Marcleon

Thank You Dennis and Alex for checking in! Yes, I have seen a few good builds of this kit, always a good sign, and I think it was your build Dennis that was quite useful. Well, I have made a little progress and as the engine needs to be installed in the fuselage I started there. The two round blanks are what the oil cooler parts were attached to! Mounting the engine will be a challenge with That backplate... on my own here with pushrods.... Ouch! That photo is bit fuzzy... will do more soon... ...And I couldn't help but start on the cute little feet... quite well moulded but the tyres need a but of the hubs sanded down to fit between the pant halves... Well, it's a start together with lots of part clean up that I don't need to show! All the best, Marc.

Hi Mike, Thanks for checking in! Fun is what it's all about...!

I would really like to attempt this rather nice kit, not overly complex but certainly limited run. My finishing record in group builds is really poor, but I'd like to get this one completed, there are quite a few months left! Here is a picture of the box contents today, some pieces chomped off the sprue and cleaned up and the instrument panels painted in black... no kit is really started unless some paint is thrown at it... There are three quite simple colour schemes, I will try to use the kit decals, here still in plastic, but look OK... And some photoetch to amuse and frustrate and some resin... (to scared to look at that yet..).. I'm hoping like crazy there will be some spare time over the next few months to push this forward, it looks very buildable, I have seen a few completed ones on line, but it doesn't seem to be that frequently built. The fuselage halves can only be joined when the complete cockpit and engine are installed, so some sub-assemblies are in order... Enjoy your modelling! Regards, Marc

Quite yummy... my new scale and SAAF subject!

Cape of Good Hope scenic?? No way! This is where we live and it used to be "The Cape of Storms" before... scared all sailors ******* so they changed the name... I can vouch for this....

Just to say that John is determined to finish this project... it is so much more work than you think for a model like this.. John and his young family have also moved continents... twice... in the last few years... and the exodus from SA is something to see and unavoidable... about 18 months ago he produced these masters at our Club meeting... he was going through a torrid time getting the surface detail just right, this explains the multicoloured surfaces... but John wants it really good... pictures or it never happened... And just for fun we have another very talented modeller here, Marc Barris, - yes, a 1/32 scratchbuilder who has produced a Mirage F1AZ (Mudmover) as used in Angola... his technique is vac-form over wooden masters and slowly built up with lots of plastic, but here the double-knuckle undercarriage legs are built up in aluminium tubing... Sorry, the photos aren't the greatest quality, taken at night on the dining room table... Regards, Marc

Ok, I hate rumours, so will try to stick to the facts... John and his family have moved to Canada with the hope of settling there. This is unfortunately the path of many South Africans, and well, I can't blame them and wish them well. It has been an expensive and difficult journey for them, but hopefully will give them a future and I have given them my full support. You can understand that producing models is far on the backburner for John, but I ask you to give him a chance. He arrived at our Club meeting and showed us some very advanced masters a while back, he is very keen on completing the kit! I will find the photographs if you are interested. He is a good person, I can vouch for him. I have no current adress for him, but I will find one soon! Regards, Marc.

Thank you Kevin, Mike, Loic and Richard for the positive comments, and it's great to see the GB grow with so many very interesting builds - WW1 too! So there is a little progress, I was unhappy about the aileron attachments and the large gap, so I took them off, removed the oversize hinges and skinned the edges of the ailerons with 10 thou card to fill the gap... looks better to me! The engine is assembled and painting started, I also refined the cowling edges and gave that some metallic silver... Enjoy your modelling! Regards, Marc

I wonder if I could once again ask your indulgence and try very hard to complete a group build... this is a very old kit, started a few years ago, but very much under 10% completed... it is also superseded by the amazing CSM kit, but some of us have a few of the Hobbycraft kit (also released by Academy) that we don't know what to do with... hope this is OK with the Admins! I actually would like to do the plane flown by Fullard, an option in the Academy kit that I received as a present by a friend: All over silver dope, should be easy (He said)... The decals look good, and he was a very high scoring ace who survived the war... This is indeed how far I have got: Some wood tones and fake veneer in the cockpit, some extra bits of plasticard pretending to be longerons and a seat back from plasticard with lots of little holes drilled... the propellor is refined a little and painted dark stained wood tones... this appears to be very much stardard for the 17... Also a rear cockpit bulkhead and head support added... but more to come... Hope this is OK... Regards, Marc

The Telephone dials on the 944 are much prettier than that. Nothing beats the Cookie Cutters though... Classic... Very interested in some 1/24 190 wheels though... holding my Trumpie build up too...

Lovely! I will get one... and hope for the Val, Zero, etc... Regards, Marc

When do you ever get to make someone's dreams come true? This dates from 2013... Tamiya too! Airfix could always redo their Mustang, but a "B" is Better! Regards, Marc

Absolutely wonderful! A great representation and very evocative... Well done!

... Nice... Thank You...

I committed to a local vendor.... here at the Southern tip of Africa... And I have heard... Nothing... Nada... Niks... so I wish to just say if you are disappointed at your speed of shipping, I am way, way after you.. and I have patience... I will comment on this thread when I receive mine... It will be way, way after you... it's called "Africa Time"...

A lovely piece of work... simply amazing details, and the metallic finishes... Wow! Regards, Marc

This is a really lovely build! The metal effects and weathering are spot on and the figure really sets it off... Fine work! Regards, Marc.

That is a great build, Przemo, and as usual the detailing and colours are spot on! A lovely rendition of the ICM kit! Regards, Marc.

On my list... high up...

This is a beautiful build, Przemo! It is just so detailed and well put together! Lovely work! Marc.

Hi Greg! Thanks for checking in! Yes, Durbs has great weather and great beaches (here and there) ! Quite a few modellers there too! I'm in Somerset West, but very involved with the Cape Town modellers too... we have clubs in both SW and CT now. I was born in Durban, grew up in Joburg but moved to Cape Town 36 years ago, so I have been around! The Mohawk will look good in those East Africa schemes too, always good to do a plane used in actual combat.... (The Mohawks scored only one victory over the Italians though, and that was by strafing!). But I digress... I finally got some paint on... The Tamiya yellow-green, but don't worry about the bright colour, it will change a lot with weathering, this model won't be clean! I tried to do all the visible interior areas at once... I'm running out of time with this model, (doesn't that always happen) as we are due for a Kruger Park trip with Canadian family in January, so very little modelling then... There is thin masking tape on a lot of the mating surfaces of the two fuselage halves, works for me but may be a bit fiddly for others... Regards, Marc.

Thank you for the replies Mike, Maru, Dennis and Ernest! No, it's still not started, but I found this one on the net of the actual aircraft... Always good to have some inspiration! Thin propellor blades, I think and quite a bit of weathering on the wing roots, etc, but not much of the peeling paint... Regards, Marc

Thanks for the reminder, Dennis! Yes, my armoured windscreen is unusable already, (not me) but I appreciate it is thin and brittle... so I will be extra careful... Electricity is off again here so no modelling... ATB, Marc

Thank You Mike and Brad for commenting, yes, whether I like it or not, there's a lot of fettling and adjusting to do with this type of kit, and it does pay off... I was battling to join the two fuselage halves without tension, and there seemed to be tension around the area of the fuselage front and back halves, when I decided to test fit the windshield, and it apperared to be too wide for the fuselage at that point, so I experimented and eventually added a thin plasticard wedge opening up the fuselae slightly at that point, the forward point of this is at the join I mentioned... ... and here is the windsreen very loosely taped on, it may need a bit more work! From past experience, it's easier to modify the fuselage where the canopy fits than the other way round! Time consuming fiddling... The fuselage halves fit together sooo much better now... Regards, Marc

Just a little progress this weekend - it was my daughter's graduation as a teacher, I had to do that with her! So I did lots of trial fitting and glued in the cockpit assembly and then reinforced it with bits of white plasticard ... you can pick them up in the photo.. I think this all helps the front and rear fuselage join ... I really don't want it to crack open later on in the build! Then test fit, test fit. Lots of trimming of the front cockpit bulkhead - it is too wide at the lower end and interferes with the wing fit as well... the cockpit floor is also too wide and got duly hacked ... after an hour of trimming it seems I can at least get it together... Not much, but important stuff to help the fit... Regards, Marc.