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I’ve been threatening to build one of these for a while, possibly the ugliest airplane ever built. First order of business, a buck got the fuselage, I’m going to split it into three moldings, one for the cupola and two fuselage sides. It’s glued/taped/screwed so once it’s shaped I can easily split it into three pieces for molding.

This is my most recently completed model. It's the Felday 4 - BRM as driven by Jim Clark in the 1966 Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch, August Bank Holiday 1966. Lotus boss Colin Chapman was keen for his driver, Jim Clark, to experience 4WD, and the opportunity arose for him to drive Peter Westbury's Felday 4 in the Guards Trophy. The Felday 4 was designed and built by Westbury. It featured a 1.9 litre BRM V8 mounted back to front and delivering power to all four wheels though a Ferguson 4WD transmission system. In the race, Clark won his class in the first heat, but was black flagged for dropping oil in the second. I started with a set of 1/32 scale drawings from the July 1966 copy of Model Cars magazine. I reduced the scale to 1/43 and made several copies of the drawings. The skeleton was constructed by glueing the longitudinal and lateral shapes to 30thou plastic card. The card was cut and sanded to shape, suitable slots were cut, and the parts cemented together. The internal shapes of the wheel arches involved cutting away some of the plastic, and installing appropriate shapes from 20thou card. Plastic tube cut to half width were then added so as to locate the axles. The external skin was made from 20thou card for the flat and single curvature panels, with Milliput filler for the compound curved areas. The chassis plate was made from 40thou card, with the remaining structures made from 20thou card. The roll hoop was made from copper wire, with brass tube for the exhausts. The instrument panel, engine structure and radiator were made from various thickness pieces of plastic card with brass mesh for the radiator core, and Tameo intake trumpets on the the engine. The rear view mirror was made from scraps of plastic, with a copper wire support and lens from the spares box. I made the wheels by using a pair of SMTS Brabham BT19 front wheels as masters, and then casting resin copies. I vac-formed the windscreen, side windows and headlight covers from masters made from Milliput sanded to shape, and then polished with finer and finer grades of paper to get a nice smooth finish. The spoiler was a left-over from my Matich SR3 model, and the tyres are 018 Automodelli Studios. The seats were made from Milliput, sculpted to suit. The headlights and tail lights were AM items. Paint was Humbrol enamels throughout. Tyre sidewall decals by Marsh Models. The numbers and roundels are by Virage, the Firestone decals are from the spares box, and the J. CLARK stickers were made from Letraset on Tameo white decal with blocks of red and black decal for the Guards logo. To finish off, I painted a Denizen white metal figure to portray Clark as he raced that day. Decals (few that they are) are from an AM decal sheet by Best Balsa Kits. The figure was mounted on a BBR display base, along with the car. This was a lengthy build. I started in November 2016 and only finished it a few months ago. This was mainly due to me having to work out how to approach each stage once I got there. There was no great master plan to its construction! Thanks very much for looking. Trevor

Having been a long time fan of the Schneider trophy planes I always wanted a Crusader, and right here on good ole Britmodeller @greggles.w built Karaya’s 1/48 Crusader which impressed me greatly (his build – not the kit so much!) and again got me wanting to add one to the collection. If you are so inclined, pop over and see @greggles.w's build here:- My preferred scale for race planes is 1/32 because race planes are generally tiny. And it needs to match my Williams Bros kits. So currently scratch building is the only option, although I’m sure Murphy will bring one along as soon as I finish…. At least the fuz being circular should be a 5 minute job in the lathe. @greggles.w’s build was very useful in showing how to approach the more difficult aspects. So forget all the other stuff on the bench that needs finishing, push it all to one side …… LETS GO! This is what I am talking about, any excuse to show Laurent Negroni’s fantastic sketch from his Speedbirds website again:- I had already collected all the available photos (there aren’t many!) and a couple of 3 views neither of which agreed with each other very much. I chose to use this one as my main reference:- Comparing this 3 view with photos show its not without its faults, the upper front rigging attachment to the fuselage is too far forward, the front struts should be wider and angled back a bit more, the rudder is a bit small and the floats a smidge short, but otherwise looks good. I initially had no intention of doing a WIP so took no pics of the first stages, so pay attention as you have some catching up to do! It’s a multi media model(!) the floats and fuz are made from Ureol as its easy to work with, The wing is 3 laminations of 2mm styrene as Ureol tends to crumble where the sections get thin such as trailing edges. The fuz was made with a lateral join, this means its easy to machine the wing seat on the pillar drill table. It also means tailplane alignment is easy. The upper and lower sections were pinned with wire before shaping to ensure repeatable re-assembly. Aaaaaand the fuz blank was too long to fit between the lathe centres, oh bother. So after band sawing the fuz top and side profiles, I carved the square to an octagon, then 16 sides (I just looked it up, its a Hexadecagon – every day is a school day!) I then sanded off the Hexawhatever ridges and used circular drafting templates to mark the high spots and kept sanding until it was circular along its length. After the disappointment of not being able make it on the lathe, I was quite pleased with the result. The wing laminations were left for about a week to fully cure, the outline cut with Tamiya sprue cutters, then scraped with a wood chisel to get the aerofoil – followed by a good scrubbing with 80 grit then 240 and finally wet and dry used wet. The lamination contour lines made it easy to make it symmetrical. The fuz wing seat was cut with a 30mm Forstner bit after raising the nose to set the wing incidence, the ends of the gap were then squared off. A smaller bit was used through both halves to remove the bulk of the cockpit material, which conveniently provided a positive location for the wing after a matching circle of plastic card was stuck to the top of the wing centre section. But not before slicing 75% through the centre line with a razor saw and re-gluing to bend in the miniscule dihedral. The tail seat was cut by hand with a slight neg incidence as the plan. So enough blather, here is the resulting set of parts. The float profiles were again bandsaw’ed out, the top shaped, then the underside carved with a curved wood chisel and finished with 240 grit. To be able to get the 3 main elements to vaguely face the same direction a jig was required, some millimetre graph paper was stuck to 12mm MDF. I have found the problem with sticking the graph paper to corrugated card as a jig (Tyrrell 006), is that the graph paper gradually shrinks over a few weeks and what started as a nice flat base ends up like a potato crisp making it pretty useless. The tail feathers are two laminations of 20thou card. The spine is laminated from the same stuff as the wing, - a redundant B&Q styrene bath side panel! Nothing is glued yet, just held by friction, apart from the nose which is stuck on with blu-tack. The nose did fit in the lathe, and from the blank I carved out the cylinder bases, I found it very hard to initially visualise the final shape, but by marking out and carving away a little at a time and lots of referring to the photos eventually revealed something approximating the real thing. (after cocking up the first one……) Malc.

I have modelled on and off for probably the last 40 years, predominantly in 1/72 scale. Aircraft and vehicles mainly. During more recent years modelling has been limited to basic assembly and conversion work and scenery building for table top war-gaming. After a hiatus for a couple of years I have decided to get back into model making purely for the pleasure of the build. I did have a few helicopter kits I was going to tackle but wanted something to really motivate me. In a previous life I spent about 10 years as Radar Plot/Anti submarine aircraft controller rating in the RNZN, serving on 3 Leander class frigates and the research vessel HMNZS Tui. It has always been an intended 'one day' project to build my old ships. Never one to do things by half I decided to go big or go home and to tackle the first one HMNZS Waikato in 1/72 scale. The Mighty "Y" was not my first posting but I have fond memories of my time on board and decided to start with one of the two gun Leanders first. The other was HMNZS Canterbury. My third Leander was HMNZS Southland (ex HMS Dido) an Ikara Leander. I served on her in the late 80's and will aim the build around this time. When she still carried a whaler before the Rib was fitted. I have been doing what research I can and building a library of photos of both her and when I can't find specifics at least detail references of other Leanders. Stumbled across this picture this morning. I remember this photo being taken, it was for Navy News or something similar and idea was to show the different parts of ship that made up a crew of a Leander. I am not 100% positive (it was 30+ years ago) but if memory serves correctly I am one of the ratings in Dayglo wet weather gear on the focsle

There appears to be a lot of interest at the moment in 1/200 scratchbuilt (or using 1/200 paper kits as a basis for scratchbuilding) vessels that are unlikely to be kitted, so I thought I would join in. Wandering into uncharted WIP territory here with a bit of lockdown madness, HMS Victorious really needs no introduction, but what the hell, she was the third of the Illustrious class fleet carriers, launched in 1939 and commissioned in 1941, she served everywhere, starting her wartime career chasing the Bismark, and ending it sweeping bits of kamikaze off her flightdeck, even becoming an unofficial member of the USN for a limited period as the USS Robin. Post war she was heavily modified, (a bit of an understatement there), and was recommissioned in1958 and finally scrapped in 1969. My father served on her during her 1961 “world cruise” as an Observer with 825 Squadron flying Whirlwinds (“never sure whether one was going to fly back, or swim back”), after which I was Christened in the ships bell on her return to Portsmouth, and so having been brought up with albums full of photographs of sampans and blackened Sea Vixens I have always had a fascination for the ship. I am sure I am not alone in playing with the venerable Airfix offering in the bath (not recently I must add) and although I have a couple in the stash I must confess the last time I built one I must have been about 12 and these days I find 1/600 a little small. I had a lot of fun with the ghastly Heller offering which required a great deal of scratch building, (and thank god for Peter Hall and his photoetch) to make something that resembled the ship at the start of her illustrious career (did you see what I did there !), but there was always a project in the back of my mind to model her in her 1961 guise in 1/350 my preferred scale these days. That was the plan anyway, until I spotted a paper kit of the mighty Vic in 1/200 by OREL, couldn’t resist the temptation, and an even more cunning plan started to take shape. Along with the kit I bought the associated photo etch and the laser cut frames, I assume that the anatomy of the ship book was used to develop the kit because it appears to be spot on to the drawings in it. The kit represents the configuration later than I want, in 1961 she still carried the original six 3 inch gun mountings, two of which were later replaced by storage for Buccaneer drop tanks, had lost the six barrelled Oerlikon mounting on the starboard side, and had not grown the extension outboard of the island to starboard,, though funnily enough the experimental bridle catcher (which was only carried through 1961) incorrectly features in the kit. Anyway the cunning plan did not feature paper bits anyway though I intended to use the laser cut structure as a basis, the cunning bit involved reinforcing the card framework by soaking it in superglue. Fast forward to now, it worked, the infused card has the consistency of thin plywood and is sandable, carvable and stable, the model will be waterline in a sea base so I have omitted the lowest level of the hull (makes life easier) to add additional stiffness I fabricated the hanger with fibre board. I scaled the AotS general arrangement drawings to 1/200 and from that cut the flight deck from 3mm styrene, the aft lift radii being squeezed in filler with a template, and the depression for the chock/roller aircraft allignment gear cut out and back filled with 2mm material. I set the flight deck up and levelled it with styrene shims and fixed it temporarily with two screws, the cable deck and quarterdeck will need to be finished before fixing it all permanently, I’m using the flightdeck as my datum, everything is measured off it in X,Y and Z planes, it seems to be working so far ! The fabrication of the docking and boat bays (she still had the port side one in 61) is my current task, though it is all very much “Blacksmithery” at the moment I'm looking forward to some proper modelmaking. Just to give an idea of the size of this beast, this is my other work in progress at the moment, the 1/350 Trumpy Dreadnought, somewhat dwarfed. This is where we are at the moment, as you can imagine this is not going to be a quick build, but all comments (even rude ones) and advice welcome ! Kindest regards to all from the Spanish viral apocalypse David

All hello! I want to build the Yugoslavian tank the type of А. of Tanka was built on the basis of Т- 34 . Made 5 things. In detail about a prototype it is written here - https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_tip_A

So Alien/Aliens are among my favourite films. I’ve built an alien and an APC in the past and have half built an APC recently, so this is an excuse to finish the APC and add something interesting to my collection. This is where my APC is at. This is my starting point it’s in 1/200 so first step is to scale it up by 2.7 to get 1/72.

I’m probably going to scratch some 1/28 airplanes as my Fokker DR1 is lookin awfully lonesome but I thought I’d start the ball rolling with two Daleks. Yes I actually went and bought the plans from projectDalek ( I wonder if they’re evil plans, hmmm) An Emperor and a drone both in 1/6 scale… More to follow

The rather grandly-named Aeronautical Corporation of America (Aeronca) was formed in 1928 by a group of Cincinnati, Ohio businessmen hoping to profit from the recent boom in US civil aviation. With initially no product to sell, they settled on the ultralight monoplane designed by Air Corps engineer Jean Roche, which was productionised as the Aeronca C-2 ‘Flying Bathtub’ and became the World’s first successful major-production ultralight aircraft, largely down to the reliability of the 2-cylinder engine Aeronca also manufactured to power it. By 1935 however, the writing was on the wall for the Flying Bathtub line (after over 500 had been produced), as the CAA banned the production of light aircraft with wire-braced wings, which required careful maintenance, seen as a potential safety hazard. So Aeronca had to create a more modern successor and hedged their bets by designing two.... First was the model K, which was effectively an updated replacement for the bathtub, with slimmer lines, strut-braced high wing and the same 2-cylinder 36 h.p. engine. The other was the model L, an altogether more sophisticated affair, with a low-mounted cantilever wing and very 1930s-looking trousered undercarriage. Although the prototype had the usual 2-cylinder engine, that proved adequate only for a single circuit of the airfield to determine much more power was required. This was found in the shape of the locally-produced 5-cylinder Le Blond radial, with 85 hp, which gave the hoped-for performance. Although it was well-received, it was comfortably outsold by the cheaper model K, which evolved into the popular Chief when fitted with 4-cylinder engine. The Aeronca factory was flooded in 1937 and some of the model L tooling destroyed, so the management decided to cease production after 66 had been completed. Only a handful survive, with only one currently in airworthy condition, as shown in this very informative video with vintage lightplane test pilot extraordinary Andrew King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEtvvrJjHqQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkVZjyX7jro It’s one of my favourite 1930s lightplanes and I built this model almost exactly 30 years ago and it won the 1/72 scratchbuilt and vacform class at the 1993 IPMS UK Nationals. Model is 100% scratchbuilt from plasticard using my take on Harry Woodman’s techniques, including the Le Blond engine and Sensenich prop.

These days I mainly specialise in inter-war aircraft models in 1/72 scale, but within that rather large field my favourite area is the 1926-41 'Golden Age' of U.S. Civil Aviation. This is a largely untapped field for models (and likely to remain so), which neatly combines my twin passions of scratchbuilding and historical research. Lloyd Stearman was one of America's foremost designers of civil biplanes. Having been the Chief Designer of both Swallow and Travel Air, in 1927 he left to start his own company, initially in California, but soon relocated back to Wichita, Kansas, then known as the 'Air Capital', for its concentration of civil aircraft manufacturers and suppliers. The fourth successful design of his own company was the Model 4 Junior Speedmail (an earlier model was the larger 'Speedmail'), which he described as 'the finest airplane I ever designed'. Intended primarily as a mailplane, only around half the 40 constructed actually saw service in that role (with American Airways and Canadian Airways). The rest were bought for corporate use, or by wealthy private owners. Top of the range were the 4E models with 400+hp P&W Wasp power and finest of all were the 3 specials constructed for Standard Oil of California and used by their flying salesmen up and down the west coast, 1930-35. Surprisingly, around a dozen of the Stearman 4s built survive, including 2 of the 3 SOCal planes. Latterly, I've been building most of my models in pairs, which I've found to be a more efficient and fun way of increasing my modest output. So here are my models of a Stearman 4EM mailplane of Canadian Airways (Eastern Lines), Montreal, 1931 and Stearman 4E Special 'Stanavo 4' of Standard Oil of California, San Francisco,1930. Models are 100% scratchbuilt and were completed in 2017. Both together: 4EM Mailplane: 4E Special : WIP Parts spread: Cockpit parts: One of my favourite 1930s biplanes..........

This is actually the first 38(t) I’ve built a 1/24 Scratchbuilt Hetzer. I’ll be reusing the masters I made for the running gear on this build to make a 1/24 38(t) I’m also going to build either or both a Grille and a Marder. Now to go figure the best way to cast 24 sets of road wheels …

Just a little diorama to get me back into the swing of thing, not the best dio but I had a lot of fun putting it together. Cheers all. Brian.

PzH 2000 - 1/24 Scale - Scratchbuilt I present my recently completed model of a Panzerhaubitze 2000 self propelled howitzer in Ukrainian armed forces service. Originally my intent was to paint this model as a german gun in Afghanistan, but very unfortunately about half way through this build, the war in Ukraine escalated dramatically. As a consequence several of these extraordinary weapons have been dispatched to the conflict and I have changed the markings to represent one of these as it may appear today. This project ran for over three years and, by my very rough reckoning, has absorbed at least 300 hours of my time. The model is completely scratchbuilt using a wide variety of materials including, wood, MDF, plastic-sheet, brass, poured-resin, aluminium lithoplate, a few dabs of filler and - very occasionally - bits and pieces scavenged from injection molded kits. No 3D printing was used. The last photo is intended to show the size of the finished item. It’s a fairly large model. The whole WIP story is documented here: Building models this way is always a learning process. For me the chief lessons learned were: How to scratchbuild tracks; which is actually not too bad once you know how. MDF is a really useful material, especially when skinned with plastic-sheet or aluminium lithoplate. Acrylic laquer paints are really very good. In this case I've used SMS paints and am definitely a convert. Figures can be scratchbuilt, although not easily. Magnets can be used to hold movable parts steady when required. In this case once the gun's elevation is set it's held in place by a couple of strong magnets inside the turret. There are some really good modern glues out there including Selly’s Powergrip and Gyprock’s blue acrylic joist paste. Careful attention to precise and accurate measurement at every stage really pays dividends. A good set of digital calipers are an indispensable tool. That's it for this project. Sincere thanks to all that have shown interest in this, especially anyone who has commented or posted 'likes'. As always, without the support of the Britmodeller community I don't know that I would have completed this. I hope to see you soon on the maritime pages as the SS Xantho gets yet another KUTA! Very Best Regards, Bandsaw Steve

Here we have a slight departure from the norm, but my son has a school project to build a prehistoric roundhouse so I thought it was time to teach him some techniques and train up the next generation. Here are some pics of today's efforts in the sunshine. Waiting for the clay and glue to dry out now before we weave some coloured wool between the wall posts and add the clay and flock turf roof tomorrow. Then we'll sprinkle some flock around for some grass and add some doors.

The next build begins This is a quick small build (pause for hysterical laughter) while I work on the drawings for what will be a very large complex build that I finally have the room for. This one is a small diorama of an ASR buoy that has ended up on the beach after a storm. It will be being inspected by some RAF personnel who have just rocked up on a Bedform MWD I'm sure a lot of you know about these buoys (or dumb barges) but I only found out about them watching the film "One of our aircraft is missing" As I understand it, the story begins the Luftwaffe general Udet deciding that too many aircrew were drowning in the channel and North Sea on the way home so he had these buoys built and anchored on the common routes home The British found out and decided to copy the concept with a more seaworthy alternative, the ASR Dumb barge, also know as "Cuckoo", shown here being anchored for the first time, all shiny paint... These were ~30 ft long, this is the best drawing available on line, there are a couple of others, but they seem to be copies of this image, with slight variations. You will note this drawing doesn't agree with the picture when you study it closely I couldn't find any model plans so I've drawn my own. It is in 1:48th and 1:72nd scale, with frame cutting plan at the former scale I'll be using One survives in a maritime museum on Scotland, but it has modifications from its time as a house boat, so be careful. This is a 3D scan of that survivor The other part of this diorama is a Bedford MWD. Now I've never built a truck, but my goal is to scratch-build it in metal and wood which could end up a complete disaster, but I'm going to give it a go. To help, I bought this Airfix kit (no longer available apart from really expensive on eBay). This will help me reproduce the components in brass etc But I'm getting ahead of myself, first the Cuckoo, which I know I can make. This will be ply on frame and then clad in 0.3mm copper. With the cutting plan, I had the perfect first project for my new toy, a desktop laser cutter/engraver Some hours later, and much frustration over file types, finally to the sound of "what's that burning..." drifting up the stairs Job done, it actually worked first time, amazing. The uncut rectangle on the right is for scaling in the control software How sweet is that Some 2x2 and 1x1.5 lime strip later And 0.5mm ply cladding started, its taking shape very rapidly Something a little different, really just playing with some new stuff and I get to build a war-time beach, possibly with a pill-box, we will see Cheers Steve

Finally finished the second part of my large diorama Liebe Deinen Nacthsten/Love thy neighbour and now hopefully Part one will make more sense. 20 figures, tamiya m8 greyhound, m10 wolverine, willys jeep. Its scratch built building and base and its all brush painted. I used the mini art garage set and beer bottles crates, the czech hedgehog is from Tamiya and barb wire from yan models, the rest I made. The figures are tamiya, mini art with hornets heads, bravo six and royal models. I adapted the some of the figures, the jeep driver had his arm remoulded to be the machine gunner on watch outside the gasthoff, the M10 gun loader is the m8 beer loader! The m10 gunner is now the jeep mechanic. I added a walking stick and bag to the civilian. Took a year on and off for both parts to complete. All feedback welcome. I added the camo net, made from a hair net and treated moss I made the sandbags from milliput and the rickety stowage holder from styrene. The guy with dark hair and his back turned is cheating at cards, note the cards tucked under his elbow! The back: A few pics of how part one fits in with part two: These guys have started realise that their neighbours might not just be so friendly as they hear the Glen Miller being played from nextdoor. I made it so that the two parts of the broken church steeple fit together once both boards are lined up: The link to part one is below: Sorry its bit photo heavy and the quality of my pics aren't great as I really need to upgrade my camera at some stage. All the best for now, Paul

The Austro Hungarian Lohner type AA I came across this on the internet and thought I just had to build one. There were a surprising number of prototype variations built but I’m going for the AA. I’ve already found some plans and scaled them to 1/48. Now I just need to attack my WIP to have the scope to start this in a few weeks time.

This is a trip down memory lane to my first scratch-build over 25 years ago. I had built a large kit of "Peggy" a steam drifter with a working steam engine and found that I had replaced so much of the kit that the result was probably 40% scratch-built so I decided to build a complete working model from scratch. Around that time Model Shipwright published plans for the Brazilian Customs Cruise Amapa build by Thornycroft's in 1907 (Edition 88 if anyone wants to buy a copy). This pretty little vessel has all the hallmarks of a late Victorian cruiser on a small scale, even a nod to the ramming bows that became popular after the Russo-Japanese war. At 130ft long, a working model at 1:32nd scale seemed about right to me. The model took 18 months to build, all in wood and brass, about 90% scratch. The hull was a bit of a disaster to be honest but the result has a sort of old world charm that I still love to this day. It has aged well, acquiring a nice vintage patina over the years. The wooden deck has gone a wonderful honey colour while the boats still shine as they did when completed. As a working boat, it was not a huge success, having a tendency to try to capsize in a turn, I didn't run it much... I wrote about the build in Edition 104 of Model Shipwright, warts and all and the model received an undeserved Silver medal at the Model Engineering Exhibition, can't remember which year She has been languishing since our move over 2 years ago as I had nowhere in the new house to display her. One of the reasons I've not been posting is I've spent the last few weeks fitting out a loft space as a small gallery and yesterday she was unwrapped and placed on her niche, giving me the opportunity to photograph her for the first time in many years. I painted her grey overall but a year after I completed the model, the Brazilian embassy replied to a letter I had sent them 2 years before asking for information on the vessel and enclosed pictures showing she was in Victorian white with mustard funnel etc, what a shame as I love that colour scheme The boats were my first papier mache hulls, they have stood up well To access the battery etc, the entire well-deck lifts out. This didn't really work well after the rigging was completed..... The wheelhouse is mahogany and is fitted out internally A rather simplified Hotchkiss 3 pdr QF but a nicely detailed steam anchor winch The galley door open for service, the galley stove was made from copper I'm very tempted to build her again at 1:48th scale, in the right colour scheme, would make an interesting companion model It's nice to see her again after over 2 years in storage... Thanks for stopping by, the R-boat rfi thread will be soon, once I finish the case and pillars Cheers Steve

I'm guessing most of you won't know me as I'm a ship modeller. I'm posting here because I'm currently constructing a diorama showing a WW2 RAF Air-Sea rescue buoy (known as a Cuckoo) that has beached in a storm and is being inspected by some RAF personnel in a Bedford MWD. Now, I don't make kits, I scratch build everything and wherever possible, I model wood in wood and metal in metal. So, the Bedford is being modelled in brass, shapes and etched parts with a wooden bed and sides. This thread is in the marine section where people know me and as the main event is maritime. However, I thought there may be a little interest in the process I'm attempting for the truck amongst vehicle modellers, so if anyone wants to stop by, here is the link. Bedford MWD It's my first attempt at vehicle modelling so be kind Cheers Steve

Personally I’m blaming @Bertie McBoatface for this what with all the talk of there not being as many ships as expected I felt so guilty that I decided to go build one myself. And seeing as how this will be my first Scratchbuilt boat it may all go horribly wrong… Now do bear in mind that this would also be eligible for the ‘not my comfort zone’ GB the ‘go large or go home’ GB as well as the salty sea dog but hopefully not the entropy GB Step 1 start with a scale plan. Step 2 using Amadine drawing software scale it to 1/72 print it off cut it out and stick it to a suitable piece of lumber. step 3 cut out the profiles with my scroll saw. The observant among you may motive that it’s now two bits of wood. My scroll saw can only cut 50mm wide wood so I had to cut the block in two then saw each half then glue them back together. I’ve roughly sanded the blocks with my detail sander. I’ll let it dry overnight then continue sanding/ carving to the correct profile. Still have to figure out what way I’ll fabricate the hull. I may well end up planking over the form either with balsa or plastic sheet.

Last May I decided to build a companion model for the s-boot I had built in 2021. I like companion models, they make great comparisons. It also fits with my small WW2 coastal forces navy that I've been constructing for a few years. There were only two problems: My almost complete lack of knowledge or reference material for the Kriegsmarine; and A total lack of commercially available plans. The challenge with 1:48th scale is you need a huge amount of information to do a subject justice. It's a very unforgiving scale as you can (should) build down to the rivet Countless hours on search engines plus a couple of lucky breaks; 10 new books for my naval reference library; a Russian model forum; and last but not least some very helpful people on a German naval forum turned my meagre cache of 4-5 pictures into to an astonishing 150 images of the type. I still didn't manage to find a good drawing of the R25, but enough others and some assumptions plus a bad lines sketch was just enough to produce my own 4 sheet set of plans. It's all tentative, but I've done my best to align dimensions with drawings I trust and photographs. Thankfully I don't count hours modelling, but the plans alone probably took over 300 hours before I was happy to start the build last September. As with my other models, this is a working boat during wartime. It is dirty and chipped with algae and oil on the waterline Here are the completed plans. I hope to make them available via a model shop in the UK, rescaling is straightforward, it would make a stunning 1:35th scale RC model.... I've spent the past couple of weeks fitting out a loft space as a gallery (to stop the "and where is this one going to go...." from my better half), so these pictures are in my new light box The single crewman (for scale) is fixing the anchor winch this time The midships assembly is packed with stuff and of course the wheelhouse is complete with Kriegsmarine charts for the Norwegian coast (this batch of R25's all served in Norway) The sweep winch and gear The fo'c'sle came out well, love wooden decks, these are 2 mm planks cut in to the margin plank using the 1/3rd rule And this thread wouldn't be complete without the s-boot. The cases are identical in size and I've tried to align the waterlines with the pillar mounts Feel free to double zoom, there is a lot of detail to take in Thanks to everyone who followed the build thread and provided encouragement and information, I hope it represents a useful resource for anyone else wanting to attempt to model this under-represented workhorse of the Kriegsmarine. I have many wartime pictures I didn't post, so if anyone wants to have a go, please get in touch and I will be most happy to help Lastly, I said at the end of the build thread that I would announce my next project Well, I've been working on more drawings (I always do this in parallel with building) and I'm going to attempt a diorama of a beached ASR buoy being inspected by some RAF personnel who have just arrived on a Bedford MWD. The ASR buoy will be made in copper, the MWD in metal and wood, all at 1:48th scale of course. I'm not sure about the latter main component as I've never built a truck, still the attempt should be amusing. I parallel I'll be starting the drawings for a large complex build, but more on that in time Happy Easter🥚 and thanks again for the interest Cheers Steve

Ok I must be nuts but owing to the simple shapes I reckon I can pull this one off. Some artwork for the decals, need to be scaled, printed and varnished Wish me luck…..

So for my second build I’m going to build an Erhardt from the papercraft model on Landships 2 but in 1/35 rather than 1/43 and from plastic not paper. The papercraft model. Next step to scale it up by 12%.

Hello gents, Off on a new project. It has a few build requirements: It will try and stick with the spirit of the concept as it moves along (this will make more sense as you keep reading); It will rely to the greatest extent possible on kits from the stash! No new kits! maybe new materials, glue and paint; and, well guys, it might be a bit odd when it's done. So, on we go. The following few character images show the basic concept of this project - in three graphic chapters: ahhh, "Misty watercolor memories.....Of the way we were" 🤨 (B Streisand) uhhh???? what the heck??? "Because something is happening, But ya' don't know what it is, Do you, Mister Jones?".....(B. Dylan) btw groovy graphic assembled in...PowerPoint! used their Design Ideas tool!) (Note the center image - looks like a tracked lowboy with a shelter atop) And, our story - a guy reminiscing on being sent out to the south station - for some time, and what it was like out there. About this graphic....yeah - I tried... it's made with PowerPoint and Photoscape X - not exactly Photoshop! This will require a leap of faith by all involved - including me! I saw a project in the Sci Fi section where someone is building a pretty cool Ian McQue concept air ship. I really like McQue's work, and you can see some of it above. I'm mostly a ground ship kind of guy though, so I did several searches of his work and found a few ground based vessels that move on tracks, and some peculiar buildings. So, for this project we have an OshKosh Global HET A1 (the high mobility version of the M1070) and trailer, converted to a halftrack, camped out for a while at south station. At this point, well, I can't and won't guarantee the dio will look "just like" this - but, it is planned to "feel" like it when we're done. I just don't know as of right now where this will go, but, I've already jumped right in, starting with the truck: This is the OshKosh M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET), an 8x8 truck (Hobby Boss kit). I have gone ahead and begun converting it into the Global HET A1, a 6x6 version (upper pics). There are similarities and many differences between the two - and above you can see the big difference is in the rear axle configuration. I like the look of the Global HET - If I just had some of those fat, high flotation tires!! This required some head scratching to design and build. So, lots of changes - the chassis is shortened in the rear and will be stretched in the front, all the tabs, bolts, rivets cut off and as you can see above, some carefully cut off and reused, and suspension attached. I made operable, and not just adjustable steering. It also needs an all new hood/bonnet, which will be a difficult task - the Global HET has a less angular design than the M1070, which has a variety of odd shapes and compound curves.....perfect. And: As this project is in the realm of sci fi, a half track is simply required!! Hence the reason for making this the 6x6 version - the two drive axles now serve as power for two final drive sprockets (off-set by planetary gear transfer cases), on independent bogeys! I don't want this to look like a simple toy - it needs to at least demonstrate convincing realism. Therefore, into the realm of mechanized agriculture and some homework! It turns out lots of tractors are both four wheel drive (which this would in effect be as there are two drive axles) and use tracks - very interesting stuff - and good and, well, strange looking! I discovered this can be done in two broad ways. On the upper left, you can see a fixed rail track system, which is essentially bolted to the tractor via a pivoting hardbar and final drives. Nice! except, my fancy HET has air ride suspension, and the hardbar set up would prohibit flex, or result in heavy torque twist. Or, look for a way to keep the "wheels/bogeys" independent. So, I set up a system with two independent bogeys, connected via tensioner at each axle - like on the rail of a tracked dozer! as shown in the sketch, and in concept on the two studies above. As this is being built only using parts from the stash, I have a couple of the Oroshi Bradley M3A3 kits - so, I'm using those idlers/roadwheels, final drives and metal tracks. Among the challenges here is using the parts I have in a way that appears to function as sold. As such, the final drives need to be elevated above the rollers, so both can rotate and allow a track to convincingly be drawn over them. This required several visual tests before I settled on an approach: In brief, the bogeys are symmetrical left/right, but asymmetrical front/rear. The bogey "carrier" is .040" styrene. You can see, the road wheels are spaced equidistantly from the axle centerline (me guessing that's a good way to evenly distribute weight), while the final drives are off-set for clearance. The final drives are set up using the Orochi parts as intended, with some cutting. The idlers and road wheels attached via a remarkably tedious process of cutting and assembling telescoping lengths of alu tubing....good fun. And above, dry fit - not exactly an "instant" half track! If you look carefully, you can see a tensioner and shock absorber mounted between the bogeys, which will allow them to rotate independently of one another and up and down with the axle, while the final drives stay in fixed position, attached to the axle. And - that's where we are. Next will be addressing the front body work. I'm not looking forward to this task! Then, onto the HET trailer (which is very big even in 1/35) and what ever sort of "shelter" for it. I have a remnant 1/32 scale box van that has some nice panels, and an ICM ZIL 131 emergency truck bed/shelter, which I plan to bash together into something appropriately mysterious and dieselpunkesque - we'll see! And of course, ground plane, buildings, debris and figures - a long way to go. Thanks for having a look - Cheers Nick

Latest one off the bench. I started this just after xmass as the missus said I was spending too much time modelling and so put me on a three week enforced break, she then ended up helping me make the books for this one! Pleased with doing a lot of scratch build but at the same time will be glad to get back to something with written instructions! If that makes sense? Anyway.... I used a pallet from work to make the box. Then distressed the panels with a blowtorch and then further tantalised with boiled linseed oil, wood stain and cheap ole acrylic paint. The stencilling was actually done with a marker pen as its quicker and less hassle than masking and spray paint. All I say is I'd never make a carpenter but I was going for the shabby chique look! The figure is from SK Miniatures (not that I'm that experienced with figures) was really good to work with, amazingly well crafted. He is turning his back on the scene I like to think he's thinking 'where did it all go wrong'. Few more pictures with the lights on and from different angles: Now a few close ups on some the details: I made the lamp and wired it to a single 12v battery (which incidentally drains within about 5mins, long enough to take a few snaps.) This is shows the rats tail sticking out from between the floor boards, attracted by the smell of the dead body. I made this from Milliput, along with the dead mouse in the rafters, seen below (sorry about the pic, hard to get a good angle on it.) I thought no attic could be complete without spiders webs: I made this from Universal glue (pound shop), which is useless as a glue but great for stretching into spiders webs: I hand made all the books (48 in total), stuck the pages into the covers then having tea stained the paper: I also made the tarp, violin case, rug and luggage I made the rocking horse from styrene (including a bit of hairspary chipping of the paint) with the rifle beside as if a kind of stab at lost innocence (maybe that's a bit too pretentious and really no pro solider would leave his rifle like this but hey ho). I also made the 3 inch stokes mortar and empty mortar boxes, empty mortar cases tubes, the table and broken chair: When I was putting the xmass tree away I noticed in our own attic that we had, at some point, had an invasion of birds nesting (and sh**** everywhere.) so I had to add one here as well complimented with milliput eggs as well: I had to add a couple of priceless Vermeers, as I thought they'd just be kicking about the average Dutch attic in 1944. The frame are again made from Militput and the 'canvas' was rubbed with chalks to give the slight yellowing effect a picture would get from a being in drafty loft. Lastly the umbrella: This is a nod to one of the greatest films of all time 'A bridge too far' and Digby Thatham Warter, who inspired the diorama and (I've attached the wikipedia article about him here, if you get a sec I recommend taking a read as he really was, if all true, quite some character):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digby_Tatham-Warter He allegedly used the umbrella as a weapon poking it through the slit of an armoured car catching its driver in the eye! The bottles, upturned basin and crates are from mini art . The tea lights at the back don't work so well in the pictures because you obviously don't get that flickering effect but looks a little like fire. The moon light on the back wall (hidden from view) is quite bright so had to be defused with dark tissue paper. I'm happy enough with the result. Hope you like. I'll end with a couple black and white shots: As ever thanks for taking a peek. Paul