 1953 model here, conceived in the back seat of a 1949 Ford!
  8. I admire your restraint for not specifying tartan... 😛
  9. I'd considered giving him a cup of tea till I calculated the 1/72 size of an 8 ounce tin mug.
  10. Very nice. Never saw one of those before. Almost a bit art-deco-ish in lines. What's the vintage... 1930 give or take a year? Judging by the size of the seats it can't be much bigger than a Camel or SE5.
  11. I only got the starter set because it was just a quid more and I figured a paintbrush, a tube of glue and a couple of little pots of spare paint was worth it. Haven't been in the game long enough to try different paints. So far the Humbrol has been working reasonably well, though.
  12. Cracking job on the mottling... You're a braver man than me! If you like the spinning prop there are plenty of micro RC motors that would fit tidily into a 1/72 kit.
  13. "Don't ring the bell, sarge, it's too nice a day to be chasing Jerry."
  14. Did final assembly on Airfix Spitfire 1A (55100, Starter Kit, 1/72), yesterday. I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this lark. I'm starting to get a "feel" for the paint... Somehow it's brushing on much more easily for me. Obviously I've subconsciously figured something out but have no idea what it is or how I'm doing it. Not to worry, if it works, don't fix it. OOB except for the pilot's deck chair and painted with Humbrol enamels, 155 and 29 for the camo, 90 underneath, a mix of artist's acrylics for bits and bobs and the interior. The box called for a black and white "harlequin" underside but I personally don't really like that so I went with the "sky". It's supposed to have a sky band around the fuze just in front of the tail feathers but I tore it and had already waxed the plane so decided to go without rather than try to paint one on. Cooperated in the main but the fuze halves went together slightly skew-whiff. Don't know whether it was me or the kit but I assume when the locating pegs pop in, that's where it's gonna go. I almost (but not quite) defeated the resulting ridge with liberal application of filler and sandpaper. The wings were a bit of a game, too, but after some gentle persuasion with the sandpaper dropped in with only a slight loss of dihedral. I decided to eat the loss rather than risk making things worse by continued faffing. Didn't notice till I looked at the picture that the left U/C leg is a bit squint. Have to see If I can't straighten it out later. I like the head-on shots of warbirds... Makes 'em look proper 'ard. I should maybe touch up the raggedy leading edge colours but not sure if I trust myself to do it. The canopy frame could use a bit of tidying, too, but do I trust myself? I'd have preferred to have the glasshouse slid open but there's no way on earth I'm ever going to be capable of accurate enough surgery so I suppose I can say it's raining and put the pilot under the wing. As it is, the canopy fitted quite seamlessly after application of some good old-fashioned brute force. He still needs a couple more shots of the red stuff on the decals and a topcoat of wax (and maybe a coat of flat varnish but I'm undecided whether I like the shiny look or the "more realistic" look). I've been promising myself I'd take this one to the next level and try muckying it up a bit but have lost my nerve. Maybe I'll be braver in a couple of weeks when it's not so spanky new, complete with that "new plane smell". (And that's the main reason I've not topcoated it yet.) Thanks for looking (and not laughing!)
  15. @Frank083... I even know the correct way to spell Canada.... C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?
  16. If nobody minds revival of an old thread, I've been wondering about Olive Drab... There's been no mention of Humbrol 155, Olive Drab. I've used it on a Hurri, a Spit and a couple of Mossies and it looks 'authentic' but doesn't 'pop'. Is 155 considered too brown? (It shows up as a muddy brown in photos on my mac). The 30 is definitely a lot brighter.
  17. Well, here's my first, bought and built last year. Old G-George... Figured I'd start with a bang and go straight to a heavy. No floor wax, no decal solutions and acrylic brush-paint right out of the pots. My favortie isn't even a kit. After building a Hurri, I had the pilot left over (didn't want to hide the interior) and yesterday, on a whim, whacked together a deck chair out of wire scavenged from a micro RC pushrod and Tamiya tape and a parachute pack from a bit of balsa covered with tape and dunked in a dirtying wash. The hardest part was getting his feet crossed in a relaxed pose. I wanted to set him sleeping but didn't trust myself to perform the surgery required to put his chin on his chest. I realise "finest" is a relative term but, at my stage of the game, there is no finest... I'm still struggling to reach "fine"!
  18. Now I'm really jealous... I fly RC but i'm still floundering around with an Eflite Apprentice!
  19. Terra incognita for me too... There be dragons!
  20. Pardon my ignorance but what's going on there on the weapons pylons? Never seen that before (granted, I'm not the most proficient plane-spotter in Shepherds Bush). Are they some kind of cannon the Luftwaffe bolted on as a modification?
  21. A man of few words, I see!
  22. And that's MISTER Pommy-illegitimate-person to you! 😛😛
  23. Welcome aboard, Ryan. Mike and the lads will take good care of you. Me, I'm only good for a joke from time to time!
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