Jockster Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Great to see these Airfix wildlife kits getting attention. If there is still build time after Blue Thunder I think I'll get my tits out. Sure they were under a fiver! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Great to see these Airfix wildlife kits getting attention. If there is still build time after Blue Thunder I think I'll get my tits out. Sure they were under a fiver! That would be a sight. ;-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jockster Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 That would be a sight. ;-) I think they're 'great'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I think they're 'great'! Sorry I was talking about you getting your tits out. It is great seeing these old kits coming out. I didn't even know Airfix made these until the GB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, Henrik,back in the days when I was a quarryman what you now see looks more or less like what I used to spend all day gawping at.What I'm intending to do is make the base look right but suitably understated so as not to detract from the main attraction.There is much to do yet and I am certain that most of it will be hidden,but we will all know that it is there . Jorgen,good to see you on board old chum.This is really a paint by numbers job,only you get to choose the colours.I'm considering expanding the base with a view to making a display case to put it all in but I think that might contravene the aftermarket rules . Natter,thanks for the link.I was going to use your build as a reference.Between you and Cmatthewbacon the job seems to be pretty much stitched up. Jockster, Photo from Wikipedia. Gerrem out fer't lads.You know you want to... Jockster (again),no.These are great tits. Photo from Wikipedia. Snapper dear heart,please don't over-enthuse the boy,next thing we'll know is the need for bromide in his tea. Got a bit more done today. The paint dried overnight to give the matt finish that I wanted so I mixed a drop of Khaki Drill with some gloss varnish to start making the wet bt look wet and silty.There's a lot more to do here yet. The twig had a spot of thinned grey added all round.While that was drying Fishy had a little attention. Plasticote Chrome Silver from a rattlecan.This stuff is very good for 1/24th lorry wheel rims too. On a whim I decided to try to add a bit in the way of the rings at each end of the twig. The photography looks better than the real thing just now,but this is a work in progress and I will think of a way of making the real thing look better than the piccies. I also vegetated for a while by drybrushing a lighter green onto the vegetation. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. Oh,by the way,Jockster,these are really great tits Edited March 8, 2021 by Alex Gordon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jockster Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Snapper, yes, I'm positive that they are a pair of 'great tits'! I'll have a good look at them later and let you know in the morning! Alex, thank you for those great tit pictures, they will come in handy when I get around to playing with mine! Mind you, the last picture has been moved. Perhaps they were too great? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Wow, that paintwork of the base parts is awesome! It will look great. It looks so easy, but it never is when I try... BTW, nice to see the blue tits and the great tits together. That's how our garden looks during winter, we have lots of them and they eat huge amounts of peanuts, that we have buy in large bags every second week. Which we so happily do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, Jockster,the last pic is just to keep you guessing. Jorgen,many thanks.There is still more to do but that is just a continued series of applications of gloss varnish until there's enough depth to look like water. Done a bit more over the last few days. More glueing and taping up on the body,and a spot of filling. Another coat of gloss varnish on the gravelwork. Horace received a bit of attention too. White underneath,two browns on the top and a mix of black and brown down the side. I'm trying to emulate this, Which can be found here http://microfishingintheuk.wordpress.com More soon chums. Edited March 8, 2021 by Alex Gordon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPaul Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Looking good. Are these 1:1 scale? As a Kingfisher isn't a big bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Superb work on the fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 You're not really going to put that poor little minnow into that Kingfisher's beak are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 the fish looks totaly awesome, the colour shades are very convincing. if you manage to do somehow the golden eye, it ll be totaly like a live! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Hi Alex, Excellent work on a very interesting subject, I was dimly aware of these kits but had never seen one - I'll be following this build for sure Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Horace Sprat looks fantastic as does the base Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted February 16, 2014 Author Share Posted February 16, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, MPaul,I think these kits are 1/1 scale,Horace is about 2 1/2 inches long which is about as big as I've ever seen a minnow. Natter,you betcha.By the time I get Basil finished he's going to be Hank Marvin. Mark,Wolwe,Stew,Col,thanks for the kind words,glad you're enjoying the fun. Had another go this morning The gravel is nearly there.Up to now I've been using Humbrol 35 Gloss Varnish mixed with a drop of 72 Khaki Drill to represent slightly silty water in the low spot.The varnish is a bit yellow on its own so from now on I'm going to use Klear to build up the depth to cover the stones.Most of this won't be seen when the twig is in place but we will all know that it's there. I added a coat of yellow and green mixed to the reeds a couple of days ago and,now it's dried a satisfying matt,I'm happy with the look of them so I'm calling them done for now. I decided to fit them to the base. From underneath the holes look a bit on the big side. The locating pegs are not exactly a close fit so I decided to try another one of my little dodges.I heated the end of a length of sprue from the kit and in turn,with the appropriate reed in place,pushed the hot end into each hole.This made an instant filler which will also glue into place and is,if done right,one of the strongest and most reliable methods of sorting out this type of snag.I then poured in the Contacta with a vengeance and this is now propped and setting. No prizes for spotting the one that didn't quite land properly. Horace has had overnight to dry so he had a little more attention.Another dry brush of white,a few dots of Khaki Drill to lighten the brownery (gets everywhere that stuff bit it's very handy) and a few dots of black along the flanks. Â A little pink mixed in a drop of klear will be the next coat then I think that will be almost there. More soon chums,thanks all for looking in. Edited March 8, 2021 by Alex Gordon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 That paint work on the fish and base is looking superb! Wonderful work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The dragonborn Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 looking forward to seeing this one finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jockster Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Looking very good Alex, still haven't rooted my birds out yet, but I can hear them! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paganpete Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 wow, looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 When are u broadcasting the episode about wolves? Cannt wait. oh wait, got driven away here a bit.. its like watching National Geographic here Seriously great work! Maybe you should start to build some cage, because if you finish the birds like the fish and reeds, its going to fly! And watch your home pets.. hungry cat vs your little zoo, that could not happen good.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Great stuff - these old Airfix kits' always have fit issues - having done the London Icons set, there was a lot more sanding and filler used there thah I would have hoped and those moulds are ancient. Looking forward to seeing the finish of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) G'day Chums, Jorgen,many thanks.I'm watching your progress too and so far it is truly impressive . Dragonborn,so am I,please trust me so am I Jockster,have you thought about tweeting them? Pete,thanks for looking in.Hope this doesn't disappoint. Wolwe,many thanks.This can probably be described as nature at its crudest.That's being generous. Andy,this one is potentially epileptic.It might fit. Not much to report but I'm working on it. I closed up one joint on the other side of this and then one this side decided to crack open.This is not a hostage,honest! Now,dear reader,I have a feeling that you are aware that I'm not happy with progress on the twig.Well I was out on site the other day and I found a real one that is just begging to be copied. Right size and shape and all.Mine looks nothing like so I'm going to make art mirror life and attempt to replicate the real thing.Do you remember what I wrote at the start of this thread about getting bogged down and just clap it together and paint it? More soon chums,thank you for your patience while looking in and finding not much happening. Edited March 8, 2021 by Alex Gordon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Glad you pointed out it's not a hostage situation, otherwise I would have wondered about the poor bird... It's clearly putting up a much harder fight than I had to deal with, I was actually surprised by my small Bullfinches relatively good fit. I'm tempted to cut the parts for my Kingfisher from the sprues and see if it's equally demanding. I think you will have good help from the real twig in the painting process. I've had two pieces of fire wood I took from our stash and placed in a corner of my workbench since I started, which have been really good to look at, if nothing else for pure inspiration. I placed a stone there as well the other day, but that was harder to draw from. Don't know why haven't thought about them in my photos. Will be most interesting to see the work here progress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Hello again Chums, Jorgen,your bullfinches seemed to go together fairly well from here.If I were to build another kingfisher I would work the body in a different sequence.I would start with head to sides and work towards the tail from there. At last the body is together. There are a few gaps but stretched sprue will cope with those. This was allowed to set overnight.In the meantime,having given the twig the Mr Muscle treatment, time to start the paint job again.Today the stretched sprue filling Basil's gaps was fettled to look like its surrounding areas and the one concession to Milliput was made. This is where we are with the twig.Again. I'm going to cook my lunch now,and then try to work out how to make a convincing Lichen from Milliput.Wish me luck chums. With the cooking that is. More soon,thanks for looking in. Edited March 8, 2021 by Alex Gordon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Looking great, but...... Id use the real twig! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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