stoohoo

Hi again, recent completion number 2 from me! This time its the Airfix 1:48 Seafire Mk.XVII, finished as one of the box options, a plane from No 1832 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Culham. The kit is a little bit chunky in places, closer to the standard of their Mk.XII than their most recent kits. I spent some time thinning various items such as the wing trailing edges, radiator housings and prop blades, which I think helped the overall look? I have seen comments elsewhere on this site about the prop blades being too narrow but in the end I went with what Airfix provided. Panel lines and cowl fasteners are a bit deep too so I tried putting a thick coat of primer on and rubbing it back to reduce this a bit. On the whole though it was still a nice straightforward build and i think it looks quite smart all together, I hadn't looked much at Seafires before this build but the lines of the Mk.XVII have really grown on me, with the short griffon nose, low back and large tail. Other additions were replacing the cowling scoop with thin sheet aluminium, the ends of the cannon with brass tube, drilling the exhausts out and adding a whip aerial from fusewire. Paints were Tamiya throughout and dark grey (which I thought looked a reasonable match for EDSG), also Alclad armoured glass for the windscreen insert and quarter panels. Finished with a light grey oil wash and light weathering, as with my Pr.XIX I thought they would have been fairly well looked after. As with my last build big thanks go to PeteW for the lovely photos, on with the pics and thanks for looking, Stu!

Hi All, Long time since I got anything finished and posted but here's the first of my 2 recent completions. Its Airfix's 1:48 Spitfire PR.XIX, finished as one of the box options, PS888 based at RAF Seletar in 1954. Theres not much I can say about the kit that hasn't already been said by others, it builds great from the box, nicely rendered detail and fit was good. The only additions I made were; a set of brass seatbelts by Lion Roar, replaced the solid moulded intake on top of the cowling with thin sheet aluminium, drilled out the exhausts and added a bit of fuse wire for the whip aerial. Paints were Xtracryics for the PRU blue and Tamiya for the rest. I finished her with a light oil wash and minimal weathering as I presumed they would have been kept fairly clean then dulled down with Xtracrylics matt varnish. All in all a very enjoyable build and I can definately see more of these in my future, quite keen to use it as a base to try one the many options I have seen on here to a Mk.XIV conversion. Hopefully if I do then someone will wake up and offer one straight from the box :)!! Last thing to say is a big thanks to PeteW for the lovely photos that show her off far better than my phone camera, thanks mate! Anyway on with the pics, thanks for looking and any C&CC always appreciated, thanks, Stu.

Best build i have seen of this kit too, well done and well worth the extra work you have put in to get it there!

Glad to see you back in the saddle after all the DIY mate, it was well worth the wait! Beautiful build and looks even nicer in the flesh. So whats on the cards next then?

Lovely finished result and very impressive casting, great work!

Hi All, I have been working on this on and off for the last year as my first larger scale armour build and attempt at figure painting. Its a bit heavy handed in places but I'm pleased with it and has been good fun and learning along the way The kit is the Academy 1:35 last production version of the King Tiger with narrow transport tracks. One of the box options is for the much discussed Octopus camo scheme and as I really liked the look of this I thought I would give it a go. The kit does have decals for the rings which I had considered using, but they are a bit thinner than the rings appear on the photos so I decided to have a crack at spraying it instead. My method was to spray the green then use blu tack snakes and balls to mask for the yellow and paint the yellow centres in the rings by hand afterwards. You'll have to decide if you think it works, I can tell you though that putting a clear coat on to protect the green before masking made it a right PITA to get the blu tack to stay in place.... Anyway enough waffle, on with the pics - hope you like her and any C&CC appreciated as always, Stu

Cheers Guys, yes Meatbox its on the car bonnet Its becoming a recurring theme with my pics as I try to get them in natural light - the cloud reflections add something to it though - reminds me, I need to wash the car!

Hi all, been far too long since I actually got something finished and posted! Got this as a little stocking filler at Christmas so decided to get it together as a quick win. Its a lovely little kit, good fun to build, fits well and great detail for the scale. I might have to get their 1:144 Tornado and Tomcat now as looking at other posts these seem to build up nicely, though I am tempted to get a 1:144 bear to sit with this Thanks for looking and as usual any C&CC welcome, Stu

That looks absolutely superb Tim, really like the dusty worn and chipped effects you have achieved. Couple of questions if you dont mind me asking? I was wondering what base colours you used for the wood as it looks spot on. Also with the chipping fluid, do you spray or brush it on, I have had mixed results with hairspray, not sure if I let the paint layer set too long before chipping it as it is very hard to chip through. great work anyway mate, look forwards to seeing something with tracks soon, Cheers, Stu

Thanks again Roger, Woody and Fin Fin - thanks, the paint chipping on the wings is just Games Workshop Mithril Silver and a piece of scotchbrite dabbed in the paint and then dabbed on tissue until almost dry then onto the plane, it went on a bit heavy to be honest. I think I prefer the effect that hairspray or chipping fluid gives but completely forgot to do anything about this before putting the main colours on...doh. Cheers, Stu

Superb collection of adversaries Jens all really nicely finished, quite fancy doing Vipers one out of Top Gun - can hear 'Danger Zone' playing now

A lovely pair of builds Simon and both ones that I want to do at some point, good results with brushing the Tamiya acrylics as well, they spray great but I struggle with using them for brush painting. How was the special hobby kit to build, a mate has one and I thought it looked nice in the box? Cheers, Stu

Thanks again guys Tim - ha ha you are right, glad to have a black car now it gives a good contrast on the photos

Good work Simon glad you dug it out, makes me want to get mine out of the stash

Thanks all for taking the time to leave such nice comments Darby - the canopy in this one is pretty decent though the sliding part doesn't quite meet the rails when opened... I made their ME262 a few years back and its a really nicely detailed kit but the canopy was really poor, similar case with their P47 though not as bad. Still really rewarding kits for the money though. If you do build the Sea Hurri there is an absolutely superb build article here if you haven't already seen it, cant get the link thingy to work but if you cut and paste into your address bar - http://www.ratomodeling.com/finished/fleet_defender/ Rob, Michael, the paints used were Xtracrylics azure blue and dark earth and Gunze aqueous mid stone. They all spray really well though the Xtracrylics tend to take a few thin coats to build up coverage. Cheers again, Stu Edit - What do you know, the link thingy did work!

That looks superb Tim I love the chipped effect you have got, is that the AK worn effects you are using? Whats the green stuff you have you used for masking the transparencies, I noticed it on your TA152, is it a liquid masking fluid? Will keep my eye out for the RFI

Thanks for the kind comments guys. Tim - i think i got the lucky draw with the secret santa, there was a fair bit of un-mentionable stuff going round too Yes its the caunter scheme, not sure i have the colours right, as with anything like this i thinks theres some debate as to what they were. I wanted to get it close to what the box art showed so ended up using revell sand, xtracrylix RLM 76 and gunze RLM 83! I masked this one with tape as it looked like a fairly hard demarcation but got the academy 1:35 king tiger last production on the go now with a plan to do the octopus came scheme, i am going to try blu tack and reverse masking for the rings but if it all goes tits up it might end up in a different scheme Cheers again all, Stu

Hi All, Just completed this kit and managed to get a few piccies so thought I would post them up. The kit is the Revell Hurricane Mk. IIC. Its one of their nicer efforts, lovely recessed surface detail, good fit (apart from the tropical air filter!) and even the transparencies (which seem to be a bit hit and miss on their small scale kits) were good. There was a desert or south east asia option in the box, I went with desert as I do like the mid stone/dark earth/azure blue scheme. The only additions were a tag to the top of the radio mast, aerial wire from fishing mono and replaced the thick leading edge lights with some heat moulded from PETG sheet, they look a bit a bit better that whats in the box but not great. Paints used were gunze for the mid stone and Xtracrylics for the rest. Finished with an oil wash and Xtracrylics matt varnish. Anyway on with the pics and thanks for looking, Stu

Hi all, Just completed this kit and got some sunlight to take a couple of photos by so thought I would share here. It was a thoughtful gift from the office secret santa, not a bad kit for its age and goes together pretty well. I have childhood memories of giving up trying to get my last pair of rubber band tracks to join on an Airfix Chieftain but time, wisdom and a gas hob and hot knife did the trick this time round. I replaced the gun barrel with a bit of brass tube as the one in the kit was a bit bent and made a little aerial and flag for it but other than that its as Mr Airfix intended. I managed to bodge an attempt at weathering it so it ended up with a very heavy dousing of Tamiya buff to try and hide my shame... Anyways on with the pics, thanks for looking, Stu

Great progress mate and glad to see the WIP thread on here. I am really keen to add an H to my collection at some point but I think I will take your advice and go for the Dragon/Trimaster option if I can find one. Its a shame Eduard don't extend their FW190 range to add the TA152's, it would have been a nice continuation of the lineage. I presume we will be similarly disappointed with them not covering the griffon Spitfires, though if we keep saying it enough surely someones got to bring out a decent high back Mk.XIV.. Despite the difficulties though it looks like you are beating this one well into submission and I'm looking forwards to seeing some paint on her Keep up the good work, Stu

Suberb work Al both on the SE5a and the figure. I have the same kit off the sprues in my WIP box so bookmarking your finished pics for some inspiration, cant believe what a good result you have got on such a tiny kit!

Good to see your back, great work so far and will be following with interest. Really enjoyed the one of these I built so nice to see it being given the Brewer treatment. Meant to ask if there's any update on the Airfix PR.XIX you were doing last year? Cheers, Stu

Thanks again for all the kind comments guys they are warmly appreciated! Pat - unfortunately no WIP for this one. Between my phone camera, poor kitchen lighting and limited time at the comp I struggle to do a half decent build report. At the risk of rambling on here I can drop you a PM sometime tomorrow (hopefully) and describe what i did if thats of any use though? Just sticking the decals onto my Airfix Matilda so hopefully another RFI soon if it doesn't all go tits up! Cheers, Stu

She is looking an absolute beauty Stix and lovely sag you have got on the tracks, following with interest Stu

Great work Tim, good to see you back in the saddle and your weathering has really captured the look of the photos of the real thing. The Quickboost / Ultracast goodies really add to it as well, tempted to do another one of these in the future and will definitely consider getting these. Nice job on getting rid of that big gap between the wheel well and fuselage, had a right time of it doing it on mine Looking forwards to seeing some pics of that captured Mk.IX soon?