nimrod54 Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 For my first couple of builds I am using this 1/144 Platz boxing and both will be built out of the box. It's a scale I enjoy working in because I can get more in the display cabinet, although my hands and eyes are starting to tell me that it is time to look at switching to something bigger. I'll post some photos of the box and its contents tomorrow, and then I just have to decide which of the kit schemes to go with. Spoiler Alert: A metallic finish may be involved. 3rd October Update Here are the photos of the box and its contents. There are five marking options, the three shown below and what appears to be a couple of variations. The other two options are P-51D 44-14911 "This is it!" overall metal finish with red nose and what looks like a yellow rudder. P-51D 44-14151 "Scat VII" overall metal finish with red rudder. The colour call outs in the B&W instructions are a bit confusing because they use same number for what is clearly a differently shaded colour, so more research will be needed to clear things up. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 It nice to see a couple of these wee fellas in the build, a lot of people seem to forget that there are some really lovely stuff available in 1/144th. Good luck with the build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Nice kits ,think l will have to come out of 1/48th sometime ,good luck with your build Les 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 I love these wee 1/144 (non airliner) kits. I'll be watching with great interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted October 4, 2016 Author Share Posted October 4, 2016 Cheers chaps, certainly going to be fun trying to get the metal finish right in this scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzio Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 I never knew Platz done these. I might have to see if I can get hold of some. I am trying to get my hands on the Sweet P-51B's again, but I refuse to pay the £30 asking price on a particular auction site. I will be following these builds with great interest. Kind Regards, Dazz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 On 05/10/2016 at 1:41 PM, Dazzio said: I never knew Platz done these. I might have to see if I can get hold of some. I am trying to get my hands on the Sweet P-51B's again, but I refuse to pay the £30 asking price on a particular auction site. I will be following these builds with great interest. Kind Regards, Dazz Cheers Dazz, I hope that you enjoy following the progress. I have been trying to think where I bought this boxing, it was sometime in the last 12 months because I bought it for this group build after seeing the announcement for its pending issue in either SAMI or Airfix magazine. Like you I wish that I had bought more of the Sweet kits at the time they were issued, the same would go for the Revell Hunter and Tornado kits, and also, like you, I refuse to pay the silly prices that can be asked for some kits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzio Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I have never seen any Platz kit for a reasonable price, I ususally look on HLJ but very rarely see them on there. I really do have to get my hands on some of these kits. Heard lots of good things about them. I have lots of Sweet Zeros and I mean loads. I've seen the MTO Mustangs, I might pick up a few boxes and see when I can them back home. Which Tornado are you after? Kind Regards, Dazz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Hi John, it usually starts with smaller models, and before you know it you swap your dogs for dwarf hamsters... Salvation lies in 1/72! Having said that, have fun! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Apologies for the late start, but since the Airliner III GB ended I have been trying to wrap up a couple of models that had been dragging on, including this build for a friend who owned one - finished over the weekend. Anyway it's time to get back to things with wings. I was able to start painting the interiors and used an old pot of Humbrol Interior Green enamel, which brushed on like a dream in spite of the age of the tin. Then, once dry, I made a start assembling one of the kits yesterday, there is no instrument panel provided so I painted the underside of the coaming black and by the time the seat is in there you won't see a great deal. That said, I may scratch a basic panel for the second kit using an instrument panel from the Airfix kit as a guide and halving all the measurements, we will see how much time I have. The seat needs its back pad and headrest painted before I add some tape belts and fix it in the cockpit, then I can add the one piece canopy to close things up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share Posted December 9, 2016 Made a start on the instrument panel for the second kit this afternoon and decided that the quickest and easiest way would be to scan the decal sheet from my Airfix kit at 50% and use this as a template to make the panel. I've glued the paper copy to some plastic card with card glue and this is drying at present, I'll trim it and test the fit later. Here's the part after it has been trimmed up, and having checked the fit everything appears to be OK. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 nice start! quite small I guess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 14 hours ago, exdraken said: quite small I guess Sure is, in fact so small that I thought I had lost it this morning. After a quick tidy of the work area, I found it lurking under a coffee stirrer that I use for holding such small parts whilst I paint them. Time to fix it in one of the fuselage halves methinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Glad it turned up again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 Work on the second kit continues and today I decided to have a go at adding some of the sidewall detail. Once again I used the 1/72 Airfix kit as a template and then using some micro-strip, fuse wire and stretched sprue I set about recreating the various panels, throttle, cables etc. in 1/144th. I started on the starboard side first and here is a shot of the Airfix kit showing the detail I have tried to replicate Then it was on with the port side. Whilst it is not a faithful reproduction I think that it is going to be good enough in this scale. The next job will be to scratch a control stick and then I can get some paint on and button the fuselage up. Thanks for stopping by. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 A little bit more work done tonight. I have decided to drop the flaps on this model and removed these from each wing half and then reassembled them along with the upper and lower wings. I then added some tape belts to the seat, but looking at the photo they seem too wide, so I think that I will have another go at these. The final job for tonight was to make the control stick, starting with taking some measurements from the Airfix kit and then using these to make something from a scrap of plastic, some 0.2mm brass wire and a short piece of 0.4mm tube. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzio Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Looking really good there nimrod! loving this build, giving me a few ideas also. Kind Regards, Dazz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I have this kit in the stash, I know you are doing a great work on a very small airplane :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 A little more done on the second kit last night. I added some small pieces of stretched sprue to some of the panels to give a bit of raised detail and these were painted black once they had dried off. This morning they received a dry brush over with some white to highlight the details and edges. The fit of the instrument panel caused a bit of head scratching before I realised that I had set the detail on the starboard side just slightly too far forward and as a result this pushed the IP too deep in the coaming. I ended up removing a bit of the detail to pull it forward a little, but it should really be nearer to the front edge than it is. I then revisited the seat and removed the belts and made a thinner set from masking tape for a better scale appearance and this, along with the radio boxes, has been dry brushed with white. Next up will be to join the fuselage halves then fit the seat and control column. I hope to get the construction of both models finished before Christmas and that should give me time to get some paint and decals them before the deadline. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Another fantastic, and tiny, project John - the detail work is wonderful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davek72 Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Fantastic additional detail there Nimrod. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Very impressive modelling and scratch building! I found it difficult scratching a replacement control column in 1/72! I have no clue how you did the same in 1/144! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 13 hours ago, Davek72 said: Fantastic additional detail there Nimrod. 12 hours ago, PlaStix said: Very impressive modelling and scratch building! I found it difficult scratching a replacement control column in 1/72! I have no clue how you did the same in 1/144! Kind regards, Stix Thanks a lot guys. I have been left to my own devices this afternoon so have managed a bit more work most of it being prep work for painting, though I was able to cut one of the canopies into two sections to fit on the second kit - the canopies on these Platz kits are possibly the thinnest I have come across in this scale. Off to see Rogue One tonight so I will try to take and post photos of progress tomorrow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Hi John, some great scratch building in 144 again buddy. Hope you enjoy Rogue One. Can't wait to see it myself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 On 28/12/2016 at 5:50 PM, Hockeyboy76 said: Hi John, some great scratch building in 144 again buddy. Hope you enjoy Rogue One. Can't wait to see it myself. Cheers mate. I took some photos of progress late this morning. Rogue One is well worth seeing. James had treated us to the 3D version and I must say that it was pretty spectacular, much better than my last 3D experience. Anyway here is a brief look at progress to date. The first kit has had the one piece canopy added. For the second kit I removed the forward section from the one piece canopy. You can see how thin the Platz canopies are. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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