Uilleann

Half way in the making: this is the overall decrease of the width of the exhausts - done on the portside, still the original on the starboard side. It is a small change but a big difference, it's way better now.
 

 
Then I prepped the part with the vanes. I cut off the original ones and "redistributed" new slots according to the pattern of the real plane. This is... I took a pic with the plastic part just put over the screen of my laptop then by syncing the image below by taking the lower lip of the exhaust as a reference. I also shortened the slots for the vanes - the original ones took the entire width of the plastic part.
 

 
This is, still not done, but just a test fit with some plastic pieces that I'll later use as vanes. Here is the difference between the arrangement of the vanes on the original kit part still not edited, and the new one.
 

 

 
It's something like 2-3 out of 11 vanes to stay on their initial places where they were... all others needed a "relocation".  Happy to do it justice. Of course this is just a bare test fit. I'll try to thin down the trailing edges, equalize the lengths, cant them slightly towards the centerline. And hopefully some airfoil profile... but I'm not quite optimistic on that.
 

. A-10A Thunderbolt II from Trumpeter 1:32 scale
The model is not the best, made as always straight from the box using a rather poor set of decals.
 
Set: Trumpeter 
Decals: Trumpeter
Paint: Sikkens Autowave II
 

hello all,
 
Have done some work on the bow door, actually, I started all over again, so part 4 of the bow doors. The front lower part hinged inside when the ship hit the beach.


I also started on the the cargo.
 
enjoy,
 
Rammstein

In the dying throes of the Mirage IIICZ's service in the SAAF, they were painted in a low visibility scheme which was really just a test for the Mirage F1's paint. It looked fantastic.
 

 
(Photo courtesy of Daan Conradie)
 
Since the squadron was busy closing down, pilots got to paint their names under the windscreen. Mark Edwards got No 802. His ground crew painted the MAD MAX and a hand gesture on the tail for him, but it wasn't to last. On a foggy day she went into the Atlantic - due to slipsteam, a spin, and fortunately a well judged ejection. My "Madmax" has nothing to do with this aircraft, but rather my middle name. Pure coincidence.
 
 

 
This kit needs no introduction here, as ericg has done all the hard work for us already. It certainly builds into a convincing Mirage III.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Bell X-1 Revell/Monogram 1/32
Painted with Tamiya and Mr. Hobby paints. Weathering is done with AMMO MIG and AK INTERACTIVE.
Base is made with AK Crackle Effects.
I've modified hatch lid, rescriber raised panel lines, added a few wires behind the instrument panel and basically that's all. Hope you'll like it
 








 
 

Nooo - bl**dy awful things IMHO! 
 
My Lotus Turbo Esprit - otherwise known as a Constellation stand...
 
Iain

Thank you all for your very nice comments. 
 
 
Well, unfortunately I built this one knowing I had no room to display it. 
The original idea was to display it at the local hobby shop in Brussels, plans were made with the owner and it was built for the dimensions of his display cases in the shop.
Unfortunately the LHS closed as I was building the Corsair. It was already a long while ago.
 
I could have abandonned the build but that's not me. So I pressed on but had to find an alternative way to display the models. 
I have multiple bases for the 2 aircraft. The one you see above when I want to display the models together in their AAR scenario, which happens from time to time without dust protection
But each aircraft also  has its own base when I want to protect them in my own display cabinet.
The problem with my cabinet is they are homemade under the slope of a roof and if I have the depth for the wingspan I don't have the required height for the intruder when it refuels the A7, So I had to lower it making the AAR scene impossible to display. 
 

 
Once again, many thanks for all your feedback along the build, It's a pleasure to do WIP on LSP with you guys

This is so cool!  One of the neatest builds I have ever seen!

Thx a lot!
Now, on to the exhaust... It would take a lot of time for the black oil paint on the intakes to dry so now a little bit of modifications on the rear part of the plane. After a thorough examination... the first pic is the real plane, b&w, while on the second pic I tried to capture the same angle:
 

 

 
and the opposite side:
 

 
So, there will be quite a lot of editing here. At first glance:
 
- the entire width of the exhaust is a little bit too too much. The upper lip is way thicker, it needs a lot of thinning but from the inner side, so the thickness of the exhausts will become even more; so I'll have to reduce it by cutting/displacing the lower platforms (a couple of mm, just a bit, but I have to).
- the tiny guide vanes are not exactly tiny. They need a lot of thinning, they should be about about twice shorter, they are perfectly straight but need to be a little bit canted inwards, and they need an airfoil profile. Here is a closeup of the real deal, b&w again:
 

 
And the original guide vanes. I think I could use them and reshape them instead of entirely replacing them with PE parts. 
 

 

 

 

Howdy folks,
 
This is my first project after a long hiatus from the workbench, and was meant to be a quick and easy build to help get my groove back. Sadly, the kit isn't great, and was trickier to build and paint than I anticipated. It's in 1/8 scale, and is from Diamond Select Toys - better known for their pre-built collectables.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I did the best I could with the plastic smoke, but it looks better than my aborted attempt to create something more realistic using wire netting and cotton balls! To quote my wife: "That looks like sh!t".
 
Hopefully I can work my way back to an aircraft build now.
 
Kev

Ed White finished:
 

 

 

Got Ed White finished.
Using plastic card, self adhesive aluminium foil, & wire, I added detail to the heavily modified kit figure.
To the original torso I added arms & legs from Airfix 1/24th pilots, then smoothed the figure over with Milliput, and Humbrol filler.
 

 

 

Gemini 4 launched on the 3rd of June 1965.
The crew was Ed White & James McDivitt 
Ed White carried out the USA's first EVA
 
My reason for being so interested in this out of all the Gemini missions is I was born on the 2nd of June 1965.
The Revell kit of the space craft is based on the non flying boiler plate version of the capsule so there are some incorrect details, also there were variations between missions.
To accurise & detail the model I am using after market from LVM Studios & Real Space:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Thanks for looking
Angelo 

Btw I used black oil paint for the acrylic parts so I think they are as dark as they could be. 
Thx Brian for the tip on the intake colors as well. While for your design of the intake screens - yep, I'm very well aware of it, I keep checking your F-117 topics from time to time indeed, for inspiration. Initially I thought about contacting you to ask whether you make them. I think it is a very nice approach but I'm doubtful about how rigid/solid those screens could be. The tiny little vanes or cones would be so small that ... I don't know, I can't even imagine. Because it's very important to be safe for handling and to "stay in shape" when touched ever so slightly. 

My biggest issues to date have just been life, and time, followed by CAD modeling skills (or the utter lack thereof).  And of course, finding a printer capable of the resolution and fidelity needed to pull off the parts.  Due to their depth, I actually think the printed parts would be plenty sturdy enough for our purposes...I just need to sort out the final design, and fine someone insane enough to make them for me. 
 
Long story short, I just haven't had a chance to really sit down and focus on that here since the latest move.  Been busy dealing with work, the Covid, earthquakes, and any other number of life's little surprises.  Love following along here as you go though!  Keeps that flame of motivation burning in my mind...even if faintly for a while yet. 
 
B~

One trick I use in my optician day job that might help to deepen the "dark" effect of the acrylic, is to paint the edges black as well, before gluing in place.  I don't suggest scuffing them first as it will possibly give the paint more surface to "bite" into, it also gives the edges a frosted look that may be visible when they're in place.  I do understand that painting the edges makes gluing them in place much trickier.  But if you can pull off a nice black edge coat, I think it may help to deepen the effect even more.
 
This is assuming you haven't already glued the acrylic in place of course!
 
Cheers
 
*Edited to add: it looks like perhaps you have already done the above, in your previous post, and I'm just slow to realize it!  Also, the interior of F-117A intakes was a sort of dirty off white on the actual jets.  Not that it matters terribly of course.  I know these screens gave me no end of headaches myself - even after I figured out more about the actual mechanics and shapes of the vanes.  I still hope to one day get them 3D reprinted, or perhaps done with stereo lithography to recreate them in better fidelity at scale...
 
 
Brian~

Looks like you should rotate the left side piece 180°, no?

The top and bottom rails are not consitnat left to right, discovered this while working on it. If Trumpeter had done this there would be rioting in the streets.
Not an easy fix in styrene.
 
48th F-117A by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr
 
48th F-117A by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr

The acrylic plates are glued, all went nicely. I did some test fits with the painted screens on and the intakes and the engines inside, and.... well... I ended up painting the transparent acrylic parts black from the insides. Otherwise, they were too too transparent and in a combination with the glare, they looked just not normal... for example the engines faces were clearly visible. But now they are just nice. There is still a nice gare at certain angle but it does make a very nice effect like on some pictures of the real plane. At other angles - just pitch black, even darker than the matte black paint on the PE screens. Here is just a test fit with one mesh just sitting barely on its place and it is just the acrylic part on the other side, both are already painted black from inside. 
 
Cheers guys! Stay home and make models! 
 

 

 

10x Kahuna, the Future or the substitute that I have (Revell Contacta Clear and a couple of gloss acryllic lacquers) could very easily make a mess. The goal is to keep the mesh screen as "pristine" as possible because the transaprent acryic pieces underneath offer a very nice shine through the holes. It would be more than enough to secure the PE screens only along the edges and from the wider middle strut. The thing is that I'm really concerned about the outcome but if anything goes wrong - the original plastic parts will be used of course  which mesh patterns are also quite good indeed. So, here are the painted PE screens and one sitting flush over the acrylic part with the nice shines at a certain angle:
 

 

 
The intake trunks and the engine faces are also painted. I was also curious about the color... believe me, I checked all my reff. pics and a couple of magazines, and I can't find a picture of the intakes. I was very curious of whether they are painted black because of stealth, some bare metallic finish or white gloss because it's typical for the US jets. Nevertheless, there are many pics that show a distant view at the engine faces through the relief doors, and they can't be seen because everything is black... without a doubt this could be achieved with flat black on the intakes. And perhaps the intake faces could only be partially/barely seen if lit with a torch through the doors for example. So that's why I painted the itnakes black. The  compressor parts of the engines will of course be covered from the inner sides.
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

The intakes went through some pretty substantial modifications. I cut off basically the entire top walls to make sufficient provisioning for the doors when down (open), and walled off the  voids up to the edges of the doors to make smooth transition to the engines. And the compressors had a flat blank wall behind the struts so I had to get rid of it to make better depth effect. The stator struts are also thined down slightly.
 

 

 

 
The next up is in the PE screen mesh - if I replace the plastic parts with just this thin and fragile PE, just 1 touch and it will bend. So, I will still use the PE substitute but with a thick  piece of transarent acryllic underneath as well.  It was quite an adventure of adjustments but they are all done now.
 

 

 
 

I opened this box with my eyes wide open as to what to expect, what will I fix.....hummmmmm probably only the LERX underside and I'm unsure what to do with the load out
 
But really i have no plan yet, but hey that wont stop me making a start, right!! ........Note to self buy a riveting wheel, the fuselage is a bit bland
 
I have to say the Aries cockpit is beautiful, what a piece of engineering in one little package. 
 
So here goes for my first ever Trumpeter kit, of my favorite aircraft
 




 
 
 

hello all,
 
something more done on the diesel engine, completed the casing, and added some detail.



one more axle placed together with some gear mechanisme for the cable rollers

enjoy,
 
Rammstein

hello all,
 
Thanks dodgem 37 cable rollers, that will do for me. A pity when the upper deck is placed, there is to much to be seen.

starting on the casing for the diesel engine


then placed behind the winch, also the rope drum is finished.

seen from different angles



more detailling to do,
 
enjoy,
 
Rammstein
 

hello all,
 
Done some more work on the stern winch, I do not know the correct word for it, but you will see what I mean and find out where it is for.



placed on the winch, also rope drum dryfitted


temporarely placed on the LSM


also finished the 10 inch chock, ready to make a mould and cast it

enjoy
 
Rammstein