Mattlaker

Thanks for all the comments guys! The bare metal took a little while! The base was Halfords Grey primer, then an anthracite preshade, which was all but obliterated with the main colour- citadel Mithral Silver! i then masked off selected panels, and misted on Humbrol matt aluminium, which came out a bit dark, so the whole coat was misted again with mithral silver. Other panels were selected and lightly brushed with different shades of Humbrol metalising paints. I then drybrushed selected panels with revell aqua white and used the tip of my finger to spread this over the panel to break up the silver, and repeated in other areas with revell aqua anthracite. This was kleared and given a pastel wash in a mix of black and dark brown, and finally after all this, it was matted down with Humbrol Matt from a rattle can. Last touch was some drybrushing of a mix of Revell Aqua Dark Earth and White, and also some VERY light patches of Anthracite to further break up the lines, with a view to make it look less 'toy-like'! and not a drop of alclad in sight!!! And as for that college... would've been a superb place to study- especially break times!!! I love Twilight tear- she's definitely my favourite mustang. I have always wanted a model of her, as i love the story about her 'returning home' to Duxford, and the painstaking efforts of the Fighter Collection to trace her history and put her back to her original markings. Hubert Davis would have been proud of the restoration they did there. Her 2006 flying legends display of EXTREMELY close formation with Princess Elizabeth has to be one of my all time airshow highlights. I am hoping against all hope that she will be returned to TFC as soon as her restoration is complete, so she will be flying again where she belongs above the skies of Duxford, and not sold stateside, as some internet forums have salaciously hinted.

Hi all, She's now done! always wanted to have a 1:48 model of the twiglet, but as they don't make the decals i have had some made especially by Paul Parkes! Really pleased with how she turned out! Cheers for looking! C+C welcome as always!

Mate, that is looking absolutely superb!!! That is one seriously fine looking A7. Superb weathering, and the avionics bays look really good!

Nice job!!! That pit looks really sweet! Nice job on the burner cans too! She's nicely dirtied up too- although phantoms did get really filthy, it's easy to overdo it... Nice work on the FOD covers too, by the way!

Here is the latest- Decalling has continued apace, with the superscale set, until i got the postman ringing the doorbell, when the Parkes decals arrived. I have continued with this throughout the day with loads of microsol but they are starting to settle down pretty nicely. lots more stencil data to be applied, but getting there! some paintwork will need touching up but that can wait for a little while!

Not normally a fan of What If's, but in this instance, i am in awe of your work on this one! Will be following with keen interest! A cracking start so far!

What worries me is that i don't have a compressor- i spray using compressed air canisters so can't control the pressure i spray at. alclad needs to be sprayed at a low pressure, so i would mess it up- i have no idea of how i could get round that one! Ok- latest update- all kleared, and pastel washed underside- Nav lights painted in and now on it's legs close up of the main U/C bay Again, thanks for looking! not much i can do until the decals turn up now... didn't arrive this morning- probably got another week or so to wait!!!

alclad scares me, and i don't have a compressor- still using canisters- should really invest! This is probably the quickest build i've done in ages!!! Here's the latest- Olive Drab anti-glare strip on now, and the tips of the wings have been painted in red. The dry brushing has really shown up in the flash- it looks nothing like that stark in natural light... trust me- it's much more subtle! Did some work on the gear bays as well, but forgot to photograph it so far... can't be bothered now! Just waiting on the decals from Paul Parkes and a set that are on order from hannants- namely the nose, and tail markings. Hope they turn u tomorrow morning!!! Then again, with hannants, who knows!!! If they do, Klear coat and decalling i think!

Ok- update time- Some slightly better pit shots Cheers for looking!

If all goes to plan, she'll be in the markings of a P-51D that took it's name from a famous racehorse of the time... Cheers for the comments guys! Mithral silver is now on, and some masking and spraying of selected panels will happen next!

Hi all, Whilst waiting on Hannants to send me some bits and pieces, decided to build something from the stash. The kit is the Tamiya 1:48 Mustang- an industry standard, basically! Using the eduard PE set, and the CMK weighted wheels set, and have some decals on order for Paul Parkes for the particular 'stang i wanna build... decided to get the PE in place today, but couldn't stop! I have now got the main airframe pretty much together, and have got one or 2 seams to fill- mainly due to my own skills, rather than the engineering of the kit- it really is as good as everyone says!!! Apologies for the quality of the images... came out a bit dark! Obligatory box and sprue shots Someone prefers Jet's :grin: Now onto the progress shots- the tippex is hardening as we speak... hope to get some more done tomorrow!

All i know is i want one! nice scimitar, by the way!

That 1:24 is mint- almost a shame to have that in the same thread as the rest, as it overshadows all of the other superb builds there! 1:24 notwithstanding, the spagetti one is an interesting subject- something a bit less run-of-the-mill, if you can ever class hurricanes as such!!!

They are absolutely superb mate! Surely you have an airbrush hidden somewhere to get finishes like that?! hehehe! Russian hurricane is the pick of the litter for me!

I've only ever seen one picture of AB910 in wartime, and that was an air-to-air photo on the wall at Tangmere. A superb subject, and i am following this with interest! some great scratchbuilding there!

the ladder is the Flightpath set, which comprises the pilot's ladder, and the nav's removable ladder- the set itself is beautiful actually- i got it off of hannants, and for £6.50 it was worth the money! http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=FHP48062 Cheers for your comments guys! all appreciated!

Hi all! This one has run and run, and finally, i've got her finished! Eduard cockpit set, Tally ho RBF tabs, Aires seats, Aeromaster decals scratchbuilt FOD covers, with some artistic license, and Flightpath ladder set. I am pleased with her- more so that she is finished tho! build thread is HERE Comments and criticism welcome!

To me, it looks to be more of a sky colour- either that or yellow! As for looking through a blurry prop- yeh, i can see what you mean, although the bits of spinner that aren't obscured are still an off white shade! afraid i can't offer anything definite!

Wow! That MkIX looks superb! I hope mine turns out as good as yours! looks like all the hard work paid off!!!

Daryl- I used Revell Aquacolor 56 for the blue, over an anthracite preshade- The flash seems to have lightened it a little compared to natural light- it should possibly be a touch darker. Thanks for all the comments! In reality, she isn't quite as dirty as i have portrayed her, so misted more barley grey carefully over the top- just a little bit to tone it down slightly, but wanted to do a really weathered phantom, so used a bit of artistic licence. I dare say she ended up in more of a state than reference photos show :grin: Mind you, it isn't as heavy in real life- the flash has kinda highlighted it a bit too much! here she is at the mo She got a bit of damage around the rear stabiliser- more accurately, it broke. Its re-attached, hence the tape!!!

How did i miss this one?! That is some superb PE work there- and great work on the shiny surfaces the detail is simply stunning! Your hard work is really paying off!!! Now that i've seen it, i'll be keeping an eye on this one!!!

Wow! This one is absolutely superb!!! That PE is incredible!

Mate!!! those decals are downright nasty!!!!! Looking really good! can't wait to see this one finished!!!

Right- latest update- spent the day playing around with a bowl of water, a sharp knife, some tweezers and some microsol. no, i wasn't trying to skin my cat- i was tacking the vast job of stencil data- and oh boy, are there lots of the blighters!!! i had a valiant stab at it, and did not finish it all today. I have done the underside, nose, stabilisers and fuselage, and started the upper wing surfaces, but that's it. the biggest part is still ahead! The kit stencils were used, and they have settled down a treat with the microsol. here are the obligatories- was in too minds as to whether to keep on this evening, but decided there's no point rushing it when i could mess it up!!! and a shot of the kit burners, which i have gone for following my resin issues. I am pretty pleased with how they came out with some sensitive brushing- what do you guys think?

Ah! Gotta love the Revell FGR kit!!! Had so many issues with Aires stuff tho- went for the eduard etched set and used the kit burners after trashing the Aires ones... Made them look ok after some fiddling and careful washing with thinned metallics! I will be watching this one with interest- wanna do me an FG.1 at some point... The aeromaster decals are absolutely superb! you got a lotta patience with the aires stuff!!! Good work!