Sparzanza

Some photos from the show, which was held on March 27. I didn't expect to win anything but it was fun to enter and talk LSPs with others. I'll get some proper RFI photos once I get a spot set up.
 

 


And the pilot which I was quite happy with. It's the AIMS FAA pilot converted to an RCAF pilot from the 1950s.

 
More finished photos soon.
 
Richard 

I have the new release of this kit with new decals by Cartograf. If you want them, they're yours. I'll include the photo reconnaisance bits as well should you need those.
 

I'm certainly not proud of it, but I was a completely different person all those years ago, very prone to anger issues.

Amazing save, Dennis! Well done!
 
 
Oh man that hurts to hear/see!

I've also had more than my share of boo-boos that were not recoverable, at least as I saw it. One instance was a 1:48 Hasegawa Bf 109E-3 that I was building as a gift for a good friend. I had the color cup too full, tilted the airbrush the wrong direction, and dribbled a huge amount of paint all over the place. What followed was a temporary blackout, after which I discovered that somebody had stomped the model into the floor.
 

Way back in 2013 I was on a French WW2 theme and building an AZUR Bloch 152C.1, I had got it to the stage where it just required a semi gloss coat.

When clumsy Dennis dropped it on the study floor.


I walked away for a while and then set about repairing the damage.

And this was the end result, it is one of my favourite builds.

 
Cheers
 
Dennis

Wow, what a story! And what a result! Well done sir. I applaud you.
 
Thanks for sharing!

Haha! That's pretty funny.
 
For me it was the 1/48th scale Spitfire by Tamiya. I had tried to apply some chipping on the wingroots with some aluminium paint.. and a brush. I was unhappy with it. Tried to mend it; first by carefully removing the "chips" with Q-tips and alcohol.. only to expose bare plastic. Oop. Masked off the panel; repainting it first with aluminium, then applying some hot water and salt for chipping. After shooting brown on top I thought it was hideous. There was even a slight color mismatch because of the aluminium primer. I then decided to go full yolo and do the same technique on the other wingroot, but backwards - a lot of hot water and salt on existing paint, but keep the majority of it, mask it off, and spray some aluminium. Might as well ruin it properly, right?
 
Brushed the salt off, thought "meh", put the kit down, and did not return to the table till the next day. I no longer hated it. In fact, I quite liked the results in daylight... and it did not look shabby on pictures, either. So that's a loss turned victory!
 

Wow, what a story! And what a result! Well done sir. I applaud you.
 
Thanks for sharing!

I was contacted by Fred C a long time LSP member about building a friend of his a replica of his resto war bird. It was a restored P-51D with a jump seat, and of course his friend was a multi (MULTI) millionaire and apparently he wanted a replica of his newly restored Mustang.
Through Fred, I got a price out to (at the time) build a Has P-51, scribed and foiled as was requested, at the time I quoted a measly $400 - $500 I think. Fred relayed to the multi-millionaire friend of his, and my offer was flatly and soundly rejected for being "ridiculously high for what it is" or something to that effect. I guess thats why some rich people are rich, they are strange about money.
Anyway, right after that my friend Fred interjected and said since his friend had declined, he asked if I would still be interested in building it for him instead at the same price. I accepted and got to work building a replica of "Dixie Boy":
 

 

 
 
 
 
She was a beautiful bird with a conspicuous jump seat. In progress:
 

 
 
 
 
The model was going swimmingly, including paint.........
 

 
 
 
 
I had stupidly left a floor heater on in the room with the model to speed up drying, but my "rig" to hold it up way away from the heater collapsed and it dumped the model out tail first right in front of the heater for a couple hours:
 
 

 
 
 
 
I panicked a bit then purchased a 2nd has P-51 from a local friend and had to do the unthinkable after paint:
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
I wasnt really sure if the model would ever turn out like I wanted after but I pushed on:
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
Didnt end up fitting too bad at all:
 

 

 
 
 
 
Finally re-started the foiling process:
 

 

 
 
 
 
The foiling turned out better than I could have hoped for after cutting off and replacing the entire empennage:
 

 

 
 

 

 
 
A lot of work but I ended up saving it and Fred was VERY happy with it. Ive attempted to contact Fred a few times over the years without any luck, so I'm not sure what ever happened to him or Dixie Boy honestly. 
 
 

I dipped cheap round paint brushes in primer two times and shaped them into what I thought would be good 1/16 scale PAK 40 75mm ammo grenades.  I cast resin copies of the brush shapes and then chucked the parts in my drill to shape the final parts.  It was close but this does not work; not enough straight length. I shelved it for a week while I did figure out another method.  Much waisted time and effort.  The joy then burst in on me.  The brush shape was perfect for the high explosive grenade ammunition round. I had forgot about the third type.  

Haha! That's pretty funny.
 
For me it was the 1/48th scale Spitfire by Tamiya. I had tried to apply some chipping on the wingroots with some aluminium paint.. and a brush. I was unhappy with it. Tried to mend it; first by carefully removing the "chips" with Q-tips and alcohol.. only to expose bare plastic. Oop. Masked off the panel; repainting it first with aluminium, then applying some hot water and salt for chipping. After shooting brown on top I thought it was hideous. There was even a slight color mismatch because of the aluminium primer. I then decided to go full yolo and do the same technique on the other wingroot, but backwards - a lot of hot water and salt on existing paint, but keep the majority of it, mask it off, and spray some aluminium. Might as well ruin it properly, right?
 
Brushed the salt off, thought "meh", put the kit down, and did not return to the table till the next day. I no longer hated it. In fact, I quite liked the results in daylight... and it did not look shabby on pictures, either. So that's a loss turned victory!
 

Haha! That's pretty funny.
 
For me it was the 1/48th scale Spitfire by Tamiya. I had tried to apply some chipping on the wingroots with some aluminium paint.. and a brush. I was unhappy with it. Tried to mend it; first by carefully removing the "chips" with Q-tips and alcohol.. only to expose bare plastic. Oop. Masked off the panel; repainting it first with aluminium, then applying some hot water and salt for chipping. After shooting brown on top I thought it was hideous. There was even a slight color mismatch because of the aluminium primer. I then decided to go full yolo and do the same technique on the other wingroot, but backwards - a lot of hot water and salt on existing paint, but keep the majority of it, mask it off, and spray some aluminium. Might as well ruin it properly, right?
 
Brushed the salt off, thought "meh", put the kit down, and did not return to the table till the next day. I no longer hated it. In fact, I quite liked the results in daylight... and it did not look shabby on pictures, either. So that's a loss turned victory!
 

You bet. Several years back, I was putting the finishing touches on a Monogram F-100, when "sploosh", a half bottle of metalizer was splashed all over it. After stripping weapons and whatnot, I repainted it and won first place at our annual invitational.

Update : 
 
Using copper wire I made the V-shaped bracket that's welded to the diagonal tube. Painted and glued in place (the white stuff is flour + CA) :
 

 
 
But I didn't look good and didn't look like the real car.
 
It was then that I realized that I made a big mistake. The tube diagonal tubes that run through the top of the firewall sit to low :
 

 
 
The big black bump on the firewall needs to be some 5-6 mm higher :
 

 
 
To modify the bump, I have to take the entire construction of the interior apart. I highly doubt that the parts will survive that kind of treatment.
 
So, I decided to leave the bump and make a new tube.
 
The old one and the V-shaped bracket were removed. Very gently because that part of the construction is fragile :
 

 
 

 
 
Installed a new tube and a new V-shaped bracket :
 

 
 
Much better :
 

 
 
The V-shaped bracket will hold this lever. It's made up of 7 parts, the tubes on the left side will be the same length when everything is installed :
 

 
 
The eyebolt were carefully filed to a much smaller size :
 

 
 
Tiny piece, the square is 10 x 10 mm :
 

 
 
I'm glad that I found a solution to the problem, even though it's not perfect, it will hardly be noticable when all the parts are installed.
 
But it will be quite a challenge to assemble all the parts in that limited space.
 
We'll see...
 
Pascal MNTADO (*)
 
(*) Motivation Never Takes A Day Off

Update :
 
It took a lot of time to find a way to make the tiny parts for the gear lever, shaft and all the details that surround it.
 
On the right side of the photo, you can see the coupling of the gearbox shaft :
 

 
 
Solido made the coupling like this :
 

 
 
I kept the rear part of the coupling and modified it :
 

 
 
The front part of the coupling is made from piece of alu rod :
 

 
 
These are some of the parts that I will use for the gear lever and shaft.
 
From top to bottom : 
 
Steel rod (from a large paperclip).
The little piece on the right that sits on top is a modified piece from a lighter.
Steel tube from a cable ferrule.
Scratchbuild front part of the coupling.
 
Still have to make the tiny square block for the shaft :
 

 
 
Dryfit, the cockpit has received some cables and braided wire, fixed in place with painted lead foil from a winebottle :
 

 
 

 
 
To make the gear lever, I soldere a piece of  copper wire to an eyebolt. The photo shows a dryfit with a M1 hex bolt and nut :
 

 
 

 
 
The little ball has a diameter of 2,5 mm, it's from a kit to make necklaces :
 

 
 
The front of the gear lever housing will get these tiny parts :
 

 
 
Hex nut, turned piece of alu rod, smaller nod and the lid I made with the lathe :
 

 
 
This dryfit shows that it's to high, the piece of alu rod will be shortened :
 

 
 
It will be quite an adventure to fit and glue all these tiny parts together.
 
Sincerely
 
Pascal

Been very busy making tiny parts. These parts need to be metal, so I used metal foil that's wrapped around the top of winebottles. First task was to remove the paint :
 

 
 
I made the handle with my lathe. Started with a bigger diameter alu rod, because it's easier to cut the slit in the rod.
 
The handle needs a bit more work to make it straight.
 
With the lathe, I cut the rod to the correct diameter, also made the button on top in the same way.
 
The triangular part that holds the handle was made from the metal foil. The Solido part is on the right :
 

 
 

 
 
The handle will receive 2 eyeybolts. The thread and ring of the eyebolts will be removed :
 

 
 
This part was also made from metal foil. Was a hard job to bend it into the correct shape, especially the tiny sides :
 

 
 
The Solido part on the right is quite different :
 

 
 
The 2 small holes will receive tiny 0,8 outer diameter open brass rivets. These rivets will hold the green cables. A family photo of the first parts :
 

 
 
These reference photo show how everything fits together :
 

 
 

 
 

 
For reference purpose only
 
The roll cage gives me some big headaches. Both the roll cage and the interior were extensively modified.
 
The result is that they no longer fit together without using some force.
 
I broke off a piece of the roll cage during the endless dryfitting. Not to bad because it needs a bit more work at exactly the spot where it broke off :
 

 
 
Another big headache is the dashboard. Solido had fixed the dashboard to the underside of the body.
 
In order to fit all the pieces and cables, it needs to be fixed to the interior. Here's a dryfit, the 2 holes show how the dash was attached to the body :
 

 
 
The underside of the dashboard also needs to be fixed to the diagonal tubes. I made a tray for it, but that's not on the photo :
 

 
 
Here I inserted the left diagonal tube. The spacing between the tubes is to big, but that will be better when the left tube will be glued in place :
 

 
 
And last but not least, the dashboard needs to fit snugly against the roll cage. At the moment that's another headache, tough it looks fine during the dryfit :
 

 
 

 
 
It's gonna be a lot of work to fit the roll cage, dashboard, fire-extinguishers, cables and all the other tiny parts together.
 
Wish me luck.
 
Sincerely
 
Pascal

Wheel covers, part 2.
 
Wasn't happy with the first modification, so I went a bit further. These are the covers for the rear wheels. Used the bolt to fix them in the chuck of my drill, about 1 mm of plastic was scraped off. (didn't use the lathe cause I don't want to put my fingers that close to the lathe chuck) :
 

 
 
The ring was removed from the backside :
 

 
 
Before :
 

 
 
And after. Not there yet, still have to remove some plastic from the inside of the wheel, so that the cover can sit deeper inside the wheel :
 

 
 
These are the covers for the front wheels. The modified cover is a lot thinner and the diameter is smaller  :
 

 
 

 
 
To get the cover to sit deeper inside the wheels, I removed some plastic and filed the spokes one-by-one to about half the original size. A VERY therapeutic job ! (later on I'll add a new wheelnut and a ring with the bolts) :
 

 
 
Before :
 

 
 
Afer :
 

 
 
Hope to do the other 2 tomorrow. It took about 3 hours to modify the first 2.
 
Sincerely
 
Pascal

This model keeps fighting me all the way, but here's a little progress :
 
The dashboard looked like this :
 

 
 
Solido added sidewalls to the center console these were removed and some circles were added to the back of the dials :
 

 
 
 

 
 
A lot of work goes into the modification of the body. Before :
 

 
 
And after. I will need to add a couple more layers of white paint, then polish it :
 

 
 
Big difference between the modified and the un-modified side :
 

 
 
Solido put a grey circle around the number on the doors. This was not on the 1/1 car, so these were removed with a knife and a toothpick. The photo shows that I started on the right side  :
 

 
 
The glass covers for the headlights were glued badly to the body. The covers also have some very ugly square pegs :
 

 
 

 
 
I removed the pegs and the CA-glue with sandpaper, the one on the left has been polished :
 

 
 
The glass cover fit very poorly because the inner parts are to big. The one on the left has been sanded to the correct size, quite a bit of plastic has been removed ;
 

 
 

 
 
Sincerely
 
Pascal

I wanted to buy the Minichamps version of this car, but they are way too expensive.
 
Got this one from CK-modelcars for around € 40, pictures from their website :
 

 

 

 

 
 
First thing I'm gonna do is change the covers for the  front wheels. Solido did a poor job with these :
 

 
 
The real ones look like this :
 

 
The spokes need to be a lot thinner and the hole in the middle needs a smaller diameter. Started by making 2 circles with the lathe :
 

 
 
To fix the plasticard in the lathe chuck, I drilled a hole and used one of these to fix the plasticard in the lathe chuck :
 

 
Used a pipe cutter and a punch & die set to make the alu tube and plastic cover :
 

 
Removed the Solido cover from the wheel :
 

 
And drilled out the wheel nut :
 

 
The new cover fits nicely :
 

 
Dominiek (Exserco) has printed these for me :
 

 
Dryfit with the cover :
 
 

 
 
The 3D printed part fits perfectly :
 

 
These are the parts that I will use to fix the new wheelnut in place, the big metal part was made with the lathe :
 

 
I bought some acrylic rods and used the lathe to make these headlight lenses. They need a bit more polishing and will get a coat of Parket Plus. The matt one shows how they look before polishing :
 

 
 
 
What's on the to-do-list for this project ? :
 
Remove the oversized windshield decal and replace it.
Use 3D printed vanes for the wheel covers.
Add new wheel nuts.
Replace (if I can find a good replacement part) the windshield wiper.
Add details to the interior, because the doors are functional on this model.
Modify the headlights, Solido always forgets the clear round lenses.
Drill out the exhaust tubes.
Various modifications that will (hopefully) improve the look of the model.
 
Sincerely
 
Pascal

Hi Everyone,
     Last year I made the concrete decision that there would be no more builds without figures and a base.  Consequently, my production rate has dropped while my other skills may have made slight improvements.
 
1./Ergänzungs-Zerstörergruppe Værløse was a temporary unit set up in Denmark for the creation of a Gruppe of NJG 3.  It began with a veteran Gruppe from ZG 76 and was fleshed out with new pilots.  The nose art is part mask, part decal.  And the Stammkenzeichen are masks cut on my Silhouette Portrait.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Thanks for looking.
 
 

Thanks for the comments!
 
Things have progressed...
 
 
Painting has started on the undersides. I'm not doing any of Tamiya's schemes because they're a bit uninspiring in my opinion. I have some AM decals so will be doing "Yellow" 13 from JG 53 as it has a yellow cowling and white wingtips.
 
 
I've also started on the prop - the rear has been "chipped" using the ever-inconsistent chipping fluid technique. 
 
 
The spiral decal, always one of the biggest challenges when doing Luftwaffe WW2 aircraft, turned out alright too.
 
 
Matt

Thank you, my Brother.
 
I don't get a lot done jumping back and forth between three builds, but I try to do a little something on everything each week.  Here I worked on aligning the cowling with the fuselage.
 

I bonded two structures before shimming so the front end wouldn't split .  I started with .010 before moving up incrementally until I reached .040 as the shim size.
 

Good on this side.
 

Same here.  Erred so I had to add a shim to try and level things out.
 

Close enough for Government Work.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Sincerely,
Mark
 

I'd love to crack open this one and get cranking on it.
 

I've been on some weird streaks the last year.  First ships and now cars,
 
First a 66 GTO
 

 
Then a Foose 48 Caddie
 

 
And now I am on a 66 Buick Wildcat