Just Finished

Too often I blog about projects that are stalled or in the middle stages of building. So here is something that's actually been finished in the last ten days or so. Both have been mentioned on here in their earlier stages so it seem only fair to display the completed models.

The Classic Airframes Martin Baltimore was first. It gave me the usual CA difficulties; a very dusty enclosed cockpit area, which I overcame by cutting out the pilot's canopy hatch to clean inside. The engines were a poor fit due to the over-thick plastic of the engine cowlings, and rather than alter them I reduced the thickness. Still, the results overall were lovely, because it's such a detailed kit and you can't go far wrong.


The other project, by complete contrast, is the MiG 19s from Trumpeter. Surprisingly this offered very few fit problems, and those were dealt with quite easily. Detail was excellent, the cockpit being particularly good.

I'd love to build their 1/32 scale version of this aircraft, but this scale doesn't seem to be popular amongst collectors.

More on the MiG

On the previous posting I included a single photo of a MiG 19, from Trumpeter. Since then, the project has moved on to the assembly of the major parts. Before I say anything about that, a word or twenty on the cockpit; the detail here is some of the best I've seen. Even the ejector seat isn't bad - and that's the part people usually replace. The raised detail on the bulkheads and side panels responds beautifully to some careful hand painting. A film is provided for the clear instrument panel; this item, strangely, shows no raised detail at all. The gunsight is superb and the canopy has its own release levers. As a bonus, the fit of the parts is great.

The parts fit elsewhere in this kit is not consistent. The cockpit tub, nose gear bay and the intake ring end up as a single assembly. The entire thing has to have have the fuselage assembled around it. After many dry runs I left the intake ring off, which eased the fit.


Taking care to line up the air splitter, I eased the intake ring on to the assembled fuselage. Careful as I was to do this, it still needed plenty of rubbing down to achieve a flush fit.

The rest of the assembly still warranted careful fitting, and I rather enjoyed this. But adding the wings was something that really kept me on my toes. There is no tab or slot, but instead a raised fairing on the fuselage for the trailing edge of the wing to butt up against. So the angle of both wings must be handled with great care to get the right anhedral.


That's the end of my rambling before I put myself to sleep. I'll be doing the bare metal finish on this model next - always a love-hate thing for me.