Ray S

Thanks Jeff, and I needed the luck with the boats! Overnight, sometime between the wee hours and eternity, I thought it would be a good idea to remove the ship's boat and cradles that I had already attached because, after checking the fit of the first suspended boat, I found it would still not fit. This means that I have attached all four deck boats directly to the deck itself. That then gave me room. Boosted by this, I finished adding the remaining davits and added the final four boats. It did take the removal of numerous davits and refitting of same to get something reasonably close to what may have been reality, but I got there in the end. I used a combo of PVA and CA to glue the davits to the deck, along with considerable time to allow that concoction to cure, but it certainly gave a good solid bond. The boats were glued on to the falls with PVA then reinforced with CA. Once they had set, the side railings went on. The instructions suggest that some adjustment of the resin bulwarks/gunwhales may be needed to get the tailored rails to fit. The first one I tried I found it did need trimming. I had butted one end up to the gunwhale, and fitted the other end correctly and found that the rail bowed outboard. So I trimmed the rail (easier than adjusting the gunwhale now) and promptly found the rails were slightly too short! I think I must have moved the rails slightly which then caused to mismatch, as the other side was spot on so it was my fault, not White Ensign's. The mast fitted my pre-drilled location hole perfectly, so I got something right at least. When I put the ship back onto my work bench after taking the photographs, I found a length of Spar-painted brass rod. " Oh flippin' eck" I thought to myself, "the soldering was not as good as I thought" and then I realised that the part was the offcut I had just snipped off the bottom of the mast as I had made it over-long for ease of handling and painting. I tell you these things because I know you are my friends and won't laugh... There is not much to do now, I still need to re-touch the paintwork on the hull rails and possible elsewhere and add a spot of rigging. Hopefully adding the rigging will be relatively straightforward as I may be actually able to see the line against the white or Spar coloured sections, which always helps. Well, that is it for today, with luck this should be finished by next weekend Thanks for looking, the 'likes' and comments Ray

Thanks Rick. The portholes are just drilled. I wouldn't trust my unsteady hands to get paint in. I thought this was the best way. Ray

Hello all. The past week has seen a few more bits and pieces added to Tahoe. She is now fully armed, has access ladders to various decks, the huge split line under the bridge has been filled (Perfect Plastic Putty did its job well), and there are also railings to stop folks falling off the now accessible decks: Paint has been re-touched, but I expect I have missed some - it all depends on what angle the light hits for me to see glints of brass rather than white. I have also attempted to solder a mast. This was, shall I say, rather awkward because a lot of the joins are very close to each other. That meant I was at great risk of melting completed joins. My first attempt produced a fabulous result - I managed to join the upper and lower mast with a hint of solder paint and flux. The join was spot on, it cleaned up well. That was as far as I got with the solder paint as every other join I tried using exactly the same technique failed. I need practice, or tuition. I went back to my more successful solder wire but with that I produce a chunkier join which then needs a lot of filing to get rid of excess solder. I had been popping an aluminium clip between my completed join and the one I was working on to dissipate the heat. All went well until my final join, where, after producing a good result there too, I found that I had forgotten to add the heat sink at my solder paint join, and ended up with a two-part mast, never to be re-joined. I had lunch. When I came back from lunch, I wondered whether to attempt to repair my error, or to start again. Well, I started again, and this time all went well with the solder wire and a couple of files. I made absolutely sure I used the heat sinks every time too. After a wash, primer and paint I had this: Thankfully I had also remembered to add the resin crow's nest/lookout post. I know this is probably a little 'chunky' but I am happy with it. Another tricky thing I am having to contend with is the ship's boats. Tahoe has eight. Four were on the decks (two have cradles) and the other four were slung on davits, above the ones on the decks. It is turning out to be trickier than I thought (and that was awkward enough). The davits are 'toe in' inboard and have no location guides, and there is not guide as to how short the falls(?) are. This was my first attempt, with one of the hanging boats on the deck to give a guide as to how the davits should be angled: I tried to judge by eye how much to trim off the hanging leads, but was way out. Eventually I got somewhere close, I hope. I then added the cutter on it's cradle and have now left it to cure and, with luck, allow me to fit the first suspended boat: I hope this will help @Rick_H when you get yours going again, it is a bit of a learning curve for me. That's it for today, I will probably only do one ships boat a day for a while and just hope I get better each time. Thanks for looking, Ray

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Tim, that's brilliant, looking forward to seeing it at the next meeting (please) Ray

Hello all from a snowy Forest of Dean, where the weather forecasters suggested the temperature today would be 13C, but we have lost very little snow on the ground. We've got a very low mist all around, so maybe the 'warmer'weather has just arrived. End of weather report. The snow meant it was a good idea to stay in and do some kit-bashing, so I did. After taking the Christmas decorations down this morning, my afternoon was free so I tackled the first of a few tricky parts to USCG Tahoe. I have added a couple of streaming anchors at the bow, a single anchor davit (I think there should have been two but only one on the fret), a jackstaff from 0.33mm rod and the main railings around the bridge. The etch instructions showed a diagram of the bends required for the railings, but also showed different spacings for the stanchions - on the etch rails, the spacings were all the same, so I had to do a little bit of working out. I broke the rails down mentally into seven manageable sections and needed to only make one bend per section except for the bridge front. I used PVA to glue the rails down as it allowed extra wriggle time. Once that was done, I added a couple of parts of bridge furniture, namely a DF Antenna and the rangefinder. Both of those were etch, and this time I deepened the location points with a 0.3mm drill bit, left the nub of etch that attaches to the main fret on the base of the parts and used a combination of PVA and CA to glue them in rather than have a butt join like I had done with the anchor davit. And now the obligatory (for me, anyway) low angle shot: I think the sea shows quite a nice calm ripple effect from here, but I may be biased. I have to knuckle down over the next few days and see if I can solder up the mast - at least I remembered to deepen its location hole so any rigging I add hopefully will not pull it down. Thanks for looking, Ray PS Weather update - all the mist vanished while I typed PPS I see plenty of paint needs re-touching, and I must try and do something about that gap under the bridge, Perfect Plastic Putty should work, and it is white

Hello all. I had a number of options for this Group Build but I was given this model as a Christmas present, so what better reason to enter it here? It is the Airfix 1/72 RNLI Severn Class lifeboat. I have had the pleasure of building one before which turned out okay: Thankfully this means that I know some of the kit's vices. Whether I remember them of course is a different matter. This is what the box is like, and what it contains: It has a lovely action shot on the cover, very eye-catching. Inside: Four runners of the newer dark grey plastic. It seems to catch the details well, and there is not (on first inspection) much flash. A nice colour painting guide, this should be a good test of brush painting (as was my completed one above). The transfers look good The clear parts are not crystal clear, but at least they don't have the 'dimples' that were in my previous one. I am still slightly tempted to use Clearfix, if I can work out how to stop a cloudy patch in the centre of the Clearfix appearing - it never used to The instructions now seem 'old school' compared to Airfix's current ones, but still presentable There are guide lines for waterlining the model, which is quite handy as that is what I want to do. I hope I can match them up on the four parts required to be cut. Way back in 2006, my good lady wife and I visited Brixham in Devon, and I luckily took a photograph of the local lifeboat: It shows the waterline to good effect, and the fact that some of the underwater red is visible, another thing to remember. I aim to build this one in a harbour scene (without the clutter of surrounding yachts and pleasure boats I hasten to add!), and add the buoys. I have an idea or two how to do the 'water', I will show you whether it works or not when the time comes. I will be portraying this as another lifeboat as I've already done this one. I am looking forward to the start of this Group Build, and I wish all of the other builder all the best with your builds. Ray

Happy New Year everyone, I hope it is a great one for you all. I've been pottering on with Tahoe. The boot topping is done, albeit a little higher than I wanted, my original plan was to paint Anthracite along the base plate, but irregularities along the join line made it a bit ragged, so I re-masked slightly higher. The decks have had another coat of paint, the bridge is fitted along with the four etch supports underneath the overhang - that was fun but 'fun' was only just beginning... There were a couple of anchors supplied on the etch fret. A base plate needed to be slid over the main anchor, the slot was very, very fine. Both base plates vanished into the ether and the stock bent. Scrabbling around in my etch stash found a spare set, so I tried again, and this time succeeded. Elapsed time 30 minutes. It was interesting trying to work out how to hold the base plate and allow sufficient pressure to get the anchor positioned. This is what I was up against: My successful anchor fitted okay once I remembered to bend the stock a bit These close up shots show any blemish, don't they? I cannot see any of those issues with just my MkI eyeball and specs. Today I have been able to add the half dozen ventilators and the funnel with it's accompanying etch grilles. A short length of anchor chain allowed me to not have to make a second anchor: The blue/green of the sea is much more like the actual colour when I use the flash on the camera compared to when I don't. I still need to re-touch the paint around the funnel grille. I glued the ship onto the sea base with some PVA. That was quite handy as any excess squeezed out along the water line thus filling any slight gaps where I may not have cut the shape out exactly. The excess was wiped off with a damp cotton bud. That's it for today, thanks for dropping in, Ray

Good work Jeff. Your propellers are way better than the kit ones. Nice! Ray

That is a great selection with varied subjects. My fave was the Mossie, but they are all fabulous Ray

Thanks all for the replies, views and 'likes'. There is so much good things in these Yearbooks, well done all! Ray

Yes please. I live for non-injection models, so will be more than happy to go with it. I have plenty to choose from. Ray

Hello all. After a short break over Christmas, I have done a little more. I have given the sea base an initial coat (or three) of a mix of Revell 54 Night Blue and 62 Mossy Green. On the third coat, I added a little white and extra water and stippled it all over the sea surface which then started to eliminate any visible brush strokes. It then has had three or four coats of gloss varnish. Tahoe herself had a unifying coat of Grey primer followed by White primer (both Tamiya rattlecans). I used ColourCoats C03 White for the majority of the ship, followed by C01 Teak for the wooden deck and NARN23 WWII Dark Grey Nonslip Deck Paint for the metal decks, all brush painted and thinned with ColourCoats Naphtha Thinners. Here she is dry-fitted: I will add some slight wake to the sides and aft when the hull is finally glued to the base. I don't have the correct 'Spar' colour in stock, but I have found a fresh tin of ColourCoats GW11 #1 Yellow. The colour on the tin lid looks as though it could be fairly close and I will stick with that (just like I am sticking with the Deck Grey rather than that suggested). After the hull had been painted, I noticed that there were a couple of extra scuttles that I had not drilled out. Having corrected that, the 'new' scuttles were distinctly larger than the 'old' ones. I then realised just how much spray paint had found it's way into the scuttles and started to close them up. That explains why a lot of super-duper new kits don't fit if you get paint on joining surfaces... It will be a day or so before there is much more progress, I'll be giving the deck grey and teak an extra coat each first. Thanks for looking, and thanks for the comments and 'likes' Ray

Coming on a rum un, as my Stoker Grandfather used to say Ray

Hello all. I managed to complete a dozen models this year, and am quite happy with the results, with one or two exceptions, which will be noted: First, an entry to the WWII Twins GB on this fine Forum, the venerable Airfix B-25 Mitchell (old tool). I used Xtradecal transfers, and my one issue with my build is the rather drafty upper turret - I don't know what happened there as the gun mount was attached to the cockpit floor in the only way I could do it, but it still made the turret not sit in the proper place. Ah well... Second build was the venerable Heller 1/72 Bell P-39 Airacobra. A lovely kit to put together, the transfers were a different matter, so I used some from an Arma P-39 that I have in stock so that explains why the kit was a P-39Q, whereas the markings are for a P-39N: Continuing a bit of a theme here, number three was the venerable Frog Hawker Hurricane. This was going to be an entry into the Frog Squad II GB, but circumstances forbade that. Transfers again were from Xtradecal, and again I was quite pleased with the result: Now for something completely different, a brand new kit! My son gave me the Airfix ME262 for Christmas 2023. I brush-painted it all, and even plucked up courage to attempt to do the mottling by brush. Thanks to BM (and others) I was fore-warned about the nacelle/wing fit and a little bit of work and all was fine. I really enjoyed this one! I have to admit, I am a bit of an EE Lightning addict. This temptation was dealt with courtesy of a 1/72 Sword EE Lightning F.3, and I finally did the scheme I had wanted to do for years, but never plucked up the courage: Another subject I had wanted to do for years was an entry into the Project Cancelled GB. It was the venerable Airfix Fairey Rotodyne, given a full interior and a Raspberry Ripple scheme as if it had gone for evaluation at Boscombe Down: Group Builds came thick and fast, and it was now the turn of the Classic Airfix GB. This time it was the almost venerable 1/600 Airfix Prinz Eugen. I had some photo etch for this and added a few bits and pieces, but left off the railings as they didn't fit where decks overhung, so I left them all off. Sacrilege! Another entry to the Classic Airfix was next. This was a kit that I never knew existed until it was mentioned as a future Vintage Classic - the Jaguar 420 (I should perhaps mention it was venerable too). This was rattle-canned maroon, purely as I liked whichever Jaguar it was the Inspector Morse drove on ITV: The next was a model I built for my local Model Club display table for IPMS this year (2024 for anyone reading after NYD). We were doing a theme 'This is Gloucestershire' where anything could be built as long as it had a positive connection to Gloucestershire. I chose the Xtrakit Gloster Meteor F.8. It was in 501 RAuxAF 'City of Gloucester' so it worked on at least three counts, as the real aircraft was made at Hucclecote, Gloucestershire. I found the kit surprising easy to build: Now another new(ish) tooled kit, the Airfix BE2c. I have always enjoyed building biplanes, and this one was a joy. For various reasons unconnected with the quality of the kit, it took me over three years from start to finish: For a bit of light relief from a more complex build, I quickly knocked up the Minicraft 1/144 Douglas DC-6B. I really liked the scheme for this with the pink cheat line and the golden dragon. It was the Civil Air Transport 'Mandarin Airlines' executive transport aircraft from 1958: And finally, another Classic Airfix GB entry, this time the 1/600 HMS Iron Duke. Again I had etch for it, this time I was able to use most that was required. I pushed myself and attempted the cage aerials. So that is it for 2024, I have another small kit in progress and big plans for a major build to start soon, so If I manage twelve in 2025, I will be surprised. Thanks for looking, all the best everyone and have a great New Year Ray

What a great selection of models Stuart. I would be hard tested to pick a favourite, they are all fabulous. Ray

Hello all. I will see if I can enter this Group Build too. I was given an Airfix 1/72 Severn Class Lifeboat for Christmas. I have done one before: This time though, I would like to pop it into a sea base. Not battling through seas high enough to cover the Post Office Tower (or whatever it's called these days) but in a gentle harbour, at anchor or buoy, like in this photograph I took in 2006 in Brixham It'll be a short while before I start after the GB commencement date as I want to finish off a Coastguard Cutter first. I'm looking forward to this one, Ray PS I will see if I can remember to build up the superstructure shell prior to adding the interior, it makes things easier with this kit, and I've got to work out how to waterline it too!

Ah, so you noticed that too! I think you may be right on that count too. I know they did this as HMS Gorleston as well. I have started on the sea base. First up, I drew around the waterline onto some pre-cut MDF, and also drew in a couple of lines for some 'swell' effects. I then drew the waterline onto some embossed card and cut out the outline. I needed to trim the edging slightly as I can never cut a line with a knife along the marked lines with any accuracy: I then used a Sharpie to highlight the swell lines outboard of the hull and then popped a couple of strips of double sided tape down onto the MDF: The outline and the highlighted lines stood out nicely, even before I peeled the backing off the tape. Once the backing was off, I trimmed some 1mm plastic rod and laid them onto the swell lines, and then pressed the sheet of card onto the tape and MDF: I then test fitted the hull into the cutout and found I needed to trim the rod slightly to get the ship to settle correctly. I also used some filler to fill the resulting gaps along the MDF/card edge. I intend to edge this with some veneer, but this will just make sure that things are okay if I forget: I made sure I didn't press too hard and permanently attach Tahoe to the tape. I will decide later if the fit is good enough to try an 'at anchor' scene or if it will be under 'slow steam ahead'. I used the cutout from the card to act as a template for a bit of a base plate for the hull. I drew around it onto a sheet of 1mm plastic card and then cut slightly over-sized with a pair of scissors: I trial fitted the base to the hull bottom a number of times to ensure I knew what I was doing, then committed loads of CA: I managed to align the base pretty well. It still needs a little sanding/filing at the moment, but it now gives me some 'play' with the waterline and the swell. I've had a look online and it looks as though the cutters had a black boot top, so this plate will be painted black. If I have interpreted this wrong, please let me know! I don't think that in a calm sea with a light swell at anchor or travelling slowly, the red underwater hull would be visible. The scuttles were quite well aligned but pretty shallow as @Rick_H had suggested above, so I too have taken the challenge of deepening them. For a small ship, there was rather a lot. In fact, I counted 55 on the starboard side alone. Dust from sanding the base plate had filled the existing scuttles, but a stiff brush got some out. When I picked out my smallest drill, I found that there was a satisfying 'click' as the drill slid home into the scuttle. That helped me no end as I knew then that I would have them still well aligned once they had been deepened: (Before drilling) After drilling. I have now cut off the main superstructure from the pour plugs. I found that there was some resin seepage in the mould which has caused some blemishes on the surface, but all looks good. I even dry fitted the bridge section and funnel, but forgot to take a snap. I want to have a look online to see if there are any photographs (in colour) for the areas where Tahoe was deployed to see what the sea was like. That's it for now, thanks for looking Ray

@Rick_H, thanks for the link. I'm glad I inspired you to get your kit from the stash. I too late had thought about an anchorage scene, but have decided on a slow ahead in calm conditions instead. The rigging diagram will be very handy, so huge thanks for that. By the way, has your hull got 'USCG' written underneath? Looks like marker pen which has faded but still shows. All the best with your build, please show it on here if you can. Ray

Thanks Beefy. The Atlantic models kit should be a good one, looking forward to seeing it. Ray

Thanks Pete, I've just had a look there (thanks for the link) and one or two other places. I think I've got a bit of an idea, just in case Ray

Hello all. Having finished the old Airfix HMS Iron Duke recently I have had to delve into the stash to find a relatively simple kit to start, which will be built alongside a much more complex project that I will start and post up in the New Year. I ummed and aarred for quite a while (as I do), rejected many potential subjects, then narrowed it down to this one, which I had almost started at least five times before. The one I chose was the White Ensign 1/700 U.S. Coast Guard Lake Class Cutter. The kit is mainly resin, but has an extensive photo etch sheet along with two lengths of brass rod. This is sort of a sad build, as it was the last item I ever ordered from the original White Ensign when they were based in Herefordshire. However, it will also be a fun build because I know just how good their kits were. This is what was supplied: A nice, sturdy box with a lovely colour illustration, It is quite petite when compared to a 6'5" pen... There is plenty of fine detail in the hull and no sign of air bubbles, and just a little flash along the forward waterline, Lots of smaller (and not so small) detailing parts. Again there is a little flash but nothing untoward. One of two ships can be made from this kit, Tahoe or Itasca. The only difference that I can see in the instructions is in the type of ventilation cowls. There is plenty of photoetch to keep me out of mischief, some of which will be interesting to size and fit (lifeboat rigging, for example). The instructions are the normal White Ensign style, giving plenty of information, not only pictorially, but also with the written word. Must make sure I read them as I go along. This is the colour scheme which is for Tahoe. I just need to find out what 'Spar' is, and also what the nearest equivalent to WEM CC (ColourCoats) M22 Steel Deck Grey is in my collection. The last time I tried to start this was in the 'In the Navy' Group Build a few years ago, when I promptly found out that the United States Coast Guard was not navy. I then thought that I could modify this from Itasca into HMS Gorleston from WWII and promptly realised that it was beyond my skills. Anyway, hopefully I will be approximately sixth time lucky with building it, it really does deserve to be built. Any advice will be greatly appreciated, especially if I say that I am going to do something and it is plainly wrong, which has been known. It will still be a day or two before I start this properly, I need to sort out a base for it first as I like to get them attached before I get too far - it makes handling the model a bit safer. Thanks for looking Ray

Looking good Jeff. I like the colour scheme, suits her. Ray

I echo sentiments above, you have produced a superb result, and those aerials really set the ship off. Ray

Thanks Beefy, very much appreciated I know exactly what you mean about the stands, always a weak point so no worries about mentioning it White Ensign in America do the Etch (but not enough railings in it mind) and have a pretty quick, relatively cheap postage from America - I ordered some etch from them recently and it took about three weeks to get here but was dispatched very quickly. Not sure about 3d printing, I know MicroMaster don't do anything specific but haven't checked up with other companies. I hope you enjoy it if you get the chance Thanks all, Ray

Hello all. I started this model in the recent Classic Airfix Group Build. I managed to get quite a bit done making the odd adjustment and correction here, adding etch there and so on, but I didn't quite manage to get is across the line. The thread is here if you missed it but want to catch up: When the Group Build finished, I was advised to complete the build in the WIP section of Maritime, and being a good boy, I followed instructions, and the rest of the project is here: It is now complete, and this is what I ended up with: I had loads of fun with this, despite the issues (mainly self-made) that I encountered. Thanks for looking, Ray