silverburn

I'm with Fozzy on this one... witness this tale of woe, as a form of confession - what should have been a beautiful 1:32 mossie. - plastic so brittle it would make poppadoms look strong. I broke the tail off just by holding it. I even crushed the port engine nacelle beyond repair - I glued the fuselage squint. I cracked the fuselage by sanding the joins too much - the pit went in squint, and I only noticed after the fuselage was joined - I dropped the glass into some dulux white matt. Don't ask. - I glued the wings in squint - I dripped glue right down the belly. It's now a paint mule.

Hi pharty, I've got one of these coming - what aftermarket stuff should I use (etch/seat/deca S)? And where did you get the rattle black? My rattle blacks are rubbish - usually too lumpy! I've gotta find a way to raise the details as well - I might use a white pencil or something. awesome job you've done btw.

boats...or ships???? :-) only joking... Sorry - most of the stuff I have is black & white, and long distance. So I just copied the tamiya instruction colours, but even that seemed a bit dubious (see above "field blue" comments).

Ok, another wee update... 8x smaller turrets done, and dry-fitted. Funnels dry fitted - will need a touch up, as the seam in both needed a bit of sanding. some small rear superstructure parts done. Still waiting for my paint, so I can get properly cracking.

not much modelling done today, what with visiting the parents and running out of paint. So I did what I felt like - and in no particular order I did: - The funnel assembly and deck painting. Some sanding was done, so gotta touch up before assembly. When the paint arrives... - The bridge. The top part is all assembled, since it's painted (with the final residues). It'll be glued to the lower portion, once that is painted. - The stand. Painted black and gold, and looks pretty smart. Gonna touch up some lettering, as the camera never lies, and always shows up the defects! I know my approach seems a wee bit random, but there you go - it'll all get back on track once I've got more hull grey and steel grey. Only thing glued down so far is the main bridge, and the boat desk. Everything else is dry-fitted for now.

Another wee update. Geniune "boats" are done (apart from 2 tiny ones)! The first piece of superstructure gets glued down too. Deck colour I've gone for is steel grey which I think is as close as I'll get with rattle cans. Assembly started on the other parts, and painting of decks to be done tomorrow. Note: main super structures only fitted for now...and very snug it is too. If the rest of the kit goes together as nicely, i think I might do more ships Hindsight is wonderful...it means I would have putty-ed the seams on the deck before painting and glueing them to the hull... Is one speed boat got darker decks than the other? Yes...by design; I wanted it to look slightly different. Wish I hadn't now...

fantastic build - but as you say, there's no 1:350 kit....boooo :cry:

You really are the master Phil ! Perchance this is 1:350? My dad loves this ship (or rather, the Nelson) - i might make it for him as a present...if it's in 1:350.

ok, an update: Decks drilled and on...propellers on...Anti-air pods in (front and rear - though one rear one needs re-seated)...lower level of super structures built and dry fitted. I'm going to wash off the light wash; it's distracting, and makes it look like I ran the paint on the "knobbly" deck bits. I've also got to think about the anchors & chains...i'm tempted to sand off the kit chains, and fit my own...once I've found some small enough! And now I've run out of "hull" paint! No more updates until I've got some new stocks.

Lol - not yet...blasting through 6 build in a month (1:72) is about as fast as I go I'll be back to this one soon though!

Damn, that's nice! I especially like the weathering (spot on), and the additions of pipes and cables to the wheel bays. Looks perfect! leagues ahead of my ability (and my rattle-can facilities) I have a general query (to all) - D-day stripes...over the wing-walk lines, or were the lines re-painted on top? I understood they lashed the black and white on by hand at the airfields, and only repainted the essential roundels and squadron letters/numbers on top. Am I right or wrong?

Phew! I thought the blue would be wrong...ta! Working on the main decks right now - hairy-brushing on the hull colour to the 'metal' bits. With hindsight, I should have sprayed hull, then masked off the turrents, breakers etc for the deck colour. Also doing a white wash of the decks, partly to age them, but also to tone down the tan, which is slightly too brown, IMO.

too right - lol! @ Phil Reeder: Thanks for the advice - wise words! This sounds like a good approach - I'll try and replicate this where I can. I start with the hull, since it was big and simple - onto the trickier stuff now I may order some etch for this - even if I only use the guard rail! @ everyone else: Thanks for the kind words! I'll try and do the wetside proud * Edit - PS - what does "field blue" actually look like??? I've seen tamiya's colour tab, but surely tamiya can't want this, as deck colour, and for the top of the guns???

Well, I've started the serious modelling (if you can call it that) for 2011, and for once, it's not a 1:32 plane. And since it's now the start of my 3rd year of modelling (ever), I went with this: Now it should be noted that this is my first boat, so I'll no doubt make some schoolboy errors as I go. I've gone for 1:350 because I've got serious sausage fingers and a distinct lack of co-ordination, so I figured 1:350 would have bigger parts in it. Turns out I'm wrong on that front, but hey ho. Anyway...ain't these 1:350's big??? Decks just laid on top for now. All fits together super-snug though. If it all goes together as tightly/accurately as the big bits, this'll be a nice kit. What are the recommendations from the experienced hands - do all the bits, then attach them to the decks, then everything into the hull, or get the decks in straight away and work from there? Lovely...this masking was strangely satisfying to do...as was the painting, as there's so much plastic to cover. I just went beserk. Can I do another one please??? And no - it's definitely straight, in case you think the midsection looks a bit funny. I checked myself!

It's my own personal deadline...January was a "1:72 month" (a holiday, of sorts), and I'm back to business as usual (1:32, a ship and my though projects) in Feb.

Woah, I better get a move on... Basically, I've been taking a holiday from 1:32, by doing some 1:72 - this lancaster included. And check the date! So better get going...except there are 2 logistical issues in the way...I've run out of the 95% black, and I'm waiting for a mask from Hannants - damned if I'm doing all these myself, what with my sausage fingers and the shakes.. So...what to do? Well, I went for it - and did the wings. completely. Glueing, sanding, priming, painting, decalling, lacquering. And I *just* squeaked through! So here we are, dry fitting in place. I totally nailed the colours, only to find a smudge in the brown on the port side...so I touched it up...and it seems to be a different colour now! Anyway, I just left it - given all my 1:72's will be ceiling mounted, I doubt anyone will notice. More to come soon!

This looks good too! I see you've gone for a 'square wing end' edition - a wise choice! Anyway, thanks for all the compliments guys - I was expecting a rougher ride, given it's a spitfire, and there are a good few subject-matter experts here, who are way better modellers than me! Just as well it was a fun build I've got a Tamiya 1:32 to do at some point this year, so I'll be trying to keep that one as accurate as possible. Anyway, I'm calling this done (apart from the top light by the antenna, which I've just noticed needs done). Ran into a few problems on the home straight - most notable was that the wheels won't go into the bay without serious trimming! I had to dremel them to a hairs thickness to get them to fit flush. Also, the front windscreen is way off - you could drive a bus between it and the sliding canopy. Fitted ok on the fuselage, and the sliding canopy is on perfect - not sure why there's a massive gap? And lastly, I managed to seperate both wing roots, peeling off some masking...a nice cracking sound too. Lovely. Can't see them in the photo's, but rest assured, they're there...mocking me... I decided not to fit the wing lines over the top of the d-day stripes - I figured they'd have painted right over them in 1:1. I did lay them over the top of the roundels on the wing though - is that correct? I took a liberty with the prop cone - it's a sky blue, not the grey-ish the kit recommends. Just adds a bit of flavour, I thought. Anyway - enjoy. I did. Here is January's collection of 1:72. I've taken January as a wee "holiday" into 1:72, just for fun. There's a lancaster coming, but it might not make the end-of-Jan cut-off...But it won't be by much. Just waiting on a mask set for the glass so I can start painting. I'll do all of January's output as RFI, once the lancaster's in. Then it's back to 1:32 - woohoo!

Only a small update tonight - I spent most of the night watching the yesterday channel, including a very biased program on said spitfire! Anyway, 1st half of the d-day stripes are on, upper and lower sides of the wing - and they came out better than expected; I thought I'd oversprayed the black, and would have some leakage round the tape, but no - pretty solid. Fuselage to be done tomorrow. Just something about the d-day striped spitfire that looks nice...can't wait to get it done! One boo-boo from the sausage fingers was the breaking off of the port wing tip. *Really* wish Italeri had kept the wing in one bit...these tips are a pain.

Hi again all, Just a wee update - the cammo is on! Come out quite well, with only a few leakage issues round the the masking tape. Belly paint also needs a touch up or two, especially around the edges, but it's no biggie. D-day stripes and yellow leading edges to do tomorrow, then decals! *EDIT": It's not blue btw - it's most definitely grey and green, not blue and green! Rubbish camera just washing out the colours again...

Truth be told, Spitfire newbie here hadn't noticed the difference in the tails... It'll be late war, just so I can do some more d-day stripes...

Ok, progress: Pit done. Was there yellow and red buttons on the panel? No, probably not, but it brightened it up a bit, compared to having everything white. Sealed up, and seams being worked - biggest issue is the chin; tons of filler and sanding required. Almost done though. Annoying aspect of the kit - the wing tips. Did Italeri *really* need to make you add the wingtips? I wouldn't mind if they at least fitted cleanly! More sanding and re-scribing to do. And the supercharger intake was rubbish - it barely fits. More sanding...Ironically, the normal problem - the wingroots weren't too much bother!

Looking good so far! First thing I thought when I saw the box art..."that poor rear gunner...sitting in the prop wash all day. That's the fast track to perforated eardrums and tinitus"...

Another day, another bit of progress: Bombs in; strangely, the drab looks a bit weak in this photo - looks fine in real life! Canopy on, tail horizontals on, main fuselage sanded and smoothed, outer nacelles added and drying. Looks like I need to actually do the inner engines to locate the exhausts correctly! Damn....was hoping to just rattle through that bit, since this will be in flight, and all engines closed up.

Ok, I've been modelling now for almost 2 years, so it must be time to take the plunge into the minefield that is the Spitfire. So be gentle - I know there are some here who have the skills to get to almost photo-levels of realism, so intimidation has been a factor until now. Plus I figured my GB lancaster needed an escort, since my B17 has one! It's still part of "1:72 January" for me, so emphasis is on fun - no rivet counting, and crazying markings or loadouts - pure OOB action. Kit chosen purely because it was 1:72 and it was £4. Oh, and the classical shape on the box art, I guess. Anyway, here's the kit. I start tomorrow! It will join the rest of my January builds (so far - a lancaster will appear in here shortly):

Ok, I'm calling this done. It was supposed to be a quick wee 1:72 for fun, but I ran into a number problems, mostly with the white paint, and my clumsy fingers. In the home straight, there's been 3 annoying problems: - 22 decal on the tailfin moved between placement and lacquering down - The primer leaking round the tape on the glass; i had to scrape it off, but its still marked the plastic, obviously. Annoying. - A couple of touch up with brushed on pure white was not that; for some reason my pure white is now about 2-3% brown! And I wouldn't call these problems, but 'user errors': - The red on the wings is too far in. - The red on the nose is not far enough in! Anyway, here it is. And this is my January collection of 1:72. All works started and finished in January. All are "fun"builds only - back to the hard work in 1:32 in Feb