KelT

Thanks Mumbly. I may yet have to resort to the airbrush, I understand I'm trying to get the best job with the second best tool for the purpose but I'd still like to try with the brush/pen for now. If my Moltow ink were in a bottle I might gave the airbrush a go but I don't fancy pulling my new pen apart to try and get a couple of drops of ink out. I tried experimenting with kitchen foil and the results were pretty amazing actually, I didn't use any glue just rubbed it down over the part and then polished with metal polish, it was very impressive apart from the small size of the part with so many angles and the "Virago" insignia didn't help since I could not rub from the middle. I was very tempted to go with it to be honest despite the fact that there was always two small creases I just couldn't get rid of, almost ready, until I took the photos that is. I normally take the photos since the camera picks out things my old eyes can't and I have to say the images were pretty bad which surprised me since I had checked them under the magnifying glass thoroughly. In the end I have decided to give the Moltow a shot and I can always cover them with tin foil if things don't work out. From my Moltow experiments I have found that the surface you paint onto is very important, basically the smoother the better and by smooth I mean really smooth. The difference between bare plastic straight out of the box and highly (toothpaste) polished plastic is remarkable. The ink flows on much smoother and lays down an even reflective coat. I found that painting over Future made an improvement too but Future didn't do as well as the polished when painted onto rough plastic so I'm thinking I will polish up the parts, then lay down some Future, buff up the Future and try the Moltow on that. My thinking is that the undercoat of Future will also allow me to remove the chrome if things go awry. The sensitivity to touch was going to be an issue with the Moltow too as you mentioned but I found that even after only 1 day drying a coat of Future over the chrome not only preserved the shine but removed the issue of touch. I didn't take photos of all my tests but below is the initial one: The images from left to right are: Bare plastic/Polished plastic (toothpaste since I lack anything else just now)/Future/Vallejo Gloss Black/Vallejo Satin Varnish (in both instances the chrome reacted badly with the Vallejo) I'm not sure about the brass/alloy tube thing for the brake lines, would they be flexible enough to get those bends? I've never used/seen any before, well not on this scale. Veg. What can I say except thank you. Something with the basic shape was exactly what I was trying to conjure up and ink cartridges seem like they would be perfect, I shall have to get some and give it a go. I did try bending some sprue using a heat-gun and the results were really good so it looks like making the actual pipes should be possible even for me. I was never very good at pipe bending though so I figure I'll make a wire template first and then try to put the bends in the plastic accordingly. All that will have to wait until I have the engine and rear wheel mounted on the chassis so that I can model the wire template to scale. Mumbly mentioned Miliput but I have no idea what that is so I'll have to look it up. Thank you for all the ideas and help, this was supposed to be a relaxing just stick everything together build but I have a way of turning everything into a challenge, it can be frustrating but so long as it's also fun then why the hell not have a go. After all, the worst that can happen is that I end up with indelible black ink and Miliput (just looked it up) in my hair and chrome eyelashes, then I get arrested for being Gary Glitter.

Thanks for the info Stef N. I put in a large order just two nights ago and I looked at the Vallejo Metal Colour but in the end it was just another one of many options so I decided to stick with my liquid chrome pen for now, I wish I had posted here first but perhaps next time. I have begun a set of tests with the chrome pen since it's use so far hasn't proved very appealing. In fact in the images above on the upright footpeg the upper surface was touched up with it. I've watched a lot of videos on using the pen but the only good ones with actual tests are where it was airbrushed on, all the actual pen ones are just people splattering it onto plastic. It does actually say on the packet that on porous surfaces it gives a metallic finish and on non-porous a mirror finish so obviously the surface does matter and the pen is not a cover all and forget tool. I do have Aspergers and so have to be careful what and how I say things as often I am misunderstood so excuse me if this is out of order but I was actually joking about the minty stripe in the toothpaste, it may well help I have no comparison but generally any toothpaste works the same. Well perhaps not that grout based stuff you find in hotel bathrooms, that'd take the glaze off your grandmothers best china. Oh I remembered something else I did the other day but had completely forgotten about. I used the back from the chrome sprue identifier to create a vin number plate for the frame. Another problem I have is that the front brake lines on my bike were steel wound, not like braiding but more like a steel spring encapsulating the pipe. My best option I can think of so far is using very fine fuse wire and wrapping it around the provided hose but getting - and keeping - the spacing even is going to be a challenge. I am open to any ideas both on that and perhaps ways of recreating the actual exhausts from my own bike. To be honest I can't even think of anything for the exhausts that wouldn't simply look tacky. The best I have considered so far is gently melting and bending some sprue for the main pipes as it is about the correct thickness. If that worked then I would only have the mufflers to contend with. I may have to concede that I don't have the skill but I haven't completely given up on the idea just yet.

I got a little bit more done, actually it felt like a lot until I came to update this thread then it seems trivial. I removed the Yamaha insignia from the tank and assembled it, the fit was not great and there were two imperfections (image #2) in the plastic where the locating pins on the inside of the tank were molded (I used Mr Surfacer 1k). In the absence of any Tamiya polishing compound I used that other really well known brand; Colgate Total 12 Hr protection with minty stripe. I think the stripe really helped as the results were quite pleasing. I drilled out the left hand rear peg as it isn't a solid bracket on the original. I also reshaped both pegs since none of the footpegs were the old fashioned 1970's blocky type on my own bike. I removed the chrome from the front and rear guards using bleach, I have never dealt with chrome before and I was amazed at how effective the bleach was at removing it. I painted up the rear light and indicators too using AK Clear Red RC503/ Clear Orange RC506. Well in truth I didn't actually paint them rather I dunked them and then removed the access with a cotton bud. I've not done any clear paint before and I was quite impressed with the results, the red took two dunks. I didn't realise when I moved over from the Aircraft thread that there'd be a completely different group of people here, it's like changing forums. To clarify, I am very new to this hobby still and learning slowly so if anyone has any helpful advice, constructive criticism etc. I am always happy to hear it. I am enjoying this build so far but finding the whole bike thing to be far less forgiving then the other models I have built, a small scratch can ruin a part and the extra care needed is challenging me. Looking ahead the only concern I have so far is the two side-panels for the battery housing, I intend to keep the original chrome as far as possible at this point since I do not have the whole Alclad setup, it also sounds overly complex and intimidating. I will need to try and chrome up the two panels though and all I have for the job is a liquid chrome pen which I intended to use only for small touch up jobs. It seems to work well but I've found that the bleach does not remove it so I'm worried about how it will look over a bigger area and my ability to remove it if things go awry.

Would you look at that! I have waited for months but the day after I posted the above and we get Tamiya X-2 in Australia! Unfortunately they don't have the model kit I was hoping to buy along with it to reduce postage, so I may wait a little longer and continue with my Virago but it looks like the drought may finally be over.

This thread comes with a warning or two: I'm not the fastest of modellers so you'll need patience; Secondly I am still very new to all this and trying to climb the learning cliff so be forgiving, please. This is my first bike build. I used to own one of these so I am excited to give it a go. Mine was the XV1100 with a respray in pearlescent black, all the markings were removed apart from those etched into the actual casings and a set of Harley pipes rather than the overly chunky standard ones. The pipes were a mistake since when I cranked it over to the right they hit the tarmac and I learned to be very careful but it was a joy to ride and I in fact set of for my trip around Australia on her. A very comfortable bike and a pleasure to ride. I'd love to recreate her as she was in the picture but I don't have the skills to make the alternative pipes, I shall try and get as close as possible with the rest though. I wasn't going to do a WIP thread since this was just supposed to be a quick OOB build as a break from the Swordfish I'm currently waiting for paint supply issues with but I was taking a couple of pictures for my own reference and figured WTH might as well. I'd already started so don't have any complete sprue images and therefore stole some from here: ( https://pikabu.ru/story/moe_khobbi_tamiya_yamaha_xv_1000_virago_4817558 ) just for completeness. I don't read Russian but the guy did a great job, I aspire to do half as well. I tried using my new (ultra cheap) airbrush to spray the frame using Tamiya X-18 semi-gloss black. Previously I've always hand painted everything and I have to say, personally speaking, I don't enjoy the airbrush. Besides the palava of setting everything up and cleaning afterwards I found that for me it de-personalised the building process. When I paint I get to relax and learn every little intricacy of the plastic, with the airbrush I'm just trying to get even coverage on the model and as little as possible on everything else. So I have decided to return to the old fashioned hairy stick with perhaps the exception of the actual tank and guards which will require a finish I may not be capable of by hand. Anyway I wasn't happy with the Tamiya X-18 since it didn't have the deep heavy paint shine that the actual metal parts do, so I went over it by hand with Vallejo 70.861 Glossy Black. I enjoy hand painting Vallejo but Glossy black it wasn't. So I laid a couple of coats of future over it and then some hand buffing to finally get a shine I could see my face in. It's hard to tell from the photo, I'm very pleased with it though. I thinned out the number plate to make it look more like a number plate and less like a box of Black Magic (no photo since it was blurry). I thinned out the disk brakes, so they look less like a couple of dinner plates and drilled the holes, I'm not brave enough to attempt the slopping slots and I figured they'd make the plastic overly fragile. I removed the four circular pin holes on the rear of the disks and added some scoring using a dremel wire brush. The scoring is perhaps a little deep in the photo, it doesn't look too bad in reality but I may sand them shallower prior to painting. I'm enjoying this kit so far, it's also my first Tamiya kit and I'm finding the plastic a little different to work and the fits a little less precise than I am used to but it is an old kit so I have no complaints so far.

Well I haven't forgotten about this build for another two years but I have run into a series of complications beyond my control. The first: after the difficulty I had hand painting the white and metallic on the small cowl area I was a little terrified of doing the much larger fuselage and wings so I caved in... I bought the cheapest airbrush I could find on Amazon. I had a practice with it and broke it during cleaning, fixed it, broke it again, fixed it again and repeated the process once more. I think I know how it works now and it does seem to be going well. Of course I had to wait for delivery etc... which gave me my first break. Comfortable with the airbrush I started painting the actual model, it was going well until... I ran out of paint. It's a huge model and takes so much paint I could do with a 1L can of Dulux. So then came the second and current problem. I'm not sure if it's a world wide issue but here in Australia it's impossible to get Tamiya products just now and has been for the past several months, so no X-2 for me and I have to wait. Anyway here's a couple of images of some of the progress I made before the enforced delay. I removed the two mirrors and brackets since they looked like lifting points rather than mirrors. I used 15 Amp fuse wire for the brackets and cut the end of a pocket click from an old biro to make the mirror. It doesn't look like it in the photo but you could comb your hair in it in the real world. Replaced the wing lock release handles again with 15 Amp fuse wire. Ah this next one was fun. I fitted the posts to the upper wings. They left a huge gap and I complained profusely as I filled it with Tamiya putty. It was a perfect job until I discovered the gap was intentional and the slot was where the photo-etch bracing wires fitted. So digging into my putty I eventually managed to fit the wires and re-putty the much smaller gap using Mr Surfacer 1000. The wires are masked with liquid mask in case anyone wonders what all the gunk is. This is just the spay on Tamiya primer. I used AK camouflage putty to give the smooth lines. There was a point where I seriously considered just leaving the final model in Primer as it looked so good but there were spots where it was still a little thin and it took an entire can so I didn't have any left. Now I have seen the gloss of the X-2 I think I prefer it although I do still wonder. The main wing lights were modified by Trumpeter and don't seem to have the detail the Tamiya version does instead just providing a small lump of clear plastic. I modified the housing (can't show those since they're still masked), hole punched a couple of foil circles for reflectors then cut and glued the mushroom section of the Trumpeter lights onto them. Not sure about the hand drawn ink bracings but in reality they are so small they don't look as bad as in the photo. So this model is still on hold and I've finally given up the wait and moved onto building my Virago, but once the COVID effect is over and we can get Tamiya paint again I shall resume.

Just a quick note that may help others. I have spent the morning masking up the main body, I am not familiar with airbrushing but it seems to me that in using a rattle can primer along with the transparent fuselage I need to make the aircraft virtually airtight as even a little mist entering within could ruin my interior/transparency. There are quite a few little holes most of which I plugged with a dob of bluetack but there are some which were more difficult and could have been avoided. The holes shown above seem to provide absolutely no purpose apart from perhaps letting out the water if you are playing with your model in the bath. The first image is a strange one and I can't think of a way to prevent it in advance (other than perhaps somehow filling it before affixing part A9) the lower half (outside the pink square) is filled by part A9 (which on another note is a pain to fit with C22 attached but is quite easy if you thread it in from the side.) leaving just a small difficult to access square hole. I plugged this one with bluetack. The others in step 9 were more difficult, the small rectangle is easy to fill with bluetack but the two circular ones have nothing behind them and anything pushed in will simply drop through to the floor of the cockpit and be visible through the transparent half. Since the holes don't appear to be used, in hindsight, I would fill and paint all three from the inside prior to fitting C16 to the fuselage. I've had to put masking tape over them as I can't think of another way unless I can find a bit of sprue or something to jam into them. I'm considering putty but the holes are quite wide, approx 5mm, and the putty would show on the inside. If I can find some sprue I can paint the end which is inserted, glue it in place and then cut it off on the outside. I think, still kicking around ideas just now.

Made some progress, little bits that seem to take me a long time but I enjoy them so WTH. Putting the two halves together there are a few little points I learned which may be helpful to others. I wouldn't have installed the rear gun in hindsight. It folds back pretty well out of the way as can be seen in the second image but it would be so easy to fit at the end there is no point risking damage. I have recently seen elsewhere someone who removed the barrel of the forward gun so that it might be attached after painting. This seems like an excellent idea and if it were not to late for me I would certainly utilise it. I had a slightly difficult time installing the rear frame (Parts E10/12). The opaque side was easy as I simply attached it to the fuselage, there is only one small locating pin for attachment which is not sufficient and it was necessary to glue the rear end to the fuselage too. The transparent side gave me some issues for two reasons; I didn't want to glue it at the locating pin since (as can be seen in image 2 with the forward gun) even the smallest amount of glue becomes obvious discolouration in the clear fuselage. As the rear frame is going to be visible I wanted it to attach to the existing frame rather than simply float by itself which is would if affixed per the instructions. To overcome the above I installed the cockpit into the clear half and then attached the rear frame to the cockpit frame using the locating pin for a guide on position. Unfortunately when the two fuselage halves were joined the frame swung about most often resting away from the fuselage itself. To overcome this I drilled a small hole in the fuselage (Image 1) and dropped some glue through it to fasten the rear frame. {There is an increase indent but I can't find a decrease indent button} Normally I wouldn't have to mask so much using brushes but this time I have a rattle can of Tamiya white primer so it is necessary, however I wish I had done it immediately after fixing the rear frame since by using the transparent side I learned quickly that any dust or dirt which enters will be visible, including the drill chaff from the small hole which I would (again with hindsight) have drilled before joining the two halves. I did get nearly all the debris out but I felt like I was attempting to huff and puff the third piggies house down. Which also raises another point: don't forget to clean and polish the insides before joining the two halves, I didn't forget, but it was a close call. The rudder and tail are currently only dry fitted, generally the parts went together very well, the beauty of design becomes apparent as most of the gluing can be done in areas which will later be covered by other parts (like the area where I drilled the small hole). The fit is very snug and precise, even my knicker elastic wiring caused me to have to compress the two halves the tolerance is so fine. My Virago came today, three sprues and so tiny, I am really enjoying this build but I look forward to the simplicity of building the Virago as a change, one thing at a time though.

I managed to get the cowl and exhaust manifold painted, quite possibly a simple achievement for many of you long term modellers out there but difficult and traumatic for me I can assure you. Painting those metallic paints and white is no easy matter for me. For the manifold I used Vallejo: 70.996 Gold/70.864 Natural Steel/70.861 Glossy Black/70.950 Black/76.507 Model wash rust. (the gold, steel and wash formed my base adding small amounts of black as I build the layers) For the cowl I used Vallejo: 70.951 white (it took me a long time to build up very thin layers) I painted the inside of the cowl in Natural steel and glossy black 80/20, it probably wont be seen but it has a sleek reflective aspect I am hoping will catch the light on the small areas which are visible. I dilute all my paints using the equivalent of Future but still find this Vallejo to be very soft and easily removed with the slightest rub. It's a beautifully easy paint to lay down but just as easy to knock off. I'm not 100% happy with the results but I think I have to go with "satisfied" and move on. I forgot to paint my gasket with my original (lightest) mix before I began adding black so I had to make up another hence the match between the front of the manifold and the ring isn't exact. It's also currently only dry fit as I still have to paint the camouflage on the cowl but I need to complete the fuselage first in order to line everything up.

@dave Right, that makes sense. I just checked the actual kit and there do seem to be some mounts on the outside of the fuselage for two compasses, hard to spot on the transparent half I am using: Looking at the images posted by both Dave and Chris there is further evidence that the first image was not actually reversed since the compass mounts on port and starboard are in fact different with the port ones being encompassed by the fuselage while the starboard ones are external. Interesting. I wonder if that was simply so you didn't rip the crotch out of your trousers while climbing aboard. It's a good job I have become accustomed to looking stupid over the years since I seem to be wrong so often in this thread, it's good to learn through my errors though. Thank you again both of you for adding to the thread and correcting my mistakes, I hope to keep making them since your corrections make for a great resource of information in a single place. It's wonderful to learn so much about this aircraft and the people involved with them just from building a plastic kit, details I would have missed by just reading a book. I do at times feel the weight of the information load despite my enjoyment in learning so I just ordered my next kit, something much, much simpler in terms of research and details, a Tamiya Virago. So now I have to keep going to get this one finished so I can have a more laid back relaxing time with glue and paint.

Thanks for that, I have that one too but I never even noticed the compass when I was looking through my images for reference since it appears to be mounted on the wrong side of the aircraft but the image is actually flipped horizontally. It's a really good shot for showing/demonstrating the two cylinders though, especially when you flip it to it's original orientation, it seems to make it easier to look at. Thank you.

Thanks dogsbody I have added Mr. Surfacer 1000 to my next shopping list, I guess they putty will be good for bigger jobs. The needle applicator is a great idea too. Today was a good day, I finally resolved my IP mounting issue. I will post how here in case it helps someone else with the same problem. First I went with the attaching the IP to the gun magazine as it seemed the most simple. I attached the magazine to the gun angling it down as much as possible, I then drilled a small hole in the end of the magazine on the side facing the IP and inserted a length of styrene dowel 0.5mm thick. I filed out the area on the IP which comes into contact with the gun to remove the curve and give better contact then I glued the IP to the gun and glued the dowel to the IP where it rested against it. This actually made a very solid construction, it was easy to do and align the parts and it fitted well. The only issues I had with this method were that it becomes quite delicate to fit and remove the whole cockpit and it was going to be impossible to fit any wiring to the rear of the IP. So as bigbadbadge suggested I decided to try the block method. I looked through my left over sprues and found a part from my Spitfire which served perfectly but a piece of sprue would have done just as well. First I had to glue the gun permanently to the fuselage and I found the little locating lug alone was not sufficiently strong so I had to run some Extra Thin down between the barrel and fuselage, easy to do from the inside and the glue doesn't show through the transparent part that way. I also rotated the gun to angle the magazine downwards as much as possible while still using the locating lug, there is actually quite a lot of play. I attached the spitfire part to the rear of the IP, it had to be quite low (3/4 of the way down) in order to make good contact with the oil tank. The depth of the attached piece was eventually filed to 4.5mm at the top and 4mm at the bottom in order to position the IP in the correct place. It was easy to then fit some wires before attaching the IP to the oil tank. I still have to figure out how/where I am going to terminate the wires but as you can see below it works very well. The images are not the best but they hopefully show the positioning for the IP. Hope this helps someone, I'm glad to have it done. It was actually easier than I thought it would be but using the first method certainly helped since it gave me a really good idea of where the IP needed to align.

@dogsbody We seem to be in some kind of ping pong misunderstanding here and it's most likely my fault. I originally thought, using the references I was, that the ring might have been a gasket and I figured it'd be a good idea to make one myself not for accuracy but to make painting the ring easier. After your first response with the heat distribution diagram I could see that the actual aircraft had no gasket and I agreed with your information. I have neither the experience, knowledge or desire to argue with you and was grateful for the information you posted as it helped me understand the manifold mechanics better. I have, despite this new understanding, decided to use the gasket I made on the kit despite their being no such item on the actual aircraft, since it still functions in its original purpose, namely as an easier way to duplicate the ring with paint. I simply do not have the confidence to attempt to replicate such a defined and high contrast ring using masking tape and brush painting on a curved cylinder and so, even if my current "gasket" broke I'd likely still make another since it was far easier for me to do that than to consider the masking option. I do, as always, appreciate your input and information, every little bit is informative and encouraging for me, I hope this clarifies the confusion. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Assembling the exhaust took far longer than I anticipated. I have very little experience in this hobby as this is only my third kit, the previous two being Airfix kits but even so, after the almost click and go aspect of much of this kit so far I was astonished to encounter the poor quality of the exhaust parts. I forgot to take pictures of the original fit as I became immediately engrossed in trying to correct it so the images below were after I'd removed a LOT of plastic in order to get the fin halves to align. I didn't do anything to correct the end fitting at the point when I took the images. The original fit was so poor that there was a 1mm gap between the two halves of each fin on both sides of the exhaust, that being between the two parts M8 and M3 and the main exhaust M1+M10. The whole assembly was a mess and although I have seen people dealing with much worse on BM it was a shock for me after a, thus far, well made kit. I checked the differences between the Tamiya instructions and the Trumpeter ones and for some reason Trumpeter decided to go with a different alignment system than Tamiya on this particular part, just like the IP. I'm beginning to suspect that the quality in the kit is down to Tamiya and every time Trumpeter walk their own path the result is very poor indeed. I did enjoy the challenge I kept telling myself it was a "kit" and if I'd wanted click and play I should have bought Lego but even so it was strange to go from perfect fit to absolutely nowhere close in the same kit. I had to use Tamiya putty to correct the gaps, it was my first time using the stuff in battle and I at first found it to be very cloggy and difficult to use. I overcame the difficulties, eventually applying it with the edge of my scalpel instead of a toothpick but I have to say I still found it a little thick. I attempted to thin it using Tamiya X-20, Water and Future but none worked, only resulting in an unmanageable lump. The packet says to thin with "Tamiya Lacquer Thinners" but I don't want to buy that just for thinning putty is there another more domestic alternative for thinning the putty? My completed exhaust, I also hollowed out the fins a little with my trusty blade.

Thanks Ex-FAAWAFU it is nice to guess correctly occasionally, since I cannot tell if LS247 had them fitted or not I shall add them to my model as it's a little more detail so why not. @bigbadbadge The block is my favourite option as it will provide stability and if I can position the IP with bluetak and then run in some extra thin it would in theory be fairly simple apart from one aspect which has so far put me off the idea. To add to the positioning complexity the oil tank itself is not a right angle but rather slopes backwards away from the IP as can be seen in the second photo above. Rather than a block I have considered 1 or 2 thin strips top/bottom but the top one would have to have considerable depth. I do keep circling the idea but by comparison the ease of adding back in the Tamiya locating lug and/or a small piece of styrene tube between the magazine and the bottom of the IP has me leaning toward that option a little more just now. @dogsbody Thank you for the information, I am not sure what you were trying to convey exactly but I'm assuming it's that my guess at a gasket is incorrect. I'd have to agree but adding one certainly helps re-produce that distinctive ring. In the collage below the image on the left is from the refurbished W5856 and the one Geoff Coughlin based his book upon, the rear ring is very prominent while the front one is non-existent, which seems very odd if it too was produced by the heating effect. This of course is a refurbished aircraft and, as was pointed out to me previously, therefore somewhat unreliable, perhaps they actually did paint it on, or something similar, for effect in an effectively new aircraft. The next three images are all taken from on-board HMS Tracker with 816 squadron, at the time LS247 was aboard. The fading at the front of the manifold doesn't worry me overly but the rear one, was giving me concern. I think I am still going to use my own gasket as it makes painting that perfect, equally wide ring, much easier, it may also allow me to produce the darker ring behind it which I assume is the join between the two parts. The ring is a little odd though as in images 1/2/4 you can see it has a darker band both in front and behind it which was what led me to the gasket conclusion. Image 2 however has the same darker ring running around it's almost perfect front ring. Again thank you for your information it is nice to understand the mechanics and effects that are going on, I am not seeking perfection with this but the manifold worries me more than any other part since it is such a distinctive and eye-catching feature of the aircraft, especially in contrast to the white fuselage. The good news, for me at least, is I just realised I need to put the exhaust together before I can paint this so I have found another reason to put it off after all.

Thanks dogsbody, turns out I have that one too but my copy isn't as clear and the magazine is too flared out. I also found this one this morning: It looks like the far right, lower instruments are removed when the gun is fitted. I am still struggling with how to mount my instrument panel it's such a fiddly piece so unlike the rest of the model. I took some photos for myself to see if they might help me think of something. Turns out there is quite a lot of play in the actual gun fitting pin and the magazine can be angled down a little more than I thought previously, so the gun and the magazine can be fitted fairly easily the IP is a different matter though. Once the two fuselage halves are joined it becomes almost impossible to access it too. I am considering making a block and attaching it to the oil tank but positioning is very difficult, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this before in other builds I can't help think I'm missing something. If you look at the IP in my previous post, the point where it is supposed to attach to the gun barrel has a arched section, I'm considering removing that and making it square to give a better joint but the flexibility in positioning the gun to the fuselage itself is putting me off the idea a little. My best option so far is to build up the gun and magazine and then re-add the Tamiya connection between the magazine and the IP. In the meantime I have been considering the engine cowling and the small, lighter band between the exhaust manifold and the engine cowling itself. In his book Geoff Coughlin says he just masked the area and painted it, an activity which didn't excite me I have to say, masking a 0.5 mm area around and uneven circle is beyond my skillset. I thought about putting the piece on a rotating table and hand painting it for a little while but then I considered what the band actually was. Since I couldn't imagine the conversation... "Airman have you fixed that engine yet?" "No sir but look at this lovely silver band I painted instead." I figured the band was probably a gasket and if the original used a gasket then why couldn't I? So I made one out of 0.5mm styrene card. I'm quite pleased with the result, it does add 0.5mm to the cowling depth but I don't think this will interfere with the prop or look out of place, the exhausts don't quite reach the cylinders with it installed but it's very difficult to get an angle where you can actually see that. Now I only have to worry about the actual painting of the cowl, I don't know how much longer I can put it off.

Another slow update, not entirely my fault this time though, well perhaps it was. Turns out my cockpit green lid had a crack in it and two years was a little too long for the paint inside to survive so I had to order more and what with COVID and Christmas effecting the post it'd have been quicker to cycle to Japan and fetch it myself. I have a bunch of other excuses too but I won't burden you with those. I used Dave's method for the decals and it was 75% successful and likely would have been 100% if not for my subsequent manhandling. You see I encountered a small problem with the Trumpeter kit, below is the Tamiya instructions for installing the pilots control panel: As you can see by utilising the magazine and the gun barrel they produce a rectangular joined piece which I imagine is fairly solid. Trumpeter in their somewhat questionable wisdom decided that whilst replacing the actual panel with a clear part they would also do away with the small tab which connects to the weapon magazine: This means that the only point of contact for the control panel is the gun barrel and it's not exactly a snap fit as per the kit so far, in fact it's an extremely flimsy joint and I can imagine the control panel rattling around inside the fuselage in years to come. It seems Tamiya too had some discussions over this part since the rear of their control panel has a completely unused large circular protrusion on the rear. Anyway, Whilst playing about with methods to affix the panel more securely I managed to remove one of the decals, several times. In the end I gave up, re-applied the decal using Dave's method and then cut a styrene sheet to fit the rear and glued the sandwich in place. Luckily no decal damage occurred but I still haven't figured out how to make the panel more secure. The other oddity is the actual gun magazine, I'm guessing that it's the same in both kits but certainly in the Trumpeter one the magazine covers half the instruments. I don't have a visual reference of the actual weapon but I can't imagine it'd have looked like this it may in fact interfere with the operation of the joystick itself, could the magazine have been added purely to give the control panel more stability in the model perhaps. I think I am going to leave out the magazine altogether especially since it no longer helps secure the panel anyway. I also added a small square of styrene at an angle to represent the compass mirror and applied the decal to it rather than the flat rear of the panel. My next problem was the (fusebox??) instrument shown top right in the image above. Since it is attached to the transparent fuselage and so the rear will be visible I had to cut a piece of styrene to provide a back panel instead of the hollowed out original part. This then meant that the locating lugs no longer did so I removed them from the fuselage but that still left the issue of how to glue it to the transparent plastic without displaying a large blob of glue to spoil the effect. Fortunately there is a ledge which runs just below the part and I intend to attach it to that so that the glue is underneath rather than at the rear, I will leave it until I fit the cockpit though in case there is interference with the new position despite it only being slightly off the original. Once my cockpit green arrived I painted up the inner fuselage on the opaque port side then painted in the red dope and instruments: To get the dope effect I first painted using a mix of Humbrol 113 (Rust) and Vallejo 70.296 (Red). Before this had time to dry completely I then semi-dry brushed undiluted Vallejo Red and Humbrol 63 (Sand). I intentionally painted badly, which was pretty easy for me, in order to give the lumpy roughly painted appearance of the doped canvas. I added the Vallejo Black later to add a little more contrast, it's a bit like stage makeup but without it everything just looked like a flat red through the joined transparent starboard fuselage. Once the two are together and the area is darker the black looks much better and adds some depth. As you can see I painted the entire rear fuselage in the dope, I had no reference for this but examining the outside of the aircraft I simply doped the areas which were canvas covered. I needed the whole rear done due to my intention to use the starboard transparent fuselage. In the top image above you can see my scratch marks where I tried to remove the semi circular pin-marks, they look worse in the photo than in real life but I had a real hard time with these as they were not the most accessible, I'm sure they must have been a better way than simply scraping the area flat with a scalpel but it eluded me. I have no idea what the two cylindrical items are in the center of the fuselage, one in the observers pit and one in the gunners. They seem to have a round compass looking item added later in the build but I can find no reference to what they are exactly, perhaps a locating slot for sun umbrella's? It would be nice to know what they are if anybody who knows actually reads this. In the kit instructions they are parts E24. My next problem is trying to figure out everything that needs to be done before the two halves are joined together. I have to say the Trumpeter instructions get a little erratic at this point. Instruction 3 for example has me attaching the pilots weapon and the control panel and assembling the tail in the same instruction while #4 then jumps back to assembling the fuselage. I found using the Tamiya instructions for reference really helped. One plus for Trumpeter though is that they have already provided most of the holes for the included PE so there is no drilling required in the actual fuselage. Well, no drilling if you are following the instructions that is. In both kits there is no provision for the rear control surface cabling although both have detailed the exit ports. I drilled the required holes in both halves and threaded some of my valuable knicker elastic. I don't have any easy wire or whatever everyone else uses so I figured the elastic would do the same job, I have no idea how it will hold up to the test of time but I made sure to use only elastic from my wife's most expensive knickers to give it a better chance. She doesn't know yet but I'm dreading the next time we go out, I hope she doesn't wear a dress. It took quite some time to get through the clear plastic with my cheap drill bits but persistence brought reward. I've secured the cables on the inside with a tiny, weeny bit of superglue, terrified the fumes would fog the part but my cocktail stick applicator seems to have worked well. I may yet have to remove the cables from the outside of the port side and re-drill the holes since I cannot yet think of a suitable way to mask the cables themselves whilst I paint the fuselage and the less I have to paint around the more likely I am to get a good finish. It doesn't matter on the clear side as I will just leave that area unpainted. I just ran the cables to an inner bulkhead as they'll merge with the other cabling once the cockpit is inserted. My next job is to mask up and insert the two small windows and then I finally have to face the part I have been avoiding for so long, the nose cowling and exhaust. I have no idea how I am going to paint those using brushes but I'm sure the actual doing won't match my worries in the end, I hope not anyway. Thanks for reading all this, hopefully my errors/issues might help someone else in the future.

A joy to look at. Great work.

Thank you Dave that really helps I shall give it a go.

I could use a little help please... The kit comes with a transparent part for the instrument panel and four small decals which make up the instruments. My first instinct was to apply liquid mask to the clock faces on the front of the panel, paint the rest of the part, stick the decal to the rear and then remove the mask revealing the clocks. I remember my error with my last model though, decals won't stick face down. It would be really nice if Trumpeter had provided some reverse decals to accompany the transparent part in fact since the rear of the panel is flat a single reverse decal would have been perfect but unfortunately not. I read somewhere that it is possible to glue the decals, backing included to the part but I couldn't find anywhere what type of glue would be best for the job. It seems a shame to have a transparent part with the glass effectively already in place and not make use of it but I keep going round in circles. One option I had was to scan the decals and print them on glossy paper and then attempt the glue on the back method with the paper since I'd still be keeping the original decals in tact and therefore my options open. Any help, ideas, suggestions would be welcome.

I managed to get the engine painted and assembled after some difficulties getting used to my paints once again. I much prefer the Vallejo personally I find it brushes much more easily and without the constant thinning maintenance but some colours I only have in Tamiya so needs must. I tried using 15 Amp fuse wire for the spark plug cables, the cylinder end was simple I just drilled a hole either side and threaded the wire through but the other end was proving difficult since I had sanded the collar of D21 down for the induction pipes and there really wasn't enough room to drill holes for the wire or apply enough glue to hold it. In the end I ripped them all out and went with the much easier tried and tested knicker elastic, it was so much easier than the wire I wish I'd thought of it first. Now a little but more about Cliff... Two weeks on the actual job at sea, extremely inexperienced, his second crash in three days, freezing cold water, this thing looming over you churning up the water: You've just pulled your injured Observer from the rapidly sinking aircraft and you're a great swimmer, high school swimming champion in fact. As Ex-FAAWAFU pointed out many airmen couldn't swim but I suspect there were probably a higher number of proficient paddlers from NZ and Australia since it was a more common activity in this part of the world. What do you do next? It would be easy to think that Cliff might be a little flustered, not thinking perfectly straight, panicked even but instead of leaping into the water and paddling like a kayaker approaching Niagara Falls in order to get away from that rapidly disappearing air-plane Cliff instead calmly limbs onto the wing and attempts to recover the dysfunctional life-raft: As you can see in the last image he was still working on the deflated life-raft even as the plane disappeared beneath him. The speed with which LS247 falls away from HMS Tracker is an indication of just how quickly all this happened and further testimony to Cliff's clear headed actions is the fact that while he struggled not one of the hundred or so onlookers had similar presence of mind to launch a life-raft (of which there were at least eight seen in the photo below) from Tracker herself or even that life-ring visible in the last photo. Norman Alvey in his book "A Sprog Goes to War" writes of the accident (I posted this earlier but a reminder): I think it likely Norman was mistaken about the smoke float accidentally going off since it isn't visible in the earlier images, it's more likely that the second Swordfish observed the difficulties and had the presence of mind to fly over and drop the smoke to mark the position of the aircrew. Cliff didn't run solo uphill to take a machine gun nest or fire the torpedo which sank the Bismark but nonetheless I think this act of bravery, attempting to recover the raft even as the plane vanished after helping the other crew from the plane, is none the less heroic. It's also a testimony to his character and suggests that the conditions for those inexperienced pilots were indeed awful and all the accidents were not simply a result of nerves or muddle-headedness.

Don't you just hate it when someone says something so logical that all you can think is "now why didn't I consider that?". Thanks MeneMene that does make sense. I was misled by two things, firstly the fact that the colour image above is taken from the book "How to Build Tamiyas Fairey Swordfish" by Geoff Coughlin. The accompanying text is as follows: The second thing was that I was convinced I saw at least one old B&W image with the ring but I cannot find it again so it was probably weariness. I can't blame Geoff or his book for the misleading information though if the ground crew had told me that the ring was black in the war I would probably have believed them too, especially since it is included in all the model kits and you'd assume they'd been researched properly. So don't let the above put you off Geoff's book there is some interesting information and tips in there, especially for a new player such as myself. I have removed the ring from my own model, I also removed the lugs for the cylinder lubrication points since after dry fitting everything they were quite visible. I intended to begin painting the initial black coat today but instead decided I'd add some spark plugs and wiring if only to put off the painting I admittedly confess I'm a little afraid of after so long away. I'm beginning to feel a little spoilt with this kit, there are some minor seams in some obvious places but aside from that everything clicks together so well they could almost advertise is as "No glue required". I have to use a scalpel to prise the bits apart again. There is one section on the cowl which has a small gap and of course I had to adapt part D19 so that the induction pipes actually met the cylinders but overall this kit feels like quality so far; if you don't include the obvious lack of proper research of course.

Thank you again everyone, you answered questions I didn't even have yet but which are just as fascinating. I never realised (or noticed to be honest) the ariel along the upper wing and hadn't considered or paid much attention to the ASV at all but undoubtedly would have since - as Dave mentioned - the ariel is seen on LS247. Since there isn't one included in the kit I guess I'll have to make one of those. Eventually. I suppose I had previously assumed (I know, never assume anything) that the ASV required the "dustbin" to be fitted and took all the observers pit which then pushed out the gunner. From what you have said here it seems the reverse is true the gunner was no longer required and so the ASV allowed to spread out a little. Lucky for him since they were likely all being irradiated. That's really good to hear since I have another question. Continuing with my dry fit and cleanup I wondered about this part (D6): The three bracing rods are found on all aircraft but the outer ring and it's three triangular standoffs are found on very few indeed. I haven't been able to find it on any MkII's and only a few MkI's. Normally it is painted black but from the second image it's obviously stainless tube, there is the one fitting at about 4 o'clock and a second fitting at about 10 o'clock. All I could think of was that it may have been a post production, in the field, temporary fix for an oil heating problem just prior to the larger cooler being added? Or perhaps it was added only to aircraft operating in certain areas at higher temperatures, that is if my suspicion about simple oil cooling is correct. Interesting though that it is also fitted to W5856 in her restoration along with the larger oil cooler and Pegasus XXX so perhaps my oil cooling theory is off the mark. Either way it certainly isn't found on any of the 816 aircraft aboard HMS Tracker so I shall have to remove it but it is curious how such a hard to find (photographically) part ended up in both the Tamiya and Trumpeter MkI/MkII kits.

Right. Understandable, I figured there was probably a reason but thought it wouldn't hurt to post the images anyway just in case. Apologies.

@dogsbody I may be trying to teach you to suck eggs here (I am new remember) but in my search I came across the thread here on BM from 2017 and from your post above where you say "the only image" I have to assume you haven't seen the aircraft at IWM Duxford? There are several images which show the radar layout including these two: It still doesn't address the problem of where they put the third man of course, I too am curious about that now. I am also curious as to the role of the third man if there is information. @ Dave Do you have images of three men in a pregnant Swordfish? I couldn't find any.

Wow you guys are amazing. I know nothing of modelling, aircraft or WWII but sometimes something just catches my attention and following it up opens up all kinds of wonderful information and insight. I only have Google to work with, well Google and a few other search engines, but they have their limitations. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to add their buckets of knowledge to my pitifully empty pot. @Grey Beema My apologies the image I posted wasn't very clear as I look back at it now, I always try to keep size as low as possible but it's often a trade off between that and information. The lugs are actually just below the exhaust outlets with only one per cylinder. In the kit the pipes for the exhausts are on the cowling part itself. So then... the simple method of distinguishing between a MkI Swordfish and a MkII by checking for the large oil cooler - I have been using - is entirely inaccurate. I went through some of my images and read a few pages more and now I know what I am looking for it's pretty obvious, there are plenty of MkI's with the larger engine/cooler I just never noticed before. So the only way to distinguish between a MkI and MkII (apart from the serial number of course) is the rocket rails and perhaps the extended exhaust, which wasn't fitted to all MkII's - as far as I can tell - but certainly not fitted to any MkI's? I just checked the Trumpeter instructions for the Mk1 and, unlike the Tamiya, they include decals for W5984, which although it was a MkI aircraft it would undoubtedly have been fitted with the larger engine and oil cooler. It's interesting how my obsession with those tiny little engine lugs has led me to all of this new information. Perhaps I was alone in thinking you could differentiate between the two Mk's by the oil cooler alone but perhaps this information will prove useful to someone else too. Thank you Dave for answering my question regarding the purpose of the small pipes/lugs. I am not so obsessive with accuracy that I will go so far as to remove them from my model, they really aren't going to be very visible but I was toying with the idea of adding in the pipes themselves prior to learning all this new information, which is what began my study into the Pegasus in the first place. I am learning something about myself too it seems, I do love details, perhaps it's due to the fact that they often, inadvertently, lead to bigger pictures. It never ceases to blow my mind just how knowledgeable you guys here at BM are and just how helpful, thank you all.