1/48 Halifax 346 Sqn PN365 (H7-B) - Finished!

[woody37]

42 minutes ago, Timmas said:

This is looking absolutely great...terrific repair work on the paint and those decals look very good too.

 

Out of interest, could you explain how you store/transport your finished models? Presumably they're in sturdy boxes, but I guess you also make special support structures for them from foam/polystyrene? Do you remove the delicate bits beforehand and pack the separately?

Thanks mate

 

I tend to store them in plastic containers, I'll get a photo of one later. 1/72 tend to fit in complete, where as 1/48 need the wings removing. For the Stirling I did last year, I made a box out of the white foam card you can buy with plastic angle for the edges as it's light and I had to fit the wings permanently. As the wings will be detachable for this, both the wings and fuselage will be nested in foam within the box to endure my driving to and from shows!

 

Good news on the decal front, I watched this video which gave me some ideas to experiment. I tried some automotive lacquer and it worked a treat so I've just sprayed up my 'best' sheets and will start to apply them later. The best thing about this is it's quick drying so from spraying to applying only took about half hour, perfect the impatient amongst us! I've also repaired the wing damage, just needs some Kleer adding so almost back at square one there

 

 

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

1 hour ago, Timmas said:

This is looking absolutely great...terrific repair work on the paint and those decals look very good too.

 

Out of interest, could you explain how you store/transport your finished models? Presumably they're in sturdy boxes, but I guess you also make special support structures for them from foam/polystyrene? Do you remove the delicate bits beforehand and pack the separately?

This is what I use: 70 lt underbed storage boxes. £30 for 2 on evilbay. Polystyrene sheet in the bottom, and skewers or cocktail sticks to hold the models.

They stack and I can get 8 of these in the back of my estate with the seat up. Smaller sizes available, but as you can see, 1 Halifax, 1 Wellington in 1/48 and an eggplane B-24. I have 14 of these at present, and 10 at half the size. I use double sided sticky pads to secure the poly.

Edited May 21, 2020 by bentwaters81tfw
more info

[Timmas]

22 minutes ago, woody37 said:

Good news on the decal front, I watched this video which gave me some ideas to experiment. I tried some automotive lacquer and it worked a treat so I've just sprayed up my 'best' sheets and will start to apply them later. The best thing about this is it's quick drying so from spraying to applying only took about half hour, perfect the impatient amongst us! I've also repaired the wing damage, just needs some Kleer adding so almost back at square one there

That's an interesting video. I've noted that he uses Photoshop to resize images after, presumably, scanning them first. That can often work pretty well for smallish scales but I prefer to draw them from scratch, usually in Illustrator, as the lines and edges are crisp and clean and the colours are 'pure'; not affected by the dot structure that you get with printed material. Having said that, those results do look pretty good!

[Timmas]

4 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

This is what I use: 70 lt underbed storage boxes. £30 for 2 on evilbay. Polystyrene sheet in the bottom, and skewers or cocktail sticks to hold the models.

They stack and I can get 8 of these in the back of my estate with the seat up. Smaller sizes available, but as you can see, 1 Halifax, 1 Wellington in 1/48 and an eggplane B-24. I have 14 of these at present, and 10 at half the size.

What a great solution. An uncomplicated one too. It's amazing how the simplest ones are often the best. I guess you have to push the sticks in firmly to avoid lateral movement?

[bentwaters81tfw]

2 minutes ago, Timmas said:

What a great solution. An uncomplicated one too. It's amazing how the simplest ones are often the best. I guess you have to push the sticks in firmly to avoid lateral movement?

Yes, The thicker the poly base the better, but in turn it reduces depth. Just add more sticks.

[Gondor44]

26 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Yes, The thicker the poly base the better, but in turn it reduces depth. Just add more sticks.

I also use this storage method and find that it is easily adaptable depending on what I am taking to shows. Because I am unlikely to top the box, I will use a fence of cocktail sticks to corral any glue I am taking with me so that doesn’t spill.

 

Gondor

[woody37]

1 hour ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

This is what I use: 70 lt underbed storage boxes. £30 for 2 on evilbay. Polystyrene sheet in the bottom, and skewers or cocktail sticks to hold the models.

They stack and I can get 8 of these in the back of my estate with the seat up. Smaller sizes available, but as you can see, 1 Halifax, 1 Wellington in 1/48 and an eggplane B-24. I have 14 of these at present, and 10 at half the size. I use double sided sticky pads to secure the poly.

 

That's pretty much what I do but use foam instead of cocktail sticks in case of chaffing. 

1 hour ago, Timmas said:

That's an interesting video. I've noted that he uses Photoshop to resize images after, presumably, scanning them first. That can often work pretty well for smallish scales but I prefer to draw them from scratch, usually in Illustrator, as the lines and edges are crisp and clean and the colours are 'pure'; not affected by the dot structure that you get with printed material. Having said that, those results do look pretty good!

You're a step ahead of me, but now I'm getting somewhere, I may draw my own freehand then scan until I master digital art creation. 

 

Today I popped my home made decal cherry! We have the first one on, the letter B on the tail! They are slightly translucent but overall, I'm happy with the result as this part of the build had been a concern. Automotive clear lacquer is a great sealant, in this case I used Halford satin because that's what I had in the garage. 

 

[tomprobert]

This is looking seriously tasty... great work regarding the decals too - something I need to have a go at myself. 

 

This is shaping up to be one of the best Fonderie Halifaxes I've seen.

 

Tom

[Timmas]

Really nice. The decals look pretty good to me. The slight translucency doesn't seem to be an issue either.

[perdu]

5 hours ago, woody37 said:

Thanks Bill. I printed several sheets out last night. The Microscale sealant stuff is quite thick to brush (and seems to smear when dry?) so I'm going to try some automotive lacquer too so that I can spray

Thanks Mike, glad you approve  The serial codes are on, I'm just figuring out how to best seal the decals at the moment before applying the ones I've printed. This is new ground for me so need to find a groove!

 

Cheers

Neil

I do not use the Microscale stuff because I find it smears the ink when it goes on, that is why I use the Tamiya Varnish spray, nothing is disturbed whilst it dries

 

I do use a glossy layer underneath to apply them too so then it all settles down nicely

 

Nothing wrong with glossing twice either, it all vanishes under the top matt coat

 

Bit of a sod with the wings, still if it is too easy we dont think we deserve it do we?

[woody37]

3 hours ago, tomprobert said:

This is looking seriously tasty... great work regarding the decals too - something I need to have a go at myself. 

 

This is shaping up to be one of the best Fonderie Halifaxes I've seen.

 

Tom

Thanks Tom, the biggest fear now is taking the masks off on the canopy! Doing my own decals is something I've put off for a while but it opens up opportunities to do aircraft with nose art that you can't get decals for.

2 hours ago, Timmas said:

Really nice. The decals look pretty good to me. The slight translucency doesn't seem to be an issue either.

I might try sitting another decal over the top to see how it looks, but it's not the end of the world as it is. It might just need a brighter yellow. I'll see how it goes

 

1 hour ago, perdu said:

I do not use the Microscale stuff because I find it smears the ink when it goes on, that is why I use the Tamiya Varnish spray, nothing is disturbed whilst it dries

 

I do use a glossy layer underneath to apply them too so then it all settles down nicely

 

Nothing wrong with glossing twice either, it all vanishes under the top matt coat

 

Bit of a sod with the wings, still if it is too easy we don't think we deserve it do we?

That was my experience Bill. I'm happy with the car lacquer so will stick with that as I've always got something in. Just need to master creating decals now, Powerpoint has it's limitations!

 

Cheers

[woody37]

Bit more progress this evening,. I printed some lighter colours although couldn't quite achieve what I was aiming for so started to fill the letters in with paint. Still some touching up to do, but quite pleased with the outcome

 

These decals were printed, lacquered and applied within 1 hour so I'll be sticking with the car lacquer method. 

 

 

[perdu]

This is how it is with the creative side of the hobby, since you are having success with Powerpoint I have decided to pop out a few British airways transfers for my S-61N using it.

 

Coming along nicely in the planning stages too

 

👍

[woody37]

Thanks for your help and gentle shove Bill, looking forwards to seeing your S-61 decalled up, great scheme to choose. Did you get your windscreen sorted?

 

Cheers

Neil

[perdu]

Well I am kind of getting there

 

We'll see

 

[Cees Broere]

She is looking  great  with the colours and decals on. You are on the homestretch now.

By the way, received your canopies today. They look great.

Cees

[woody37]

13 hours ago, perdu said:

Well I am kind of getting there

 

We'll see

 

Fingers crossed, I hate dealing with clear bits!

12 minutes ago, Cees Broere said:

She is looking  great  with the colours and decals on. You are on the homestretch now.

By the way, received your canopies today. They look great.

Cees

Glad they're safe, your bench must be rather busy with the Halifax and Manchester on the go!

 

Another job that's caused some procrastination is the rear turret. I'm trying to use the kit part to avoid extra work but it's rather flimsy and quite pinched in shape, however, the flimsiness in theory can be used to an advantage. I've made an internal frame to reshape it, the idea being to better fill the aperture and give it that bulbous shape. Some artistic licence will be needed here, I've not yet decided on what to do for the front of the turret, I may even just leave it off as very little will be seen and trying to glue to attach something to the flimsy transparency has me swearing just at the though of it!

 

This is how the turret sits naturally

 

That gap 😟

 

The turret frame

 

Better, but I'm looking to lift the base up slightly to flatten the top out more

 

Side on, quite good

[tonyot]

On 5/21/2020 at 9:55 AM, woody37 said:

Thanks Bill. I printed several sheets out last night. The Microscale sealant stuff is quite thick to brush (and seems to smear when dry?) so I'm going to try some automotive lacquer too so that I can spray

Thanks Mike, glad you approve  The serial codes are on, I'm just figuring out how to best seal the decals at the moment before applying the ones I've printed. This is new ground for me so need to find a groove!

 

Cheers

Neil

Hiya Mate,.... I usually seal my decals with Humbrol enamel Gloss Varnish if that helps? 

 

Bye the way,.... it is looking wonderful mate! I was thinking of you and this model yesterday when I was doing some more on my 1/32nd Liberator!! 

Edited May 22, 2020 by tonyot

[woody37]

46 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Hiya Mate,.... I usually seal my decals with Humbrol enamel Gloss Varnish if that helps? 

 

Bye the way,.... it is looking wonderful mate! I was thinking of you and this model yesterday when I was doing some more on my 1/32nd Liberator!! 

Are you doing a WIP of it? I've not seen one, but would be good to follow if you are. The car lacquer has done the trick TBH, I don't have any Humbrol gloss. I ordered some ink jet fix before I tried the car stuff so will give that a go too when it arrives to see how it compares

 

Cheers

[tonyot]

2 minutes ago, woody37 said:

Are you doing a WIP of it? I've not seen one, but would be good to follow if you are. The car lacquer has done the trick TBH, I don't have any Humbrol gloss. I ordered some ink jet fix before I tried the car stuff so will give that a go too when it arrives to see how it compares

 

Cheers

Glad you sorted it out pal! WIP for the Lib,..... no mate,..... that one is all private and for me,... without anybody else seeing the bodge ups and cock ups!! Plus it is a long term build,.... and it is very hard to photograph,.....the thing is huge! 

The Halibag is coming along wonderfully,.... what a shame it doesn`t have great nose art like many of the French ones,

Cheers

          Tony

[woody37]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

Glad you sorted it out pal! WIP for the Lib,..... no mate,..... that one is all private and for me,... without anybody else seeing the bodge ups and cock ups!! Plus it is a long term build,.... and it is very hard to photograph,.....the thing is huge! 

The Halibag is coming along wonderfully,.... what a shame it doesn`t have great nose art like many of the French ones,

Cheers

          Tony

I can imagine you'd need a wide angle lens for that thing, looking forwards to seeing it one way or another. I do wonder if the aircraft had nose art. without photo's, it's difficult to speculate what went on at the front end as many in the squadron did have nose art. I've put the Cross de Lorraine on purely speculatively but there didn't seem to be any conformity on placement.

 

Spent the afternoon on the rear turret and settled on a solution. The front end is a 60 thou sheet of plasticard bent round and filed to shape. Very agricultural but won't be on show. I may add some miliput to round off the shape but at least it's a fairly rigid structure to stiffen the transparency up.

 

 

Fills the gap nicely now

 

 

 

 

And a few big shots

 

 

I've not settled on the prop solution but will be one of two routes. As shown in the photo's, it's the Beaufighter hub with Lancaster blades grafted on. Correct profile but wrong rotation. Alternatively, may just use the Beaufighter props as they are with slightly anemic profile but turn the right way. 

 

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, woody37 said:

I can imagine you'd need a wide angle lens for that thing, looking forwards to seeing it one way or another. I do wonder if the aircraft had nose art. without photo's, it's difficult to speculate what went on at the front end as many in the squadron did have nose art. I've put the Cross de Lorraine on purely speculatively but there didn't seem to be any conformity on placement.

 

Spent the afternoon on the rear turret and settled on a solution. The front end is a 60 thou sheet of plasticard bent round and filed to shape. Very agricultural but won't be on show. I may add some miliput to round off the shape but at least it's a fairly rigid structure to stiffen the transparency up.

 

 

Fills the gap nicely now

 

 

 

 

And a few big shots

 

 

I've not settled on the prop solution but will be one of two routes. As shown in the photo's, it's the Beaufighter hub with Lancaster blades grafted on. Correct profile but wrong rotation. Alternatively, may just use the Beaufighter props as they are with slightly anemic profile but turn the right way. 

 

Superb mate,...... the Cross of Lorraine on the nose looks good,.......the turrets are ace,.......... and the props,......I feel your pain! The Lanc props do look good, but personally I`d stick with the Beaufighter blades,....... you probably know why! This is going to look brilliant on the Bomber Command table! 

Cheers

          Tony

[woody37]

4 hours ago, tonyot said:

Superb mate,...... the Cross of Lorraine on the nose looks good,.......the turrets are ace,.......... and the props,......I feel your pain! The Lanc props do look good, but personally I`d stick with the Beaufighter blades,....... you probably know why! This is going to look brilliant on the Bomber Command table! 

Cheers

          Tony

Cheers mate. That will mean less work too!

 

The rear turret just needs a final bit of filling and painting now and of course adding the gun barrels. There's some detail below the turret that needs adding too so I'll do that tomorrow then it's on to the mid upper. 

 

 

 

[stringbag]

That really is a fabulous piece of work Neil.  As you know, I have the civil variant so I know exactly what you have had to put up with which makes your results all the more impressive.

 

All the best Matey.  Speak soon.

 

Chris.

[woody37]

19 hours ago, stringbag said:

That really is a fabulous piece of work Neil.  As you know, I have the civil variant so I know exactly what you have had to put up with which makes your results all the more impressive.

 

All the best Matey.  Speak soon.

 

Chris.

Cheers matey. Hopefully most of the difficulty is behind me now. Looking forwards to seeing your A300

 

I've cracked on with some of the smaller bits today but awaiting some brass rod and gun barrels to finish off the undercarriage and turrets. In the mean time, I've fitted the window dispensers and a few other sticky out bits. Also started to weather the surfaces. Normally I weather by adding variations to the paint and soft pastel but the paint was straight out of the bottle on this one. Instead, I'm using Oils as the main tool. This is a skill that's eluded me for a few years so I've avoided it but recently figured out where I was going wrong (using thinners instead of neat oils). 

 

The forwards window chute and decals from the 1/72 Revell kit!. The dispensers were simply filed from some rectangular section plastic strip

 

 

Rear chute just behind the H2S dome

 

 

The rear turret is done, just awaiting barrels that either I've misplaced or run out of

 

 

Weathered the lower surface of one wing so far, this is experimental and will probably add some oil staining after the mat coat is down to give a variation in sheen as well as colour. Quite pleased with the result so far

 

 

And the upper surface. I've just started this one using white and dark brown (I only have a few colours at the moment!). It's started to break the plain colours up which was the goal