Warning - do not view if easily upset by scenes of tortured plastic

[Whofan]

As the title says, this thread contains scenes of torture of plastic, pathetic paint jobs, distressed decals, and 14 models completed during the worst year of my life. Damn the virus!

 

Unaccompanied modellers should steer clear of this lot!

 

Even though experienced and skilful BM'ers will probably think 14 models is nothing, when I look back I realise I had a 4 month total losss of interest last year, only shrugging it off when I began the Airfix (nee Heller) Saab J-29 Tunnan in Austrian Airforce livery. Since then I have almost compled a double "What if" film and tv tie in, and have started 2 F - 5e tigers in Austrian Airforce livery.

 

So on to the first examples of plastic torture, the Revell Tie Fighter and X wing fighter. Picked up a while ago at Hobbycraft for £3 each, (well it seemed a shame not to), the Tie fighter 

 

 

shockingly badly photographed just as the battery in the camera discharged, was a straightforward build, brush painted several shades of grey. Real modellers will notice the somewhat haphazard hand painted canopy framing.

 

Moving on, the X wing fighter actually encompasses some modelling techniques ! The blue paint on the laser guns were acheived by masking, 

 

 

 

while the canopy was scratch built from plastic cut out from a Sainsbury's danish pastry carton and framing hand painted. (Shame some of the other painting encompassed no modelling technques at all)

 

 

(the little gap under the front of the canopy was not spotted until after I took the photo)

 

Then I moved on to my triple "they flew over the Ocean" project. A firefly Mk 1, a firefly Mk. 5 and a Sea Fury F.11  My father served aboard HMS Ocean during the Korean War as a yeoman of signals, so I decided a while ago to build a model of the ship (the Heller HMS Colossus aka Arromanches) and every type of aircraft that flew off Ocean during the Korean War. 

 

I started in 1/72 with the Mk1 firefly - Modelcraft. A kit that fought back agains the torture, requiring a lot - and I mean a lot - of filler, sanding, filler, sanding, and with fit issues too.

 

I also discovered that Xtracrylic paint is not the best - thick, (especially unthinned), and has a tendency to go solid when you try and thin it with tamiya X 20a thinner. (You don't need me to explain how I know that do you?) Eventually I obtained this result;

 

 

I jiggled the codes and serials from after market decals as the kit didn't have any decas for an HMS Ocean machine, from a picture of this aircraft in a reference book. Even the less keen eyed among you will spot the somewhat unusual colour for the white in the roundel (a technique for the future perhaps is paint the roundel position white first). The canopies were hand masked. None of that montex or eduard masking sets for me! NO, I have to cut fiddly bits of tamiya tape myself!

 

In the background is this 1/72  Firefly Mk 5, the airfix kit;

 

 

A similar story to the Mk.1 involving custom decals, hand cut canopy masks, some p/e, and master gun barrels. The masking for the paint work suffered some wobbles, and the nav lights were bits of clear sprue stuck in, sanded and polished, and painted clear red/green - as were the other two Ocean planes.

 

Finally, the frog 1/72 Sea Fury, using master gun barrels, hand cut canopy masking, and - shock horror - bare metal foil for the exhaust plate! Given a faintly effective light rust wash, then almost dry brushed tamiya smoke to simulate the exhaust.  Incidentally, the decals in this kit were for an Ocean plane.

 

 

 

As you can no doubt see, the roundel decals' white was very transparent and you can see an invasion stripe running through it.  Those invasion stripes? hand masked!

 

 

There are more kits for HMS Ocean to come, in both 1/72 and 1/48th.

 

Then I settled into film and music mode, with the Hollywood tanks;

 

 

For those who haven't worked it out, from left to right the Black Panther, the Pink Panther and Steel Panther (the band). The Meng world of toons panther was a most enjoyable build, its cartoon nature pleasing me no end. The hasegawa (Steel) panther and Dragon (black) pantther are 1/72 scale.

 

Also in 1/72 scale is the S & M FV432. My god, what an awkward little (and I mean little!) kit! I used halfords black primer and tamiya NATO green, perhaps a touch too dark, I have another S & M FV 432 (and the S & M part of the name is well deserved) which will, I hope, be a lot easier now I know its idiosyncrasies.

 

 

 

 

Then on to the other fun kit, the Hasegawa egg plane P 47 thunderbolt. here I thought I had achieved nirvana - halford's nissan leaf silver rattle can, it went on beautifully over halfords' black primer, and a hycote  yellow for the cowling - and some decent canopy masking, too.

 

 

I then turned to tamiya's 1/48 V-1; a simple kit, nt many parts, and not a huge amount of work involved;

 

 

I like Tamiya kits!

 

I then completed the brengun 1/48 Ohka suicide plane, where I felt my hand cut canopy masks enabled a pretty good canopy paint job;

 

 

Canopy masking hand cut, canopy painting ok, some etch, an awkward long thin decal, it all seemed to come together nicely.

 

Finally, the Austrian airforce "project". My mother in law was Austrian, and we've had many holidays with the relatives in Austria, watching various Austrian Air force jets and helicopters following the river along the valley below us (we are something like 3,000 feet above sea level at the relatives house) and here's the Westland Whirlwind, decals courtesy of Blackbird decals. The kit is the old airfix whirlwind in 1/72, probably the wrong mark, but if you don't tell my wife, I won't either ......

 

 

And finally, the Saab J 29 tunnan which has some very nice canopy masking and painting, and some not so nice paint finish from halfords BMW silver; you can't see it but it is very poor in places.

 

 

 

I've enjoyed what I've done overall, I know where the flaws are, and in the coming year I hope not to make the same mistakes. As I said, I've started 4 different kits already, whether I get 14 or more done this year is in the lap of the gods, I'm afraid.

 

Onward and upward, more plastic to mutilate, more paint to brush on!

Edited January 8, 2021 by Whofan
Spelling !

[bigbadbadge]

A lovely collection,  I like the idea of the HMS Ocean project.  Like the tubby J29 too always liked the look of those.   Great work,  14 is a good total especially with the gap in modelling. 

Chris

[HOUSTON]

   

Very Fine looking collection of your models.

Each one us EXCEPTIONAL  looking aircraft , egg plane too etc.

 

[Whofan]

29 minutes ago, HOUSTON said:

   

Very Fine looking collection of your models.

Each one us EXCEPTIONAL  looking aircraft , egg plane too etc.

 

 

I think I can blame the photos there,, they probably make things look a lot better !!

 

Though I confess the egg plane and the Ohka are - at least to my eyes, the best of the lot.

 

Thanks !