Bobby No Mac

So I signed off last time saying I was going to overlook the bright red for now ... but then I had a rethink regarding the chassis, reasoning that it would be easier to apply some grime at this stage, rather attempting it later when the wheels and metalwork is attached. I mixed XF-85 rubber black with a few drops of XF-10 flat brown, heavily thinned it with X-20a and gave the chassis a light spray. That's definitely toned it down a lot better to my eyes. I also gave some of the other red bits a blast of grime. And while I had the black out, I painted the front bogie and control panel cab interior to detail up later. Work moved onto the tender with the chassis assembly. Then it was a case of building up the sides - a delicate operation as the locating tabs are quite feeble - but it went together without any major drama. Not decided whether to go with the moulded coal or a more convincing alternative. Do railway modellers still use mashed up real coal these days? Choo-tschüss! _____🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃____ 🐑 🐑 🐑

Yep! It's the obvious choice, but just look at it It's got yellow wings too...

Kit chosen: Decals bought: Are we nearly there yet?

Copy away, I copied it myself!

Speaking of pink bits, my first choice of using LP-79 for the red had to be revised - as while it's called flat red, it's definitely more on the magenta end of the spectrum, and being sprayed on the pink primer seemed to exacerbate its pinkness, see below left. My poor Tempest paint mule looks like it's flown through the lipstick section of Superdrug 👄 Anyway, I resorted to XF-7 (on the right) which looked much better. The red bits are now very red: For the wheels I used my trusty Helix circle template. The driving wheels fitted very snuggly, though some of the smaller wheels were a tad off in the nearest fit, but it did the job. There's a noticeable difference between the red over the pink primer and the red over the silver... ...though I'm going to resist the temptation to meddle at this stage. I think it will balance out when it comes to weathering. Choo-tschüss! 🌙 _____🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃____ 🏡🌳

Cor, what a machine!

Some paint has been flung: All the parts that are going to be red were primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 pink. First time using this stuff, it all looks rather odd at the moment. The proof will be how it works under the red. The metalwork was hit with Tamiya LP11 which never fails to impress how well it goes down. Meanwhile work continues on sanding and filling the boiler seam, hopefully not far off now. Choo-tschüss! 🌩️ _____🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃____ 🐄

Now there's an idea. Maybe with 4472 on the cab?

Both this and @Mjwomack's thread remind me why I stuck to the modelling the LMR, replicating the LNER teak finish is more akin to alchemy than modelling

This is very impressive

Cor, the more I look at it the more I want to build one myself. It's looking lovely Steve, cracking job

And on the same day you wrote that, look what accidently arrived in the post...

I knew I read it somewhere - turns out it was on this site. Also of interest is the discussion about four airframes having the AV-8B wing. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/69792-raf-harrier-lerx/ It's a shame the Harrier SIG no longer has a website, as I recall they were compiling a comprehensive chart of which aircraft had what and when.

Really interesting info in this thread. I've often wondered how practical in reality it was for a Shar to carry Sea Eagles, given how first generation Harriers were rarely seen going anywhere without external fuel tanks and the navy having no buddy refuelling capability (though I vaguely remember reading somewhere that that idea was considered post-Falklands).

Me too. NOTHING CAN GO WRONG NOW

That's fantastic. I'll be referring to that pic when it comes to weathering Also, I'm insanely jealous you got to see East Berlin during that period, fascinating.

Not huge amount to report, been getting a lot of the smaller parts cleaned up, but here's where I'm at. Started putting together the front bogie - top and bottom sandwiching the axles. It will need painting before I can add the wheels and brakes (which also need painting). Speaking of painting, I'm nearly ready to fire up the compressor: Just need to get the last few bits of coupling rods/valve gear gubbins cleaned up first. Choo-tschüss! 🌦️ _____🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃____

As it's the only game in town, I'm presuming you've got the Hasegawa kit? Well, as you're getting back into the hobby, you're going to end up buying more kits anyway; so... my suggestion would be to seek out the Hobby 2000 boxing of the GR7/9 as that has both the 65% and 100% LERX. They crop up on t'Ebay now and again. Another, but more pricey, option is the Eduard boxing as it has the same deal - but with resin and PE extras. At the time of writing, there's one available on Kingkit. Also, (forgive me if you know this already) it's worth noting that not all GR9s had the 100% (and there were instances of some that had 100% being switched to 65%). There's also the minefield of airframes that had the 'frog eye' inlets installed but retained the 65%.

Good point. Just checked* my stash, turns out I can only see** one Harrier. Just one. That's the one I'll build * glanced ** squinting, with the light off

29. I've got too many Harrier kits to count, I can try and shift at least one here.

As I've gone on something of a Phantom spending spree of late, sign me up.

As someone who's become a bit bi-curious in recent months as a result of the forthcoming Airfix Bristol Bulldog (I've also taken a punt on the Tamiya Swordfish and I'm likely to snap up Airfix's re-pop of the Walrus), count me in

Won't Get Tooled Again - the obscure subjects that were kitted a long time ago and are unlikely to be revisited by any of the major players. I know there are a lot of parameters, criteria and small print to nail down, but I'm just the ideas man

OK, I've to admit that I wasn't expecting to see a 1/35 scale bra today! That's a really nice job