Gary Brantley

Thanks for the five reactions.

A real beauty Luiz!

Damned nice work gryphon! Flawless I'd say, and you should be really proud of this one! 🍻

I don't like it. No, I love it!😀 A prize winning model if I've ever seen one. The paint and weathering are first rate and it's just a fantastic Hornet mate! 🍺

Myteefine work there gryphon! That Avenger does look great dude, beautiful photography as well. All in all, A plus work!

Hey, no comment in 23 hours. Is that a good or bad thing? 🤔

Good luck with this project! I've contemplated something similar. I have the B-25, B-26 and A-20 WWII twins all in 1/48. I've thought of building them all at once, in a sort of assembly line approach. Good start here!👍

Very nice work mate! I'd reckon you've put a lot of work into her and it certainly shows! Great attention to detail always leads to a great looking model. I'm looking forward to seeing this one finished! 🍺

Oh, I need one of these! You've done a great job on your model! That's one mean looking SOB. Love it!

A nice pair (w/apologies to Pink Floyd 😉)! Great looking birds Jens; well done sir! 🍺

Splendid model! So well done! 🍻

What more can be said? 😀 That beast is just beautiful, and a level of workmanship that I could never attain! What a model airplane!

What sharp work Luiz! I love it! Those figures, man, they look so realistic and in a great pose. I don't see many Hs-126 models done and this one is so impressive. Very well done indeed!!👍

Man, you know I love a Voodoo, and that one looks great! Interesting backstory too. That's a very neat project, done to perfection! 🍺

Great looking Voodoo Nikolay! All the work you put into her really paid off my friend. She looks great and that's a model to be proud of no doubt. Thanks for sharing with us! 👏

I've been hammering along on my Tamiya Meteor build and took a few progress pics yesterday. My first attempt at scratch-building a seat belt/harness was awful. I recalled a tutorial on Philip Flory's website that showed his technique for simple belts and buckles but alas, it's now in the paid subscriber section, which I am not unfortunately. But I did find a YouTube video in which a gentleman uses the exact same method and that really refreshed my memory about the technique. Well, I still have a long way to go in getting them to look just like I want. They are too much out of scale. But, they are an improvement and they were cheap. Made from masking tape and fuse wire, I'm hoping they'll be passable under a closed canopy. I still need to do a bit of tweaking on the buckles and adjusters, trimming, shaping and squeezing a little more. The two lap belts: Shoulder harness: The seat is merely sitting in place in these pics. Once the lap belts are on, it will be glued into the cockpit tub and the shoulder straps glued to the seat back. The rear of the bulkhead will get a small cover plate to conceal the back of the shoulder harness. I cut a slot through said bulkhead and glued a tiny bit of fuse wire across it. My plan was the thread the shoulder belts over and through that wire, draping them down the seat front. That proved too ambitious; the wire broke away as I fiddled with the ends of the straps and finally they were pulled down and taped in place against the rear of the bulkhead. Speaking of "fiddly"; dicking around with those tiny wire buckles and strips of tape was damned fiddly even working beneath the magnifier light! I know they're "out of scale" but they are just about at the limit of my eyesight and hand dexterity. The landing gear is finished and ready. Gear doors are done as well: One wheel is separate from each tire and the other side requires careful painting. I used masks from a Maketar wheel masking set for the first time and they seemed to work well. I have used a circle template when the rim was raised enough from the tire and I've also used very thin paint to fill the edge between wheel and tire, running the paint around the wheel and then filling in with multiple coats, with thicker paint. But this time I tried something new and it actually worked. The wheels are painted Testor's flat steel (little 1/4 oz. square bottle) mixed with silver and the tires are Humbrol dark grey 32. It's the closest "out of the bottle" color for tires that I've found. Tamiya provides a ballast weight for the Meteor that neatly fits into a space on the fuselage belly. I've read that that was barely enough weight to prevent tail sitting so I looked for space for additional weight. I found it beneath the cockpit "cowling". I mixed lead shotgun pellets into two-part epoxy and spread that paste under the cowl part. In the pic, there's a gap between that cowl and the fuselage. Well, with just a tiny press, that cowl almost snaps in place flush as can be. An impressive bit of Tamya engineering: The fuselage, together and awaiting priming and final seam filling: I'm hoping I'll have time to finish the cockpit today and get it installed. Then, I'll be ready to assemble the wings and get them attached. At this point, there's still a lot of work left to do but progress has been made at last! Thanks for looking in, having a peek, and yes, comments are welcomed!

What a nice comment!🍺 Thanks for the encouraging words Getting Old. I do so appreciate that! 😀

Beauty mate! 🍺

Very cool indeed! Great job on the in-flight pose! 👏

Thanks for the nice comment my friend! I'm glad that you liked her. 🥃

Thanks Russ! That's so nice of you to say, much appreciated sir. 🍻

Thanks for the info gents, and for the links and great pics of the prototype Troy! I appreciate your help. 😀

Impressive on many fronts!

Hey everyone! I could use some of your expertise about now. I need a set of 1/48 seat belts/harnesses appropriate for the Meteor Mk I prototype. I've been doing a bit of online shopping and see several types of RAF WWII belts. Can anyone please suggest which would be suitable for my Tamiya model? Any favorites out there? I've never used fabric belts but they would seem better intuitively to me. I've found pre-painted metal belts difficult to pose naturally. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions! Cheers! Gary

Hey, thanks Stephen! That is a really good suggestion/tip! 👍 Believe or not I have some balsa wood strips and twine together for a wheel chock project. I thought I'd try two styles; two pieces attached by rope and the two-piece "sliding" type. They will be great to add in future photo sessions at the airport!