Monday 27 August 2012

Holidays Over And Done, Now Back To Some Modelling!

What a busy last few weeks it has been. Firstly, there was a hectic last week at work. Then the first week of my holiday was spent doing some of the dreaded DIY around the house. Then last week we was away in Norfolk spending most of the time on the beach and in the sea with Kyran. Now I need another week to recover from it all...

So, what modelling has been done? In words, not much! I have re-started on my "Black Buck" models, it would be nice to get them finished for Telford if possible (it's about time too). The little time I have spent on them has been cleaning up any filling on the Vulcan and Victor, with the Vulcan getting a coat of primer to see what still needs to be done before painting. So just a little more filling and sanding to do on her before painting can start. The Victor still has a bit to go before the first coat of primer goes on her.

Whilst we were away, I took a couple of models to work on, my ongoing Achilles tank and Kyran's "Tigermeet" Tornado. Nothing was done with the Achilles, but the Tornado has been built almost up to the stage for primer and paint. What is also handy with this kit, there is an ECM Pod that is not used for the Tornado on the sprues. This is virtually the same as I need for the Vulcan, handy!

But first things first, I need to give the workshop and bench a good tidy up. The last one was just a quick clear up and I need to pack some paints and tools away. So, lets crack on and get tidied up so I can get back to some modelling.

Sunday 5 August 2012

The New Airfix P-51D Mustang

Whilst I was in Milton Keynes today, I popped into Model Zone to pick up a couple of tins of paint I had run out of. As I was having a look around, I came across the new Airfix P-51D Mustang in 1/72nd scale. After having a look at the box for a few minutes, I took the plunge and brought one, the Mustang is one of my favourite warbirds.


Anyhow, once it was in my workshop, I opened up the box to have a look at the new tooling. Airfix, well done, the detail is beautiful of this kit. This is the kit with the markings for one of the "Tuskegee Airmen" aircraft, "Lollypoop II". Personally, I think Airfix should have included more of the Red Tails aircraft on the decal sheet in honour of this Squadron, but I suppose they will be plenty of aftermarket decals available soon.


So, I do not think this will be sitting in my pile of un-built kits for long, the temptation will be too much for me to resist.

StuG III WIP #10

Paint has gone down onto the base!


That time has come, when you turn a collection of dull grey or white plastic, into a object of colour and life. This posting will be just a quick one, I'm trying to tidy up my workshop tonight as it has got a bit messy over the last month. So here a a few photos taken whilst I was airbrushing the base colours onto the brickwork, pavement and cobblestones.


The building and base were given a couple of coats of Vallejo grey primer out of the rattlecan. I did not like this primer as I think it is a little too thick when it is being sprayed, but I think it is ideal for use on bases and buildings. So this will not be wasted now! The base colour for the brickwork is Humbrol #70 Brick Red, just thinned down and I gave all of the exposed bricks a blast with a few coats. One thing is to not forget the exposed brickwork on the interior walls and fallen masonry.




Next, I gave the pavement a coat of Tamiya's XF60 Dark Yellow. This will not be the final colour for this area, since this photo was taken, a wash of light grey has gone over the top to tone it down. This is going to be followed with a few more washes of various colours.


The cobbled road surface was given a base coat of Tamiya's XF Medium Grey to start off with as seen below. Since this photo was taken, it has had a wash of Dark Grey to start to highlight the cobbles. As things progress, individual cobbles will be picked out with various Greys before final weathering. The tram lines has also been painted using AK Interactive Track Wash, this will finished with the track pigment later.


More painting has been done since these photos were taken a couple of nights ago. The garden path has received a coat of Tamiya's Hull Red, the rendering has been painted with a cement colour. The plastered walls inside the building have all been painted in various colours. I will only give the inside a basic paint job, it is not intended to be a viewing side as the point of interest is the front of the base.


I will take some more photos prior to continuing with the painting and they will be posted in the next installment of this project.

Wednesday 1 August 2012

StuG III WIP #9

"So, what's been happening on your StuG project?" 

This is what a couple of friends asked me a couple of weeks ago.


Well, as I wanted to get a couple of my aircraft projects finished, the Sabre and the Hellcat along with the 49 Mercury, this was put on hold for a few months. The main tank construction was done, now there is just some detailing and weathering work to be done on it. The figures still need to be painted, along the the ammo that came with the kit. But as they say, "this is just a technical detail!".


Now, if you look back at post "StuG III WIP#8 Extra", I said about ordering the Russian Street diorama base kit from MiniArt. Upon receipt of the kit, which is mainly vacuum formed sheets, a slow start was made to it. After the first two walls were, well kind of made up with some frustration and a few naughty words along with it, I put it aside to complete the models mentioned earlier in this post.


Anyhow, the beginning of last week, I decided to get it back out and crack on with the base. This time I chose a different path to assemble the walls, using a foam sanding block to clean up the edges after cutting the waste plastic away. This was so much easier then the method I tried earlier, and so much quicker. Plus it was giving me a cleaner edge for matching up the two halves together. I also cut some strips of plastic from the waste and sheets of plasticard to the internal width between the two halves. This would a; give the wall some strength and rigidity, and b; help join the two halves together. So using this method, the front wall of the house went together quickly and with less swearing from me!


After the walls were done, I tackled the base next. This is a single vacuum formed sheet that is very flexible. So some 1mm and 3mm Foamlux sheet was cut to size and glued to the hollow underside of the base for stiffening it up. After this was left to dry overnight, I dry fitted the two main walls only to discover that they do not fit exactly to the base. The front wall is slightly longer then the groove on the base and both are wider too. So some cutting and filing was done to the grooves to make them wider to fit the walls in. A little sanding was done to the wall bases to make them flatter before gluing them into position on the base. Next, the internal walls and upper floor were glued in place, then I filled the wider gaps in the joints with some superglue.


With these walls being vacform, the detail does not match up between each panel. So out with the good old Green and White Putty to level out the joints and openings on the walls. After a bit of sanding and filing, things are looking a bit better to progress onto adding the doors, windows, edging bricks, street lamp, fence and gate. This is the point that I am up to as of last night. Supplied with the kit, are parts to make up a table with benches and ladders, so these were made up with one bench damaged. These will be used to add some extra life to the scene in my sometimes warped humour.


So here are a few new photos of the project.