More on the Lanc

Just an update really. I got the model right up to its paint stage, and I think it's gone well. I had the sudden desire at this point to paint freehand, and thereby give that nice feathered edge. It would have been quicker too, but study of the actual aircraft revealed a slightly harder edge. So it was out with the blu-tac. After I removed the blu-tac masking, I found the resulting look very much like the real thing.

After the first stage of weathering, I glossed up and began applying the decals. These came from the Techmod set - 300 Squadron Polish at RAF Faldingworth. They're not bad, but need some persuasion to settle down.

I'm now at stage two of weathering, or will be, as soon as the new glaze dries.

Another birthday

Having just had a birthday - my 57th - I am very conscious that 60 is just round the corner. Where do these big numbers come from? Only yesterday I was 23!

The thought of retirement and its planning might be starting to loom, although if this Government has its way, I'll be here for another decade. And anyway, retire to what? Knocking a few kits together in the spare room? I do that for a living. I must say it's tempting to think of the railway sets I've got stashed away, waiting for a big setup in the room earmarked for them, but I can't begin to think of leaving work behind. It's a way of life, and I've made so many friends. You can't just stop something you love after 45 years.



So what are the plans? I don't want to be struggling round the railway layout with a Zimmer... But I think it's the plastic fantastic for me for a while longer yet. There's too much going on on the bench for me to think about packing it in for a long time yet. I must have more than 25 kits in the growing queue, so that might take me somewhere close to my pension. Here's a photo of what's keeping me at my bench today.

The Long and the Short

In my working itinerary I have two sorts of jobs. The long term project and the shorter ones. I'm currently working on the Tamiya Lancaster Bomber which includes the 'Big Ed' set. I've been working on this model for more than six weeks now and it's definitely falling under the heading of long term. Here's a few photos of the recently completed bomb bay to illustrate ten days' work.

I'm happy to say the model is now ready for undercoat. This is the first stepping stone to adding its camouflage and decals, and so on. There is still a long way to go since the balance of the considerable detail is yet to be fitted. More, of course, on this project later.

By way of complete contrast is a short term build, the Nakajima B6N2. This has taken around three weeks, and as with all Hasegawa kits, there's a lot of detail in the box, and some very nice features - folding wings, a ventral gun position and combat flaps. The 3-position cockpit is a beaut. I spent all one weekend just painting that! If you want to display the model with lowered wings, you may have a problem as they only want to fold. I had to modify the wing-fold facings to achieve any kind of a decent fit. But once that's been sorted, it's plain sailing. And I did have to razor-saw the canopy. This made so much difference to the look of the model, and the view of the cockpit is greatly improved.


More soon.

Lancaster details

A couple of weeks ago I posted an article on the Lancs cockpit. I thought this was quite an intensive job, until I started on the wings. Ah, the wings.

Cutting out the trailing edges was fairly straightforward, then it came time to add the flaps. I am not going to describe this, since a picture is worth a thousand words, many of which would appear here. Suffice it to say, as long as flap openings are straight and clean and the metal is folded precisely and the cyano has had time to dry, there should be no problem. Common sense, really.

I assembled the landing gear entirely and allowed it to dry thoroughly before adding the etched parts. Earlier I had fitted the landing gear bay's interior. This is more work here than at first you might think - it needs to be well thought out in advance, and following the given instructions is not always the answer.

I also widened the gear nacelle so I could slot the be-metalled gear assembly through it after attaching it to the wing. I had to think at this point about what to add and leave off, with regard to painting.

Fitting the Belcher Bits resin engine cowlings was comparatively easy, particularly the outer cowlings - fit here is almost perfect. The inner cowlings took a lot more work, since the kit's engine nacelles were oversize. There is no doubt these parts add considerably to the overall look of the model; the panel lines, catches and radiators are beautifully rendered, and it was well worth a bit of extra trouble to fit them.

Check out the photos. They'll give you a good idea of what I've been on about. Much more to come on this long term project. Stay tuned!

Something blue

It might seem a bit slow on here, but real life has been very hectic indeed. My workload has increased exponentially, and I have been putting in hours at all times of the day and night to keep on top. Here are a few photos, just to prove I don't sit drinking coffee and watching daytime TV.

First, this Aermacchi MB 339A in 1/48 scale, built from the Frems kit. It's a nice kit - the only addition I made was a pair of resin ejector seats. The decals were questionable though; if you are building the aerobatic team model, as I was, then the decals are crucial. The kit offerings were thick and brittle, and replacement sets are hard to find.


The Corsair F4U-7, is, of course, by Hasegawa. I built it from the box, only adding extra detail to the engine (wiring) and the cockpit (seat belts and gun sight). Other than that, it was a great build, and very satisfying.


As usual, more soon.

How does your workbench grow?

Actually, very well since I run two benches. On bench No. 1 there is the Grumman Goose. This is the Signifer kit in 1/48 scale. I've posted a few photos below to show its progress over the last few weeks. Some highlight the difficulty involved in the build; I don't think I've ever seen so much resin in one kit. In fact, the only plastic parts are the wings and the fuselage. Most of the tail, ailerons, landing gear and interior are resin cast. As you can imagine, this adds a lot of extra weight to the model. I was a bit concerned that the resin gear struts would crack up under the strain, but then I noticed that the main struts are cast with a wire core - likewise the vulnerable floats. The quality of the tooling must ensure a detailed and interesting model. There'll be more on this unusual subject a little later.


Bench No. 2 is currently graced by Tamiya's veteran Lancaster in 1/48 scale, waiting for the addition of Eduard's Big Ed detail set. Although this is a time-consuming job, it does offer suitable rewards. Check out the photos.



The interior is as complete as it can be before I paint it. More on this later.
Back to the benches.

Taken at the flood......

Up until quite recently, most of my building would be a matter of choice. I would usually build out of the box, and finish around 50 models a year. Now and then I would do a commission piece, and it felt like a novelty, building to someone else's specifications.

Last year however, all that started to change. My personal work (most of which was then sold on eBay and elsewhere) was almost entirely taken over by an influx of new clients with very particular builds and highly personalised ideas of what they wanted to see in a finished model. I'm always happy to have the work, but it took a little while to get used to the idea that for the foreseeable future, I would be constructing kits to suit the tastes of others. But then I began to see how these new builds were more demanding; I had to stretch my myself, learn new skills and widen my mind as to what was out there and how it could look through the eyes of another. Now, when I do get to please myself, I can see at once how my work has improved. This year has been my busiest to date, and the variety of work offered to me has been greater than ever. I'm pleased and grateful.

Here are some pictures of the just completed Shitei III Kai, the anti-bomber version of the 'Dinah', which I squeezed in between commissions. What do you think?