danbuoy

Tiny bit more done last night. Sanded down the filler on the damaged rear. Needs a slight touch up, but looking much better. Also spent some time sanding down the numerous ejector pin marks that are all over the deck. Got the machine gun mounts fitted, and all the cleats; 20220721_213506 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220721_213543 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220721_213555 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Then spent a considerable amount of time trying to get my head round the rigging, and I still don't really understand it! 20220721_220338 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr The rigging in the instructions is a lot more complicated than on the completed model in the display photo posted earlier, so I may go with the latter option. I almost glued the two halves of the dinghy together last night, then noticed that it referred to "optional rigging". Turns out this needs to be threaded through first, then the two halves attached, otherwise you will never get anything threaded through the tiny holes. Main one I'm puzzled over in the instructions is the one marked "B", as it shows two attachment points on the rear of the dinghy, whereas in the actual diagram underneath, it looks to only be attached in one place, which ties in with the kit, as there is only one hole in the plastic. Bit more research required I think!

There are several on Ebay at the moment, buy it now for around £16-17, plus an auction with a 99p start bid that finishes in a couple of days, although it has had a bid.

Wasn't going to put this up, but then I thought, why not? Bought from Aldi a few years ago for £2.49. Its the starter set boxing, but as the painting instructions are limited by what paints come with the set, I downloaded the full instructions off Scalemates. Drilled out the exhausts, but otherwise its OOB. 20220714_215025 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220714_215040 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220714_215108 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220714_215136 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

Had these 2 turn up recently; 20220715_082939 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220629_123133 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Never done a ship build before, but always fancied doing some of the Matchbox ship kits. Might even do a dual build thread when I get round to them.

I'm sure I read something about the dinghy retrieval method possibly not being accurate, although I have to say, I don't really care to be honest because I really like how it looks and it's a really fun kit. I'm really looking forward to getting round to the figures, especially the frog men!

Right, time to dredge this build up from page 3 of the builds in progress! First job was tidying up the main hull, where unfortunately I spotted this bit of damage on the port rear quarter; 20220713_205709 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Nothing a bit of filler can't sort, but still a bit annoying. Then got the 2 halves of the engine together; 20220713_210854 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Was tempted to paint this up as it is quite nicely detailed, but it will be completely covered so left it as is. Here it is fitted in the hull; 20220713_212209 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Hull floor fitted; 20220713_212441 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Starboard and port bulkheads and armoured sides, plus the bow door fitted; 20220713_213438 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220713_214309 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220713_214657 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Also got the rear bulkhead fitted, but must have forgotten to photograph this. Fit has generally been good, but there are a lot of ejector pin marks in quite visible locations. Some of these have been possible to remove, but others I've left so as not to risk losing kit detail. Bilge pumps and exhaust fitted; 20220713_215615 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220713_220108 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Port and starboard fairings in place; 20220713_221312 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220713_221324 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr And finally for last night, got the deck fitted; 20220713_223511 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr A few other fixtures and fittings and that will be the boat ready for painting.

It was finally cool enough last night to think about doing some modelling, so got the filler on the second propeller guard sanded down, and got this part fitted; 20220713_204918 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Got the two halves of the conning tower together too; 20220713_223928 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Hmm, there's going to be a bit of work involved with this methinks!

Thanks, it is 1/180, a bit of a random scale!

Thanks, I was not aware of that. Mine will have them on because, firstly I like the look and I think they add a bit of interest to the stern, and secondly because I've already attached one! Second still needs sanding after filling in the ejector pin marks.

I don't suppose you have any photos? Sounds like a nice model! Fair to say mine will be a lot more "out of the box" but its going together pretty nicely.

Bit more work done, whilst waiting for bits to dry on my Airfix Tomahawk (seen reclining in the background!). Machine gun mounts installed; 20220705_213808 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr This photo of one of the propeller guards shows the amount of ejector pin marks this kit has. I've managed to deal with some by sanding them, however a couple on this part will need some filler. This was applied last night, and I will get it sanded down next time, so for now, only one propeller guard is fitted; 20220705_215125 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Other deck fittings (capstans, hatches etc) in place; 20220705_221907 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220705_223757 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Doesn't look like a huge amount of progress, but most parts, especially the capstans required quite a bit of tidying before they could be installed. Still need to tackle the sink fest that is the conning tower!

Some lovely builds there, especially that Liberator! Nicely photographed too, they look like real aircraft in some of those pics!

Thanks. Its gone together pretty well so far, but, like I said the conning tower will be interesting. When it comes to painting time, it may well be a bit of a challenge!

Another session in the plastic shipyard last night. Bow planes now attached; 20220630_215530 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220630_215538 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr The stern planes and rudder were actually fitted last time. These are not glued, but are slotted in when the hull halves are attached. 20220630_215639 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr 20220630_215707 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Propeller shafts on. These need to be carefully positioned, so that they line up with the stern planes. The instructions would have you fit the propellors now too, but as these will need painting a different colour I'm leaving them off until later in the build. 20220630_220906 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr And finally, I've now got the deck fitted, which gives the hull some more rigidity. It looked at first like it wasn't going to fit at all, but with some careful pulling apart of the hull, it slotted right in. Getting it to fit round the capstans was the most awkward bit. It isn't actually glued in place, as in the end it fitted in nice and snugly. 20220630_222513 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr The two pieces of the conning tower can be seen in the above photo. Not got these 2 halves attached yet, as I think they need some more work. Fit, generally, has been pretty good so far, but the conning tower looks like a definite exception. Next stage, propeller guards and deck fittings (except for the guns, as they will be added towards the end of the build).

It certainly has. There are a few sink marks on it too, plus the seam down the middle is very obvious.

Fishing line and a drawing pin! One piece of fishing line, looped at both ends. This is threaded through a small separate loop pinned to the ceiling. The two loops are passed over either end of the aircraft. This arrangement allows for the plane to be hung in various poses (banking, climbing, diving etc).

Finally managed to get started on this last night. Spent quite a bit of time wrestling with the two hull halves, trying to get them lined up, but also holding the pin in place that the bow planes attach to. This isn't glued, so needs to be held in place by the hull pieces, and getting it all together without the pin constantly falling out was a tad frustrating, but got there in the end! So here she is so far; 20220629_215934 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr This is the pin, that caused some awkward moments. Will get the bow planes attached next time. 20220629_220011 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Also started to have a look at the conning tower, which comes in two halves. Looking at the photo, its very appropriate that one of the previous incarnations of this kit was USS FLASHer! Both halves of the conning tower needed quite a bit of work. Will get these attached next time too. 20220629_220337 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

I do like those Albatrosses! I'd enter mine in this group build if I could find some decals for it!

Well, first of all, I have to actually complete them, rather than leave them part built! Most aircraft end up hung from the ceiling in the office/man cave, but the skies are getting crowded. However, the Norseman I did for this group build will be displayed on its wheels, once I clear some space for it in a cabinet amongst my diecast Eighth Air Force models! I'm just about to start building a 1:180 USS Lionfish submarine as part of the Revell-o-gram group build and currently have no idea where that will go once it is built! Can't exactly hang that from the ceiling! I have never thrown a model away though. Couldn't bring myself to.

And another Matchbox kit joins the stash! 20220629_123133 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr Always liked the look of the Atlanta class light cruisers, and have never done a ship kit before, so hoping this will be a nice, simple introduction. Was great to see @davecov's nice build of this kit during the GB, and will definitely be using that for reference!

Excellent looking Hun! I'm a sucker for anything Bentwaters/Woodbridge, and that's a scheme that's not seen too often. Great save on the decals too, you must have been turning the air blue when they kept breaking up!

Yes, I was thinking that, even if I did manage to drill them all out, and the kit retain its structural integrity, it would be possible to see right through it. Without installing some kind of structure behind the holes, it will just look really odd, so I think to paint it black (to quote The Rolling Stones) is the way forward.

Hopefully the first time I've seen one built up too!

Wow, I love that Panther! Never seen one in that scheme before.

Yes, and having never built a boat or ship before, I'm now in with 2!