airscale

evening ladies got a good session in over the weekend, so a bit more to show.. the prop blade root rings were laminated & assembled... ..not fixed yet, but slid on for size.. ..and what they will look like on the prop.. ..the floor parts were prepared, some are laminates and the one in the middle needed the rectangular pressing adding by first making a template and working some annealed litho.. the far left part is the firewall bulkhead.. ..the base part for the rear canopy had a brass channel added to the back.. ..this was then added and a little bit of P38 filler to just fair it in just right.. .the rough holes in the floor are just that - rough holes in the floor (to allow the proper holes to be see through) ..to make the pressing that is behind the seat and holds the baggage hatch, I made up a buck in thick plastic card so I could form a metal one over it.. ..the first stage in forming - this is after a little hammering and pressing with wooden tools.. ..and after finessing a bit... ..I actually decided to leave the part on the buck and integrate that into the model - here the floors have been fitted, but the seat bulkhead is just resting in place.. ..it's nice to get going now I have the PE - lots of little projects I can get on with.. TTFN Peter

woohoo the custom PE is here prop blade root rings and radiator.. two kinds of cockpit stowage hatch & cowl flaps.. cockpit floor parts lower panel & canopy enclosure parts upper panel & bezels, central console & bezels.. rudder pedals and rear upper cockpit under the canopy bulkheads & floor parts radiator & hood winding wheel, armour plate & seat parts - one of the radiator halves didn't come out so PPD will do this again.. all good to get started properly now Hi Hamish, no I don't print them, I have a good friend Tim Perry (Wunwinglow on LSP) who does that for me TTFN Peter

hey folks :) So while I wait for the PE, a few little things done.. ..the big under fuselage airscoop needed a resin nose so I could hollow it out so this was thrown in a mould.. ..then cast and starting to drill out the waste.. ..and it's good enough to skin when the time comes.. ..also the cowl was reshaped as the front opening was a bit too wide.. also added fake cowl flaps so I can get the positioning of the radiator and the rounding of the fuselage under them.. and here my nice 3D fuselage front has been reworked, the centre spigot made bigger and the exhaust port openings made up.. ..the 3D radiator was split in two and a spacer added to get the right width.. ..that was then skinned in brass until the PE turns up.. ..so now the spacing internally in the cowl is correct.. ..the spinner was next, a backplate detail was made with rivet detail.. ..this was then painted RLM 66 (hope thats right..) ..then rivets added and an alclad basecoat.. and I decided for now to shoot the spinner black and wire wool it to see some of the rivet detail.. ..for the blades, I scaled a good profile picture and looked at whether I could repurpose either the Hobbyboss or the 21st Century Toys blade to suit.. ..decided on the Fw190D blade and stuck the profile to the blade and dremelled away the difference.. ..and after finishing a master, I cast 3 more.. ..and the prop is nearly finished - I still need to add all the PE parts at the base of each blade (pitch controls?) they are notched discs present on most blades.. ..just waiting for the PE now before I can really get started.. TTFN Peter

evening folks not had too much bench time strangely, but thought I would drop in with progress - most of my time has been building up a big PE fret of many, many parts.. first up, I got a 3D printed console and made up a litho side panel - the details on this will be replaced by PE... Also made the sidewalls and added the doubler and the single stringer that runs fore and aft.. (though I made it too long, it stops at the Instrument panel but anyway.. ..now to the PE - I have spent ages trying to find drawings and have a CD off ebay and the few manuals available, but they are mostly illustrations rather than schematics and really to do this properly you need a good dimensioned drawing.. anyways - some of the stuff on here: floors radiators cockpit panels canopy panels canopy details bulkheads seat parts rudder pedals cowl flaps prop blade bosses exhaust parts ..basically months and months of parts if I had to make them traditionally.. take a look around I always print them so I can check they are sized correctly.. ..here I can see I used the wrong fuselage template for the sides so these rear fuselage panels wouldn't fit properly.. (though they mount slightly forward of this position on the seat rails).. ..the radiator parts fit well.. ..so these need to get off to PPD to be etched, but they are still in or recovering from lockdown so there will be a delay in production I also put a walkaround of all the parts and a 'how to' video on Patreon so folks can see how easy this all really is TTFN Peter

goodness me they are nice bits of mini engineering not easy making duplicates - smashing job as usual Tom Peter

evening folks a bit more done over the bank holiday... I started to work on the left hand side console as seen below - I don't have a drawing of this side so I made one from scaling multiple pictures, made tricky by the oblique nature of the photographs - note also the oval pressing shapes which would need reproducing... ..I made up a female shape as I did with the first side, but I couldn't get happy with the results - the metal curves into the hole rather than the sharp lines seen in the photo - I tried annealed (left) and non-annealed metal, but both were a fail.. so I used the drawing I made to generate it in 3D and will just add a metal side plate and fair in the join - here is the pre print image Tim sent me.. you can see the console on the left and the other bits are the artificial horizon as thats quite an iconic part (& cannot be done in etch) and the Ausgleichsgefäss that sits unfer the main panel in the one cockpit photo I have.. ..so while that gets printed I moved on to sorting the fuselage around the cockpit.. ..I scaled the Bentley drawings and marked the key lines of the rear bulkhead & floor.. ..then I cut out the sides and added scaled templates again from drawings to make sure the bulkhead shapes were correct - they were out quite a lot - the rear especially was flat sided and too narrow compared to the template so the first round of P38 filler was added to start to bulk it out.. ..once that was done, the canopy area was checked, again this was a bit out with the angle being wrong (too tall at the back), too low, and the 'footprint' shape being too fat at the rear - I started by correcting the angle to the right one.. ..then a scaled template added to make up the height and give the correct shape - I added a brass sheet tip so I didn't sand away the right shape... ..another set of templates added and the whole lot filled with P38... ..and after shaping & priming, I know this bit is right... ..also made double sure the front was right.. ..I also added the nose bit (not the cowl) and tried to replicate the unique top cowling area the V18 had - it is not the same as any A or D model so all I can do is work from photo's - it's not finished, but it's closer than it was.. ..I now had made enough changes to start to set out where things go by using the drawings to give me a scale skeleton of major reference points.. ..I will start with the sidewalls, so I cut some litho sheet that overlaps slightly front and back and made a jig for the sheet to sit in - this is both sides, on the right is the carrier, a sheet that the actual sidewall will sit in that matches all the cross section drawings and on the left a sidewall is sat on it's carrier with the areas that will overlap the fusealge taped up so I know the boundaries of the space to work in.. ..it's this sort of principle - I can keep taking the sidewalls out of the jig to align with parts etc and build up the detail until at some point they get mounted - I can then just skin over them.. TTFN Peter

evening folks & thanks again Martin I have spent most of the time since the last update doing computer work on the PE that will be needed, and in fact set out all the parts for the one sidewall I have drawings for - it's this side and this is a useful resto shot showing some of the basic panel work.. note the assembly is mainly pressings with rounded edges and strengthening shapes.. ..I also have an A model top face picture which seems to fit with the earlier layout - there are many different shapes for the cutout where the engine start pull switch is..and n fact every side panel i look at is different in one way or another.. ..after laying out all the PE, including layers to try and develop some of the pressing shapes, I thought firstly it may not actually end up looking liike a pressing, and secondly my Photo etch people PPD are still on lockdown so I don't know when I might actually be able to get the parts made up ..with this in mind I thought I would try and make my own pressings.. I used the PE designs to cut the female shape from thin plastic card and mounted it on a solid backing. After annealing litho, I used a wooden coffee stirrer to work the metal around the female mould and get the pressing - when the prototype worked, I made the parts up for real and embossed any rivets from the back.. ..they are not as crisp as PE, but at least they look more like they are pressed.. ..I then took zero pictures until I had finished detailing the sidewall... sorry.. still more to do, but it's a start at least.. ..I now need to try and find drawings of the other side..though I may just scale things from the other resto pic I have... TTFN Peter

thank you Martin and hello again bit more 190 stuff over the weekend.. starting to redo the chin intake.. again, I use foil tape to build on so it can be broken off for casting later - I cut formers from card and filled in the body with balsa to save filler.. ..the shape was refined until I was happy.. ..then it was broken off and a two part mould made (a very crap one as it just needs the rough shape..) I skinned the airscoop roof and added some random gubbins for the back of the engine for now so it's not a big empty hole.. ..in terms of the radiator inside the scoop, there is very little to go on - this picture is the V18 Arthur tells me not the V13 it is captioned as being so in here we can see what looks like a round device (like a turbo intake) sat in the middle of the radiator, with some big pipes out the back, so I deduced the radiator from the front must have some sort of circular inlet.. I can also just see what I think is a light, round smudge if you look down the throat of the chin scoop in the only front view I have.. ..with that in mind, I cast a new scoop from resin, hollowed it out, skinned it in litho on the inside and built a representative radiator front.. - I guess my guess is as good as anybodys until pics or documents turn up.. ..with the scoop fitted.. ..the next major headache was the big under fuselage airscoop - I took the photo's I had and determined as much as I could about the shape - once happy (& this took one whole day to work out..) I made a former skeleton, again with black outlines to see where to sand filler to.. ..I spent a while photographing & compositing the model and the parts to make sure it is as near as I can get it - here the skeleton can be seen composited with a photo from the same angle.. ..filled with balsa first, before filling with P40.. ..and after filling & sanding.. ..the top of the whole unit is rounded at the edges where it meets the fuselage, in this pic you might be able to see the reflection of the rounded edge - what i mean is it is not a perpendicular panel to the fuselage bottom... ..so the top was rounded and the profile worked all the way down to the exit pipe area at the rear.. the unit was sat back on the foiled fuselage so I could add the filler and still have the right contour.. ..it's pretty hard to photograph, but the form is getting closer... thats it for now TTFN Peter

not many things in life make me drool on my laptop (the less said the better...), but this is 100% one of them... Peter

evening ladies I trust all are safe & well in these troubled times.. Thats a great spot Martin - I actually redid the tail by tracing the good photo I have as I kept getting outlines being in the wrong place - hopefully now it passes muster Lockdown has advantages in that between emails & conference calls, I get to do some proper work... first up, the nose needed correcting, so I worked out where the nose starts to curve in under the cowl flaps and would meet the 3D printed part and got ready to cut it off - I struggled for a while to get an even cut line until I landed on an elastic band around the nose to mark it out.. ..then the nose was cut off and a disc of the same diameter as the new cowl added & faired into.. ..this was then prepped & primed.. ..also sorted the tail out by fixing it, correcting the shape and adding the fairlead housing at the tip.. ..moving to the wings, I decided to use the Hobbyboss kit wings but the outline around the aileron is out so this needed correcting.. ..the edge was scraped (like joggling) to let in a bit of litho to the correct profile.. ..a mainspar of the correct dihedral was added (the kit is out a bit), and two spigots added for the landing gear - these are just CA'd to rudimentary mounts.. ..the spigots are smaller thyan I usually do as I want to be able to have flexibility when I mount the legs later on for all the odd angles the 190 gear is at, so they were ground with some serrations so the JB weld I will use will have a key when I slide a wider gear leg tube over it later... ..the moulded kit wheel wells were chopped out and the edges thinned... ..the basic gear well was refined by cutting the skin back to the main spar and the forward bulkheads and lining them and the roof with thick card.. ..the kit wings are all wrong where they meet the fuselage, HB have this as flat whereas there is a curved under fuselage section and the wings fair into the fuselage higher than just the bottom of the fuselage - a lot of work went into correcting this.. ..I also added brass fillet outlines as a hard point of reference and to give structural rigidity.. ..still work to do, but it's getting closer.. ..the 3D cowl arrived today (thanks Tim!), along with the backplate, spinner, radiator & prop boss.. ..and the form of the airframe starts to emerge.. thats it for now.. TTFN Peter

afternoon folks I trust I find you all safe and well so it's been a bitty few weeks, with a LOT of learning about this airframe I should have done before I stormed in cutting things up... hey ho, we live and learn... lets start where we left off, which was the chin airscoop - this is the resin part as it cae out of the mould -very rough & ready but all it needs to impart are basic shapes.. ..I dremmeled out the innards and used fuse wire to get the profile to make a radiator part.. ..as I will never get in here once fitted, I skinned the inside and built a radiator front - mainly speculative as I have no pics of this area at all, just a drawing showing how far back it is set.. ..also skinned the bottom of the fuselage where the scoop mounts - the flanges will be rolled into it to fair in the shape once fitted.. ..all fitted... however, this is where things started to really unravel... ..in looking more, and learning more, including chatting with Arthur Bentley it seems the V18 had a very different nose to the D9 or D13... for one the engine thrustline is 110mm above the datum vs 70mm for a D model, the cowl diameter is 1200mm vs the 1100mm I had for the D9 so the upshot is the nose is all wrong.... lol...not.. ..the first inkling of a problem was when I saw the dotted outline on Arthurs plans for the 1200mm cowl.. ..after chatting he also sent me this original FW Project drawing that was submitted to the RLM which while it shows an early version of the supercharger fitting, it does show the much higher upper nose line (almost parallel to the datum unlike the sloping D9 / D13)... the other section drawing out there was done post war - this is the real deal.. ..I also used photo's to determine things like cowl flap position as these are not on the drawings - an average was taken from three side shots as there are no perfect side on views.. ..the drawing was then imported into Rhino and the 3D modelling started.. ..the cowl flaps are just dummies to help my orientation, but the other parts will be 3D printed to get this bit right for skinning later on.. .. I had a notion that I might be able to graft the new nose onto the Hobbyboss 1/18 kit as that is an A8 and the V18 was derived from an A1 (rear fuselage - thanks Martin - have also been advised W.Nr. 0040 --> 0110040, which was an A-1 ) so it made sense to maybe start with an earlier model standard airframe than the chopped up D9 I currently have I put up an unboxing video anyone can access with a walk through the bits and impressions on the kit if you are interested so there we are - fools rush in, I have learned a lot, I have had to adapt and I have wasted some time - but it is interesting and challenging unwrapping an enigma as compared to the P51 where I literally pulled up any drawing of any part of the airframe ...next time I should have made a start on doing things as they should have been done TTFN Peter

..and there it is folks - 100% proof positive that forums and the good folk on them are as important to my model making as glue and filler... Thank you Martin for pointing that out - I would have realised eventually that there is no fuselage extension on V18, but when and how far down the road I have no idea - you have saved me a ton of work & stress ..at least this is a simple one to recover from! Thank you, thank you, thank you Peter

Bloody brilliant! I love builds where folks just accept a a kit is a canvas to embellish and crack on - this is a perfect example and so well executed and your labours are loved too Peter

evening Gents Thanks Clunk - I am indebted to Martin and hope he is my wingman on this one as I am in fully uncharted territory for me - I feel such a dunce when I start out as I know very little about the airframe - I am hoping he keeps me in line As for the thickness - I don't bother reducing anything - the litho is about 0.008mm (or 0.08 I forget) so even scaled up with the adhesive is super negligable (thats my argument and I am sticking to it ) I had a few days off plus the weekend so managed to get some of the heavy engineering done - this is all shape & stregth groundwork for all the detail that will come later.. I wanted to join the fuselage halves together, so one task was to get the right fin profile - the V18 has the broad chord fin so I scaled the Bentley drawings and cut it from a sheet of brass - the trailing edges are left short to allow for the recessed rudder & hinge... ..I added a spigot to mount the tailwheel on later on - please excuse the terrible soldering... ..before adding this tail profile and cementing the halves together I added big brass strengthening rods to the lower fuselage so I can chop out a section to make and fit the cockpit pod.. ..all this was done with JB Weld for optimum strength ..another profile addition was a brass straight edge from the cowl front to the cockpit windshield mount - the model had this line about 4 - 5mm too low and the V18 has the same upper fuselage as the D13 so no big cannon breeches - you might just be able to see it in all the JB Weld in this shot... it gives me a point to sand the filler to without straying... ..then the cowl was cut off and a fairing piece made from discs of plastic which is part of what goes on beneath the cowl flaps - the discs were made with an olfa cutter and laminated - I used an old dremel spigot as the centrally located prop shaft... ..this was added and the forward fuselage corrections made (in rough for now).. ..plus the tail was battered about to meet the brass profile... ..again on the nose, you can see the chin scoop on this variant - this was a great profile shot to show it's exact location & shape... ..I can tell you now, this is going to be very difficult to skin in metal - both inside & outside the scoop.. this is the V13 with the same scoop design, but good additional shape info.. ..I started by covering the fuselage in plumbers ali tape to stop things sticking to it (for long) and added the two known shapes I have - the side profile and the shape of the airscoop hole... I need to make this part in resin so I can skin it properly, it would be way too weak if I just make the scoop and hollow it out ..slathered in P38 filler... ..after sanding & shaping.. ..and the shape is almost fully developed.. ..I then cracked this off the fuselage and it is now sat in the second phase of a 2 part rubber mould so I can cast it... ..the last thing for today is correcting the fuselage extension - in the model it is a bit indistinct and too far forward, so after looking a long time at what I could do I decided that as it was such a signiature part I had to take drastic action... I sawed the tail off... ..the profile is taken from Arthur's drawings and I will make the uniform extension section that goes here... ..you can see the kit parts are too square too when compared to the profile which will also be sorted.. ..so that's it - a few days work, but I feel like I am motoring ahead TTFN Peter PS don't forget build videos on Patreon

I was asked if I can put up a video for the Fw190 that anyone can see - Paul Budzik I ain't, but I hope some enjoy it Here it is... Big Stuff - initial engineering TTFN Peter

afternoon ladies Thanks for clarifying that Martin - it is an excellent model - I will go back & credit Miloslav! Brilliant! It is the power of these kinds of observations that mean together we can do our best to get it right! And thise pics are much better than the ones I had, thanks again Martin So where were we... breaking up the 21st Century Toys 'toy' into bits... The model is mainly made up from bits that are either screwed together, or have 'nubs' that pass through a hole and are then melted with what looks like a soldering iron, so by breaking out those nubs it came to pieces quite easily & quickly... ..the fuselage and all those bits... ..and the wings and all those bits... ..comparing to plans, the shapes are pretty good - the fuselage is a tad short at the tail, but that's no problem to correct later.. ..and the wings are fine.. ..the model is covered in deep panel lines which will be a problem when it comes to skinning, so the first step was to fill these with P40 filler... ..no this is not some late war camoflage, this is what it looks like after sanding the filler down... ..the recess for the airscoop was also filled.. ..then the fuselage & wings were shot with some high build primer - mainly so I have a unified looking set of parts to work with, but also to help visualisation.. ..have also started to gather what drawings I can find and start translating them into what will become a large photo-etch set, although the etcher's I use PPD have suspended trading due to covid so that will be a while yet ..and even while preparing that top instrument panel part, I learned thanks to forum contributors that this Fw190 would have had ancilliary instruments like this shot of a high altitude test aircraft - this is what I will copy I expect... so, we are on our way.... a million parts to go, but I think it is going to be a blast Don't forget, if you fancy it, video builds and articles are and will continue to be posted on Patreon TTFN Peter

As my P51C is nearly finished, I wanted to start on a new project. This is the Focke-Wulf Fw190C V18, about which Wikipedia says: "The C model's use of the longer DB 603 engine required more extensive changes to the airframe. As the weight was distributed further forward, the tail of the aircraft had to be lengthened in order to maintain the desired centre of gravity. To test these changes, several examples of otherwise standard 190 As were re-engined with a supercharged DB 603 to experiment with this engine. Prototypes V13 – V16 tested various PS and DB603 engines until the V18 followed, the first to feature the full high-altitude suite of features, including the pressurized cockpit, longer wings, a 603G engine driving a new four-blade propeller, and a Hirth 9-2281 turbocharger. Unlike the experimental B models, V18 had a cleaner turbocharger installation, running the required piping along the wing root, partially buried in the fillet, and installing both the turbocharger air intake and intercooler in a substantially sized teardrop shaped fairing under the cockpit.[36] This "pouch" led to the "Känguruh" (Kangaroo) nickname for these models." I was drawn to it as I have always loved the 190 series, particularly the ‘Langnase’ D models and in particular, this airframe had about as much natural metal as I could find on any variant which is my penchant for showing. There are a number of period photo’s walking round the airframe so let’s take a look at the challenge ahead.. I also found some very nice shots of a built-up model – which Martin has advised is Miloslav's work - a credit to him, it's wonderful As for the basis of the model, I found the range of 21st Century Toys 1/18 models online, which feature ‘toylike’ things such as spinning props, retractable U/C, moveable flying surfaces, but at their heart are actually very accurate replica’s of the airframes covered (at least the Fw190D is..).. A quick tour of the model – this was £160 on ebay – probably well overpriced, but when I see what I want, I pay for it.. So my take is this is a great basis for my next project. I have been busy collecting reference online, have a 1/48 Eduard ProfiPack Fw190D kit as a reference mule, a CD of works drawings on their way from ebay, had Arthur Bentley run me up a fabulous set of 1/18 plans and started some rudimentary artwork for some of the Photo-Etch components that will need to be developed, plus a very healthy dose of excitement and trepidation I am going to need all the help I can get in interpreting Luftwaffe colours etc and I know we have ‘experten’ on hand, so please get involved One thing that is different for this build though is a new thing I am trying called Patreon. This is an online platform where I get to share WIP content to ‘patrons’ who support me. It means nothing in terms of my forum posts here as they will continue with the regularity and scope they always did, but what it does mean is I can bring video to the build and in some ways ‘exclusives’ to those who choose to support me – this is an expensive hobby, I think my P51 netted out at about £1.8k all in and I am simply trying to find ways to offset that via the content I create for people to enjoy. Anyways, no-one has to do it, but there is a welcome video with a walkaround of my P51C that anyone can see, so if you are interested take a look at that at least! In addition, there are already Fw190C videos up Here is the link to my Patreon page I hope you will join me on my next journey and next time I will have this 'toy' broken down into a bunch of expensive parts TTFN Peter

great stuff! I love this kit and now there are some new bits for it from Model Monkey I have been itching to see someone take it on.. looks like you are well on top of it - nice work! Peter

evening all I trust I find you all well in these difficult times and if anything it gives you a chance to either do some modelling or if not, enjoy the work of others who do I find myself confined to quarters, not through illness, but through trying to stay safe - I am fortunate I can work from home and just do emails and conference calls for my day job rather than sweat it into London.. So, where were we - elevators... always seem to be the last thing I do, don't know why here is a nice shot of Lopes Hope which shows there is more to them than meets the eye notice the rib tapes, the visible structure underneath, the many eyelet sort of 'polo mint' fixings and the four mounts for the mass balance weights.. ..I started with a brass sheet blank, cut from scaled plans and scribed with all the internal structure (also making most of the cuts for the trim tabs so they can be broken out later) - from there plastic strip was used to bulk it out and coffee stirrer sticks for the ribs. I use these as they are wood and the solartex RC covering sticks well to it.. ..soon both elevators were done top and bottom... there is a double wall where the trim tabs are ..then the bulk of the structural additions were dremelled off and sanded to final profile - once complete the trim tabs were removed.. ..after covering with solartex and wicking CA on the edges, the eyelet things were added - these are tiny brass washers, the bigger ones punched out of litho.. ..these were then covered with the rib tapes again scaled from plans - the tapes are made from foil plumbers tape (like bare metal foil just cheaper) with a riveter run along a straight edge and a scalpel cut along the holes to get pinked edges.. ..they cover all the eyelets well - although in this shot there is still a big panel of tape to go over the trim tab area.. ..a shot of primer show the fabric effect I was after.. ..trim tabs made from litho with the core from the original structure.. ..then the mass balance weights were made from left over resin casting blocks.. ..and shot with MRP super matt black - also added the trim tab actuating rods to elevators & rudder and gave them all a dusting of MIG powders.. ..all the tailfeather surfaces were attached with hinge rods and are now complete.. ..and a last shot in the evening sun so you can see the contrasts... ..thats it for now - more bits and bobs to go including the Drop Tanks that Steve at Model Monkey has kindly enlarged from his 1/32 set and 3D printed in 1/18 for me stay safe everyone and see you next time TTFN Peter

afternoon ladies Wolf, I did the springs but forgot to take a picture doh! ..so with a few days off, it seems like I have powered through a lot of the 'to do' list.. ...the main job was getting the model on it's undercarriage and getting the gear doors on - I made up the big links the hold them on and spent ages getting it all to line up - hopefully the sit is right.. ..also the tailwheel & doors were added with the retraction links and the aerial loop on the rear fuselage.. ..then the prop and flaps.. ..and it's ready for a quick walk around - the canopy parts are not fitted so are just resting (badly..)... ..any comments on the 'sit' or any of the details if they look off, please don't be shy - say something here. I am aware the P51 is so iconic that it must look bang on to pull it off.. ..I still have to make the elevators, sort the other aerial and make the wing drop tanks (plus light weathering) so still some to go TTFN Peter

evening folks Interesting, thank you It's actually not a crack, but a heat crease where it must have bunched a bit in forming - I don't intend to do anything about it - if I touch it, it will look worse so I just have to live with it.. shame, but I just don't do transparencies Hi Wolf & thanks for this interesting (& challenging) little detail - I can see them now fitted on the ref pics I have of the full size - just like Clunk I have been looking in detail at the P51 for the best part of 2 years and had never noticed! ..so, as I said before it's the bitty stage in trying to get around the airframe in a logical order and get it finished, ..I covered the whole model and sub assemblies in flory wash and wiped down to give some definition to the rivet & panel detail (especially on the painted wings).. I removed the decal stencils and replaced them with rub down ones I had custom made - £60 for an A5 sheet so not cheap, but then a great improvement over the unavoidable decal film on natural aluminium.. ..these gun panels will be weathered & chipped when it's on it's wheels.. ..this vent door was added, the larger rear one will follow when I have finished the landing gear & doors.. ..the cockpit sill was added and the canopy panel that hangs here finished.. ..massive moment - the landing gear legs were fixed with JB Weld - funny story, about an hour after fitting them when the model was in a jig, I walked past it and thought 'I will just check a photo to make sure it's right' - well I looked and I had mounted them the wrong way around with the torque links facing forwards! A mad panic ensued, but as JB Weld takes 5 hours to cure I could just re-do them correctly (Thank God..).. ..the inner gear door hinges were fabricated and added - they are the two black structures on the centre rib at the top of each end.. ..the corresponding lugs were added to the doors.. ..and the doors were hung... I know there is a debate about having these up or down on the ground, but I made them and everything under them so I want to be able to see it - so these are down ..you can also see the retracting link assembly on the right connected to the door and piston, and a cable with fixings on the left which I assume stops them opening too far (?) although they are loose like this in refs I have so maybe not.. ..outer doors next, and as I found I have a load of leave to take from my day job before April 1st, I hope to have it finshed by the end of the month TTFN Peter

thanks chaps ..bit more done this weekend.. ..the First Aid kit and gunsight pad were made from milliput and lead wire, with brass for the straps (as they are held taught and need to loom like it..) ..I am not good at organic things like this.. ..painted up and although not great, I think they will have to do.. ..then moved on to the side and upper windows - all the catches & latches were prepared and two tiny pins added so I can pin one to the other at the right angle.. it has been a fraught day as I HATE working with transparencies - the knife edge of a terminal cock-up being so easy to do just frays my nerves.. ..I had left the protective film on so it was fairly straightforward to prep them and paint them.. ..also weathered a bit by rubbing wire wool and scuffing them a bit.. ..and with the film removed - there is a flaw in the top canopy where it didn't like bending to shape that has only been seen now the covers are off, but it just looks like a small crack so I am going to have to live with it.. ..and pinned together.. ..a few more bits need adding like hinges and some rubbing pads, but this is pretty much done so a quick dry fit.. ..the First Aid kit looks ok I guess.. that's it for now.. TTFN Peter

OMG this is next level stuff ..can't be that far removed from making a real one! Peter

evening folks :) I can honestly say Clunk thats the first time I have had that said about a model! I find nearing the end of a build to be a tricky period - there are lots of little bits to do and the order of assembly is important as the model is quite large details can be added then damaged if appropriate planning is not done. I started to add some of the decals onto the airframe that cover all the little hatches etc and after a test, found the ones on the alclad wing went on with no visible film after setting solution so didn't bother with a gloss coat... I think it will look fine when weathered.. ..added the gun camera - no idea how I missed that.. ..for the stencils on bare metal I have no choice - I can't varnish the aluminium as over time it will degrade as the ali oxidises, so it is straight decal & setting solution.. I have to just accept it as is.. ...in most cases it's passable.. ...I decided to focuson getting as much on the top half done as possible, so there is less handling with all the gear & doors hanging out - the first part of this was finishing up the cockpit... ..I added the switch panel at the bottom right of the windscreen and made up the flourescent cockpit lamp.. ..on the other side, I added the throttle quadrant and control rods.. ..I have made a Gunsight pad and the first aid kit that hangs from the headrest from milluput, but won't show you that until it's finished (& if it's good enough..) ..otherwise, the cockpit is pretty much complete.. ..will probably start to sort out the rest of the glazing next - here a dry fit of the right cockpit windows... ..still lots to do, but it's all bitty stuff TTFN Peter

afternoon folks I have been finishing the tailwheel - this shot is useful as it shows most of the assembly and it's orientation and notice too the doors have inner pressings with some odd shapes... ..I refined the main casting shape by adding more definition to some of the raised shapes and prepared a kit of parts for the gubbins that goes around the upper strut.. ..the leg fork was a brass rod bent to shape and then ground away so it's a half-round - this was then soldered to the shaft making sure the angle was right... ..these were then painted as per the pics I have of Lopes Hope... ..then the bobbins were all assembled and some weathering done - especially as there is no protective canvas boot (as I don't know how to make one...).. ..the tailwheel was also completed with some additional bolts and a valve... ..and the completed assembly.. ..the fork turned out ok... ..also made the doors - used a shaped bit of plastic the same as the main gear doors to shape the inner pressings, also the piano hinge bit is actually from some PE I prepared for the 1/18 Fairey Firefly I once started.. ..the black stripe on the rear of the aircraft carries on across the doors.... I later found out I have oriented these wrongly and so the doors would be back to front... will need to redo them.. .. a long shaft was fitted into the wheel well so the assembly slides onto it and is strong enough to cope with the weight... ..this was when I realised the doors would be back to front, as the mountings for the struts that close them should be at the rear.. ..next up I need to figure out how to deal with all the stencils all over the airframe - I have the decals made, but need to do some experiments on the best application that still allows handling / weathering (I can't varnish the natural metal - well I don't think I can...) TTFN Peter