silverburn

Ok, a wee bit of progress - Bomb noses repainted a more reflective colour of 1:1 - ...although 2 have been purposely left off-colour, and with notably different yellow bands. Once weathered, this will make the bombs look like they came from different stocks - graffiti to be added shortly if you're wondering why there's only 6, well that's because the main news is the scratch-building of the double-bomb carriers! Not really done a lot of scratch building, short of replacing small aerials etc which get lost to the carpet monster, so this is a real step up for me. And I'm relatively happy with the results of the test edition...just gotta replicate it 3 more times now... Blagged some decals from the original kit to liven it up a bit. Blu-tac'ed in place for now (will need to be further forward than this once on permanently) Damn...just noticed the etch on the top of the intake has sprung. That's annoying.

Count me in as one of the 'ers too...but this looks good.

Now in RFI.

Hi all, A collaboration project with next door's son, who's gonna be a good modeller one day I recon! Ironically, I've only been modelling myself for less than 2 years (and it shows..., so it's a bit like the blind leading the blind... Anyway, to the kit - totally bog standard, out the box job, including paint. It was a bit of a fighter -lots of flash, some very non-discript parts and the tube of filler was raided many times, especially around the undercarriage doors, and on the left side of the pit fuselage (where the add-on bit for the gun goes). Ironically, we went for an in-flight pose for space and build speed reasons - except closing the doors made the job longer than it would have taken to do it wheels down! Another wee problem with the white paint which needed a full strip-back for the missiles, but all sorted now. Also, the electronics chin on the nose is the standard kit one - ours didn't come with the correct part - but we weren't rivet counting, and fired on regardless. Also tried photographing outside - the camera is rubbish and it got freaked out by the black indoors for the WIP thread (here). Note: it's very late on in the build when I started this. I'd have liked to use a hi-gloss, but my Montana Gold Gloss is a bit gloopy right now (rattle cans + cold garages don't mix). Even the black is a bit lumpy, but I know black and white are hard colours to get right at the best of times. Anyway - here goes. Enjoy. We did, and I've grown to like the Tomcat profile. If only the yanks could make their cars as good looking too! Trust me, the pit is actually pretty good!

Magnificent - that's a work of art.

Hi Guys, Thanks for all the tips! I tried the various suggestions, to no effect - but I think I found the solution - plain ol' white spirit. 15 mins soaking in a tub of it, and bingo, it just slid off! Question is - is Montana Gold therefore enamel or acrylic? Anyway, here's the results - some nice missiles! Just the pylons to do, and it's time for RFI.

Next door neighbours son needed a hand with his F14, and I was more than happy to help! He's got the making of a good modeller too. Straight out the box, and with box paint scheme. Left as semi-gloss, as it looks glossy in the pics. Kit itself was a bit of a fighter; much filler fun especially around the bays (this will be an in-flight number). Red decal stripe was a nightmare - ended up repainting most of it. A combined work as follows - forgive me - cheap camera's ISO settings got freaked out by the black, I think: Glossy-tastic: How long will these bits stay on? Canopy not sealed in yet: I do like the F14 profile: It looks complete (apart from the nose needle), but actually, there's been a wee disaster with the air-to-air...my white rattle can has turned to mush! The finish has gone all blobby and rubbish. The AIM9's were ok, since they're grey. Any tips for stripping back to bare plastic without melting the plastic?

Cheers for the encouragement guys - I'm not normally a 1:72 guy (sausage fingers, old eyes & the shakes), but good to know I'm on the right track. Tonight, we shall mostly be doing the turrets and side guns. And gahd, it's quite nerve wracking - Glass always give me the willies, and masking at this size is pretty hard for me. In the end I tried something - using blue tac - and it worked far better than expected! Except I went and ruined it by using the wrong shade of grey for the spars (I used a too-light grey). So I fiddled about to make the scheme look intentionally that way... So now the circular window and a few surrounds are light grey, while the main ball itself is the darker grey. (photo's later). Oh, and I know it's only 1:72...but gahd, the gun boxes and ammo belts are *rubbish* - zero detail at all. Should be done by tomorrow. Errr...or maybe boxing day... Merry Xmas all!

Now in RFI! Enjoy

Hi all, Here are the final photos for my first stringbag, and have to say that this really was an enjoyable build, even though I'm normally a 1:32 man. And the wife said not to weather it (it was a birthday present from her), so clean it remained. Technical details: Kit: Tamiya 1:48 Paints: Montana gold (rattle), and humbrol enamels (for hairy brush bits) Extras: The Tamiya etch for the rigging, and the Tamiya case. Diorama base is some generic 1:48 WWII runway stuff. Thread for control surfaces. Mishaps? - Well, you'll get the dirty details from the build thread. - Decals shrunk on fuselage - And as you can probably tell, my main camera is on the blink (Wife wrecked the memory card pins by forcing a card in the wrong way) Liberties taken: - torps and bombs at the same time - crew colours not exact Anyway...enjoy. In fact I enjoyed it so much, I got one of these, with the aim of somehow doing a 1:32 floater as well....;-)

Am I seeing right? The Spad has the prop "inside" the fuselage??? Hope the front gunner isn't wearing a long, flappy scarf....

Ok gents, another wee update... Nothing too dramatic - just slow progress on the internals. A shame that most of it will be covered up! Then again, my hairy brush skills at 1:72 are woeful (wish I had this colour in "rattle"), so probably a good thing. It's "ok" - but I've seen way better skills at 1:72 from other members. Will be glad to stitch this up and work on the exterior which I *am* going to enjoy...as will Mr Tamiya when he sees his tape sales afterwards. 1:32 Harrier and 1:32 Tornado in back of shot. Need paint for both and metals legs for the later.

Wooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww......just found this thread...

I had an itch to scratch, so this came out the stash, for a quick and easy build, and for a wee change from my Tornado. Except....it was really wasn't that easy, and I recruited a friends son...or rather, they recruited me as a mentor to show him how to "model". But some mentor I turned out to be, when I personally: - Destroyed the side glass with yellow paint. Not sure how, but I was giving a demonstration on how to mask and paint glass. And it all went hideously wrong. Which is bizzare, because I did it no different from all the previous times! - Couldn't get the engine cown to fit neatly. - Couldn't get the underside engine intake to fit. I mean, it was way too big for the slot! - Got dust inside the glass, which seems to have permanently glued itself there. Other traumas to this model went as follows: - Port side decals "G" got pulled off, when "someone" picked it up (error is cunningly out of shot, you'll note ) - ....probably the same person who put a huge finger print in the lacquer on the starboard side, just behind the engine... - "someone" was given a demon on how to prime and paint with rattle cans so they could do the wings themselves...except they cunningly used grey primer on the wings, instead of white. Needless to say, the wings now have a tiny colour difference to the main fuselage... - Someone broke one of the small vertical spars - The carpet monster ate the door handle. Well, we're trying to decide who should keep this one...it's not a "keeper" for me, unless it's buried away in a very dark corner of the model-hanging wall...

Ironically, that's exactly what I had planned for this one! That or a "rub finish" as per my lightning (see sig below) if I go "dirty". Which I doubt - I suspect I'll keep this one clean. Quick update - first coats of green etc, the bomb bay is in and some cockpit work started. Annoyingly, green is brush painted since I don't have a rattle for this colour. 2nd coat and detail painting tomorrow.

Photo's as promised! Cammo is about 70% complete - I've just run out of tape and painted though!

Hi all, Picked this little number up this morning, for a Xmas build. I have decided that a new year's resolution will be...to do the Wingscale 1:32 once it comes out! Snag is...I'm not up on Yank metal, so I've decided to take this opportunity to "gen up" on B17's and perhaps work on some painting techniques as I'm a rattle-canner (especially metal effects) before the 1:32 arrives. Also, it's the start of a 1:72 collection of Allied WWII bombers I seem to be lined up to do through no conscious design - Lancasters, Wellingtons, B17's and maybe a B25 (also quite fancy the 1:32 in that too).

Been working on the cammo, and will have some pics soon once I sort the camera...Again. Did a 1:32 pup in 3 days to cure the shakes, so firing back into this. Snag is, this cammo is hard on the paint and tape stores - Ive run out! Should have something to show you soon.

oh, man...oops, I think I need a tissue. What's that other one in picture 13? A b25? I'll take both *edit: August 2011!

Anyone got decent photos of the bronze green? All looks like dark green to me...

Ok, started the basic paint on these, and select one bomb to experiment with colours and with the "graffitti". Hope you like it! The centre green is too green - needs to be darker than this, but looks ok. The yellow "live" band needs work too - I cheated by moving it further back, purely to make the masking easier...and still c**ked it up (it's a bit wobbly, and sprayed on too thick)! I'll be adding the "fan" and fuses later. But I like the handwritten stuff. Hope you can read it ok - one side says "Eat this!!" and the other says "Tonka's rule ok!". Just a bit of fun on my behalf, and I'll do 4 sides of 8 bombs in total (the inner bombs won't be visible after-all...and this one will be consigned there, I suspect). So any witty suggestions welcome! I was planning to go with: - Tonka's rule ok! - Open wide... - Eat this Saddam! - Say hi to Elvis for me *edit - pics are overexposed. Both greens considerably darker than this.

That's a great pic, thanks - even a newbie scratch builder like me should be able to throw something together to simulate these.

I hadn't actually got that far yet, and figured I'd just "wing it" or scratch build something closely approximating 1:1. Perchance you've got any photo's of those...?

Final post before RFI - the crew are in. RFI report and pics shortly - my camera and lighting are both knackered, so will be a few days.

Started the bombs...only got as far as priming and checking for anomalies (1 found) before work called.