Lothar

My 4th completed build this year (tap myself on the shoulder ). I found this kit surprisingly nice, especially the detail in the
cockpit is very good. A bit of care needs to be taken during building, but actually hardly any filler was needed. Paints as usual from Gunze,
the colors are my very own interpretation of this much discussed subject. Add ons were some Eduard placards in the cockpit and again RB seatbelts.
Hope you like.
 

 

 

 

 
Lothar

Can't get any better than that :goodjob:
 
Lothar

Fantastic progress considering where you started from  She's gonna be a beauty!!
Lothar

I'm running out of superlatives, this is just so good 
Lothar

For me it was the real winner of the contest - you've got to see
it in person to appreciate the perfection of this build
 
Lothar

Not only French modelers...... and a Rafale immediately after that !!
Lothar

Work of art, what a stunning build and finish  and what an entry!!!
 
Lothar

Undoubtedly the best F-104 model I've ever seen - the finish is absolutely
stunning, hats off 
 
Lothar

I've built the Revell kit last year and did not encounter any problems, at least none that a little elbowgrease wouldn't solve.
 

 
 
And howling with the wolves, I've sold my 2 Tamiya kits and bought me another Revell kit. And btw, the kit decals are excellent (maybe Cartograf?). But we all have our preferences, don't we!
Lothar
 

I've built the Revell kit last year and did not encounter any problems, at least none that a little elbowgrease wouldn't solve.
 

 
 
And howling with the wolves, I've sold my 2 Tamiya kits and bought me another Revell kit. And btw, the kit decals are excellent (maybe Cartograf?). But we all have our preferences, don't we!
Lothar
 

I've built the Revell kit last year and did not encounter any problems, at least none that a little elbowgrease wouldn't solve.
 

 
 
And howling with the wolves, I've sold my 2 Tamiya kits and bought me another Revell kit. And btw, the kit decals are excellent (maybe Cartograf?). But we all have our preferences, don't we!
Lothar
 

I'm 67 and I have an oxygen unit and a defibrillator within reach  - so no rush here. Expert modelling takes time and patience.
 
Lothar

Such a cool project!!  I sure wish there were a 1/32 Prowler kit for us sissies.

Joining in on my 1st LSP group build. I figured what the heck... I have the 1970 Revell Corsair, and ordered up some Eduard resin wheels and an IP. Also ordered up some decals as the ones in the kit don't look to be in very good shape. Other than that it will be pretty much oob.
 

 

Getting things out of the box to wash, and clean up, this thing really doesn't look too bad for what, a 50 year old kit....
 

Well guys shes finally done, sadly the display base from costal kits still hasnt arrived. Big thanks to all who helped and offered advice in the build
 
I present Italeri's 1/32 Tornado GR4, with xtradecal decals, mastercasters seats, and pitol
 







 

 

Hi all,
My latest effort, a Sabre. Hope you enjoy.
Thanks for looking...
Matt
 
 











 

Hello!
 
i am sharing some photos from one of my current projects... This is the Hasegawa 1/32 P-47 D thunderbolt
i bought this excellent cockpit from MDC many years ago and finally i decided to give it a try !
i am very pleased with the level of detail and fitting on the kit! especially with the painting mask!!! looks so realistic!
i have added some extra data plates, stencils and seatbelts from HGW and YAHU instrument panel
 
 
its painted with AK Real Color air  lacquers.. Its my first try on these paints..
Weathering is done with oil colours..
 
 
thank you!
 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

I think what you’ve written is a pretty important statement John and certainly one with which I identify. There are probably half a dozen blokes here on LSP whose work I really admire, who consistently produce high quality top grade superb looking models that inspire me, but I know I will never achieve their level, and that’s fine by me.
 
Model-making and its associated tasks of research, of designing and making masks, of figure painting and creating dioramas is just one aspect of a very happy and fulfilling life for me. I thoroughly enjoy my bench time but it needs to be in balance with the other aspects of life, to be otherwise would be rather boring. 

Hello fellow LSP modelers, I write today to make an admission and an explanation with the hope that there are others who will understand. 
 I returned to the hobby in 2018 with the expectation of turning out some 1st class works of art. After all I had studied the tips and techniques of the masters via print and countless videos.
 I must say that I soon became somewhat intimidated after viewing the fantastic works at the shows and of course here at LSP. 
 And so I began. After stumbling through the first few kits I came to realize that this is harder than I remember and I am lacking in the attribute called patience. Hmm..
 So I redoubled my efforts and did improve - somewhat. 
 I now have eleven completed models and am diligently working on # twelve and have come to realize that there will be no 1st, 2nd or 3rd place trophies in my modeling future.
 But you know what? 
I'm fine with that because I realize that when I open that box and start cutting styrene- I am 12 years old again. Add to that the awe and admiration that I feel when I look at the beautiful design of man's astounding achievement... to fly!
 And so I will continue to strive for better skill in the art of model making knowing that I will only ever rate as decent, but as long as I can finish a kit, set it on the shelf and say to myself; that is one cool looking airplane then I am content. 
 Happy modeling 
 

Both the -/C and the -/-D/N are on top of my "need to build" list and should circumstances allow this thread will be my bible for the -C.
Hats off - exemplary explanation and "how to do it right" work steps .
Lothar

In my attempt to get back into 1/32 modelling I recently completed these two 1/48 Trainers. Airfix's Tiger Moth and Revell's Boeing Stearman. Both kits offered challenges of differing kinds which kept me busy.
 
Airfix,
As is the norm these days Airfix used their flour and water mix plastic, which is so weak all of the parts like the fuselage halves are quite thick and gave real problems getting the seams to close properly. The registration of may sprues was out, making much extra cleaning up of very fragile parts. The wings went together well and the geometry is correct, but the struts are joined with a bar at the top which is very difficult to clean up afterwards. In all it looks like a Tiger although I still think the fuselage is too fat. Not as bad as the 1/72 one though Built OOB with Airfix's decals. The yellow bands are too short for the wings.
 
Revell,
Revell use some actual plastic which is light and springy. This model nearly fell together with plenty of internal detail. The major problem is the bottom wing which should have 3 degrees of dihedral, but the struts are too long and the fuselage wing joint needs work to get this right. Again built OOB, but with aftermarket decals to represent a specific aircraft. The fuselage is also slightly out of shape in the height and cross section departments, but this is minimal.
 
Just my two cents.
Steve

Hi Matt
I have always used lead foil but with my supply almost finished I decided to use a new technique described in another modelling article. I made a sandwich of masking tape and thin aluminium foil. Tamiya for a smooth texture and regular tape for a slightly rough texture. The thicknesses can also be adjusted by using more layers and it keeps the folding put into the belts. Aluminium foil on the top of coffee tin seem to be the best in terms of thickness.
Cheers
Nick
 

I'm quicker than some, slower than most... I think.  And I like having two projects going.  It allows me to have something to work on when I'm in the paint drying or otherwise waiting phase.  I can also shut down one build to concentrate on the other when I get to certain phases or moods.
 
Gonna jump right into the deep end with this one!  The engine!  I have some thoughts and preliminary ideas about the engine but I think the most critical thing is how the engine fits into the fuselage.  And there is no way to do that until we make the necessary cuts. So...

 
 
With the nose halves taped together, I've drawn the cut line just above where it should be to give me room to trim neatly down to the actual line of demarcation.

 
 
Razor saw made pretty quick work of the required surgery. You can see the panel line just below my cut line that I'll eventually have to get to.



 
 
The ironing board-shaped casting block extends along the entire bottom.  I don't have the necessary cutting tools to deal with such a large block but cutting the tip off the ironing board was enough for preliminary testing.

 
 
With the front tip of the casting block removed, and some minor shaving of the fuselage interior right at the front, the engine block seems to slip into position pretty well.



 
 
I've not attempted fitting the radiator intake parts but I'm going to assume that removal of the engine casting block will be necessary for those parts to fit.

 
 
I performed this surgery right away to help answer a question that I have in the back of my mind:  Do I consider using the Barracuda corrected cowling and spinner?  How will the reduced diameter of the spinner and fuselage section at the forward end impact the placement of resin engine?  Is it worth an attempt?  At this point, my mind is saying no, don't bother but I'm going to sleep on it.

Okay, I'm gonna spin up another build.  I purchased this one quite a while ago but after admiring the contents of the box after receipt, it went up on my shelf and has stayed there ever since.  It is not a subject that I am very familiar with but I started to think that, as a counterpart and worthy adversary to the Dora, it would be good for me to stick my toe on the other side of the fence.  It will be tough following the bar set by Chuck540z3 so please notch down your expectations accordingly.   I will be referring to Chuck's build along with others that have come before and hopefully add my own things here and there.
 

 
 
The Hawker Tempest, like the Typhoon before it, was a brute of an aircraft, which is befitting of its immensely powerful 24-cylinder liquid cooled Napier Sabre powerplant.  It is this powerplant that sets the Hi Tech version apart from the standard release.

 
 
Although I took the photos for it, I don't think I'll do a full sprue tour of this kit.  There are plenty of online reviews that highlight the kit contents better than I so I'll simply you to Iain's wonderful review posted here at LSP if you are interested in a walk through.
 
https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=1928
 

A few notes about the kit plastic... the exterior of the Tempest is fully riveted.  I don't know if I'm happy about that or not.







 
 
Although I like my builds to be riveted, I don't necessarily like it when the rivets come as part of the molding.  The rivets made manually using a circular rivet tool produce very fine holes and result in an effect that is subtle and not distracting.  Molded rivets are commonly too large and only a few companies can produce rivet detail that I think is great right out of the box (Tamiya and Eduard for example).  Based on my initial observations, the riveting is good in some areas and inconsistent in others.  The dot pitch of the rivets does not align with either the RB Productions Rivet-R nor the Galaxy Tools rivet tool so any repair option is going to be manually intensive.
 
Outside of the rivets, the molding quality on this kit looks very good.  One of the places that manufacturers commonly sacrifice on mold definition is the interior side of the fuselage, wings and landing gear covers.  Special Hobby has done an excellent job of not skimping in these areas.





 
 
I like how Special Hobby treated the fabric-covered control surfaces.. the stitching detail isn't overly exaggerated.

 
 
Given the amount of included resin and photoetch, it is somewhat surprising that Special Hobby does not give the modeler a choice when it comes to the instrument panel.  But, it looks like a good result can be obtained by using the plastic instrument panels with the instrument faces represented by decals.



 
 
The clear parts exhibit some scratching (maybe not the manufacturer's fault since I bought this kit secondhand) and some distortion as well.  I can fix the scratches but not the distortion, unfortunately.

 
 
Back to that Napier Sabre engine... the highlight of the kit for me is the beautiful representation of the Napier Sabre engine in resin.  The resin components come in their own little box.

 
 
Inside the box, I found four separate baggies of resin parts, including this bad boy...





 
 
It is not a complete engine but nevertheless an impressive representation of the upper half of the Napier Sabre from the exhaust stacks on up.  I don't normally like to model my aircraft with open panels but I'm going to make an exception for this one.  This resin is just too beautiful to ignore.
 
Here are the contents of the next baggie full of resin. I'm not familiar with all of the parts yet but I think this bag contains mostly engine components including impressively long and complex lengths of hydraulic tubing.  I believe the small block in the front are the four gun barrel tips.

 
 
This next bag contains some exterior components like the engine cover panels and resin versions of the wheels and pilot seat.  Although the cover panels are very thin, I don't think they are meant to placed over the engine, which is actually fine by me.

 
 
The last baggy holds mostly cockpit components, by the look of it.  I see foot pedals, a couple of different gun sights, the handle for the control stick, among other things.  There has been breakage of a few delicate parts but nothing that will be noticeable or significant, I don't think.