Kallisti

Just noticed an error in the kit - the port wing still has a cut out for the landing lights which were blocked off on the IId. Having to take off some of the masking and fill the hole in The kit instructions imply that there should be both lights but the starboard wing has the hole closed but the port wing still has it open.

The wheel wells WERE interior green until I forgot to mask them when spraying the primer, and I was intending to repaint in Aluminium once the rest of the painting is done, however the photos above from Troy make me think that I should continue with the Azure blue - at the very least on the inside of the gear doors (which are still currently interior green ) Thanks for the feedback, always good to get useful information! I've just finished masking the underside ready to start on the camo upper surfaces... dark earth first, after lunch now...

Updates so far this weekend - first off the figures have been painted using a combination of Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics and oil paints Since you won't really be able to see their faces, I've not gone too mad in detailing them beyond basic shadows and highlights. The various accessories, fuel cans, boxes etc have all been completed and weathered with washes and pigments and placed in their initial locations on the diorama. The accumulator trolly, tool box and trestles from the old build have been brought across. Thankfully the shrinkage of the claycrete has not caused a major problem with the base. There is a bot of ridge if you really look for it around two sides of the picture frame, but when the Hurricane is in place you really won't notice it. Speaking of the Hurricane, it was primed on Friday and yesterday evening it got it Azure Blue undersides. This was a custom mix of Tamiya using the recommended formula of 2 parts X16 Purple, 10 parts XF2 white, 5 parts XF18 nedium blue. I think I might have put a little too much purple in at the fist mix so had to add some extra blue and white in, but I think its come out a reasonable colour - its difficult to reproduce accurately on the camera with the flash... More later today I hope

A mammoth amount of punning there! Just what I need to tow some SEAC Hurricanes around the airfield!

Thanks guys, more to come later today hopefully!

I think the claycrete has stabilised... fingers crossed!

They went on without any major problems. I'd glossed the underlying paint of course and used some Micro Sol in various places, but they were little problem. The only issue I did have was spacing the sector panels on the upper and lower saucer. There is a little overlap in one place but that is barely noticeable. It does need careful spacing and gap elimination to avoid overlaps however.

The wings are on!!!! A bit of filler was needed at the wing roots but it was okay in the end, underside was even better - a bit of smoothing down. There are PE strengthening braces to be fitted over the joint in any case Other work has been taking place including the initial painting of one of the figures This has been painted using a combination of XF-49 Khaki and XF 51 Khaki drab, plus some Vallejo medium flesh for the skin. This needs a lot more work for highlights and shadows... The resin wheels have been painted and given a bit of weathering and finally the flimsies and their boxes have been painted up, plus a rather battered oil drum The claycrete on the base is gradually drying and skrinking - I'm hoping it won't go much further because there is a distinct depression along one edge where the picture frame juts up a bit. I was hoping not to have to put another layer on top considering the landscaping I've already done!

Excellent movie! superb picture quality under the circumstances

Mine arrived today - its a much larger box than I expected, looks nice!

Today's adventures were all to do with the base. The first step was to add some terrain to the board Next was to mix the papier mache aka Claycrete with water and a selection of water-based artist acrylic paints to get the colour. Looking at the geology of central Burma, the rocks are predominantly an iron-rish reddish brown, so the alluvial river plains are going to be reddish-orangy brown and this is what I mixed up... unfortunately it tends to remind own of baby poo - at least it doesn't smell like it! Some of the other landscaping materials available to use are After a while of slopping the claycrete onto the base, smoothing it down then humping it up to get some features, I started on the scatter while the claycrete is still wet. You'll notice I'd put masking tape around the sides of the picture frame, This is supposed to protect the outer edge so that later I can peel it off and still show the wooden outer frame. Finally, some foliage and grasses have been added and some of the stowage boxes etc have been placed. The claycrete will take about a week to dry and will probably shrink quite a bit. Will be interesting to see what it looks like once dry! I may have to go over it again and wipe out all that landscaping! Heigh-Ho

So last update for tonight and its simply to show the new base having been given its second plaster of paris coating The central piece had and extra dollop of plaster or paris added as it was the central bit of the picture frame so needed an extra bit of filling. This will be drying overnight in the cupboard in the kitchen where the hot water boiler lives so its a bit warmer than the rest of the house. This means that tomorrow it will be ready for the next layer which will be the claycrete, which then means I'll need to start the landscaping. Dunno if anyone is still reading this, seems to have gone very quite so maybe I'm just talking to myself...

Today's progress: The panels have both now been thinned down and holes drilled for the fixings However, turn them over and you see the internal detail that has been added The first round of sanding the fuselage joints showed up some gaps and faults, so a liberal coating of Mr Surfacer 500 has been applied and will be ready for sanding tomorrow probably. In the meantime, the underside central portion of the wing has been glued in place. This necessitated heavy sanding of the resin wheel bays to allow them to fit under the cockpit framework . As you can see I've added extra plastic strips to act as guides for the wings. Similarly when the wings were assembled, strips were also added Underneath the wings, the tropical air filter has now been attached - this wasn't a very good fit so some filler has been needed, topped up with a layer of Mr Surfacer 1000 So now its just a matter of waiting for the filler to dry and do some more sanding. In other news, the base has had an initial layer of plaster of paris has been poured and is currently drying.

Was it in use after Jan 1st 1945? If so then its allowed as per rule A)

I always thought those two pipes were on all marks - I'm currently doing the Fly 1:32 IID and they are present on that and in the ref photos I've been using.