Monday, 15 October 2012
OK, so on with the modelling. After wrestling together the Revell 1/48 He 111, (see below)
I decided I needed to build something fairly easy. As I had a Hasegawa 1/48 bubbletop Typhoon in the stash, along with a bunch of aftermarket goodies (Avieology sharkmouth decals, a slew of Ultracast resin), I figured this was the way to go. Just to complicate matters, I decided to add the Aries gunbays too. I began with the cockpit inserts that enable Hasegawa to use the same sprues for both car door and bubble top versions and soon realised that this was not going to be the easy build I thought it would be. I felt like I was back on the London Underground! Mind the gap!!
Getting the insert to fit resulted in the gap in the photo above and panel lines that didn't line up. The other side was slightly better.
I glued some scrap plasticard in the gap and trimmed it off
All seams to be filled at a later date. I then got to work on the interior. I opted to use the lovely Ultracast seat and proceeded to paint this up, nearly going blind squinting to get all the fab detail with my little paintbrush. It looks the biz when done though.
For added interest in the cockpit I have done the framing in alluminium and the side walls in a black / interior green split. I prefer this look to the standard all over interior green and this scheme was illustrated in the recent Airframe and Miniature book. For the instrument panel, I used Airscale RAF instrument decals. I must admit to approaching this task with some trepidation due to the small size of the decals. I was fully expecting to lose them and find them stuck to my face and other places, the next day. My fears were totally unfounded though, as they performed perfectly. I feel that the combination of this fantastic product, drybrushing and detail painting have produced a great little panel. I will definitely think twice about getting an Eduard panel for my next project (they are nice though).
Anyway, with this build well on the road, that's all for now. More to come later.
Friday, 12 October 2012
A little bit about me.
Hi, Welcome to my blog. I have always been fascinated by aircraft. My father being in the Fleet Air Arm afforded me the opportunity to get up close and personal with the real thing. We would attend the annual 'Air Day' at my Dads base, HMS Daedalus, where you could sit in actual operational aircraft. I remember being instructed "not to touch that yellow and black striped handle between your legs son".
I am a 'born again' plastic modeller. I grew up with Airfix kits in the '60's and '70's and built anything I could get my hands on, usually aircraft, usually 1/72. My favourite movie of the era was 'The Battle of Britain' and I remember thinking I had died and gone to heaven when somebody presented me with the Airfix 1/24 scale Mk 1 Spitfire for a birthday. I was known to constantly (and most annoyingly I suspect) correct my Dads' colleagues, when they got their facts wrong about various aircraft. I moved up to 1/32 scale with the Revell series of WW2 planes.
Modelling came to an abrupt end when 'other interests' took over, namely: music, girls and beer (not necessarily in that order). I then spent many uproarious years trying to make it in the music biz, with some success I might add. My favourite album of this era was "Never Mind The B*ll*cks" by the Sex Pistols which gives you an indication of where I was at.
After settling down with a family, I would take my 2 boys to Duxford. Whilst there I would lurk around the plastic models in the shop. Finally, after many visits and much lurking, I bought a 1/48 Revell Spitfire Mk. IX and upon opening the box was transported instantly to that happy plastic place of my childhood. This led to two more Spitfires which I happily slapped together and brush painted, with no real worries about accuracy.
My 'Road to Damascus' moment came when I stumbled upon a certain website, namely Hyperscale and was gobsmacked at the quality of the models on display and by the number of after-market goodies you could buy. I thought to myself 'I can do this'. From that day I have been hooked. An airbrush was soon purchased and I have been working hard to perfect my skills ever since. I consider myself to be an average to good modeller but it doesn't come easy. I hope with this blog to document my average to good endeavours and hopefully entertain and inform along the way. Many thanks for looking.
I am a 'born again' plastic modeller. I grew up with Airfix kits in the '60's and '70's and built anything I could get my hands on, usually aircraft, usually 1/72. My favourite movie of the era was 'The Battle of Britain' and I remember thinking I had died and gone to heaven when somebody presented me with the Airfix 1/24 scale Mk 1 Spitfire for a birthday. I was known to constantly (and most annoyingly I suspect) correct my Dads' colleagues, when they got their facts wrong about various aircraft. I moved up to 1/32 scale with the Revell series of WW2 planes.
Modelling came to an abrupt end when 'other interests' took over, namely: music, girls and beer (not necessarily in that order). I then spent many uproarious years trying to make it in the music biz, with some success I might add. My favourite album of this era was "Never Mind The B*ll*cks" by the Sex Pistols which gives you an indication of where I was at.
After settling down with a family, I would take my 2 boys to Duxford. Whilst there I would lurk around the plastic models in the shop. Finally, after many visits and much lurking, I bought a 1/48 Revell Spitfire Mk. IX and upon opening the box was transported instantly to that happy plastic place of my childhood. This led to two more Spitfires which I happily slapped together and brush painted, with no real worries about accuracy.
My 'Road to Damascus' moment came when I stumbled upon a certain website, namely Hyperscale and was gobsmacked at the quality of the models on display and by the number of after-market goodies you could buy. I thought to myself 'I can do this'. From that day I have been hooked. An airbrush was soon purchased and I have been working hard to perfect my skills ever since. I consider myself to be an average to good modeller but it doesn't come easy. I hope with this blog to document my average to good endeavours and hopefully entertain and inform along the way. Many thanks for looking.
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