Roland Pulfrew

Couple of guys at my LMC were thinking of buying a couple of copies of Part 1 just for the electric motor!! 😄

Thanks Jan. Your Fury looks great, definitely worth finishing! I’m glad I may have helped inspire you to finishing it. 🍻 Intrigued by your comment regarding the AK 3rd Gen, I have tried it but am struggling to get it to spray well. When I’ve tried, my airbrush clogs up quite quickly. Not sure if I’m using the paint without enough thinner or whether I just gave the pressures wrong, but I really do like the MRP paints. Not cheap, but no need to worry about thinning ratios. Regards, Roly

Thanks Jan I do understand what you are saying. It was only much later in my build that I found some pictures of a flying restored Iraqi Fury (by coincidence, the one I’ve done in this kit. Oh the free reference material 🤦🏻‍♂️) and I am wondering whether the MRP “middle” stone is much more like light stone too. There are some great pictures of “739” on this website: https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/213108079/oo-iss-1947-hawker-sea-fury-mk-x which suggest that, if the owner has the correct paint matches, then MRP might be a little out. Then again, maybe it’s the tone of the lighting I’ve used to photograph the model, as under the fluorescent light in my workshop, the middle does look more orangey. Interestingly, when you google other types using similar colour schemes, the differences in tone of the middle stone can be quite stark, even on the same aircraft. I found plenty of pictures of a Qatari Air Force Hunter ‘QA10’ taken in different lights and the same middle stone changes from orangey to pale in each picture!! What we need is a nice bright sunny summer’s days for some better photographs of my kit.

Evening all. Well real life has got in the way of modelling and I just haven’t made the progress I’d hoped (just goes to show how overly optimistic I was about finishing before the deadline on NYE 🤦🏻‍♂️😂). Still there has been some progress, with a bit more weathering and the addition of a few more parts. Also got the decals on 😀 I think it’s just the camera (my phone) but there is something weird about the perspective in these shots. Considering this kit had been stored in 1 loft and three garages subject to freezing cold, blazing heat and damp at times, I’m really lucky that the decals have: a. Survived. b. Gone down so well. Only time and the drying process will tell whether there will be any silvering 😳 Final few parts to add, followed by some varnish and a bit of final weathering and we’re done. Finally. Maybe a week or so late!

Just a thought, but has there ever been a V-Bomber GB? I have all 3 in the stash, but really need an excuse to build the Valiant. Maybe widen to a GB rather than STGB? Or could we get away with “The V Bomber” as a single type???? 🤔 🥷 😇

I voted for this (or its earlier incarnation) in last year’s Bunfight, so I’m back in. Have plenty of Typhoons and Tempests in the stash (1/72 - 1/24) so it will either be one of those or I could have a go at finally getting an HS Nimrod MR2 completed!!

Thanks for all the kind words. I’ll continue to finish this in here rather than moving the topic elsewhere on the site. So a bit more progress this morning, with a little light weathering on the undersides. Hope I haven’t overdone this, I really do need to get a “daylight” light for the model shop. Next step is a coat of ‘Klear’ ready for the decals.

And here is how she finished 2023 May have overdone some of the shading which will need knocking back a bit. Amazing how different it looks in natural light! I was wondering whether the middle stone was too ‘orange’, but it’s fine.

Oh well. So close but it’s 2024. A couple more shots of yesterday’s progress. Blutac sausages and paper masks applied (note to self - it’s probably easier to place the paper on the aircraft and stick it down with the sausages, rather than sticking the paper to the sausage!). Starting with the dark earth First coat complete There has been more progress, but as our guests started to arrive and I realised what the time was, I had to stop and didn’t take any pictures. Next GB for me to start and not finish, starts in 6 days. Happy New Year all 🍾🥂🥳

Still trying for the deadline. This morning I’ve managed to lay down the middle stone, here with a first coat complete And now, with the second coat: Next step, breakfast, then some work on the sub assemblies whilst the middle stone dries, then it’s out with the blutac sausages and masking tape ready for the dark earth.

A couple of previous twins from me too: And not strictly WWII, but I think some remained in service at the start: But for this GB, I’ll be doing……….

B*gger! With the deadline looming, I think I’m going to be a DNF ☹️. Despite the family departing post Christmas, the pre-NYE prep has delayed things. Today was a day of sanding back the Mr Surfacer that had been used in the flaws identified by the primer. But there has been some progress. The undersides have been painted with Azure Blue using MRP paint. First time I’ve used this paint and I have to say it sprays beautifully, straight from the jar. Need to work on pressures and flow though, as I seem to be getting through it by the bucket load 😳. Either that or it is just quite a big kit! Lower surfaces allowed to dry for as long as I could get away with, before masking up for the top surfaces. Other work today included the wheels and prop, painting and preparation for final assembly. There is still a chance this will be complete by tomorrow’s deadline, but it looks a remote possibility 😢.

Christmas over. Most of the family have departed. Just me and the Mrs for a few days until NYE. Call on my time maybe a little easier so might get some work done on the Fury. First step was filling the trenches. They needed a second fill, but that’s been done and sanded back. Managed to get some primer on this morning (which has revealed a few flaws that will need sorting 😕). I tried the Autotek grey primer (a first for me) and am very pleased by the way it went on. It’s left a nice finish, helped fill some of the panel lines, but has left the rivet detail still visible. Also got some MRP acrylic paints over Christmas, so in another first, that’s what I’m going to try out on this kit. Whilst that’s drying (and it is quite cold in the model shed), time to get on with other parts.

Mosquito GB you say? Well my stash of Mossies has reduced by 2 this year, but there’s several still to do ranging from 1/72 to 1/24, so mind if I join?

So, with the Go Large GB completed (successfully 😅) its time to switch focus to my Desert Fury. There’s been a little progress with some more work on the fuselage and the bits. Sadly, the fir of wings to fuselage may delay things as I fill the gap between them!! As for the Marianas Trench in the other side ☹️ Bear with me whilst I do some pointing!

Typical! Just clearing out the box at the end of the build, wondering what to do with it now And between the top and bottom, I find this Might have to add this back on, as it is a little better than my scratch built one 🤦🏻‍♂️ At least it was saved from the carpet monster, although no doubt he will demand a sacrifice soon 😄

Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1f Air Fighting Development Unit, RAF Duxford, March 1941.

OK. Done it! Pretty close to the wire, but I declare the Beaufighter built!! There’s quite a few things I’d do differently if I were ever to build another one, like not adding the bulkhead in the cockpit (it didn’t exist on the real Beau). For a relatively basic kit, it’s turned out quite pleasingly. There were a few firsts for me: I think this is the first 1/32 scale kit I’ve built; it’s the first time I’ve done riveting; the first time I’ve used Tamiya’s LP range (thoroughly recommended) and the first time I’ve used paper and etch seat belts (fiddly, time consuming, but also recommended). Even pleased with the scratch built nose aerial which replaced the one sacrificed to the carpet monster. Sadly, ran out of time for some weathering, but for now, finished! Now to crack on with Desert Fury.

I’ve found that if I start with the big colourful decals, I run out of steam with the small fiddly ones. So now I start with all the little ones, so that I know I need to do the big ones at the end.

Oh, and I’ve got to fabricate the missing nose antenna!

Finally she stands on her own three wheels Props and hub added just to see how the look at this stage Quite pleased to see that I didn’t flatten the wheels in such a position as to hide the “creep marks”, which I only noticed when touching up the hubs. Just the props, exhausts and glass work to go now and then it’s time for some Klear, the decals, matt varnish and some weathering to go. Actually, when you write it like that, there’s still a lot to do in 9 days!! 😄

Thanks @galgos, I have some of the Ammo (?) weathering pencils, so they’ll be put to good use - hopefully. Although I’m not sure how well they’ll work on this paint.

I promise to try @Ned. There has been a little more progress, I sprayed the forward engine cowling with copper, and then toned it down with some black. I’ve tried to add some delineation to some of the panels and touched up a few bits that have got damaged. Wish I’d thought about spraying some aluminium and then tried “chipping” it around some of the panels. Annoyingly, when I removed the masking tape from the cowlings, it’s lifted some of the Tamiya LP, so that’s going to need touching up. Some of you might notice that a couple of the radar antennas have gone astray. Fortunately, 2 have been recovered from the floor, but the nose antenna has disappeared forever 🤦🏻‍♂️

Well after a change of job and sorting some other issues, plus the distraction of trying to complete the Go Large or Go Home GB (even with its extended deadline), I’m pleased to say I’ve not forgotten about my desert Fury. Finally, got the seat belts finished and installed! That was a bit of an epic!! Not that much of the cockpit detail is going to be visible!! 🤷🏻‍♂️ That’s allowed me to start closing up the fuselage. Just to prove there is still a little bit of progress, here we go: With only 13 days to the deadline, it’s going to be tight 😳

Well now that I have a little more time, it’s on with the first top coat of black. In another first, I’ve tried using Tamiya’s lacquer paint. I have to say that it sprays beautifully and I’m really pleased with the first coat. Next step will be to spray some of the panels and engine cowlings in a slightly different colour.