Gisbod

Thanks Fvdm Can anyone direct me to a source of ground/ factory accessories? Trollies/ generators/ step ladders/ tools etc? 1/32 or 1/35? Thanks, Guy

The Postman came today bearing gifts... This is the Eduard ‘Look’ panel, which is pretty jaw dropping! The photo doesn’t do it justice. The instrument faces are even glazed. My only concern is that it feels like cheating... it’s particularly good if you’re portraying a new, unweathered Corsair as I am. Lovely Also in the ‘Look’ packet was a set of pre painted seat belts. Normally, I’d just chuck these in the bin compared to the HGW set, but they do look very nicely done and clean cut. I may even have a little experiment with them. My usual gripe with painted etched belts is the paint splits off when they’re bent to shape, which always seemed a bit silly, but you never know. The next packet was the HGW belts which conversely didn’t look quite as sharp as they normally do? Shame you can’t combine the razor sharp detail of the PE set with the lovely fabric effect of this one. These came with an inside and out canopy masking set. The kit has one, but you do have to cut it yourself, so it won’t do any harm to have this set. Lastly, just a comparison to the Kit PE belts: Next up is the HGW Wet Transfer Set. I’ve no idea how these perform, but they come in quite a substantial pack: ... and on opening you can see why, there are a LOT of transfers and heaps of rather intimidating instruction sheets. These should keep me out of mischief for some time! And last, but not least, the Eduard Cowling Set: Very finely moulded and super thin! This looks like a good addition, I’ll just have to check the fit obviously, particularly as I’m going to be using the Grey Matter Engne Bay Set (not here yet). You get two cowl flap options. They both look identical apart from a small cut out on one side of the ring, I haven’t delved into what the differences are for yet. Hopefully, it will give me a second option when I **** up the first one! Guy

Thanks chaps, John - thanks for the heads up. I will of course take care there. If there’s any chance of it not looking neat, I would rather have the simple option - but well done. I’ll see how I go. Just been cleaning up the cockpit parts and impressed so far. It’s funny how you get used to a certain scale. Having just finished the Airfix 1/24 Stuka and the Hobby Boss 1/18 Fw190 - the Corsair seems tiny! Will get some pics up shortly. Guy

Hello All, I've finally succumbed to the Tamiya Corsair - the F-4U1D version. I’ve held back in the past because there have been so many of these made and there are (relatively) limited colour schemes. Blue or grey basically. Not that I didn’t like those schemes, just that I like to have a different twist rather than looking like everyone else’s. They’ve also been a whole load made to an incredibly high standard I thought; what could I add? But I’ve finally been worn down and thought I was spiting myself for the sake of it. It’s clearly just about the best kit ever according to the reports, so what was not to like? I have seen a couple of beautifully made up ones on line as production line versions in varying stages of primer and I think I want to go along this route. I’ve gone through a bit of a run of kits lately where I feel they’ve been slightly marred by the weathering process rather than adding anything and I like the idea of a clean Corsair, as the ones in use seem to be total wrecks! Anyway, in terms of extras I’ve ordered a set of HGW seatbelts, a Eduard ‘Look’ instrument panel (haven’t seen these in the flesh, so I’m curious), the Eduard cowling & cooling flaps set and the Grey Matter engine bay resin set - quite expensive, but a big difference. I wanted a set of Barracuda cockpit stencils but they all appear to be sold out in the U.K. so I went with the HGW ‘wet’ transfer set - I haven’t tried these either. If I end up doing any national marking I’ll be getting a mask set for those. The Eduard engine & cockpit replacements just seem a little too extravagant (and perhaps unnecessary?) Looking forward to getting started! Any tips much appreciated and I have the wonderful build threads from Thunnus and Wolf Budee to reference to. Cheers, Guy

Yep, Here she is next to a Tamiya paint pot... Guy

Thank you all! It’s like a monster 1/72 kit Guy

Hi All, Here’s the rather huge Hobby Boss 1/18 Fw190. It’s a much maligned kit - not enough detail, over simplistic etc. However It’s actually excellent in lots of ways; it’s pretty cheap for the size of kit, I picked this up for £65 and yes, it is simple and lacking in detail for the size, but it makes up for that in quality of fit and the surface detail is exceptional, so it’s basically a great canvas for detailing and paint. I had fun making it. This thing is huge! Guy Build thread here:

So, after an interlude waiting for the masks, I managed to knock together a 1/24 Stuka! But masks have now arrived and here’s some progress... And to be honest, I’m almost done so next post will be in Ready for Inspection! Thanks for following on Guy

Thanks That’s tempting! Guy

Thanks I can’t really take credit for that Erwin, I just trusted the Montex Masks.. Guy

Hello all, Here’s my 45(ish) year old classic Airfix Stuka. Considering it’s age, it’s a pretty decent kit. At the time it must have been seriously cutting edge. The engine is particularly good and apart from lots & lots of flash, not bad detail generally. Build thread here: And her 1/72 grandchild: Thanks for looking in, back to the 1/18 Fw190.. Guy

Not at all Brian, I’m always up for tips to ease the journey! Guy

Ps I’ve just realised that this has taken me 18 days from buying the kit to finished. That’s mad quick for a kit this size. I’m not racing but I can always tell when I’m enjoying a model as I can’t put it down... Guy

Thanks Brian, that’s very helpful, alas too late for this build, but I have another set of masks for the Fw190 so I’ll try it there. That said, I didn’t have any issues with the masks at all. They’ve exceeded all my expectations and then some. Thoroughly recommended. The only drawback I found was on the masks for the canopy - they again worked well, but did leave some residue glue that was a pain to get off. It seemed totally resilient to everything! I’ve pretty much finished and next post will be in the completed models section when I’ve taken some photos (not an easy task with this behometh!) but here are some markings after the masking: Thanks for following along. Guy

Thanks Gazza... Quite a bit further on. I’ve painted all the main areas now with MRP colours - RLM 65/ 70/ 71. Hairspray again for the wing roots and Montex Masks in place! These are really beautiful and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. I’ve only rarely used masks so still a bit of a novelty for me. Guy

I cranked up the brightness which probably over eggs the effect, but all will be well under some paint! Dont worry Ryan, I am! I only meant to make a start on it as I was waiting on my Maketar Masks for the Fw190 - they still haven’t arrived - it looks like I may get to complete a large 1/24 kit in the gap at this rate... Guy

Pre-shading. It needs to be fairly stark as the top colours are going to be dark. I’ll be using MRP paints for the colours and they are very nice at gradually building up the opacity so it hopefully looks just right... Guy

Finally! Got some paint down. It took quite a long time to check it all over for imperfections and then minor filling & sanding. There seems to be a lot of square footage of plastic. I’d normally airbrush the primer coat but as it’s so big I resorted to a rattle can. The canopy masks from Montex fitted pretty well. I normally can’t get vinyl to conform but these seemed ok. Colouring in next! Guy

Morning Alain, Well that’s exactly how it’s represented on the kit; raised rivets aft and flushed rivets forward. There’s also a mix of raised and flush on the fuselage at the tail. Reading the article (pg 3) Airfix had one to pore over in detail so I don’t doubt that they got it spot on. However, they are surely too prominent on the kit. I elected to tone down the effect. Partly because I’m using vinyl paint masks for the markings and I couldn’t see how they would conform to such a bumpy surface. Guy

Thank Erwin, The Airfix box art was so iconic! Guy

I’d really like to know when it was first released? Guy

Just read through this thread Kent and wow, incredible work! You have more patience than me... Guy

Ps. I’ve sanded down the rivet detail on the surface, hopefully keeping, but just toning down, the effect. If you shut your eyes and ran your fingers over the surface it was like reading Braille

Well, she’s beginning to look like a Stuka now and totally awkward to handle on the bench! I’ve has to use a fair bit of filler, not sure how much of this was me, the kit or just the age of the old girl. I think I the fuselage would have been a click fit, but something was restricting it closing on the bottom of the fuselage around the cockpit. Try as I might I couldn’t find the gremlin so had about a 1mm gap along the bottom. The tail plane fairings caused an issue too - my fault again, I was test fitting them and pushed them too hard and they wedged tight with another gap, stuck fast and I couldn’t get them off again . All ok now though. Can’t wait to get some paint on! Teaser shot: Guy

Wow, That’s great Paul, it must have been such a skill to make one of these from scratch . Really interesting. My wife says why can’t I spend it on beer & loose women like normal men do? Guy