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Alright! Woo Woo! After 6 pretty intense months and probably 400 hours, I'm calling this one done. It's my first large scale plane I've completed, which is something since I've started 3 or 4 over the years only to end in nothing. It's kind of mixed emotions thing now that it's done. I've been really hard on myself to keep the quality and accuracy maximized while at the same admitting I'm new and exploring and learning and failing all along the way. It's like a crash, I've worked really really hard to hide. The Fury is a great subject for scratch, a great plane to begin with, and a gem in the history of fighter aircraft once one comes to appreciate “Interwarâ€, the planes that WW2 aviation legends were all built on. Shout out to Dr. Sydney Camm, who designed this beauty and another shout out to things British, because they just have a place in my heart (though I'm American). The build log was sadly lost mostly due to Photobucket's evil and my new blog was sort of a summary of shots I hope captures what it took to build it. There are no pictures of the blood ,sweat and tears but they are there. Like the pain of making 6 rudders, the two wings (actually failing in my second attempt) , the endless *f'in hours tuning the wingtips, searching eBay for tires after I had already spent a number of hours trying to make my own. The coats of surfacing and the sanding and the sanding and sanding. But in all these months this project was my release from a ton of work and the passing of my dog, Tess so as tough as it was, it was a pretty safe distraction. Worrying about the lower wing dihedral is better than stressing on some deadline, right? I did admittedly have an affair along the way as we perhaps all do. I did a ton of research on the next build, the Bearcat. I learned 3D CAD and printing for that project, and I took a break and scratched a quick 1/72 Nike Hercules. Crazy kinda. And finally and importantly. Thanks to all of you that supported me with kind words, very usable advice and even materials. In particular, Martin and Joe and Peter and Hubert and other scratch builders that inspire (Dan, Ben, Rich and Barney! ) Thanks! It's honestly much of the reason why I could push it and go beyond my range of comfort. And another note of thanks to Kevin for his work keeping LSP going through thick and thin. All the builds and the tips and tricks here really helped keep my motivation high: A requirement. Cheers guys! Fury forever. —Jim

Hello all, You might as well know that I'm standing on Max's @mozart shoulders while doing this WIP. Max led the way. I just followed. As a modeller, my main interest has always been the Cold War period with the occasional incursion in the late WWII. Although I have a fascination in the between-the wars planes and their shifting technologies, I never had the chance to build one. Let me also add that this is my FIRST BIPLANE. So hang on tight and let the ride begin! A picture of my Belgian Edition ICM Gladiator, basically a regular release with a sheet of Dutch Decals added. I won't repeat what has been already said about this kit. Let me add that the design of this kit is exceptionally clever, making the building a real pleasure ... except on one point. But more of it later. As usual, a fine coat of Mr Surfacer 1200 is sprayed on all the parts with the sprues still on. It helps to bring on the details as well as the blemishes we'll have to deal with. Then a careful study of the parts, especially since I'm new to the subject. Similar-looking parts are hand marked to avoid confusion. followed by a dry-fit of the different components. The cockpit is correctly detailed while being basic. It can be easily improved by refining and adding some smaller details like switches and map cases, ... Gun shell ejectors added Wing gun pod ejector slots Side doors opening latches refined Refined throttle Instrument panel is correct for MK I. Looks convincing with stock decals added That's it for today, folks. Hope you like it. Cheers, Quang

Ok, I know what you are saying..they do not make a 1/24th scale Hawker Fury.. and that's true. So, let's see if I can make one. This is a dare of sorts because I've not done a scratch project of this size ever, though I have done a series of five 1/144th scale planes this past year all from scratch and with reasonable success across a wide range of planes from a tiny Bf-109 the size of a butterfly to a sizable 8" long P-3C Orion. I think I meet the basic prerequisites, though honestly anyone can do this (kindergartners with clay and wood are remarkably fearless artists). That said, there are also the great masters (Alcorn, Woodhouse, Lee etc) that do this stuff too and we'll have to consider that like another world thing. Anyway, If I fail, it might be the dreadful distraction, project boredom and other barriers to seeing things through. It's pretty ambitious time wise (like a year??). I'm armed with enthusiasm and a love for modeling that has spanned 4 decades (with many breaks of course as many of us all know). I'm not a perfectionist type person and not trained things technical short of computer programming. I do have a very creative side and consider myself an artist without a real speciality. I dabble and I LOVE PLANES!!!!! Currently, I'm still researching the Fury with books on order, and a folder of growing images on my computer. I can't say it's like a dream plane but there seems to some content in the scratch world, typically pre WW2 where scratch works at this scale. I am getting to know it pretty well know over the few weeks, so it's very likely to grow on me. I've started to test some methods for technique so in some sense I've started. The picture of the tail below is the third round if seeing how I like to work with "spars" and "canvas" really before I get into it. I've got a little start on the cockpit shell going. Playing around. As I said, the project is not fully laid out, but I'm pretty sure it'll be an exercise in solid forms for the fuselage mostly of styrene and filler and then a vacuformed shell to house the cockpit and engine. I'll perhaps panel the shell with thin metal tape and creative use of strips and Magic Sculpt and whatever comes to mind. If you are going to follow along, I'd love the company. I'll say sorry up front for how damn long this is going to take but I think this forum has a taste for it. The process is the fun, right?

After Photobucket tried to ransom $300 out of me to save my build thread history, I was pretty pissed off to say the least! I do not think I have it as bad as others, and you all have my sympathy for those who lost more in "the fire". I'm cooled off now and decided to let a new day dawn, this time with Imageshack whose reasonable $20 annual fee is so much in synch with my needs. (IMGUR testing failed: I did not like the social media side of it, yuch). I want to preserve the history of the build here but will only reach as far as a "best of" pictorial review of the work. No stories of me stumbling and succeeding followed by confusion and laziness, learning and eureka moments. All that was perhaps best shown in real time. Suffice to say, I grew a lot as a scratch builder and learned much but it's perhaps unimportant to rehash those details. On the positive note one can now quickly see progress without pages of fluff and the time I distracted the Fury thread with me learning 3D for another project. Again thanks for all the support to date. There was much of that in that thread I want to recognize. Here are some pictures in rough chronological order. Work began Feb 22 2017 for the record. It was/is my first large scale scratch build and it's been a blast to date (July 4th). I estimate this is about 300 hours of some less than efficient work.

Hello! I am looking for aircraft wheels suitable for WWI airplanes and for the interwar stuff. Both civilian and military. I know there is a MasterCaster(?) set for the Nieuport 17 with a cowl and a pair of wheels. Are there any other sets out there? BTW, does anybody know what is the diameter of the aforementioned Nieuport 17 wheels? Regards - dutik