bigbadbadge Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Lego can be great for holding a model steady enough, but the card ones can evolve with the kit too so you can add what you need. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Made some progress. One thing I noticed when I was halfway through applying transfers to the undersides of the wing, before I fitted the floats and their respective rigging. The 'big numbers' (what is their proper name? Underwing Identification Numbers?) are shown the same orientation on each wing on the instructions. I only noticed this after I had fitted one already. I'm fairly certain the numbers are actually flipped, so one is upside down to the other one. As I was already committed on one 40 year old transfer I let it be, and flipped the opposite side. I've got a 50/50 chance of it being right, and if it is wrong, I wont lose sleep over it. PK-601 Supermarine Stranraer by Mike, on Flickr Rigging the wing floats by Mike, on Flickr Rigging the wing floats by Mike, on Flickr And my method of rigging the floats. 6 strands of fishing line glued into the float. Then pull them through into the wing, and glue the two float struts in. I left this for a little while then came back and struggled to get the fishing line tight, and fix with superglue. I was just one hand short. In the end I used an old straw I saw kicking around and saved in the come in handy pile yesterday. I cut it into short lengths, pulled the two lines though straw so they came out of the top, then bunged in a shorter length to act as a clamp for the lines. I could then pull on the lines to get the tension tight, and they didn't slip back through the straw, it clamped onto them. It gave me that extra hand I needed. Rigging the wing floats by Mike, on Flickr Rigging the wing floats by Mike, on Flickr 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Impressive work! On post-war aircraft, the left wing underwing surface had the inverted numbers. Not sure how it was done on pre-war machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Cor blimey Mike, this is looking really good! The camo looks great and I am following your rigging technique with great interest. Mind me asking what shades you used for the Dark Earth and Dark Green? For what it's worth, I followed the Revell instructions for decal placement and they concur with both @TheyJammedKenny! and this photo https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/532186 in suggesting that the port serial should be "upside down". Alas the coin flipped the wrong way on your guess! I am just about to reply to your PM about roundels, if you are sufficiently bothered about the serial orientation I actually have enough Stranraer serials going spare for you to do them again! I ended up with no fewer than three decal sheets for this kit... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 Thanks Phil, really appreciate that. 👍 You won't be surprised to hear, after sleeping on this, I couldn't live with the serial numbers being the wrong way round. I removed them both yesterday. One pealed off with little drama, and just needed a slight blow over with silver. The other side was stubborn, and I ended up cutting the lines on the float and removing it to do the job properly. Should be back on track in a few days! So, I have now committed to memory that RAF serial numbers read from the wingtips in towards the fuselage, not the other way around 😆 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 A good tip: better than the one I remember is that on one wing they should be read from the front, and on the other wing from behind. Which leaves open the question as to which wing which way! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted August 20, 2021 Author Share Posted August 20, 2021 Apologies again for the lack of updates! The Stranraer now has it's lower wings on, and is a mass of fishing line and dry fit engine nacelles and spars. I'm resisting the urge to crack on with the wing assembly as I want to weather the paint a bit first. I had no success with a salt wash (my very first attempt though) so may try an oil pin wash next to add a little interest to the camouflage. (Again, another first attempt!) The roundels @Vulcanicity kindly sent are on and looking splendid! No photos yet, as we've been away in the camper on a little tour of East Anglia. We managed to squeeze about 4 holidays into one! Staying loosly on topic, I did manage a look around the Muckleburgh Military Collection as we were camping nearby on the coast. It's a varied collection so will have something to suit most people there. Plenty of models as well 😉 4 days in East Runton, Cromer by Mike, on Flickr 4 days in East Runton, Cromer by Mike, on Flickr Other points of interest on the trip - we stayed with an old pal who lives on a barge on Martlesham Creek, and walked the 6 miles to Sutton Hoo (and back) with the mutt. A superb exhibition and well worth a visit. Next up was a vintage camping and hiking weekend with friends near Theberton, where L48 crashed in 1917. The church was locked, but you could peer in through the door and see the massive relic of the zeppelin in the porch! This is the life! by Mike, on Flickr 4 days in East Runton, Cromer by Mike, on Flickr While we were camping in East Runton near Cromer, I took a cycle ride into town to check out the model shop there, one of a couple local with a heavy leaning towards model railways (there are two vintage railways nearby) but also a very useful stock of modelling supplies and a modest little plastic kit section. It was an oasis of calm from the very busy seaside town centre. (There's also a great second hand bookshop in town too) https://www.facebook.com/buoystoysandmodels/ Our campsite was next to a car boot, and early Thursday morning on the day we were elaving I could hear them setting up, so it would be rude not to have a quick walk around. I found one guy selling a pile of Scale Aircraft Modeller mags for 20p each, and took a handfull. I'm now kicking myself for not buying the whole lot, but I'd already filled our little camper up with second hand books and my other half, who doesn't read, and begrudges every old book I bring in the house and leave on arms of chairs, had already made several comments about pushing my luck 😆 We finished off our holiday with a volunteer working weekend at https://www.greatwarhuts.org/ working on 1:1 scale First World War amry huts that are lovingly restored in an army camp setting, as a memorial to this once common site in our landscape. Now sadly become quite rare as they were never designed to last over 100 years! Great War Huts Volunteer Weekend by Mike, on Flickr So, I'm hoping to get a couple of evenings at the workbench soon, but next weekend I'm off again, to Anjou Velo Vintage, so it looks like another month will go by again before I post a decent update 🙄 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted September 8, 2021 Author Share Posted September 8, 2021 More distractions from modelling. It was good to get back to France after nearly two years though. Those fancy red tyres that meant funds were diverted from the modelling pot performed very well. The 130km Authentic 1868 ride at Anjou Vélo Vintage by Mike, on Flickr Anjou Vélo Vintage, Abbey Cyclette ride on Sunday by Mike, on Flickr The 130km Authentic 1868 ride at Anjou Vélo Vintage by Mike, on Flickr The 130km Authentic 1868 ride at Anjou Vélo Vintage by Mike, on Flickr A busy couple of weekends still on the cards. A favourite weekend away at our friends festival in Wiltshire this weekend, Vintage Nostalgia Festival, and then Goodwood Revival, helping out on the Eroica Britannia stand promoting their event next year. Got to get the youngest to Falmouth for uni in among all that lot too. Hopefully the Stranraer will get some attention towards the end of September ... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 "Hopefully the Stranraer will get some attention towards the end of September ..." Make that October ... Sorry! Anyway, what's peoples thoughts on Uschi van der Rosten customer service? I odered a mask set off him a several weeks ago, after seeing @The Spadgent get excellent resutls with some. I was told after I ordered to expect some delays with dispatch, which is fine, but 5 weeks on and no reply to a couple of polite emails asking for a sit-rep? A quick google and it looks like Alexander struggles to keep on top of things, which is rather worrying, despite an announcment that he made in 2019. Now wondering if I should cut my losses, as he obviousy has form for letting customers down? https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/whats-up-with-uschi-van-der-rosten-t319433.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 I have never heard any complaints against him for poor customer service and I specialise in WWI subjects. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 28 minutes ago, Brandy said: I have never heard any complaints against him for poor customer service and I specialise in WWI subjects. Ian I'd check out the link I posted and see Alex's May 2019 reply posted on the WNW fan page Ian. Alexander outlines why he was having problems keeping on top of orders, and intoducing a new member of staff and a new 48 hour dispatch policy. I guess the last two years have screwed up everything. If anyone has an update I'm all ears. But so far my first expereience of ordering from him is not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 Although I've only been getting my kit fix building from following all your projects on here of late, rather than building my own, I can't wait to pick up the peices again! I was lucky at an autojumble and picked up a bundle of little files and tweezers, a tiny bendy steel rule, and a lovely old pair of brass dividers, which I'm sure will come in handy. Tools by Mike, on Flickr And also I lucked out and found a stall selling a suitcase FULL of Commando Comics 😂 I spent ten minutes flicking through every one, (like a little kid!) and just picked out the ones illustrated by my favourite artists, mostly Jose Maria Jorge and John Ridgway, but a couple by Denis McLoughlin and Gordon Livingstone too. This little haul I bought didn't even scratch the surface, he had hundreds! There's also a strong aviation bent going on here, and several flyingboat and float plane themes, just to keep this very loosly on track 😉 I must admitt, I'm enjoying them just as much as a 48 year old! Commando Comics by Mike, on Flickr And no reply from Alexander at Uschi, on either email or facebook. I really don't want to cancel my order as these small businesses need our help, but it's been nearly 6 weeks now since I placed the order. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 That’s an amazing haul. Well done! Ive got many of those issues in my collection as well. And they are just as good at 52 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 Feedback from Alex at Uschi. The delays are due to problems with the supply chain that have got worse during Covid but it's hoped orders will go out in the next two weeks. He apologised for the lack of feedback. That's all I needed to hear. I'm glad he finally got back to me as my finger was hovering over the paypal problem button, and I really didn't want to flag up a complaint. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 Alex finally came good, these arrived this week! And I did get an apologetic email from him a couple of weeks ago, explaining the problems he was having with the supply chain, which we are all used to for most things now. I just wish he was more on the ball with replying to emails. It took three emails over a month, and finally one saying I really didn't want to cancel my order, but would be contacting paypal to report a problem, before he replied. I was in no rush for these, all I wanted was a sit-rep on progress after a couple of weeks. When I didn't get any replies after a month, I had understandable, but totally unnecessary, alarm bells ringing. Anyway, I'll look forward to playing with these. Uschi mask sets arrived! by Mike, on Flickr In other news, I can't see the model bench opening for business in the near future, but hopefully now the evenings have drawn in I'll get back on the wagon somewhen. In the meantime thank you for all posting up your builds and giving me my fix! Last weekend I was lucky to get complimentary tickets to the Goodwood Members Meeting, and the stars of the show for me were the Edwardian racing cars. I took a lot of photos of greasy engines and worn leather seats and wooden dashboards, all good inspiration and reference for lots of subjects I'm interested in! Most of the cars were pre WW1 limousines with WW1 era aero engines shoehorned into the chassis 😎 #MM78 - Sunday by Mike, on Flickr Back to the garage, I'm making the tort we inherited a new outdoors hutch to replace his inadequate little rabbit hutch. A year in the planning, two weekends in the building. Nearly there! And not too soon now Autumn is starting to bite here after a mild couple of months. I hope the grumpy little man appreciates it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 On 9/29/2021 at 1:46 PM, Quiet Mike said: And also I lucked out and found a stall selling a suitcase FULL of Commando Comics 😂 I spent ten minutes flicking through every one, (like a little kid!) and just picked out the ones illustrated by my favourite artists Commando Comics by Mike, on Flickr And no reply from Alexander at Uschi, on either email or facebook. I really don't want to cancel my order as these small businesses need our help, but it's been nearly 6 weeks now since I placed the order. And some class Ian Kennedy covers there which I always go for! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 48 minutes ago, mick b said: And some class Ian Kennedy covers there which I always go for! Mike Ian Kennedy is the master of cover art! Somewhere on the shelf I have one Commando that was also illustrated by him, but it's the only one I've ever seen. (He must have been kept pretty busy just doing the covers!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Glad your bits have finally arrived, the Goodwood meet was a right bonus too brilliant stuff Mike. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 Still no progress on this build, but not due to any loss of mojo for it. The workbench is currently cleared away though, and as it's a flat surface now has a pile of books and old magazines piled up on top of it. 🙄 The two biggest distractions from the bench have been the new tortoise hutch, 'Tort Towers', and an order for the old French army ration bags I decided to make copies off during lockdown. Tort Towers is now working well. He has a greenhouse tube heater attached to a digital thermostat to keep the temps from falling below about 14˚ in his hutch, and on another timer circuit he has his UV lamp and next to it a basking lamp. These are set to come on during daylight, but I need to remember to cut it back a little every day, to get him ready for his hibernation. I've already cut out his food so he can go into his deep sleep with an empty stomach. Made with no plans, I had a rough idea in my head, and the general dims were dictated by what scraps of wood I had to hand. A local shed making company came good and were a great source of offcuts. It's taken all of my weekends up recently. IMG_9065 by Mike, on Flickr IMG_9043 by Mike, on Flickr I'm not a tortoise expert. We just ended up rehoming a friends one. I'm not even sure I'd recommend them as a pet! Ours is a grumpy little sod who does a good impression of always wanting to be somewhere else. Or he will try to bite through your shoe. Give him a friendly pat and he'll try to bite your finger off. He's not strong enough to draw blood, but it definitely hurts. And the second distraction has been a recent order for 20 of the 1892 pattern French army musettes I played around with reproducing over lockdown. I'm halfway through the order, which I'm fitting around my usual 9-5 work, and the Tort Towers. I've only made them in dribs and drabs before, and mostly sold them to friends at cost, or given them away as favours. It's good to knock out a proper order an hopefully recoup some costs. VCC-order-9102 by Mike, on Flickr And the last two I sold went to Germany and Australia! The reason I got interested in them is they linked two interests - early cycle racing and WW1 history. After the Great War they were repurposed as cycling musettes, often with race numbers pinned on. Racers needed to carry the all the provisions they needed for long races held then. Later in the twenties 'feed stations' were more common, and musettes were handed out there, you didn't need to carry your own supplies around with you. Musettes off to new owners abroad by Mike, on Flickr 1892 cyclists musette by Mike, on Flickr Musette bag research by Mike, on Flickr Well, sorry for the distractions, and the messy build thread. I know it's a lot of unnecessary baggage but it's all part of the build for me. Now the clocks have changed and the evenings are proper dark, I'm itching to get back at it! I keep following builds on here to get my 'fix', thank you 🙂 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 I have returned to the bench! I can't believe I've been away since July. I spent a pleasant evening mucking around with those Uschi masks and some very thinned white paint through the airbrush, to try and get a subtle weathering effect on the topsides. The paint on the Stranraer would have been fairly new but I think the exposure it would have got outside would show. It's so faint it might not really be picked up with my photographic skills but I'll take a few shots tonight. I've also treated myself when I saw Mig had a healthy 20% discount for Black Friday. I had been looking closely at the Vertigo jigs for a while, as half my meagre stash are all biplanes, and I liked the idea of a helping pair of hands to keep everything in place. I'll let you know how I get on after it gets opened at Christmas, I've resisted the urge to peek into the well packed box. It came in two sizes, large for up to 1/24, and small for down to 1/72. Frustratingly I reckoned I needed a medium. I've gone for the large size, as it looks like any size biplane should fit within it. We will find out in a couple of weeks ... https://www.migjimenez.com/en/aircraft/2232-biplane-plastic-jig-stand-transport-evo-bi-3224.html That gives me plenty of time to experient with some more weathering, obviously with the "Don't screw this up" mantra constantly plaguing me. In other news, the tortoise was happily hibernating in the new Tort Towers, until this very mild spell of weather at the weekend. I was most alarmed to see him up and about yesterday. Much to my wifes annoyance the alchohol has been dumped out of the fridge and tort has taken up residence. Weather is unseasonally mild all week but approaching something more wintery the week after. I always feared trying to hibernate the tort outside would be like this, we just don't get consistant weather here. I also got that order of 20 musettes out of the door, (I actually met a deadline!) and they are selling like hotcakes, I'm very relieved! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 I bet you get some strange looks when visitors come round and you open the fridge to get some milk for tea and they see the tortoise!!! That jig looks very nice indeed better than the wooden one I have . They are very handy and you won't regret getting it. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 Ha, quite Chris! Although you're not supposed to keep them in your normal kitchen fridge. I can't remember the reason. Maybe they have midnight feasts from your salad tray? Temps are yo-yoing between 3 and 6 degrees in there now, which is ideal. Hopefully waking up wont have done him any harm, but they burn a little too much energy going in and out of hibernation so it's not recommended. He should be ready to face the world again around February. I'll give him a prod once a week, and weigh him every month. Very weird thing to have as a pet by the way. Not my choice either, we inherited the grumpy sod! Lets see where we're at with this flying boat then. Here she is currently. I can't remember exactly where we left off now, so apologies if I'm going over stuff twice, or skipping chunks. The engine support struts and engine nacelles are just dry fitted. It's all a bit wooly here as without the top centre wing section fitted nothing has a positive fit. I don't want to jump ahead and start fitting the wings just yet, as I need to refresh my memory to where all the rigging goes, and work out a plan for fitting everything in. Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr Also, I want to have a go at some subtle weathering before the rigging makes a large part of the flying boat impossible to get too. After just making a mess at a salt weathering I invested in a couple of mask sets from Uschi. Despite my issues with Alex's lack of comms, I'd still recommend his products, and I'm probably going to invest in some of his rigging threads as well in the not to distant. I raided son no.2s bedroom for a paint mule. Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr Then dialed it back until the effect was barely discernible. Those big A1 roundels give me much joy, many thanks @Vulcanicity Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr The effect just looks like dust here, and seeing as it hasn't been touched for months that's more than likely the case Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr Picking up the Stranraer again by Mike, on Flickr There are lots of small bits to do next I think. Engines and exhausts, the beaching gear, the Scarff ring in the rear hatch. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 On 09/11/2021 at 12:37, Quiet Mike said: I know it's a lot of unnecessary baggage Was I the only one to groan out loud there? Great build thread, shed offcuts, tortoises in fridges and provision bags alike! I've always been firmly of the belief that biplane flying boats should be silver finish and nothing else, but your camouflage scheme is making me change my opinion! Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 I hope the grumpy tortoise is okay, I do like that. The Stranraer is looking great and good to see it again too. You don't have long to wait for Christmas a nd so the other bits can keep you busy until you open the jig and disappear into the mancave straight after!!! Although that may not go down too well with the Domestic authorities 😉 Great job on this Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: disappear into the mancave Tell ‘em you’re wrapping presents. Works for me… Regards, Adrian PS don’t forget to actually wrap at least one present while you’re in there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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