Landlubber Mike

Some cool pics of the Albatross: Some catapult pics - these I think are from other ships:

Excited to join you guys on my first GB! Just saw that I only have six months so at the rate I build, I'll need to step things up. I'm building the Airfix Walrus in 1/48 using this kit: With lots of aftermarket goodies, including a Vector resin engine given how prominent the engine is on this plane: Resource: I also have the catapult set from NeOmega: I wasn't too enthused by building this as a "silver wings" scheme, so I went looking for decals (unfortunately I couldn't find the earlier release of this kit which had the two tone camo scheme which I preferred). That led me to picking up the following decals and mask/stencil sets: There were a few options I liked that were ship-based and launched from catapults. In particular, I really liked these two schemes which were based on the HMS Albatross. Although I like the first scheme a little better, I have the HpH 1/32 Walrus kit which has a similar scheme so I'm leaning towards the second one. The Albatross was a quirky looking ship, which really piqued my interest and I came to found out that Niko Models made a fantastic 1/700 kit for it. Even better, it includes a 1/700 scale Walrus to add to the catapult at the bow. After an extensive search, found a kit at Freetime Hobbies, and here it is: So, I'm planning to build a combined display of the Walrus on the NeOmega catapult, coupled with its ship the HMS Albatross. I'm thinking a two tiered display with the 1/48 Walrus/catapult as the main, higher tier of the display, with the 1/700 version presented on a lower tier to the side and/or front of the main Walrus. Hopefully can pull it all off!

Wow, this will be a cool subject. Looking forward to seeing this one come together!

Looking fantastic Ernie. The paint lifting shouldn't be too difficult to correct, nice job!

Wow, this is looking really good. The chassis is incredible, and those resin parts really add a lot of detail. I better stop reading your log or I'll be wanting to add trucks to the stash 😬

Geez, at the rate I build would take me five years or more to hit that! Happy New Year!

Great choice Peter! I really love this plane. I considered building the Kitty Hawk kit I bought from you last year but want to up my skills a bit more to do it justice. For now, I'll sit back and be inspired watching you work your magic!

Real beauty Rob - was following your build on MSW and so impressed by your skills. Makes me want to hang up my airbrush! Happy New Year!

Great choice Kevin, looking forward to this one coming along!

John what was the final total?

Happy New Year Ernie and crew!

You were a busy boy! What great works, you should be proud of those - I know I would be! Happy New Year to you!

Thanks Peter! This one is coming out better than I expected - was looking rough in the beginning with all the resin aftermarket. I'll probably clear tomorrow and start weathering on Sunday. Maybe wrap it up by next weekend.

Thanks Harv!

Painted on the insignia and the numbers. The Montex set of stencils worked really nicely. I was a bit worried about the numbers but they came out great with minimal touchup needed. I'm trying to wrap this and a few other models up before starting the group build - was hoping to get these all done by the end of the year, but I might need to delay the GB a bit. Thanks for looking in!

Beautiful work as always Peter!

Nice start on a cool subject! Hope had a nice holiday!

Cool looking subject. Model looks fantastic!

That's a cool looking kit Hubert, never knew that existed.

Thanks Harv, I kinda do too!

This one has been close to the finish line for quite some time as I got a bit bored with it and moved on to other projects. Just about done though now, just have to add the wings and finish the diorama. Want to clear the bench before the 2023 group build! Warning - even though the kit instructions say you can model it with the canopy open, the sliding piece just does not fit. I came to find out that others had a similar issue, with one person cracking the part to get it to fit. Thankfully, the eBay auction seller included a Taurus canopy, and I was able to replace the kit part. The Taurus canopy was a bit loose though, so when i pressed it to the fuselage, a bit of glue spread further than I was hoping. 🤬 Oh well, not much I can do. I almost threw the whole thing out when clear coating it - I ended up getting spiderwebbing in a few places when using one of the Mr. Color clear products. Even got it when trying out the rattle can version. I think it just pooled too heavily. My spray booth has these really bright LEDs, and sometimes I can't tell how much of a coat is being applied with certain colors and with the clear products. Live and learn. The good news is that was able to lightly sand off the clear coat, reapply a bit of dark wash, and re-apply the clear coat with no issue. Whew! I did spend a bunch of time trying to figure out how to put it in a diorama on a carrier hangar deck, as there aren't many pictures out there of what the flooring at least looks like. I did get a diorama base finished though, and at this point, just have to finish painting some of the mechanics to go along with it. Thanks for looking in!

Well, I'm trying to wrap up my builds so that I can start (and finish) the upcoming 2023 group build. After a bunch of rounds of filling and sanding, I have the camo scheme painted on the model using Mr. Color paints. Was quite a tricky time getting to this point with all the AM but I'm pretty happy with where things are. The wing gun panels are just blue-tacked in place to take on the camo scheme as they will be removed and put next to the model to show it under maintenance along with the engine. I found a Montex set of stencils to paint the insignia and numbering, so those will go on next. The landing gear and wheels are also painted, so hopefully this will get wrapped up by the end of the year. Thanks for looking in!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to Martin and all my friends here

Looking great Harv!

That is really great!! What a funny gift!