Aussie Jeff

Thanks for the info Paws - I think I need a book on 'Anatomy of Aircraft' to help with my terminology. 😆 That Catalina is now finished. I ended up using the original decals given that my handywork was somewhat rough in places and reorted to weathering in an attempt to cover it up. I did some more weathering on the wing centre section simulating stains from the engine exhausts and as an overall look with the fuselage it looks reasonably convincing from a distance. I'm happy with it anyway - isn't that the point? I wouldn't mind having another go at one of these if there was a newer tooling available (not sure if there is) or maybe check out another brand (Academy?). Anyway, here's some staged pics - I sent some of these pics to my wife who was away on business and she thought one of the low shots was a real Catalina that I included for her to compare! She was viewing it on a phone but I'm not sure it iss THAT convincing!! /media/tinymce_upload/40e310fc66d15bdd806481df62cd58c8.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c01ab31c0b3e0d706d53b5e5899d38b0.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/d1463bb540f6181ba71a91559649945a.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e7e21de98dfbfe09b63a41a3cfe84076.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/abbc2a9932bd040b3d9dd3342ec7206f.jpg What to build next?

Thanks T2B, it really is a good kit - having all those options at the price is remarkable. I'm inspired by the efforts of many forum members, it is nice to know I've done something to make you want to build another. I might be able to at least make up the underlined 'E' with some old decal border left over from the Catalina i'm just finishing up.

I got the central section of the parasol wing to attach with a bit of filing and scraping and fitted the four support struts. I left this overnight to cure as once fully assembled with the other wing pieces the whle assembly is nearly half a metre across!! The starboard wing section has a distinct downward bow to itbut there was little I could do about that in the end. Both outer wing sections were glued on and held in place for what seemed an eternity before I could let them go and support them as best I could wile the solvent cured. There is a bit of a list to starboard due even in the centre section which is odd as I would have thought the struts would have kept that bit level. Combined with the bowed outer wing the starboard wing tip is much closer to the ground than port. As you can see I also got those posable wing tips/floats to work which I'm rather chuffed about. /media/tinymce_upload/2bcf34f208a3cbff8d55acc7f6306960.jpg I wanted to do the rigging from the tailplane to the wing tips and for this I used some 4lb smoky grey monofilament fishing line hat is 0.13mm in diameter. Scaled up this would be just under 9.5mm in real life - I have no idea if this is realistic or not but it was as fine as I could find. I attached this into th tailplane when I assembled the fusalege halves, tying a big knot so it wouldn't pull through later. Another knot was tied with the two strands a short way out from the tailplane and these were stuck togeter with supaglue forming a thicker section before they diverged to the wings - I thought this worked really well! You can see in the pic above I used small weights to keep the tension on the line while the glue set. Below you can see the rear section pretty clearly. /media/tinymce_upload/2f264c029f5690f22574eb8a31743ab7.jpg Now onwards and upwards to finishing this dirty bird off.

Well I've learnt that trying to get a nice finish in matt white is nearly impossible an ended up making a real bodge job on it - so I tried my hand at weathering. I tried re-creating that salty, gauno-encrusted look by using a variety of charcoals and ochres as washes and more white paint, dragging it vertically down the sides of the fuselage. From some angles it looks really good, from others well it looks like your five year old child has been playing with it after coming in from the garden. Oh well, it is all just an experiment and fun and games in't it? Oh, and I've solved the tail-sitting problem. Just install the included ladder to the post blister canopy - just as the maker intended! /media/tinymce_upload/627a4348a46e1beb4a413f3dc5239182.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/1e1e9ea8ec365e910a87f45cb2769b99.jpg Now to try and fit that enormous three-part wing!

While waiting for the mising parts for my antique Catalina to arrive I decided to build this kit up to pass the time. What a great kit! Fit, finish and detail was fantastic for such an inexpensive model. I thought this was going to be my best effort yet but a few detail issues toward the end of the build stymied that - all my fault, not the kit. The black portside ID decal on the tailplane decided to roll up into a ball and try as I might it was unrecoverable. I also broke some of the delicate parts. In a way it was very like my golf - enough good hits among the bad to make me think I'll have that really good round one day. Maybe I should buy another one and have another crack. /media/tinymce_upload/01764cc1d9957c6a2bff003aeb0cf8f5.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/d481c0e9563e5caa8b18995b6153f8b8.jpg

Waiting for the missing parts to arrive in the post has made me adjust the normal build sequence for this project and I’ve been focusing on some of the more fiddly parts and painting up the clear parts framing etc. The blister windows and the cockpit canopy only have the faintest imprint of the framing which makes things difficult – I wonder if this has improved on later kits? I was able to mask the blister windows in several stages and produced a reasonable result (for me) – the cockpit canopy was a bit rougher but it will do. I have fitted the blister windows to the fuselage halves and was able to get the opening section to operate successfully! The other parts I’m really happy with are the two engine/prop assemblies. Even though I downloaded the most recent painting guide from the Airfix site there wasn’t much detail on the engines, so I looked for images of P&W Wasp engine and used those as a guide. The bronze ring on the cowling was an addition from the new painting guide and I think it really works. And they look even better dry fitted to the centre wing section. The props even spin freely when you blow on them! By the way 17 grams nose weight I nowhere near enough – try at least double that. Anyone know anything denser than lead that is readily available and not radioactive! This might turn out alright after all. /media/tinymce_upload/4ee67576b83a83886f04f47a9aaee909.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/14d00959a18a28ac7a5b9bc4ec14a20f.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/7d6c2d20bf704d4d60525277f84630a0.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/dc00634a79f2df87f915aefd38cafd0c.jpg And Ratch, there certainly some interesting images of 'repurposed' Cats on the web!

Well I’ve started building the Catalina now as the guy I bought it off was able to find all the missing parts from another Airfix kit and they are on their way to me in the post – such a relief. The front turret is the only bit now stopping me cementing the fuselage together. I’m going to do this as the RAF Coastal Command Catalina 111A, as per jopres57 and one of Ratch’s, which has a matt white fuselage and under wing with a grey & green camouflage scheme on the top of the wing and tailplane (a bit more interesting than the all-over matt black ‘Black Cat’ scheme). I primed the two fuselage halves with grey primer before giving the outer surfaces a coat of flat white spray paint hoping this will make it easier to touch up as the build progresses rather than paint it all after assembly. /media/tinymce_upload/d399ddaee8c8e9f8c61577d4c110c19e.jpg Once this was all dry the insides were painted cockpit green and the six small clear window installed. These had to be done now as they go in from the inside. The instrument panel with tiny steering-wheel like controls and the cockpit floor/seats with pilots were glued to one fuselage half. It’s all pretty basic in there. The instrument panel was supposed to have the detail cut out from the instructions and glued on (Ratch said this was ‘de rigeur’ for a kit of this age) but I decided to paint the panel black and make my own ‘instruments’ using the point of a silver paint pen. It’s a bit rough but it’ll do – not much of it will be seen anyway. /media/tinymce_upload/e1e3328e1021fd66500d94645b3a3eb4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/6e6c209ace599bc39555c71537b06feb.jpg Also fitted at this time were the two ‘blister window’ gunners – again something that would have been difficult later. The guns were supposed to articulate but they are so delicate they would definitely snap off after a few ‘plays’ and some of the interference fit was sloppy anyway. The blister windows will go on later. The little hole next to the port gunner is for a ladder – as I’m still deciding whether to do this as in-flight or not I’ve left it open for now. /media/tinymce_upload/c158115372ec32c821e4f02587571ac3.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/ca290ad9cb043a3884a8e0ef2f7a0eed.jpg I can do a bit more on other parts while waiting for the missing parts to arrive but I have made a ballast part up out of fishing sinkers that I may use to glue the front turret glass-house to, I’ll decide when all the bits arrive. As a few people have mentioned the Catalina is a chronic tail-sitter do any of you know if 17 grams is enough ballast? There is no mention of it in the instructions. /media/tinymce_upload/f445e3f64420007ba50fad6486766ea2.jpg Until the next instalment, cheers all.

Cool - what a classic the Rocket must be!

So does a Eurofighter Typhoon exist or didn't it make it past the development stage. Or if it does exist what are the major differences? I tried Googling it but found it all too confusing. :)

Phewww - glad it's just not me then. 😀

I bought a set of those stands (2 x large, 4 x medium & 6 small) a while back (when I was a little 5acker they used to be included in the kit) but the only problem is you have to cut your own slot. They don't offer much articulation but they are unobtrusive.

I bought this little kit to go with a Mk.1a Spitfire that was one of my first builds back in October last year. It’s one of Airfix’s entry level kits in a simple end-opening box with the painting and decal guide on the back of the box. Entry level it might be but it’s a great little kit and makes a fine little model in my opinion./media/tinymce_upload/1ee33c46b0bb2637a59d230d9d777b6a.jpg I had a small issue fitting the wing assembly to the fuselage but I think that may have been me not removing paint from some of the inner mating edges. This resulted in the front edge of the fuselage being a bit proud of the wing part – a little bit of filling and it was okay. You will notice I drilled out the gun ports but got them out of line so filled them to try again later. /media/tinymce_upload/102434895e7cbc6028a2056818a1e915.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/6ea3a4ddc0f474b3b510d481e62cdba3.jpg As is my method I then started the main paint scheme. I do this as I have the habit of breaking the more delicate parts such as antennae, under carriage etc so I leave them until later. I applied the base coat of Dark Earth (this little pot from a starter set seems very dark) to the top and side surfaces and marked out the pattern for the subsequent coat of Dark Green. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much contrast between these colours, will be interesting to see if there is a difference when I get new paint. The undersides were painted in the suggested black/white scheme. Once dry a coat of Long Life Floor Polish (Aussie equivalent of Klear) was applied in preparation for the decals. /media/tinymce_upload/fc1ec2dd97cb53b49f260b1e0ea3dad9.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/ddfcd6706b2074bb30a057d2063ab9be.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/3da2fce886daf0a90e1e648a758f07df.jpg The decal sheet is relatively simple with only a few of those nasty microscopic ones, but I have come to appreciate the difference these do make so I think they are worth the effort. I made a bit of a bodge-job of the red gun port decals but they did allow me to get the gun port holes better aligned. /media/tinymce_upload/89f8f5de58150c3b5b082d827ee6728c.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/2764e8e0a9f5f59c306ee221dc7d8d1e.jpg Then it was on to fitting the undercarriage, propeller and other small parts. I’m making this with gear down and an open cockpit (not an option in the instructions but I’ll figure it out) with the pilot in the seat. Once everything was fitted, except for the clear parts, I sprayed the whole model with several light coats of matt lacquer to reduce the sheen. The canopy frames were carefully painted with Dark Green both inside and out (another thing I have found to improve results), any over-paint cleaned up with a sharp cocktail stick and then dipped in the Long Life polish to seal the paint down. All the clear parts are stuck on with PVA glue. The last extra bit to go on is the ‘wire’ from the tailplane to the antenna and, voila, another completed model – and another I am quite pleased with. /media/tinymce_upload/2168ecb17a5d007669d9b30e2a7ee718.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/9ec4b60910ada0862f7410ad03272156.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/01c936ad0cee31c39e2c6337bbe2e7dc.jpg

Thanks for all the comments people, the more I read the more I'm looking forward to starting this. There appears to be a lot of 'moving' parts for this model - front turret, blister windows & gunners, main & tailplane flaps, propellers and the main wing floats (?) - has anyone bothered with all this or are they a bit fiddly/gimmicky? I also have to laugh at the 'decal' for the cockpit instrument panel - you cut out a picture from the paper instruction sheet and glue it on. Hopefully the aftermarket decals will have something better. Also, might be good news re the missing parts - the seller reckons he can find thm and is going to send them through to me. 😀

A bit more research has uncovered that this boxing is actually from 1993 as the 1991 box didn't include the 'flying hours' detail. Still the moulda for this kit were made in 1964. I'm tinking if I can't get the parts for the front turret I'll try and fashion them from lead as I understand it needs a lot of weight in the nose to avoid it being a tail-sitter.

I purchased this kit recently on a whim from Ebay and I might come to regret it - 😳. /media/tinymce_upload/c44d2c9c91e9035465cc7ba2955cc7c4.jpg The boxing is from 1991 so the kit is at least 28 years years old but the mouldings are much older at 55 years - this can be confirmed by a part bearing the date of 1964! A bit of research founf that, indeed, this kit was first released in tht year. There are a few parts missing, which I am chasing up, but don't hold much hope of obtaining so that will be a challenge in itself. The parts missing are the complete front turret gun (5 parts) an the starboard float cover. The materil the parts are made from is quite different to the current kits and there are prominant and sharp raised rivets everywhere! /media/tinymce_upload/c331ba0325432ab6d2508bd1188db98e.jpg The decal sheet is very simple but unfortunately also out of register so if I get this thing together I'll probably order an aftermarket set. /media/tinymce_upload/2145698f2a3ca10152099ba0138a9468.jpg The instructions make the current crop of kits look so far advanced and the painting guide is quite crude by comparison. /media/tinymce_upload/36da1f03edd8c1cc97bf44c5c4a04eb4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/d02296336600dfc109bc62200e27d8d8.jpg I'm thinking this will be a long-term build, my go to when I feel in the right mood as I reckon if I took it seriously it would do my head in, so stay tuned. If anyone has tried this sort of thing before I'd like to hear your experiences. All I can think of at the moment is "why didn't I just buy a new, currently available kit?". Cheers, Jeff K

Following on from my additions o PMM’s Warhawk thread I am now updating on the progress of my Zero. The colour for the cockpit internals was supposed to be ‘interior green’ which I didn’t have so, as I’m not a stickler for accuracy, I used a green I did have. These details don’t bother me at the moment and by the time everything is assembled you don’t see much of it anyway. The fuselage and engine went together well and I painted the engine matt black with silver ‘dry-brush’ highlights. /media/tinymce_upload/9730fcf26ba9c00727cb0d5dd233496b.jpg Then it was onto the wing assembly which was a bit tighter than the Warhawk but I still clamped and braced until the cement fully cured. This reduced the gaps at the joins a bit – I haven’t got into using filler yet. The tailplane was assembled at the same time but I did omit fitting the engine cowl as I could fit this later once the bulk of the plane was painted. /media/tinymce_upload/0b00c66e8d6eeeae4653e7c3ec9ec11e.jpg I purchased some new, better quality, brushes and what a difference that makes! The paint called for the plane was Hu90 (the same as used for the underside of Spitfires) and it went on like a dream. Only trouble was that I thought it didn’t look quite right so I mixed in a bit of white for the final coat to lighten things up a little. /media/tinymce_upload/27736fddb5a43cf7426f295d26285d7e.jpg I had another go at painting up the pilot but I’m afraid all my pilots are beginning to look alike no matter what plane I’m building – oh well. Then there was the issue of fitting said pilot. There was no way I could get him settled into the seat so in the end I had to perform surgery by cutting his legs off below the knee. Problem solved. The painting of the canopy framework defeated me rather than totally mess it up I removed what paint I could and left it at that. The finished prop and cowling were dry fitted just to check alignment for later. The holes in the side of the drop-tank are for the display stand. I actually forgot to drill these out before I assembled the tank so I had to unassembled and reassemble which was a bit of a pain. These pics also show the lighter colour I ended up applying before putting on the decals. /media/tinymce_upload/0d8398efb9078fdde960609add616342.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/5c431f18411b729caf068177833d6ee7.jpg One of the new things I am trying is using Humbrol DecalFix and it seemed to go okay. I still dipped the decals in plain water but applied the DecalFix to the area required and adjusted placement with the brush. This is supposed to settle the decal into the panel lines, reduce ‘silvering’ and give a ‘painted on’ look. We’ll see about that. /media/tinymce_upload/db346c99a1d2dc8498472d9dda352a97.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/6b07a08009a20803e8b632d7860fc564.jpg Then, as I normally do, I like to photograph the end result including some props. This time I used the box art (see below) as inspiration and found an image depicting the Pearl Harbour attack that I enlarged to use as a backdrop (you can see the tape) and staged the planes in a similar way. Thanks PMM for allowing me to add to your thread. Cheers, Jeff. /media/tinymce_upload/a925454b042eac850e2708ae00cb74e0.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/bea4bf4c2240d74a28034d58d2439db6.jpg

Finally made that 800km round trip to the real hobby shop! Picked up a few kits to keep me busy after I finish the Warhawk/Zero Dogfight Double I'm currently working on. They are: Hawker Hurricane (can someone identify the other plane in the background of the box art?). /media/tinymce_upload/4b09b0503f8d9a14918490600df46e3b.jpg Then a Dakota with Willys Jeep set - this might be fun seeing it is the same colour as the Warhawk I was whinging about being a pin to paint (but I did get some spray primer to try out as well). /media/tinymce_upload/20ba12dc559d2980605f9885ae5fcfb2.jpg and finally an Avro Lancaster! This and the Dakota will be a challenge for me as thy are both significantly larger than all the other kits I've attempted. But as someone once said "How do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time. /media/tinymce_upload/8dc3cd14dbf1db32ecc7abf92a511412.jpg I also picked up some 'real' paints (rather than the tiny pots in the kits I have previously bought), a few tools and accessories suggested by forum members to go with the work station with magnifier from my better half. Thanks for all your help. Merry Christmas to all.

Bummer - two days after confirming the order fot the Tucano's I was advised they were out of stock. Oh well at least I don't have to tackle the gloss black paint now.

The inital green will be easy to do but the RLM 65 will be intresting to do Now that would just do my head in!

Currently building the 1:72 Warhawk/Zero dogfight double that I got off Ebay. Also waiting for three(!) Shorts Tucano T.1 (1:72) in 'Lest We Forget' livery. A local seller (in Aus) had three kits so I bought them all. One will be built gear up, another gear down and one just left in the box for now. I saw someone framed an unassembled kit using the box art and instructions as background and the parts all painted but left on the sprues - I thought it looked very arty. I have a soft spot for the Great War/Anzac stuff and when I saw these I had to have them. I'll be taking extra care with the builds. Any tips for applying gloss black?! Also hoping to make the journey to the nearest 'proper' hobby shop before Christmas to pick up some essential supplies suggested on the Forum and maybe a kit or two. Merry Christmas to all. :)