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Evening all, I took advantage of my time away from the classroom last week and finally finished this two-and-a-bit year project: Tigger Models' (the old ID Models' vac kit) of the Short Sunderland in 1/32nd scale. This has been a really rewarding project, and despite a setback when I knocked the completed fuselage with its interior off the table, making a rather messy contact with the kitchen floor, it's been great fun and relatively straightforward - despite its size. Pic 1 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Kits like this come as a blank canvass for the builder to work his/her magic - 'bumps in plastic' is quite apt, but the shapes are reasonably accurate if not a bit primitive (picture borrowed from Tigger's webpage): Pic 2 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr The kit provides a the correct hull shape for a MkI or MkII, but with some mods the more adventurous builder could easily convert it to a MkIII/V, etc. All panel lines and surface details need to be added and the parts are devoid of any real detail, but the plastic is lovely to work with and scribes/sands beautifully. Due to the size of the parts, home-made interior bulkheads are needed, and any visible parts of the interior need to be made from scratch: Pic 3 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Strong wing spars are also essential to keep the structure of the model sound - thick plastic card spars were made and added: Pic 6 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr The flightdeck interior, bomb room and nose section were all made from scratch and detailed with some aftermarket seatbelts: Pic 7 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr All the aerials were made from sprue and thin wire - markings were mix of home-made masks and decals: Pic 8 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr The engines were made from spare HK Models' B-17 cylinders coupled with Revell Beaufighter parts to make a reasonable representation of the Bristol Pegasus. The early-style exhausts were made from Evergreen tube bent slowly over the toaster! Pic 10 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Landing lights were home made from some of my daughter's diamante play/craft jewellery (for the lights) and the covers were clear acetate once again heated over the toaster. Rigging for the floats came for EasyLine and reminded me why I'll never build a biplane! Pic 11 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr The kit's transparencies were used throughout - all turret interiors were scratch built. Beaching gear was also made from scratch with a friend helping out with some 3D printed wheels: Pic 12 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 13 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Bomb racks were again made from scratch with some rather lovely depth charges coming from Tim Perry - thanks, Tim! Pic 14 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 15 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr I used Xtracolor enamels throughout the build - 6 tins were used in total! Pic 16 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr I don't like to go too mad with weathering on my models so kept it relatively clean - however you can't build a Sunderland without the distinctive water marks on the hull: Pic 17 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr A bit of exhaust staining and some fading with post-shading completed the upper surfaces: Pic 18 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr And for some generic pictures: Pic 19 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 20 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 21 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 22 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 23 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 24 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Pic 25 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr I'm often asked how big a 1/32nd Sunderland is. I'm sorry to inflict my ugly mug on you but you can see that it is a massive model with yours truly holding it! Pic 26 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr My model represents a Sunderland MkII of 201 Squadron during 1942 in the lovely temperate sea scheme. Painting white gives me nightmares (especially something of this size) so I took the easier option. W4001 (ZM-V) was only on strength between February to October 1942, before hitting an underwater rock and being written off, thankfully with no loss of life. Thanks for those who took an interest along the way - I'm off for a long lay down in a darkened room to contemplate the next project! Best wishes to all, Tom