Alex Gordon

I'm looking for the "Really Like" button on the forum options screen,but there isn't one.This is looking so sweet.

G'day Chums, One of my little habits is to build multiples of kits with common colours in parallel.I'm a bit of a cheapskate and I find that I don't waste as much paint when spraying by doing this.I started this kt at the same time as my Mustang III and it is now at more or less the same state where it will go on to its own paint scheme. First off the obligatory box piccie.This is the Italeri boxing of the kit.The plastic looks to be well moulded with crisp detail and the decals are to Italeri's usual standard. I started by spraying Humbrol 226 Interior Green onto the interior components. The mould seam needed to be sanded off the tyres and the diamond tread pattern reinstating.Patience and a good sharp scalpel blade pressed on were the order of the day, The glassware is a tad thick but very clear. The relevant canopy parts were cut from the sprue.The sprue gates were cleaned up and the masking for paint began.The framing edges are represented by lightly engraved panel lines so a gentle burnishing with the point of a cocktail stick will reveal the line through the tape so that a gentle cut round with a new scalpel blade can be made.Done the right way the line will guide the blade and mistakes don't happen.This time it worked for me.The insides were masked as well. Some of the interior components needed a spot of black paint,so when the green had dried the relevant bits were masked off ready. More soon chums.thanks for looking in.

Hello again Chums, Mish,many thanks.I would like to pick your brains at some point regarding whether this aircraft carried Target Indicators and if so what size. Just a little bit more done today.A minimum of sanding saw all the fuselage and wing joints cleaned up. Next to do will be the fit the upper cowling and the front part of the canopy and the tailplanes.Then it will be time to prepare for paint. More soon chums,thanks for looking in.

G'day Chums, Stix,many thanks.A little ingenuity can go a long way in this game. A bit more done today.A dig through the spares box unearthed some canopy parts.The flaps are the open ones from the Seafire XVII and the XIX kits. The rear portion of the canopy came from one of the Airfix Ia kit sprues,a mine of goodies if you ever need them.It needed to be lengthened slightly to line up with the rear edge of the cockpit access door.I just happened to have some square section plastic rod that was just the right size in both directions.I bent the end of this around a suitable diameter paintbrush handle and held the shape needed to match the glassware with a bit of tape. Surprise surprise I then glued the two together. The kit ailerons were used to make a pair of blanks to fit into the wing.I'm keeping the kit ones with the kit wing for when I build the PR XI. These blanks,and the flap sections were fitted to the wing. The flaps protrude aft of the wing by a couple of mils or so,this will be used to advantage.The aileron blanks were made a tight good fit protruding slightly aft as well,I have this cunning plan you see. Hopefully more tomorrow chums,thanks for looking in.

Yes please,if only to be put into the Walkaround thread.

The simplest method I have found is the spray,mask,spray method.The full gen on this can be found in my Seafire XV build here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234942821-seafire-xv-in-148th-scalefinished/ Masking the same way used to work when I brush painted too,it's just that I could never do the job without leaving the meniscus line at the edge of the masking tape.

If anyone needs it here's a link to the 627 Squadron website.http://www.627squadron.co.uk/

This looks like fun.If it's anything like my Prentice http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234952355-skybirds-86-percival-prentice-in-172nd-scalefinished/ it'll be an adventure. I'll pull up a seat for this one .

G'day Chums, Si,I'd like to see what a good modeller does with one of these too,I'm just muddling along really. A bit more done today.Innards as ready as they will be to go in.The seat straps will receive a set of buckles before the job is finished. Innards in and the fuselage taped together and glued.I also fitted the upper wing parts so as to make a decent wing fuselage joint. The wheel well insert was fitted.The lower wing part was then fitted to the fuselage and upper wings.This made for a fiddly bit of a game because there are various bits of upper wing in the way.Next time I will do this a bit differently but I still prefer to make the upper wing joint first so that the joint is tidy and fettle free. The propellor blade tips were sprayed with Humbrol 154 Insignia Yellow. That's about where I left it for today. In parallel with this build I've been working on a Hasegawa P51D and an Accurate Miniatures A36,they are what I went off to play with next. More soon chums,thanks for looking in.

Hello again Chums, Thanks for the welcome in chums,at last I've had a bit of spare time to make a bit more progress. A little work was needed on the tyres.The mould seam around the tread was sanded off and the tread pattern reinstated with a scalpel blade and a certain amount of patience.A flat spot was made where the tyre will meet the ground by heating with a flame and then pressing the hot bit against a piece of glass.It looks a little overdone,as is usual for me,but a little titivation will sort that out. The clear sprue.The relevant bits of this were cut out and masked ready for paint. Masked inside and out,a time consuming occupation.Having cracked the kit supplied Malcolm Hood I have pinched the one from my A36 kit.It doesn't look quite the same but it will do the job. Painted inside with Humbrol 226 US Interior Green. The aft glassware portions fitted. At this point my camera batteries ran out and the spare pair don't seem to want to hold charge any more,so the next few bits will have to wait for a day or two. More soon chums,thanks for looking in.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the Klear on this one.If this is bog standard polystyrene sanding out and then polishing off the pip won't be a problem,just take your time and don't be in a hurry. If it is acrylic then the process will take a bit longer,but again don't be in a hurry. If you've done the polishing right then you'll not need the Klear to fill any scratches. For my sins I've never applied Klear to a canopy yet,I think that dusting is made easier by its absence. Good luck with the polishing,it is suprising how effective the back of a chunk of wet and dry can be.

Black Knight,I've just had an e-mail from Edgar and he asked me to pop this in.

Once again that was a difficult decision.Well done to all who made it (and to those who had a go). The standard and quality is,as is usual,well up there with the best in the business. Well done all.

Hello again Chums, At last,some spare time! Stix,hopefully progress from here will be a little less erratic. John,hopefully this won't disappoint. Silver paint on the appropriate inside bits,propellor,instrument panel and control column spadegrip painted black. Fuselage taped together and glued and the upper wing sections glued on.What I didn't take a photo of was the removal of the wing trailing edge to match up with the corner of the fuselage fillet.This was a matter of 2mm or so and I used the kit upper wing parts lined up appropriately as a guide for the scalpel and to keep the shape. Cockpit bits ready to go in,apart from the seat harness buckles which will go on before completion. The lower wing section was offered up.There was a nice big gap at the aft end. A piece of plastic card was cut and fitted as a backing for a spot of milliput filling work. Anyway,all of this is now waiting for the glue to set and then the build can progress. Thanks for looking in chums,more soon.

Thanks again chums.Wolwe,next up are the Spitfire XIV that I'm working on in the D Day GB and the Mustang III in the Mustang GB.

Nice one Arnold,well done mate.

You've got me convinced .

G'day Wolwe, If I remember correctly the night bomber fleet didn't carry the stripes,they didn't need to and it would have compromised the camouflage.There were Mosquitos from the night operations fleet in daylight and night camouflage that carried the stripes but I don't know much more than that. http://www.627squadron.co.uk/album.html http://www.627squadron.co.uk/Photos/035.jpg I can't find the photo of the day scheme Mosquito that I'm thinking of but if I do I'll post it up.

It was a tricky vote I must say,the standard and quality of all the builds is well up there with the best of them.

Radio 4 news right now Rosetta has reached her destination.

Hello again Chums, Tim,cheers mate. Norman,thanks old chum.You should see the next one.Funny that,so will I. Cookenbacher,thanks old chum Phil,you know what you're looking at.Thanks,enjoying the kudos. Dermot,Thanks old chum. Jabba,from you that is the supreme compliment.Cheers mate.

Does that mean I could have hung on a bit and done a bit more?

G'day Chums, For your amusement and delectation I present to you my take on the Airfix 1/48th scale Harrier GR3.The build thread is here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234960320-airfix-harrier-gr3-in-148th-scalefinished/?p=1622293 My thanks to Phil for hosting and to Mish for the organising.My thanks also to all who looked in and encouraged.Cheers chums.

G'day Chums, A bit more to show.I Band transponder fairing scratched from milliput with a plastic card antenna. Replacement pitot probe. Anyway,after a less than leisurely flurry of touching in paint,matt varnishing,final assembly and all the weathering that I'm going to do I'm calling this one done.The oil staining hasn't dried yet but will matt down in a few hours time. And one of the whole gang. This will eventually become part of a diorama that will include HMS Fearless and HMS Antrim. Thanks to Phil for the hosting and to Mish for her hard work.Thanks also to all for looking in and for the encouraging comments. Right,I've a Spitfire and a Mustang to go at,see you in the next GB.Cheers Chums.

Excellent idea,for all the reasons outlined above.