tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20305766373121460972024-03-10T20:20:10.128-07:00BoweModelsBuild reviews, tips, techniques and general musings on the world of aircraft modelling.Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-78371851889176667242023-07-14T05:32:00.001-07:002023-07-14T05:32:28.634-07:00Revell 1/48 B-24D Liberator built as an RAF Liberator B. MkII<p><a href="http://www.bowemodels.com"> www.bowemodels.com</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfP5ExtgR4P0sovRMZsKZWxpWLDDBC1YYowcs6nzw0ueK13XGS1qk53EqIos7CEoOBD0tsh0iW0rNebntdfNju0B1ezVakiwHhsZllsnrTo5cgo3mG0agEufHImPW_hIu1Ho9UnGRSoTvZVaA8L_7v_n0xnaqL99hEA9qztSCjgvadHejimlbImcaD8E/s795/revell_148_b24d.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="795" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfP5ExtgR4P0sovRMZsKZWxpWLDDBC1YYowcs6nzw0ueK13XGS1qk53EqIos7CEoOBD0tsh0iW0rNebntdfNju0B1ezVakiwHhsZllsnrTo5cgo3mG0agEufHImPW_hIu1Ho9UnGRSoTvZVaA8L_7v_n0xnaqL99hEA9qztSCjgvadHejimlbImcaD8E/w267-h220/revell_148_b24d.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>One of the best aspects of this job is the opportunity to build models that mean something special to a customer. I was approached by a customer in Canada whose great uncle, Warrant Officer Class II Thomas Edward Lavallee (R/117397), was shot down and sadly died over Bari, Italy on a mission to disrupt German/Italian shipping, flying in RAF Liberator II AL565 on April 27, 1943. Could I build a model of his aircraft?<div><br /></div><div>Liberators in RAF service are not a particularly well covered topic, and reference data and photos are hard to come by. After a bit of research, my initial reaction was to turn down the opportunity because there are no kits out there of the Liberator II and generally I don't go in for a lot of kit bashing. However the personal connection was so compelling I persisted.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNItGdHr6iBKFku3RXpHLbqqKcPuoIR7bY1uVxhg2sJu4ndx9Fdyz1jcMlma5zif2EuMghn5j6V-BsvnpkzC9PZYDfOySBwItj6cI5C23t8GYQ2jgVOo4oWuLStSdcUiu64wzr8ia4e3sKUn-1WRwpfcuqqSMtqivpEMSyi2123hobTe_UphD_KRfSKY0/s700/lib2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="700" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNItGdHr6iBKFku3RXpHLbqqKcPuoIR7bY1uVxhg2sJu4ndx9Fdyz1jcMlma5zif2EuMghn5j6V-BsvnpkzC9PZYDfOySBwItj6cI5C23t8GYQ2jgVOo4oWuLStSdcUiu64wzr8ia4e3sKUn-1WRwpfcuqqSMtqivpEMSyi2123hobTe_UphD_KRfSKY0/w238-h129/lib2.jpg" width="238" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">As said, data is hard to find but basically the Liberator II (sometimes called the LB-30) descended from the Liberator I which was basically a B-24A tweaked for the RAF. There is quite a <a href="http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b24_5.html" target="_blank">helpful link here</a> if you wish to know more. But back to the build. The closest generally available Liberator version in kit form to a Liberator II is the B-24D, but there are a fair few fundamental kit changes needed to even come close. I compiled the following list:</div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">All engine cowlings and housings to be rounded instead
of oval. </span></i></li><li><i>Removal of superchargers and addition of forward
stub exhausts.</i></li><li><i>Move dorsal turret in line with trailing edge of
wings, and replace with Boulton Paul Type A turret with four .303 Brownings.</i></li><li><i>Replace tail turret with a Boulton Paul Type E Turret with four .303
Brownings.</i></li><li><i>Blank waist gun windows and replace with small
gun ports, each with two .303 Brownings.</i></li><li><i>Change Hamilton
props to Curtiss shape with longer spinner.</i></li><li><i>Single .303 Browning in nose glass (optional).</i></li><li><i>Add single belly .303 Browning (optional).</i></li><li><i>Shrink and move nose pitots to half way down the side.</i></li><li><i>Replace nose astrodome with flat clear panel
and create new one behind cockpit.</i></li></ul></div></blockquote><div><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-77Wt0TZLDUdQ1GkV5EkQNJRyB_uXCtme4H3GrrLuw57r2BFIumbLsmr4POX5ORki_cRwVQrgfgrAqPVu9ALsFY0MObEKXddXqzNJjlSfF6-OV2EojxIu-GMrUgc8Z-7j3q-QZaZl4pAT5EOsNyevcX2IFbV-ekUTOKH0hqc0AkgQectw_Astfsvkz4/s549/lib2_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="524" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-77Wt0TZLDUdQ1GkV5EkQNJRyB_uXCtme4H3GrrLuw57r2BFIumbLsmr4POX5ORki_cRwVQrgfgrAqPVu9ALsFY0MObEKXddXqzNJjlSfF6-OV2EojxIu-GMrUgc8Z-7j3q-QZaZl4pAT5EOsNyevcX2IFbV-ekUTOKH0hqc0AkgQectw_Astfsvkz4/w198-h207/lib2_2.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">This may seem a small list to you scratch builders, but to me that's a pretty big job (especially the engine housings). And the preferred scale of 1/48 also meant that I was landed with the venerable old Monogram mould (now Revell) from the 70s. I have built this before (in J version) and to be fair it's not a bad kit at all, as long as you are OK with raised panel lines (which I am). </div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">I first spent a lot of time researching and gathering photos of the Liberator II, to be honest there isn't a lot out there, and much of it is contradictory and ambiguous. So using what I had and making a handful of educated guesses in some areas, the build was under way. I am mostly focusing on the Liberator II specific changes for the purposes of this article, this kit is exhaustively reviewed elsewhere.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1gkgAPKvQalrF1kYqVDn9Wz3N-7O3zCTc3NcS7R_585bW6clL_3d7XwUoYESC5wF0oGOsjD8uUDkVmNnnvpwa05eDGMjdy3TMnbuAqT3TSvIoc89CenVRlU6DSftyAKHGxf_0Iid9RFSml2Z0LFv6gwKwD1tKJ0Whx5rwPrBY9V_4uFsA2DQn-KrbIo/s2739/IMG_5780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1924" data-original-width="2739" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1gkgAPKvQalrF1kYqVDn9Wz3N-7O3zCTc3NcS7R_585bW6clL_3d7XwUoYESC5wF0oGOsjD8uUDkVmNnnvpwa05eDGMjdy3TMnbuAqT3TSvIoc89CenVRlU6DSftyAKHGxf_0Iid9RFSml2Z0LFv6gwKwD1tKJ0Whx5rwPrBY9V_4uFsA2DQn-KrbIo/w189-h132/IMG_5780.JPG" width="189" /></a></div>So I blanked out the waist gun windows and created the small single portal and barrel holes needed for the offset FN-55 Browning mounts used on this aircraft, and also blanked the dorsal turret hole behind the cockpit, and cut a new one in line with the wing training edges, which is one of the more obvious differences between the Liberator II and the B-24D. Although not Liberator II specific, I did go to the trouble of installing the excellent Eduard bomb bay etch set for the B-24, I can't be 100% sure if it is all exactly correct for the Liberator II but there is no reason to believe it isn't.</div></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcz6S0yziOlDmpd83o596jCOD-pa_SCbJVIlN8xnYyRUSSdWy47vVC6TH2pO02wmxQ23k1bYzxeLXlK8WAhHgzgneSC9N8FjGzn8Cm5dNuMmgyf89SpsTmqfkMlOPYpKKp8Ca_oHwDNGfBE6-WjcCz4-rlnMlaKZHbIo3pVuiY412gUZBwvZtN1SbZ63k/s2626/IMG_5885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1608" data-original-width="2626" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcz6S0yziOlDmpd83o596jCOD-pa_SCbJVIlN8xnYyRUSSdWy47vVC6TH2pO02wmxQ23k1bYzxeLXlK8WAhHgzgneSC9N8FjGzn8Cm5dNuMmgyf89SpsTmqfkMlOPYpKKp8Ca_oHwDNGfBE6-WjcCz4-rlnMlaKZHbIo3pVuiY412gUZBwvZtN1SbZ63k/w187-h114/IMG_5885.JPG" width="187" /></a></div>And so on to the major kitbash element, the engine housings. The B-24D had oval shaped engine cowlings and housings in order to accommodate the superchargers. The Liberator II had round housings because there was no supercharger. And so I had to find some way of changing the shape and removing the supercharger mouldings. Much looking around was done to see if anything could be borrowed from another kit or after market parts in order to help do this but all to no avail. I finally came to the conclusion that I was on my own. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJTaxTGu5JZxETUmlSMA8S_b60ebcLMNDmlZI7tp56rJwYEkWjBCNjpaxRCFwcneJgZB43ywVpHAWkqi_ksChMtWjXFivaaqIqmLpBlciQVgCQ2UWqGSHolnpexgg29lCrHuxEPBNgMLiTA6oKqq2ZedHbFzQEUQzcilxerQR6irMo8Zd04pBt81Z4eI/s2607/IMG_5888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2514" data-original-width="2607" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJTaxTGu5JZxETUmlSMA8S_b60ebcLMNDmlZI7tp56rJwYEkWjBCNjpaxRCFwcneJgZB43ywVpHAWkqi_ksChMtWjXFivaaqIqmLpBlciQVgCQ2UWqGSHolnpexgg29lCrHuxEPBNgMLiTA6oKqq2ZedHbFzQEUQzcilxerQR6irMo8Zd04pBt81Z4eI/w176-h170/IMG_5888.JPG" width="176" /></a></div>So my solution was to remove a 5mm strip from the centreline of the nacelles and move the inboard half outward which resulted in pretty much a perfect round shape, but of course left some serious filling work inboard of the housing. Fortunately this solution also removed the bulk of the supercharger mouldings from the kit parts. Now, I may as a result have the engines a couple of mm more outboard than they should be but to my eye it's not noticeable and given that they overlap with the undercarriage structure there was no other practical solution. Measuring up against reference photos however I seem to have got it just about right.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcKUZ1amuV4FY-RCXWbT8mucOk6bK5zZLQpsFRemGuOFZYmtNiNm_WLZyV6AxGHc4auXesGc7fCnfpZS34546_JipP1iNjE8dItyB5CRrEeBM3XGxvvFSFPVOqggWULp0hI2AbDXetHJI60Y86JZ7IkomUplLdD2UpaBTlELpg7jtZrgznlTDpUdqKEY/s2568/IMG_5895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1762" data-original-width="2568" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcKUZ1amuV4FY-RCXWbT8mucOk6bK5zZLQpsFRemGuOFZYmtNiNm_WLZyV6AxGHc4auXesGc7fCnfpZS34546_JipP1iNjE8dItyB5CRrEeBM3XGxvvFSFPVOqggWULp0hI2AbDXetHJI60Y86JZ7IkomUplLdD2UpaBTlELpg7jtZrgznlTDpUdqKEY/w184-h127/IMG_5895.JPG" width="184" /></a></div>I used card and Milliput to fill in the gaps and holes and spent an inordinate amount of time sanding and shaping until I was happy with the result. Of course the actual engine parts needed reshaping to fit the new housings but that was not too difficult. Fortunately the Liberator II used the same (almost) Twin Wasp radials as the B-24D so no worries there.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMXq31hw486KywpF_W4SO_yq1KXgW7AxmTMY2iE592rb4JA2yQVlVWK2VHaxi1eKkOOU5acRyqYnnW-ymHgvvsYhzXMA_U4ptCoF_F6w_8koTJ02o3B7YLJFie86MNvHykFRe_NXcNLgjGBSKpQDLZ3vzc50DO0jZ7dun0QAhi7lxAifE35PUUZPBMS4/s1471/IMG_5956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="1471" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMXq31hw486KywpF_W4SO_yq1KXgW7AxmTMY2iE592rb4JA2yQVlVWK2VHaxi1eKkOOU5acRyqYnnW-ymHgvvsYhzXMA_U4ptCoF_F6w_8koTJ02o3B7YLJFie86MNvHykFRe_NXcNLgjGBSKpQDLZ3vzc50DO0jZ7dun0QAhi7lxAifE35PUUZPBMS4/w204-h170/IMG_5956.JPG" width="204" /></a></div>The dorsal turret used by the Liberator II was a Boulton Paul type A, it looks very different to the one found on the B-24D. No such turret exists in the aftermarket so my only option was to purchase one of the new Airfix 1/48 BP Defiant kits and steal the turret from that. What was not so easy was the tail turret. There is no Type E turret anywhere in 1/48 unless you count the Fonderie 1/48 Halifax kit which has become such an icon of awfulness that it goes for insane money on Ebay. So I stole the rear turret from an old Tamiya Lancaster kit and spent a couple of days re-shaping, glazing, buffing, and scratch building the Browning mounts until I had something that broadly resembles the Type E in the dark with the light behind it.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2pJPw4glIt5_wg76xwvDdRsGYjdfucnoCV67-GTx9DjkzPPgJLki8n9pR5f6OQmrJwOvZ2mhca3HNc0A8z3u33Bg848wsl4HvEVna31JVGMSnGOpMUtbxJ4x8yPimZr-mOSDSODzpFoq762qDq-CPoq-e7HmuSkQRfob9Rhy8_62UJ_e7U_UDnmesWg/s1749/IMG_5959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1321" data-original-width="1749" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2pJPw4glIt5_wg76xwvDdRsGYjdfucnoCV67-GTx9DjkzPPgJLki8n9pR5f6OQmrJwOvZ2mhca3HNc0A8z3u33Bg848wsl4HvEVna31JVGMSnGOpMUtbxJ4x8yPimZr-mOSDSODzpFoq762qDq-CPoq-e7HmuSkQRfob9Rhy8_62UJ_e7U_UDnmesWg/w168-h127/IMG_5959.JPG" width="168" /></a></div>One of the final significant alterations was to the propellers. The B-24D kit comes with "paddle" style props which look nothing like the Curtiss Electric ones used on the Liberator II. And once again, the aftermarket was no help whatsoever. So I had to set to with the sanding sticks until I had them shaped to pass for the CE props. I also scratch built the longer spinners they needed. In addition, the Liberator II appeared to have distinctive spinner back plates not seen on American Liberators so I cut these from plasticard. </div><div><br /></div><div>Other alterations worth mentioning include building the gun mount structure inside the nose glass, although I opted not to install the nose Browning - nor in the belly (although I did create the ports) since no photos I have seen show them installed. I also created aerial pillars behind the inboard engine housings to support aerial wire to the tails, something unique to British Liberators as far as I can tell. I trimmed down the kit pitots and replaced the probe itself with brass wire, these were then installed on the sides of the nose rather than the top - another Liberator II feature. The exhausts were created from plastic tubing filed down for realism and installed in holes cut in the outside of the engine cowling.</div><div><br /></div><div>Decals were sourced from spares - fortunately the Liberator II was more or less bereft of stencils and what markings it it has are RAF staples easily stolen from other decal sheets, including the AL565 lettering which I managed to cut and shut from existing 1/48 Lancaster sheets.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, that just about covers the key bits worth knowing about. It's been quite an adventure for me, not being one used to so much kit alteration. But I am proud to end up with what is surely a unique model. A number of modellers have painted B-24 kits in RAF colours (can work for a Liberator III or later) but I can find no other examples of the Liberator II having been built, certainly with any attention to accuracy. And I hope it serves as a fitting memorial to W/O Lavallee and his crew.</div><div><br /></div><div>Full photos of the finished article below, and you can see my full progress photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.818047059890297" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyY28sRzX0T8jW6vlowNvVzJOuz2RY6uF6lNpd2IP5PX895X4kR2JcnfYKMoWiYAkGVoiU_CTFWPbZV3tAMKZcP1jff5kMo64ktFta5zSkHze4RBUeDLANXPJma7sSLdrO_X4sVYvwgklBxX3ZeTsvut3nQQs-UuZ6QyNQg2FZ8LU7vgx5qkioR-s9NE/s1074/steve_signature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1074" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyY28sRzX0T8jW6vlowNvVzJOuz2RY6uF6lNpd2IP5PX895X4kR2JcnfYKMoWiYAkGVoiU_CTFWPbZV3tAMKZcP1jff5kMo64ktFta5zSkHze4RBUeDLANXPJma7sSLdrO_X4sVYvwgklBxX3ZeTsvut3nQQs-UuZ6QyNQg2FZ8LU7vgx5qkioR-s9NE/w200-h84/steve_signature.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2513" data-original-width="3359" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv20skZ5NtZjn65H6lY4l-IPHpJShOpbIyaoTCdZSIyTcQX4DsYb15McJ_r7QuYdYJD8ObaWGNA_FtATONbd75eFKn5VuUO6nTcGGIeLja7hlJiy3eZoebOxEBEwOQWanSk_5qQYZMhWlCkO_FjRLadfi9dOnMCg-iBbzZuRcTR9bbyrgK2ZEtKXUXxeA/w640-h478/IMG_6076.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepZuJaa8z5GmEAcYi2X2tzeT7qQEmlI98BLEzomTr3jEo3dIbKjOuM1fnK-op_A9h4b6RBLCr79CoFGB2hhbCYV_MVzrKOs5i-u6kkInLaDgLXD2lW7bcQ5epy1kFH-1RUe2i072StuiG0k-Qr7NfrF0ZsHSSZsoDpqTLuHdNCJuqNAbe2SpnnYBwtrY/s3437/IMG_6077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2503" data-original-width="3437" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepZuJaa8z5GmEAcYi2X2tzeT7qQEmlI98BLEzomTr3jEo3dIbKjOuM1fnK-op_A9h4b6RBLCr79CoFGB2hhbCYV_MVzrKOs5i-u6kkInLaDgLXD2lW7bcQ5epy1kFH-1RUe2i072StuiG0k-Qr7NfrF0ZsHSSZsoDpqTLuHdNCJuqNAbe2SpnnYBwtrY/w640-h466/IMG_6077.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvS2MTxJoC8EoMMG924lvtYbpcdUbizHWhBQBPNTzxNdis_xtDP0w7bgv_SukU3hqKSxmFmw0thPorxrAcJf2gocPf_j-10Hf9QDaLihuEZGF0iMcWq-_OPjeK771ieFQMrNeASMi5-qDVJJN1AMSyqjA-Wq7TRxIrDYgMSjDbntvD5RGr085_VYWIGA/s2855/IMG_6078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2855" data-original-width="2282" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvS2MTxJoC8EoMMG924lvtYbpcdUbizHWhBQBPNTzxNdis_xtDP0w7bgv_SukU3hqKSxmFmw0thPorxrAcJf2gocPf_j-10Hf9QDaLihuEZGF0iMcWq-_OPjeK771ieFQMrNeASMi5-qDVJJN1AMSyqjA-Wq7TRxIrDYgMSjDbntvD5RGr085_VYWIGA/w512-h640/IMG_6078.JPG" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-30803515029395066742021-05-01T06:32:00.000-07:002021-05-01T06:32:37.918-07:00Italeri 1/32 Panavia Tornado GR4<p><a href="http://www.bowemodels.com"> www.bowemodels.com</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNR_ehhgg_KJsobqCrt4tJ88t3qabntLTuIrto2nd4gT5fsaUsugye_dml3xx04ASIhEr2kera5fDcFre02w6RA_J5rizgeyglSPTpBnBNbtsqDHGxL-thfuYoshQqgNQwO3ZrG4MuQAI/s1800/italeri_132_tornadogr4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNR_ehhgg_KJsobqCrt4tJ88t3qabntLTuIrto2nd4gT5fsaUsugye_dml3xx04ASIhEr2kera5fDcFre02w6RA_J5rizgeyglSPTpBnBNbtsqDHGxL-thfuYoshQqgNQwO3ZrG4MuQAI/s320/italeri_132_tornadogr4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Italeri joined the 1/32 Tornado club last year with this brand new original (for once) tooled kit. Until now only the venerable (and still pretty decent overall) Revell mould could give you a Tonka in this scale, and not a GR4 unless you did a bit of after market and/or scratch work. I've built the Revell kit a couple of times in the past and so with high expectations I unpacked this beauty to see how it compared.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNdAZqGzO2n2eAlZsLqyPjQfUcXuE9aqSRzLfb-3r1HDXS3qXXawQsSU52e6nGPGVgfp2lojrL84zvUfztXTEEAqGEEUOogHMmzizyTVaY-zstYAIZdCoj3ovCiORd95EgHKJ_UTdxqw/s1906/IMG_1471.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1732" data-original-width="1906" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNdAZqGzO2n2eAlZsLqyPjQfUcXuE9aqSRzLfb-3r1HDXS3qXXawQsSU52e6nGPGVgfp2lojrL84zvUfztXTEEAqGEEUOogHMmzizyTVaY-zstYAIZdCoj3ovCiORd95EgHKJ_UTdxqw/w200-h182/IMG_1471.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />The quality of the plastic is first rate as one would hope, a large number of parts as befits a large model like this and a photo etch sheet as well. The photo etch is not an option, several of the parts are integral to the model. However if you are looking for loadout options you will be disappointed. The configuration shown on the box top is pretty much all you get, other than the option to double up on the Sky Shadow or BOZ pods. And although I haven't researched it, I'm not sure this particular configuration is actually one you would find very often in the real world - certainly not for all of the aircraft represented by the kit schemes, but I may stand to be corrected on that. There are four markings schemes in the kit decals, including the rather nice 9 Sqn farewell scheme. As of the time of writing the after market in 1/32 GR4 decals is woefully underserved I can only hope this changes as options are limited. Indeed, the markings I required had to be cobbled together from kit, spares and self generation.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_R6Km-vLRZ7Pjejbe8THoyHNDjr7Y6FbdsV3SNnjtw5eP_ICmc7T16CxDnXsscNapxMO6zhQJH0g48s0FWfwp06qHLY8yEY7j47FVSq8Erpmkl8DZbt8U-RDjTTB7oi2U9pih12p25zM/s2048/IMG_1482.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1167" data-original-width="2048" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_R6Km-vLRZ7Pjejbe8THoyHNDjr7Y6FbdsV3SNnjtw5eP_ICmc7T16CxDnXsscNapxMO6zhQJH0g48s0FWfwp06qHLY8yEY7j47FVSq8Erpmkl8DZbt8U-RDjTTB7oi2U9pih12p25zM/w200-h114/IMG_1482.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>What also hits you fairly quickly when you first look at the plastic is the one and only major thing wrong with this kit - the panel lines. They are horrendously overdone. Revell actually got this more or less right on their version and they will certainly need no accenting on this Italeri kit. Indeed I did what I could to soften them in practice.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzubUb8zcIZYYEAw9u89NM_r2u0XqKm5n4lpPg9WljeyMa4EoNb6sv37S1WVRi5joa8O9VUfCk6WKsISwYWW6DOkP12lbFZE5UZhyqWlkEVqQ_lPwGE8WzItlZPr1rBYEjWc92Ndq3F-k/s1850/IMG_1492.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1330" data-original-width="1850" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzubUb8zcIZYYEAw9u89NM_r2u0XqKm5n4lpPg9WljeyMa4EoNb6sv37S1WVRi5joa8O9VUfCk6WKsISwYWW6DOkP12lbFZE5UZhyqWlkEVqQ_lPwGE8WzItlZPr1rBYEjWc92Ndq3F-k/w200-h144/IMG_1492.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Again, at the time or building, there was little in terms of aftermarket enhancements available. I managed to get the Eduard photo etch sets for it pretty much the day they were released, likewise some Eduard resin wheels and the pitot and AoA probe set from Master, which is designed for the Revell kit but fits well enough. I also got my hands on the new Eduard "Space" 3D decal interior set (again, hot off the press) to see how that would go. There is a slight sense that Eduard rushed these sets out. They are not as comprehensive as Eduard tend to be, some of the enhancement possibilities usually found in such sets are missing which is a shame, however the underlying kit is pretty damn good and holds its own well enough so it's not the end of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPWfqfuEjdxLDwrBcrc5W8pI2tyVRaWDirp2nswXJDHmF7bkfQ4xIxiG4I_QGA_LH5wC1yfZr_sM3AIO69Gb8-mMZKr_KGeklSobZYy2a3lesadNEyJ8YVu3ffRCBIzfWYcxtgd5MaCHI/s2048/IMG_1500.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="2048" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPWfqfuEjdxLDwrBcrc5W8pI2tyVRaWDirp2nswXJDHmF7bkfQ4xIxiG4I_QGA_LH5wC1yfZr_sM3AIO69Gb8-mMZKr_KGeklSobZYy2a3lesadNEyJ8YVu3ffRCBIzfWYcxtgd5MaCHI/w200-h143/IMG_1500.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The kit builds beautifully, no other word for it. I will point out a few things to watch out for but don't let that detract from what is ultimately up there with the benchmark set by Tamiya for fit quality. Firstly, the instructions - although really nicely produced, can be a little vague in in parts about placement, and in a few places the illustrations don't always look quite like the parts which means you need to test fit and work a few things out for yourselves.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF65Hh6P29gTVPGY2_8aCmUgBaR6Vrit3DBDLBmQrYEewLQUi48Te-iceIx2EoBDxKAMXU_3iyw4d1UDC5Hv2uqMM88W6rwUQU7GFerzos420-zs31o_GahpGeAENC_vpJAxTPJ7mrVw8/s2048/IMG_1512.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1669" data-original-width="2048" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF65Hh6P29gTVPGY2_8aCmUgBaR6Vrit3DBDLBmQrYEewLQUi48Te-iceIx2EoBDxKAMXU_3iyw4d1UDC5Hv2uqMM88W6rwUQU7GFerzos420-zs31o_GahpGeAENC_vpJAxTPJ7mrVw8/w200-h163/IMG_1512.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The cockpit detailing is one of the best I've seen in plastic. As mentioned, I used the Eduard Space set to replace much of it and it did feel a bit cruel to shave off the kit details as I had to. Carefully painted up, the raw kit cockpit would look more than good enough I reckon. But we modellers strive for detail that you just can't get from polystyrene. The Eduard Space set is good, love the raised detailing but it does suffer from the same problem as most Eduard coloured etch - whilst the detailing is lovely, the underlying colour resolution (ie panel colour) is terrible - and the colours themselves are questionable anyway. I don't know exactly the technology they use to paint these things but even a slightly close up view looks like it's come out of a 1970s dot matrix printer. For some time now, I have taken to overpainting (as best I can with a tiny brush) this underlying panel colours on this stuff and its fiddly and not always a precise science but it makes everything look so much better.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrAtEVxhNIIT8kIiMVMDFc3yHklgI7OClMUh6USKP0RSQ1fOw_0SOKjYTRSiemlckN0uJzc-1eopRuk9FffRLUvsuTDo7XlXOfc3L64ucGxFoXa_iRxUBjyUnr7sy1nWP3gWXyd8hv88/s2048/IMG_1517.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1780" data-original-width="2048" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrAtEVxhNIIT8kIiMVMDFc3yHklgI7OClMUh6USKP0RSQ1fOw_0SOKjYTRSiemlckN0uJzc-1eopRuk9FffRLUvsuTDo7XlXOfc3L64ucGxFoXa_iRxUBjyUnr7sy1nWP3gWXyd8hv88/w200-h174/IMG_1517.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Otherwise, I added a bit of scratch detail and wiring to the cockpit (in this scale you are crazy and lazy not to) and also used resin seats from Quickboost. Again, meant for the Revell kit but they fit fine. The kit seats are good, although would benefit from some enhancements but I love resin seats you just can't get that level of realism any other way. There is no full resin cockpit out there as yet although I bet the boys at Aires are already working on it but nevertheless I'm happy that the kit parts, my "corrected" Eduard Space set, scratch work and careful painting have done the job.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNevNUhFRkxsR-DrJF9Aqx9wFwZ7H6zYJEQimpISPtrhfGXfiTLWRPQ-XL3-2HhB7Hh3NJhotd6IT2eAv6LxRexWy11LbsFImuWPVid68R4i5nvgpEntDK1Nfi7LIx5HRR5UlWz2AiT3Q/s2048/IMG_1589.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="2048" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNevNUhFRkxsR-DrJF9Aqx9wFwZ7H6zYJEQimpISPtrhfGXfiTLWRPQ-XL3-2HhB7Hh3NJhotd6IT2eAv6LxRexWy11LbsFImuWPVid68R4i5nvgpEntDK1Nfi7LIx5HRR5UlWz2AiT3Q/w200-h147/IMG_1589.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The intake sections are quite complex and fiddly to get square - I can't remember building any Tornado kit where this wasn't the case to be honest, but be careful here. I had also been warned about the wing boots but personally I had no problems. Metal screws are provided to fix the wings on which is a good touch in this scale, although don't overtighten them (ask me how I know). Speaking of which, although there is the usual swing mechanism available, the kit is very obviously designed to be built wings forward. Swept back is possible but will mean a bit of messing around and you will lose the lovely flap and slat deployments which are definitely worth doing. If only because this is one area where Italeri give Revell a serious lesson in how to do this right. Anyone who has built the Revell 1/48 Tornado and tried to deploy the flaps will know exactly what I mean. The Italeri one is brilliantly designed, easy to build and looks great although my kit had some notable sink marks on the underside of the flaps which I didn't bother dealing with because they aren't really visible in normal operations.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>This kit features the usual Tornado arrangement of front cockpit section built separately and slotted on to the main body. This particular operation I found rather tricky - to the point where you think it's not going to work, but it does, you just need to be a bit brave with flexing the assemblies.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEJC3q-PmOuZcFI1v5N0dq06z6UJ4SiWGoGnD7YipW8-Y9yxtAX0dF1kk1LCzU4nThy7jtdiQSDWq1vYDKjbt5GfzgEoRblbdqRO6jscLr_8LBSaye2tadnxsbSWPCyAcHstcWJh7564/s1520/IMG_1504.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1506" data-original-width="1520" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEJC3q-PmOuZcFI1v5N0dq06z6UJ4SiWGoGnD7YipW8-Y9yxtAX0dF1kk1LCzU4nThy7jtdiQSDWq1vYDKjbt5GfzgEoRblbdqRO6jscLr_8LBSaye2tadnxsbSWPCyAcHstcWJh7564/w200-h198/IMG_1504.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p></p>The engines are nicely done with good details, and there is an option in the kit to display an engine out of the aircraft (including a nicely represented trolley) which is a thoughtful touch however not for me, just glued the bare minimum together and sealed up inside the fuselage. There are no after market engines or cans at the time of writing, but you know what, I don't think it needs them. <p></p><p></p>No metal undercarriage available either, which is something I usually like to go for especially in a model of this size. Partly for strength and also because they are much easier to align. Fortunately the kit undercarriage seems to work very well in both ways. Model seems solidly grounded and the legs aligned pretty well. However I would recommend a metal pin being introduced where the leg attaches to the main wheel bay frame. Just felt like it needed a little more than glue. The front leg is rather a complex part to build and this is one of the areas where the instructions aren't entirely clear so take care.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalil0S4H8s123Gn3njCZor4mCJFq9ydQOwd9nSHk9DN_S5qp5BiJl6qzxPLuUjhfHp9xrK7OEkoGF0pHyWFAeTSXzibQIS2_CRwVOJrdAApsLm4oryrvVOMJDnb4Vc34NVy7ZmgpCyvo/s1747/IMG_1530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1494" data-original-width="1747" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalil0S4H8s123Gn3njCZor4mCJFq9ydQOwd9nSHk9DN_S5qp5BiJl6qzxPLuUjhfHp9xrK7OEkoGF0pHyWFAeTSXzibQIS2_CRwVOJrdAApsLm4oryrvVOMJDnb4Vc34NVy7ZmgpCyvo/w200-h171/IMG_1530.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />I was attempting to replicate a specific Tornado, ZA463 as she was in 2011. This meant the kit ordnance selection was not particularly helpful. I used the kit BOZ and Sky Shadow, they seemed pretty good with the exception that the small airflow blades on the BOZ as moulded are horrible and I replaced them with spare etch. The only tanks in the kit are a pair of the massive "Hindenburg" ones and I wanted the smaller 1500L two fin tanks for this project. The only place I could get them in the end was from a spare Revell GR1 kit. But needs must. I also needed a Litening pod which came courtesy of Eduard Brassin although their one has the air vent moulded to the right hand side. Given that it is almost always carried on the left this is unfortunate but some deft work with the hacksaw sorted this out. I also needed a training GBU, and the one carried by the life model is a CPU-123. The only one of these in 1/32 that accurately represents the side strip is from ResKit but whilst otherwise good, it has awful, thick and misshaped front fins. So I managed to find some correct fins from the leftover GBUs in my spare sprues cupboard and transplanted them.<p></p><p>ZA463 in 2011 was a bit of a Frankenstein machine, with a multitude of technicolour panels presumably as a result of patch ups etc. So painting her was a lot of "fun". But I did apply far more coats of gloss than I normally would, in an attempt to fill out the panel lines and I think it's worked to some extent. Some of the more prominent ones got individual treatment with micro filler. I used the kit decals where I could, fortunately one of the kit schemes is a 617 sqn aircraft of the same timeframe so the stencils worked, but most of the aircraft specific markings had to be self generated.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicEe4pymxP1E1zkpk-mgw-vKfTvzZf3CtC0NKNHvRtORKsDPFy8SkTv-MlFXrLvBMgaLvYfaC1A08L2Vr8v-JelKVAvIRSOZDle93pEiohW8x6cOXU0rm0_XmR1K-cgw3fvy8FozD21JA/s2048/IMG_1552.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1632" data-original-width="2048" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicEe4pymxP1E1zkpk-mgw-vKfTvzZf3CtC0NKNHvRtORKsDPFy8SkTv-MlFXrLvBMgaLvYfaC1A08L2Vr8v-JelKVAvIRSOZDle93pEiohW8x6cOXU0rm0_XmR1K-cgw3fvy8FozD21JA/w200-h159/IMG_1552.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p><br />Weathering wise, ZA463 was at this point pretty grubby. I did wash the panel lines on the underside where Tonkas get particularly dirty, but was careful not to anywhere else - those lines need no enhancing, quite the opposite. I used oil paint rub on top of the matt coat to get the general grubbiness and some pastels for the really filthy bits. The tail staining was done with a combination of thinned paint and pastels.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREqE8GvO1yhHCfPLWphAu3r_apRqU7WRctNlSnQKmzOyB88NCPQKGh814O8040vEefTE9PKYm1XA7dQ5DBaPx5ESinJTRXqVU0XlZy6MKBOm-cLSAv5-sME5VZFPJ7LsYl4vgeL05LgI/s2048/IMG_1578.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="2048" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREqE8GvO1yhHCfPLWphAu3r_apRqU7WRctNlSnQKmzOyB88NCPQKGh814O8040vEefTE9PKYm1XA7dQ5DBaPx5ESinJTRXqVU0XlZy6MKBOm-cLSAv5-sME5VZFPJ7LsYl4vgeL05LgI/w200-h123/IMG_1578.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>So that's covered the main points of interest I think, I did add a handful of personal touches (e.g. canopy lower det cord humps and props to hold it open) but despite the few niggles mentioned I can't praise this kit highly enough. Ignore those panel lines and its near perfect. I haven't counted all the rivets (that's not what I do) and no doubt there are already people out there complaining about the shape of the nose because nobody is ever happy with the shape of the Tornado's nose for some reason (looks fine to me by the way). As an aside, the reason for this is that this aircraft features a fairly unique square to circle nose cone design which means the overall shape looks different from every angle. Modellers take note and stop complaining please. But I think it's pretty accurate overall, certainly looks the part to me and Revell, please note, the wings appear to be at the correct angle when forward in this one.<p></p><p></p>So better than Revell? No brainer. The Revell kit is a lot simpler but still makes a great model. I would have no qualms about building it again even now. However looking at the unused parts in the Italeri kit it's plain that a GR1 (or IDS if you prefer) is imminent and hopefully given the separate cockpit section an F3/ADV won't be far away either and we'll all be happy bunnies and the Revell kit may sadly slip into history. Just please do something about those panel lines...<p></p><p>Full photos of the finished article below, and you can see my full progress photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=BoweModels&set=a.302748304753511" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Enjoy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVNbvmznM9Ee3UbMI64k3nF-IHtV-1R3nlS6BDXcGldR15O33Un42NYGfWvKUwStaDh0NZAHCjZpUmi8QZW7fDQ1NpdCgL7z9OPZI02VW0Klr2GX8aECMtS4prdV2W8YyUB1OlQlfVAI/s1074/steve_signature.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1074" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVNbvmznM9Ee3UbMI64k3nF-IHtV-1R3nlS6BDXcGldR15O33Un42NYGfWvKUwStaDh0NZAHCjZpUmi8QZW7fDQ1NpdCgL7z9OPZI02VW0Klr2GX8aECMtS4prdV2W8YyUB1OlQlfVAI/w200-h84/steve_signature.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlAtWZl8jXUSEz-E8pSdBDYwwjrM8CFpKhjgE9zF8L3wHpz7rh_v-iJil5Xe268cbsaouHaque9UWNE29a5qV9xX8XTv9SJhElfVjQ0wj1S3Dt7HiZG_nPYYSxXMVy9Rtb2aXDE4DeAU/s2048/IMG_1643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="2048" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlAtWZl8jXUSEz-E8pSdBDYwwjrM8CFpKhjgE9zF8L3wHpz7rh_v-iJil5Xe268cbsaouHaque9UWNE29a5qV9xX8XTv9SJhElfVjQ0wj1S3Dt7HiZG_nPYYSxXMVy9Rtb2aXDE4DeAU/w640-h468/IMG_1643.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-79763386809489962622020-06-25T17:06:00.000-07:002020-06-25T17:06:26.238-07:00Planet Models 1/48 Westland Welkin<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24TsiXQsKiz4vKTBPoR9F_Cwi9HAbbONKu4wbcag0AMHBXezYd1Bc3nVnLz2bn-Ur6iXqQ6otW5cBDr1PUVUrqUynplr_27KKRwGKIEiI3smnlS8_7-mtfrJCDTSSX8EfWNjuTPzv1tE/s1600/planet_148_welkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1600" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24TsiXQsKiz4vKTBPoR9F_Cwi9HAbbONKu4wbcag0AMHBXezYd1Bc3nVnLz2bn-Ur6iXqQ6otW5cBDr1PUVUrqUynplr_27KKRwGKIEiI3smnlS8_7-mtfrJCDTSSX8EfWNjuTPzv1tE/s320/planet_148_welkin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I must admit that I had never come across this particular aircraft before. But it was a response by the RAF in 1942/3 to a perceived threat from the JU-86P. This would need to be countered with a high altitude heavy fighter to deal with reconnaissance missions that may be a prelude to a new high altitude bombing threat. As it happened, this threat never materialised and only some 75 Welkins were built, and not all of them ever flew. In many ways a stretched version of the Whirlwind, but it was largely a new design.<br />
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Planet models are very good at churning out decent quality resin kits of some of the more unusual subjects. As with most of their offerings, this one is solidly cast, although as is usual with the genre, the surface details are a little heavy and simplistic. The internal cockpit details are generous, but again rather simplistic and a little "rough". But as ever, if you want a model of something more unusual, this is the price one pays. <br />
I can't comment with total authority on the accuracy, although it looks right. I have read that it's a little under-scale, but my calculations don't seem to bear this out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYeacULSPplIzILLPnvpAuw1aVO0ZF6opStXejGAGgzeCJ8m-kMo7_QlEI8tL43vr3dR02cWpxkciz2_bIaP08I0pF3R5R6SFz_eMyl1qgcVDxrpaB__WBjYdnAhK9CLg33-iyrnDlqiY/s1600/IMG_0196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1325" data-original-width="1600" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYeacULSPplIzILLPnvpAuw1aVO0ZF6opStXejGAGgzeCJ8m-kMo7_QlEI8tL43vr3dR02cWpxkciz2_bIaP08I0pF3R5R6SFz_eMyl1qgcVDxrpaB__WBjYdnAhK9CLg33-iyrnDlqiY/s200/IMG_0196.JPG" width="200" /></a>My instant reaction to the kit parts was that the heavy, solid wings appeared to be a bit much for the relatively flimsy two fuselage halves. Being resin, too much strain would potentially be disastrous so my first resolve would to strengthen the fuselage with some struts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYBL_OICrE83TdA0uEjb2vvKPFuAW3YjzSC0KpRw7loyHUlSH6ohqjcYY06LhkNOC4lI2Dlta18_a9WcBLmaZ2ptW5GvYmV6UHDM5yO-Cr4YV0GkUMfeegk6j_WeC4QPPas3HDhgFts4/s1600/IMG_0193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="1600" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYBL_OICrE83TdA0uEjb2vvKPFuAW3YjzSC0KpRw7loyHUlSH6ohqjcYY06LhkNOC4lI2Dlta18_a9WcBLmaZ2ptW5GvYmV6UHDM5yO-Cr4YV0GkUMfeegk6j_WeC4QPPas3HDhgFts4/s200/IMG_0193.JPG" width="200" /></a>The cockpit tub went together pretty well, fitting the instrument panel was less precise, and took some messing about but I got it to an acceptable state in the end. Planet provide a few nice etched details, including reasonable belts so I installed and painted these. Not too much effort was spent as things won't be that visible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjz2HXVyRfjdzBJOkjvGRXowr4_V2dsBVSoargvs-TDPfYTnw1C4hf2PagsFmrkdb-9rrmnTWOFsmotTJDbE4Bg2xD58bHCm6gd4h5txUeZGxPN-_kyqFGl_SqrKvzXy3b54-w9v1lNhU/s1600/IMG_0200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1600" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjz2HXVyRfjdzBJOkjvGRXowr4_V2dsBVSoargvs-TDPfYTnw1C4hf2PagsFmrkdb-9rrmnTWOFsmotTJDbE4Bg2xD58bHCm6gd4h5txUeZGxPN-_kyqFGl_SqrKvzXy3b54-w9v1lNhU/s200/IMG_0200.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnPfMcErERivU2YXkdbC-DZ6nMeK_8HueY6o9Igh0TJIJ4_DZ24C25r2gTsJcXX6pyHwEZFoAP5dkGTkcnfCSSQZ6HGkv7alRmq6v5WTulZuIgor_j4yyi0w15cQFjjrjQINpwqA_3Sw/s1600/IMG_0201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1600" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnPfMcErERivU2YXkdbC-DZ6nMeK_8HueY6o9Igh0TJIJ4_DZ24C25r2gTsJcXX6pyHwEZFoAP5dkGTkcnfCSSQZ6HGkv7alRmq6v5WTulZuIgor_j4yyi0w15cQFjjrjQINpwqA_3Sw/s200/IMG_0201.JPG" width="200" /></a>We now move on to the one major flaw in this kit. The wings are dead flat, and this is wrong. The aircraft should have a 3-4 degree upwards dihedral on the tip sections. Indeed, this is obvious from the cover picture on the box, but Planet seem to have completely ignored this. Unfortunately this was too much for my neurotic brain so I chopped the end of the wings, drilled some pin holes and re-connected them at the correct angle. After a lot of filling and smoothing this seemed to have worked.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7gREWkmqb57g7nebjHY_DRHRikda6nyFCROb3uAoRCfUXGUk8mlkCnu-YBIn1njFbItA0ZVQftM3wXCYQrWmJQkb-kkOFhx-BsQFrSVP6s9YgqBd2-7pdjW1jpqKA-O0QU9_9UqQXeU/s1600/IMG_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1179" data-original-width="1600" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7gREWkmqb57g7nebjHY_DRHRikda6nyFCROb3uAoRCfUXGUk8mlkCnu-YBIn1njFbItA0ZVQftM3wXCYQrWmJQkb-kkOFhx-BsQFrSVP6s9YgqBd2-7pdjW1jpqKA-O0QU9_9UqQXeU/s200/IMG_0205.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
The wings and tail all aligned fairly easily, although a fair but of sanding and filling was needed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61wnu5npxPE2CCmFo2o9JTETe5tJVGkEoE5vgOVB816uqqrg7FsuEHWJrQlXOqPhRKKNTP0RTg9HYektaE51mB3j9aJVU5ZJ0qe9ZzwFTKDk03udnANmxAgFsdDeKDx0iMpDyBjI_EgY/s1600/IMG_0207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61wnu5npxPE2CCmFo2o9JTETe5tJVGkEoE5vgOVB816uqqrg7FsuEHWJrQlXOqPhRKKNTP0RTg9HYektaE51mB3j9aJVU5ZJ0qe9ZzwFTKDk03udnANmxAgFsdDeKDx0iMpDyBjI_EgY/s200/IMG_0207.JPG" width="200" /></a>The Welkin had, as far as can be ascertained from the limited references available, a fairly complex rear canopy sliding structure and although Planet have provided etched canopy supports, the underlying mechanism is not represented. So, admittedly using a little artistic licence, and based on the best references I could fine, I cobbled it together from spare etched brass.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0_AjuyPU_EO4lB8OFTLeQ4i5i2UPpIUUtZnVHgPrn1w-gw9-9g4wR_kFlXXqx4BMQ0Dy8djJpur1VWCktQ1pSWYd1ddo5Ci74g_EJP4qV-va7n73uFWQ8Yzbdl1NIhimLFSMy7j2PaMI/s1600/IMG_0213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1600" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0_AjuyPU_EO4lB8OFTLeQ4i5i2UPpIUUtZnVHgPrn1w-gw9-9g4wR_kFlXXqx4BMQ0Dy8djJpur1VWCktQ1pSWYd1ddo5Ci74g_EJP4qV-va7n73uFWQ8Yzbdl1NIhimLFSMy7j2PaMI/s200/IMG_0213.JPG" width="200" /></a>The customer asked for the medium sea grey scheme of DX289 ZQ-V, which has a PRU blue underside. Planet provide decent enough decals, virtually no stencilling of course, and the decals were a little delicate but went on well.<br />
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So there we go, a decent model kit of a little remembered aeroplane. Hard not to recommend it if you want to build a 1/48 Welkin, if only because you don't have any choice.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-90752002934490207232020-03-03T12:13:00.002-08:002020-03-03T12:13:59.279-08:00Airfix 1.48 BAC TSR-2 (Review)<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Well here's a plane that gets most enthusiast's juices flowing. And in a nice big 48th scale option as well. And it is BIG. Most have some knowledge of this sadly defunct aviation project - killed off by political machinations more than anything else, but what could have been is rather exciting. And what a looker! Would not look out of place coming out of Skunk Works today, but back in the 60s this was something extraordinary.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAu5w0QQtHYCDJucxSrrKhEOajkppJtYrbuntr4JbY-XIl8uAURYBLtX7wqEznwHBdH6vfpN172PsF1L8wPrW8N8WCIfQ68hyqb1wWgOhFQI96Lz4DsEHFq-Q3PexlFJ9CAhXxgDdqOs/s1600/IMG_9876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAu5w0QQtHYCDJucxSrrKhEOajkppJtYrbuntr4JbY-XIl8uAURYBLtX7wqEznwHBdH6vfpN172PsF1L8wPrW8N8WCIfQ68hyqb1wWgOhFQI96Lz4DsEHFq-Q3PexlFJ9CAhXxgDdqOs/s200/IMG_9876.JPG" width="155" /></a>Airfix first pushed out a 1/72 scale TSR-2 in 2006 and followed it with this bigger version in 2009. Now - that is relatively recent in the grand history of plastic kits, but I have to say there is definitely something a bit primitive and early 80s about it, and to be brutally honest I would have expected something a little more refined from a kit of recent vintage. A relatively small parts count, thick plastic, some chunky indistinct mouldings and that terror of Airfix kits at the time (and many since), deep wide panel lines (trenches?) that you could lose your modelling knife in. Looks like it is simply an upscale of the 1/72 kit, however the word on the street is that this was designed as 1/48 initially and down scaled for the initial 1/72 version.<br />
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But on the upside, the parts fit together very well, it is pretty accurate (with one big exception) and makes for one hell of an imposing model. The main accuracy problem is the canopy. The pilots windows are too big, too square and the canopy profile is too flat. The operators section canopy is passable, but the big elephant in the room is the forward windshield. Not only is the middle windscreen panel flared in shape (should be rectangular) but even more annoyingly it doesn't fit on the fuselage. It sinks too low and leaves a large "lip" in front of it. This is surprisingly tricky to fix and yet still maintain the correct overall profile. I have to say, this is unforgivable. If you look around you can find some enterprising modellers who have come up with solutions, mostly involving packing under the sills but I couldn't be doing with that so I bought in the CMK vac form replacement which is accurate, and also fits the Airfix fuselage correctly. I am not generally a fan of vac canopies but sometimes you've just got to do it.<br />
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I also bought in the CMK cockpit set, which provides a nicely moulded replacement tub. It also fixes the other main bugbear of the Airfix kit, which is the ridiculously tall instrument panel coming (HUD area) which appear to not allow the pilot to see forward. Other cockpit sets are available, and in some ways I wish I had bought one of them to be honest. The CMK one is well moulded and does seem to represent the TSR-2 cockpit well, but doesn't bear much relation to it's own instruction diagrams (or the photo on the box it came in). Therefore much guesswork and trial and error was needed to fit it together and, indeed, into the Airfix fuselage. But I got there in the end and was pretty happy with the result.<br />
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My customer wanted everything closed to properly appreciate the graceful lines of this beast. However given the lovely detail in the cockpit I initially resolved to put the canopies on "loose", i.e.could be removed to view the interior. Unfortunately, despite much effort, I could just not get an acceptable lack of seam around the canopy areas (not the CMK vac form's fault, but you never get a perfect fit with vac form as you have to cut it out yourself) and so we agreed to seal them on. However, once finished it is surprising how much of the cockpit detail can be seen anyway, so not all that effort was wasted.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZfB1Q93uLia2HjKnCe-elGPCt-UzrjQRFNABBVvz1Oj4BCMYrUxrK3avA9aZlTwz-58vXTcoOPh3T8sebaAdOLGF-iWxvm_pLPqn7JMBmDRzUOYCIZVK9U-TKDA1dsvrvBMCIjXFV9s/s1600/IMG_9875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZfB1Q93uLia2HjKnCe-elGPCt-UzrjQRFNABBVvz1Oj4BCMYrUxrK3avA9aZlTwz-58vXTcoOPh3T8sebaAdOLGF-iWxvm_pLPqn7JMBmDRzUOYCIZVK9U-TKDA1dsvrvBMCIjXFV9s/s200/IMG_9875.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
As per my customers wishes, all panels, air brakes and bomb bay were sealed closed. If you want to show them open, you WILL need some aftermarket help. Although I have to say the central wheel bays are a pretty good effort by Airfix. Effort that is sadly lacking in other areas unfortunately.<br />
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Interestingly, this is one of the few jet models that doesn't need any nose weight! This is thanks to the sheer length of the forward section the centre of gravity is well forward of the main wheels.<br />
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Once everything was together, I primed and painted all over in white. The kit decals are pretty good, maybe lacking some of the finer stencils but they worked well for me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvanw9jc5aAjcgqBaCItOZYoTMLB1ORvrHN5IsN4ilV7IAfzhyphenhyphena2tclO94mmuXCbmG5CqFwWE_SPDZRT9Y4tLzqQP2Jwtt3CQ2yKzGrQkeBke9k3ep8lWsPoJ1zvQgqnLaOZDQiTnLt6A/s1600/IMG_9882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1547" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvanw9jc5aAjcgqBaCItOZYoTMLB1ORvrHN5IsN4ilV7IAfzhyphenhyphena2tclO94mmuXCbmG5CqFwWE_SPDZRT9Y4tLzqQP2Jwtt3CQ2yKzGrQkeBke9k3ep8lWsPoJ1zvQgqnLaOZDQiTnLt6A/s200/IMG_9882.JPG" width="193" /></a>One problem with an all white model, to my mind, it that it looks boring. And I refused to apply a panel wash as I usually would in this scale, because those panel lines are so intrusive I didn't want to highlight them further and it would probably have ended up looking like a cheap diecast. However I gently outlined the key control surfaces and movable panels with pencil to add a little interest. What's more, photos of the original XR219 showed that it did get weathered a bit, even if only as a result of test flights. So I duly applied a fair amount of weathering until I was satisfied that it looked more like the real aircraft.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDJ2p4GwfOfN04QEmDMOHs3RRIEjIQZuQDK09u190jLuLZEAQjtj3m6JPpY7NpZZKk6c1hiXFL0-ORZvKaigl_LGXUZRoCvDSsOH8zvPS8dwLo-FKjkAt-vKW_W-DsJybq3kDS0wIBn0/s1600/IMG_9895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1600" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDJ2p4GwfOfN04QEmDMOHs3RRIEjIQZuQDK09u190jLuLZEAQjtj3m6JPpY7NpZZKk6c1hiXFL0-ORZvKaigl_LGXUZRoCvDSsOH8zvPS8dwLo-FKjkAt-vKW_W-DsJybq3kDS0wIBn0/s200/IMG_9895.JPG" width="200" /></a>I dressed up the undercarriage with bits from my spares drawer and some brake lines. I used the SAC metal undercarriage set because this is a big model and the extra strength is recommended. SAC legs are great for strength but contrary to popular opinion they very rarely add any detail. They are simply duplicate moulds of the kit parts, mould seam lines and all (really guys? you could make a little effort please), and in this case came with a lot of extra flash that needed removing. The kit (or SAC) parts aren't actually that bad detail wise (with the exception of the calipers which are terrible - I replaced them with spare etch), but the TSR-2 undercarriage is particularly complex and will always benefit from some enhancement. I did try to get hold of some after market help here but none could be located, most sets for this kit are simply no longer available.<br />
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So that's pretty much it, all the problems listed here don't in any way detract from the pleasure I had in putting together such a fine model of such an astonishingly striking aircraft, and all credit to Airfix for releasing this kit, despite a few schoolboy errors in it's design.<br />
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I hope you enjoy the end result!<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-52203234312450833982019-09-30T15:28:00.000-07:002019-09-30T15:28:04.279-07:00Monogram 1/72 B-52E Stratofortress<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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There's something about building a really "BIG" model. All practical considerations go out of the window in favour of an imposing monster that you'll never find space for. Not that I need to find space, except in a big box to ship this one over to my customer.<br />
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Anyway, this one is BIG. I believe it was, for some time, the biggest mainstream model kit out there until Revell pumped out their enormous 1/48 scale B-1. These days of course, the likes of Hong Kong Models and MPM are busy trying to "out big" everyone anyway, not sure where it will end. But this one hails from the mid 70s I believe. And it shows. Big, chunky plastic, very basic engineering and not a lot of exquisite detail, and of course raised panel lines. But let's be honest, the "BUFF" (at least in it's earlier incarnations, which is the subject of this build) is not smothered in much detail, and also raised panel lines hold few fears for me these days. I have moved on from the "fill the panel lines with dark wash or it's crap" school of modelling (at least in the smaller scales) and am now more into making a model that actually looks like the real thing. Which generally does not look like an ill fitting jigsaw. A bit of sanding down to just leave a suggestion of the line and perhaps a little post shading are all that is needed in my book. Maybe some extra effort around control surfaces and doors is warranted but otherwise go with it, that's my advice.<br />
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So back to the kit, and it's not actually that complicated to build. Although the parts are large, there aren't that many of them (at least by modern standards). There is, however, plenty of flash and sink holes. Fortunately, in my example, (although I may have been lucky) there wasn't much warpage. This can be a particular problem in the wing parts and one of them did need a little heat treatment but I've dealt with worse in much smaller models.<br />
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There isn't much in the way of after market for this kit, however I did manage to acquire some engine exhaust sections from Shapeways, a couple of ejection seats and I also used some brass gun barrels from Master for the rear guns. My customer also provided the Black Dog Resin bomb bay (which is meant for the newer Italeri kits - more on that later) and a couple of Mk41 nuclear bombs from Spectre Resin to go in there. The obligatory SAC metal undercarriage also found it's way into this project.<br />
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The build started with the undercarriage, which slots nicely into the fuselage halves. Not that it will be particularly visible, but I did feel the urge to dress things up a little with some spare etch as there is no detail whatsoever in the kit parts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0dMwcripKAVUNc7vNBmsYeNAVVprCS08s4JyOv8NozQWRBp4OV-8S9EqJwRqts5GkefX5uvGzlU6JNz-1FWEOMWRjAAE8FChbK0WgN9IZ_UpYpBfPJHLD-_ENoPIMj3yWq3zlzK0EvM/s1600/IMG_9238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1600" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0dMwcripKAVUNc7vNBmsYeNAVVprCS08s4JyOv8NozQWRBp4OV-8S9EqJwRqts5GkefX5uvGzlU6JNz-1FWEOMWRjAAE8FChbK0WgN9IZ_UpYpBfPJHLD-_ENoPIMj3yWq3zlzK0EvM/s200/IMG_9238.JPG" width="200" /></a>The cockpit went together next, again very little detail in the kit but I used the resin seats and carefully applied the supplied decals for the consoles. Not exactly state of the art but given the poor visibility it was perfectly adequate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGP98piOP3p5h81tQn5bOTq5ZmAtlEYbN5QR-OvfMX8DQT3Eq4x21gkhHoIIEkobHCoucbYAsgt8rviNcD_Vj0CRSXQpPE_knCKpd5vjdA1IOcFVnrKwF79bUs_6AnQZXdcsW_UpkVj0/s1600/IMG_9242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1600" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGP98piOP3p5h81tQn5bOTq5ZmAtlEYbN5QR-OvfMX8DQT3Eq4x21gkhHoIIEkobHCoucbYAsgt8rviNcD_Vj0CRSXQpPE_knCKpd5vjdA1IOcFVnrKwF79bUs_6AnQZXdcsW_UpkVj0/s200/IMG_9242.JPG" width="200" /></a>Fitting the Black Dog bomb bay was rather tricky. The kit comes with one of those "loose" design bomb bay door sets that were so popular before we started wanting realism in our models, which found the waste bin quickly as decent double fold doors are provided by Black Dog. However, I did have to cut out the top part of the doors from the fuselage halves and also had to reconstruct the fuselage at each end of the bay since it is slightly shorter in length than the kit represents. It was a bit of a chore, but I got there in the end. The Black Dog bay is beautifully detailed which is a bit of a shame in some way because again, once the Mk41s are in there not so much is visible, even if you did manage to turn the model upside down.<br />
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The fuselage goes together surprisingly well, even with that alien bomb bay in there (I had to fettle a bit of the resin away to allow the wing spars to fit properly by the way - if you ever do this make sure you test fit the wings before sealing up the fuselage).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwCRAZ-vI4on6LHJxdbLT9peQgsHbvSfowWiYry6QYX8s4aL9gJNERWGHQAdOKvmoIGLadIQ9qDNrfPy1Now2Hle20jqQeDSZv_RlDgFDdY09OXeYn4KeVjNj0909PCBv7doyd30t6Ok/s1600/IMG_9251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1089" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwCRAZ-vI4on6LHJxdbLT9peQgsHbvSfowWiYry6QYX8s4aL9gJNERWGHQAdOKvmoIGLadIQ9qDNrfPy1Now2Hle20jqQeDSZv_RlDgFDdY09OXeYn4KeVjNj0909PCBv7doyd30t6Ok/s200/IMG_9251.JPG" width="135" /></a>The wings fitted together nicely and are surprisingly rigid given how large they are. I did, however, have to heat treat the starboard wing as it was a little warped, and getting the wing droop right is one job that anyone who has built a <br />
B-52 in any scale will never forget.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY48ozb0Mn7TH0AtuHKxVfnv4h9kZNnn_Dt50_2NYNBWifX9iVVGjK1hb4AAIycDfqXbo4f-j4rAXn4zgLouKGtqKx_y22oZdDEenbZzCTRGeuLAu15aCYcA879fqo_vUTBB8VywoNINg/s1600/IMG_9256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1600" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY48ozb0Mn7TH0AtuHKxVfnv4h9kZNnn_Dt50_2NYNBWifX9iVVGjK1hb4AAIycDfqXbo4f-j4rAXn4zgLouKGtqKx_y22oZdDEenbZzCTRGeuLAu15aCYcA879fqo_vUTBB8VywoNINg/s200/IMG_9256.JPG" width="200" /></a>I put the engines together next - the Shapeways exhaust cones required that the rear section of each pod had to be cut away and as you can see, I needed to re-construct them with Milliput. That was a job I had not anticipated and was not the most enjoyable part of the build to be honest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHPyDqvy6DQv6hKDS1Ak20Dy7TXpzjgHpJ1pVmP-nr1R2KXnSgX_exNLPzgvpSfNToQ0vR1dBSpTUWVJB7tw6GmCVYigxQ6vrL6_igkYP7tdxfv3jeaWCetPs79VuxlcM50t6bWSf9J8/s1600/IMG_9271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1291" data-original-width="1600" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHPyDqvy6DQv6hKDS1Ak20Dy7TXpzjgHpJ1pVmP-nr1R2KXnSgX_exNLPzgvpSfNToQ0vR1dBSpTUWVJB7tw6GmCVYigxQ6vrL6_igkYP7tdxfv3jeaWCetPs79VuxlcM50t6bWSf9J8/s200/IMG_9271.JPG" width="200" /></a>Once the engines and fuel tanks were installed along with the tail section (no problems there) it was time to start painting. The paint job in itself is not complicated, however when the model is so big that only one wing at a time will fit inside one's spray booth it became a total nightmare. But I managed eventually to get the main painting done with a combination of impressive bodily contortions and incredibly careful handling. How I got through this without dropping it I don't know. I applied my usual aluminium base coat with some slightly darkened panels to add a little interest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppLgwXNA6CGwgr3UT19uh0VeWizQHD6I2pNuqV4AyBBc4QWQGtRmqyiTIgXGYwLyncrjdW68tIhTHU7Jg6mePdCApdcE7Ki9dn94U-1fxvXMC7qPAb17X9u2nF783rWXGkT2zO8Yu7qI/s1600/IMG_9275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppLgwXNA6CGwgr3UT19uh0VeWizQHD6I2pNuqV4AyBBc4QWQGtRmqyiTIgXGYwLyncrjdW68tIhTHU7Jg6mePdCApdcE7Ki9dn94U-1fxvXMC7qPAb17X9u2nF783rWXGkT2zO8Yu7qI/s200/IMG_9275.JPG" width="200" /></a>While the paint was drying I built the Hound Dog missiles, which had been provided by my customer from a different kit (which one I'm not sure). Each of these is as big as some 1/72 aircraft I've built in the past. The size of this thing is incredible.<br />
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The decals from the kit are a waste of time, fortunately I had been provided with a plethora of decals from various sources, one sheet from Wolf Pack containing the necessary shields and numbering, and all stencils came from various other sheets.<br />
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A satin finish and a bit of post shading and staining finished things off nicely. I also scratch built the array of antennae unique to the "E" behind the rear undercarriage. I also added, for interest, the little MA-1A start cart from CMK.<br />
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So, what an experience. But it has certainly resulted in a model that nobody can ignore, and if I do say so myself, for a kit that is not much younger than I am, it has scrubbed up rather nicely.<br />
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Full progress photos can be seen <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2676725415721983" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-87822023389170697032019-02-01T17:04:00.000-08:002019-02-01T17:04:10.791-08:00Wingnut Wings 1/32 Jeannin Stahltaube<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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One of the high points of late 2018 for me was bagging this commission, I absolutely adore Wingnut Wings kits and get to build them far less often than I'd like. The sheer quality of the package and the passionate attention to detail in the documentation is second to none and, of course, the subject matter is never less than fascinating.<br />
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This one, in particular, is superb. From the days when aircraft really did look like birds - this has to be one of the most beautiful aircraft designs ever. They certainly don't make them like this anymore.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6uARh3eoOJ0D5c5dvRcGpJt24y_A3XiTVAqJZL1W5_dhaEAs8u0Sc-suWfN34sHtz46gaN6FgpE0aXgbCuHul_-iarPtg2hX6wp_AIGR80PZ4j5wkXJ-kA6H8Le4IfxWTGQZTl_riPM/s1600/IMG_8041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1600" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6uARh3eoOJ0D5c5dvRcGpJt24y_A3XiTVAqJZL1W5_dhaEAs8u0Sc-suWfN34sHtz46gaN6FgpE0aXgbCuHul_-iarPtg2hX6wp_AIGR80PZ4j5wkXJ-kA6H8Le4IfxWTGQZTl_riPM/s200/IMG_8041.JPG" width="200" /></a>Anyway, on to the build. These kits are NOT for the fainthearted if you want to do it properly, if only because of the enormous amount of rigging that goes in to them. And in this case, on the inside as well as the outside.<br />
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The quality of the parts in this kit makes the modeller go crazy for perfection, even in those parts that won't be seen. Masking up and painting internal ribbing is not something that I would generally bother about but in this case it's definitely worth it. And then installing all the control cables and bracing wires is intensely fiddly but very satisfying when complete.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgottszv8JuRmOXQzo5F9tI_4_xPC4dIlX1Nidldv4PE4UdgC7mAe4dBZcln1rVJNQ-mP0pT_qc8MMoUnDYD65o8sGpSOxUuu2eutfGtEPa6nhuvgjVH6ZHqhceZ22QwI-YrVEwivNNknM/s1600/IMG_8038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1413" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgottszv8JuRmOXQzo5F9tI_4_xPC4dIlX1Nidldv4PE4UdgC7mAe4dBZcln1rVJNQ-mP0pT_qc8MMoUnDYD65o8sGpSOxUuu2eutfGtEPa6nhuvgjVH6ZHqhceZ22QwI-YrVEwivNNknM/s200/IMG_8038.JPG" width="200" /></a>As ever with WW kits, the engine is a work of art in itself, although my one criticism is that lack of plugs and HT cabling. It seems a glaring omission given the attention to detail applied elsewhere. But a bit of scratch work on my part soon dealt with that.<br />
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The engine cowling demands the "fish scale" effect which took a bit of practice and more than one attempt to get right, but is worth persevering with because it looks really special in my humble opinion.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3sg50M5FvfEabuD_T5NOHN8JrFLJw7RFOrlxtCQ1S2PU8N4HrI7D_vkzULjoGqYP6DEK-oA82ST0LjCAv5Q7hrhKnLOz_mnz2ZyQdukO_ZRLMb1feejdUFjjvjntx035foBtIU4bOfg/s1600/IMG_8066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1600" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3sg50M5FvfEabuD_T5NOHN8JrFLJw7RFOrlxtCQ1S2PU8N4HrI7D_vkzULjoGqYP6DEK-oA82ST0LjCAv5Q7hrhKnLOz_mnz2ZyQdukO_ZRLMb1feejdUFjjvjntx035foBtIU4bOfg/s200/IMG_8066.JPG" width="200" /></a>A bit of careful shading on the wing parts transforms solid lumps of plastic into delicate wood and fabric structures, but one bit of this build that does need care is the attaching of the wings to the body. It's a positive fit, but needs 24 hours of glue setting to be secure - so be patient.<br />
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Another tricky area is creating the spoked wheels from photo etch. The kit contains alternative plastic moulded wheels for the lazy modeller but I not going to allow myself to give in to that. It was tough, but I got there in the end. And one other warning, the wheel struts are not terribly stable when attached to the fuselage and supporting the model. SAC do produce a metal version which should help, but to be honest I did not like the look of them. So I cheated a little and used thin brass rod as the cross brace rather than the elastic rigging used elsewhere. This has made them much more stable.<br />
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Some significant weathering was applied as my customer's request, in particular muddying up the wheels and underside but also a touch of rusty oil around the cowling and some exposed patches of fuselage fabric, along with an overall oil wash to grubby things up a little.<br />
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I am, if I say so myself, delighted with the results and am very proud to present this model for your viewing pleasure. Full progress photos can be found <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2245226975538498" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-63259311167195245102018-11-15T07:03:00.000-08:002018-11-15T07:04:01.682-08:00Academy 1/72 Boeing B-29A "Superfortress"<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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It's not exactly an unusual modelling subject, however my customer was after a very specific aircraft for which no third party markings were available. To make matters worse, reference material for this aircraft was very limited.<br />
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The aircraft concerned was "Green Hornet", a B-29A as based in Guam in 1945. The only photographs to be found of this machine were not exactly comprehensive, indeed pretty much everything available is contained in a single web page <a href="https://www.cooksontributeb29.com/nicolas-v-van-ness-of-block-o-15-green-hornet-bombardier.html" target="_blank">here</a>. But I like a challenge, and so armed with this kit, some Eduard etch, the Metallic Details engine car set, ModelShock resin engines, resin wheels and some lovely brass gun barrels from Master, I set forth.<br />
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The main build part of this project was pretty routine and I shall not bother you with it, however I shall mention the excellent Metallic Details engine car set. The set is good, the instructions are not. A bit of guesswork is required in areas. Also, the exhaust sections, whilst gorgeous thinks to behold, do require some major surgery to the kit parts in order to fit. You basically have to chop up the kit nacelles and put them back together around the MD parts. This involves much test fitting, filling and cursing but I got there in the end.<br />
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The MD set also contains resin engines but I discarded these in favour of the ModelShock offerings which a much better, especially with the simple addition of some push rods made from fine steel wire. I say simple, it took a couple of hours...<br />
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Once the main build and initial metallic finishing was done, we move on to the markings. I decided that the big orange "O" on the tail was best painted on and so this was done with some careful masking. The hardest markings element was the "Green Hornet" nose art itself. The only reference I had was the rather grainy black and white photo on the web page. Agreeing with the customer that some artistic guesswork and talent was going to be required, I cracked out my digital paintbrushes.<br />
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I traced the artwork into a wire frame black line picture with a steady hand and mouse, stretched it a little to compensate for the photo angle and then filled in the colours as best I could guess. My working assumption was that the "Green Hornet" would be predominantly green and I challenge anyone to argue that, so this is what I came up with.<br />
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The 314th bomb wing "globe" logo for the other side of the cockpit was a little easier, however every aircraft seems to have carried a slightly different version of it so I did my best based on the hues in the black and white photos.<br />
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Other markings are minimal and standard so these came from either the kit or my spares drawer. Otherwise everything was finished in my usual manner and I did deliberately make this one a little tatty to coincide with the available photos.<br />
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There is something rather pleasing about ending up with a unique model, I am pretty sure this particular aircraft has never been modelled before (if you know differently, please keep it to yourself for now) so please enjoy the end result as I have.<br />
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You can find the full progress photo album <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2117354994992364" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-19358399203903080472018-05-03T16:49:00.000-07:002018-05-03T16:49:16.825-07:00Battle Axe 1/48 Bloch MB.174 A3<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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I must confess that this kit manufacturer had escaped my notice before I was presented with this project. However I soon discovered that my life was not missing much. Truly one of the worst kits I have ever had the pleasure or doing battle with.<br />
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Whilst the basic aircraft exterior is reasonably well represented, all of the smaller parts look like they've come out of a cheap Christmas cracker. Additionally, my customer was after a 175T - the naval version that was used for maritime operations. Fortunately, the particular aircraft required was an early "T" and as such the only significant difference from the 174 is the shape of the stabilisers. These I ended up building from scratch using plastic card and much sanding.<br />
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I didn't put a huge amount of effort into enhancing the internals as they are not that visible, restricting myself to filling ejector pin holes and adding a few control levers. Otherwise the kit was built pretty much out of the, er, "bag".<br />
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Suffice to say that much filling, sanding, shaping and cursing was involved in putting this together and the end result was never going to be quite up to modern standards but I hope you will agree that the end result at least "looks" like it's intended subject.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1835460853181781" target="_blank">Progress photos can be found here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-13372257203255378232018-03-18T07:48:00.000-07:002018-03-18T07:48:47.325-07:00Trumpeter 1/350 HMS Repulse<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Well my foray into the world of warship modelling is reaching rather grander heights with this beast. HMS Repulse, built in 1916 and finally sunk by the Japanese in 1941, to be built in her final configuration and paint scheme.<br />
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The kit, as with all Trumpeter naval kits, is an impressive piece of engineering in itself and goes together beautifully, although as ever with this particular manufacturer you need to watch out for accuracy problems, and there are a few. These are covered well elsewhere online and I won't repeat them here as this is primarily about showing you the finished article.<br />
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Of course no self-respecting naval modeller would dream of building anything like this without a little enhancement, so here is a list of the extra goodies brought into play in this build.<br />
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<ul>
<li>The very comprehensive and well engineered FlyHawk models photo etch set</li>
<li>The Admiralty Modelworks update set that corrects the aft superstructure and also happens to provide some nice resin replacement boats</li>
<li>Corrected main turrets from Shapeways</li>
<li>Master main gun barrels</li>
<li>Infini 20mm Oerlikons</li>
<li>Tetra 0.5 Quad guns</li>
<li>BigBlueBoy 2pdr pom poms</li>
<li>Alliance Modelworks deck vents</li>
<li>Artwox wooden decking and anchor chains</li>
<li>and various bits and pieces from my spares drawer....</li>
</ul>
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It's been quite a journey but I am thoroughly pleased with the result, so without further ado please enjoy the photos below. You can find build progress photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1743144929080041" target="_blank">on FaceBook here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-9290573957464950592018-01-10T16:04:00.000-08:002018-01-10T16:04:08.888-08:00Valom 1/72 North American RB-45C "Tornado"<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Valom can be relied upon to produce decent kits of some of the more obscure aircraft in history, and this is no exception. One of the very first jet powered bombers it is an important aircraft in its own right. But in this incarnation it was converted to reconnaissance duties. This particular kit covers a couple of aircraft used in the Korean war and the one I have built was painted black for night duties.<br />
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The kit is classic Valom. Good surface details and essentially accurate in profile however it has a strong smell of a "limited run" kit, and as such the engineering is primitive, without locating pins or particularly clear positioning. A bit of common sense and trial and error is required to get this right. A fair bit of parts clean up is also required, less because of flash but more because of ill thought out sprue links. But some decent photo etch is also included and also the engine in and out ports are provided in nicely moulded resin.<br />
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One notable omission from the kit, given that it is marketed as a reconnaissance machine, are camera ports. These I had to cut out and scratch build myself. Reference material for the RB-45C is very thin on the ground, and even less so any information on the camera ports themselves. But I followed the efforts of previous modellers and the sparse information out there and I challenge anyone to prove I have got it wrong!<br />
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Otherwise, the kit was built straight from the box. The main challenges were getting the fuselage halves lined up, fitting the internals correctly and fixing the undercarriage. The latter is very tricky, there is a lack of positive fixing points and it is hard to get the strength required to support the model. Also, the horizontal stabilisers have no fixings at all and I had to drill some rod holes to give them strength.<br />
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Decaling for this aircraft was very simple, there are no insignia or stencilling, just the tail end markings. However, weathering and all black aircraft and making it look "real" is always a challenge. I relied on various shades of black and a lot of pastels to give the whole thing some authenticity.<br />
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Despite all the build headaches, this turned into a fine model of this relatively unusual modelling subject, and I hope you enjoy the photos.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-69720310284596229872017-10-23T15:06:00.002-07:002017-10-23T15:06:57.567-07:00Hasegawa 1/32 FW-190A-5 "Nowotny"<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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After what seems a lifetime of building cold war aircraft and warships, it's a pleasant change to get back to my roots, with a good old WWII fighter. This kit is not a new mould, but is a good one, and in true Hasegawa style represents their usual policy of milking every mould they have for everything they can get. This boxing is designed to reproduce the A-5 flown by Walter Nowotny in Russia in 1943 and contains a few additional parts to represent this. But check your references carefully, Oblt. Nowotny flew many different aircraft and versions of the same aircraft, and not all sources agree on some of the specifics.<br />
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The build was to be "White 4", and my primary reference for this build was a combination of the <a href="https://chriswauchop.com/2014/11/06/hasegawa-132-focke-wulf-fw-190-a-5/" target="_blank">excellent build by Chris Wauchop</a>, the EagleCals #83 decal sheet and the Kagero "Green Heart Fighters" booklet. Into the mix came a host of aftermarket extras, including (but not limited to) the True Details cockpit set, Eagle Parts wheels, Master brass gun barrels and pitot, HD VDM Spinners and Eduard photo etch.<br />
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I'm not a huge fan of True Details parts as a rule, and avoid their resin wheels like the plague. Their attempt to represent tyre bulge usually results in an apparent flat tyre. However this cockpit set is a real gem. Accurate (as far as I can tell) and crisply moulded, and with careful painting comes up a real treat. A little messing around was needed to get it to fit (I'm not sure that it was this kit that the set was designed for, the kit part callouts are just wrong) but with a little patience all went in well.<br />
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The Eagle Parts tail wheel also has to be installed before the fuselage is closed up. Again, it does not fit this kit perfectly, and requires a little trimming and padding. But what I can state with confidence is that the Hasegawa plastic did not fail to impress. The fit of the parts is worthy of that other Japanese kit manufacturer who shall not be named when discussing Hasegawa, and everything lined up and fitted perfectly even when I thought it wouldn't due to my own messing around.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrrOqGEOhZNGKuycy8aV-i67hXtk1DnAreMmanjFqeeKMc8KUw29OGCu9xy51lj_-are9N1D6p2xiz1nMGOMDZCCSbGJAFOstVr6oDGBXVOFUj0ujJYokSju44rKQw3Kn_eGXVRN5y0w/s1600/IMG_6161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1600" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrrOqGEOhZNGKuycy8aV-i67hXtk1DnAreMmanjFqeeKMc8KUw29OGCu9xy51lj_-are9N1D6p2xiz1nMGOMDZCCSbGJAFOstVr6oDGBXVOFUj0ujJYokSju44rKQw3Kn_eGXVRN5y0w/s200/IMG_6161.JPG" width="200" /></a>Much of the Eduard etch was not needed as it is for the cockpit which is more than adequately catered for by True Details, although I did borrow the Eduard rudder pedals. However Eduard etch was used for the undercarriage and wing flaps. Speaking of the latter, I always regret agreeing to install etched wing flaps, seems like a good idea at first but they are never straightforward. This is no exception. Much Dremel work was required thinning out the wing parts and adjusting the contours. But they knock the kit flaps into next week, and look really good, if I say so myself.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXPuaF_Y6BE_Me9AixWY7IrvJHajl3ren0tReo0CGDMb2ASleqeKcTT3BRwUBMtcFpgPK8_OwYEkZxuxl7GVhAANNy2wxF7A0Mtp1neF4U0vqLinMS9xyAalG75I0MAnP4r4dzbAhdu4/s1600/IMG_6155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1040" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXPuaF_Y6BE_Me9AixWY7IrvJHajl3ren0tReo0CGDMb2ASleqeKcTT3BRwUBMtcFpgPK8_OwYEkZxuxl7GVhAANNy2wxF7A0Mtp1neF4U0vqLinMS9xyAalG75I0MAnP4r4dzbAhdu4/s200/IMG_6155.JPG" width="200" /></a>A fair bit of time was spent getting the engine right, although I forced myself to stop before I went too crazy because of course this is a closed cowling build and very little is actually visible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGh3OCqVgEpFl3n5rD33RxEvq83IvQuPNXbA0G-_A7J2ezS5EyNSDo6BNpUQuay8lw4NwQGjs8_iXWkzdts6LbJX35y4zU7xPuL4oOKkbvqrViGjq3hlrh1V6awBrntm5prpk-oYkmYE4/s1600/IMG_6173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1583" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGh3OCqVgEpFl3n5rD33RxEvq83IvQuPNXbA0G-_A7J2ezS5EyNSDo6BNpUQuay8lw4NwQGjs8_iXWkzdts6LbJX35y4zU7xPuL4oOKkbvqrViGjq3hlrh1V6awBrntm5prpk-oYkmYE4/s200/IMG_6173.JPG" width="197" /></a>Painting was done with my usual Tamiya acrylics, my own mixes in all cases (there are no direct matches for the RLM colours) and since the customer had asked for a reasonably weathered machine I spent a bit of time adding paint variations and fading at an early stage. The EagleCal #83 decals were used and went on beautifully, and after another gloss coat I applied a black oil paint wash, followed by some careful post shading and some additional oil paint weathering.<br />
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I was very pleased with the end result, not least because it has been so long since I have had an opportunity to build one of these iconic machines. I very much hope you enjoy the photos!<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-7742133027121276402017-10-03T06:56:00.000-07:002017-10-03T06:56:03.303-07:00Ebbro 1/20 Lotus 49<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Having been persuaded to branch out into Motorsport, I decided to start with an old classic. The Lotus 49 needs no introduction to those who know the subject, put together for the 1967 F1 season and utilising the ground breaking Cosworth DFV engine which went on to dominate the sport for many years.<br />
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One of the ironies of this particular project is that the person who helped me choose this subject matter was none other than William Hewland, a very good friend of mine who inherited Hewland Engineering from his father Mike. Legendary in their own right in Motorsport, Hewland provided the gearbox for the Lotus 49B but unfortunately not the original version which is the subject of this build. Sorry mate!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaTw_dRTO3S3-7UisU1mnBaUeOweFedDh2i7XSCW-GPt6mBRU-vD94Gfq60jtBwa8Fr3c-xK_g0dja5VdMRyqNdRbPpIEHhTzEO9wb3KcPGVGYp27OLgCd1fb0pQCCT-r3Z5BTVtDhypY/s1600/IMG_5733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="1600" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaTw_dRTO3S3-7UisU1mnBaUeOweFedDh2i7XSCW-GPt6mBRU-vD94Gfq60jtBwa8Fr3c-xK_g0dja5VdMRyqNdRbPpIEHhTzEO9wb3KcPGVGYp27OLgCd1fb0pQCCT-r3Z5BTVtDhypY/s200/IMG_5733.JPG" width="200" /></a>Anyhow, on to the kit.It is exquisitely moulded, clean and crisp and fits together beautifully, with the possible exception of the nose cowling which really does not want to sit well. The sprues are pre-coloured in the style of the early Matchbox kits, although for a serious modeller this is irrelevant. One of the sprues is pre-coated in the familiar chrome finish so beloved of racing car kit makers, but not of modellers. A quick bath in bleach soon got rid of that. A set of brilliantly moulded and pre-painted rubber tyres is also included.<br />
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The instructions are excellently printed and intuitive, given the fact that to all intents and purposes this can be considered a Tamiya kit, the similarities should be no surprise. Included is a table of 1967 F1 GP events and the various options for decals, drivers and other car modifications are clearly represented. As far as I have been able to ascertain, all perfectly accurate as well. I chose Jim Clark's victorious car from the 1967 British Grand Prix, if only because I'm a Brit myself.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLk7z-Fl0umds64ABlI16L9iX4Y43T43lWtULUM2jM1XEp8MgEuM-RfGTbY8XuNGdZaSXi_EGyyD9JQzFI-XR6KGXFiK31bQp1kyR1a6EYCWZ67W114tvy9XlsT5erGh1o-dOGRPxYmc/s1600/IMG_5780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="1448" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLk7z-Fl0umds64ABlI16L9iX4Y43T43lWtULUM2jM1XEp8MgEuM-RfGTbY8XuNGdZaSXi_EGyyD9JQzFI-XR6KGXFiK31bQp1kyR1a6EYCWZ67W114tvy9XlsT5erGh1o-dOGRPxYmc/s200/IMG_5780.JPG" width="200" /></a>As said, the kit goes together really nicely in the main. Putting the plastic together is relatively easy. What of course is harder is getting the painting and finishing right. I used various shades of A.K. Interactive XTreme Metal on the metalwork and this worked really well IMHO. The drivers tub is fairly basic, and I added a couple of details in there (such as the gearstick hole surround) myself from spare photo etch. Incidentally, the instructions call for the tub to be painted grey, however there is a little doubt about this. It is pretty certain that the original would have been bare metal if only to save weight. Preserved examples are painted grey and this is probably where the kit makers got their data from.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UCeTQhmpdH0aaWAot8XFCGCxFWQHitXdVZGNZCd3uDOZ3tya3scMRSA3kmGIMcl9Brczx7Dpvcn4o94U0Zz9dP0Eks2gVJor9oXSKCAG3isi1mhxM70h2LT5j_AK1wltw2Uiq76_XBg/s1600/IMG_5776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1352" data-original-width="1600" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UCeTQhmpdH0aaWAot8XFCGCxFWQHitXdVZGNZCd3uDOZ3tya3scMRSA3kmGIMcl9Brczx7Dpvcn4o94U0Zz9dP0Eks2gVJor9oXSKCAG3isi1mhxM70h2LT5j_AK1wltw2Uiq76_XBg/s200/IMG_5776.JPG" width="200" /></a>The engine and gearbox are nicely detailed, but as ever, there is almost endless scope for the super detailer to go mad. In the event, my main addition was some amount of cabling based on photo references. Some of the linkages are a little fiddly to install but the end result is well worth it.<br />
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My only real problem was fitting the front cowling in such a way that it sat flush but still could be removed to view the steering and radiator mechanism. This was not easy, the parts do not seem to want to mate up well and it took a lot of fettling to get a reasonable result.<br />
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Bodywork paint finish involved much use of micromesh and repeated gloss coats, it's not something I usually have to worry about too much with beaten up old war planes but here it is important to get it looking smooth. Once the decals had been applied I finished the whole thing off with a coat of semi-matt lacquer. A full gloss coat in this scale just makes it look like a Dinky toy.<br />
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A quick tarmac diorama base finished things of nicely as well.<br />
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But all in all, a fascinating exercise for me and I look forward to doing many more in the future. I hope you enjoy the photos!<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-40020689465127351732017-09-25T06:56:00.000-07:002017-09-25T06:56:55.795-07:00Trumpeter 1/350 H.M.S. Eskimo (as H.M.S. Cossack)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp28VP9RCC7EijwrAE-WFRrQC9J_WbMpo0ulUZJ3EUyge9f72ffNd5xOjnM4IoAHCHIYXXdUWLqLx0NEEapCrxAZ6Mnemoo11okygZmiyDY1kB0uN38trNvlYo7qcDTp3D-dJxBWAmdeE/s1600/trumpeter_1350_eskimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp28VP9RCC7EijwrAE-WFRrQC9J_WbMpo0ulUZJ3EUyge9f72ffNd5xOjnM4IoAHCHIYXXdUWLqLx0NEEapCrxAZ6Mnemoo11okygZmiyDY1kB0uN38trNvlYo7qcDTp3D-dJxBWAmdeE/s1600/trumpeter_1350_eskimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp28VP9RCC7EijwrAE-WFRrQC9J_WbMpo0ulUZJ3EUyge9f72ffNd5xOjnM4IoAHCHIYXXdUWLqLx0NEEapCrxAZ6Mnemoo11okygZmiyDY1kB0uN38trNvlYo7qcDTp3D-dJxBWAmdeE/s1600/trumpeter_1350_eskimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="522" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp28VP9RCC7EijwrAE-WFRrQC9J_WbMpo0ulUZJ3EUyge9f72ffNd5xOjnM4IoAHCHIYXXdUWLqLx0NEEapCrxAZ6Mnemoo11okygZmiyDY1kB0uN38trNvlYo7qcDTp3D-dJxBWAmdeE/s320/trumpeter_1350_eskimo.jpg" width="320" /></a>Continuing my foray into warships, I was asked to create a 1/350 model of HMS Cossack, appearing as at the 2nd Battle of Narvik, 1940.<br />
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The nearest kit out there is this, the HMS Eskimo, a sister Tribal Class destroyer of the Cossack. I have built many Trumpeter kits in the past, and this one lives up to all the good and bad points of the others.<br />
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On the positive side, as with all Trumpeter kits, the moulding is excellent, crisp and flash free, and everything fits together beautifully. But on the other hand, true to form, there are a number of "in your face" inaccuracies that will need to be dealt with.<br />
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They key points that must be addressed are fourfold. Firstly, the bow shape is completely wrong. Trumpeter have the deck flat at the bow, when there should be a noticeable upward sweep. This is not as hard to correct as you may think at first, although it is still not for the fainthearted. Secondly, the "pom pom" AA gun is represented in this kit as an eight gun mount - totally wrong, should be only four. Thirdly, the deck boats are all wrong in the kit, they appear to be German boats. And finally, the kit propellers are four bladed and they should be three.<br />
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To correct the bow shape, I added some packing plastic at the very tip which resulted in the deck piece being lifted up about 3mm to provide the correct sweep. The resulting gaps were filled with Milliput and sanded to shape. Unfortunately to be strictly accurate, the forward portholes and hawsepipe need to be moved, which entailed filling the existing ones and re-drilling.<br />
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The pom pom gun was fixed simply by throwing away the kit part and replacing it with the rather wonderful (but incredibly fiddly to make) Big Blue Boy etched brass version.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dOepeaTLRgV2G4JagquJinvkTu9acMFef8kXLdS1S-G4DiS5x2VjkCUPVi6Da2xRYRMTi3VvRRzVoq9FiCoqYTpohyaQbTewHQmlVWRwd9pcyjY9ourxAlkLz6vwPQFSadKs9r5W9rY/s1600/IMG_6029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dOepeaTLRgV2G4JagquJinvkTu9acMFef8kXLdS1S-G4DiS5x2VjkCUPVi6Da2xRYRMTi3VvRRzVoq9FiCoqYTpohyaQbTewHQmlVWRwd9pcyjY9ourxAlkLz6vwPQFSadKs9r5W9rY/s200/IMG_6029.JPG" width="166" /></a>The deck boats were replaced with a set from Shapeways and the kit propellers replaced with the white metal set from WEM. WEM also provided a full tribal class etch set to add some sparkly detail to the whole build, along with brass gun barrels from Master, brass depth charges from Rainbow and a few other nice after market touches.<br />
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The paints used were from Lifecolor, primarily because they offer the correct shades of Admiralty grey which saved me the usual frustration paint mixing exercise. I'm not a big fan of Lifecolor acrylics, they are really hard to spray with, although they brush on beautifully, and indeed this is how I ended up painting the decks.<br />
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The kit itself went together very well, although adding the etch parts in this scale is always a challenge. I'm really starting to enjoy the warship work that is now coming my way. It is very fiddly (especially the rigging) but all the more rewarding for it.<br />
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I hope you enjoy the photos!<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-621636337380686112017-07-16T14:35:00.001-07:002017-07-16T14:35:50.249-07:00Tamiya 1/350 Yukikaze<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Always keen to add a string or two to my bow, I have recently been seeking warship commissions and this one fell into my lap just at the right moment. A change is as good as a rest, as they say, and I must agree that building this little beauty has re-invigorated my modelling mojo no end.<br />
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The kit itself is pure Tamiya excellence, the fit and detailing is exemplary. However as any of you who are in to this field of modelling will know, in these scales injection moulding juts doesn't quite provide the level of detail required to build a truly spectacular model. And so to the base kit were added the brilliant Infini Model photo etch and brass set, and one or two other extras to really lift things. To someone used to working in aviation scales, the photo etch parts in this scale really do test your eyesight and tweezers but it is worth it, I hope you agree, this results in a truly awesome model.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-59601368217074934672017-04-27T14:41:00.004-07:002017-04-27T14:41:42.015-07:00Tamiya 1/32 DeHavilland Mosquito FB. Mk VI<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Some interesting activity in the 1/32 scale modelling world over the last couple of years. First, Hong Kong Models (rapidly gaining a reputation as the home of the spectacular model kit) throw out a 1/32 Mossie, the first modern tooling in the scale finally replacing the venerable but primitive old Revell kit. And just as the modellers of the world were starting to calm down from their excitement the most respected name in plastic kits suddenly adds one to their superlative 1/32 Warbird range. And, in the humble opinion of this modeller (and many others), it ground the HK kit into the dust. The Hong Kong team had certainly introduced some innovative moulding technology and produced an amazingly well engineered kit, but it soon became apparent that the Tamiya version was far superior in the areas that count, such as detailing, accuracy and display flexibility.<br />
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And, lucky old me, I just had a commission to build one.<br />
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Just rummaging through the plastic on opening the box, you know you have something special here. The mouldings are crisp and refined, not a hint of flash anywhere. The detail on the parts has to be seen to be believed. I had a full Eduard set of etch to go with this kit, however in the event much of it was left off because it simply adds nothing. Also, it had to be said, for a kit of this size the Eduard etch is pretty limited, I guess they new there was not a lot they could do to improve things. Indeed, Tamiya themselves provide two frets of fine photo etch metal (one of which is magnetic as part of the cowling grip system) which are of a quality and scope that easily stands up against the likes of Eduard and were used throughout this build.<br />
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In common with other kits in this series, the engine cowlings are designed to be removable, and as such a moulded extremely thin and should be handled carefully. But this does preserve the integrity of the scale of the cowlings and their contents. Tamiya's mini magnet system is used to hold the cowlings in place, however I found that the bottom cowlings on the engines still did not quite grip with sufficient force and I had to improvise some additional support for them. This is one of the very few failings of the kit I came across. The other significant one is that I found that the top cowling for the nose gun compartment did not fit quite flush and some fettling was required to get this sitting correctly. It's not impossible that this may have been my fault for not installing the firewall perfectly, however.<br />
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The two Merlin engines are works of art, and take up four pages of the instructions just on their own. One point I would mention, however, is that given the wonderful kit detailing of these power plants it is a shame that they do not include the spark plug wiring harness. This is often the case in smaller scales or more primitive kits for practical reasons, but it was a slightly jarring omission on a kit of this sophistication. Eduard provide an etch harness (the only engine item in the etch set) but to be honest it looks pretty awful and so I fashioned my own out of styrene rods and fuse wire.<br />
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One final point (and it's minor - that's how desperate I've become to find fault) is that the ammunition belts feeding both the nose guns and belly guns could have been given a bit more authenticity in that there is no representation of the bullets, they are entirely smooth inside the holes in the casing. Surely given the finesse of the rest of the kit they could have moulded something resembling an actual ammunition belt.<br />
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I'm struggling to find any more notable problems with the kit than those few already mentioned. The detail is excellent throughout. I opted to use the Eduard cockpit panels to replace the Tamiya ones but that is more my lazy habit - with careful painting the kit panels will be truly excellent. The only scratch work I undertook was to add some wiring to the cockpit and the engine bays, but other than that, there is simply nothing further required unless you want to go completely nuts, and I didn't - someone is paying for my time.<br />
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Decals for three machines are provided, usual high Tamiya quality, but the after market is already bubbling with 1/32 FBVI sheets for this kit, so fill your boots. In this case my customer was after a Banff (Scotland) machine for which decals were provided by XtraDecal (Hannants).<br />
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So hats off to Tamiya who have once again proven that no-one can touch them when they are on form, and they certainly were when they produced this kit. A model I am personally very proud of.<br />
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Full progress photos can be found <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1410891782305359" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-78671690352063007472016-10-03T04:14:00.000-07:002016-10-03T04:14:20.897-07:00Trumpeter 1/32 AV-8B Harrier II Plus<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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As I have said many times before, you've got to hand it to Trumpeter for supplying us keen modellers with plenty of large scale jets. And they are always well moulded and generally well fitting, with plenty of ordnance options and often some really nice interior detail. That's the good part.<br />
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On the other hand, they also have a dark side to their reputation. The lovely interior detail is often a waste of time as it can not be seen, they suffer from some (occasionally crazy) accuracy problems, and their decals are often only fit for the waste bin, being inaccurate in colour and artwork and generally minimalist, with rarely any useful stencilling. Although to be fair, in more recent releases, the decals have been improving in quality.<br />
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If you want any kind of Harrier in 1/32 this and it's sister kits are the only option. The rivet counters have, as ever, already gone to town on it and pointed out accuracy problems in their usual manic "end of the world" screaming argot. But you know what, it's not actually that bad at all. It certainly looks like it's real world counterpart, just some doubts about the shape of the nose, gun pods and wing kink may be justified, and the ordnance selection is problematic, both in terms of accuracy and also what options are appropriate for this aircraft.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVJgXiXumyLLJbK2Mr_TuvKQFzoCdz2fWFiIjSFsISOSyCrLl_YqGOfqj1Q_H4k51NnLPf-gzjyJ8yme5Zi5eKln7LYPK2d3UpTwVHYi0jUzPDhtKtXByHmlc-s5VxlGRbDXHfVrSH-s/s1600/IMG_4455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVJgXiXumyLLJbK2Mr_TuvKQFzoCdz2fWFiIjSFsISOSyCrLl_YqGOfqj1Q_H4k51NnLPf-gzjyJ8yme5Zi5eKln7LYPK2d3UpTwVHYi0jUzPDhtKtXByHmlc-s5VxlGRbDXHfVrSH-s/s200/IMG_4455.JPG" width="200" /></a>The relatively well detailed internal engine is a complete waste of effort and only needs to be built to provide support for the outlets. The cockpit is not quite right, and given it is extremely visible under that canopy I elected to replace it with the rather wonderful Aries resin set. The only other significant shape corrections I employed were to use the Wolf Pack Harrier II + air scoop set (as these are a distinct feature of the "Plus", not catered for by the kit) and I also scratch corrected the gun pod link housing but otherwise I left things as they were. I used the SAC metal undercarriage set to replace the kit plastic - less because of accuracy or detail but more because I find metal undercarriages are pretty much essential on larger models for stability. Also check your references for the ordnance carried by this aircraft, not everything offered in the kit is appropriate. Some additional detailing to the exterior and undercarriage was provided courtesy of photo etch from our friends at Eduard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglylG3zpJTXoFUF9mdWehxDf9-J66T9urqv3-fowT5gOk7_3pxN20IKkC9tflZ936vmXxAWVxPwNj1F0_aQVglfYkbtbf0vXJrbHAz8xtRwLt2cnEvC8dcYFEjIo3q9ht3XFgmBjcnWFo/s1600/IMG_4482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglylG3zpJTXoFUF9mdWehxDf9-J66T9urqv3-fowT5gOk7_3pxN20IKkC9tflZ936vmXxAWVxPwNj1F0_aQVglfYkbtbf0vXJrbHAz8xtRwLt2cnEvC8dcYFEjIo3q9ht3XFgmBjcnWFo/s200/IMG_4482.JPG" width="200" /></a>The plastic goes together very well however, no real fit problems and only a little filler required in a few places. The only other area worth mentioning are the kit supplied markings. There are three options, two USMC machines and an unidentified Spanish aircraft. The two USMC schemes are more or less identical and I opted for the main (first) one. My internet research failed to find any example of the particular machine represented but I decided to go with it regardless. It may be accurate, or it may be made up by Trumpeter, who knows. I am sure someone out there can tell me, but it's too late now anyway. I opted to re-generate the "dark" markings myself. This is because the decals provided by Trumpeter are black, they should be low visibility mid grey according to every other example of the AV-8B I have seen. Even Trumpeter's own box artwork agrees with me. Black mark (literally) against them for that one.<br />
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But the end result pleased me immensely - as a Brit I am very proud of this unique and ground breaking aircraft design which is (to my mind) rather poorly represented in the plastic kit world, certainly in modern toolings. And to build a large scale once like this is very satisfying and I hope you enjoy the end result.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-15402477019842642932016-08-16T04:07:00.001-07:002016-08-16T04:07:41.858-07:00Italeri 1/72 Savoia Marchetti S.79 "Sparviero"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQv-H4j9WvoF6Zezl9a2O6PdiY4QYuhygzRvjRQVREXGO5yR3WgAS7TNhDfko7lU54w7JlalgVA2yWQ50lxMv1FYG43F-o4Qx8Lk1SMcKzWT8BoEnhJzjWcem10YC_eng-IElwG2YDiY/s1600/italeri_172_s79.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQv-H4j9WvoF6Zezl9a2O6PdiY4QYuhygzRvjRQVREXGO5yR3WgAS7TNhDfko7lU54w7JlalgVA2yWQ50lxMv1FYG43F-o4Qx8Lk1SMcKzWT8BoEnhJzjWcem10YC_eng-IElwG2YDiY/s320/italeri_172_s79.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
An interesting commission was presented to me with regards to this aircraft. What the customer actually wanted was the third iteration of the S.79 civilian prototype, S.79 P.III "I-MAGO" ("wizard"). Needless to say, no "out of the box" kit for this unique aircraft exists, so the challenge was to create one from the Italeri military SM.79 kit.<br />
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References for I-MAGO are hard to come by, but there is one excellent publication, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/SIAI-Lost-archives-chapter-II/dp/3734799376" target="_blank">"The Lost Archives"</a> that provides pretty much every photo and piece of data about this aircraft that is in existence. It has been invaluable in completing this conversion.<br />
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Any modeller who has attempted a serious kit bash like this knows that slightly sinking feeling at the start of the project that involves looking over all of the alterations that will be required and trying to figure out how, and in what order, to attempt them. For the benefit of anyone looking to do similar, here are the key kit bashes required:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Re-profiling of the cockpit roof</li>
<li>Removal of the belly gondola</li>
<li>Blanking of existing side windows and creation of new passenger ones</li>
<li>Smoothing of the fuselage sides and new side door</li>
<li>Re-shaping of tail fin</li>
<li>Extension and re-shaping of the nose</li>
<li>New internal bulkheads and construction of passenger seats</li>
<li>Construction of new exhausts</li>
<li>Addition of solid undercarriage spats</li>
</ul>
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And a number of other minor clean up elements to remove the military aspects of the Italeri kit. And of course an entirely new paint and decal scheme.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoXrdHg1TXHN8Uxbn97M6M3vDHly98VI71ibITlGO_s-Ds01Ivpjcv49HBIHbwFW-Nw_nw0yhIFyRwemJvWW_TltBHIIV1QsDF3QIQZRHGkJElBwJ0ztCA9ptwcqWUTOU0p7iucnJ5r0/s1600/IMG_4041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoXrdHg1TXHN8Uxbn97M6M3vDHly98VI71ibITlGO_s-Ds01Ivpjcv49HBIHbwFW-Nw_nw0yhIFyRwemJvWW_TltBHIIV1QsDF3QIQZRHGkJElBwJ0ztCA9ptwcqWUTOU0p7iucnJ5r0/s200/IMG_4041.JPG" width="200" /></a>The most daunting change is the alteration of the shape of the cockpit roof area, to remove the gun bulge and port that is such a distinctive feature of the military machine. Fortunately a little assistance is available here from Pavla Models, who <a href="https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/PAVU72058" target="_blank">provide a conversion set</a> designed to turn this kit into an SM.79 C/T racer. Much of the set is redundant for our purposes, but it does provide a suitable vac-form replacement roof, and also a blanking panel for the belly. As a bonus, it also provides nice resin pilot seats and an instrument panel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYO-DNRPH6bVSbLwEo9cUxQvNng57wuwrP2EV2pbVmNv_THPYo8lrTc7x6sIVes6mmBcQFhhoVzVoeIsmF3_4c_elowJupfkinZv4GORdKx5EXyOTpyRCqUMuM2hrmH5jYOzB8zNh0MAU/s1600/IMG_4044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYO-DNRPH6bVSbLwEo9cUxQvNng57wuwrP2EV2pbVmNv_THPYo8lrTc7x6sIVes6mmBcQFhhoVzVoeIsmF3_4c_elowJupfkinZv4GORdKx5EXyOTpyRCqUMuM2hrmH5jYOzB8zNh0MAU/s200/IMG_4044.JPG" width="185" /></a>And so I set to work. The internal cockpit came together nicely using a combination of kit, Pavla and Eduard etch parts. The fuselage sides were a little trickier. First I blanked off the existing window and door openings and then liberally smothered the outsides with filler to cover the corrugated fabric effect of the military version. Careful smoothing was then used to produce flat sides. I then used clear plastic to create the glazing in the passenger windows.<br />
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I then moved to the internals. I had decided to create passenger seats because they would be visible through the windows although it would not be worth adding too much other detail. So once the fuselage halves were together, I constructed a passenger section tub from plastic card and scratch built the six passenger seats from plastic card and some spare photo etch. I also used some steel wire to add the prominent fuselage frames that are visible through the windows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityYu8ddZbiFqgRMYjOIfr5jdJ3fJXmd-DlBQzwS4fKxEBAJ5TEiajbEH1p2SKoZXzcQ3g2l1j7v_b3hsphOWtOt6JfUZlgHbOyRDCMktBEPIvD-YHBHAXo1fsQU0VyImuMDVj9d8J6LQ/s1600/IMG_4054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityYu8ddZbiFqgRMYjOIfr5jdJ3fJXmd-DlBQzwS4fKxEBAJ5TEiajbEH1p2SKoZXzcQ3g2l1j7v_b3hsphOWtOt6JfUZlgHbOyRDCMktBEPIvD-YHBHAXo1fsQU0VyImuMDVj9d8J6LQ/s200/IMG_4054.JPG" width="82" /></a>Next I cracked out the Milliput and built a new nose. The kit nose is slightly too short and the wrong shape, so I extended it with the putty accordingly. Milliput is fantastic stuff but it does dry rock hard and is quite tough to sand down afterwards. So I always recommend getting the shape as close as possible to the correct one whilst it's still wet!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZHB_doej2F_Gbv647QNB_ljDdm2Kv1jFPa5x6kBp-5_u97HMvajt1fgR1ZCn2YLs3pbZF3zta10BzzadtwN2jJDXZzit6XPLrUvzoBATsSgBf7qO3u5FXVfwHqJIn3It42Yj-9ompA0/s1600/IMG_4084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZHB_doej2F_Gbv647QNB_ljDdm2Kv1jFPa5x6kBp-5_u97HMvajt1fgR1ZCn2YLs3pbZF3zta10BzzadtwN2jJDXZzit6XPLrUvzoBATsSgBf7qO3u5FXVfwHqJIn3It42Yj-9ompA0/s200/IMG_4084.JPG" width="200" /></a>I am not a big fan of vac-form parts, but they are a necessary evil in this game. True to form, the new cockpit roof took a lot of effort and fettling to get seamlessly into place. Fortunately two pieces are provided by Pavla and I had to discard my first attempt after over trimming it, as usual.<br />
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The only other alteration to be made before the main painting was the tail fin. The kit one had a rounded rear end which is not correct for the P.III aircraft, and also the P.III rudder extends across the top of the fin. So the top of the kit fin was chopped off and replaced with shaped plastic card.<br />
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At this point I primed and painted the model, I wish it was as easy as writing this sentence, but of course getting those nicely curved blue areas was a real pig and took a lot of cleaning up and re-doing. I also used a slightly "off" art-deco white colour for the main areas, it seemed in keeping with the 1930s era in which the aircraft existed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCNugadW7upBhApsRBdeh7i-TXGRLOcQDza8z2sgqNDDoCNOm5NXmdHgkf0sOKi7iXxdomb4WBxROePlbab4Oco3ObRH-rZbkzda5KGA0XkJoWRZTqata326iv0ZRNDORiSSDZIrEbuU/s1600/IMG_4107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCNugadW7upBhApsRBdeh7i-TXGRLOcQDza8z2sgqNDDoCNOm5NXmdHgkf0sOKi7iXxdomb4WBxROePlbab4Oco3ObRH-rZbkzda5KGA0XkJoWRZTqata326iv0ZRNDORiSSDZIrEbuU/s200/IMG_4107.JPG" width="184" /></a>The decals I generated myself. Getting the font correct was very tricky, in the end I used the closest I could find and then used photo shop to alter it to match the reference photos. Similarly the "S.79" logo was cribbed from the cover of the reference book!<br />
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Once all main painting and finishing was complete, I then painted the engine cowling frontages using Alclad copper and aluminium. The kit engines were replaced with Pavla resin version and enhanced with Eduard etch - fortunately these are appropriate to the aircraft and the propellers and spinners were taken from the kit. Again, these matched the originals well.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGSrc_oVbEdPNXvcc0JRtEnSRQYCl5cGnrhO88ZAKOQr_B_t7m664OL7rZJ_Uy_e2f-BL9GjjA5NSilBt_V1RXzeqQGzc3PKSG7FNbVMGDb81xzRPGEW0E9hWQ5mvnD1UIZAaPK0nuMo/s1600/IMG_4111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGSrc_oVbEdPNXvcc0JRtEnSRQYCl5cGnrhO88ZAKOQr_B_t7m664OL7rZJ_Uy_e2f-BL9GjjA5NSilBt_V1RXzeqQGzc3PKSG7FNbVMGDb81xzRPGEW0E9hWQ5mvnD1UIZAaPK0nuMo/s200/IMG_4111.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
The only other two significant alterations were the exhausts, which I scratch built from parts of the kit and spare plastic tubing, and also to add a solid plate behind the undercarriage legs over the wheels which were a feature of this aircraft and are not in the kit.<br />
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And that, as they say, is pretty much that. Whilst this turned into a pretty tough build overall, there is a huge amount of satisfaction to be had from a kit bash such as this knowing that what you have produced is unique and accurately represents a rare aircraft. I am pretty pleased with the result, and fortunately my customer is too.<br />
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You can see a full set of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BoweModels/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1152920071435866" target="_blank">progress photos here</a>.<br />
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I hope you enjoy the end result!<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-65040929911875081402016-05-09T12:13:00.001-07:002016-05-09T12:13:01.801-07:00HPH Models 1/32 PBY-5A Catalina (Cutaway)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMS_V1VKp8J0xd9PP56IwCMvEr4mwuNhrsuMjDY3DJAuZtb0xATsHz2UtQEPIJOzeksX3CCM_ceu4oO4TWWhXDbCnmxd1kP9H0YCjkbhon871NsrSH4RjpWuZLcyYApj0GpFXb1Q0mzo/s1600/hph_132_catalina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMS_V1VKp8J0xd9PP56IwCMvEr4mwuNhrsuMjDY3DJAuZtb0xATsHz2UtQEPIJOzeksX3CCM_ceu4oO4TWWhXDbCnmxd1kP9H0YCjkbhon871NsrSH4RjpWuZLcyYApj0GpFXb1Q0mzo/s400/hph_132_catalina.jpg" width="400" /></a>There seems to be a real movement in the world of mainstream kit production these days to produce the "ultimate" model kit. HK Models and HPH Models are two of the main protagonists seemingly wanting to outdo each other with sheer awesomeness, offering subjects in 1/32 scale that until a few years ago were well served in 1/72 and considered ambitious even in 1/48. Difficult to say who is winning, as their products, whilst both spectacular, are very different. HK's offerings are "traditional" plastic injection moulded kits, albeit taking the technology to new levels. HPH, on the other hand, have stayed in the "limited edition" vein with their high end resin and fibreglass composites.</div>
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The Catalina cutaway is a specially produced version of their standard 1/32 Catalina kit, designed to be built as a "half" aircraft showing the details of the interior. As such, it includes many parts from the full kit, and a number of new or modified parts to realise the cutaway detail. This is not a new idea, many modellers have done this themselves with kits that feature detailed interiors, and a few kits have ventured into this territory from the factory end. However these are almost always crudely hacked versions of the complete kit. To give HPH their due, whilst this is plainly a modified version of their "normal" Catalina, they have gone to the trouble of adding many specially moulded extra parts (notably interior ribbing and struts) that would simply be a waste of time on the "closed" version of the model.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfu2BPHuBoPWMO-J2PWt-thoyQj8Tgcji-g8SQO2YnBReJC7ksLsK3c-sGpGMfYox1YQr15rRhVZ6fVIv04zDJPR_1npzjpUqhoWwhW15waFVNH0qqE7VehVV2zFRNLR_nOHPvyPRincc/s1600/IMG_3355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfu2BPHuBoPWMO-J2PWt-thoyQj8Tgcji-g8SQO2YnBReJC7ksLsK3c-sGpGMfYox1YQr15rRhVZ6fVIv04zDJPR_1npzjpUqhoWwhW15waFVNH0qqE7VehVV2zFRNLR_nOHPvyPRincc/s200/IMG_3355.JPG" width="200" /></a>The kit comprises a single fibreglass fuselage half (the right hand side) and many, many resin components. Some of the components are on traditional resin pour stubs, and the smaller parts are moulded on to thin sheets which require careful removal and cleaning up. Worth mentioning at this point that due to this rather painful parts extraction process, this kit is not exactly a weekend project. It will take a LOT of time and patience.<br />
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Also in the kit is a very nice photo etch set made by Eduard (not all of which is used in the cutaway version), a small sheet of decals (many of which again, not used in this version), a set of paint masks (more on those later) and the instruction manual on CD. Also included is a comprehensive fabric seatbelt set from HGW, which also includes sheets and straps for the aircrew bunks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AwZ5hujS73nAeCYpLnXpWfPeod72-BZh3sIXgTKsZbeIYYwFVQ9e2Q_XdkCrPT8lK2Ed8RwaZqLepTxE-khOPScZ_H7sj27WxN0G8hiNQZdejhet8VioWta4RVR5KoY0WTLx_NrE2FQ/s1600/IMG_3376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AwZ5hujS73nAeCYpLnXpWfPeod72-BZh3sIXgTKsZbeIYYwFVQ9e2Q_XdkCrPT8lK2Ed8RwaZqLepTxE-khOPScZ_H7sj27WxN0G8hiNQZdejhet8VioWta4RVR5KoY0WTLx_NrE2FQ/s320/IMG_3376.JPG" width="320" /></a>The instruction manual (on PDF) is well presented, but turns out to be a little problematic when actually used. The build process is represented by a series of photographs with part number call outs. There are six pages of parts recognition photos at the front of the document and matching these to the build process by attempting to find the correct part by eye (there are no numbers on the actual parts, of course), is a rather tedious affair. The manual being electronic actually helps here because at least you can use the PDF search functionality to help find what you are looking for. BUT, and it's a big but, the manual is full of mistakes. Many parts are incorrectly numbered in the build sequence, and many are not numbered at all, and a few numbers simply do not exist. This all means that you need to keep your wits about you to get through this. I think part of the problem is that the cutaway manual has been cribbed from the "full" model version and everything renumbered to match the new parts breakdown. And it looks like it was done in a hurry. I also found quite a few missing parts, or incorrectly handed (left side rather than right) and I did need to do a fair bit of adapting and scratch building to get through this build. Also, many parts need additional work in order to get them to fit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xx9FG9Blxzj2-EdxIMGe3HyASFeI4UF3G7nFar1o-8CMy_2PIqfugwlcoCCjujhDi3kEvo1SyCj5WqerT5yl-VWnIQ7k9pUSk0Uthxo3OPTuQta5BskYfZPJZNo0aSzKCsre59igcEI/s1600/IMG_3379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xx9FG9Blxzj2-EdxIMGe3HyASFeI4UF3G7nFar1o-8CMy_2PIqfugwlcoCCjujhDi3kEvo1SyCj5WqerT5yl-VWnIQ7k9pUSk0Uthxo3OPTuQta5BskYfZPJZNo0aSzKCsre59igcEI/s320/IMG_3379.JPG" width="320" /></a>The fuselage body is made of fibreglass, not resin or plastic (both of which would probably not be strong enough in this thickness) which is an extremely difficult material to work with. Very strong, but extremely brittle and near impossible to cut (and it does need some trimming). Be very careful when working on it as well, airborne fibre glass particles are seriously unhealthy for your bodily airways so wear a mask when cutting or sanding it.<br />
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So in summary, the faulty (and not always very clear) instructions, horrendous parts extraction and clean up, scratch build requirements and many fit problems as well, this is not a kit for the novice. It is for advanced modellers only.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSwft6_Ha25DeJsk_mmjxhAugxrJ8GDZ4-NbXrVi5qQ-WwP8QpVZytGbKfUUa4OopKbJfd8rIkaKIdccns7YhXdNlhK-I5JKCfYSP7QJas7hapixMkg4wspLGl7O7mZ6qvE1be2kKTLs/s1600/IMG_3431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSwft6_Ha25DeJsk_mmjxhAugxrJ8GDZ4-NbXrVi5qQ-WwP8QpVZytGbKfUUa4OopKbJfd8rIkaKIdccns7YhXdNlhK-I5JKCfYSP7QJas7hapixMkg4wspLGl7O7mZ6qvE1be2kKTLs/s200/IMG_3431.JPG" width="200" /></a>But that's the bad stuff out of the way. On the upside, the parts are moulded brilliantly. A lot of work has gone into producing this kit and it shows. The detail is sharp and the kit engineering does actually work well. Scanning the instructions is a little scary, but follow the sequence and it does actually work, and with a fair bit of work and patience, it will build into a spectacular model.<br />
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I will not bore you with a blow by blow construction, just a few highlights and lowlights.<br />
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The first thing to mention is something that caught me out at first. The fuselage half is highly polished, and in it's natural state pretty much nothing, paint nor glue, will stick to it. Ask me how I know. Before you start, give the fuselage half, inside and out, a good firm rub down with some medium micro-mesh to roughen the surface. This will give the glue and paint a good key to bind on to.<br />
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One of the first jobs is to fix the stringers to the inside of the fuselage. This was 50% of the build work. It is an unbelievably tedious process. What's more, as well as having to extract them from the resin sheets, they need to be carefully cut to size to fit between the various ribs and bulkheads. There are lines engraved into the fuselage to aid positioning, but still this was probably the most painful build stage I have ever undertaken. I also found it necessary to use epoxy resin to fix them (and many other components). Super glue dries too fast and you will find you need to adjust them as the glue sets. A very messy and time consuming process this was too.<br />
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Once the stringers were (finally!) done, I chose to paint the inside of the fuselage at this point. After which, all parts added would have to be painted before installation. Once the bulkheads are installed, access to areas that need painting is extremely difficult, if not impossible, so this is the only way to go.<br />
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After this, it is largely a matter of filling in each of the sub sections with the appropriate details. Of course, there are no locating pins or notches anywhere and it really is a matter of using care and intelligence to get everything secured. Once you have resigned yourself to the painful process of finding the part, extracting it from the resin sheet, cleaning it up, painting it and glueing it in place this is actually a pretty straightforward, if lengthy, process. But for me the process was somewhat plagued by a number of missing and/or incorrectly numbered parts, and in some cases references to numbers that simply did not exist on the parts breakdown at all. Not being sprue based, and there being so many parts, you do have to convince yourself that you have looked hard enough before deciding that a part is not present. In some cases it was no big deal to simply ignore the part, in others I had to scratch build a replacement.<br />
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A word on the glazing. The kit provides a number of clear resin parts which are actually very nicely moulded, although extracting them from the pour stubs without damaging the part was tricky in a few places. Do NOT expect any of the side window parts to fit<br />
the holes in the fuselage, they simply do not, and you need to trim and sand as necessary to get a good fit. Welcome to the world of the advanced modeller. The main cockpit canopy is in two main parts and additional side glazing. Of course the main parts or designed for the full kit and have to be carefully cut in half which was a nerve racking moment. But it fits well. Unlike the "dimple" glazing for the side gunner, and although it may have been me, this simply would not line up correctly and a lot of smoke and mirrors were needed to make it look acceptable. But the overriding point I wish to make on the glazing are the paint masks. They look great in the box, everything you need to mask off the large number of glazed areas neatly. However, they do not fit. Any of them. There is a schoolboy error somewhere in the design, so throw them away. In the end I had to resort to good old Kabuki tape and a sharp knife.<br />
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Another point worth mentioning, and this is not a fault of the kit as such, is that when building aircraft models, out of necessity you have to complete the interior work first, the close up the fuselage and then worry about the exterior. I naturally defaulted to this approach, but it did make masking the internals for exterior painting very tricky. Combined with the fact that the completed cutaway model is seriously unstable (see later) and is very awkward to handle whilst building, I would propose that there is probably a good case for affixing the glazing and painting the exterior up front, before any internal work is started. Unfortunately I did not really think this through and had to do it the hard way.<br />
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Any model that effectively represents half a plane as this one does, is going to be unstable and not sit comfortably. You are, of course, missing the left hand undercarriage for a start, which leaves only two points of contact with the ground so additional support will be required. I have built Catalina models before, and next to the B-25 Mitchell and B-24 Liberator they are one of the hardest models to sufficiently weigh down the nose to avoid tail sitting. Obviously with a cutaway there is no option to fill the nose section with lead either. You could build a custom full length stand to take the model, complete with properly raked sides, but there is a much quicker way, and it is suggested implicitly by the completed model shots in the instructions. You need to add a stand roughly underneath the rear gunner position to take the weight, and in combination with the nose wheel and main right hand wheel you do actually get a fairly stable result. I manufactured one from plastic tubing with a shaped top to accept the bottom of the fuselage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaaMkITfMlXbwqnAOikBGwCtHmD1Ib1A3IksHhFXWwND2fuiRSLZyyi12IuUfwLvcosUq6kg4wArrnF_RTPrbsDx3mhK8xHmQ2GPQIBaUfDTEUxY2Fc7wFGKqTtHTFCo681lEGl_vQFA/s1600/IMG_3513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaaMkITfMlXbwqnAOikBGwCtHmD1Ib1A3IksHhFXWwND2fuiRSLZyyi12IuUfwLvcosUq6kg4wArrnF_RTPrbsDx3mhK8xHmQ2GPQIBaUfDTEUxY2Fc7wFGKqTtHTFCo681lEGl_vQFA/s320/IMG_3513.JPG" width="320" /></a>However, I then encountered a further problem, after admiring the result for some minutes the main undercarriage collapsed under the weight. Fortunately no serious damage was done, but it did prove what I had suspected, which was that the main undercarriage arrangement was simply not strong enough to cope with the weight of all that fibreglass and resin. The undercarriage parts are actually reinforced with metal rods, which stopped them from snapping, but the joints between the parts could not be made strong enough to take the weight given their angles. After considering my options, I opted for another custom made stand which I fixed to the fuselage right next to the undercarriage to take the majority of the weight on it's behalf. It was the only reliable solution as I saw it.<br />
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One of the final jobs was to add the seatbelts, using the HGW fabric set. These things are all the rage with their supposed authentic fabric finish and crumplability but you know what, I'm not actually a big fan. They are incredibly fiddly to put together, and very hard to get to hold their shape where you need them to. Yes, they may be real fabric, but come on guys, a real Catalina is made out of aluminium, steel, and lots of rivets. I would certainly not use that approach to build this model. Yes it looks like fabric, but not in scale. it looks like 1:1 fabric. Not good in a 1:32 scale model. AND it resists sticking by pretty much any glue I could throw at it, certainly sticking positively and quickly enough for me to form it into the required shapes. Sorry if you disagree folks, but give me a decent set of photo etched metal belts any day. Carefully shaped and crumpled, they look as good as anything else. But I soldiered on with the HGW belts and finally got them the way I wanted.<br />
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The "part" wing that sits atop the aircraft is possibly the trickiest piece to install. The actual section, including the engine (I added some wires to this myself, I felt the kit parts alone were arguably a little basic for a model of this size and quality) goes together fairly well, however mounting it onto the fuselage with the wing struts (which are reinforced with metal rods, mercifully) was like playing twister with a world champion gymnast, due mainly to the instability of the fuselage section and the lack of positive location points. In the end I glued some spare stringers in place to locate the wing on the top of the fuselage but I still had to stand holding the model for 20 minutes straight whilst the epoxy glue set sufficiently to hold everything together.<br />
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The model was built pretty much from the box overall. I did add a few pieces of fuse wire as cabling in places. This was a commission build and I'd blown the budget already, so that is where I stopped. However, there is almost unlimited scope for adding further detail if that is what you desire. What is there is good - really good, and looks great. But if I had the time I would probably add control cables through the bulkheads, more electrical cabling and, well, the imagination runs riot. It's the kind of model that you could very easily never finish.<br />
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So to sum up, this is a truly awesome model kit. I have no hesitation in recommending it to advanced modellers, but only those who have a lot of time to spend on it. It is not for the novice or even the mildly competent. You need to understand the materials, know your solvents and glues, be up for a fair bit of scratch building, improvisation and not to mention MENSA level interpretation of the instructions in places. If you want a huge, spectacular model that's a breeze to build, check out HK Models B-17 or B-25. But if you are prepared to put in the time and effort to this one, you will end up with something very special. Very special indeed.<br />
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You can see the full set of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1060400647354476.1073742024.326728470721701&type=3" target="_blank">build progress photos here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-27889249373037350272016-03-20T11:17:00.000-07:002016-03-20T11:17:58.160-07:00Eduard 1/48 Hawker Tempest V<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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One is not exactly spoilt for choice in 1/48 for a Tempest V. This particular kit I have been presented with is pretty much the only option and is one of the early "Profipack" releases from Eduard. The "goodies" offered inside are not quite so comprehensive as they have become since - no canopy mask for example. But I also have the Hi-Tech extras pack which provides new tail control surfaces, seat, exhausts and wheels which are all welcome enhancements, albeit in a particularly brittle and rough resin.<br />
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The kit itself provides a decent, if primitive plastic mould of the "short run" variety. Several of the parts (mainly in the cockpit) are replaced with some cast resin items which are of a good standard, although the crude seat looks like a wasted opportunity - fortunately replaced with a much better offering from the Hi-Tech set. The canopy is one piece, which is a shame as this aircraft really does need to be modelled with the canopy open. It can be cut, but is fairly thick and unconvincing in this configuration. I opted to replace it with the vac-form alternative provided in the Hi-Tech kit. The resin wheels are no improvement on the plastic ones, fortunately the Hi-Tech set comes to the rescue again. But the Eduard photo-etch is nice, if rather limited in scope.<br />
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Building the interior is a little fiddly. The instructions are small scale printed and indistinct, and there is a lack of obvious alignment and attachment points throughout so care and some trial and error is needed. Fitting the resin cockpit tub to the fuselage is particularly vague, you need to experiment and dry build the fuselage to make sure it is correct.<br />
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But otherwise the kit goes together fairly well - the plastic is soft but not too soft, although the panel line detail is (for a change) not deep enough and will be lost to washes after painting. I had to re-scribe most of it. Fitting the Hi-Tech tail control surfaces is also a little tricky. Take my advice, trim them along the join and glue them directly to the plastic. Don't try and get clever and sink them in to the body as they are theoretically designed to do, it's just too much work.<br />
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My customer was looking for the mount of the French ace Pierre Clostermann as seen late in the war. These decals are provided as a kit option. The decals in my kit were very fragile, maybe because of age but they are very thin anyway. I had a number of heart stopping moments applying them and had to patch them up and replace with my own in places.<br />
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But all that aside, I hope you will agree that I ended up with a fine looking model that rewarded the effort put in to it.<br />
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You can see the full progress photo set <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1059860644075143.1073742023.326728470721701&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-25235306031949576102016-02-27T17:04:00.003-08:002016-02-27T17:04:50.005-08:00Airfix 1/72 Vickers Valiant BK. Mk.I<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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One of the new breed of Airfix toolings produced since the Hornby take over, this kit provided a much sought after filling for a hole in the cold war back catalogue of kits.<br />
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The kit is true to the new Airfix style. Slightly soft, thick heavy plastic but very sharply moulded. The fit is as good as you can expect in a modern tooling in the mid range kit market - not quite up to the standard of the best of the far eastern offerings but so much better than Airfix's older models.<br />
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I have only two significant complaints - firstly, the panel lines, in common with most recent Airfix releases, are far too thick and heavily engraved. Secondly, the surface detail on this model is not actually that good. Just thick panel lines, no rivets or raised details. I went some way to make up for this by using Eduard's surface panel set which does add a lot of nice relief to what would otherwise be a very plain and arguably, primitive looking model. I also went to town on the cockpit interior using Eduard's interior set, although this is barely visible in the finished model of course.<br />
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My customer chose a PR version, with a little help from Airfix's own enhancement set. I had forgotten how tricky white aircraft were to make. Every blemish shows up like a sore thumb and it is also quite tricky to stop it looking like a toy. My usual panel line wash and post shading would be far too strong on a pure white model (especially with those trenches) so I limited myself to some subtle pre shading (not something I normally like doing) and light panel line enhancement with pencils. This raised it above the look of a die cast model and went some way to providing some authenticity in the result.<br />
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But I am pleased with the end result, an imposing model of a very important aircraft.<br />
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You can see the progress photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1047947488599792.1073742019.326728470721701&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-66442790556730775112016-01-14T07:11:00.000-08:002016-01-14T07:11:18.564-08:00Antares 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109 TL<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Here I am delving into the world of specialist resin kits once again in order to reproduce a very obscure subject. No, it is NOT an Me 262, although it looks very like one, but it was a backup project to the 262 that never actually resulted in any aircraft. It is basically a Bf109 with a new nose, undercarriage and jet engines.<br />
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Building these types of kit is always a strange combination of frustration and reward. A simple enough construction in theory, but removing the casting blocks and cleaning up took nearly as long as putting the model together. As is usual with these types of kit, the fit and moulding is far from perfect and much filling and fettling is required. Also I had to add a number of strengthening elements and pins and, in common with everyone else who has built this, it seems, I managed to snap the one piece moulded fuselage in half around the cockpit where the walls are super thin. This took some repairing as well.<br />
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The canopy is vac form and is shockingly badly made, all uneven and bubbly. I'm not a fan of vac canopies at the best of times but this one really underlined my prejudices. The metal landing gear is actually pretty good but that is the only stand out item in the whole box. The decals are atrocious, thick and glossy and would not conform (and only consist of the crosses and swastikas, despite what is shown on the box), so I threw them away and raided the spares drawer. Fortunately, since this aircraft was never actually built in the real world, I can get away with anything for the markings and nobody can question it....so there.<br />
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Anyway, after all the grief, I'm actually rather pleased with the end result, but in no hurry to build another one. A nice crisply moulded injection plastic kit is now needed to take the taste away.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-67270640817131189302015-11-27T07:46:00.001-08:002015-11-27T07:46:54.059-08:00Fonderie Miniature 1/48 Breguet 693<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Fonderie Miniature do not have the greatest reputation for producing buildable kits. Unfortunately I have to report that it is not improved with this one. This is possibly one of the toughest builds I have subjected myself to in a long while. A mix of (very soft) plastic, resin and etched parts normally indicates some attention to detail, but when none of it fits together in a recognisable way you know you have a problem.<br />
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But I like a challenge, and this is certainly one of those. It fought me every step of the way, but I managed to finally emerge victorious albeit battered and bruised. However there is something satisfying about finishing with a reasonable model after such a journey. The glass is half full.<br />
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You can see photos of the build process <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.997738463620695.1073742008.326728470721701&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-27434480378616709492015-11-15T13:26:00.002-08:002015-11-15T13:26:58.641-08:00Roden 1/72 Fairchild C-123B Provider<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Something a little outside of the middle of the road from Roden, purveyors of surprisingly good kits. If you are not familiar with this aircraft, you've probably seen it many times in the movies, where they seem to like it because it looks a bit like a Hercules but is a lot cheaper to crash... Think "Con Air", "Air America" et al... In "Die Hard 2" they actually stuck extra dummy engines on one to complete the effect.<br />
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Anyhow, the kit. Let's get the bad points out of the way briefly - overly heavy panel lines, terrible fitting fuselage transparencies and the internal floor makes the fuselage impossible to fit together properly. However, it is otherwise an excellent kit. The fit is (other than the above) exemplary and the details fine and accurate. I did add the NH Detail cockpit set which is a nice touch but otherwise this is out of the box, other than decals from Caracal Models to create the particular machine my customer was looking for.<br />
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You can see the build progress photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.991541094240432.1073742006.326728470721701&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-64552717540796961762015-09-11T05:05:00.000-07:002015-09-11T05:05:05.249-07:00Trumpeter 1/48 Douglas C-47 Skytrain<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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I've finally got around to building one of my all time favourite aircraft, and this excellent offering from Trumpeter in 1/48 builds into an impressive and imposing model.<br />
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As a kit, it is beautifully moulded with fine details and only suffers from three significant flaws. Firstly it is peppered with overstated sunken rivet holes. This is not strictly accurate, the C-47 had raised rivets and so I've chosen not to apply my usual dark wash to the model to keep them toned down. Secondly the engine cowlings are completely the wrong shape, and I have replaced these with corrected ones from Quickboost. Finally, the C-47 rudder is fabric covered and the kit depicts it covered in rivets. Quickboost again have come to the rescue with a more accurate replacement rudder.<br />
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Otherwise, this kit is actually great fun to build, and I particularly enjoyed putting together the interior details, even though much of this cannot be seen in the final model. Enjoy!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">You can see the build progress photos via the FaceBook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.957699944291214.1073741996.326728470721701&type=3" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><br /></span>Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030576637312146097.post-57935874946279555892015-06-09T05:49:00.000-07:002015-06-09T08:41:59.866-07:00Fly Models 1/32 Arado AR-234 B-2<a href="http://www.bowemodels.com/">www.bowemodels.com</a><br />
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Fly Models have started producing some interesting kits, and this is one of them. As far as I know, this is the only game in town for an AR-234 in 1/32 and its a pretty good effort.<br />
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Despite being officially a bomber, the AR-234 is a single seater and not a particularly large aircraft, being roughly the same overall dimensions as a modern fighter jet and the 1/32 scale suits it very well.<br />
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It has a wiff of the limited run about it - no location lugs, soft beige plastic, slightly thick (but still clear) transparent parts and hastily put together instructions that in places do not represent the parts very well nor give precise locations. Another annoying factor is that despite it being represented on the artwork, there is no bomb included.<br />
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However there are a large number of nicely cast resin parts (mainly for the cockpit) and a photo etch sheet, and well printed decals offering a good variety of options. The cockpit in particular builds up spectacularly, which is just as well given how visible it is under the glass nose. This model was built from the box with the exception of the addition of metal undercarriage parts from SAC and a small number of wiring and plumbing additions.<br />
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You can see the build progress photos via the FaceBook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.906183082776234.1073741985.326728470721701&type=1" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Steve Bowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828060751202787763noreply@blogger.com0