smudger

I started this one fairly recently as its been sat around for ages. The engine is as detailed as it gets as its not visible in the finished model apart from the area seen through the front of the open wheel bay. I've been looking all over the web for decent pictures or drawings of the plumbing that can be seen in this area i.e. lower rear of engine and wheel bay but nothing that really helps me so far. Cockpit tub is finished, seat is finished & waiting for the RB fabric seat belts fitting & I'm pretty much at the sarge of closing up the fuselage once I work out what additional plumbing I'll add to the engine. [/url]IMG_1479 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1479 by martin smith, on Flickr [/url] >IMG_1480 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1480 by martin smith, on Flickr [/url] >IMG_1478 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1478 by martin smith, on Flickr [/url] >IMG_1477 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1477 by martin smith, on Flickr Happy modelling folks, Martin

A few more pictures [/url]IMG_1464 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1464 by martin smith, on Flickr [/url] >IMG_1462 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1462 by martin smith, on Flickr [/url] >IMG_1466 by martin smith, on Flickr">http://IMG_1466 by martin smith, on Flickr

When I left the hobby a couple of years ago I had some started but unfinished models so this is the first of those partially completed models to be finished, well almost, a little bit more weathering maybe but I'm calling it finished. I now have to work out how to make a realistic base instead of the bare black plastic of the display case. I am having some issue posting images from Flickr so please bear with me. http://IMG_1463 by martin smith, on Flickr http://IMG_1465 by martin smith, on Flickr http://IMG_1468 by martin smith, on Flickr http://IMG_1467 by martin smith, on Flickr All the best, Martin

Evening everyone, I'm just getting back into the hobby after a couple of years away & have picked up on my Dragon BF110 which I started some time ago. I know the instructions are terrible but I can't find info on the wheel bays, namely parts N12 &'13 F34 & 35 I am reading the instructions as N12 & F34 go together as do N13 & F35 but I know these are handed sub assemblies so don't want to get it the wrong way round. Can anyone please confirm that before I put glue to them Thanks, Martin

That was my intention too Tim, maybe even buy the Aries set for the Tamiya kit & see if its possible to scale it up & have a 3D printer guy have a go at making a set. I'm still looking & planning how to scratch a new interior for it & I'll keep plugging away but I also dragged out of the stash the BF110 from Dragon & the 1:24 Trumpy FW190 D9, both around 40% complete so they may now take the place of the Beau on the bench while I `build` my confidence & skills up again.

Morning Derek, After a 2 year hiatus from modelling due to motorcycle racing I now have a much newer race bike (Suzuki GSXR 1000) requiring a lot less preperation over the long Ontario winter so last night I hit the stash & the first kit that came out was the 1/32 Beaufighter so I'm just wondering how the interior detail sets are coming along? You never see the 1/32 Beau on contest tables & would love to put one on there in 2017 but sadly my scratch building skills are not that great. If your set is close to completion or even if you have pre production/prototype sets you are willing to sell let me know please, I would love to get my grubby little hands on one. Hope this message finds the LSP community doing well. All the best, Smudger

Thx for all the comments guys, much appreciated. Next up is the Trumpy 1/24 FW190 D9. I'm trying to get it finished in time for the IPMS London (Ontario) show at end of Sept, not sure if that will happen or not though. Happy modelling, Martin

Morning guys, I am building Trumpy's 1/24 FW190-D9 & wondered if anyone has any decent pictures of the main wheelbay area & the open area of the wheelbay aft of the engine (as I know there would be engine pipe work etc visible in this area) as I want to add some extra detail to this area. I did a Google search & did find a few pictures but wondered if LSP'ers have anything that's not on the web. On another note I've just returned yesterday from a business trip to Nagoya in Japan & found an amazing hobby store, Tam Tam I think it was called. They had every LSP you can think of in there, ended up buying the Tamiya 1/32 P-51D for $75 including taxes as that was the only one that would fit in my suitcase. Thanks in advance for any forthcoming pictures of the FW-D9. Happy modelling, Martin

This was an old bagged kit (without instructions) I had lying around so I started it & it was surprisingly fun to build, even the rigging probably because its not too complicated. It finished up around 13" long. Happy modelling everyone, Martin

My ex-wife might dissagree with you on that statement Kevin but thanks for the kind comment Martin

Built this for a workmate, who'd had the kit for years & asked if I'd do a quick build of it for him, which I gladly did. All in all it took me 8 hours to complete & the kit actually went together really well..............I didnt put any work into references or AM, just built it as he requested me to do & enjoyed doing it. Happy modelling folks, Martin

Happy modelling everyone, Martin

Now heres a story...........I was well underway with this build, cokpit & engine finished, fuselage halves joined up when a freinds little boy had been looking at my part built model & unfortunately he left it on the floor (as kids do & no, I wasnt mad with him afterwards, its a just bit of plastic, no biggie really) when I promptly stepped on it during the night completely destroying the fuselage & cockpit. I put the kit away for many moons & then dragged it out, basically to throw it away during a clear out when I realised the kit came with clear plastic fuselage halves..............Ok we're back on now............so I bought the Verlinden cockpit set (which fits like s--t unless I did someting wrong), added lots of wiring & plumbing to the engine (which remained fairly unscathed from my crushing foot) & made a big effort to finish the kit. I actually really like the end result, my iphone pictures dont really do it justice but the result is below:

Soooooooooo, was browsing in my local hobby store a while back & started looking at the 1/72 kits & the began remembering the excitement as a kid in my native UK of going shopping every Saturday with my mom & being allowed to buy a cheap small scale kit to build that night. I wondered if they still held that excitement for me or would only a $150 1/32 kit with loads of AM do it now? Before I knew it I had the Typhoon in my hand & it was a steal at $8.00. Do you know what, I was still excited, I couldnt wait to get home, open the box, start building like I did all those years ago.............& the pictures below are the result: Thanks for looking ladies & gents & this is actually a really nice little (read "tiny") kit. Happy modelling, Martin

Fantastic paint & weathering, well done. Martin

Feel free to publish Kev. John, the stripes are indeed a mixture of decals & paint. Happy modelling guys, Martin

Last of my 2014 builds for the time being, an out of the box build of the Airfix 1/48 Canberra. This was actually a challenging build, I spent quite a bit of time on the interior only to find out the cockpit floor doesnt line up correctly so at that stage I couldnt leave the door open as I intended & the decals are terrible but still looks ok once finished. Where oh where is the 1/32 Canberra............... Heres the piccies Thanks for looking everyone & happy modelling, Martin

Heres another of my completed 2014 builds, the Dragon Jagdtiger. A great kit & armour models are a new thing for me so I'm having lots of fun just playing around with them. This was built out of the box. Heres the piccies.............. Thanks for looking & happy modelling everyone, Martin

Another quick out of the box build here but I just love the Hasagawa FW190 kits, they go together so well. Heres the pictures........ Thanks for looking everyone & happy modelling, Martin

Modelling time is seriously at a premium this year since my little baby boy learnt how to crawl & climb but I've managed a couple of builds, heres one of them. Its the old Trumpy Mig-15 & after reading about the kits issues I was pleasantly surprised how easy it all went together with a bit of planning & lots of filler I used Harold's AMS resin cockpit, hollowed out the gun barrels, added brake lines, FOD covers & the gear down indicators. Onto the piccies: Thanks for looking & happy modelling everyone, Martin

I'd much rather Revell give me the Buccaneer & Jaguar before another Lightning. I've built a couple of Hunters & they are great kits. I've also built the Trumpy Lightning, yes, it has its issues but it builds into one nice looking impressive model so I'm happy with their kit of the Lightning, even won a couple of gold medals with it. Happy modelling, Martin

I'm just getting ready to start the FM Halifax. Have bought all the plastic strip I need to detail the interior along with the Eduard interior set from the Lancaster. I'm chasing down a set of 4 engines & cowlings from the Tamiya Beaufighter to use in place of the kit efforts. Just from dry fitting everything the kit is terrible & will easily be my biggest challenge to date, especially the vac formed canopies. I've had it out of the box a few times before but always put it back after seeing the enormity of the task ahead, but not this time, Only thing I'm struggling with is a set of masks to reflect the Halifax "Beer is Best"..............any tips on who might make these for me????? Happy modelling guys, Martin

Sell them on EBay normally. I get my pleasure from the actual building of the models so I'll build a few, enter them in contests & then sell them to help finance the purchase of more kits. Although I have to admit my big scale EE Lightning, Hawker Hunter & F-86 Sabre have definite not for sale signs on them The models are listed for at least the cost of the kit & even though I don't get "paid" for my time building them this method seems to work for me. Happy modelling guys, Martin

That was pretty funny, enjoyed it lol Happy modelling, Martin

Very nicely done, cant wait to start mine. Happy modelling, Martin