RichieW

Was thinking exactly that too! Some terrific detail work going on Chris. The Skyraider looks very businesslike, I think it will have great presence when done. Richie

What a stunner! You are right to be pleased with the paint job. It looks utterly perfect! Richie

Good to see this back underway, always a pleasure to see the great unsung hero getting treated so well. Richie

That's really neat work Adrian. It's always good to see a build that has been a lot of fun. Richie

Excellent preparation, this is definitely the way to go! On my first (and only) completed biplane scratchbuild I spent zero time preparing the top wing mounting and 3 weeks cursing while I desperately wrestled it into place. Richie

Looking forward to this, 'rugged and handsome' are very much words to describe the Tempest. It's going to look amazing with all the added details. Richie

It looks like a lot of work is needed to get a good result from this kit. It will be well worth the effort though, the DH88 is such a beautiful aircraft. I chatted to a pilot at Old Warden who had flown the Shuttleworth Collection example. He described it as a 'hairy chested beast to fly.' Richie

You have to get another flight Keith, your folks would look down so happily on you when you do! Richie

That would be an awesome subject! I always wanted to get a flight in one. Richie

There is a 1/24th Anson available. It comes without instructions, molded parts, plans. The blooming cheek of it is you have to buy loads of plastic and metal so you can make everything yourself then hope you live long enough to finish it! With apologies Richie PS, I reckon you could do it though!

Cheers Chris, it's great to be back at it at last. I had a spate of migraines that went on for weeks but all good now. The wire mesh was from 4d model shop, I think sculptors use it. It's very cheap, holds its shape well and is available with different size holes. Richie

You were so right it was great fun, more of which later! Well it's been an age since I last did an update. In fact I didn't get any modelling done at all between the last update and a couple of days ago, life often has a way of b*ggering up one's hobby time! Thanks for bearing with me, it's been a while since I have been able to do any modelling but I've managed to get some seats made in the last few days. The pilot's seat is folded metal but the observer sat on a wicker seat of the type we all know and love. For the pilot's seat I just cut out some aluminium sheet and added some score lines to make folding easier. This was done with a scalpel, 6 strokes for a cut line and just one for a fold line. By bending the sheet back and forth along the cut lines the required part was easily removed. The seat was then folded and CA'd together before coating with primer. I made a few before I was happy, this photo shows the process but neither of these got used. I will show you the finished item later. BE2c seats by Richard Williams, on Flickr The wicker seat involved a bit of trickery courtesy of Hendie's Sopwith Camel build. The seats footprint was drawn onto 0.5mm styrene sheet and holes were drilled to receive the uprights. A length of 0.5mm brass rod was inserted into a 1mm copper tube to prevent it kinking while I bent it into shape round a pen top. The brass rod was then bent again to create the uprights. Two more lengths of rod were added to complete the main frame. The copper tube was later treated to a coat of Mr Dissolved putty to represent the leather padding. BE2c seats by Richard Williams, on Flickr Aluminium wire mesh was then folded around the frame, CA'd into place and carefully snipped into shape with scissors. I left a lot of excess styrene base for ease of handling. BE2c seats by Richard Williams, on Flickr Seat cushions were made from milliput and the piping was added with 0.3mm lead wire. I found it best to glue one side of the 'piping' down before bending the next part of the shape. The wicker weave was done with Prym elastic, probably not the most exciting job but it didn't take as long as I thought.. BE2c seats by Richard Williams, on Flickr A lick of paint when I got home from work today and the seats are done. Scratched 1/32 BE2c seats by Richard Williams, on Flickr Scratched 1/32 BE2c seats by Richard Williams, on Flickr Quite a lengthy post for so little progress but I was so excited to be back at the bench at long last. Unfortunately I won't get any time at all next week but hopefully there won't be such a long wait for the next update. Thanks for reading, Richie

Superb work, this gets more stunning with every update! Richie

I'm liking this a lot Chris, it's going to be stunning with the markings on. Got any tips for brush painting clear coats? Richie

Stunning, that paintwork and weathering, wow! Richie