Lassie and her Lads

[TonyW]

Of course!

 

This one was a plain white cardboard rectangle to begin with. I've also used cartridge paper and various art papers in the past. Anything with a bit of grain to it works well.

 

Over the plain base I mist a bit of grey spray paint. Quite cloudy and at random. When it looks about right I let it dry, then rule out the 'tar' grid with a marker pen. Different scales need different thicknesses of line. A diagonal seems to look best. The B17 base was done on the hurry up, and the lines are a bit thick for 1.72. If the lines look a bit stark another mist of grey primer aerosol will tone things down.

 

Then I cut out a hole in another bit of card, corresponding to the size of the tar squares. Holding this over random areas on the board, I then carefully mist a bit more grey at the corners. It doesn't need a lot, just enough to suggest different shades on the finished base.

 

I like to add a bit of contrast to the base, so a corner gets masked and then given a thick coat of earth coloured matt paint. Before that gets a chance to dry I pour railway scenic grass over it and remove the mask. Invert the base to remove any loose material and let it all dry.

 

Once dry I mist a bit of tan coloured aerosol paint, yellow primer filler works great, over the whole base. A tiny amount tones everything down to a dusty looking finish.

 

More can be added by dipping an old toothbrush in diluted dark grey and splattering a bit of oil staining about, cracks can be added to the concrete panels with a fine pen, and even a bit of grass growing through here and there. I think less is more though, and adding too much takes away from the plane itself.

 

It's not exactly an exact science here, just add a bit if it needs it, or start all over again if things don't work out. A bit of card costs next to nothing!

Edited December 2, 2018 by TonyW

[Ol' Scrapiron]

I spy a "Bit" of familiar colors on that windowsill... always good to see that yellow and green.

[vppelt68]

My eyes were caught first by the base, and then by the Lace. Oh that was bad but I had to try it. V-P

[TonyW]

Yup, the old Airfix classic. I got one of these for Christmas waaaay back in time and its remained a favourite of mine ever since. I could happily build another tomorrow.

The one in the picture is a fairly recent build, a couple or so years back. The purple tail surfaces are exactly as Airfix called them out! looking at the picture, I notice I haven't added the wing chevron. I'll get that sorted in a bit.

 

Here's the model, box and base, not strictly eligible here, but I'll take a chance on posting. 😉

 

 

 

[vppelt68]

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

Here's the model, box and base, not strictly eligible here, but I'll take a chance on posting. 😉

 

 

No no no you're so wrong! There's absolutely EVERYTHING eligible in your pic - I didn't even edit it out of the quote, just because I like that pic so much. When pre-teen V-P got that same kit one Christmas, that was the image he had in his mind when assembling it. In the end the unpainted, silver Fort looked nothing like the boxart... But I loved it anyway!

[Ol' Scrapiron]

Seeing how nice your "Lace" turned out, it shocked me that it was the old Airfix kit. I had to go out to the garage and check the stash to see if that was the same old kit I had decided NOT to build many (many) years ago because it seemed so... unbuildable. 

 

Back when I got this kit (solely for the 447th markings), the heavy skin texture and the simplified "everything" were enough to shelve it indefinitely.

 

But now I see how well yours turned out -- and looking at the kit again tonight I can completely appreciate what you had to work with and the fine results you achieved. Hats off to you!!! 

[TonyW]

Thanks.

 

It gets better. The built Airfix kit is polished bare plastic!  

I used a bit of now unobtainable S 'n J polishing powder over the bare silver plastic of the kit. The fuselage seam was rubbed down flat and level and new rivets added with the blade of an exacto saw. Over the years the plane has been built, the finish has aged a bit in a very satisfying way.

The model was also originally a US edition, as shown in your post above.

 

 

Here's yet another of my Bit 'O Lace builds, complete with a slightly more fancy base than the bare card one above. The model was traded on years ago.  At some point I'll build an all singing, all dancing version of the plane, probably using the Monogram 1.48 kit. I am a bit of a fan of that particular plane!

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by TonyW

[TonyW]

Lassie is almost home.

 

Not too much to do now, framing on the nose and turrets and other areas of glazing and a few more decals to add. It's close now.

 

I've also made a start on the US bomber re-supply set from Airfix. I want a vehicle or two to sit alongside Lassie or any other plane I build that fits the bill. I'm undecided what to add but a decision can be made after the set is built up.

The detailing of the Airfix models is quite astonishing! I'm more used to the bomb trolley from the Sterling kit, which I thought looked really good in its own way. This set is in another league altogether. The parts count is enormous and I see that there are photoetch sets out there to take it all to a higher plane again. Very impressive indeed, I only hope I can do the set some sort of justice!

 

 

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[Ventora3300]

This continues to be a fascinating build, Tony. I'm taking notes on the weathering, which is a real artist's touch IMHO. That US re-supply set looks to be pretty massive - more than a truck and a jeep, isn't it? Excellent work. All the best, Mike.

[TonyW]

No more work done on Lassie since the last report. The Bomber Supply set has been well and truly started though. It's a gem! I'm really impressed with what Airfix have put out here. I can see me getting the RAF set as well.

 

Here's the gas tanker and the bomb truck part done, just trying out a few setups . I think a bigger base will be needed.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by TonyW

[Thom216]

Lovely looking plane and in a great setting.

[vppelt68]

1) that Lassie and her Lads looks great

2) that ground equipment looks great too

3) that baseplate of yours could be a hot selling item   - did I tell you it looks great?

V-P

[MarkSH]

I have bought the re-supply vehicle set as well, they look really good next to your B-17 hopefully I'll have time to build them for the GB its nice to put a little context into the display. Very nice work.

[TonyW]

January the sixth already! Best I get a move on with Lassie then.

 

No actual building of any sort since before the Christmas break but today see's a bit of forward progress.

I want to use the Airfix Bomber resupply set on a base with the plane. The rather basic card one I made recently was OK, but only OK. The plane needs a bit more space around it. Digging out a slightly larger board see's things open up nicely. I'll be making a larger airfield setting using this board instead of the smaller card one. 

 

Here's the small base. The plane on its own looks fine. Add a few extras and things start looking a bit cramped...

 

 

 

Give things a bit more room to breath and the look improves somewhat. I live on the Fenns and the big skies here give a sense of wide open spaces. I need a bit of that for the model but the wide open feel of a bomber base is somehow lost on a tiny little base. I can't run to a 1.72 scale airfield but a bigger base is possible!  

I can also use the bigger base with other builds. I see a Stirling in my future, for instance.

 

 

More later...
 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2019 by TonyW

[DaveyGair]

Wow! Superb results, she looks fantastic.  I was thinking about the wings on my 'Hettie' build and maybe would try the 'add before joining fuselage halves' route. It may also help with the 'cure the excessive Dihedral on Academy B-17's' thing!

 

 

Davey.

Edited January 6, 2019 by DaveyGair

[vppelt68]

4 minutes ago, DaveyGair said:

Wow! Superb results, she looks fantastic.  I was thinking about the wings on my 'Hettie' build and maybe would try the 'add before joining fuselage halves' route. It may also help with the 'cure the excessive Dihedral on Academy B-17's' thing!

 

 

Davey.

Davey, though the wing to fuselage join may be easier to deal with if doing it in that order, I can't say I regret the order I did my build; finishing the fuselage before adding the wings. Attaching the wings makes the whole assembly a lot more clumsy to handle, and even an 1:72 scale Fort tends to feel rather large! But we all have our own ways to do things, and we should stick to what we find best 😊. V-P

[TonyW]

Work on Lassie has stalled for a bit, thank heavens for the GB extension!

 

I'm currently in the middle of a bit of workshop building. One end of the building is going to be my model building area. It's been a long time coming with this project and it's taking all my spare time at the moment. All my modelling tools and stuff are currently being moved into the shed. It looks like Lassie will be the first build out of the place!

 

Here's how things looked a couple of weeks back. Things have moved on a bit in the meanwhile but the freezing cold weather has slowed me down a bit this week. It's going to be a big day for me once it all comes together.

 

[MarkSH]

An excellent workspace, I'm not jealous at all!

[vppelt68]

As I'm waiting for the mailman to bring me an Academy B-17G kit (with a 535th BS decal option) to accompany the Revell (533rd BS) and Airfix (534th BS) ones, the decision to shop a Hasegawa G next has already been done - just for comparisons sake . That'll most likely be decorated for 532nd BS then (surprise!). To help me find appropriate prototypes for the kit, I'm just confirming that the Hasegawa kit has staggered waist and pumpkin tail positions as only option? V-P

[TonyW]

That's correct.

 

 

[vppelt68]

Tony, as it looks like Lassie and her Lads is finished, please add pics to the gallery too!