Fifer54

"Konichiwa" said Basildon Bond (James's younger brother)

I just freehand it, but then I use a hairy stick for painting! I'll have to get used to masking though, I'm hoping that next year, I'll get to grips with the airbrush and compressor I've owned for about 5 years . . . I do mask canopies, I don't have the skill to freehand those, hands aren't steady enough! You can get the yellow Tamiya masking tape material (it's called Kabuki tape) as sheets of masking, Tamiya and a firm called Decalcas make them- big squares of masking! Maketar supplies paint masks in this material, and several firms make masks in a vinyl foil. These commercial masks tend to be tailored, as Giorgio said, to specific kits.

on the planet Venus

N-n-n-n-nineteen? Stop that! Meanwhile

You've sealed the helicopter??

here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty . . .

Thank you, fellow BMers! Some superb references there! Those diagrams will help my model a lot!

There's been some good progress on this! She's nearly ready for paint. That's it for today. Tomorrow I'm off into the city to get several shades and tones of "silver" paint, as well as some quality matt varnish . . .

I keep forgetting to take photos of the progress on this. The basic airframe is complete now, I've painted and masked up for the white stripes on wings and tail, so the Olive Drab and Neutral Gray come next. I'll be using Xtracolor WW2 Faded OD and Neutral Gray for this, applied by hairy stick.

Thanks very much for that, WIP! That link is very helpful.

I am currently building a P-51D in a bare metal finish. I am aware that the wings of NMF Mustangs were actually finished in Aluminium (or Aluminum!) paint, but was there any protocol regarding the external finish of the landing gear doors? Were they painted like the wings, or left in bare metal? Looking at pictures of restored warbirds, both bare and painted are evident. I am unable to find a photograph of the machine I'm building (Lt. Bob Dickmeyer's "Jan" of the 334th FS, 4th FG, 413956), although "Blondie" appears to be identical except for the nose art. I suspect that no-one would be able to prove that whatever choice I make was wrong, but it would be good to know if there was a standard.

Don't start that again!

"What's brown and sticky?"

or out of the

Yes, last year every door seemed to be either an opportunity to spend money, or a invitation to interact on Social Media . . .

A supportive partner is a great asset to a modeller. My SWMBO is superb, except she keeps wanting me to build helicopters for some reason- even bought me the Revell Mi-26 "Halo"!

the magic pixie who

Thanks, guys, to all who have responded. It would appear that choice of the manufacturer of the kit is as important as the choice of kit! Being as I rather like propellor-driven monoplane fighters, I was thinking along the lines of a Supermarine Type 224, a Martin-Baker MB.2, a Miles M.20 or a Heinkel He100. Resin or vacform will depend on what's available. I'll let you all know in the New Year, and I may even put up my first ever WIP!

I finished my Hudson this morning, and here it is: This from Revell's reboxing of the MPM Hudson, and it's been (how can I word this delicately?) the most challenging kit I've built since since my last MPM kit, which was (again) Revell's reboxing of MPM's Heinkel He 70, but even that wasn't as bad as this! The finishing scheme on this is taken from a photograph in Aircraft of the Fighting Powers, Vol.1, showing a turretless Hudson in flight. The turret position is faired over, I interpret the monochrome photo as DG/DE/Night, and it carries Type A1 roundels in six positions- it's known that Lockheed (incorrectly) applied roundels under the wings. Black undersurfaces shouldn't have had national markings applied. The authors of Aircraft of the Fighting Powers thought it was worthy of comment. It's a poor model from a bad kit, but best described as challenging, but certainly not unbuildable . . .

I've been modelling for nearly 60 years now. I didn't have a break from models in my teens and ongoing as many do (so why ain't I an expert modeller!?) but I've only ever made injection moulded kits. I reached retirement this year, and with more time on my hands, I have decided to take my model-making to "the next level". I've been messing about with a cheap Chinese airbrush for a couple of years, but as we move into the new year, I am determined to finally get to grips with the airbrush and make it my normal painting choice. As another part of advancing my modelling, I've decided to at least try a resin kit and a vacform kit, during the coming year. As a complete idio newcomer to resin and vac kits, I have no idea whatsoever of where to start! And so at last, I come to my question! Can any of the BM massive recommend an ideal "first resin" kit and/or an ideal "first vacform" kit. If it helps, I work in 1/48 and occasionally 1/72, my main modelling interests are aircraft of WW2 and The Cold War. Oh, and I don't build biplanes (I hate rigging!) I promise I'll post WIPs for both next year! I posted this here, because I couldn't decide where else to put it!

Worked for me . . .!

When I needed a new canopy for a 1/48 Bell X-1 (I'd lost the original), Eduard didn't charge me for a replacement, but said it would be sent out with my next order from the Eduard Store! Hence I now have a new Bf109F in the stash! (They have a minimum order of US$20)

Thanks, Col. Yes, it's all going together well. A very slight "step" at the top cowling join, quickly taken care of with a little sanding and a smear of filler, and a little shrinkage of the parts along the bottom seam of the fuselage,soon rectified with a little filler, slight gaps in the port wingroot and the nose cap. Otherwise great especially considering the age of the kit. . .

I found that as well, Col. Pilots sitting on a peg in the fuselage! Why did that go on for so long? Anyroadup, there's been progress here. Fuselage is closed up, filled where necessary and sanded, so that now it looks like this: Wings next . . .

with bells and tassels