Helicopters give me the fear.
a) I fancy the challenge
b) It looks cool
c) It was cheap
d) I have no idea where it will go once finished.
Well the revival of this thread has given me a kick up the arse. Finsished teh Corsair last night, pics of that and the Zero this AM. Pissing it down out, so the light is a bit rubbish. The F4 is a lot bluer than the pics suggest.
Both Tamiya kits. Both shake'n'bake out the box. Bought a silver pencil to do some wear and tear on the Corsair, kinda wish I'd done the same on the Zero - it looks a bit museumy/toylike
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just started a 1/48th F6F-5 late production from Eduard ... normally a motorcyle modeller so this is a bit of a departure 🙂
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...and the pair together. Technically battlefield contemporaries (not these exact airframes). The Corsair is a monster compared to the Zero.
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Stunning, as ever.
I haven’t done anything for ages, but I have a Zvezda 1/35 modern Russian anti-aircraft truck in progress. Cab & engine are built, as is the ladder frame, but that is now in need of a coat of paint before I can make any further progress
I also have a 1/48 Hasegawa (?) F/A18E Hornet that I’ve started, got as far as building the cockpit tub
Lovely kits @JonEdwards. They look v nice. I did that Tamiya Corsair last year (in the triple scheme of 2 blues and white.) It's become a test bed since for weathering, so not as good as yous. It's a nice kit to put together, and you're right, next to other WW2 fighters, the early Bf109E for example, it's bloody massive!
Still got a stash of WW1 planes in various states of completion under the desk.
@JonEdwards - love the Corsair, in particular the weathering and paint wear around the panels, nicely done!
I’ve been given something that might be appreciated on here. My mate is a very keen modeller, mostly tanks, and fantasy rôle playing figures and machines, and he’s built a model of one of my favourite tanks for my birthday. It’s based around a distorted, cartoon kit of a Sherman Firefly, but it’s actually modelled on a genuine tank. This is the original kit:
The one he’s built is based on Tank 3, ‘C’ Squadron, 1St Coldstream Guards, and this is it:
Mods include cutting the muzzle brake off, extending the barrel from the point where the white ring beginning the camo starts using brass tube, and re-attaching the muzzle brake, building up the extra balance weight on the rear of the turret and putting in lead weight, and scratch-building the rocket rails and mounts from brass - the rockets are RP-3 60lb rockets from a Typhoon. There’s also lead weight in the bottom of the hull, to keep it balanced.
And yes, the rockets were fitted to tanks, and other armoured vehicles, some carrying four on each side with vertically stacked rails. They were used when approaching wooded or forested terrain where enemy troops could be dug in for ambush, so they’d fire the rockets into the tree-tops, bringing them down on any possible hostiles, and causing high-velocity splinters and shrapnel, very destructive to anyone dug into trenches and unarmoured. The wavy white line under the end of the barrel was designed to disguise the fact it was fitted with a 3in/76.2mm 17-pounder anti-tank gun, using countershade camo to look like the standard 75mm gun from a distance. It was the only British tank that could reliably take out Tiger and Panther tanks at the time.
I’m chuffed to bits with it, I could probably build up and paint the basic kit, and maybe modify the gun, but there’s no way I could build the rocket racks! He’s a goldsmith, he’s got l33t sk1lz; he’s even scratch-built some parts out of scrap silver, because it was cheaper than using copper.
Apparently they were called Firefly Tulips. Wonder why? 🤔
Eggtank! Love it.
I know, there’s a whole range of them, including the Tiger. When I saw a couple that Nick had built, including a Firefly, I said ‘now you know what I want for my birthday’, but I wasn’t expecting the Tulip, which is the rocket armed version - I didn’t even know they existed.
They look so damned cute, and they aren’t very big; mine is 8cm tall, and 17cm long, with the extended barrel and the larger box on the back of the turret. Great things to play around with if there isn’t much display space available.
You can find them on eBay:
Glad to see this thread still active.
What is the best way to sell ones stash? Worth selling individual kits or as a job lot?
4 month old baby = no free time and they are taking up space.
Tend to avoid eBay if I can help it.
Thanks
There's classifieds on Britmodeller, but you need to have posted a certain number of times before you have access .
Alternatively stick them in the loft for a decade then get back into it.
https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/airfix-model-kit-starter-set/p309947
Starter kits in lidl since last Thursday.
The starter set tanks are very basic, all the wheels and tracks are made as one part for example.
Airfix 1/72 Zero and Typhoon and the vintage classic Bond Bug.
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Popped into the Manx Aviation Museum yesterday. It has a model shop doing stuff at slightly less than RRP! Result!
Does anyone happen to have a good on line resources for Iawata airbrush parts?
I could do with a new needle for my Eclipse, but finding one (I normally go straight to Amazon, sorry) is proving harder than I expected.
Finally finished it!
Italeri Rafale M.
Not a great kit to be honest, but I'm happy with the outcome.
Starting a Hobby 2000 Saab Draken today as I seem to be on a roll.
Kit was selected purely on the grounds that it was the top box in the pile.
I've heard the Italeri Ralph isn't the best kit that ever there was, looks good. I did the old Italeri Jaguar...I mean it's recognisably Jag shaped...but that's all the nice things I'm going to say about it.
Because I was a good boy and did my Jag, I've now got a Eduard Fw190A-8. It looks lovely by comparison.
Tamiya 1/35 scale Chieftain Mk5. I'm not sure the Berlin scheme is appropriate for this particular tank but i fancied a challenge which it certainly was!
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I used to love making models as a kid and wouldn't mind doing some again but .... The thing that puts me off is the fact they'll look like they've been painted by a 3 year old.
@daviek Who cares? Get yourself down to Aldi and pick one up for a fiver.
@daviek Who cares? Get yourself down to Aldi and pick one up for a fiver.
This (as a returning and not massively skilled modeller).
Best things I can say as a returnee brush painter of modest ability (I may be overstating that) after (or before) you've done a starter kit or two.
- Get a couple of rolls of tamiya or revell masking tape it does help along with some household stuff for initial undercoat masking
- Buy a decent glue not the goop in the starter kits
- A small can of spray acrylic in some kind of light/medium grey makes an excellent beginner undercoat/basecoat for lots of basic colour schemes
- A sharp knife and some scraps of fine wet and dry will get rid of rough edges
Okay that made it £20-£30 but it will help you get to a quite nice basic kit that you could stand on a shelf and encourage trying another
If you are using the starter kit glue put a blob on a bit of board and apply it with a cocktail stick.
Draken.
Progress.
Blimey Harry, you're not hanging about! you better do the famous 4 colour scheme...
No chance!
@Rockhopper That Berlin Brigade scheme looks superb! If I was brave enough I'd do it on my RC Challenger 2.
I've been cracking on with a couple of cheap Airfix starter sets - 1:76 Cromwell and a 1:72 Spitfire. Really enjoyable way to unwind as the nights draw in.
Although I've got loads of Tamiya and Revell acrylics - I'm actually using the starter paints supplied which aren't too bad once thinned. Good enough for me anyway.
Oops.
Gloss on ready for decals.
Which brings me to a question... What do you use to clean your airbrush after applying lacquer type clear coats?
I have an acrylic cleaner for paint and Alclad 2 ALC307 for the lacquers. However, this is difficult to get hold of, so I need an alternative.
Cellulose thinners. You can buy it by the litre or gallon. <br /><br />Be aware that it melts any residue from the acrylic paints out too and can cause clogging issues if you’re constantly swapping back and forth between acrylics and lacquer without a full deep clean in between. <br /><br />
Also not very environmentally friendly - its got that proper high VO2 niff to it that tells you you’re using unhealthy but effective stuff.
Ta. Been reading up on it. Some use White Spirit too.
I only use lacquer for the top coats. Everything else is Tamiya acrylic with a flush of cleaner between colours, so the brush is pretty clean (on the inside) and has never clogged. Will have a look at cellulose thinners.
Getting Alclad 2 is a right faff. Apparently they fell out with their UK distributor. So, rather ridiculously, I'm getting some of their Klear Kote Matte sent over from the USA.
Some use White Spirit too.
I've had some success cleaning lacquers and enamels from my airbrush using some stuff called Clean Spirit (B&Q or Screwfix), which is perhaps not as effective as white spirit or cellulose thinners but is lot less fumy and is less environmentally unfriendly so I'm happier disposing of the residue.
I use Tamiya X22 gloss , and XF86 flat. It's acrylic like all their other paints, so a quick flush through with Tamiya acrylic thinners will clean it all out. I've tried lots of other clear coats for glossing before decals and pin washes and the like, and it's the only one I've found that'll give you a really good hard gloss on one coat and will dry pretty fast, and will (obviously) play nicely with other acrylic paints - which is not always the case when you start using lacquers or enamels.
I’ve never managed a good result with Tamiya Clear. Brushed on it re-wets the paint and sprayed it looks terrible the way I do it.
How much do you thin it down and at what pressure do you spray?
Would like to move away from Alclad 2 because of the supply issues, but haven’t found anything that will beat it.
I treat it the same way I paint with all acrylics, about 70-30 thinner to paint. and spray at about 15psi with a .3 needle.
Ta. Will give it a go on my "test pig".
https://ibb.co/sw0z6MM
I was recently given this - instructions are a single sheet! Kits have certainly come a long way
"BUILD THE DREAM"?
If a Folland Gnat was your "DREAM" then you need to go and look at a few aviation museums.
Folland didn't help themselves calling it the "Gnat" though did they?
R J Mitchell's preferred name for the Spitfire was the Shrew. That would have Goering shaking in his loafers.
I always thought it was a clever play on the Midge that it was developed from; both irritating little buzzy things.
But not intimidating to the opposition, no. It's no Hunter.
But not intimidating to the opposition, no. It’s no Hunter.
I think the IAF flown single seat Gnat was pretty successful against ****stani F86 to the extent that it was nicknamed the "Sabre Slayer"
Getting there...
Have wound the pressure down in the airbrush and have got a better finish on the matte.
Apparently the Draken's successor, the Viggen, has two meanings in Swedish. One is the lightning from Thor's hammer, and the other is a type of tufted duck.
If it had been a British design they would have called it the Gerbil.
I've held off building the dream for now.
Masking removed from the Spit - only a few touch ups required
I masked up using "No Nonsense" masking tape from Screwfix - It is water resistant and is very similar to Tamiya tape, Screwfix website states that it is Japanese "Washi" paper tape. I had some leftover from masking off 1:1 scale bathroom bits.
Draken!
Can't believe that Draken is done so quickly!
Meanwhile I'm still bumbling through these two in 1:48.
The Hunter is an experiment with mig's masking putty as I struggled getting good camo lines with tape (the odd gap is for the black and yellow stripe decals of the Tangmere exhibit aircraft, which is this kit).
The bf109 messy overlap on the leading edge is for the wobbly line camo in the scheme as the tops are just a plain grey base coat at the moment and there's colour to come down and overlap from the top of the fuselage at the same time then I need to do the splodge overlay.
I'm not very good at this but it's a nice way to spend some time.
The 1:72 Revell Lancaster I bought early on in lockdown is however back on hold. The fiddle factor is off the scale and it's stopped being fun. I've realised I like the simpler builds that look nice from 6 feet away.
Just grabbed this from The Stash.
2 colour paint job. Digital camo is all decals. Hopefully another quick build. Got bogged down with the Rafale to the point the it bored me.
The Hunter is an experiment with mig’s masking putty as I struggled getting good camo lines with tape
I know what you mean. I did the Draken with latex liquid mask.
I’m not very good at this
Bollocks.
Airfix starter kits in Aldi this Thursday, £6.99................
Harry_the_Spider Full Member
Which brings me to a question… What do you use to clean your airbrush after applying lacquer type clear coats?I have an acrylic cleaner for paint and Alclad 2 ALC307 for the lacquers. However, this is difficult to get hold of, so I need an alternative.
IIRC there were two companies making Alclad, one in the US and one in the UK. They had a falling out and the UK one lost the rights to the name, and then either gave up on the product or lost the rights to it too. They're currently called HR Hobbies I think.
Alclad is now available from AMMO, under the A-Stand brand. They are a bit more expensive than they used to be.
https://www.migjimenez.com/en/548-a-stand-laquer-paints
At least I think they're the successors to Alclad.
I’m not very good at this
Bollocks.
Thanks - on the assumption that means they're better than my naturally self-critical mindset has allowed me to believe. I look at the amazing black basing and shading some people have done and am astounded by the level of realism. Always dangerous to judge yourself against people with a lot more hours in the tank.
For anyone thinking of using it the mig putty is great but it slouches /droops if you leave it a week between coats 🫣 so it needs gently nudging back in place unless you want a faded camo line.
@HtS - Saab Draken, one of my all-time favourite fighter jets, such a beautiful aircraft, with that unique planform. I found out very recently that the manoeuvre that Russian pilots did with the Sukhoi fighters with the variable jet exhaust, the ‘Cobra Manoeuvre’, Swedish Draken pilots were doing with the first Drakens, using just the wings as an airbrake; that’s something I’d love to have seen.
Edit: just found the relevant bit in the article;
During testing, pilots discovered it could perform a technically demanding maneuver that required them to pull the nose up and flatten the plane's belly against the airstream. This acted like an air brake, slowing it down immediately and briefly causing it to stall. The pilot then leveled out the plane, reengaged the engines, and continued on course.
The maneuver had no name until Soviet test pilot Viktor Pugachev performed it publically for the first time while flying a Sukhoi Su-27 at the Paris Le Bourget air show in 1989. After that, it became known as the Cobra Maneuver (or Pugachev's Cobra). And yes, it's the stunt Maverick pulls off in "Top Gun: Maverick."
Read More: https://www.slashgear.com/1448508/saab-j35-draken-guide/
Interview with a Draken pilot on Hush Kit
Still think you should've done the 4 colour scheme. 😉
I'm psyching myself up to do a Viggen in Splinter Camo. 
Have put a lot of thought into it. Will print out the above at the same size as the model and cut out each panel. Will then use that as a mask onto the tape. Will go brown, black, light green to minimise the amount of masking.
Sounds good when I type it out, but it may be different in reality.
I would go light to dark. so Base coat of light green, then mask the light green areas and spray dark green, then same again, mask those, do the brown, mask those and last spray it black.
But yeah print out those guides, rescale and use them as templates for the Tamiya tape 👍
There isn't a lot of black and brown, so it will be easier to mask it rather than leave it as a "hole".
I've got no concerns about the green covering the black.
The other option is spend £13 on a set of masks, but where is the fun in that?
The other, other option is to do it grey/silver. However, see previous fun themed comment.
Some of the display Viggen schemes were a lot of fun as well.
There's nothing much cooler than a Viggen. Downright awesomeness. I'm adding one to my Christmas list.
Even better is that Viggen translates as either a bolt of lightening, or a species of tufted duck...They both work. 😁
This thread has made me all sorts of childhood nostalgic.
PSA Airfix starter kits in Lidl on Thursday £6.99 https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/airfix-model-kit-starter-set/p10009522?pageId=10033870&tabCode=Next_Sales_Week
Airbrushists - any thoughts on the Worx Makerx cordless airbrush that's just popped up on HUKD at (allegedly) a big discount?
needs the hub & battery but you can also get that discounted with a Dremel-style tool in a case, so £70 for that (which might actually be ok on it's own anyway?) & airbrush.
never owned or used an airbrush before, but it's something I'm keen on getting into, do a lot of 3d printing so kits/models not a problem and keep trying to find the time to get into model railways!!
Otherwise what sort of beginner airbrush would be recommended? I have a reasonable 25L compressor in the garage which is pretty quiet, unless some kind of super-filtered-air compressor is required instead?
Anyone seen the Airfix 1:48 scale Fairey Gannet? Beautifully detailed kit, but a bit of a monster…
I’ve had some success with the Lidls Lego kits.
The spitfire and Messerschmitt were great fun.
But I notice the Jeremy Renner snowplough has the odd missing piece or two.
I think the planet could do with some Lego ‘concept stores’.
Even just for spares.
Anyone seen the Airfix 1:48 scale Fairey Gannet? Beautifully detailed kit, but a bit of a monster…
Gannets are cool. Sadly I've not got room for the Airfix 1/48, but I like the fact that they are making kits of the more "weird". The world doesn't need another Spitfire!
I've done the 1/72 Revell, and made a bit of a mess of it. Got a Sword AEW one in the stash.
Harry, how many of the Airfix Spitfires for cubs/scouts did you get given they ran out so quickly?
Didn't get any. It was aimed at the 8-11 age group, my lot are 11-14. Don't know if the cub section applied.
We are part of the Warhammer deal though, they send us a big box of stuff every three years. Figures (30+ IIRC), paint, tools brushes the lot. It's a gateway drug! A couple of our kids a into it now.
We are part of the Warhammer deal though, they send us a big box of stuff every three years. Figures (30+ IIRC), paint, tools brushes the lot. It’s a gateway drug! A couple of our kids a into it now.
True. Sons' school has a Warhammer club one night straight from class a week. We have now purchased a not insignificant number of orks, marines and Tyranids plus associated paints and brushes since gd the younger started year 7. 🫣
Greg on YouTube has just done the Gannet. I'm tempted and at £50 ish its not too bad i guess. With wings folded it wouldn't take up too much space. The colour schemes don't look especially challenging though, i like testing myself when it comes to painting time!
Re the airbrush question above, dont get that one, get this instead:
I've been using the same compressor for the past four years and its still going strong. The brushes it comes with are okay, I still have mine and use them for varnishing etc now. A better brush will just feel nicer and are generally much easier to strip and clean but it wont necessarily spray any better.
I got a compressor and airbrush set much like the above a few years back.
Brushes were OKish and I've since upgraded to an Iwata Neo which is an order of magnitude better. Compressor is still going strong despite being tripped over numerous times!
