Ralph

Minor update...bare metal areas for with Ak metallic....

Evening, Is anyone else experiencing significant scrolling glitches? I am getting multiple images of posts all overlaying on top of one another when scrolling through a thread-can't really describe it better than that? Just me or a more general issue? Cheers Ralph

Small update...finished x-wing pilots! Now, am not the world's best figure painter by a long shot, but hopefully these will look alright from a couple of feet away...one chap is having a conversation with a recalcitrant demolition droid, whilst the other two are puzzling out their next mission. Or something like that! I could probably do with putting a map or some such on the tool box. We'll see.The idea is to have little mini-scenes dotted around...have a couple more ideas for that kind of thing!

Was idly looking up different droids that might be appropriate for mos Eisley when I came across this mine clearance/demolition droid. It is Lin -8vk, apparently, and appears on the sandcrawler scene in episode IV. Anyway, was in our local handyman when I saw a packet of screws and caps...the latter seemed just the thing and perfectly in scale. A pound and some plastic rod later, here's my scratchbuilt effort! I am thinking that the New Republic will be deploying them to forward operating locations to clear imperial mines and boobytraps...the idea is to have one of the x-wing pilots talking and gesturing to it. Just needs a coat of metallic black...

OK...starting to come together. Cockpit almost there and feeling pleased with this. I've attached wings and fin, and you can also see the slightly off-piste way I join up hasegawa's Eagle fuselage sides... one at a time! Doing it this way gives a perfect join, especially using Tamiya extra thin cement. I've also done the canopy internals and have been experimenting with AK interactive fs30279 and fs30140, which when used with their own brand thinners spray brilliantly. I've tried these out on the horizontal stabilisers. One is entirely dark brown, and the other is a combination...both have had their inner grey panels masked off. More tomorrow...

Great shot of a great airframe. The 49TFW is very under represented in the after market decal front....I'd like a set in 1/72!

OK, two pilots chosen and washed with warm soapy water to clean off release agent. Then a quick blast of Tamiya matt white to both prime and for the white helmet, vest etc but also to act as an undercoat for the orange flight suits. Am leaving them to dry while I find an appropriate-and critically brushable- orange from the paint stores... Oh, and a greeblie made up with plasticard and a kit leftover...we shall call this a tools or parts box for the ground crew that I have yet to make... Finally, I have added a door frame to the rotunda area. This is made from plasticard and foam and carved to fit the curved wall behind it. Pics from the sets show that doors are a good foot or so deep. It'll need to be blended in with poly filler when it's dry, and the actual door itself fitted, which I working on now. That's it for the time being!

Getting back to a semi serious note...well as serious as junk modelling a fictional scene from a science fiction movie can be...was v.excited to get my resin X-wing pilots in the post. There's five poses. Good moulding and realistic poses. I've chosen two to work with, although figure painting isn't my strongest suite...might check out some YouTube videos... Probably the second from left and fourth from left.

A few more bits and pieces...main wheels done, ECM pod complete and fan blades mounted in the lower fuselage.

Having seriously neglected this GB (distracted by my CF104 over at the Canadian GB!) I am now finally jumping onto this. First up is the cockpit. I have been respraying this because I didn't like the kit supplied cockpit decals...some awkward masking coming up! I've been working on some of the smaller parts and cleaning up the main parts to facilitate a hopefully smooth build-up to the most complicated part -the aggressor scheme! I've greesed up the not half bad ejection seats with fine filling belts which should facilitate dry brushing later on...

Having seriously neglected this GB (distracted by my CF104 over at the Canadian GB!) I am now finally jumping onto this. First up is the cockpit. I have been respraying this because I didn't like the kit supplied cockpit decals...some awkward masking coming up! I've been working on some of the smaller parts and cleaning up thd main parts to facilitate a hopefully smooth build-up to the most complicated part -the aggressor scheme!

439 Sabretooth Tiger Squadron F-104, mid 1970s with BL755 warload. 1/72 Hasegawa kit with Master Pitot, Airgraphics bombs and pylons and Belcher Bits decals. Tamiya paints.

Final stages...I used Windsor and Galleria Satin varnish because pictures showed a slight sheen to the paint. I am really pleased how the various shades of green came out with the final coat of varnish...a bit too subtle to show up in the pics though. The Hasegawa kit is nothing if not complete...it has a multitude of small clear parts which were painted with various shades of tamiya clear paints and painstakingly added. Didn't lose one... Then onto the fun bit-unmasking for the final reveal! No bleed through thankfully, and suddenly I have a completed Canadian starfighter for the display shelf. Will do more pics for the gallery when the light is better. Really pleased with this one...now to do a Japanese Eiko!

Just some detail bits and pieces...space junk in various shades of metallic glued on... Random 'greeblie' from the spates box... Vaporator painted light grey... ...and a bit of fun! Slightly off scale, but Star Wars Lego and speeder bike from Mandalorian just to populate it in the meantime!😁

Decals on!

Thanks! Did indeed spray the varnish- thinned along with Tamiya thinner. Have decided that touch ups and adjustments are needed on the bomb stripes...luckily it's just 2 of them that really need the work.

And masking off and bombs on! Not sure how successful the masking was in actuality....Close enough for jazz, but possibly doesn't stand up to scrutiny up close! Won't see them much anyway...

Masking off the white stripes to be added to the Bl755s...both tedious and therapeutic in equal measure....oh and wheels on. Just need to add lights and final undercarriage doors on terms of plastic bits. Decals next though!

Small update...am working on the Bl755s. Have masked off and sprayed the yellow band...am debating whether to go decsl or psint for the characteristic 4 white stripes underneath. A lot of masking if the latter!

Paint on...my custom mix xf81/xf67 was sprayed on with variations in neat xf 67 on different panels and sections in accordance with pictures. Then it was a exercise on masking for the black areas and fibreglass areas...xf69 Nato black and Xf57 buff respectively. I got the undercarriage on, and a coat of Windsor and Galleria gloss varnish followed. I've also umasked the wheels. Unusually for a starfighter the hubs aren't silver; the nose wheel was white, and the main wheel hubs seem to be gloss black. The tyres were done in xf69 Nato black. You can just about see the tonal variation in the green camo...looks stronger in realised! Decals next; need to find good pics of stencilling for the Bl755s.

Moving forward! Finally had some time to get things finished cockpit wise. Ejection seat done; milliput back cushion, wine foil belts and an aftermarket ejection seat handle. Seat bedded into the cockpit. A point to note is that you have to file a chunk off the bottom of the seat for it to fit under the canopy. Finally, the canopy on. Tomorrow night is masking and spraying the main colour. I have been faffing around with various shades of green to try to get that elusive warm green... I've finally hit on a mix of xf81 RAF dark green and Xf67 NATO green which seems to match pretty well to the pictures I have. The real airframes showed marked signs of touch ups which vary in shade so I will do this with neat versions of each colour. More anon! I have also replaced the Airgraphics undernose RWR with the kit one. I finally found a closeup of the real thing and it turns out the kit part is rather more accurate both in size and detail! On a different note, it's just struck me thst the only Canadian aircraft I've ever built was an Airfix F-104 the best part of 40 years ago...where does the time go?

Have decided on reflection that it was some what over scale in height, so have cut it down to be more in keeping with 1/72....definitely works better on the diorama I think.

Saturday morning relaxation....scratch building a vaporator out of well, junk...a panther tank wheel, a bf109 spinner plate, brass tube and various plastic tube and square section. I've used various pictures and schematics online to inform how I've built it without slavishly following a prototype. I've figured there would be many makes and models following the same basic design. Thoroughly enjoyable! ...and the more or less finished article before painting, but placed on the diorama to see how it's looking!

Saturday morning relaxation....scratch building a vaporator out of well, junk...a panther tank wheel, a bf109 spinner plate, brass tube and various plastic tube and square section. I've used various pictures and schematics online to inform how I've built it without slavishly following a prototype. I've figured there would be many makes and models following the same basic design. Thoroughly enjoyable! ...and the more or less finished article before painting, but placed on the diorama to see how it's looking!

'Space junk'! One of the key features of Mos Eisley is the heaps of presumably scrap space ship parts and random tech piled up in corners...something of a space flea market! I've always had the sense that it is a run down sort of place that has to 'make do and mend' to make ends meet, and where recycling is a essential part of life. I am aiming to recreate this aspect in a corner of the diorama. I dug out some old sprues of random parts, and have glued them together to hopefully give the idea of scavenged parts propped up in a corner to be used ...at some point! I think there are 1/48 Bf109 cowlings and exhausts, Ki61 cockpit parts, triple ejection racks,N gauge railway barrels...well, you get the idea. They are all glued together, and currently drying in situ as per the second pic...in the fullness of time I'll prime them black and spray them with various shades of AK metals. Thoroughly enjoyable 10 mins of fun before I hit the sack! I just wish I had some 1/72 Jawas rooting through them...I wonder how difficult it might be to sculpt some from Milliput?🤔😬