Alex Gordon

Looking good so far old fruit and yes,the electrical wiring was yellow apparently https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/20390-luftwaffe-wiring-what-colour/ .

G'day again Chums,some more done. The wing has been fitted.The joint had a gap on both sides so Milliput was applied. My fingers won't go into a joint that tight so once the initial smoothing was done I wrapped a length of insulating tape around a loose wad of bog roll,put a drop of water on the joint and rubbed the smoothing wad back and forth until the filling was flush and smooth. While I had the Milliput on the go the inside of the intake was refined a little. The canopy has been masked and olive drab paint sprayed on to the spine.I say olive drab,my tin of Humbrol 155 had gone solid (yet another one Mr Humbrol) so I used Humbrol 253 RLM 83 which looks near enough to me. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

G'day again Chums,some more to show. Gerard,Craig,James,cheers chaps. The fuselage halves have been glued together. The intake and exhaust ducts have been refined with a bit of Milliput. The mainwheel wells have had a few things added,masking tape strip to represent the fuselage structure,stretched runner for pipework and some electrical boxes chopped out of a scrap 1/48th Spitfire tailplane and some thick plastic card. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

Moving stuff into an existing album is a bit convoluted I agree.I tend to process my piccies through Paint first and then upload the resulting images,it cuts out the clutter and reduces the bandwidth needed to upload and put them into a thread on here. Since the Photobucket business I have spread my ramblings around several hosts OneDrive,Imgur,IMGBB and Village Photos so that if one goes west then it's not such a big thing to rectify.Imgur and IMGBB allow a decent file structure so that stuff can be found easily,VP is a bit chaotic for my taste but that's a moot point now because it seems that it has finally stopped operating causing me to find a replacement for it.I'm giving https://zippyimage.com/ a go which seems to be all but identical to IMGBB in operation. As I said before,change for changes sake.They're all at it and sometimes it goes beyond irritating but I don't complain as I've not paid a penny for any of it so far and have no intention of doing so if I don't have to.

Hello again Chums,a little progress. Andre,Reini,thanks chaps. There has been gap filling either side of the front noseleg bay door,a combination of number tag off the frame and some plastic card. A gunsight was made from a number tag from the glassware frame and a panel added to the top of the instrument panel. A spot of paint and we're ready to fit the canopy. The legs and wheels have been painted. Thanks all for looking in.

Change for changes sake.I've sussed how to put piccies into an album but it is a convoluted process.I can't complain however,I haven't paid a penny for it yet so I should be grateful that it hasn't been Photobucketed.

Hello again Chums,more progress to show. James,Steve,thanks chaps. The noseleg is supposed to go in when the fuselage halves are put together.I don't want to do that so I've drilled through the pivot into the leg to take a length of wire.That way the leg can be cut away from the pivot for later fitting and the pivot can go in. While I had the wire out I made the control column for the rear cockpit. Some really thin wire was coiled around a drill bit cut to form little rings and made into instrument bezels for the rear panel.These were fixed into place with grey paint and,when that was dry,the insides were picked out with matt black. On the subject of the cockpit interior colour it should be RLM 66 which RAL has as 7021 Black Grey.Revell has that as 9 Anthracite and Humbrol have it as either 32 Dark Grey or 67 Tank Grey,both of which are as near black as it's possible to be without being so.Every photo I've seen of RLM 66 cockpits have a lot more contrast between the surroundings and the instrument bezels than there is between the paints that I've used up to now.Heretic that I am I've used Humbrol 106 Ocean Grey because it has about the same contrast with the matt black. The cannon ejector chutes only have apertures.I flattened and squared off a length of copper wire,knocked up a blob of Milliput,shoved both of those into the fuselage blobbed some more Milliput on top and drew out the copper wire forming the chute ducting. While I had the filler on the go I made up the outer wing leading edges under where the slats will be. Thanks all for looking in.

There is a crossover between Sim Bods and Plastic Bashers.When I built my F5 a couple of years ago by far the most comprehensive reference I happened across was from the Flight Simulator world https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/upload/iblock/528/DCS F-5Е-3 Flight Manual_ENG.pdf .This wasn't previously somewhere I'd have looked but the detail and understanding I found has encouraged me to look at this stuff more readily.

G'day again Chums,some more done. Craig,Gerard,cheers chaps. Steve,thanks for popping in old fruit.Don't be afraid,none of this is compulsory.I'm only doing it because I'm a tightwad and I'd like to wring the value for money out of the tenner this kit cost me . The underside of the cockpit tub was marked up and plastic card cut and bent to fit the sides.A couple of bulkheads were,after a lot of faffing about and cutting out the wrong edges a couple of times,made to close in the fore and aft ends. There was a bit of refinement needed but that involved removing material which is far easier than adding it. That completed I started on the bits that go between the fuselage and the wing.I temporarily stuck them in position with some liquid latex and offered the whole lot into place.It took a couple of goes to get these right,they're near enough for what I'm doing. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

G'day again Chums,some more to show. The pylons have been fixed and levelled off,the holes for the rocket mountings have been plugged with stretched runner and await cutting off and making good. The noseleg sits aft of where it should and has a little too much forward rake. I chiselled a notch out of the front wall of the bay and modified the upper end of the noseleg. A piece of plastic card was cut to make the roof of the bay complete with a hole to mount the retraction strut and the edges that don't quite meet the bay walls were hidden by a thin strip of masking tape.Once it's painted over who's going to know? The canopy has been masked and the fibreglass reinforcing strips have been painted. The wingtip fuel tank noses should be clear with a lamp inside.A couple of clear bits were turned up from a length of clear runner from the kit. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

Hello again Chums,a little more to show. James,thanks old chum. Sooner or later I'm going to have to fit the wing centre section. This has the apertures for the wheel wells which,given that I'm chopping about various other bits,probably ought to have a bit of attention. I started by sketching out the rough shape of the holes,aided by a few photos I found in the ouside world https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ae/7e/8b/ae7e8bc02811a6346fca57d501ab70c1.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/474x/26/3d/36/263d367d82180a2db0eb6f64246df7f3--messerschmitt-me--aeronautica.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/600x315/61/34/9c/61349cc26fa7a5d94b11aba1b65bf53d.jpg This isn't intended to be anything special,just a looks a bit like rather than the lack of anything that is the kit standard. Thanks for looking in Chums,more soon.

Hello again Chums,a spot of progress. Wez,Reini,Andre,thanks chums. Bianfuxia,cheers old fruit.I am quietly watching your build to see if I'm missing anything.You do need the noseweight but not a huge amount. @reini @Wez @bianfuxia The plastic in both kits is the same.There are alternative jetpipe ends as described above by Wez,two different seats and speedbrake panels.The wing is the same in both boxings with both wingtip AAR probes and the port wing receptacle panel represented. The fuselage side auxiliary air intakes are not represented. Reini,I've built the MiG 15 UTI,it has some challenges but goes together well. The underwing pylons have an inadvertant additional bit of help,if you are making one of these don't cut off the ejector pin plastic just yet. The machine I'm intending to make doesn't have anything hung on the underwing hardpoints so the bottom edges will need to be levelled off.I've temporarily attached them with a drop of liquid latex. While that was drying I made up some seat straps from painted masking tape and glued on the headrest.There are two seats supplied,I've no idea which is which so this one will do for me. The tailplanes are handed and the locating tabs are made so that it is nigh on impossible to put the wrong one in the wrong way. The fuselage side inserts are odd little things,one of them is completely devoid of panel lines and rivets. The wingtip tank upper halves have the refuelling probes for the E moulded in to them.I'm making a G so these will have to come off.When I built the E I took them off anyway because it made the decal job so much easier. Those ejector pins on the pylons have a use.The rearmost ones are just ahead of the main undercarriage leg locating holes which makes them ideally positioned for setting up the noseweight.A quick cobble together of the major components followed by the addition of a few slivers of lead strip will see this build go with a swing. Thanks all for looking in,more soon.

G'day Chums,being as I mentioned to The One Of Magnificence in his Blitzbuild thread that I was considering joining in here I thought I'd put my money where my mouth is and drop this one in. I have previous form with this kit having built one in the last Less Than A Tenner GB https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235094756-hobbyboss-f-84-e-in-172nd-scalefinished/.This time I'm going to make a G,the plastic in the box is the same with airbrake panels and tailpipes for both variants supplied. I started by painting the green bits green,Humbrol 226. The canopy footprint is a little bit narrow for where it sits over the cockpit. It also sits a tad low.Last time I sorted this out by sanding away material. This time I've glued a couple of strips of plastic card into place to lift the bottom edge up so that the windscreen meets the fuselage fairing properly.Then there will be sanding to make the curvature of the fuselage reach the bottom edge of the glassware without leaving the flat spot on the top.Manipulating the canopy isn't an option without breaking it. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

G'day again Chums,a spot more progress. James,thanks old chum. The engine pods were drilled out with a 6mm drill. Four rectangles of plastic card were cut. One of these was then rolled around a suitable diameter paintbrush handle and inserted into one of the holes.This was refined in size and shape until it fitted reasonably well.The remaining three bits of card were then matched to it. These were then inserted into all four holes,positioned and glued to make the basis for the intake and exhaust ducts. Slots were cut into the wing leading edges to take the slat slides which were cut from 10 thou plastic card.I cut them long and a notch into each one so that they would take in the step between the upper and lower edges. In the event I didn't need to notch all of them. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

Hello again Chums,a little more to show. James,thanks old chum.You are quite right about the shape of them but,as you say,that isn't going to be hugely visible once they are in place. The slats have been cut away from the upper wings and shaped using a suitable burr held in a pin vice. This photo,found on Pinterest,was useful for determining the shape. The upper and lower wings have been glued together having made sure that the engine pods will sit properly first. The gun troughs have been drilled out and the blast tubes made by shoving a suitable diameter length of wire into the hole and gobbing it up with Milliput. Thanks all for looking in.

It doesn't fit either Looking good old fruit .

You haven't seen my welding have you...

G'day again Chums,more chopping and hammering. Craig,thanks old chum. James,cheers old fruit. The engine pods are a bit on the basic side. A look at the Net Maquettes walkaround page https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/messerschmitt-262-walk/ revealed some useful photos of the inlet and exhaust apertures and showed me that the intake centrebody is about right but the one in the exhaust is too big. The footsteps in the outer side of the port pod could do with being filled too. A length of runner was chucked in to the cordless drill and a pair of replacement rear centrebodies were turned. These look a bit nearer to reality than the kit items. I turned my attention to the wing assembly next. The wing has slats on the leading edge.I'd like to show these extended as per most photos of aircraft on the ground. I cut the slats off the lower halves along the panel line and glued them to the upper leading edge and clamped them to a sheet of glass to keep them straight. More soon chums,thanks for looking in.

G'day Chums,as requested by the Magnificent one here's the Hobbyboss 1/72nd F 84 E that I finished in the last LTAT GB. I'd forgotten about the Revell issue of the Monogram 1/48th F 84 F that I did a tinfoil finish on many moons ago and gave away to a visiting Dutchman who took a shine to it back in 2012. Have fun all.

Hello again Chums,a little more to show. V-P,thanks old fruit. klr,they do indeed.A quick squint at the Superhobby page for it shows this kit with decals and instructions for a single seater. Thom,thanks old lad. James,cheers old chum. The noseleg bay is a gaping hole with nothing provided to box it in. This thing is going to require some noseweight so I thought I'd combine the two.I started with a piece of lead sheet cut to a bit longer than the bay opening. One edge was then cut to the shape of the fuselage. The width of the bay was then marked out,the corners notched out and then the lump was bent with the aid of a PE bender.This took a bit of doing,the lead is a couple of mm or so thick. The opposite side lower edge was matched to the one already cut. The ends were then bent into position and the notch for the noseleg pivot cut out. A spot of RLM 02 paint will finish the job well enough for me. Thanks all for looking in,more soon.

Oddly enough yes.I'm of the opinion that there were more than one of them too,but I have yet to prove this idea. Enjoy the build,these kits look suitably droolworthy in the box.

G'day Chums, I've built a handful over the last forty odd years but these are the ones I have piccies of; Tamiya 1/48 Meteor F3 Airfix 1/72 Pe 2 Hobbyboss 1/72 Me 262 Airfix 1/72 B 26 Promodeller 1/48 Bf 110 G 6 Revell 1/48 Mosquito Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito Unsympathetic storage and yellowing Humbrol enamel varnish haven't been kind to the last three but such is life. Thanks for looking in chums.

G'day Chums,I'd like to join in with this one if I may. I'm given to understand that this kit was originally a Heller offering from 1974 or so. Let's see if I can do something with it.I've given up on the idea of following the manufacturer recommended assembly sequence but here we go with Step 1 which,surprisingly,is the cockpit,the components for which are conveniently located on the same area of the frame rather than liberally distributed throughout all of them like some other manufacturers are wont to do. The basics are there although I think that the rear cockpit is more nightfighter than trainer going by the instrument panel provided. It all sits well together but looks as though a few bits could be added to make it look a little more convincing and will be surprisingly visible under the thick but clear canopy. Step 2 is the noseleg assembly,there's room for a little refinement here too. All of this has to go in before the fuselage halves are put together. I went looking for photos of the cockpit area and found some here https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/home/messerschmitt-me-262b-in-detail/ .Armed with those I started chopping away at some plastic,first off the flat plate at the aft end of the canopy. The decking surrounding the cockpit apertures was sketched out and cut from some 10 thou plastic card using the photos as a guide. One seat is wider than the other which I didn't notice until I tried to put the wide one into the rear cockpit and found that it wouldn't go in. A rear bulkhead was made for the front seat to mount on and then one for the aft seat.Both were positioned and glued and then the decking offered up to make sure I'd got them in the right places. A replacement instrument panel was made for the back seater. That's where we are tonight.More soon Chums,thanks for looking in.

Use plenty of Klear and make sure there are no air bubbles in it,the excess can be wicked away with the edge of a bit of bog roll.

Klear worked for me when I put the armoured glass on to a Trumpy 1/24 Spitfire windscreen.I gave it a week to sort itself out properly,it was quite happy when masking was removed and still is now.