Squito2340

What about a Fairey Firefly in 1/24.. in fact it’s a neglected aircraft in ALL scales really.

Photo of the actual aircraft

I’ve had a little bit of a false start with the Bronco and am waiting on some bits to arrive. In the mean time I’ve had a B25 roaming about the work room for a little while. It’s barely started and certainly qualifies for the group build. Here are the photos at the beginning point for the build. The Aussie version is an all metal affair ( never painted a natural metal surface before excepting on large scale motorbikes etc.) and thought that this would be a good challenge. The subject was delivered to Australia early 1945 and was based in Brisbane, QLD. The subject has an extra metal bullet proofing? adjacent to the cockpit. I’m building it with very little corrections and only a few additions not contained in the box so hopefully I can get back to the Bronco soonish. Photos of where im at follow:

Haven’t quite got the photo thing worked out yet however, a link to Flickr is in the previous post. Shows beginnings of the project ( not the best photos) and original seats, original kit pads and oversized bits cut away, the original patterns for the new pads shown in situ ollowed by resin copies. Fit and look are much better.

https://flic.kr/p/2ea3WzY

Super work. Keep it up

OK, Build has begun.. Still not able to upload photos( if anyone has some hints for me about using an IPad to upload photos it’d be greatly appreciated. So where am I: workigon the ejection seats to be precise. I noticed that compared to the references available the the back pad and the seat pad are way over size. I decided to make my own using the ever faithful epoxy to be followed by two resin copies of the remodellled pads. Both are 2 mm shorter than the originals supplied in the kit and should give a better representation of the real thing! The seats themselves required a fair bit of pairing away additional plastic that’s not needed and resizing holes for correct fit og]f parts. Whilst the seat sides are over sized in thickness, I decided to leave them alone. They shouldn’t be noticed noticed once located in the cockpit with the added wiring distracting the viewer from the inaccuracy. And I thought this would be a quick build. That glasshouse requires details as attention is naturally drawn to it.

Thanks for the heads up on the aftermarket undercarriage. Purchased. Hopefully some photos soon. Using the guide but to no avail at the moment. IPad doesn’t want to upload.

A bit of deliberation and hopefully will build more that one kit during this group build but, going to do a Bronco whilst I wait for a few bits for the Lancaster. A few scratch built items should find their way into this model. Lots of visible stuff in the cockpit area...model not started as yet. Photos to come.

Ok

Check their website. It’s a Handley Page 400 for 2019.

It’s worthwhile absorbing this, ‘It’s a 1/32nd scale Lancaster’. We are fortunate to be living in such times.. when I began modelling nearly 50 years, we were building AIRFIX KITS that would barely go together without significant encouragement. I remember mixing my own batches of glue mixed with sprue for filling. How good is this , a 1/32 Lancaster!

Maybe not unaffordable but it’s going to make the WingNut Wings Lancaster a very expensive option for us here in Oz compared to the HK offering if the dollar remains the same. + 28 cents for each dollar and the potential of $50 +tax.Quick calculation I reckon $650 au if the price is the same as the current HK offering. That’s starting to get up there.

$469 in Australia. Free Delivery. Thinking that this is very reasonable given the cost of a WingNut Wings kit in US dollars at the moment with the exchange rate and the newly imposed +10% gst from our government.

Wish I was at the Williamtown Base today. Some magnificent videos of the fly past. There’s a great photo from the underside on Facebook. A lot prettier and non-the- less purposeful in real life than I thought they’d be - magnificent curves. They just look right!

News from Frontline Hobbies today. The Lancaster’s have arrived. I believe 30 in all and all accounted for!

Thanks for the well wishes. Onwards and upwards.

I’ve been away for a while... the big ‘C’. MY MOTIVATION IS RETURNING and treatment is a memory for the moment. Maybe it’s an opportunity to get something finished, or started in this case. It’s been such a long time, almost 18 months to be precise. A Tamiya Mosquito previously purchased or a HK Lancaster, due to arrive next week from Frontline Hobbies.

Now I know that I've been away for a little while AND also know that I'm a great starter but not necessarily a finisher. Something to do with my OCD I suspect. Lost some confidence with metallics and using the airbrush. So to rectify this and as a kit build rather than modelling that requires fabricating my own parts, I happened upon this gem of a kit. The newly released and somewhat pricey Honda Africa Twin from Tamiya in 1/6 scale. As an avid motorcyclist and collector of this scale, I decided to purchase it. I then went to he local fellas at the local Honda dealer who thought I was off my rocker for wanting to have a look and take a few pics of a real one- just to get the colours right. Anyway here goes. The first assembly is complete. Engine block and gear box with associated bits attached. Whilst the mixfor the 'gold' coloured metallic is correct for both sides of the engine, the metalic colour of the engine case is better represented by alclad as a dark aluminium. As a side note: The instructions for oil capacity adjacent to the filler are in Japanese and clearly readable. Not correct for an Australian model but as I said it's a kit build. The engine is exquisitely represented and when compared to the real one, Tamiya have done it justice. Whether it will be one of their iconic model, time will tell however, it ain't bad at all.

Colin, I'm not disappointed. The plastic in many respects is easy to work. You just have to be prepared to work it. I know where you're coming from with modern technologies and the pristine platforms presented with Tamiya etc. I too enjoy these kits but for different reasons. Your also probably right with the cost but when you see the rendering in the fuselage all is forgiven and for what it's worth, it looks like it's going to close up well when everything is in place. Not Tamiyaesk but not bad all the same. We've all been spoilt with Tamiya but my advice would be not to compare!

Function and form. Ugly to some, beauty to others. I want a 32nd scale pig!

Been a while. Cockpit framing completed and adjusted. I'm happy with the alignment now! Side wall rivets.. An attempt to mirror the negative rivets on the outside. Some of the work will be visible after closing a after a couple of attempts I'm happy with the result. Replaced lost detail on the framing after sanding the misaligned sprue resulted in complete loss. .005 plastistruct dies the job well. Finally ready to paint this section and then to add some wiring.

Very nice work.

A lovely looking build.

Filling ejector pin release points with .05 sheet. 5mm, 4mm and 2mm required in the punch and die. First attempt at internal rivets. Thoughts?