Gazzas

Iain, I really like your thoughtful approach to making this modification. It's really starting to take on shape. Gaz

Ja, that engine do look pretty!

Paul, What a great video! Gaz

Your wood grain is certainly deep and rich and pleasing to look at!

HI everyone. No Mike, I'm building a 1/48 bf109G6/AS so I used their 109G/K set numbered 248029. They're not perfect. The national decals have a bit of unwanted taper (See red arrows) I don't know if the white spots are my fault or not... But they'll take paint to fix. ....and There is some visible overlap in the printing. Easier seen in this macro-shot: And you can see it appears to have a bit of texture (in macro shots) But here is where they outshine decals.... On these tiny stencils, no bigger than 2mmX1mm it's often easy to get silvering on decals. None of that here. It took all of my abilities to get these down right. It was too easy to have them slightly misaligned, crooked, or even partially slanted like in the next shot: Even though this photo is blurry, and that I have failed to keep the transfer straight, you can see there is no flash. On the sheet, the stencils are all very close together. For a klutz like me, it means it's all tweezer work because there is no excess paper to hold. I've always had trouble with silvering on small decal stencils. So, I think I'll look at more of these in the future. Hopefully their national markings improve. They're very fragile. I've ruined a few that stuck well straightaway. It's very easy for tiny stencils to fold. At times, while trying to unfold the stencil I've accidentally removed some of the bits that are supposed to stay. I'm hoping that as I use more of them, I get better at it. I'll borrow this: YMMV Gaz

HI everyone, I'm going to leave the pilot alone for a while. After buying the Eduard PE, I think I may just do the interior up right instead of hiding it with a pilot. I think I'm gonna need a few devices, though... Maybe I'll try to scratch the parts that I don't have. Anyway... Let's talk about wood. No...not morning wood. Plywood. Back when I read the Smithsonian book on restoring D.V Stropp, I remember that they didn't stain the wood but left it natural. From pictures it seems the Germans had some Albies stained light and some stained dark. I prefer the light stain, so tried to replicate it. Here's my first attempts. I didn't use a practice kit, I used the interior parts. One principle I'm trying to get right is the very light and wide graining found on pine plywood. For the base color I used a light flesh color I mixed up. My 'graining' was done with oil paint in Burnt Umber. I'd like your opinions. I myself, feel it's too yellow. I added some orange on the second layer to deaden the yellow somewhat. I'm not sure what I would use to make it less yellow. What other clear 'colors' are out there that I can stir into my clear yellow? I've also noticed that the kit plastic is very flexible. And having read other build logs of this kit, I decided to beef up the dorsal and ventral joints. Apparently once it's time to attach the upper engine deck, I'll have to force the halves apart to get them to mate properly. Thanks for looking, Gaz

For a space-poor guy like me, I'd take a really good one in 1/48. Supposedly Avantgarde Models was supposed to release a Foxbat in 1/48 last year. However, it hasn't materialized. If you ever had a look at their MiG-31 you'd have been impressed. For me, the Foxbat illustrates the heights of Soviet Design during my younger years. Gaz

Thanks, Brian! Those are excellent pics! Now we just need a model!

So...ummm Is there a link to the walkaround?

John, This really looks exceptional. I really like how you've added wear through various media to add depth and texture to each surface. One thing that interests me is that you have smoke and oil passing under the ETC rack. This implies that the rack was removed, or not put on until it was needed. It's a detail I've never considered to explore in pictures. Excellently done! Gaz

I use Xuron clippers for large parts. I try to clip far from the part to avoid those painful divots. Double sided razor saw (w/o handle) for delicate parts and clear....and resin. Blade for PE. Gaz

I had a model I wanted to strip of acrylic paint. The only thing I had with any real strength was barbecue cleaner made from SG. I worked pretty well, requiring me to only do some gentle scrubbing with an old toothbrush. I used the same stuff to clean some resin parts recently before painting. Gladly I can say that the paint didn't act like it was being sprayed over release agent.

That cockpit is looking great! I imagine the bordfunker had to be a contortionist to reload those those cannons as well as man the machine gun. Gaz

John, Really a great build! Like the others, I appreciate all of the creative tips that I can use to improve the finish on my models. Looking forward to that RFI. Gaz

I went to my LHS the other day. I didn't buy their sole Roden Dr. I because I am really hoping WNW will release one.

I hate to admit it because I really like to be as scale correct as possible... But those rivets certainly add something. Gaz

Dude, That is some excellent work. I didn't realise how big it was until I saw the engine in your hand. Gaz

Excellent!

Hi Everyone, After some wins and failures, I think I've got these figured out. The wins came on the areas where I had polished the paint to a gloss with 3000, 4000, and finally, 12000 grit micromesh. They stuck very well, without fail, without using decal solvent. In the areas where I couldn't get in to polish, the story was completely opposite even with decal solvent. They just didn't want to stick to non-smooth surfaces. When I was patient enough to let them dry for the full period, they sunk into detail very well without decal solvent. ON the marking where I wasn't patient enough to let them dry for the recommended period, the portion that hadn't sunk in well enough came off with the foil. I find the little ones the most difficult. It doesn't help that they are squeezed very tightly around the sheet. Maybe it's just my less-than-nimble fingers. Hopefully I'll be better with the tiny ones on my next attempt. Gaz

I hope it works well for those that buy it. Mixing my own colors is kinda fun, and I already don't like cleaning my airbrush much. Cleaning a paint mixer would be yet another thing to clean. Gaz

HI everyone, After 15 years of service, my employer gave me a gift card that works virtually anywhere in Australia... So I went to my LHS and got some plastic: Don't know much about this kit, but the plastic looks good...and it comes with a drop tank. Pretty sure the E-7 was the first one fitted with a drop tank. Rubber wheels... hmmm How bad can it be? Finally, Something too heavy to fly:

Looking awesome!

Excellent!

I read one account a long time ago of P-61's being too slow to catch Me-410's. Finally an enterprising pilot had the upper turret removed and was shortly thereafter able to catch a 410. For someone like me who has devoted a lot of time reading and learning about the Nachtjagdfleiger, the effects of the P-61 in combat are relatively unheard of. The Beaufighter and Mosquito were often mentioned. The goal of the nightfighter was to protect the homeland. They weren't often allowed to go across the channel or outside of German airspace. Maybe the P-61 had some effect on the German Nachstchlact flights. But they certainly didn't stop nightfighters doing their jobs.

Thank you for the tip. I'll try it on a junk kit. It seems to make sense in that it will smooth things out. Gaz