[Piper Super Cub floatplane (PA-18-150) "Popeye"]

This is a beautiful, clean replica. The control details really sets it off!

[Dear, it's time for a linen change!]

An interesting subject. I like how you approached it. 

[Mig Down!]

Thank you Quang, the offender has been suitably chastised! Thank you all for your comments!

[Hawker Tempest MK.V 1/32 Special Hobby]

Great job on a sobering piece of history. Makes you wonder why they bothered painting the stripes in the first place. My wife's uncle was killed at night while training, may or may not have been hit by a night fighter, details have remained sketchy.

[Yellow Wings. Forgotten Models.]

[Spitfire 21 kitbash]

Sometimes a project just has to simmer for a while!

[Mig Down!]

Thanks guys! If you look close at this anti-grav skimmer you may be able to make out the nose of the Mig.

[Dealing with bad rivets and panel lines?]

Hi Chuck,

 

I feel your pain. When it comes to reworking surface details, I find that it's many times easier to remove the raised lines and rivets of an older kit (for example Hasegawa's stable of LS jets from the late 1970s like the Skyhawk, Freedom Fighter, and Starfighter) compared to filling the oftentimes unsatisfactory or inaccurate features on a modern engraved kit.

 

In theory, it should be easy to fill recessed lines and fasteners: fill 'em up with your medium of choice, let dry, and sand flush, creating a "blank slate" on which to work.

 

In reality, it's seldom so effortless.

 

The inevitable long term shrinkage from any solvent based filler (which might not reveal itself for weeks or even months) is one cause for frustration. Another is surface tension which, along with other microscopic processes, resists a putty/filler's ability to thoroughly permeate and "wet" small depressions. Too often pores are only "covered over," instead of filled, resulting in their reemergence after sanding back the surface.

 

Just ask anyone who has attempted the Sisyphean task of filling and "smoothing out" the wing of a Tamiya P-51D. For every success story, I'll bet at least a dozen modelers would admit to failure, at least on the first attempt (and I'm one of them!).

 

Here's an approach that works for me. Though I confess to not having tried it over an entire model, it's proved very effective for parts of my long-drawn-out Electric Intruder build (so long running I'm tempted to rename its build thread "Plight of the Intruder").

 

The technique involves the use of a scribing tool, stretched sprue and cyanoacrylate glue.

 

To illustrate, here's a look at the outside surface of the RH jet air intake of the Trumpeter A-6. Note the four rows of engraved fasteners (intended to depict permanent structural rivet heads, in this case).

 

 

Photos of the real aircraft reveal a different look. The only fasteners visible are the screws for removable panels. The pattern of flush structural riveting, so prominently portrayed by Trumpeter, is practically invisible, even up-close at high resolution.

 

 

I decided to fill all of the kit engravings and start fresh. First, I ran my scriber along each row of rivets, the "dot-to-dot" treatment creating one long groove in the end. A length of stretched sprue is laid into each channel and secured in place with cyanoacrylate glue (medium or high viscosity types work best). Here, I would caution against the use of solvent cements like Tamiya Extra Thin to avoid that "sinking feeling" weeks later.

 

 

 

When the glue drys, everything is block sanded flush. I recommend the use of hard-backed sanders, at least in the early stages of dressing a seam treated with CA glue.

 

While it might seem (seam?) too labor-intensive a process, I can happily report that this technique seldom requires any do-overs (unlike most other methods, for reasons already mentioned). And it's as good a surface as any for re-scribing detail.

 

Here's a look at the part after seam treatment and a light coat of primer paint - the only blemish requiring touch up is a panel line that I originally addressed with a "conventional" technique of CA glue only (no initial widening of the trench or insertion of stretched sprue)...lesson learned!

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rich

These are great shots. It shows that the aircraft was finished in a coat of thick heavy paint that has filled in almost all the surface imperfections leaving only panels etc. that are necessary for maintenance. You can even see by the sheen that it is not a smooth surface either! Something to remember when critiquing someone's painting skills.

[B-17G 'A Bit O' Lace']

I think this is a great choice for a B-17 build. It should be lots of fun replicating all of the many weathering and paint details on this aircraft.

[Cameron's latest model build - the mighty Millennium Falcon!]

I think that it is too well done for a normal earthling nine year old. I think you may have an extraterrestrial living with you, better check out his DNA!

[Prepping figures]

Hey Jerry, before you carry on further I have to say that the sculptor completely botched her left arm. You try and hold a box with your arm and wrist in that position and you will see how awkward it is. You will want to hold the box lower with your arm and hand against it with your fingers underneath it.

[Mig Down!]

As promised (threatened) some pics of some of the rest of the Mig.

The MkI was decidedly under powered so some more thrust had to be added bringing it up to MkII standard.

 

[An Old Fw 190 A-8]

I think that if you put that into a well done diorama you would have people taking a second look to decide if real or not.

[Tamiya Mossie: UPDATE: 2/4/17: DONE AND IN THE BOOKS]

Great work! I was able to do mine all buttoned up so I could avoid all but the cockpit.

[Mig Down!]

I had some old Trumpeter kits lying around, so... Some shots of what is left of a Mig 15. I did this mini-dio as a game piece so I put it here. I used the wings for another piece which I will also post later.

[Bandai Scout Trooper and Speeder]

Clever idea and very well executed!

[Post Apocalyptic OV-10A Bronco]

Absolutely fantasmagorical, but, it needs Orks!

[Tamiya 1/32 scale DeHaviland Mosquito MkVI 418 Squadron RCAF]

418, if I remember my history 418 was an intruder squadron, bouncing around the night skies of Europe without radar! Great job on this. Lots of stuff in this kit that I had to scratch build for the Airfix 1/24 kit.

[MiG-21UM 1/32 Trumpeter]

I just met an ex pilot the other day who flew Mig-21s, the single seat version. I asked him if restricted vision to the rear was a problem. He said "No, you never looked behind, just went up like a bat out of hell and fired your missiles and got out of there!"

Good job.

[Supermarine Spitfire MKII Revell]

Epic, again the pics really top it off!

[Tamiya 32 scale Corsair]

Great, topped off with excellent photos!

[RAAF Beaufighter Mk IC]

I had to take a second look at that first pic. If it was in black and white you would have sucked me in longer. Brilliant!

[New guy around here....some of my work]

I don't think you need to take a backseat to anyone! Very crisp and clean, nice work.

[Lionel Flak(?), sort of...]

M' thank you for the plaudits! It is just my way of relaxing. The rounds are de-mil .22 shorts. I never make anything if I can find something lying around that will do the job. 

The motive power, red makes it go faster!

Next up is the tender for water and what passes as fuel. As you can imagine it will be a very dangerous work environment!

 

[Lionel Flak(?), sort of...]

I have an Airfix mossie project in mind but it is fermenting, meanwhile, relaxing with some railroading:

I bashed this together from bits, pieces and stuff found lying around. It protects the Ork and Western Railroad from all manner of threats, real or imagined.