AndyC

Great shots as ever and thanks. Saturday am was so disappointing to have missed the Midnight Hawks, Typhoon, Belgian F-16, Spanish F/A-18 and Raptor - I was lucky to see all those on Friday. Highlights once it cleared after lunch were the SoloTurk, the Rafale, the Flanker and the C-27J doing a full roll...

Was a great day - going tomorrow with the wife this time. Impressed with the F-22 today. Great shots as usual, mate. Look forward to the updates

In the 8 years since returning to the hobby, this is the first that I've struggled. A combination of work (16 weeks away, all week, in Lancashire) and just a gradual ebb in my interest in playing with plastic meant that I've done nothing beyond July this year. I also didn't make Telford, for the first time in a long time, nor any other UK shows apart from Avon and Salisbury. I did make Prague again but actually enjoyed going to 4 Czech league football matches more than the superb show they put on there.. To be honest I haven't missed it either as I've been watching a lot of non-league footie (my other hobby). I will probably pick up a scalpel over Christmas as I'll have the grandkids there and they will want to build something. One thing IS certain, is that I'm going to flog off a lot of my 1/48th aircraft stash and concentrate on smaller stuff, AFV and subs and my occasional quirky stuff. Who knows what 2017 will bring...anyway here's what I DID finish in order of completion... #1 - Hasegawa Egg Plane P-40 #2 - Eduard 1/48 Bell X-1 probably my favourite for the year #3 - Revell 1/48 F-5F for the F-5 GB #4 - Revell 1/48 F-5E for F-5 GB #5 Revell 1/48 F-5E for F-5 GB #6 - Wolfpack 1/48 T-38A for F-5 GB #7 - Airfix 1/72 Vampire #8 - Tamiya 1/35 Universal Carrier II #9 - Special Hobby 1/48 F2G-1 Super Corsair for the F4U GB - my second favourite finish for the year! #10 - Italeri 1/48 OH-13 for the Helicopter GB II #11 - Zvezda 1/35 GAZ-AA #12 - MikroMir 1/35 Sprengboot #13 - Trumpeter 1/48 Spiteful #14 - Dragon 1/35 SA-9 Gaskin for GB #15 - Trumpeter 1/35 SA-6 Gainful for GB #16 - Aeroplast 1/35 BM-8-24 for GB #17 - Trumpeter 1/48 MiG-3 (early)

Unfortunately guys this one is a non-finisher! I'm so busy at work, I've not glued or painted anything for weeks. Ho-hum. Not going to get much better as I'm going to be stuck in Manchester 3 days/week until Xmas.

Sadly work is manic at the moment so the Panzer IV will NOT be ready by the date. It will appear in RFI at some point

Oh...OK...

My recent purchases have been keeping me going on endless loop Black Stone Cherry - Blame it on the Boom Boom Aerosmith - Sick as a dog Temperance Movement - White bear Stray cats - Stray cat strut (live at Brixton) and Runaway boys Ratt - Round and round Gov't Mule - Rockin' horse Raconteurs - Steady as she goes

Doh! I just thought their armour might be a bit better than their aircraft! Anyway, onwards and upwards. I had a scrape and file with the basket and the turret and by working on both of them at the same time and then stopping and dry-fitting to check, I cam up with this, which looks a lot better to my eye Filler has been sanded down on the turret now too I suddenly realised that I hadn't glued in the glacis plate earlier in the hull part of the build so put that right. The fit wasn't brilliant so out came the filler and after a suitable period, the files and sanders Next up was the superstructure - all a bit fiddly as the sides and front are butt fitted with some guidance recess in the plastic but theu njeed concerted pressure to come together evenly and to stay that way. Eeven after that, there were some unslghtly lines that I'm pretty sure wouldn't be on the real thing, so out with filler and sanders again Fitting the track guards - again unnecessarily fiddly I thought. Patience is what is needed, even though you vent against the kit's engineering! Finally got both fenders/guards on and the it was time to glue the superstructure on. There will be the inevitable filler to the rear and it is actually vital to get that rear plate on at EXACTLY the right level or nothing will fit. I had to move mine (by running liquid poly on the joints, prising them apart and then re-setting them) no more than 1mm but it makes a hell of a difference. The final join was far worse thah shown before the plate was moved. I couldn't resist then adding the turret and gun just to see what she will look like...childish I know...I'm used to doing V12 aero engine noises and jet sounds when I'm a/c building and I'm at this stage - not sure I can do a V8 tank engine When I said link and length...these are the only 'length'...3 short sections at the bottom of the track - there are 69 individual links to do now...I may bbe losing the will to live...I may be some time before the next update

Thanks guys. Andy, there is a picture of the top of a IV Ausf F in one of your references you sent me and, yes, it shows a gap. The issue is that the radius curve of the basket doesn't match the turret. I've done some filing down and sanding and I've now got both rear turret and basket to match - not 100% totally accurate as I think the Italeri turret is wrong but at least the basket inner curve matches the turret now. Good enough for me, I think

Further to post #14 above...I've had a look. Not only does the basket appear to fit snug to the hull at the sides it is the wrong shape. However it appears to be the turret that's the problem. Online reviews on Armorama and PMMS etc seem to review that the turret is the wrong shape at the rear - I may have a couple of stiff ones tonight and think about filing the turret from it's sort-of-pear shape to a more rounded effort.

Thanks and I agree - it's a lovely kit. I think there is "hugging the turret" and "having a large gap"...I'll have a close look at my references during lunch today...still think some surgery will be needed but hey...we're modellers not assemblers

On to the turret. This is where I can use Andy's (Sgt Squarehead) references he kindly sent me and the instructions closely as there are detailed differences between the F1/F2 and G models Basic turret and cupola rings cut out. Again a bit of clean up with a sharp scalpel and sanding stick Putting together the basic turret mounted parts for the KwK 37/L24 - the actual gun parts fit over this on their own mantlet. Some minor surgery is needed for the short-barrelled F1 as shown and then this was clamped and glued Some generic doors and hatches fitted The turret front plate fitted - quite nice but will need s swipe of filler and a sanding stick at the butt joints. With the gun fitted. There is then the bottom part of the turret to fit and this does so very tightly Familiar small-step front plate on the superstructure with the MG34 in its ball mounting - this actually moves and is cleverly engineered Hatches fitted and sides started on decking Now to the only disappointing bit - the turret basket. As can be seen, there is no way the basket will fit the compound curves of the rear of the iV trret - it seems more suited to a Pz III? I'll have to some surgery on this to get it to fit - there's quite a bit of etch to go on it too. Lastly a dry-fit of the KwK 37/L24 and its mantlet - needs cleaning up but fit quite nicely and looks the part That's all for now - got a bit to do with the decking and other sundries before starting the track links (ugh!)

Good choice Rich...sprinkle the fairy dust on that and it'll look ace...I'm ignoring winged things for this one

I'm feeling in an Italian mood for this one... 1/35 Italaerei (this must be an old kit if it's spelt this way!) Semovente DA75/18 M40-M41 tank 1/35 Bronco CV3/33 Tanketa 1/35 Italeri Autoblinda AB40 1/35 Italeri Autoblinda AB43 1/35 Italeri M13/40 Tank Two of the above, I think....