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caterhamnut

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    caterham, VW type 2, mountain biking, design

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  1. Cheers Harv - appreciated. Lots to learn and this is the place to do it!!
  2. To compliment the WIP I just posted...I know there may be some historical inaccuracies here, and I know my 'gun streaks' are a bit heavy....I'm learning
  3. Final post on this one - it's a bloody miracle but I've actually finished a model, after numerous WIP threads.... Final touches first... With this model being wheels up I needed some sort of stand to display it. Th eSpitfire is iconic in that banked view, so I wanted Mark to have the option of displaying like that - but this is also a big kit... I'm quite chuffed with my solution...buy one LED light from IKEA, take out the lighty bits, cut the bendy bit down, add some supporting washers and enlarge the hole for the nav light in the belly of the plane - et voila - fully adjustable stand....it has worked really well - and the remaining bendy bit has been reunited with the light bits, given a wooden base and now becomes a usable LED light again.... The model fits snuggly on the stand with no glue, so can be removed as required... Final pieces on the kit was the exhausts. I added a bit of texture and weathered them a bit - and then used graphite pencil scrapings to add that metallic finish... And that was it!
  4. Had a minor potential disaster (and got away with it) where I had been using Tamiya airbrush cleaner (from Belgium!) and had a bit on a piece of kitchen roll, which I then rested the model on - luckily it was only on a one-colour section - so a quick gentle re-spray of the area worked - few!! I obviously had not learnt my lesson - when I was making the Brabham BT52 I managed to wipe the freshly dried blue Zero paint with a similar rag, and cause much more damage - perils of working on a small, temporary space - arrrgh!! Ginger had survived all the manhandling... ...and the canopy is going to fit! ...so on to the decals. Really comes alive now - I had sprayed a semi-gloss clear to protect the paint and help the decals, so everything looks very shiny right now... So, now onto the hard bit - adding a bit of weathering and detail! Quick question for Spitfire nerds - rear wheel - up or down? You see both in pictures.... So looked much better in matt... ...so it was on to some weathering. I've only ever done one other, so I am sticking to what I know at this point - so the end result will be a 'used' Spitfire - as opposed to a polished-to-perfection version! I am very aware that half the skill during this next stage is knowing when to stop... I'm missing my Tamiya Panel Gap wash (waaaay too dangerous for the UK apparently!) which worked very well, so it is straight to the oils.... ...always a bit scary this bit... ...and then wipe off, hopefully leaving some detail behind! I wipe in the 'direction' of the airflow. The molded rivets did not hold much black - but I think it turned out ok. I pretty quickly started on adding localised detail, in the form of stains, smoke trails, exhaust etc...again using oils. I dotted oil on and brushed with a 'dry' brush. Used a mix of black and some burnt umber. You can see I have added some more parts - the light behind the cockpit, and the aerial mast. I added the cockpit canopy - fitted surprisingly well, and the sliding bit...slides! At this point I also glued the prop on, and the airspeed tube on the underside of the wing (if that is what it is) - I also added an aerial wire - I AM AWARE THIS MAY NOT BE PERIOD/CORRECT - but it is a nice detail - I was showing my 'customer/mate' a little later yesterday, so I wanted all the fine stuff on - I'll probably take the wire back off again though... I used Tamiya flat clear sprayed from the can between various layers of oil etc - otherwise finger marks will show. The only main parts missing on these final photos are the exhausts - although I have added the exhaust staining. So very almost there! Just got to figure out how to mount it (in flight) but I do want to show it 'banking' as opposed to in level flight. For such a much-maligned kit, I'm pretty chuffed with the end result...when it is 100% finished, I want to take some proper pictures of it - it is big though! I may even try some taken at the old WW2 airfield that is a few miles away - Harrowbeer, Yelverton. Still got the exhausts to add, but been a bit distracted....took a few pictures in the photo cube anyway...
  5. Here are my attempts at the figure painting!! This is obviously a new skill to learn - I'll show some of the Mossie crew here as well for comparison, as I have done them at the same time - not finished yet. Amazing the difference in size from 1/32nd to 1/24! 1/32nd Test fit: I also applied some basic washes to the interior of the cockpit... I'd bought the Eduard harness set before I knew I was going to have Ginger in place, but still wanted to use at least some of it! Added the linkage I had seen in various source pics... I had already filed off the moulded in harness, glued these on top...I'll certainly add some wash etc to these, as they are far to clean and flat! With that - I glued the two halves together... I can still reach what I need to reach at final touch-up stage. Fitting the fuselage to the wings required some....thinning! Lots of lumpy, thick tooling here from this old kit... Lots of rigging to help parts line up and set where I wanted them to! Gluing in spacers to hold the wing skins together... But starting to look like a plane now... Let the filling, sanding and cursing begin. Although I had fitted the undercarriage, the plane will be 'flying' - so don't need this... I decided to cut the undercarriage out, so I could fix the wheel covers neatly, and glue the wheels in evenly, without being tied to the lazily moulded undercarriage struts etc. I also added the walls to the wheel bays... Not going to add huge detail, but did add some mesh to these visible rads... Now it is the new-skill-to-learn of re-scribing panel lines! ...and lots of sanding. Added a missing strut, then covered Ginger. ...so I could get some filler-primer on. and then start filling, sanding and re-scribing all over again! More filler - had to plug one of the pairs of gun holes, and the wing roots are a real pain on this model - each side is a different profile, and there are prominent ridges - that get sanded away as you try and fill gaps etc! Spent longer on this area than any other... I ended up adding some very thin strips of plastic to re-define this wing root area... The engine panels had prominent fittings in the molding, some of which got sanded off during fitting. I decided to replace these - they are more flush on most models, but are a nice bit of detail on this one - I used PE 'washers' glued on to represent these - lower profile than the ones that had been moulded on - lots of them though! I also used a generic PE 'pulley' to replace the crude detail of what I presume is an oil filler cap or similar, situated on top of the forward fuselage. I added the very nice extra detail set of cannon... Now onto the painting. On the only other plane I have made, I used oils on the top surface to simulate panel profiles, panel gaps etc and shading - on this model I decided to try the method of airbrushing black shadows BEFORE the top coat. Took a while to get the airbrush set correctly (low) and to get the steady hand required to freehand the lines, but super-accuracy is not required here... This had the desired effect... HOWEVER - I was not happy with the colour. I had read that sometimes the proposed colour for this top surface of the Spitfire can be a little dark, so had tried a slightly lighter colour - but was still not happy - easy to respray another slightly darker colour on top - but I had to re-spray those pesky shadow lines again! But happier with the colour...and with my first attempt at the shading. I then had a similar issue with the underside - the colour that was suggested seemed too close to the top grey, so I ended up doing this twice as well - the smaller XF-83 was suggested, but I ended up using XF-19 - very subtlely lighter - but I also know that when I use my oils later, it will make things slightly darker anyway... Finally it was the time for the Dark Green (RAF) - I used my Blutack method I used on the Mossie - I like the slightly soft edge it gives. Before spraying the green I had to re-apply those shade lines again, once masked. Pretty pleased with the final result... ...and now some airbrushed details, such as stripe and yellow around the gun ports... I had also completed the canopy sections - I had bought some after-market masks, which seemed to work ok. There were internal and external masks - I was going to spray the internal colour the same as the light green cockpit, but pictures suggest that the canopy framework itself was actually dark grey/black. As I had already sprayed the dark green, I left the internal like this... So now onto the decals!
  6. - could build a kit from the amount of flash, and the 'extra' sprue look like plasticine!! Thanks for the links above - very useful!! Just looking at your Spit build as well BBBodge - very cool. So after my first fleeting trip to Telford, I'm back and cracking on...I'd done the next bit on Thursday, but had not posted.... I was going to add some detail to the cockpit - only really what might be visible through the canopy - but the pilot hides almost everything anyway - still wanted to add details to the fuselage skins - I scratch built some bits to add to the - 5 - parts in the kit Again - not going to perfect accuracy - just an idea of stuff going on.... Level of kit detail: Started to add bits and bobs... What you might actually be able to see!! Also added detail to the bulkheads: Lidl purchase!! £3 ish Also have to work on this chap - very much a beginner on figure painting, so this will be interesting - also working on the 1/32nd Mossie crew at the same time... Info on another build suggests this seat is too large... Certainly old Ginger is a bit small when in the seat - may require a re-build... Right - time to get some colour on tonight (cockpit, that is) Right - shrank the chair! Pretty crude - but as I said, won't be seen AT ALL - and i want to finish this model! I've added a bit of 'padding' - (and obviously painted too early!) The filler inside is where the pilot part goes - I painted my 'fake' cockpit details.... ...and painted the instrument panel - I managed to get some white onto the clear parts, which have the dials cast in - when assembled with a black background, these actually look ok! (no decals) A test fit shows how little of any of this you will actually be able to see!! Especially with Ginger in position! Going to have to cheat Gingers physical appearance a bit to make him hold everything properly... I've also started removing his molded-in harness so I can use the Eduard detail parts I bought - at least the top straps that thread through the bulkhead to attach behind the seat...
  7. My second (and final for now) intro to LSM! Another Netflix-style dump of a whole WIP process to get up to date. This is my second plane, which I started and finished a few months ago, while I was still working on the Mossie. A friend had bought the kit and I offered to build it. Thank goodness he wanted it 'flying' - the fit of the engine and covers would have been a nightmare. I know from elsewhere that not EVERY detail in this kit is 100% historically accurate - some of that can be atributed to Airfix, and some to me - but it looks good, which is what my friend wanted....  Right - after a year 'off' modelling and a move back to the UK, I'm getting back into the modelling game again- for my 2nd military plane, I'm building this large scale kit for a friend. I've not finished the Mossie yet, but need something new to get me back into it all.... From what I have read, these old big Airfix kits can be a bit hit and miss in terms of fit etc - certainly not quite the same as the new Tamiya stuff, that is for sure! But a lovely subject. The kit had been very slightly started, with a few parts of the cockpit assembled and painted. I've undone this work, so I can paint again with new paint and so keep colour consistency. It also means I can add a bit more detail - despite my plan to build totally OOB, I can't help myself. I've ordered the Eduard seatbelts, Master 20mm cannons and some masks for spraying the cockpit I'm going to scratch build some cockpit internals - but not go mad - hopefully. Researching forums on this subject, there are a huge number of opinions, variations etc etc - I'm going for a nice kit - if the radio headset is not correct for a particular month in the 40's, I'm ok with that That said, I do want to get the big stuff accurate.... So the first job was to dismantle the very small amount of assembly, just to make it easier to tweak. I didn't take many pictures at this point, but it was only really a little bit of cockpit area stuff. I primed over the green paint, just to make it easier to see what was going on... At this point I was going to work on the engine, so I had stripped this to work on as well - I was just going to show one side panel open - the panel fit is so bad, I was going to glue the other side shut! Now the plane is 'in flight' I can miss this step out... I took the very small amount of 'detail' in the kit and improved it a little - as now much of it would be properly hidden I did not do too much of this - at this point! ....I cut the end off and replaced with wire - if this had been visible (it wont be) I would have rebuilt in its entirety - but I want to actually finish this model! I had bought a few detail parts...cannons (nice) seatbelts (now not needed, or at least not all of the parts) and cockpit canopy masks... I started to assemble the 'big' bits, knowing that the real work was going to be the filling, sanding and finishing - this is not a complicated kit to assemble in terms of part numbers of complexity... Nothing glued here obviously... The wings have lots of panels to fit - used to show the guns inside the wing if required...they went in ok - with some fettling obviously... In order to get the panels to fit over the engine, I had to cut away the back to thin them... Could be fairly crude as unseen... I glued a crossmember in the wing root to fix the oft-mentioned drooping wing, after joining the wing parts.... I had fixed the undercarrige in place - I'll fit the cover panels later.... That really was it for the big stuff - could now turn my attention to the cockpit area...
  8. lol - thanks mate, much appreciated. Just uploading the Spit now, then that's it!
  9. So having posted the whole WIP on this just now in true Netflix style, here is the finished result! De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI This particular version is modeled on one that took part in Operation Jericho, RNZAF, No 487 Squadron My first aircraft kit (although I started and finished a Spitfire for a mate in between) and it is a cracker - I know it is expensive, but cannot fault this Tamiya kit. Although I used some Eduard detail kits (engines, guns etc) you certainly do not need these to make the kit amazing. I'm learning the weathering thing, and I know this is a little 'dirty' - but I thoroughly enjoyed it and learning what I did, having been inspired by the masterpieces elsewhere on this forum... ...sorry, I find it hard to edit the number of photos I want to do some more pics with a bit of photoshop play, backgrounds etc.... And finally - I posted the montage below on FB.... ...within minutes a friend sent me this. She made my day and it makes me smile each time I see it....
  10. It's a bit like Netflix - no weekly updates, just the whole lot dumped in one go!
  11. Many thanks Bill - I've got one more 'WIP' to add tonight - then my input will slow down to more sensible speeds!! cheers!
  12. And that is it!! A few years (slow) work posted in about 20 minutes I'll post the finished pics in the correct place.
  13. That pretty much brings us up to now, where I finished the kit a few days ago - so a few more stages here...looking back as I post these in one evening, it is nice to see a progression in what I was learning - early weathering looked a little 'dirty' but I think I managed to take it back a bit - probably still a little grubby for some....! So, where was I - the Mossie made it back from New York ok, but has been sat waiting for the final touches - fitting the canopy, tail fin, exhausts, props & final weathering touch ups etc....and some crew! I'd left it too late to add any crew into the cockpit (I wanted everything visible and not blocked - of course, once closed up you can't see anything anyway) - but there is a pilot posed to climb the ladder into the cockpit, so I may well use him. Never having painted any figures, I painted all of them while I did the 1/24 Spit pilot. First layers of colour...now adding some depth. Gloss will be removed at the end (matt) At this point I took some new shots in the photo cube...just testing! Engines have no detail paint at this point - or exhausts... Also got a few shots of things that will soon disappear! Gonna start a finished thread, but here is a preview!
  14. Right - built the 'kit' engine now - as supplied in the Tamiya box - this one will be hidden by the panels, so don't need the full detail, but I thought it would be good to compare the Tamiya Merlin and the Eduard one, which will be on show. The tamiya one is still superb...\ Tamiya tell you to leave that bit of sprue (bottom frame) on while you are building - I forgot on the top one! You won't see any of this, but I'll still make it look nice Joined with the previously prepared parts - all fits perfectly... So now she can finally sit on here 3 wheels!! Still gotta do exhausts...but panels will fit nicely... Lots of stuff to work on obviously, but last big job is the canopy - a part that received universal praise in the reviews when the kit first came out.... I made the bomb bay gun that comes in the kit - the Eduard one is in the model... Canopy - multi-level this one - after masking, you spray the interior colour on the outside, so it shows through, then the outer colour over the top of that! Throw some PE inside as well, and it looks amazing - with an interior framework also built onto the model... Tamiya supplies masks, but not die-cut which is a pain - Eduard do... I used the tamiya ones to fill in the centers left by the Eduard ones - if that makes sense! 'Inner' color - cockpit green... Followed by outer colour... Some of the camo green goes over the cockpit...making sure it lines up! Had to weather the visible strips! Slight seeping removed with Windex on an cotton bud... Now the frame... Dipped into Future/Pledge to clean off the canopy - worked a treat... Eduard extra PE set has a nice frame for inside the canopy... Tiny PE parts within... Dry decal on the top (with film on in this shot) Just placed in to position, so not seated properly... Right - bit of a break now - I'm relocating back to the UK, so all this has to be packed up for a few weeks - no idea how - then I can finish and photograph properly - so close to the finish as well!! Back soon....! cheers
  15. Starting to assemble the various parts now... ***TIP IF YOU ARE BUILDING THIS KIT*** Note the silver collars on the end of the outer gun barrels of the belly gun. These barrels disappear into the body work under the cockpit, and are visible as the ends of the gun barrels on the underside of the plane - but the visible parts are a separate part in the kit - no point in extending huge barrels under the cockpit. That is why these gun barrels are tapered - it is so they can be easily threaded into the fuselage and hidden. The silver collars butt up to the bulkhead. As molded and glued (they slip over the ends), they are too close to the ends of the barrels and prevent the gun assembly from sitting properly. I ended up cracking them off as you cannot see them in situ. Now these are Eduard parts, but I thing I recall reading that the same happens with the Tamiya bits, in that book you can buy about building the kit. It could be that I could have pushed my collars on further before gluing? Bomb rack fitted... This little panel covers the radiators. They are held on by the magnets you can see in the shot below - very neat (you glue two small PE flats into the panel underside) Now fitting the fuselage sides that are under the wing structure, and line the bomb/gun bay sides... Also fitting the hydraulic struts that open/close the doors... More pics - sorry, I'm using this as a ref. for myself as well.... I'm learning about the aircraft here as well - wondered what the silver blocks were in the bomb bay doors - now I have fitted them I see that when closed they fit directly over the guns and allow spent shells to eject out of the aircraft... Lights below are Molotow marker with clear tamiya color dropped in... Silver panels around the exhausts on the side panels... All this detail on the front of the Merlin is about to disappear... Method for grubbiness... Cover in diluted oil paint... Wipe off! (in direction of airflow (or gravity) I like the way the oil gets left behind around features - just like in 'real' life... Undercarriage assembly... Note the piece at the top of the struts that Tamiya supply in order to keep everything lined up during assembly... Cockpit hatch (gloss before weathering) Can't resist test assembling - but it is always night time when I get to this stage! Saying goodbye to this view as I attach undercarriage doors... Can't put it off anymore - I have to build the other engine so I can fit the other side together! (That nose panel is not in place) Molotow markers are chrome pens that are incredible for recreating ....chrome! Or mirrors. I used them to fill the lights before adding the red/green lenses. People are using them for chrome trim on car models, engine details etc - they are amazing.... Amazon link: http://a.co/gPHitlk
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