GazzaS

Frank! That looks fantastic! Not sure you need further weathering. Gaz

Wow... that brings back memories. The first aircraft carrier kit I murdered as a kid. Wait... my only-ever aircraft carrier kit. Lots of itty bitty jets! Might be a big ask for the decals to be good.

Harv, Don't do it. It will keep you chopping, filling, and sanding for ever! Gaz

Thank you for the link, Rob. They might be useful inspecting the tail area as they are looking very low to the ground. Although I originally envisaged the bomber crew inspecting their own aircraft, along the rear fuselage, I could make it look as if there are some curious fighter jocks having a peek instead of the crew in who are relieved to have landed safely. Trying to reconfigure the uniforms and life preservers into The Kapok form might be more work than I want to do/ruin. Thank you! ICM are quite bold when it comes to subjects and moulds. For instance, these Dorniers have plastic MG 15’s. But here is the amazing thing... their MG 15’s actually have the ring sight moulded to the barrel. I’ve never had one I considered not worth the time to fix a few minor fit issues. Now these Dornier moulds aren’t their newest or best. I recently built their Dornier Do 217 night fighter. I thought it was a nice kit except for it’s radar array. It’s fuselage needed a little internal stiffening.... it was a pleasure to build. I also built their MiG-25PD... Another nice kit with only one real glaring but not insurmountable fit issue. I thought I had an ICM Ju-88C6... but when I got home to look, it turned out to be Dragon. Now... to put all that into one sentence: If I want a plane... and ICM covers it, the only other brand I would jump on first would be Dragon or Tamiya. Thank you! Thank you!

Ah... finishing a model... For the past two years, I've completed 12 per year. I'm going to fall short this year.

Just a PE idea I've been using lately. I use a bit of CA, then I give a tiny amount of canopy glue to help fine parts stay put. It's kept my PE seat belts in place... but FYI.... I did anneal them first and bent them to fit the seat before I glued them... Oh... and after I annealed them, but before shaping them... I sanded the back side to give more gripping surface/texture. I'm still learning PE... but the canopy Glue is a sanity saver. It dries clear to a semi-rubbery state.

Very cool... thank you for sharing!

Hello Friends, The 'All-black' plane experiment (not to be confused with the NZ Rugby Union Team) continues. I finished fabricating the inside of the entrance/escape hatch. I didn't have much to go on, so it's all educated guessing. I added lugs to hold the pneumatic rods which would have raised and lowered the hatch. I suppose I could have made finer versions from strips of brass or aluminum.... but that didn't occur to me until just now. At any rate, adding aluminum strips would have best been done before the fuselage was closed up. Maybe next time. The hatch is just dry-fitted and will need some detail painting done. Here it is from the outside. Crap... just realized I need some AM Mg 17 barrels.... of course, they come in sets of two! And for your edification, the engines and cowlings added to give an idea of where I'm going with this. Oh... just realized I need a reflector sight, too. Yep...there isn't one in the kit. I have a 1/48 Bf109T that I kept for parts after I realized that the resin wingtips were too small for the kit. One final request before you go: Does anyone know of any 1/48 German bomber crew in coveralls in standing positions? My search has been unsuccessful thus far. I have a regular ICM Dornier Do-17Z and I was thinking of making it look really shot up, but making it home safely. There are some good damage pics out there from bombers that were filled with .303 holes but still got home. Thanks for looking! Gaz

When I was a 12 year old boy I painted a Monogram P-38 with Testors silver paint. It was so ugly that I decided I would never do NMF again. After a long hiatus I returned back to models 4-5 years ago. And I found a website on how to cover an aircraft with aluminum foil. Although a tedious process, each build gets easier and easier as you build muscle memory and learn how the foil reacts to manipulation and how to weather the foil.

Really looking good now, John! That propeller is sweet!

Great pic! This is a later war Heinkel. I remember someone mentioning that later, they changed 70 and 71 due to fading problems. For me, it's one of the hardest paint relations to get right. But like I said.... there are endless variations.

Your helos always amaze me! Congrats on being published! Gaz

Rob, I think those figures look great! I'm still trying to master figures. But I doubt mine will ever live up to macro photos. Gaz

Cans look awesome!

LG and hubs look outstanding!

Dust. No matter what I do... there's always some mote stuck somewhere in the finish. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to everything. But dust frustrates every build.

Just clicked the join button.

Count me interested, Harv!

Which Facebook pages do you run, Mate?

Your colour looks right to me. Just beware that there are endless variations in any mass produced colour. Regarding paint lift: No primer is going to protect you from paint lift . I have found that a light sanding everywhere you are going to mask can save you a lot of agony. Looking forward to more and pics of your build. Gaz

Thanks mate! As much as I love them.... 1/32 is too big for me.

Thank you, Kev

Very nice work, Fran! Definitely an eye catcher. Gaz

Love the paint job!