Damocles

TARTN41, RAF Voyager - ZZ337 North East of Skegness.

VANTGE47, RAF Beech 300 Super King Air 350C (ZZ417) doing circuits near Scarborough, now heading south back to Sleaford area. Chris.

Mark, awesome job mate. Came together very well and the weathering makes it look like a well used Little Bird ! Chris.

Been waiting years to post in here with something interesting, so my day has been made on two counts. 2 Blackhawks came up out of Belfast City Airport, steep climb and away into the clouds. Now a Blackhawk is definitely unusual in NI airspace, but they have been known to be seen at the G8 and US Presidential visits. The real gem here, is that i am convinced they where 160th SOAR birds. Both minus IFR probes, but had the ESS stub-wings with large fuel tanks, and the radar pods where in the centre of the nose (not the side like USAF SOF birds), and a dark black colour. Chris.

Cheers AngstROM, nightnmare trying to work out when to stop ! Hey Pete, Epic you are right there. As one of my daughters pointed out, developers build 10 new houses in our street quicker than I built this !! I have soem crew ready and waiting, Industria Vechanika's 'Deck Hands' and 'Waldo Captain', just have to clean them up a little and start painting. Next I have Im's new Hopper to crack on with and I am thinking of turning Bronco's 1/35 Type XXIII submarine into a Remora style landing craft Thanks for dropping by. Chris,

Well folks, calling this one done. Just a few figures and some 'washing' hanging from the line, but that will come in the next few weeks. Only took me 7 months, but it was very enjoyable and I am now a fully fledged Industria Mechanika addict. well here are the pictures. Thanks for all stopping by, kind comments and support. Chris.

Well, welcome back to my 'monthly' update! progressing well, and am a week or two away from rapping this one up. Rich) - Sorry for slow response. there is no real technique to this at all, which is the best part.I used the AK interactive chipping fluids. 1 - prime (in this case I use halfords red primer); 2 - paint with AK chipping fluids (it says to airbrush on, but I just used a hairy stick; 3 - once AK chipping fluid is dry paint with first coat of colur (acrylic paint - on occasion I have varied the colours, one on top of the other etc); 4 - once dry I then submerged the parts in tap water or painted on some water and let it sit of a few minutes; 5 - I then attacked the parts with various tools in a completely random way. ( i used a stiff tooth brusk, kitchen sponge with rough side, a metal kitchen scoring pad, tooth pick, finger nail - it really was that random. 6 - let it dry and follow points 2 to 5 again for more colours, from my limited skills the AK fluid really has been a revelation ! Well here are some update pictures. All the best, and thanks for stopping by. Chris.

Folks, thanks for the comments. Not much work past, unfortunately we had a death in the family and it has been rough week or so. but here is progress to date. Wheel House Overall to date Thanks Chris.

Will and Pete, just heading out for the day with the kids, will drop you both a PM later tonight to square you up with some boxes and downloads. boxes are from an AFV Club Stryker that i moulded up and cast in resin and the straps are from Eduard. Chris.

Hi Folks, My most sincere apologies for the long absence since my last post. Work and family life got in the way of bench and forum time, and I really had to switch off for a bit. For all of you who have posted, thank you very much for stopping my and your kind comments. For Pete and Scott, again apologies for not responding, to be honest today is the first time I have checked the forum in a while. Pete, I’d love to see your progress, someday I will start something from scratch. Have you a WIP going? Scott. The wheels are a selection from RB model (http://www.rbmodel.com/index.php?action=products&cat=c_ep), I just bought a selection of their accessories and matched them to what looked about right. They come in 6, 8, 10 & 12mm diameter, and they are not to dear - about €0.60 per pack) RB offer a great service, stuff usually comes in a few days to N. Ireland. Although time has been limited, I have finished the load (minus the motor..it was just too big!), base is 95% done (beacon will no longer feature on this one), additional engines nearly done and the main hull and wheel house primed, with the flappy wingy things completed. The new load complete Industria Mechanika’s excellent gas cylinder set (really nice indeed) Load on boat Main hull and wheel house now complete and primed up. The flappy wingy things from the sides painted, chipped and decaled up. All the best folks, have a nice weekend. Chris.

Hi Dave, PM inbound. Chris

Yea AngstROM, Waldo is on the to-do list ! Well small update. I have taken the decision to set aside the beacon (seen in the background of previous posts) for this porject and keep the base simple, focusing mainly on the boat. plan is to have it moored up using some heavy chains to concrete ground blocks within a desert environment, and it will be being unloaded with some more of IMec's figure sets. So here is the base with basic grond work commenced. I have also added a grappling hook gun at the front end. LiveResin barret light 50 and some micro fishing hooks, there will be a cable attached at some point. (note some new boxes in the background). and finally, I am going to replace the engines with two monsters, in the form of 1/32 F-15 resin examples from Aries. base colour on and a little weathering and polishing. Thanks again one and all for stopping by and your kind and encouraging comments. Chris.

Hi Tony, to be honest it is a bit of a what-if, the lettes are my friends initials and the spinner is red, for no other reason that I like red ! Jaffa & Leonl, thats for stopping by. Stix, it was a breeze to put together, unfortunately 1/72 just to small for my shaky hands !! Chris.

Thanks chaps for stopping by and the positive comments, I always wondered where it came from! Some great inspirational images there Pete,FichenFoo of Industria Mechanika is actually building a one off, of Ian McQues 'Large Barge' over a meter long it is awesome, check it out (I'm trying to convince him to go into production ! Fingers crossed). http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/large-barge/ Hopefully some more updates soon, currently converting a live resign barrel light 50 to a harpoon gun with micro fish-hooks and replacement engines using some Aries 1/32 F-15E resin beauties. Chris.

Hey chaps, Thanks all for stopping by and your kind comments. Actually picked up the Eduard 'Jugs over Germany' kit today, going to have to start that one soon , Hi Adam, I'd just liked to have the edges sharper and I know what you mean about the roundels, not as bad in the flesh though. hi Daryl, it certainly did……and the next and the next and so on…… Chris.

Hi folks, returning to BM after a long break, so I thought I'd share my current project……Industria Mechanika’s rendition of Ian McQue's Remora. This is a 1/35 resin and PE sci-fi boat and measures about 260mm in length without all the rigging and jib etc. It is well cast, and required a little work to clean-up before assembly (which is ongoing at ‘slow-time’). Here are some pictiures of the build to date including some cargo items. whats it should look like some accessories and remade some of the masts a scratch build mast/beacon in the background (not sure if this will make it to the diorama I have planed though) some boxes for the cargo, designed up in MS Publisher. some more cargo items (a motor from a burnt out food blender) added a lifting arm (from Bronco's Buffallo kit) at home on a base made by Progressive Engneering. Thanks for looking folks, all the best, Chris.

Thanks for stopping by, and your kind comments. There are certainly many nice features with this kit, not least the lovely beer glass that came with it ! Chris.

Well folks, it has been a very long time since I last contributed to BM, various reasons but mostly associated with work and family pressures. But here I go again, this is something that was built as a gift for a long and valued friend (which will explain the decal choices and codes which reflect his initials). This is my first completed aircraft build since i was a teenager, and as such I am well pleased with it although my paint scheme could have been a little crisper. The kit, is the excellent Eduard ‘Royal Class’ 1/48 Spitfire Mk IX. The kit comes with two complete sets with pre-painted PE and ‘Brassin’ resin wheels and beer kegs. Not being an expert on aeroplane kits, all I can say the detail, engineering and quality is nothing like I have experienced before. The instructions are very good, but I did get a little lost in places with the variations for the different options, so there may well be a few accuracy issues, but I am off the opinion...if it looks like a spitfire......its a be a Spitfire. So here are some pictures from start to finish. Hope you all like, and its nice to be back. Chris,

Ammo feed chute mate, I might be able to assist there, ill have a look tonight, but think I have some Legend Production resin ones not needed, a bit of warm water and they are easy to bend and shape.

Hey Mark, what you going to do about the ammo chute, was there ones with the kit? Chris.

Mark, Have been watching from afar for a while, great progress and what a lovely finish so far. it is a shame there is no decent modern aircrew for these birds, maybe Live Resin will produce somethig soom. Regarding the weatehring, you may want to try one of the Mig Washes, may the 'Cold Grey' wash just to pop out the panel and rivel detail, and compliment the black. You may also want to check out this Mh-6J conversion..... http://blackopsmodels.com/products/black-ops-1-35-little-bird-mh-6m-conversion-kit-for-1-35-dragon-mh-6j I took delivery of Werrners Wings 1/35 MH-47E onversion...still scratching my head as to where to start, if at all. Keep it coming, Chris.

Just replied Mark, it will be in the post today. Chris,

"My only concern is these might look out of place without a FLIR unit strapped under the nose. I still haven't thought of a solution for this yet as I have nothing in the spares box that looks remotely FLIR pod like.. Oh if only Cobra Company resin was easy to come by..." Hi Snapper_City I can help you out on this one....I have the Cobra Company FLIR turret and mount going spare. PM me your address & I will fire it your way. Chris.

Cheers Richard, Just taking it as it comes, but nearing an end. Hopefully get it wrapped up ready for a coat of primer this weekend. Chris.

Ha Ha, dam predictive text !. Thanks dogsbody, post amended. Chris.