nzdavidh

I tend to avoid subjects that don't require weathering. It's one of those skills I would love to master... its the bit of the process that really brings modelling to life for me. I have to admit to be being a bit of a fan of pre-shading as a weathering technique but not the meticulous outlining of panel lines using black paint approach. To my eye that always results in a cartoon like effect. No matter how subtle the effect, if I can pick black preshaded panel lines the illusion is ruined for me. I like using a more random approach and pre-shading colours that compliment the range of tones you're aiming for at the end of the process (which means you'd almost never use black as a pre-shading colour). I also tend to avoid shading the panel lines, focusing instead on particular areas that might have weathered and leaving others alone. I see it as one more technique in the tool-kit so wouldn't write it off completely (reflecting on some of the early comments in this thread regarding pre-shading).

Nice save. That combination of gunze paints and future killed my Tamiya Viper ever since I've been using Tamiya clear as a gloss and have never looked back.

This is one of the reasons I think QMHE needs the most straight forward of OOB rules. Every year at competitions, people argue about the interpretation of the rules for this category (or at least its immediate predecessor). I can tell you from experience at the scrutineering desk, that people have extremely strong views about how the rule is applied, I can also say it's rarely applied consistently which only serves to annoy competitors more. One person's minor modification is another's modification too far. I think the OOB rule should be "you can use the contents of a single box to build the model in accordance with the instructions. Aftermarket decals or paint masks can be used. No modifications are permitted other than to reinstate panel lines removed when filling seams" - i.e. if it was in the box when you opened it, you use it as it was presented. If this were the rule, we would know now - without argument - that removing the detail in the canopy is not permitted, nor is scribing engraved lines in place of raised detail. For me, QMHE's golden rule remains (taken from its website): Possibly the most important rule for competitors...Behave ethically. Read the competition rules closely and enter your model in the correct category. While most modellers understand and accept the subjective nature of the judging process, they will not accept people deliberately entering in categories that do not comply with the rules of the competition. While we try to ensure each model is entered in the correct category through our scrutineering process, there are an incredible number of kits available on the market. Occasionally, we’ll be unsure whether a modeller has added parts not included in a kit or made modifications not permitted by the category rules. For this reason, we have to be able to rely on the information modellers provide us about their models when they enter. If we overlook something, and inadvertently allow a model to be entered in the wrong category, we know one of the many experienced modellers attending QMHE will notice... and word gets around very quickly. There is no value in winning or placing in a category if you did not comply with the competition rules. Which is not to say I believe Eric intended to do anything other than comply rules as he has interpreted them. My concern continues to be that there is any doubt at all about what those rules mean, and it's something I believe is ridiculously easy to fix and has been for years. Apologies for hijacking your build thread Eric, good luck with the Sea Venom.

I've always thought this particular category needed to be scrapped in favour of a true Out of the Box category where you could build a kit using the contents of the box (regardless of the media included). Most modern kits include etch and in some cases resin... that we have this category dedicated to modelling the way it was done in 1982 beggars belief (at least IMO). I'd much rather see some of the excellent new kits that have been released entered in this category than encourage people to build second-rate older kits. Let's face it, high quality 1/32 kits are a recent phenomenon. I can't think of a good reason why you should have to enter the enh/mod (or whatever its called now) category if you've built the new Corsair straight from the box or one of Academy's big jets. I think your use of aftermarket decals is probably fine, but I didn't think the category rules would permit you to either sand the cockpit details flat in order to use decals or rescribe details other than to replace lines lost during construction (and if they were raised lines you needed to replace I imagine you'd replace them with raised lines because a mix of raise and engraved can look odd). I've scrutineered several times at QMHE and this is how I've seen the rule interpreted in previous years. That said, these interpretations vary depending on who is scrutineering and who the chief judge is... if you think you've complied with the rules give it a crack, the worst that can happen is you find your model in the ENH category with comparatively few enhancements.

Fair enough - I was looking at this one http://www.grubby-fingers-aircraft-illustration.com/images/Hawk_A27-28_20_med.jpg I take it the 16 painted practice bombs does mean you're going with the 4x CBLS load out... should look good.

Looking forward to seeing it after the flat coat goes on. Personally, my least favourite part of the build process is this phase - the decalling/all shiny bit. A question: should the end of the front det cord be hidden by the framing. It may just be the angle of that one particular photo but it looks like the cord ends short of the frame (i.e. doesn't connect to anything).

Mr Mottram has a photo of it with four CBLS and a gun pod - I imagine you've seen already seen it- all the evidence you need to load it with 4X CBLS and gun pack. I like the metalic blue on the missile too. http://motty.hobbyvista.com/Articles/Motty's-Hawk-A27-01-31-01.jpg

There are a few photos around that show the CBLS on the outer stations and drop tanks on the inners, not sure whether the kit includes tanks.

That cockpit looks stunning

This may be the most remarkable build thread I've read, amazing... Fantastic work.

Great threat, superb modelling , fantastic result... Almost impossible to beat a raspberry ripple

That is freaking amazing... well done. So good.

Nice work. Sorry to see the flat rigging wire didn't work out...

If the one with the spade end is designed to be inserted into the fuselage rather than recieve an RFC flat flying wire, does that mean none are suited to use with RB etch flying wires (I had hoped this was the purpose of the one with the spade end)? I was thinking RB etch would be the way to go with my SE5 as I prefer their appearance to elastic for RFC wires. .

This is where, for the price of the turnbuckles, I think Gas Patch could really help out. Some good guidance materials and advice about which aircraft to use the turnbuckles on would be great.