Aussie Jeff

This kit has been built several times on this forum which is great for me as I have plenty to review and help me along with the build. I actually have two of these kits and plan to build both available schemes - the silver/grey/yellow with wings extended and the grey/green one with them folded. I'm doing the silver/grey/yellow on now, the other will come later. /media/tinymce_upload/1995433296bdcccd45af07c08813e322.jpg One build post referred to the sprue gates and how they 'sometimes' extended onto the actual part as a small nub and needed cleaning up before assembly - I found it on just about every piece. Certainly made me more diligent on dry-fitting and assembly. The cockpit module is a complex little build in itself and took me a couple of days to paint and assemble. I used Humbrol enamel paints and brushes for all these parts rather than airbrushing and carried this thriugh to the insides of the fuselage halves. /media/tinymce_upload/fb6e58c4baa80cdca19059ad00c48521.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/66e1c90b1a8bbbeb121dd4fc06c85fcb.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2f4c4ec675d18bd70c6b4b991dc5d841.jpg iI was going to tidy up my messy internal rib painting but when I checked the fuselage fit I found It really wasn't required. Rather than just two main halves to the fuselage there are three with a base part also fitted. It was a bit tricky getting everything alligned but bit of clamping sorted that out. Small bits of filler were needed along the seams to tidy it all up once set. /media/tinymce_upload/bf9cca1a82c087f4cd110d61e7943ad6.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/fee3d902e114403bd1eff983c25de5ca.jpg Then it was masking time and off to the paint booth. One build post mentioned it was easier to build in sub-assemblies (fuselage, wings, engine) and paint/decal seperately. Reading through the instructions it certainly made sense so that is what I'm doing. With three colours on the fuselage there was a lot of masking/painting/remasking to do but the result (using Vallejo Air paints and an airbrush) was quite satisfying. /media/tinymce_upload/06260e292aec58d31214962889832daa.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/a88807be179dc7c2b14d0908ac32c2ee.jpg The engine assembly was another tricky little thing to get painted and aligned - and I got the alignment wrong. The lugs that were supposed to assist were very small and not that well moulded and once a bit of glue was applied it was difficult to determine if everything was in the correct place. Once it was all cured and I dry fitted it to the fuselage (there are some very positive alignment lugs) I found I was out by one cylinder! So I just ground dound the lugs with a small Dremel tool allowing the engine assembly to be rotated to the correct position. I'll cement this in place later. More to come. 😀

F6F-3 Hellcat - 1:72 of course. /media/tinymce_upload/d0bb38dc84af6ddf28c2260b7a4632a9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2f988aba564b75966c7daf7f4713ef43.jpg

I guess we need to cut Admin some slack in these rather extraordinary times. Our pics get up eventually. I guess the only other way would be to allow everyone free rein to post images and rely on Community Moderators to remove dodgy/inappropriate posts as it appears they are able to do that. Not likely though.

Random selection of models from my collection (mix of Airfix and non-Airfix). /media/tinymce_upload/3481f2dacda214fd000c8effdd779619.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/d058f12d936e7f3d59d13a91428026d7.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/7c000376b8ac673dda006039413d148a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/350cc75e6e7540b1c9c1b00e1e52eddc.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/23925b78d71225fff8efb123e3674d55.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/4eaf6d3885f2c3b55e9817f21d622705.jpg

I did a few posts yesterday with pics but they obviously haven't been approved by Admin yet. :/

/media/tinymce_upload/6909d7456fe7eac22d18fd7e934614a0.jpgAirfix Messerschmitt BF109E-4 - A01008A [1:72]

/media/tinymce_upload/2b2ee8919d3b38c0da70e3780042b240.jpg Airfix Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX No.81 Squadron - A02017A [1:72].

Will Admin be able to cope with approving all the images in a timely fashion??? Let's hope so. 😀

I'll be starting a new build post on the Swordfish soon. As for the Boomerang I've posed it next to my AIRFIX Tiger Moth as they make a nice pair - hopefully Admin will approve the pics. Hope to add a Buffalo, Shrike and a Wirraway (unfortunately all non-Airfix) to this little collection of RAAF aircraft that also includes a Kittyhawk which is a replica of 'Polly' as displayed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra - pic below. /media/tinymce_upload/7c9cbaeba90447fbd9272a8861bbb842.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/1cc433dfa0343e307f3482b12f71450f.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/6e058de6c4a63c1d420191a316852142.jpg

Ah, what threw me parts-wise is you showed both sides of the part frames (viewing on my phone). Glad they give decals for that scheme!

Just finished a Special Hobby CAC Boomerang (1/72) in Foliage Green to go with my Airfix Tiger Moth in the same scheme. The Boomerang was hard work! Now onto an Aifix Fairey Swordfish. Lots of builds to refer to on this forum and the ATF to help me along.

Yep, you called it correctly T2B. It wasn't so much the different parts (really only resin wheels and exhaust) but the sloppy fit of the fuselage/wing and canopy etc. It required a lot of work to fix up but I got there in the end. I covered some of my 'errors' by doing some weathering and it actually turned out okay. Even added the plethora of antenna wires. I have a Buffalo and Wirraway from the same maker in my stash but they'll have to wait until I want to torture myself again! 😀

Looks like a great kit Ratch, but surely there is more than 59 parts! Looking forward to seeing this progress as I really like the Tiger Moth having built three and a half of them in 1/72 (The 1/2 was an uncompleted disaster). Have you decided what scheme your doing?

Thanks everyone for your comments. I never expected to get comments like this after only 18 months of doing this. However I'm in the middle of building a non-Airfix kit of a CAC Boomerang and that has brought me crashing back to earth. More practice required. 😀

One thing colour-wise is it does pretty well match the box artwork! Just sayin'. So what's the go?

I guess it just wasn't what I expected colour-wise. I did a JU-87 a while back using Tamiya Dark Green/ Black Green and thought they were nearly indistinguishable! Vallejo Air paints are soon much better than enamel in many ways - not least the ease of clean up! It was a satisfying build and the little extra scratch built parts really finished it. I'll live with the paint scheme colours.

That's what I thought too Ratch had to check the bottle several times to make sure I had the right one. It looks like a muddy RAF Dark Earth/Dark Green combo. C'est la vie.

Thanks Tim! Hope your builds are going well.

I usually search the forum to see if other people have built the model I'm working on. Unfortunately my search term (Bf110C) missed a near identical build done by T2B a few years back - I found it after I started this post when I searched again, this time searching for just 110C - oh well it makes an interesting comparison. Of course there was also Heather's build which helped me along the way. I used the exact same set of Vallejo colours as T2B but the results are quite different - did I get a dud batch of RLM71? Ratch is not going to like my colours as they certainly have some decent contrast! After getting a nice coat of blue on the undersurfaces I commenced the task of masking up - very important when airbrushing. The RLM71 (Dunklegrun) was applied and I thought it was a bit different to what I expected but I placed my trust in Vallejo and proceeded to mask up for the splinter cammo. Yikes, what a job. Trying to get all those angles looking right over the fuselage in particular was much more difficult than I imagined. /media/tinymce_upload/73b62812a32a64d4527dd814c4e8733b.jpg Off to the spray booth for the next coat of RLM70 (Schwartzgrun) - just hope It comes out okay! /media/tinymce_upload/3630d855e491efcfda2c44f9718ac8b9.jpg And here's the result. /media/tinymce_upload/f57872f502b4a716c1ecbf84fb414f4c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/ece1a13e46b68b5eea3d31eca87d64f4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/94448bea807515672bf26dbd13fa642c.jpg While I was waiting for the paint to dry and remove the masking I painted up the undercarriage parts and also decided to try and make a 'better' circular antenna on the lower-mid fuselage. I used a bit of a 'B' guitar string wound around a paint brush handle and fitted to the original part base. A gamble but I think it sort of worked. /media/tinymce_upload/a92b98472a0f74187e7ba24a84ec127a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/29ed20c0da53d24691de6333f79a52af.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c351cedffb9f07b2764ef097f458d505.jpg Decals took me three days! There was heaps of those tiny stencils that I dislike but feel I have to apply - particularly those tiny numbers along the lower port fuselage that MUST be up the right way! Then it was on with the landing gear and other small parts. To finish off I decided to scratch build the 'towel rail antennae on the lower fuselage made from 0.4mm brass tube and EZ-line and the EZ-line antenna line t0p-side. So here are the final pics. I think this is my bust build so far! /media/tinymce_upload/d51f1cb82a9ea3af8d071aff825f0cf7.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/d6c568ab8f99e164dd899dd6c47216d0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/1bb30969ca4ca45fa26d16eafe67be7e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/17b6103e513aa316d6fc3df50802682c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/3449423f1461f19c9a1e16940ba6fe19.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/38af7a707b188bfc9bbab1144f3ba05a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/bfeec0d736f53fb8b647d14a453ccadd.jpg Close-ups always look bad! Until next build - stay healthy!

Surely you need a biplane or two in there to practice some rigging skills?! Glouster Gladiator and/or a Fairey Swordfish for a challenge. Both available in Airfix.

I bought this kit over a year ago and for whatever reason it has been overlooked while I constructed others. But just last week I purchased the Vallejo Model Air Luftwaffe Colours - pre war to 1941 so I thought I have a go at splinter cammo using the airbrush in 'authentic' RLM colours. The plastic of this kit is not the 'usual' blue-grey that I'm used to, it's darker, harder and at the finer edges almost translucent. Maybe this is due to the 'made in the U.K.' and not India? /media/tinymce_upload/a75086c25dfb354114f8bd7d30addc50.jpg I got a fair way into the build before getting some pics but it just followed the usual crew-cockpit-fuselage-wings build sequence with no issues at all! I did paint up the two crew using Humbrol enamels and they both had seperate arms so you had the option to 'pose' them a little more. The rear gunner even had what I guess was order papers held in his left hand! Shame I didn't get pics of the before I stuck them in their respective seats. Internals and areas that become less accessible as the build progresses where brush painted with the appropriate Vallejo colour. These Model Air paints brush really nicely and two coats give good coverage. The other new thing for me is using Tamiya Extra-Thin solvent to glue up fuselage seams and other parts once checked by dry fitting. I'm sold! being able to hold parts together dry and then just use the fine pointed brush along the seam joins up the parts like magic with no mess. The thin gap draws in the solvent by capillary action as you go along allowing sections to be done one at a time. You still need to be careful but any excess evaporates quickly and it doesn't damage the surface. You mght be able to tell I like this stuff. I also masked up the canopy with Tamiya tape using the method I trialled on my recent B-17 build. It took a while so I hope it works out - it'll have to turn out better than my attempts at hand painting. Both the canopy and engine nacelles have been temporarily using Humbrol Clearfix while I apply a primer and top coats. Tailplane fins will be painted and fitted after the airframe has its full splinter cammo done. Landing gear, droptanks and other small parts will be fitted later too. /media/tinymce_upload/db99c1c23ef19363e146a1765d77bf99.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c2f65d2c1cdf58dfc729304e9e1273d3.jpg Given the deep panel lines I might even try some pre-shading on this one. Got to try it one day. 😀

Well the props and nose art have been done, so as far as I'm concerned she's finished - I'll think hard about weathering but i might sit on the shelf for a while. /media/tinymce_upload/652d5265b2441cfdb43d9ccff493f374.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2b65de4e992c92de62833566ead0bebe.jpg Was it a success? Yes and no. I don't think I'll try airbrushing enamels again - way too much hassle cleaning etc. I didn't have any major disasters that ruined the build but just looking at the pics I really have to improve my fit and finish. And really that's the whole point of doing this hobby for me - the fun is in the build and realising there is room for improvement. If I made perfect models one after another I'd probably give the game away!

I recently purchased a Micro Mesh kit with 3 x two-sided sanding sticks (like those nail polishes only coarser), 9 x sanding pads, polishing solution and cloth and must say it is brilliant on both clear parts and regular plastic parts. Amazing!

Well, my mixed up build/paint sequence has been a mixed success resulting in different shades due to handling, differing bases (clear vs solid plastic), touch-ups etc so may have to try some weathering to camouflage some of the worst bits. This is not a decal-heavy kit really - far fewer than a lot of smaller modelles I've done. And even though several coats of 'Klear' were applied I still got silvering on the ID number on the tailplane - oh well. /media/tinymce_upload/0a8a66cd47eef1ef2423b0dabb42bfa3.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/a1be7864d2b2c9500d6b34fa8391f03a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/6ee338132b61e8a5407ace5d1f87dd5a.jpg I did like the sturdy undercarriage parts and the two-peice wheel/tyre assembly as it totally avoids having to paint the tyre and make it look round. I did of course have a little disaster. When trying to fit the port-side lateral machine gun the the pre-fixed clear part came away and fell into the fuselage! As these are fitted from the inside early in the build I had to cut away the flanges on the sides once I fished it out to make it fit to the appeture. This broke a corner off so more repairs were required. Not happy - 🫨 All the clear parts were masked using Tamiya tape, burnished down with a cocktail stick against the moulded ridges and then cut with a new scapel to allow me to airbrush them. this resulted in my best effort yet of canopy/clear parts frame painting. I will use this technique for future builds. what do you think? /media/tinymce_upload/e96160e60b2fc6fad3a9f5a5b3b65c0b.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/225ede22f8eba5902ea895f6435e9f63.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/52cc829eff4a794866775481a7eb6ed4.jpg So, just the props and a few more decals to go now and she'll be finished. Oh, except for that weathering thing. 😆

Thanks for the tips! Might have to look at some weathering to cover up some of my bodgy touch ups. see my next post on progress once approved by moderators. 😳