DocRob

Hola fellow modelistas, due to different reasons, I neglected my bench and LSM for some weeks and the next weeks won't be much better. Despite all obstacles, I wanted to start a new feel good build to motivate myself and so I chose my favorite F1 car for the task. Since a while, I accumulated some goodies for this project and since some weeks everything arrived at my doorstep. The kit: The goodies: - Top Studio Cockpit detail set - Top Studio PE-set - Top Studio carbon decal set (was the hardest to find) - TBDecals sponsor decals - Tamiya seat belts - PE rivets - Colors from Zero Paints (a first for me) I considered starting with the body, but decided to start, like the manual suggests, with the engine. Big mistake, at least motivational. As you can see on the pictures, the parts are metal plated in an aluminum finish, what's not to like about it. First of all the plating has spots and foremost it's completely superfluos, because nearly the whole engine is BLACK. You might say, no biggie, but it is, because of the plating no part fits how it should, you have to scratch, grind, and re drill all holes. Beside this, you can't use normal modeling cement, so I was forced to use CA. That's not all. The engine parts sport all known types of plastic abnormalities, like prominent parting lines, ejector marks, burr and flash and the silver plating doesn't enhance general visibility. Strange thing, that other versions of the kit seem to include the engine on black sprues. In all the beginning was utterly frustrating, we don't speak about an ancient short run kit, cast in some garage, it's a relatively modern incarnation, Fujimi what have you done. This will not be a fast build, other than I sod the kit, if it continues to fight me back. Oh, I haven't spoken about detail. The positive so far, the engine is very detailed and has a large part count. On the pictures, only half of the parts are added for better painting If you look at the picture above, you can see the cylinder heads with very prominent cooling ribs, which unfortunately doesn't exist on the real thing. This is how it looks, with the added PE parts from Top Studio. Fujimi, are you the Japanese Italeri? I'm still hoping the best for the non plated sprues and will not instantly bin the kit, but it's definitely on probation. Cheers Rob

I second your verdict: an absolute gem you build and painted there Peter. Nice to have this kind of feelgood kits, where you can fully concentrate on painting and weathering, which in your case looks spot on. BTW: I ordered the limited Brian Lane boxing and guess who is responsible... . Cheers Rob

Definite must buys, the Sea king, because it's my favorite Heli and the Gannet, well for quirkyness. The Gannet looks like a cross breeding, between an Avenger and a Skyshark, what's not to like about that. Cheers Rob

Great result Peter, good to see that there were no issues with the decals. Today, I thought for the first time, that it might be the time for building my first Spitfire and guess who inspired me. Cheers Rob

Well, if an issue turns into a no issue due to great research work of the producing company. Capeaux to Kotare for getting it right and letting you continue in good faith. Can't wait to see how the finished Spitfire will look under your knowing hands. Cheers Rob

Camo looks very nice Peter and I like your decision about the toned down lower side. Your masking method looks tedious, I might have cut most camo masks from Kabuki sheet with a rotating blade and might have added some thin layers of Panzer putty in difficult spots. Cheers Rob

Very nice weathering and paintjob, it all looks so well blended in. Cheers Rob

You'll like the Flory washes, I found them extremely pleasant to work with. As recommended, you should use a separate jar with a drop of liquid soap added for application. Cheers Rob

Leave it as is, Carl. Nice little thingy. Cheers Rob

That's an interesting conversion, Carl. I will follow your build along. Hopefully the kit parts fit the C1 body. The lack of a manual is somewhat irritating. I'm actually thinking about buying a Citroen SM resin kit from USCP, one of my favorites. It's a full resin kit and I'm not sure, if I'm up to it. It's not my first resin car kit, but looks delicate. Cheers Rob

Fantastic looking Corsair. I really like the paintjob and weathering with the hidden 13. I build the exactly same airframe many years ago as my first plane kit, re-entering the hobby and enjoyed the build a lot. Cheers Rob

Thank you Bryan and Harv, with the great Tamiya kit, I could fully concentrate on NMF finish and riveting, which was the main goal of that little exercise. Cheers Rob

The non working suspensions are a bit of a letdown, I think. Even my 1/35 Meng Sherman has metal coils for the suspension system. You are absolutely right Paul, about the Takom sprue connections. There are plenty and they are relatively strong, but it's easy to clean them, at least it was on my 1/16 tankette. Cheers Rob

Ok, my wife found one of us, but I edited her away (her wish). It was taken two month ago at a little spontaneous street fiesta in front near our house. Well it was a long night. Cheers Rob

Try to get back into the modelling flow and start different projects. Today, I thought a bit of figure painting would do me some good and prepared a resin bust from Scale 75, called the Abyssmal. The grinding tool on the pic was very helpful with grinding the parts to fit, along a mask, naturally. I will test my figure airbrushing abilities with this, using my new Giraldez edition H&S Infinity gun. This thing is huge and heavy, but the cast is very fine detailed and will be a joy to paint. Cheers Rob

Now that so many of you share your smiles, visible or not, I will not stand back. That's my smiling face, when I spilled the Tamiya Extra Thin again: Oops, wrong thread, I only today prepared the resin bust of the Abyssmal and found it fitting . As a reminder, we had that kind of thread a while ago. I haven't changed a lot since then, not even around the waist . I will ask my wife, if she has an actual shot of me without the snarl. I'm the one taking the photos normally, but no selfies. Cheers Rob

Not many of the struggles are visible Gus, your bird looks business with the weathering and pronouncing panel liner. Wasn't the foggy residue some ice, because of condensation ? Cheers Rob

Oops, my bad , I meant the IBG kit. It's a wonderful kit, with great interior and exterior detail. Cheers Rob

I've used similar ones, but once I broke a jar of Tamiya grey, which was enormously obstinate. Cheers Rob

Looking good Kevin, what a beast. I like the wooden decks, but you are right, generally they look a bit out of scale with the too coarse grain. I had the same feeling with my 1/350 USS Arizona build, but in the end, with all the clutter added, it doesn't show that much anymore. Cheers Rob

Fantastic build and paintjob. I do like the PZL's myself and have built the ICM one, a pure fun build. 3D printing it seems, enables companies to produce some rarely implemented types, good for us modelers. Cheers Rob

Nice build so far. I like to push myself out of my comfort zone in modeling permanently. Other ways I would get bored easily. I just finished my first 1/12 F1 car recently and I hope you have as much fun as I had with it. Cheers Rob

Thanks Paul, unlike you, I have no special connection to the Skyline other than it's looks, but I share your feelings about a long lasting affair with an old car. I owned an old Mercedes back in Berlin and when we left many years ago, our son kept it as his ride. Now, after over thirty trouble free years, it didn't pass the technical check and will be sold, which makes me a bit sad. Cheers Rob

Some fast stuff, reached my recently neglected bench. I saw this one lately and had to buy it, The kit seems to be a simple build and I added some Speed 8 Green metallic from Number Five colors. I couldn't say no to this Manga styled BMW. Again a simple kit, but these are hard to find for a reasonable price. I bought it fairly priced, brand new and found the decaling manual nearly as content heavy as the building manual. I have another version of the BMW Z4 from Fujimi (which will sport a Michel Vaillant livery) and this has seat belts and masks for spraying the windows included. I can use the masks for both and added some seatbelts for this one. Cheers Rob

I bought a Dspaie nipper some years ago to substitute my old Tamiya cutter, which lost a tooth on one blade. I was not very satisfied with the Dspaie. It cuts well, but tends to stick into the plastic. I added two different Tamiya nippers later and liked them better. They are more versatile and robust to my eye. The cutting residue of the sprue is about the same. I use the Dspaie very rarely, only if parts leave not enough space between them and the sprue. Cheers Rob