PlasticUtopia

Greetings Ngantek, 😬 That's a lot of misalignment ....Will you sand it down or go for a cut with a dremel first then sand?

Hello Churrrles, Lovely clean build you have got going there. Im sure the finished model will look stunning

Thanks @Troy Smith, I appreciate the links to the sellers. Very true....I am constantly looking at items to see if they have another purpose 😄

Welcome Dennis, Your English grammar is better than mine, and I am a native to this country 😆 Never too old for RnR (he says as he adjusts his zimmer frame) “Rock and roll keeps you in a constant state of juvenile delinquency.” Eddie Spaghetti - 2000 Well said Eddie......

Blighters for going AWOL. Fantastic detail the old cockpit. I thought I had it tough on my 1:48 one but you have managed to get ample amount carefully detailed The styrene comes in handy too and you have made a good placement for that gap. I hope you get peace to continue on your build (My kids are off school here in Scotland)

Hi Chris, If you don't mind me asking, what's the best thickness of sheet and rod for general use? I'm considering having some for adding detail to etc.

Thanks Chris, Have you ever used styrene white plastic to enhance your builds?

Thanks Ngantek. Yeah, I am really looking forward to try the enamel panel wash. Hopefully it will work this time 😆. Last wash was the clay stuff

Hello Brian, I'm down in "Rabbie Burns" country. A warm welcome. I am always fascinated by the Falkirk Wheel. Its an amazing piece of engineering

😱. Utter amazing. That is beautiful. Outstanding. and as @Ngantek says, it certainly looks so real. Please enter that into a competition near where you stay. It would win!! Congrats Peter

Back again on this after being deviated to the Me 262 build. I know, I said this one would be the first but I was waiting on parts for the Spitfire and so on.......... Started with parts OOB except for the PE Eduard cockpit parts plate. I was amazed at actual size of the inserts. They were tiny compared to my first visual impression of them when viewing the webpage where I got them from. A sense of trepidation began to wash over me as I began to think of trying to manipulate the parts too there proper places on the build, knowing that I would have to very careful of not pinging them to the vast space around me! (I did lose some items but luckily, Eduard had supplied a few extras and I was very grateful of them for doing so) I shoved the thought of "Lost Parts" to the back of my grey matter and decided to look over the instructions and parts yet again. It had been about a month since l last looked. Like the Me 262, I decided to go with open canopy option again. The next thing was to cut the wings and fuselage off the sprues getting ready for a "dry fit" as @Troy Smith has wonderfully stated.. I never did this properly on my last build and was confronted with a series of problems. I had filled and filed and had got rid of a lot of detail on the Me 262. I did not have the little tools for replacing the rivets and panel lines at that point. Anyway, I digress from THIS build..... I fitted the wings and fuselage together with masking tape... Next I joined the items together looking for any imperfections on the joining.... The fit was marvellous except for the front part of the wings joining the fuselage. The bottom part was slightly protruding over the top part of the wing. After much manipulating to see if I could use the movement of the model, it came together. It would have been a nightmare if glue had been applied! Fuselage and wings were taken off from their masking, and I started to get tools and space ready for the PE parts.... Reading the Instructions on the PE set one more time, I noticed that there might have been an error on their numbering. More likely I not understanding, but to this present time, I cant find the part called number "45"...... The PE plate only goes up to 27 .......and the blue part indicates that 45 is a photo etched part and not a piece off the Tamiya Spitfire build (Blue key) After quizzing over it for what seemed an eternity, I decided to make the part myself. It was certainly not as good as the thin detail as indicated on theirs, but hey ho. I sprayed the inner panels of the fuselage and built up the cockpit parts (neglected the WIP pics here, sorry) I went with the Tamiya paints for this one and found them a lot kinder on the airbrush. No blockages or drying up of the point.... As I am sure you are all aware, I had to buff the resin cockpit off to apply the PE one. Fitted same under a supply of oxygen....wow. I had to stop breathing to fit these tiny wee etches!! Just placed PA glue into the recesses Next was to find some wire to replace the missing etch.... I used 2 airbrush cleaning rods (extra ones I had from the purchase of a cleaning kit) and used a straight one and a smaller twisted one. Gave it some "Uri Geller" and had them formed into a shape of some sort that would fit the tiny dash. Drilled two holes for the underside of the dash, allowing the makeshift items to fit in. Fitted the wee items and built the cockpit up..... The seat belts were such a task in fitting. My oxygen bottle depleted whilst fitting 😆 There was more construction of PE parts under way and loads more breathing like a north sea diver.... Part of the compass.... On a cocktail stick. I am sure most members have done this intricate building of PE parts before, but this is extreme fiddliness of the biggest order. I might need to meditate and take yoga classes etc to get my oxygen loading up to scratch. My wife wondered of all the big sighs and gasps of air were about.... I bet horologists and surgeons could do this so easily..... After regaining consciousness, I continued to fit items to cockpit interior sides.... And not forgetting the super fiddley HUD compssssssssssss........ Stopped for the night and am awaiting this to arrive. My last wash/weathering was not so successful. Ive done a bit of reading up on it. I will weather the cockpit area and then continue with said build So, thanks for reading and looking 👍

Good luck with the move Jack. Waiting patiently for the return of the restoration

hi Joanna, welcome

Welcome Airfix 😃

Hi MK, Welcome to starting again and I wish you a fine time in doing so on your retirement

Wow, lovely clean build mate, astounding. Yes, In my infancy, there are things that go astray no matter how careful you place them You have certainly mastered the mottle on that build. It is a difficult process I found. Your decal placement and ithe way they look painted on really stands out, excellent All round good build. I hope you enjoyed it as it certainly is a joy to look at

@CliffB Said in the late Dick Emery accent...."you are awful, but I do like you!" 🤣

@Heather Kay 😃, Marvellous. I too was wondering

What a hoot 🤣

If I had to pick one it would be the deciphering of the instruction sheet and wondering what all the hieroglyphics mean. 😆 Jokes aside though, I am in my infancy at the moment. I don't have any dislikes as of yet. And as Ray S mentions, it is all a challenge for one and I hope the feeling does not tail off.

Hi Scooby, Looking forward to seeing your Bradley, oh, and a warm welcome!

Hello SoupManson, welcome 🙂

Marvellous. I hope you have a nice showcase for it as this deservers one

Oh its nothing profane, it means "lackey" Yes, I think it was a bit of impatience on my behalf going, and risking with the matt finish first. As Troy had said it is very "toothy" and can grip . I will do the gloss next time for sure!!! Thanks for the invaluable tips kind remarks also

As long as you had enjoyment out of it John. I also had several mishaps in my build of the similar model. I never stripped the paint back, but had to respray over it again due to my wash attempt going awry. I just could not remove the dark stains due to me putting down matt clear instead of gloss before decaling and weathering!! Your paint job looks a great colour and due to the fact you stripped it all down, you really have done a sterling job. I would be very proud of that nice build you did there. What and when are you going to build next?