AndyC

OK deep breath and follow... As per usual with my AFV builds - start with the hull. It's a lovely crisp looking casting with lots of detail. On with the road wheel suspension arms - 2 types of 3 on each side. The sprue gates are quite big on most of this kit and each part needs a swipe with a sanding stick Return roller in place and all arms aligned Rear plate on and the drive socket mounting along with some tow hooks Dry-fit of the road wheels - again some clean up necessary after removal from the sprue That was 3 hours work...I've now started the superstructure and will update once I've got that progressed. Thanks for looking

They take some fitting in, those pilots don't they? Good work!

Some more work on this little point defence AFV... Following on from the last pics, I fitted the blast shields to the drivers windows as there is no interior - a slight trim but they nestle down nicely Engine vents(?) and rear access hatches on and some handles. I also started on the headlight clusters however I'm going to fit the shields but leave the clusters off until after painting to make sure I can get paint into them Simple suspension arms and springs are glued in place - they need some clean up due to mould misalignment but look OK Gear boxes for front and rear and then dry-fitted. Again, I'm going to leave these off until final assembly to make sure I can get them painted and weathered Front wings fitted - not a great alignment here - I've made sure the top is aligned and will have to take a sanding stick to the arch to match with the body Other bits added to superstructure and now dry-fitted to the hull - looks pretty good actually The transport frames for the spare Strela boxes...a quandary. The instructions show these stowed tightly (vertically) against the body, yet the paint guide shows them hinged outwards and deployed ready for dismounting. Most of the pics I have seen don't actually show the spares deployed at all and the frames are bare but stowed vertically. I think I may go for this option. Dry-fitted anyway - there is a retention link to be added to the support bar once final position is decided. Thanks for looking and all comments welcomed

Nice work Russ on what I think is a great little kit

Thanks Giorgio, I have already got some brass rod - I think I'll do two pieces per strut. It's a bit annoying but Milliput is good stuff to use if I can get the mix right!

Amazing work Bob...

I'll be buying one of these!

Quick update! I sanded the floats again and then gave each one a stripe of hand-painted EDSG to see whether I'd got rid of all the bubbles. An emphatic NO! So...out with the filler again! Thanks to RobG I now have the superb plans by Vasko Barbic and these clearly show that the floats are 3.05m apart CL to CL and therefore are 1.55 off the aircraft's CL. This equates to just short of 32mm in 1/48 so they were marked out The upper and lower wings were re-scribed after the blister removal and wheel well filling and the tailplanes have been attached with CA Now to the float attachments. The drawings clearly show that the front of the floats are just shy of the leading edge and scale off the drawing at a shade under 25mm at their front edge. Heritage has cast the float struts at their LOWEST point which makes them about 22mm. This means that they are correct for the flatter underwing buit will need building up with Milliput as the near the leading edge. That's not a massive issue I suppose but it would have been easier to grind the strut down than build it up Anyhow - onwards and upwards

Time to crack on with this - looking forward to it! First off the hull...there are some prominent pin marks which need filling The instructions then move onto the launcher tubes. There are six; four 'live' and mounted on top and two spares. The only differences between the basic tubes are the blow-out doors for the live ones. The tubes are made up of 4 sides with an incorporated end. You then apply an inner door and these had ejector pin towers which needed removing to make sure they sit flat. They will all need a gentle sanding to take the rough ends off Then on to the superstructure. You must pre-drill holes for various fixtures and fittings but these are handily ennumerated on the inside and were done with a 1mm drill and pin vice A quick dry fit to the hull shows a pretty good fit The roof was glued in place and this needed a swipe of filler to cover the gaps. Once dried this was sanded. You can also see I've started fitting the various knobs and stuff. I'm probably going to button everything up because there is no interior included in the kit and the drivers compartment comes with blast shield hatches for firing mode which I will place in the down position. This will save a lot of hassle. Thanks for looking and all comments welcomed!

Finally caught up with this, Rich and you are playing a blinder with these builds mate - superb modelling!

Hi all Following on...the lower parts were masked off ready for two coats of Lifecolor EDSG and this went on smoothly. Once dried, the masking revealed a reasonably neat line. The props were next. To leave them off until after painting and not being one for gimmicks in models, I have omitted the gearing that allows the props to move like contra-props so that the unit can be fitted later So here we are in mock-up Radiators fitted after main Sky colour done. Was much easier. Frontal view, As a rear gunner facing something like that, I would have been very afraid! . I'm now stalled on this awaiting Xtradecal to reissue the black RAF letters and numerals. Thanks for looking

As per my last post, the blisters on the tops of the wings (for the wheels) had to go. I used a burr wheel on the Dremel to start and the rough sanding to remove the last traces. There will be some re-scribing to do but I'm much happier knowing they needed to go. I also removed the heater elements behind the exhausts - these were snipped off and sanded Filler applied to tailpiece and the wheel well infills And then sanded I've started marking out the positions of the floats suing RobG's e-mailed drawings. These will need some work to fit chord-wise due to the aerofoil section and the dihedral of the wing. I'll need to thinbk of a way of translating that information to the top of the float struts before getting out the Dremel and sanding sticks. Thanks for looking

Personally as a confirmed fan of the GWR, you've done a sensational job there!

Great pics, I just love those schemes.

Wow Rob those drawings are perfect mate. Thanks. So, I now know position chord-wise and off-set form the centre-line. Also looks like those blisters are going to have to go along with the heater elements behind the exhaust

Sorry mate...they've arrived now...I had a full inbox

Cheers mate! I always reply!

Ha yes just before he forced himself out and into the drink once he'd pointed it at the target

Me neither Col but I expect someone will know! Looking at the Brengun and Trumpeter efforts I think the bulges are missing

Yep, fine by me too

Hi Rob Nothing mate, sorry.

doesn't do that justice Cliff! What an absolute cracker mate - just superb

Thanks Col...it's just starting to get a little trickier now... First, the floats. I sanded out the liquid putty and then liberally applied some Green Stuff. The liquid putty had filled a lot of the pinholes but some of the bigger ones remained. Here's one of them (the worst for the pinholes) after sanding the Green Stuff - you can see the extent of the bubbles. At least the ridge has disappeared and so, I have applied another coat of Green Stuff to take care of the final round of pinholes. Laborious but necessary. The other problem I have (as mentioned earlier in the thread) is exactly where they fit. I've seen some plans online and I think they align with the strengthening plates in the wheel wells. I can't clearly see where they align chord-wise - they seem to be placed close to the leading edge. Anyone any idea? If so, then the tops will need some careful carving to match the aerofoil shape of the wing. The tailpiece has now been CA's in place and some small amount of filler will be needed to blend it in. While I was at that end, I cut off the tailplanes and had a dry fit of these. Apart from some slight modification of the locating tabs the fit is excellent Next was the plugs to the wheel wells. I used some various thickness plastic rod and CA'd these in place. I cut out the remaining plug from card stock and then filed and sanded it into a shape that would minimise filler. Once dried, the filler can be applied and then the resultant sanded flat. Last but not least...the upper wings have the small wheel bulges - these are going to have to come off aren't they? I've not seen a picture of the upper wing of a Vb floatplane but I can't believe they would leave them there, which means I'm going to have to file/sand them off. They are solid anyway it seems so may not be too much bother to do so. Thanks for looking and all comments welcome

Agreed René. The only problem area is the floats - the remainder of the resin is free of pinholes. I think these will be fine after a few applications of liquid putty and filler.

Thanks chaps! Yes, those floats are going to need repeated visits I think. My major issue was the tail joint, so I'm happy how that has apparently turned out. I can work on this until a certain point where I'm waiting on Hannant's to reissue the serial decal sheet. Oh, and I don't have any Dark Slate Grey paint yet!