geedubelyer

Thanks for sharing this excellent news Kev. Glad to hear that Robin is getting back in business. Coincidentally I just found my air cadet log book and now have the serials for a couple of subjects of this kit. Look forward to more news and following your build of the original. Cheers.

Hi Tim, From memory the last few years have been bright but cold. Temperatures in early November can vary alot but are typically just above 0C, in the 5-10 degree range (40-50f). It does n't often snow before Christmas but the mornings are often frosty. HTH. Cheers. The show is really good though, if that helps. It would be good to plan to go for both days if you wish to see it all in any detail.

Crikey!

Thanks for the heads-up Eric. These exhausts look amazing. Anyone want a set of Flightpath etched exhausts? Going cheap......

Mesmerizing work Peter. Truly beautiful to see. Have you considered cigarette paper moistened with dilute PVA glue? Another alternative could be a snippet of silk. That's pretty finely woven Or, some ladies beauty salons use an adhesive backed material as a basis for false resin nails.....apparently......ahem. That could work. A local salon might have some small bits that you could have? Eager to see more. Keep up the stellar work.

Phenomenal Timmy! Like looking at reference photos of the real deal. Simply amazing. I feel your pain with your eyesight It's a headache when you want to be able to add fine detail but can't really see accurately enough to do so. Have you considered using the soft foil from around the tops of wine bottles for your labels? The sort of metal that wraps over the corks rather than the stiffer screw top version. Some of it is even pre-coloured in black. It's easier to get square/rectangular shapes by cutting the foil than it is by painting. Also, scratching the paint off with the tip of a blade replicates the metal lettering of these labels, placards and data panels quite convincingly. Can't think how I missed the start of this thread but I'll be sure to follow along now that I've found it. Looking forward to more. Cheers.

Beautifully weathered Flanker. Great job.

This :.... Would love to get back to it one day.

Pete, This, like everything you model, is exemplary. Whether you claim to know anything about the subject or not appears irrelevant. These figures are without doubt, sensational. Awesome work dude. Cheers

Hello AlanG, From memory, the Sukhoi Su-27 cockpits are a light blue/grey rather than turquoise. The bright turquoise is more a Mig colour. When I built the Flanker a while ago I seem to recall using the Humbrol metallizer enamels for the engine panels and left them unbuffed. The paints can be mixed to get any hue desired. That seemed to give a convincing effect. For the blue coating often seen on the Flanker engine panels I think I used Games Workshop/Citadel Miniatures inks. The mottled effect on the petals can be achieved by stippling inks over the metallizers and using a crumpled tissue to mop up excess ink. Other modellers have used the salt chipping/masking to great effect. Good luck with your model. Cheers.

Hi Jeff, it's not just the squared appearance that is at fault unfortunately. The top and bottom edges should be parallel to one another but are n' t on the kit parts. Intake covers may disguise the issue if you're going for the ones that fit over the mouth if the intake but ones that fit inside would n't. The pic above from Koralik's build here: Koralik's F-14 in RFI shows the main problem. HTH

Hi Dan. It's an interesting question. I'm sorry that I can't help with a correct answer but wonder if you can't simply eye in the colour? It could be that the paint does n't have a specific code. Perhaps the pylons are manufactured by a supplier who use their own paint. When I built a Flanker many moons ago I simply chose a grey that closely matched photos of the real aircraft. It was n't the cammo colour as that was from a whizz can. Looking at the model today it resembles Ocean grey if that helps. Truth be told, age, weathering and soiling will make the pylons look subtly different from one airframe to another anyway. Cheers.

Hi Fanch, I take my hat off to you sir. This is one of the best renditions of a Tomcat that I can remember seeing. Your patience is obvious since the weathering is beautifully rendered. A very time consuming process I'd warrant. The attention to detail is mouthwatering and every nuance of a used F-14 is captured. Very beautiful. I don't know whether to be inspired to pick my 'Cat back up or deterred from re-starting because the standard these days is so stratospherically high. Perhaps when the weather outside is better you'd consider taking some photos under natural sunlight please? I would love to see this in it's natural state with realistic contrast and shadows. Cheers. p.s. If you wish to add more images I think we'd all appreciate it, thanks p.p.s I tried to send you a pm but a message says that you cannot receive pms. Is your inbox full?

A little inspiration for Iain.

All of those models looked magnificent in close up and my meagre photography efforts don't do them justice. My camera battery died half way through wandering around so here are the last of my snaps in no particular order. Whilst not large scale, these next two were very eye catching nonetheless. I'm not sure if this Lancia car model was the overall winner but it sat in the same place as Peter's Spitfire did last year. Last batch to follow.

Thanks Kev. The originals are larger though not much better quality wise. If anyone sees a pic they'd like a closer look at then please let me know and I'll do my best to replace it You're welcome Dennis. The camera battery died half way through the day so unfortunately I missed quite a few large scale models. Memo to me: make sure the camera is fully charged next time Gunnyax and Phartycr0c, I could n't agree more. I'd love to build the Fly model one day. The Wessex is one of only a couple of helicopters that I like. Talking of Wessex, here's one from the club tables. The builder has a web page of the build here Truly a thing of beauty. He also showed a couple of other LSP's A man of great talent. Talking about men of great talent leads me on to a couple of models by a guy called Kai. I had the pleasure of chatting with him on Saturday and having a close look at a couple of his builds. I make no excuse for posting multiple images of his models as they were sublime. The Corsair is the Tamiya kit and Kai explained that he needed to do very little to it. I could tell that he enjoyed the build alot. The Starfighter is the Italeri kit but this one apparently took much more work. All of the plumbing on the engine has been added. The photos don't show how beautiful these two models are in the flesh. The weathering is restrained and extremely realistically rendered. Kai explained that he had borrowed a technique that he'd seen Chris Warchop apply. He painted each layer onto the wing roots of the Corsair then painstakingly rubbed it away revealing each subsequent layer, just as on the full sized article. That is why it looks perfectly authentic. The Starfighter has one tip tank more faded than the other, again a touch of realism that lifts the model to the next level. I did suggest that Kai share his models here so hopefully he gets the time at some point. I have one or two more to add but have to leave for work right now so I'll post them up later. Cheers.

Hi folk, Here are a couple of pics from Saturday at SMW 2018 at Telford, UK. Please forgive the poor quality. I used my pocket camera but it does n't cope with the lighting conditions in the halls particularly well, sorry. Alot of the subjects that I spotted have been covered in other threads so if there are duplicates then I apologise. I shan't include the Lancasters or Hellcat as they've been covered nicely in other threads. There were plenty of larger scale aircraft on the competition tables. I saw that Kent had posted his experiences from the day (great read btw Kent) and was perplexed over why he did n't get much recognition. I can't answer that as his dioramas and models looked superb in the flesh. I imagine Kent was not the only modeller wondering what they had to do. Here are a few more from the competition tables..... It looks like I've slipped up with the settings when I uploaded these so I hope you can make out what's in them. If there do happen to be any that you'd like a closer look at please let me know and I'll try to improve them. More to follow.

Would love to go to this. Thanks for the heads-up.

Hope you've had a great day Peter. Cheers.

Resistance is futile

I do agree with the general sentiment of the group. While the Gooney bird is not my favourite aircraft I can see the appeal. The model does look fantastic in the flesh and it is extremely detailed. I have little doubt that the cost is justified given the low (by injection molded model standards) volume and I'm sure that HPH will sell many if not all of their planned production run. Personally I could n't justify that kind of outlay for a model kit but there are many who are much more commited to the hobby than I and who also have deeper pockets. I can't wait to see some being built. Cheers.

The stand looked superb gents. Nice job.

Not much being said about the HPH C-47 so far. They had the model on display and it certainly looked good to me. Raised rivets galore which appeared convincing although I'm no expert. I did over hear Marek telling one prospective customer that it was 670 but 600 at the show. I'm not sure if that was Euros or Sterling. Given the huge number produced and the myriad schemes available I'm surprised there is n't more chatter about this. Edit: Scratch the above. Wrong thread, sorry.

Hi folks, May I post a couple of pics from the show? My main reason for going this year was to see the Lancasters if I'm honest and I did n't have long to wait. The first thing I saw as I walked into the halls was the WNW stand with a huge crowd around it. To say that the Lanc was generating interest is an understatement. I'm sure there will be oodles of better photos on-line soon but here are a couple of the nose section to whet your appetite. This is set to be released as a stand alone model in 2020 or thereabouts. WNW clearly recognise that space will be an issue for many modellers but a nose section to display various nose art might be a neat idea. Sure to be significantly more affordable than the full aircraft and far easier to display. Possible sure fire winner that might prompt other manufacturers to consider a similar venture? The buzz is that WNW hope to price their Lancaster at about the cost of the Hansa Brandenburg and Felixstowe Duelists model set, i.e $349. I think Airfix have shocked almost everyone with their reveal of their new 1/24th scale kit for next year. Did anyone expect the Hellcat? I know some hoped or suggested it but did anyone actually expect it? The kit looks to have a similar surface treatment to the Typhoon with subtle "oil-canning" texture applied. The detail also looked extremely good to my eye although I would n't know about accuracy as I'm far from an expert on these things. The next couple of pics are of the HKM Lancaster which also looked amazing. A short YouTube video. (Please excuse the quality) This should be around the £300 ish mark but Pocketbond set the price for UK distribution, not HKM. Next up, a look at the 32ng SIG/LSP stand covering the centenary of the RAF. Lovely looking stand guy, well done to all who contributed. It was in a superb spot just at the entrance to the halls and right next to WNW. Hope you had heaps of interest. LSP member Phartycroc built a test shot of the HKM Lanc (nice one Pharty me old son) and is seen here discussing the model with a fellow whose relative flew in that aircraft with 97Sqdn out of RAF Woodhall Spa during the war. Great to see this kind of interaction that brings the story of the model home.