Aussie Jeff

Great to have you back on deck John. Lif certainly throws curve balls at times but 2020 has been a challenge for many. Wishing you all the best for further recovery and more of your informative posts. Take care.

A few more kits and accessories to add to my 'Unique Flight' build project. Only missing a few aircraft now. Hopefully get back home soon and start building again. /media/tinymce_upload/f70aa6c39c3d5cd882b0e862bb4a535d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/d20c32dfc3a370238f9401bcda18f6ae.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/842943b22e6dcb01091fc28787d06eba.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/ab7fd41da90f3dadb19a88d633dcc18e.jpg

In total agreement. For me, I started doing this again as a form of meditation. I can immerse myself in a build and 'disappear' for a while. However that is tempered by my desire to improve as I go, which means I am striving to make the next model better than the last. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not. This applies to cnstruction technique, masking, painting etc. And, in fact, it is somewhat disappointing when a build finishes so I have to start a new one - a fact that kit, accessory and paint manufacturers must be happy about! And though I haven't seen a post from him recently it is 'Jon the Pom' whose tag line is "Remember, we do this for fun".

This is a first for me posting in this sub-section of the forum as I usually do aircraft but I'm away from my usual place of residence for a while so I thought I'd try something different. As I don't have access to the plethora of modelling paints, tools etc I went with a starter kit to see what i could do with just what is in the box. /media/tinymce_upload/11e6a2574f162e9fd22bc84592d09849.jpg On first inspection the kit looks good but as I have never built a ship before I really wouldn't know. The only odd thing I noticed was the 'ratlines' on the fore & aft masts look somewhat thick! Maybe when I get home I'll replace them with something finer. As well as the numerous frames of grey plastic parts (including a stand) there is a small frame containing anchors & propellers in gold plastic. As usual for starter sets are two brushes (0 & 2), six pockets of acrylic paint (33, 61, 70, 121, 130 & 186) and a tube of poly cement. It will be interesting to paint some of the larger surfaces with a #2 brush! /media/tinymce_upload/0ace5e7a1215a4160e15b88964f8ae73.jpg I'll post some progress pics.

Yep, those machine guns look like they came off the Ark Royal, the crew needed wheelchairs or a good feed but the lack of interior detail really didn't bother me. In fact I think the cut-out paper instrument panel worked better than a nicely detailed decal in this case. 😀

Another Australian War Memorial build, this time Mustang A68-648 from a 1/72 Academy P-51D kit. Not the most exciting scheme but it is as displayed, was able to cobble up the correct serial number. /media/tinymce_upload/c7c17f01629acf482d04da2a5a164326.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/48d298f6005e24b2ec08ce25bc5d310e.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/a182dad97da7cf49b9e26731c41ea333.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/82826872ad61f262ff774d8d8e586ead.jpg

Thanks all! Yes, it is the Lancaster in the AWM - I'm trying to build a 1/72 example of all their aircraft, inc choppers. And with these old kits I just try my best and use the experience to build up my skills ' cause they are challenging. And as for a bit of silvering on the decals, well that's an understatement - the wing roundels were 'okay' but everything else was falling apart as I was applying it. Should have tried to get an aftermarket set but I'm impatient.

A couple more added to the stash; - Airfix Gloster Meteor III (1/72) - Arma Models Grumman FM-2 Wildcat Expert Set (1/72) Almost forgot: Airfix Titanic Starter Set - going to be away from home for a while so taking this to see if I can build something other than aircraft using only what is supplied in the kit. Could be fun (or not). 😀

Just a quick post on this Lancaster build for my 'Unique Flight' project. Got the kit on eBay and the contents were still in there sealed bag but the decals were pretty stuffed but I used them anyway. The raised rivets acted like a grater on them. There weren't too many build issues but kits have definitely come a long way in 50 years. The clear parts were very think and not so clear and compared to the BIII I built a while ago there was a lot less detail. I never would have been able to afford this as a kid and it was good to get a reasonable result in the end. Just don't look too close. /media/tinymce_upload/9206c86c2d697a1fd8217a2dbff82147.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/13c34fad182f6493aa72de9717231083.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/cf68030103726480f9b522c0f2752ff2.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/a49acbb2fd8fba2b4bb2e992cf3ec679.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/b165b102a9cf5273978c22ac56972c38.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c0b19c2e051890fd4e3e3e0a7e2a518f.jpg

Thanks Aad, yes, the Spitfire is possibly my best build yet. I was very pleased with it, particularly the paint job. The MiG was a bit of a laugh - 31 pieces, fit issues and you can look clean through from nose to tail. Should have tried scratch building some ducting/pipe work. But I'm not ready for that yet.

Thanks Patrick. Only issue I had with the Sabre was the front of the canopy came adrift late in the build and got snapped in half when I stepped on it cracking it clean dow the middle. I'm going say it was a bird strike. 😀

Thanks Ratch. I enjoyed doing the Eindekers. They were brush painted with leftover pots of acrylic from some Airfix starter sets I did almost two years ago. The rigging was an interesting exercise.

Thanks PM, yes the F-111 came out well. Been wanting to build one for ages. Hard to believe it is a 50 year old aircraft. Still looks awesome.

Forgot the Bell 47G-3B Sioux - Italeri

Been on a bit of a spending spree in the last two months (blame COVID-19). Some built, some still to arrive. Most are for my 'A Unique Flight' project and 1/72 scale except for the Sopwith Camel. In no particular order: RAF SE5.A (Wolseley Viper) - Roden Pfalz D.XII (x2) - Eastern Express Albatros D.V/D.Va - Roden Albatros D.V - Eduard (built, not happy with it) Curtiss P-40E (with RAAF decals) - Academy MiG-15 Quattro Combo Royal Class - Eduard Hawker Sea Fury FB.II - Trumpeter North American/Rockwell OV-10A Bronco Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa Oscar - Fujimi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 - Airfix (built) Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet (1979) - Airfix Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa - Revell (built) Avro Lancaster B1 'G for George' - Airfix (1973, under construction) Junkers Ju52 - Airfix (1972) Brewster Buffalo B-329 Finnish Airforce Aces Combo Pt 2 - Hasegawa de Havilland Mosquito B. Mk.IV/PR Mk.IV - Tamiya Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-6 - Italeri P-51D Mustang (with RAAF decals) - Academy General Dynamics F-111G Aardvark RAAF - Hasegawa (built) Sopwith Camel F.1 (with RAAF decals) 1/32 - Academy, accidental purchase Lead shot (2mm) for aircraft nose weight - 200g

Well that looks rather uncomfortable! 😛

While the picture posting issue was ongoing I completed a few models - all 1/72. /media/tinymce_upload/95e6f2de64be7f315a0d7f6da917b9bb.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/a011199e751dd6db18fe05cb8d879baf.jpg Eduard Royal Class Spitfire MkIX /media/tinymce_upload/132f8043e71f84a1e7f321a620212950.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/baf820a027ea46ab4ba7a90fe3c0344f.jpg Airfix Eindeker E.II & E.III /media/tinymce_upload/63ea173f602bb04ce4f9349b536f1c36.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e9697671c86a48cbfde6c6c3fbefbe16.jpg Hasegawa General Dynamics F-111G Aardvark (RAAF) /media/tinymce_upload/b5927c1b673988b46ce2267cc1bce7e7.jpg Airfix MiG-15 from 1995 (tooling from before Adam was a boy) And finally - /media/tinymce_upload/2c968ee10cbbf6fae174fee9c28aacd6.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/582fa153305400ec87ef3b6b97edb277.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/fb528d089b7a46937bd3918358ff034c.jpg Airfix F-86F Sabre - really pleased with this one.

Keeping on the jet theme - 1;72 Airfix MiG 15 (#00017), Series 0 from 1995. Cost me $9 but on opening th tiny box I now know why. Very, very basic. Decided I'll build it like I'm 12 again! 😛

Thanks for the tip Peter. Postage is the killer to Australia, but 3 quid is a bargain. Will watch with interest. I might take the plunge.

Thanks Ratch and Gilbert, I am now satisfactorily enlightened. 😀

Well, I'm getting there. Slowly. Ordered the Ki-43-II (Fujmi), the Sea Fury (Trumpeter) and the Bronco (Academy) - so the last two as you said. I did see the SE5A in 1:48 but I don't want to go there.

Just started a 1:72 Hasagawa General Dynamics F-111G Aardvark 'RAAF'. Been wanting to make one of these for ages.

I recently purchased this book 'A Unique Flight - the historic aircraft of the Australian War Memorial' by Michael Nelmes. I am going to attempt to build a 1:72 model of each aircraft described in the book - not exact copies, but as close to as possible. Here's the list: Already constructed: - Messerschmitt Bf 109-G6, Messerschmitt Me 262A, de Haviland DH.82A Tiger Moth, Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk, Douglas C-47B Dakota, North American P-51D Mustang, Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero, Bell UH-1B Iroquois. In my stash - waiting construction: - CAC Wirraway, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis Waiting for delivery: - Albatros D.Va, Spitfire Mk IIa, Avro Lancaster Mk I ('G for George'), Messerschmitt 163B Komet. And finally, need to find: - Deperdussin CFS.5 (not likely), Pfaltz D.XII, Avro 504K, Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a, Airco DH.9, DAP Beaufort Mk VIII, Lockhead Hudson Mk IVA, de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR.41, Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa Oscar, Gloster Meteor F.8, Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, Bell 47G-3B Sioux, GAF Canberra B.20, Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter and North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco. I have no idea if all of these are available but it'll keep me occupied for a while sourcing and building the that's for sure. I'll let you know how I go.

Now started a pair of Airfix Eindekkers - a II and III. Just two small sprue frames per kit, no canopies to mask and although they are monoplane there is still some rigging to do. But, hey, how hard can it be? We'll see.

I'm having the same issue, so you're not alone. Guess it will get fixed eventually. Maybe they need to reboot - seems to fix most computer issues. 😀