kahunaminor

Hi John, You may have the right thought doing the exterior and matching the interior ones to them. The main risk in masking the interior is obviously making sure the internal alignment eventually matches the exterior. I just had a thought to use thin strips of Tamiya tape to mark out the frames on the interior so they match the exterior. Then fill in the voids with the vinyl masks? Remove the Tamiya tape and your alignment should be good. Literally just a random thought and not tried it myself. It will be more work and maybe more than it's worth though. The critical masks are the first couple to set your alignment. I think once you get a couple of mask positioned on the interior and are happy with them, the old MK.1 eyeball can be brought into play. Maybe even a couple of check photos as we all know the camera doesn't lie? Just random ramblings and not based in fact or proven. Regards,

Stunning Jeroen, great workmanship and made to look so easy! Thanks for sharing,

Onwards! Using the Eduard masks, I masked the interior of the canopy frame work in preference to the decals that Tamiya give you. I had to do some minor modifications or additions but they came up pretty good: You may note that some of them look a bit dodgy and incomplete. I went back over a couple but hopefully once I apply the masks to the exterior, it should all come together. A couple of small PE pieces were added to the canopy and then it was secured to the airframe: In doing so, I managed to get a glue print on the port upper canopy. Thankfully all the paint is inside so a judicious application of graded sand paper followed by some more Future remedied that one! A fellow modeller posted some photos of this aircraft which revealed the spinners and props were not attached as the aircraft was only a display and never flown. This meant (a) cutting off the props and attaching the spinners anyway or ( some work on the exposed oil cooler faces in each engine. I chose route ( . Using my Olfa circle cutter, I cut a circle just smaller than the face of the engine nacelles from .005 card, punched a hole in the centre and affixed them to the faces. I will have to add some small gizmology to dress it up but I am happy with the result thus far: The photos also appeared to confirm the decal sheet reference in that this aircraft had only single wing navigation lights, so the relevant wingtips were added as well as the rear stabilisers: Masking the canopy exterior, I was careful to completely enclose the areas where there should only be internal framing, which meant covering some areas totally. I will use some liquid mask to ensure a seal: Next up seams and priming, thanks for looking. Regards,

Great stuff at such a scale! Regards,

Gotta love it. Great result and photography. Regards,

Thanks for checking in and providing the info. I believe you are correct in saying it was never flown. It does mean the weathering will be absolutely minimal . Regards,

Hello all, I have been unmotivated of late with my 1/32 Spitfire XVI, so as I was moving it to the shelf of procrastination, I spied this sitting there and decided to bring it up to speed. It has sat there, partially started for about 12 months: As a bit of a gee up for one of my club mates, I am going to finish it in the markings of a captured aircraft used by the Luftwaffe's "Zirkus Rosarius": Eduard PE, Ultracast seats, mudguards, exhausts and wheels will be used: When I left it the cockpit area had been started and was at a base coat position. The nacelles and wings had also been commenced. I basically went to work on installing the remainder of the cockpit: The bomber version had both an inner and outer door in the lower half of the fuselage for the crew to enter and exit. The navigator/bomb aimer's legs would lay across the inner door when he was engaged in bomb aimer duties. Tamiya supplied the door on their sprues (F4 I think) but it is not mentioned in the instructions. I had PE for the outer door (which I gave to the carpet monster) so whilst scratching that piece, I did some for the inner door mechanism. The cover was drilled out for the window and Micro Krystal Kleer would be added to make the window: Here you can see the door in the sealed up cockpit: Ultracast seats were painted, washed and flat coated. The armour warning marking was masked and sprayed on the rear of the pilot's seat: Airscale instrument dials and placards were added as appropriate into the cockpit area along with the Eduard PE and then it was all sealed up: The port fuselage side was carefully attached, trapping the cockpit and bomb bay sections: The wings were added. I had to sand down the round locating pins on the spar to get them to fit inside the wings and enlarge them to allow the two wing panels to fit. This leaves me a slight gap on the wing/fuselage join but nothing a small amount of Perfect Plastic Putty will not fix. The glasshouse nose was masked and added without problem as was one of the fuselage windows. The port one cracked in half as I was applying it. I have affixed it and will try to remove the crack or I may not: I will prepare the canopy pieces for spraying the interior framing and once that is done, add the pilot's seat and close the canopy prior to tackling the seams. That way I hope to keep most of the dust out. Regards,

Yes, the most important thing on my mind during a suicide mission is a comfortable seat! Great build Jeroen, unusual subject and carried off with panache. Regards,

Bravo, An excellent result and an interesting base. Thanks for sharing. Regards,

I can only wish my mojo was so lacking! Great stuff Jim. Thanks for sharing. Regards,

Great stuff Ralph, I wish you good luck and look forward to seeing your work. Regards

Straight to the pool room! Great work! Regards,

Tower of London..trout?...geezer? Yes? End of!

I had noticed that as well with my mixed drinks. Apparently it's to bring balance to The Force...there must be an equilibrium.

Thanks for paving the way in such an excellent way! Regards,

Informative, talented and occasionally amusing, LSM is a nice fit in a sometimes frantic internet modelling scene. Congratulations to the Admin , the contributors and those who just lurk. Regards,

Well calling this done and dusted! After flat coating I added the Ezyline aerial, two 1mm Little Lenes for the dorsal light and tail light and removed the masking from the lights and canopies: The gun cover panels were attached with Gator's Grip as was the scratch built mirror: The masking fluid was a mixed success. After initially using a paintbrush to apply, I found it easiest to apply and remove with the toothpick. The framing on the movable section canopy wasn't up to the same definition as if I'd used tape but the remainder was quite good. Some minor retouching and some light scraping with a toothpick (rapidly becoming my go to tool!): I added light exhaust staining with Tamiya weathering pastels and a cut down paint brush (can you guess where that came from?) and some oil stains to the underside. I then redid some of the mud around the MLG and rear wheel and lightly hit the high points on the wings and hatches/fasteners with a silver water colour pencil to just give a little wear: All in all pretty happy with the build: Regards and thanks for stopping by, commenting and encouraging.

Approaching the finish line! Promodeller wash applied and removed. Wheels attached and weathered with Tamiya Weathering Set (Dark mud). Exhausts attached: The step and the pitot tube were attached following the wash process. A light application of dark mud was also trailed on the wing undersides in line with the tyres. The spinner and props were washed and a HB pencil used to apply small chips to the spinner, prop leading edges and prop blades: The antenna post has had a small hole drilled so I can run the Ezy Line aerial down through it to a corresponding hole in the top of the fuselage: All that remains (hopefully) is the Dullcote, some light exhaust staining on the fuselage sides, a dorsal light and removing the masks and the final round of attachments. Regards,

Had a few hours at the bench. Gloss coat and decals applied. Started on the underside: The MG ejection ports were filled in with a thin tipped marker pen. Then onto the upper surface. The decals performed well but did need a lot of repeated applications of Micro Sol to actually settle down: The decals on the fin were almost successfully mated at the leading edge. The re is a slight gap that I may just dress up as weathering! The exhausts have had a coat of Burnt Metal and the wheels have been completed and oil washed. Lacquer Dullcote later today and then final construction including adding the step, homemade mirror and aerial. Regards,

The masking has come off and I am happy thus far: I will let that set a spell then lacquer glosscoat, decals, wash, weather and final bits and bobs. Thanks for looking and regards,

Forging ahead at snail's pace. The lower half of the aircraft has been masked to within an inch of it's life and the MM Dark Earth sprayed on the upper surfaces. Dampt tissue int the gun bays to protect them: I normally use blue tac rolls and fill in the voids with damp tissue, however this time I decided to use paper masks. I enlarged the instructions to very close to 48th scale, cut out the masks and using a combination of Tamiya tape and blue tac set about the masking: Just after the photo, I have slid the large MG covers into place and held by the paper to get the colour demarcation as well. The wheels have had the 2mm rod cut down to size and a suitable hole drilled in the middle and the exhausts have had their base coat of Burnt Metal. The sliding canopy has also been masked with the Vallejo fluid and the IG added to represent the inner supports. All in all ready to spray the Aeromaster RAF Dark Green later today hopefully. Regards,

Just had the postie drop by with these goodies for the HKM Mosquito: Gotta be happy with that!

Very noice result, Thanks for sharing, Kent

Hello all, some headway in the Hurricane build, it stands on its own two feet: You may recall the botched job I made on the radiator housing. I filled the trenches with Mr Surfacer 500 and let it dry a couple of days. I then sanded it all back, recoated with Sky and rescribed very lightly. I am much happier with this result. I then added the MLG struts and covers and the tail wheel assembly: All the clear parts were dipped in Future and allowed an overnight to dry. The gunsight was added and then the forward windscreen, with just a smear of putty at the front edge to eliminate a small gap: The wingtip lights had small holes drilled and then filled with clear red/green to replicate the bulb. The inner housings were painted MM Aircraft Interior Black and the lights were installed using Gator's Grip: The Ultracast wheels were masked and painted. The mounting holes were too large for the Airfix MLG, so the holes were drilled out to 2mm and then 2mm plastic rod was inserted. These will be cleaned up and the holes re drilled to a more suitable size: I am trying a new masking fluid from Vallejo. Here it has been painted using a small brush onto the wingtip lights and windscreen. It is quite well behaved in that it flows well into the mouldings and sets up quickly. Once dry it goes to that clear green colour: That's all for now, thanks for looking. Regards,

Hello all, Been primping and preening in preparation for shooting some colours. The flying surfaces have all been added. The wing LE edge lights and covers fitted, faired in and masked. The radiator has been a bit problematic in its fit and in an attempt to rectify it, I have sanded, added plastic, removed plastic and puttied to remove the seam between the front housing and the centre one. I thought I had it done: Until I shot some Aeromaster Sky and found: WW I trenches were more shallow! Back to filling and sanding. I did work out how to add the supports at the rear. It took a couple of looks but they attach to the inside rear of the radiator flap opening, squaring it off for the flap. They are a little oversize and I may try and reduce them or just leave it until the next one. I will also drill two holes into the lower fuselage to accept the radiator flap actuator rods, which will be added from strip. Not all "doom and gloom" as the prop and spinner have come out nicely with their basic colours. Some light weathering and that can be ticked off: Regards,