MRMRL

It's cheating to mix photos of the real thing with your model....oh wait, they're all the model. Wow, that's great work, a super realistic scene recreated in miniature. Along with the immaculate weathering in general it's the little details that elevate it for me, the weathering and colour on the pallets, the newspaper tucked in the seat, the junk in the trailer. The Tesco carrier bag in the compartment is my personal favourite though 😁

Thanks James, I think the optimist in me wanted to build 4 or 5, but the realist thinks if I get a third in, I'll have done pretty well 😁

I can't comment on the GB Whirlies, it's only the second GB I've got involved with 😉, but it is nice to see a few to inspire myself with.

Hi All Welcome to another WIP from me, having just finished my B-25, I couldn't resist getting straight back in to try and fit another one in before the close date. I am going a little smaller though, I was going to do my Tamiya Mossie, but changed my mind and went for this instead: I'm hoping it's fun, I struggled with the last Special Hobby kit I made (the 1/32 Hurricane), I'm hoping this goes together a bit more easily. Anyway, I've got started already, with a bit of work on the stuff behind the cockpit. And since it's not gone into the cabinet yet, I couldn't resist an early size comparison: That's it for now, I've not spent an hour on it so far, hoping I can get it completed in a few weeks. Matt

Finished number 2 for this group build which I'm very much enjoying, I've achieved the main goal of having one in each gallery, now to see if I can add a third Ready for inspection posted here: Hong Kong Models 1/32 B-25H Gunship Work in progress here: Another B-25 Mitchell As usual thanks to everyone involved for the support and creating and monitoring this beast of a GB

Ready for inspection posted here: Hong Kong Models 1/32 B-25H Gunship

Hi All I've built this for the WW2 twins Mega GB, you can find the build log here: Another B-25 Mitchell This has been build all out of box, no extras included. Quite a straightforward build, used an airbrush for the varnish for the first time. The decals were a bit tricky (quite thick and fragile), but otherwise an enjoyable process. I did almost lose my modelling mojo part way through, but that wasn't anything to do with the kit, just life getting in the way of the important things Plus one from the build log to show what the cockpit looks like, since I can't get a good picture through the canopy. Hope you enjoy Matt

Yes- it's finished. But before I get ahead of myself, here's how the last few days have progressed. Most of it has been spent doing the same think - panel line wash. I've tried to keep a reasonable balance between subtle but noticeable, I'm reasonably happy. It wasn't easy to apply, I think because my varnish coat wasn't as consistent as it could have been. And with the remaining bits and pieces attached, including the missing engine panels. Having them as if they swing open might not be realistic, but I wanted them attached rather than loose, so I've made an aesthetic choice over a realism one Another coat of varnish and then the masking tape has come off and we have.... Note the slightly less than perfect solution to my tail-sitter. This "strut" was actually in the kit, almost as if HK models knew it might come in handy . Anyway, I'll try and calculate the weight a bit better in future, I stuck some in but didn't really test it as much as I could have before sealing everything off. Nevermind, moving on - an underside view with a light coat of pigment applied to the tyres. And voila, one finished B-25 Took a while (for me), I almost lost my mojo for a bit part way through. Thanks for all the support, it's really helped keep me going. I'm doing something smaller next, but it might still qualify here, that's the only teaser I'm giving - if I get time I'll start the WIP for that shortly.

I'm not overly fussy, any ship class not already in 1/350 (especially RN) or any aircraft not already in 1/32 would make me happy, although I'd take a Revenge class, Courageous class or Cold war Ark Royal (Buccs and Phantoms - yes please) as my first choice ships and agree with the OP on a F-111 or many of the other suggestions for aircraft. Although I'm crazy enough that even without the space for it I'd do something daft like a Vulcan in 1/32 as well, just for the hell of it 😁

That's awesome, I was thinking it couldn't get any better until I saw inside the bays, what a tremendous job. Love the scheme too.

A bit of a mixture for me for learning, not quite this side of the millennium in 1997. After a near disastrous first attempt to do a turn in a road in Dads Ford Sierra (his idea not mine), bit of a monster to start in, I had spells in an instructors Ford Fiesta ( he was a friend of dad's and teaching me for free as practice, but not regularly enough for me to get anywhere), Mums Renault 9 (which was super twitchy on the clutch - good practice), then a different instructors Vauxhall Corsa which I also passed my test in at the third attempt. Couldn't tell you the year or otherwise of that car, it was relatively new at the time though. My parents cars on the other hand were distinctly second hand, probably why Dad didn't get too upset when I nearly crashed that Sierra, that and I think he realised trying to get your son to do a 3 point turn in a narrow lane when he's not even used the reverse gear before probably wasn't the best idea 😱

Thanks James, that's greatly appreciated and very motivating to get at least the second of those actually finished 😁

I've got a decent number of candidates that would go nicely in this, plus I'm enjoying the ww2 twins. Happy to stick my name on this and do some post ww2 jets to go with the props. As usual, picking what to do first will be the hardest part 😁

Getting close to the end now, I've moved it along a fair bit this week, even without having a huge amount of time. Started with some detail painting, the first picture is an instance where a bit of repair was needed as well, I knocked the MG off when I slid the barrel through. Fixing it needed a fair bit of jiggery pokery and removal of the window, nevermind, it's back together again now. And added the clear parts for lights etc... This is the first aircraft I've built with a face that requires some background painting before putting the decals on, I had to hope I'd got the spacing right.... Then on to a first coat of varnish. I normally brush Humbrol clear cote on, but I'm running low on that and it's hard to come by at the moment, so I've switched to MIG's lucky gloss varnish and sprayed it on. I've not done too bad for a first go, but I do find airbrushing tricky with a very thin fluid, I always end up putting on too much and puddling a little, even at a low pressure. I'm not entirely sure how to avoid that, but I guess practice will help (TIPS ARE WELCOME ). There's so few decals on this bird that I had them completed in a single sitting, even though they were the worst part of the kit, very thick and brittle, even with microsol and microset applied. And another coat of varnish. Both my wife and 2 year old said the same thing when they saw the face "bit scary", I guess that's probably the point. So that leave me: - Panel lines - Fuel staining? - Masking tape removal and canopy painting for the top and rear turrets. - Panels for the open engine Hopefully next week it'll be all done

Another stunning little ship Rob, and the variety of realistic sea scapes you produce are fabulous as well, they always look the part.

Rather than edit the last post, I'll continue in a new one where I left off. First off, the nose, lots of instruction, lots of invisible parts if you are buttoning it up. So skipped most of it, just added enough to fix the barrels in place, then added some weights and then fixed it to place. Then, moving onto painting the remaining parts that need interior green on them. I've sadly fallen foul of MrHobby radically changing the colour mix of their interior green, so as I only have a couple of bits to paint, I've just picked a half reasonable match and gone with that. I've then fairly quickly joined all the sections I've collated together and all of a sudden, it looks a lot more like an aircraft Houston, we have a problem, turns out that the weight I put in the nose, may not have been sufficient.... I have a tail sitter. Turns out that I'm a long long way off the amount of weight needed to have it sit upright. I need to think about how to resolve this one, I've got no easy place to add weight now, so I might need to cheat. A fair amount of filler, and a load of masking tape later, and I'm ready for painting, which isn't as complicated as most aircraft I've made. And total coverage of Olive drab later... And you can just about see them in the previous photo, but I've completed the painting for the propellers as well Finally (for today), I've started painting some of the details (gun barrels mainly) and attached the props. So there's my March update, a lot of progress, albeit at a slower pace than usual for me, I'm hoping to get this one complete in a week or so to give myself a chance at a third for the the GB, but we'll see how life goes

Hi All Its been a while since my last post, I'm running a long way behind where I want to be overall this year so far now. Life has been getting in the way of projects somewhat, been away, been ill, been looking after ill child, been trying to have fun in there as well. Busy. Anyway, I've cobbled the progress I've make in the last month into a single post. I'm hoping things are a little less hectic and I can get my mojo back a bit more. Here we go then. First off, the nose, lots of instruction, lots of invisible parts if you are buttoning it up. So skipped most of it, just added enough to fix the barrels in place, then added some weights and then fixed it to place. AARGH, my google photo embedder is on the frtiz, upstream timeout error - I'll have to try to edit this post tomorrow.

That looks fantastic, I really love your weathering, strikes a great balance between being visually appealing and believable at the same time.

You won't get any disagreement from me here, F1 hasn't been the same since, it was all downhill after the cars of this era.

Love a Black Widow, it's such an awesome looking aircraft. Looks like yours is progressing nicely.

Hi All Here's my go at the Fujimi 1/24 Rover Mini. I completed this as a quick side-project while I'm building 1/32 scale ww2 twins, so it fits the bill of easy and small enough to sit on the bench at the same time. It's not my finest work, even in my limited car collection, I messed up the varnish a little and it really shows even with pictures taken on my half decent camera phone. It was all going well until that point, sadly. I think I applied the last coat of varnish too soon after the decals had gone on, maybe the varnish reacted with the microsol/microset. Anyway, here it is:

Plodding again this week, I've spent a good amount of time on the B-25 without making enough progress to take too many pictures. Almost all the work I've done has been on the two radial beasties that let me call this a twin. Starting with some detail painting onto the black I airbrushed last time... Like the rest, I'm trying to go on a combination of photos and the instruction call-outs to produce something semi-believable. It's a bit tricky since a number of colours appear to have been used for various components on the real things, so its a nest guess combined with a little artistic license. More detail added, this is why its taking so long, there's 28 of these "cables?" on each engine. And a whole load of exhaust pipes on the back. I realize that using copper paint is a bit too much, they should just be rusty pipes, but they aren't going to be very visible when its completed and so I've just gone simple for effect (since I'm not great at the rusty effect even in simple locations) And here's the two of them in their frames And then there's another set of "exhaust?" pipes (sorry I don't do much research and I'm not too knowledgeable on engines either) coming out the side before adding side panels, plus the propellers Having done one and seen exactly how much of my hard work would be invisible, I decided that I'd not fix the top two panels for the other one, so that I could see into at least part of the engine. Here's how it looks on the nacelle (and some black props in the background): I might change my mind on them being open later, I'll see how it looks when its all together first. That's all for now. Got a big batch of construction to do next, so should look like quicker progress for a while. Thanks for stopping by as usual (especially the omnipresent James ). Matt

Thanks James, and they really are, and I haven't even started on the details included in the kit yet, might not have any need to super detail, even though I wouldn't anyway 😉

More progress from the weekend. I've pretty much finished the interior now. Here's how the cockpit is shaping up... And here's the whole fuselage now that it has been joined together - there's a little filling needed, but its a pretty good fit overall. No complaining from me Marching on, one wing mostly assembled, nothing overly exciting here... And a start made on the engines (which seem to be about 40% of the instructions for the whole kit, this is just the first two steps with a base coat See you again next time

Right, this is a big update - I've had some issues with the google embedding photos page and not been able to create the links all week (I think it might be a time of day thing, I haven't been able to log on a the usual time this week). That and I had a couple of days off and managed to squeeze some extra building in around the DIY and other life admin bits I was doing. So lets crack on while its all working First up, I've done a bit more building - front and back of the bomb bay and the interior sides of the fuselage And the rear gunners position, the cockpit parts (not fixed at present) and the tail - only because I couldn't be bothered to start painting that evening Then, out came the airbrush and like the hulk we're now all green Followed by detail painting of the various sub-assemblies: main turret mount Rear gunner - really needs a wash to tone down the Aluminium And the bomb bay - I've used photos from google for the painting on this (the instructions are just green) - there does seem to be some variety for painting here, so I've tried to reflect the "average", and its going to disappear for the most part soon anyway And the bombs are also painted. There's no decals for these and the call out in the instructions are for plain green as well, so again, I've taken some guidance from general pictures and added the stripes (by hand as a I couldn't face masking off all those lines) A whole mass of panel line wash later and I've ended up here: Which I'm pretty happy with to be fair. And here's the transition for the bomb bay where that all starts to get hidden, bombs go in... and then it all gets buttoned up. Inside of fuselage painted - bit of artistic license here I'm afraid, limited call outs again More wash and the internals mounted (cockpit aside) Finally, some painting completed for the cockpit as well - a mixture of artistic license and photo aggregating here as well, I think a lot of the cockpit photos I could find are for modern restorations, so I've been going off black and white photos and interpreting the colours as best as I can without spending too long researching - its not my way And that's it for the bumper update, hopefully my next update (Monday) will have a completed interior fuselage in it. See you next time Matt