Butler

Exactly what i was going to write - suberb mate

I've got the Corsair ones and they're absolute rubbish, badly cast and so soft i doubt they'd handle the weight of even an unmodified kit! If they are direct casts of kit parts then I don't see a huge problem with the manufacturers (you still have to buy their product) but for the consumer, getting a bad copy of the kit part in a weaker material seems a bad deal to me.

Not so hasty James, i'll definitely be up for 3 rolls of that! I ration my Tamiya tape like it's made of spun gold!

Thanks Hubert! I have to make up some shortcuts because i'm too impatient to do things properly! Those Trumpeters are quite expensive but I am tempted by a Trumpeter F1 if I can find one cheap, maybe with all the panels open to show the insides? Hmmm

Cheers Kyrre The 'kids toy' comment refers to anything below 1:32 scale I think the paper would work on plastic kits too, once it's soaked up the Klear it can be sanded smooth and you don't get any paper texture. I used this method just because it's easier to cut the printed paper straight off the sheet

Thanks guys! It's a bit rough up close, hence why there's no close-up pictures I'm half way through applying the stencils now and they break up the surface finish a bit, disguising some rough areas!

Splash of Klear and the top is ready for decals. I've used the Hannants own brand ones which are very thin but a bit out of register (haven't seen that for a while). I've also got their stencil sheet which looks superb

Did it the easier way for the fuel tank stripes though. Anyone know what they're for?

Masking of the wing-walk lines - if i'd been more with-it i would have painted the area black first, then masked off the lines. Anyway, i did it the difficult way!

Here you can see the finished ring temporarily in place. I've given this a coat of paint (ignore the colours in this photo, they don't really match real life!) using some masks made of normal paper. I stick these on by cutting out small squares from the paper then sticking masking tape over the hole, this does let the edges raise slightly and has given a very subtle feathered edge. The real thing has very crisp paint edges but in my opinion this equals toy when applied to a model You can also see a paper template for the windscreen and a canopy frame made from thin styrene sheet. I might have a go at glazing this if i can find some clear plastic packaging with the right curve moulded in! (just to tide over until Iain's vac version is available )

Thanks Tomek! Next up is the intake ring. I've made this from two strips of Pepsi Max steel can material - the first strip is slightly curved and gives a conical shape when joined into a circle. The join will be covered by the pitot socket. The other steel strip is a straight line and forms a tube when joined in a circle, this then fits inside the first ring to form the inside of the intake ring. A bit of CA holds them together and the finished intake ring is a push fit onto the beast's nose. This does leave a slight ridge which doesn't exist on the real plane, but i think reflections off the very shiny surface will cover this up nicely!

Cool!

Almost missed this build Kev, but it looks like you're doing some serious modelling here and solving every problem it can throw at you. Look forward to seeing this one progress!

This one shows some panel lines i've added in pencil for reference. A layer of Klear over the top of the pencil line stops the shine of the graphite and they just look black without the worry of ink bleeding through paint later. There's a child's scale model in the background, sorry!

...stuck to the model! I've cut these straight out of paper, then stuck them over a wet layer of Klear. Once in place i then brush more Klear over the top and periodically 'baste' the paper in more Klear until it's saturated. Next day when it's bone dry, i sand back the surface to give a mirror smooth finish which should take paint fine. You can see the Kleared bits in the photo