KiwiBob

Hi all Thanks for the kind words. I don’t often post due to my glacial build rate, but I was determined to support Kotare and get the kit completed, and buy another one, and another one… And yes out of the box except for the aerial wire, squadron code and serial number decals. All other decals from the kit. I just wanted a Douglas Bader machine… next one will be with kit-supplied markings. Cheers Rob

Hi all Calling this one done. RFI: Cheers Rob

Hi all So I'm calling this done (with one slight piece of work to come as I lost the clear part for the underside light - it'll turn up - it's masked, painted, and stuck to a piece of cardboard somewhere used to hold it...!). Failing that, I'll just fill It with Mod Podge clear glue... I pottered around with additional weathering, probably a bit much in places and not enough in others, and I wasn't overly happy with my gloss work before I applied decals. Got some bad chalking which I had to polish out and then got some silvering on a few markings. Had to wait weeks for a decent dry spell in the weather before I risked the matt varnish top coat. I have another to build in the stash, along with the very early version pre-ordered - can't wait for this one. All we need now is for Kotare to do a really early Hurricane, or a nice early P-51A/B/Mustang I/II to keep the Muricans happy... And so here she is: My original WIP post here - Cheers Rob

Hi They are from Fundekals - a MkI sheet with about 16-17 marking options. Printed by Cartograph so same quality as the kit decals. Very nice to use. I finished with a combination of the kit decals and the aftermarket. Only issue I had was a small sheet of stencils that should have been with the main sheet from Fundekals wasn't sent. I tried to contact them about it but so far no luck... But I stuck to the decals provided in the kit and probably have more faith in Kotares research about what should have been applied to the kit (or not) to be honest so it was no big loss. I now have a sheet for another 15 kits though...! Cheers Rob

Hi Mr Wolf (ha…) - yes I used the SMS Silver on the interior. They come ready mixed for the airbrush so I haven’t had to thin them. And use isopropyl to clean the airbrush which seems to work well. I usually do a deep clean with isopropyl, followed by lacquer thinners if necessary… first time I’d used SMS paints to be honest and found them easy to use. I’m working on a few other kits where I plan to use them as well, so far the only one is an Italian red on a Ferrari F10 which needs a few coats more to get the depth I want. But then red is a bugger to get good coverage with anyway. And I have some SMS colours for a 1/48 F-35 waiting (some US greys including the Have Glass colour) - so will be interesting to see how they go as well. cheers Rob

Thanks for the comments - I’m not overly comfortable with mixing paint colours - have never been happy with the results. So I stayed away from the Tamiya mixing guide - something I found frustrating with Wingnut Wings kits as well - so many good paints out there or even FS or RLM equivalents, yet WNW and now Kotare suggest mixing colours… Anyway, I used SMS Silver (labelled as a metallic acrylic lacquer…), SMS White and shaded Tamiya semi-gloss black (shaded with Tamiya NATO black and flat black) and for the undersides. Combo of Gunze H312 and Tamiya XF-71 I think for the interior (the green Tamiya recommend for their Spitfires). Top colours were various shades (lighter and darker) of Gunze H72 and H330. I tend to spray the base colour (no pre-shading unless I think it really will make a difference), then a lighter mix of the base colour randomly sprayed, maybe concentrated a bit more on the centre of larger panels. Then a darker mix of the base colour, sometimes two shades, on the panel lines and any other areas I think look good - some false shading like wing roots or around fuel caps. Sometimes it looks too patch work so I’ll tone it down with a very thin coat of the base colour… cheers Rob

Hi SPang They are from Fundekals - a MkI sheet with about 16-17 marking options. Printed by Cartograph so same quality as the kit decals. I now have to buy another 15 kits to use all the decals! cheers Rob

Hi all Haven't made much progress due to work, family and poor weather preventing 'not-damp' access to my shed and airbrush! However I have noted that I mucked up the decals for the dzus fasteners: I got the alignment of some of them wrong, running them parallel to the panel lines, whereas some of them are 90 degrees to the panel lines.... anyway, some careful scraping has removed the incorrect ones and I've added what I had left on the sheet back, but I'm a few short. If anyone in Auckland NZ isn't planning to use them I'd be happy to do a deal (#89 on the decal sheet). Otherwise I'll pop in to Kotare Head Office and see if they can help... Note to self and others - read the instructions with better glasses... Cheers Rob

Thanks - this was the pre-order with the 3D printed exhausts. I cleaned them up off the printing blocks, primed them, then a coat of Alclad Burnt Iron. 2-3 brush coats of Citadel Devlin Mud wash, and I think 2 coats of Citadel Nulin Oil on the two rear stacks. Cheers Rob

Hi all So some more progress - in fact almost finished. I didn't take pictures of the painting process - pretty standard - masked the underside and demarcation lines on the lower surfaces, painted the brown (Gunze H72), then weathered the brown - I tend to post shade using darker shades of the base colour on the panel lines and lighter mixes of the base colour on random locations across the panels. I use other shades of brown, shade colours and very weak mixes of black/brown. I also use soft pencil in the panel lines blended in with a stiff brush. Once I'm happy with that, I then mask and repeat with green (Gunze H330) - again with mixes of dark and light green, plus other green shades. I then gloss coat - and this is where it went horribly wrong - I used Gauzy green for the first time. A few light coats was supposed to look nice and shiny. Either the fluid needed filtering, or it was just a dust magnet. It did not look good... I let it harden for a few days then wet-sanded with a Tamiya sanding sponge (3000). I had to mask and respray a few areas where the sanding had gone through the paint (like over the rivets). Then redo some of the shading. Anyway... That was then followed by panel line washes with AK browns, stone grey, etc. Details like chipping done with very thin silver (SMS out of the bottle), plus washes from Citadel (Nulin Oil, Devlin Mud, etc), stains from AK - Engine Oil, Fuel Stains. Plus chipping with AK pencils (multiple shades of brown and green - not that you can see much of it...). Once I was happy with the surface, I started the decals. All decals are from the kit except for the ZD-D, serial code, red stripe under the nose (which I should have painted because I'm not sure what curve they modelled that on, but it wasn't this one....) and the yellow gas patch on the wing. There are some stencils to go, I think - the after-market decal set has a sheet of stencils which I am not 100% sure are needed. Kotare don't reference many of the stencils on the sheet - so who is right? Anyway, the supplier of the decals omitted the stencil sheet so that sort of made my mind up anyway. Emails to them haven't had any response so I'll probably just push on without them! The after-market decals are lovely to use - printed by Cartograph so similar to the kit decals. A few minor touchups still to do - weather the decals for example. Next steps are a wash to remove my grubby paw prints, decal glue and any other marks. Let it dry and then matt coat - not sure what I'm going to use here given my experience with Gauzy. I matt-coated to other kits recently using Tamiya Flat Clear and it chalked - so I had to polish/sand the whole thing. I might try SMS Matt Clear.... Then some exhaust stains and gun residue. And then the dangly bits - which is pretty much the canopy, aerial mast and aerial, and pitot. Cheers Rob Couple of decals on the dzus fasteners to clean up here...

Hi all So finally getting back to the bench after school holidays and a work trip abroad. I did get some primer on some weeks ago and have spent a little bit of time correcting seams and other minor errors that only show up after a coat of paint. Have sprayed the undersides black and white plus the silver under the engine and behind the wings. Finished some other parts such as wheels, landing gear covers and prop. Hope to spend some time tomorrow masking for the first of the top coat colours. Also received the aftermarket decal set I was after to finish the kit as P9443, F/Lt Douglas Bader's mount, No. 222 Squadron, RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire / Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire, early June 1940: Must sort my photography out as well.... Cheers and thanks for looking Rob

Hi all A few more images. I made the bold decision (or mistake) to fit the landing gear. I managed to fettle one side to allow it to slide in and then out again, but when I did the same to the remaining leg, it wouldn't come out... so rather than risk bending or breaking it, I left them in place. Time will tell if that was a good move or not! Pretty much everything is attached now bar finer details like pitot tube, aerial, etc - rudder is not glued for ease of painting/masking. Radiator is not glued either as I need to paint the grill then mask it, followed by the interior painted white. Cockpit glazing is masked ready for interior green - I usually follow this up with black or dark grey to get a continuance of the colour from glazing to solid plastic - less likely for the canopy frame to be opaque. Then an under coat - I usually use Alclad Filler/Primer Grey as it sprays out of the bottle, hardens nicely and polishes up prior to colour coats. Also managed to mask the light on the upper spine despite my reservations... And test fitting the prop (still have to paint the yellow tips - usually I mask, spray flat white, followed by yellow (my preference is Gunze H413 - which is a German RLM colour...) In terms of scheme, I haven't actually decided yet. I'm not overly keen on KL-B as I've started a 1/48 Eduard kit with that scheme. I'm leaning towards Douglas Baders early mount, ZD-D - I can use 90% of the markings in the kit (and the decals are a joy to use so why not), just have to source ZD-D and serial code P9443 (image courtesy of Eduard - The Spitfire Story): Cheers Rob

Thanks for the comments all - made a bit more progress - the lower parts count makes the build go pretty quickly. I've now added the flying surfaces and masked/attached the canopies. No pics at the moment as I'm at work.... curses. Hope to have some primer and lower surfaces maybe painting end of this week. Then I'm off-shore for a week so will have to wait till end of next week to continue. A few notes on the build so far: Tolerances are very tight as I mentioned - I think I didn't get a few things sitting 100% which had a flow-on effect - an example is the rear frames that I'm not sure I got seated all the way down. As a result the spine insert sat a bit high, and the rear canopy then would not sit fully seated. I ended up having to remove a bit off the top of the seat and the support structure that runs from the seat rearward to the next frame. Still have to fill a wee bit at the bottom of the canopy. I struggled a little getting the armour plate to fit behind the seat - you have to push it down and then slightly to one side - again paint was not my friend - but fortunately I was able to touch it up (which is behind the seat anyway - a little bit of wash hid most of that). The instructions are well detailed, but I found a few things not logically in the same place - page 7 has a lot of detail about the side panels decal location (panels around the fuselage tub and fuselage half detail) but then mode detail a few pages later on page 9. So I found some skipping around to pick up all the detail and did have to backtrack a few times (or forward track...). Decal 142 is noted in a location on one page, but indicated as 141 on another - 142 is the correct decal (the compass). Also decal 115 seemed to be too big for the location and seems to logically fit on a panel slightly higher up and to the right. Decals are beautiful and clear, settle well with little solution needed - but some are so small you need a microscope and micro-tweezers - I skipped a few of those cause I just couldn't see them! Wing to fuselage is very precise but took a bit of wiggle to get the fuselage to seat perfectly - I seemed to get one side to fit then the other would pop out! And then its so tight I could barely get any glue in the gap! I don't particularly like the top spine light inserting from the inside out - it's a nice fit and the mounting allows you to glue without worrying about getting any on the light itself - but now I have to mask the little blighter which is fiddly. And I was constantly worried about holding the model and dislodging it by pushing it back in the model - which wouldn't be retrievable... I test fitted the landing gear before I put the top half on the wings on so I could see the fitting method - clever design that is a solid fit and guarantees strength and the correct alignment - but since putting the wings on I can't get the gear to slide in - I've trimmed, sanded, trimmed, etc - I'm afraid if I get them in I won't be able to get them out again. So I'll leave them to last and hope I can get them in once everything is finished. I think if I build another (looking forward to the Mk I (Early) - I'd also like a K5054 and a Seafire Mk.III please....) I'll install them before gluing the wing halves together - I usually loath that in a kit due to the risk of damaging the dangly bits (oo-er!) but it would ensure a good fit - or indeed just a fit... One last thing - the prop support is square, the base of the prop is round. Square peg in a round hole anyone...? Not sure of the logic there... But don't get me wrong, these are minor problems all self-inflicted and it has been a fun build so far. I've made more progress on this kit in a week than I have on any others for a few years! Cheers Rob

Hi - only thing I’ve added is some rigging for the control cables, everything else is out of the box - no photo etch or resin, just plastic and decals! Cheers Rob

Hi all Some more progress - buttoned up the fuselage after tensioning the cables and adding a few minor parts (radiator flap lever and rear of the seat harness). A tip if you choose to run the control cables - connect, but don't glue one of the side panels to the central floorpan and frames, then tension the rigging. The reason is the cables run through holes provided on a piece connected to the flare chutes - which is connected at the top, underneath the radio (?) box - so the lower part of the flare chute is floating. If you tension the cables without preventing the last frame from moving (as you tension the cables, the flare chute can be pulled forward), you risk over-tensioning the cables - if that makes sense. Glued the wings together - no surprises although the wheel wells were a very tight fit and I did have to open the small slots that fitted over the main spar. Don't forget the gun barrels. Next step is the spine, fuselage to wing, tailplanes, etc. Cleanup and paint... Cheers Rob

Thanks all for the comments. I’ll have a look at the images tomorrow - probably a better image host for a start. I think each is about 1.2MB so will load a smaller version as well…

Hi all Being fortunate enough to live in the same city as the head office of Kotare Models, I received my pre-order delivery last Thursday evening. Decided, despite many other models on the bench, to move this one to the top - might even get it finished this year (since the birth of my daughter 8.5 years ago I've started many, finished 2....). Has been a pleasurable build so far, nothing out of the ordinary with putting it together. Only thing I have struck is very tight tolerances - so those familiar with Wingnut Wings will know to keep gluing surfaces free of paint. I used thin strips of Tamiya tape to mask areas that would be glued (bulkheads-to-floor for example). Spent a few hours painting, masking, then painting again. Not so sure on some of the colour call-outs - but knowing the people behind the model I'm sure the references and call-outs are accurate - just can't personally bring myself to paint the pilots armour plate black for example. Modelling is a lot about perception I guess (looks like a Spitfire, smells like, etc, etc - in my mind, early Spits have always been green-ish...). Anyway, here is where I'm at so far with the cockpit - a few things still to add, flat coat to apply overall and gloss details to be added to instrument panel. Also still to tension the cables (although I did debate the point of them given the limited visibility - used 0.2 braided fishing line coloured with a silver sharpie - slightly too large but it was either that or .1 which seemed a bit thin...). I've also assembled the wings, wheels, tailplane and fettled some other minor parts ready for final assembly. Cockpit painted with Tamiya paints, some mixed to the Kotare Models guidelines, some not. SMS Silver used for the fuselage. Mig/Ammo and Vallejo paints used for the details. Citadel washes used to cover up my mistakes... Changing cameras... Just goes to show how we can't trust colour images (let alone black and white war time images) for colour accuracy - same lighting, two cameras - one Canon, one FujiFilm - yet the tones, shadows, colour cast, etc, are completely different. Hence I model for enjoyment and don't fret too much about the colour shades and the correct number of rivets! Cheers Bob

Hi there I’m just revisiting this thread from your initial post a few years ago (impressive build by the way) and was wondering if you can tell me the dimensions of your display boxes. I’ve roughly worked them out based on measuring the model in the photo compared to the actual model - highly scientific! I’ve landed on 410mm long but can’t work out the width or depth. cheers from NZ!

Hi all Last year I managed 30 completions (not all started in 2013) - mostly driven by the Auckland IPMS Club holding the NZ IPMS Nationals in September - so lots of incentive to finish what I had started. This year I completed one model (under duress...) - a tricky resin build of a theoretical Russian flying sub - the LPL Flying Submarine: But my greatest achievement in 2014, in fact in my life so far, and the reason I got bugger all else done, was the arrival of my 1:1 Scale, fully functional, WIP - Madison Grace. Born Aug 1st at 9am weighing a healthy 3.65kg. The result of 15 years of various fertility treatments, surgeries, poking and prodding - and the end to my modelling as I know it so I've been told. But given the choice, I know what I'd have... Here she is at 7 hours old: And here she is on Dec 27th aged 5 1/2 months trying out her new high chair. Yeah yeah I know you all want to look at planes, but hey.... Cheers all from NZ Rob

Hi all Another year of somewhat sporadic modelling - managed to complete quite a few builds started and finished in the same year plus a few that were languishing in boxes waiting for inspiration to finish. That inspiration came leading up to September when IPMS Auckland (here in NZ) held the IPMS Nationals - gave me the shove I needed to finish a bunch of stuff to add to the mass display of models the club put on as well as the competition models. Plus a friendly wager with a fellow club member lead me to try for 30 completions in the year (this included finishing half-built kits from previous years - a finish was a finish!) - haven't quite made 30, but still have 5-6 kits that I may be able to finish between now and Dec 31st.... You can see more of the NZ IPMS Nationals here at the IPMS Auckland club website gallery page: http://ipmsauckland.hobbyvista.com/galleries_2013.html So, the kits I managed to complete this year, in no particular order: Hobby Boss 1/48 Yak-38 Forger Tamiya 1/20 Tyrrell P34 1977 Monaco GP Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - box warmer from way back - had been waiting on rigging.... Dragon 1/48 Messerschmitt Me-163 Eduard 1/48 Yak-3 Hasegawa 1/48 P-40E - had been sitting in a box for 3-4 years waiting aerials and canopy.... Hasegawa 1/24 Lancia 037 - another box warmer - waiting on window framing.... Hasegawa 1/24 Ferrari TR250 Testarossa - wheels replaced with KA Models wire and aluminium wheels... Airfix 1/48 Seafire F.XVII Airfix 1/48 Spitfire PR XIX Hasegawa 1/48 F-104S - box warmer... Tamiya 1/48 Messerschmitt Me-262 Clear version - lots of fun except for the constant battle with dust.... Academy 1/48 Bearcat - another box warmer from many years ago... broken undercarriage had put me off... Hasegawa 1/48 A-4M Skyhawk - box warmer - lost the ejector seat and misplaced the canopy... found and replaced this year Dragon 1/48 Me-262 and Tamiya 1/48 Type 82 Beetle Eduard 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf-108 in Hungarian markings - box warmer from some years ago - can't recall what held me up on this but finished in Sept... Hasegawa 1/48 Ki-44 Shoki Hasegawa 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf-109C Hobbycraft 1/48 De Havilland Vampire Mk 1 - held up years ago when reading reviews about awful shape - but in the end sod it, finished... have an Alley Cat one on the go so will be an interesting comparison.... Tamiya 1/48 Buffalo B339 - another box warmer - cause I'm lazy probably... Hasegawa 1/48 Hawker Typhoon Mk1 'Cardoor' - yup, box warmer, paint disaster after I clear coated the acrylic finish with a lacquer clear coat - all the paint ran so it needed stripping and re-painting..... eventually.... Tamiya 1/48 He-219 Uhu - held up due to lack of space.... Ebbro 1/20 Lotus 72E - sublime kit.... So I still have a week or more to finish the last few bits and pieces such as: Ebbro 1/20 Lotus 49 - lovely kit - just needing a few more things in Alclad and gloss coat... Kinetic 1/48 Alpha Jet - nice kit, odd fit here and there, awful instructions and awful end opening box. Kinetic, no! Wolfpack Designs 1/48 T-38 Talon - great kit but I hate painting white! Cheers Rob ***** UPDATE ******* Just after midnight - Jan 1st 2014 - here in NZ and I've managed to complete a few of the tail enders as part of my 2013 builds. Now I can have a rest. Oh wait, the wife wants a new kitchen..... Tamiya 1/24 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Tamiya/Ebbro 1/24 citroen 2CV Fourgonette Kinetic 1/48 Alphajet Ebbro 1/20 Lotus 49 finished Revell 1/24 BMW 507 Coupe WolfPack Designs Northrop T-38 Talon finished Cheers from NZ Rob

Hi all Almost matched my output for last year - well probably did but can't quite recall some of the completions from earlier in the year and possibly they were spillovers from 2011 so not sure if they count, and also have a few more to photograph.... Anyway, my completions for the year: 1/48 Hobbyboss FJ-4B Fury 1/48 Hasegawa A-4K RNZAF Skyhawk (completed first week of January...) 1/48 Tamiya Messerschmitt Bf-109 1/48 Fine Moulds Savoia S.21F Porco Rosso 1/48 GWH Focke-Wulf Fw-189 1/48 Hasegawa Hawker Typhoon Mk 1B 1/48 Hasegawa FGR2 Phantom 1/48 Tamiya Focke-Wulf Ta-183 and Kettenkraftrad 1/48 Fine Moulds Curtiss R3C-0 Porco Rosso 1/24 Tamiya Alfa Romeo 155 Ti 1/24 Tamiya Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Team Bosch 1/72 Airfix Spitfire Mk 1 1/48 Hasegawa Mitsubishi T2 1/48 Hasegawa F-8 Crusader 1/48 Tamiya P-47D Razorback 1/48 Alley Cat Tucano 1/48 Hasegawa Arado Ar-234 1/48 Trumpeter Westland Wyvern 1/48 Eduard FAA Hellcat 1/48 Hasegawa A-4E Skyhawk 1/48 Hasegawa Nakajima B5N Kate 1/48 Tamiya Nakajima J1N1 Gekko 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair 1/20 Tamiya Williams Fw-13B 1/9 Tamiya Moto Guzzi V10 1/20 Tamiya Wolf Wr1 1/48 Grand Phoenix McDonnell F3H-2N Demon Still a few on the go but unlikely to be completed prior to the New Year - lots of sleeping and eating to do between now and then! Cheers from NZ

Hi all Mixed bag of kits started in 2010/finished in 2011, started 2011/finished 2011 and a few started 2011 or before/but didn't quite make it... Here's a few started in 2010 and finished this year: Hasegawa 1/48 F-104C Tamiya 1/48 Storch Zveda 1/48 La-5 Hasegawa 1/72 He111P Hasegawa 1/48 He-129 Hasegawa P-39 Aircobra 'Air Cutie' Hasegawa 1/48 J35 Draken Tamiya 1/48 F-4F Wildcat converted to FAA Martlet Mk III Wingnut Wings 1/32 Se5a Eduard 1/48 FAA Hellcat Classic Airframes 1/48 BP Defiant Falcon 1/48 Supermarine Swift (perhaps not technically finished as I'm adding FOD guards to it...) ProModeller 1/48 F-86D Classic Airframes 1/48 Gloster Meteor NF11 Hasegawa 1/48 Lockheed TF-104 Hasegawa 1/48 A-4P Argentine Falklands Hasegawa 1/72 B-26C Marauder Hasegawa 1/48 TA-4J RNZAF Skyhawk Wingnut Wings 1/32 Sopwith Pup Started 2011 / Finished 2011 Special Hobby 1/48 Mc-200 Seatta Accurate Miniatures TBM-1 Avenger converted to FAA Tarpon Hasegawa 1/48 Hurricane Mk IID Wingnut Wings 1/32 Pfalz D.XII Tamiya 1/48 P-51D in RNZAF Auckland Squadron markings: Hasegawa 1/48 Mc-205 Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk XII AFV 1/48 F-5E Tamiya 1/48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk I I've started so I'll finish..... but didn't quite make it.... Esci 1/48 Tigercat Hasegawa 1/48 A-4K RNZAF Kahu upgrade - waiting on clear coat... Plus a few other bits that I've photographed but can't post due to image limits - most waiting on clear coats and de-masking - weather here in NZ is rubbish at the moment - wet and humid so not conducive to airbrushing in my shed - so here on New Years eve I'm not gonna get the last 4-5 kits finished.... Plus a few from the shelf of doom that I've pulled finger on close to being finished, and a couple started in the last few days that obviously won't make the end of year cut.. Cheers and thanks for looking... Rob

Hi Graham - excellent build and nice pics - can you tell me your method for spraying the Citadel paints (i.e. what thinner, ratio, etc?) - I've had a number of attempts spraying Citadel metallics with no luck - any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers Rob

Hi all Well I've had a very slow month of modelling - been concentrating on house renovations so more woodwork than plasticwork lately. I'm going to call this one done - or at least 99% done - couple of touch-ups to do, some minor weathering around the guns, exhaust, fuel tanks and a final spray of clear to seal it all - but knowing the rate at which I work and get bored with subjects, move on and come back to them, it may be some months before I get everything wrapped up. So here is the scooter as she stands: Close up (ish) of the Red Roo refueling buddy tank (used on A-4 and A-7 - excellent casting and instructions from Red Roo). And one or two more: Not entirely sure I'm happy with the demarc lines on the wing tanks - I'll have a think about that - if it doesn't bug me too much they'll stay as is - and as they are now glued in place I think they will stay as is.... perhaps a bit of fuel weathering and some scratches on the underside..... Apologies for the pics - the model looks better in the flesh! Honest! My point-and-shoot digital camera has no control over depth of field and I was relying on light in between passing rain clouds... So now I need to complete the other two birds from the RNZAF as seen above - A-4E/F from the mid-70's in it's SEA livery and a A-4K post-upgrade. I still have plans for another single seater in the all green livery just before the strike wing was disbanded and another TA-4 I plan to do in the SEA livery - and then I think I'll be scootered out. Cheers from NZ Rob

Hi all Inspired by builds on the Aeroscale forum and my own builds of Wingnut Wings SE5a and Sopwith Pup (posted here: http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=...945&page=1) I dragged out an old build started a few years ago of Eduards 1/48 Camel. I started off by trying a few new techniques (for me) beautifully illustrated by Juan Villalba in an issue of Military in Scale seen a few years ago (I'll get the issue details in my next post). Unfortunately my build isn't up to Juan's league but I'm happy with it so far - just want to press on and get it finished. I haven't quite got my head around the way in which he over-accentuates the detail making it stand out so vibrantly - might have to try again on another build. The macro setting of the camera makes all the dust stand out more than anything else - fortunately it looks ok from a distance... I've just re-sprayed the lower surfaces in Gunze Sail Colour (for the Clear Doped Linen) and shaded the ribs. Next up is some masking and shading of the rib detail - hopefully I'll get this done in the next week and try and figure out how to get the struts on... If you've built a Wingnut kit then you'll know what a doddle they are to build, especially when connecting the struts. The Eduard units are very flimsy and I'm not confident it's going to go well.... And then there is the rigging.. Thanks for looking Cheers Rob