Jump to content

modelmaker

Members
  • Posts

    248
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    redditch

Recent Profile Visitors

2,842 profile views

modelmaker's Achievements

Established Member

Established Member (3/9)

145

Reputation

  1. I needed a very thin circle on an Me-163 nose, so similar to a spinner. I have something called a compass cutter, just a cheap thing I bought from 'the Works' shop in town a few years ago. Take a piece of masking tape and try to mask round the spinner. You can't actually do a proper job of it, but just do a rough job. Scribe a pencil line round the tape at about the level where you want the band to be on the spinner. Now take the tape off, and lay it flat on a cutting mat. This gives you a rough but reasonable idea of the radius of your 1mm band. Now, I didn't try to mask anything, but rather I cut a circle with my compass cutter on a piece of red transfer (or decal) sheet (I save all my old transfers) then increased the radius by a mm or so and cut a second circle. It wasn't quite right when I I tried it so I tried again until I got it right. If you get it reasonably right it will just wrap round beautifully. The BIGGEST issue will be whether the compass cutter will cut a small enough circle for the small scale we use. If you get it right it's a really handy trick. Best of luck!
  2. Well, I thank you all for your help. Researching any Luftwaffe colour scheme is always full of joy! I'm planning to do the unpowered version in British markings because I've got a spare set, I'm building 3 of these little beasties, and it'll add a bit of variety. Thanks for everyone's help, any more thoughts gratefully received.
  3. I promise I tried the search! Got results for tanks and B17s and more! Google searching often brings me here of course, but I can't find a reasonably confident answer to what colour scheme the Devil's Sled that he flew was wearing. There are many models pictured, and b/w pics, and a painting by Michael Turner. I'm sure in the grand scheme of life it won't matter whether I paint it in RAF colours or the Luftwaffe, although the painting suggests perhaps at least the fuselage had a 74 and/order over 76. Any thoughts gratefully received.
  4. Thanks Mr Hook, beats the heck out of Revell's paint instructions. I'm slightly cross I didn't think of Cyber modeller myself! Very kind.
  5. Too flipping right! A pal yesterday was recounting how I'd given him an old Airfix B57 years ago, then posted a missing part to him. Not a clue, CANNOT remember.
  6. One day, if I live long enough, I'll get it right! DOH! Many thanks.
  7. Top man! I thought that might be the case, but woe betide if I got it wrong! Very kind.
  8. Good morning! I've got a nice 1/72nd Revell A10 which I started ages ago; like most Revell kits I've ever built I've teleported it into a proper box with a lid (why do they continue to use them??????). Similarly, although I realise they want to sell you their paint, I can't imagine anyone actually follows their mixing recipes. It seems surprising difficult to find what colours I might choose for a Gulf war A10. The option they list appears to be a two tone green and an light olive. I've drawn a bit of a blank regarding what 'real' colours these might be, although I wonder if they might be the European (lizard? I forget) used on my old Tamiya '48th kit. Any words of wisdom gratefully received!
  9. Exactly what Mike said. I've got various bespoke modelling sponges, which cut beautifully and don't clog, but they will tend to follow the shape of what's already there. I've got just one 'wood' nail stick, a beautiful fine grit which I cannot equal, or replace, but carefully cut back with whatever stick or files you've got (but be careful) and just get progressively finer. When I was an apprentice in the 70s we learned how to scrape joints and surfaces (crankshafts and lord knows what else) which I never ever used in all my life until a member of Milton Keynes IPMS suggested it as a technique for cleaning and otherwise attacking joints and seams, and this can be very very useful when dealing with very precise areas which need attention, especially if you use superglue as a go-to filler. For gap filling try mixing a 'weak' mix of a drop of superglue and a small amount of talc. Use a drop of accelerator and repeat and don't worry about it building up a bit too much, because you're going to cut it back one way or another. Best of luck!
  10. Actually, I am at this moment building Revell's Voodoo, and have painted it in H 61, going on the strength of Urban's reference charts. There seems to be no end of opinion regarding the correct model paint for 'ADC' grey (like many other colours). Any advice greatly accepted!
  11. Hello to all, I'm just reading this really interesting book then happened upon this thread (god bless Google for knowing everything about us......) I've not read to the end of either the book or the thread, but it sounds like a really good idea for a themed build program. Reading the book I was struck by the sometimes perilous scrapes herr Lerche got into (flying a Lancaster over a Luftwaffe night fighter base in the dark with a dead radio for example) and the humorous way he recounts it all. Superb. Good luck with any future build progress.
  12. Good morning! I've just recently started to convert to both Gunze and Tamiya after a lifetime of using enamel (quite satisfactorily). Whilst I can mask a Tamiya XF/isopropyl coat of paint within minutes, I do find that (in my limited experience) I can leave fingerprints when handling any Gunze coat of paint for days or longer. I suppose I should always have worn gloves and this has helped, and masking after a day or two is ok (LIKE I USED TO DO WITH ENAMEL!) seems ok, I do find myself wishing Tamiya had a larger range! It really seems faultless when thinned with iso. I've used isopropyl, cellulose car airgun thinner (modern this), and all the expensive 'Mr' thinners. I'm ok with it, but I'm not sure it's the quantum leap forward that I find with Tamiya. Funny thing progress.....
  13. Finest folk in the world, modelling Brummies. That's Brummies who make models, not Brummies on catwalks, although I suppose there might be some overlap..... The hypo Idea can help because I'm terrible at centering using a needle.
  14. I have all sorts of bits of old hypodermic needles, bits of brass tube, the needles from the little bottles I once used to buy to refill printer cartridges and more stuff besides. If I want drill a hole in sprue, broken circular struts, or other circular parts I first find a short length of tube which fits snugly (if I can) over the part I want to drill. I then get out the micro drills and find the largest one I can to fit inside the tube. If you're careful this will drill a little dimple into the tube which you can use as a centre when drilling the piece. It usually helps.
  15. I can't add too much to help with broken struts I'm afraid, except that once or twice I've managed, or at least 'got away with it' by using a narrow-ish strip of thin plastic card as a splint on the outside of strut, on one side. Once it's all thoroughly dry you can sand it on a piece of fine dry oxide paper, and/or carefully scrape the thin plastic card until it's almost non existent. Although it isn't structurally strong it is surprisingly more robust then just butt glueing and only visible if you know it's there. It can work in an emergency. I've made use of the very fine needles which go with my insulin pens for making internal strengthening pins, being as they are free to we diabetics, and quite thin (0.25mm). The old disposable syringes had slightly larger 0.3mm needles pre-attached which were strong enough to use as drills for jobs like biplane rigging on '72nd models or drilling holes in broken undercarriage legs/wings if they get broken off. The.25 needles are too thin. As soon as I realised I salvaged every used syringe from the sharps box and rescued the needles.
×
×
  • Create New...