GazzaS

NOW! Now we learn how you can whack out builds so quickly!

Exceptional, John!

Halloween is coming.

That is a nice looking engine, Rob. Radial engines, they say "Do me to the limits". So we whip out the lead wire and even little decals... All to virtually disappear anyway. ...Unless you have ppl who are gonna know what they are looking at have a close peep.

Well... I would use them before they got too old. I don;t know if anyone else makes a set for the FW..

Welcome fellow modellers! I didn't feel like applying rivets today... I had applied more, yesterday after my painting update. Photos of them, later. Today I focused on masks and adding raised detail to the control surfaces with masks. So, it was a perfect time to do all of the masks with my Silhouette Portrait. Here is a screenshot of the main plan. You will notice how I used the masks to add the detail to the control surfaces: I can just feel the texture when I run my fingertips over them. I also tackled the propeller hub spiral. Last year, when I built my PCM 190 I copied the supplied spinner decal to use it as mask. It was a cool looking spiral... that didn't work as a mask. So, I made my own. When the sides of the spinner become straighter, the need for curve decreases and a straighter line is needed. Now I understand why spinner decals require so much decal softener. So, with that as my starting point, one at a time, I tried to make a mask that would fit my spinner with no wrinkles or other faults that could ruin the painting process. The other five spirals on the mask are attempts to get the spinner right for a 109. This is the correct shape for a mask that will fit the 109's spinner faultlessly. To finish up... Some more rivet shots. Happy modelling!

What kind of plane is this?

I only have about 80 kits. And really... I have everything I have ever wanted. But recently a local event has given me an idea to sahre with you guys who have massive stashes. The event: A guy died, and his wife contacted his club and they got hold of an auction house. The auction house set it up so that ppl could bid online and pay for both the kit and postage and it would be posted to them. I didn't look at every model and it's bidding history. But all of the nicer newer kits that I bid on sold for more than retail. I don;t know how much the auction house took. Or who they hired to post them. But maybe it's something you guys with monster stashes can check out with a local auction house prior to your demises.

Archer is going out of business, buddy.

I'm already at the tail end of Monday. I sold all of my single-engined 1/48 kits. Fighters will only be LSP's for now.

Beautiful work, Sasha! Makes me want to build a 190.

Looking good, Phil. I hear the indy link tracks will drive you mad.

What, not done yet? You could have that Shashimi... or whatever ship it is, half way done by now.

I got the image of farcebook. There was nothing saying it was colorized or not. If it is a colorization... it's a damn good one.

If you like cars, and can stand British humor... then the old ones are worth seeing.

The details are looking great Chris. I doubt anyone will notice the IP decals. Seat belts are the new PITA when it comes to aircraft modelling. There are some youtube vids on making your own. Heck, I've even used Tamiya tape before. I've got a bunch of 1/48 scale twins... I will not be buying seat belts for them. Maybe guns. Maybe radar aerials. But cockpit interiors... they just don;t seem to matter as much as 1/32 pits.

AVG ace pilot Robert T Smith sitting in cockpit of Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Welcome back, Buddy. You bought The Stig?

Phil, That looks great! All of those micro sessions pay off. On my workdays, I'm usually too tired to even think about models.

It's a gloomy, rainy, damp day. So, what better day to mix some paints and go outside and play with the airbrush? I know.. I know. Bad idea. First I had to mix some paints. A good opportunity to use some empty Tamiya Paint bottles. I am using SMS paints. I am going through a de-saturation phase of beliefs. Using gray and buff (depending on the color to be de-saturated) to give a more in-scale look. I dragged out an old, incomplete Hase 109 in 1/48 scale to test my new colors. I know... looks like Sh*t. In my defence, it was raining and I was painting with only weak morning light. I was only looking for the way the colors matched. When I paint the model I will use some masks and fading effects for color modulation. ...and other stuff.

Thank you, Rob. I couldn't find a photographer who wasn't dressed up like he was at the front. So many good figures are OOP. Thanks. Yep... a slave to my own success... But let's not make final judgement just yet. High praise indeed. There are some good pics out there if you can find them... of women at the Messerschmitt factory doing the rivets. Likewise, you can find the same kind of images, often in color... of American riveter women at work. Martin? Pete needs some photos of chicks working on P-40's for motivation.

Thank you, Peter. Laying them is not as bad as I expected. I'm doing it by eye instead of by meticulous measuring. Don't tell anyone. There are plenty of landmarks on the kit plastic to keep me in the neighborhood. And you have to remember that all of this riveting was done by hand. So, someone had to drill holes... and I bet the drill bit occasionally wandered before going through.

Cool! Please let us know if it solidifies faster. One of the things I dislike about using it as a filler is waiting overnight for it to harden.

G'day! On a side note... after 21 years in Australia, I am still unable to do an Aussie accent. So, I don't really try. I'm told I still sound very American. Anyway... on to the fun. Rivets, rivets, and more rivets. The following photos are from now at the end of the third stage of adding lines of HGW rivets. Above is probably the best of the photos. The wing spar... the 109 has only 1. Has multiple lines of rivets. Nearer to the fuselage are four parallel lines. Outside of the wheel well to the end, it goes down to two parallel lines. Likewise the tailplane will have two parallel lines in the center. Around the cockpit there are quite a few different lines of rivets. Early days here. It's easy to make mistakes. Can you see the string of rivets I put on the incorrect side of the panel line? One of the alarming aspects is the amount of metal pigments lifted when removing the transfer material. I really, really hope it doesn't show later. I have no intention of showing the silver head of every rivet. The fuselage and walk areas will obviously show more rivet heads due to human contact and the use of a buffing wheel to polish the paint. Outside of the walk areas, the polishing was done by hand. Some of the non-bare-headed rivets may get some oil highlighting. Some will get nothing at all. But that is just the plan right now. Reality may be a bit different. So... How do I feel about these rivets? I feel that they add more authenticity to the model. Which probably means that I'll be stuck buying them for life. Anyway... thanks for looking. On to the next stage of rivets.

I was thinking Flying Tigers . But I didn't feel the need to be so direct with the title.