DocRob

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

Your cockpit looks extremely good Peter. Better or not as the Tamiya Spit is not the question, as Tamiya doesn't have a MK I. Enjoy your build and pleas show us your usual magic, even weathered . Cheers Rob

Crisp and clean, Peter. Another showcase of your fabulous abilities. Somehow your finished kits show a definite unique style, let's say they are petresque . Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter and Martin, the bleeding nose and burning eyes, because of air dryness persists here and so my lack of modelling urge. I jump into the ocean in the morning to cool down and the rest of the day is a lazy affair, hiding in the shadows whenever possible. Summer heat is normal here, but normally it cools off in the night Not this time and it's not summer anymore . It seems, the weather will stay like this for at least another week. The next update will be in awhile, as I won't show some blocks and pre rigging on every single spar and bore you out. Cheers Rob

PE can be delicate and with parts like yours, everything is about the sequence, as not to corner yourself, bending in a wrong process. There are only right angles, except one; I may have used only a pair of bending tweezers to get the contour right and skip the jig. Anyway, the result counts and your light guard looks good. Cheers Rob

Indeed your Whirlwind came out really nice, Kevin. The paintjob looks great and I can feel your satisfaction, having mastered this short run beauty. I hope you leg and back are well. Not the greatest thing in the world, to be run over by a car. All the best. Cheers Rob

Your painting is flawless Phil, I don't know, how you achieve this super clean look, which is one of your trade marks. Can't wait to see the Fury with all the markings on. We have the absolute opposite weather situation here, it's very hot and super dry, since over a week and it will last for another week at last. Creeping from shadow to shadow is the best way to handle this, as the nights are equally hot, very untypical. Cheers Rob

Since more than a week, we have 35° C in the day- and more than 30° C in the nighttime and in between some days of storm, so watering the garden and Siestas in the shadow are the way to go. The humidity is about 15%, which dries nose, eyes and brain and the weather will stay at least for another week like this, phew . Modelling wise, I made only little progress with the DoK and only managed to prepare one spar with lifts, footrests and other fittings. I should emphasize a bit more on the knots, as my basic household knotting isn't up to the game. I will simplify, but not too much. I will pre rig all the spars next, followed by the pre rigging of the masts, but it will take some time and maybe a tiny in between build . Cheers Rob

Nice and good tip with the LT to cure te silvering. Cheers Rob

Looking relatively good and maybe the only choice instead of spraying Alclad or Extreme Metals, because the rods are very thin for foiling. Just yesterday, a pack of this foil arrived here. I'm eager to see, how it works compared to BMF. Cheers Rob

Does it really work Phil? I had the Molotow chrome pens and they worked only in recesses, like the headlights of my Ford GT II build. On landing gear oleos, they completely failed. If the AK pens are better, I would give them a try. Cheers Rob

Like Carl said, it's 1/24 and seems to be a kit design first in 1987. I don't like the obsessive tobacco ad ban on kits in general, but with this kit it's especially bad. On close inspection the purple color of the tobacco ad decals don't match these of the kit decals. How everything fitted with the Zero Paints purple, I have not tested yet. There is another 'non controversial' Castrol version made by Hasegawa of the XJR-9. They only pollute the environment with oil drilling and refining, never mind. I have 1/20 McLaren MP's and a JPS Lotus 79 in stash, but with these, I have complete decal sheets and therefore no color issues. Cheers Rob

The Jaguar XJR-8 arrived today. I had to wait a bit to find one of the kits with my suppliers. The kit itself is simple without engine and some flash, but nothing to worry about. This one will be about finish, either decal or masked and airbrushed with the fitting Zero Paints. I had to add the tobacco sponsor decals, as they are not included . Cheers Rob

I can't seem to find building time lately. Nonetheless, I added all the wooden fittings to the yards, glued the PE footrest holders in with CA and inserted brass rods for pinning the yards to the masts. Then all was sprayed matte black. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, it feels good to continue with the DoK. Cheers Rob