Bangseat

Lovely! I'd happily cross the Atlantic in it. Via Keflavik and Goose Bay of course..

I love this! A model with a story. You may inspire me to refurbish the Matchbox Stranraer I built in 1993 and still have in a box at my Mum's... One thing can be said for Matchbox panel lines, they survive the application of multiple paint coats!

Thanks Adam! Yes, just one at Monino, resurrected from a Siberian bog in the 80s i think..

Morning all, I'm going to call it a day with this one. A fun build of a sincere and well meant kit! Definitely recommended for all aficionados of early Soviet bombers, assuming Tamiya isn't about to tool an SB. The kit has lovely detail, but slightly iffy fit in parts, particularly the transparencies, which aren't the most transparent either. But it seems to be an accurate rendition of Russia's Blenheim, right down to the incredibly spindly landing gear (I wondered if the real ones wobbled when you sneezed on them..?) I also had good fun on the weathering, acting on the assumption the VVS didn't regularly clean their bombers. Here is my finished model: ...and thanks to all who followed on my first rather sporadic WiP: Now to clean up the bench and on to the next adventure in styrene! All best Harry

Evening all, Just a quick update, although I actually got quite a bit done at the weekend I am still getting the hang of snapping my progress regularly, it's a bit of a discipline I find! I had got my camouflage down, so spent about half my time on the sticky out extra bits, and the other half on weathering.. I do love the Flory wash (see above sludged all over) as it is totally risk free. I applied over Alclad aqua gloss and rubbed off with a mostly dry cloth as I just wanted it in panel lines and rivet holes though - I'm not convinced of its performance over matt, at least in 72nd. As Paul Budzic says, there comes a point where an over enthusiastically applied wash "starts to look like a serious oil leak". I then started on oils: Here I am less experienced, so gently gently went I. I dabbled thin colour over the surface, and let the thinner flash off... ..and then I blended with a dry brush. The effect actually looks better on the pic than in real life, as it just gives light and shade with hardly any colour modulation. The fault may lie with my cheap nasty oil paints from The Works! As I wasnt completely convinced by the oils, I did some pastels as well, these i do enjoy using, although they tend to dull the contrasts and give the plane a generally "dusty look".. (Undocumented in this apparently stress free narrative was the moment I managed to dribble alclad matt on the left wing, necessitating a paint strip and respray. I was too busy swearing to take documentary photographs...) As for the sticky out bits, I got it on its feet. Kit critique moment - it's seriously spindly, the model wobbles if I sneeze! In other news, I am using my first ever mask set. This is a boon for the SB as it is a bit of greenhouse.. However, poor planning strikes. Early on I noticed that SBs tended to have their glass framing unpainted, even in green camo'd planes.. Intruguing, I thought, a "thing" I can run with. However, the more I stare at my grainy reference pics, the more I realise I have been kidding myself: At least some of it is painted. And yes, I masked all my glass, sprayed it with AK extreme metal, and unmasked like a giggling schoolgirl.. So it's back to the cocktail stick and scalpel for me.. Ttfn, Harry

Love the stripy, heatstained exhaust!

Thanks AaCee - a good call. I've had a look through my references and ne'er a spinner to be found on any 2 blade props (which also seem to have gone out of fashion by 1940). Always amazes me how even a rather simple aircraft can generate a good bit of chin-stroking... Harry

Hi occa, I'm inclined to agree, and you've preempted my next post, the other day I repainted them blue. I'm a sucker for a bit of colour though, and my rationale is this was a second line aircraft from a big base where there would have hopefully been a few tins of paint lying around!

Hi Ian, Thanks for commenting. The engines are inline Klimov M100 V12s, so the big flat bit is a slab fronted radiator alla ww1 styley/SE5 etc. One of the appealing retro features of the SB in my opinion! How to paint the radiator slats at the front is an issue I need to ponder next... Harry

Slow progress on the SB, as have been laid up with lurgy since last week. But...I did manage to get a bit more paint on in the last couple of days. After pouring over my reference photo and much sucking of pencil, I've decided that the front of the engine cowlings were sone sort of special colour: They look a bit lighter than the black of the camouflage behind. Could be anything I suppose, but I'm going to go for red. So the model has had camo in Mr Hobby 340 and Tamiya Tyre Black, and the engines with Mr Hobby 327 which is a classier dark red. Next up, some stars, and a whole heap of weathering. The weekend beckons! Harry out

Ah, the 2-shades-of-green interior! Lovely work, thanks for sharing.

Good morning, Well, yesterday morphed into an unexpected day off! Which was good news for the modelling bench... I made a start by dry fitting the engines. Whilst I could probably have been more careful constructing them, they're not a great fit: Reprofiling the corners, and more putty, is the solution. The exhaust covers on top of the engine will be fixed in place with blu tac for painting and glued later once I've added the detailed exhausts: Next up, just to check, I tried dry fitting the cockpit and rear gunner glazing. Oh dear! You'd have to get pretty medieval with that canopy to make it look right, and the gunners hatch is the same. So, I make the decision to leave both open. The gunner's hatch is so big it serves in the slid-back role. For the pilot's canopy, I decided to resurrect the art of plunge moulding: Lucky it is such a simple shape. I've had results from this technique that I'm not really satisfied with in the past, but this I won't lose sleep over. The key was making a male mould, rather than moulding over the old part. (I had to undersized it from the original). What else...well, one of the horizontal stabs had what looked like a cow pat in the moulding. So sanding, mr surfacer 500, sanding and rescribing was the order of the day. My rivets are wonky But it's underneath so meh... It was all going so well that I couldn't resist plowing on and putting some paint on. Now, my quest for the perfect Russian A11 blue is a work in progress. I know greater minds than mine have been driven to drink by VVS colours, but I've always been more convinced by a properly 'blue' blue, rather than a greeny blue like humbrol 65. So I mix this shade from some Daler Rowney acrylic inks. It's a bit more vibrant than I intended ..but it does tone down after a bit of weathering.. All best, Harry

Morning folks, Cracking on nicely. Also filling many cracks... The rear fuselage gap sealed up well, but there was a definite step to deal with in the wing fillet. Whist I could just chalk it up to Soviet quality control, that would be a bit harsh... I find disguising a step like this much harder than filling a gap between two level surfaces. But for what it's worth, my next port of call is miliput.. ..which I then soften and smooth out with a brush and IPA.. It'll get some PPP tomorrow as well, which should smooth it out further, but I want to sand as little as possible. In other news, the engine nacelles are in several bits which makes fit tricky, bit I'm going make the call that engine panels were constantly removed and therefore would have been a bit bent and sticky- out in real life... And..I managed to get the wings on. What a whopper! No wonder it was good for 40 thousand feet. I do enjoy this bit, when the model takes shape, and you see the proportions of the plane in a way that you wouldn't looking at a picture, or even the real thing. Ttfn, Harry

Hi Nikola, I've tried to explain here.. Sorry its rough, hope it makes some sense! All best, Harry

Well, if that is 3 months in after 20 years, fabulous! You look like you know what you're doing The only feedback I'd give is that it's very difficult to do camouflage demarcation with a free hand airbrush in 1:72. I would use blue tac sausages at the edge of a tape mask to give the small amount of blend needed, for example on the cowling, where the transition from blue to white should be more distinct. Hope that helps! Harry