mitchem

Crikey - thanks for the heads-up Pete ! I reckon I could have ended up sitting on the sidelines in the second half

Eastern Express kit finished off in the markings of Aerocaribbean - a Cuban Airline that was formed in 1982, and eventually ended its days in 2015 by being merged into Cubana. I did buy a set of 8a decs for the model, but they seemed a bit too short for the kit, and when I compared them to photos of the real aircraft, there didn't seem to be enough definition between the fuselage colours. Only one thing to do - make my own : The kit wasn't the easiest to build and I had a lot of trouble with the propellers and the outboard engines - not nice. Standard walkaround shots : Time to fire up the Ivchenkos and head back to Havanna - Adios mike

Cracking build Dave of another airline giant that is no longer with us. Glad to say that in spite of the original copyright issues, Brussels Airlines eventually got their man !

Excellent stuff Wally. Liking the comparison shot with the An-12 too mike

Excellent build and metallic finish there Eric. Nice to see some rare markings too. mike

Excellent stuff Pete. Looks very menacing in that colour scheme, and I wouldn't fancy one of those sneaking up on me Loving the comparison shots with the Nimrod too.

I have a set of those decals in the stash, so many thanks for the inspirational build.

Wow! Ever thought about taking up gem-cutting as a hobby? I can't believe that we're looking at the same kit in comparison to the "build / carving grinding" phase. Oh Dear.....Have you just disqualified yourself from the club competition? mike

Excellent.

Very nearly had us believing that this was being made from scratch, but a quick search on Scalemates revealed that this is actually a commercially available kit! ...and if you want proof, here's a picture of the spru(c)es : On a serious note, I'm watching this build come together in awe. mike

Many thanks for all of the generous comments - much appreciated. I think I've just about recovered from the build now. Time to have a look at some other abandoned builds hiding in the loft . (P.S. Glad that nobody noticed that I hadn't glued the wings on ) Best Regards mike

Classic scheme and excellent build Einar. (Loving the photo of the open gate onto the ramp and the open air observation deck) mike

Fantastic stuff Bjorn. Proof that it can be built after all.

You should have taken more time Ray On a serious note, great job in a relatively short space of time mike

Cracking job Wally Been on my "to-do" list for more years than I care to remember. mike

Really impressive Matt. Can I ask what brand of decal paper you're using ? mike

I’ve always been a fan of the Yak-28, so when Bobcat released their Yak-28PP I had to snap one up. Plastic looked good but the instructions were daunting, so it took some while to get going. Fit of parts was generally good, but I’m afraid that the engine nacelles were absolutely awful. Brute force, ignorance and 240 Grit won the day, and then it was onto the paint….. I found that the camouflage scheme in the instructions was impossible to interpret, so I resorted to letting the airbrush run free – at least until I put paint in it! I’m afraid that I struggled to get to grips with the AV Vallejo paints that I used, and I’ll be the first to admit that it was purely down to my technique – I didn’t have one. The upper surfaces were sprayed freehand, and then I made the mistake of spraying the underside with faded blue. At this point, the kit ended up being banished to the Shelf of Doom as this colour looked too dark to me. Fast forward ten months and I pulled out a tin of Colourcoats Light Grey, and hey presto – log-jam gone. Other bits and pieces used : · sections of the Eduard etch set for the interior of the Yak-28P Firebar · Eduard masking set for the clear bits on the Yak-28PP (an absolute must) · Quickboost Landing lights · Quickboost front-end fans · Quickboost Exhaust gondolas · Scale Aircraft Conversions Landing gear (only used for the outriggers because the kit parts come moulded with the wheels) · Aerobonus pilot figure · Coastal kits base Thanks for dropping by - hope you like it. mike

Lovin' it ! Such a classic scheme and such an inspirational build mike

I've got to congratulate you Matt. Your decal designing has come a long way since you started making repairs for one of your previous builds (I won't ask if the replacement set ever arrived.....) Best Regards mike

Excellent ...although for me, Air Gabon stole the show mike

Many thanks for the generous comments - much appreciated. Proof (as if it were ever needed) to keep plugging away in the face of adversity : Wrong sized decals : Getting carried away with self-levelling thinners and then having to go back to plastic : and then discovering a massive crack in the canopy when the masking was removed : Thanks to MAV decals, I'm ready to have another go : ....and this time I might put some rocket pods under the wings mike

Many thanks Matt. I'm afraid I've been side-tracked with a problem build and haven't been able to devote much time to this. Hopefully things will be back on track from now. Thanks Alex. I've left the wings off because masking the fuselage's cheatline is going to be a bit of a headache. I've test fitted them onto the fuselage and I reckon I can get away with attaching them after the majority of the paintwork is completed. The good news is that the wing box area needs to be painted Boeing Grey, so I'm should be able squeak by. (Famous last words) As far as the engines are concerned, many thanks for the tips. I've been preoccupied with the intakes, and doing everything that I can to remove the internal seams. Everything went according to plan, but then I realised that the diameter of the photoetch stator blades was wider the mouth of the intake. Having been to the dentist on a number of occasions recently, I figured that if he could fit all ten of his fingers in my mouth at the same time, fitting the stator blades shouldn't be that hard? With a bit of flexing, I managed to get them in and to lie flat. The internal bits were painted using a variety of masks and the intake lips have been finished off in matt aluminum. ...and exhausts (need a bit of touching up, but the use of brass tubing meant that there were no seams that need to be sorted out) : Close up of the starboard engine : and then a test fit on the wings : All is good in Africa..... mike

I'm afraid I've been absent from BM for sometime because finishing this became an obsession..... I started it for the Africa Group Build back in February. Everything was going really well until I started applying the decals. Let's just say that everything literally went South.... I never managed to finish the build in time, but I had gone too far to bin it. which was my first inclination. Anyway, not quite the finish I had hoped for, but what's done, is done. Link to the build process can be found here : 1/72 SAAF Buccaneet (Airfix) - run aground..... Thanks for looking mike

Another striking colour scheme that has disappeared mike

Congratulation Alex. Your cracking build and fine finish has managed to drag me out from under the table! Having lived in SA for 18 years, I've always been a fan of the "Orange tails" and your model has done them proud. I've had the Runway 30 decals in my stash for many, many years, and I know what you mean about the fluorescent orange stripe. Best Regards mike