GusMac

Well, things have progressed a bit! Bench time has been very sporadic, so never seemed to get round to taking pics, but this is now done. I'll post more in the finished builds section. Just a couple of pictures to show I did finish the engine and was quite happy with the weathering. BUT I just couldn't get the damn thing to fit correctly with the engine covers, so most of it got dumped to give a reasonable fit. Although the rest of the kit goes together like a dream this is a real disappointment. I thought it was just my cack handed assembly skills but I've seen Chuck's build on LSP and he's had similar issues and his skills are WAAAY above mine, so that was a slight boost. Anyway, I've got a couple of major DIY projects to do on the house so I suspect my next build won't be starting until into the autumn. Got a couple of ideas but I think it'll be a grubby Hellenic A-7 as I want to try and push my painting envelope a bit. As always, comments, critiques, etc welcome. Cheers, Gus

Neat Rob. Like all the best ideas, simple but elegant. Think I might be looking for a spare piece of timber for my next jet build.

Very nice rendition. As you say, definitely one of Trumpeter's better kits.

Glad the house is back together Rick. The fish tank is a real cool feature.

Just love the weathering on this. What matt varnish do you use? The finish just seems beatifully flat.

Are the decals on the extinguishers supplied?

Nice figures but that cammo would be a nightmare.

Looking forward to seeing how these build up. I'm sure it will be mighty impressive when done. I wouldn't have the cojones to fork out so much for a kit that I'd likely end up turning into the world's most expensive matchwood!

Real pity Airfix seem to have ditched theirs. I quite like some of Trumpy's kits but the standard is almost laughably variable and this does seem to be a Friday afternoon job. Hadn't realised either quite what death-traps these were - that's a pretty horrible loss rate!

You don't settle for an easy life Rich! Looking forward to this.

I'm sure there were some pictures on LSP of it at Scale Model World at Telford last year. As imagined it was huuuge.

The plate for the base looks amazing. As James says, that PE looks insane. Rather you than me. I get mad just with a set of etch seatbelts!

The paintwork on those figures is stunning!

Superb finish. Would definitely be interested in a book of your work.

Wow, that's a real find Jeroen. Great image. People sometimes are shocked by what was possible 'pre-digital' but those photo-recon cameras were the best around.

Very nice. It's a real skill to paint figures realistically and those are very good.

That's right. The velocity of the bomb was so high it basically punched a hole straight through the bottom. Another Barnes Wallis special.

Nice catch Danny. Just watched a documentary last night on BBC4 about the 617 squadron operation to sink her.

Those lenses look really good. Coming along very nicely.

Nice bit of ingenuity for the spinners!

That's a serious amount of plastic, even as it stands partially tooled. Might have to rejig the house to make room for one of these!

Sounds interesting Rob. Always good to channel a little weirdness once in a while....

That's an interesting name for an aftermarket company!

Nice outcome Rob. Time for it to get grubby!

Nice figures. Are they Reedoak?