Aurora Mark

I have found that here in Nova Scotia, cutting Future 10:2:1 of 10 parts Future, 2 parts distilled water and 1 part windex works great. I spray using a wide cone with my airbrush at 20-22 PSI. Once done I clean my airbrush with Windex. To make it dull, I substitue 1 part of Future for 1 part of Tamiya dull. At 5:5 of future and dull though, I find that it then gets easier to just spray Tamiya dull in coats to get the same results. I hope this helps. Mark.

I'm starting to feel pretty bad about not having any photographs to share with you guys right now. But truth be told, it's all just more numbers on a paper. With another adventure out of country coming up here in a couple days there really isn't much that I will be able to post with regards to building. However, I did try a spare piece of the rectangular brass I used for the spar box, and with just a bit of heat, it bends itself very nicely to the desired angle. So, with that now answered, knowing that the two spars can be single pieces, this definitely makes life much easier. Once I'm back

If there was ever an update that kept us in suspense, this has got to be it! Great work so far, and I can't wait to see more of your superb build. Cheers, Mark.

Your scratch building is absolutely brilliant there! More! MORE! MORE!!!

You work is absolutely fantastic. I cannot stress enough how impressed I am with the work and detail you are putting into the cockpit. From someone who has a deep enjoyment in building the cockpits more than anything else on the kit, I really appreciate the detail you're sharing with us. I'm really looking forward to this one coming together! Cheers, Mark.

Mike, what aircraft/scale/kit are you building? Mark.

Might be the case. And there are a lot of emotions and opinions connected to this. I just wanted to make sure that this was something credible. Truth is, there are a lot of infantiers here in Canada who are going to be extremely happy about this. I can't tell you how many times in my tours we were very, very, very happy to have the A-10 overhead, and how many times if not for what they were able to do... ...well... things would have been very difficult for a number of us. Thank you guys for answering my question. Cheers, Mark.

Ah, always changing... just going over the main wheels/landing gear, and the initial plan of a 3 piece wheel won't work. With the centre of the hubs between each side of the rim hollow, it looks like it'll need to be a brass rim with a resin tire. More to follow soon.

As a former infantier who loved what the A-10 and the crews did for us, I found this article pleasing. But, without stirring the pot with opinions, can I ask you all whether this is in fact true? http://www.jqpublicblog.com/congress-issues-air-force-sharp-rebuke-bars-a-10-retirement/ Thank you. Mark.

Thank you guys for the fantastic advice. I really appreciate you all taking the time to help out with this. Cheers, Mark.

Oh, how I miss home looking at those photographs.

Thank you. This here is the resin I was thinking of using. Thoughts? http://www.sculpturesupply.com/detail.php?id=796552&sf=subcategory&vl=Smooth+Cast+322&cat=Liquid+Plastics

Yes, there are some incredible details on a number of resin parts out there. By concern though comes from many of these being made in a manner that involves many more pieces and tools than I currently have. Without the use of vacuum pots, or pressure pots, and having just the pour technique available to use, I'm worried about partial castings or bubbles rearing their ugly heads.

Folks, I'm going to start making masters for some of the parts I plan on casting in resin for my 1/48 CP-140 Aurora. The larger parts (like spinners, landing gear wheels, and so on) aren't much of a concern with this question. But for pour casting smaller details, how small is too small, and would best be left to adding scratch built pieces afterwards? A good example would be the rims of the tires for example. I plan each wheel being 3 parts; the main rubber, and each rim half. On these rims are nuts and bolts that would be cast at about 1mm or so. Would it be realistic to make these on

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I keep coming back to this one. The photography and model work in the first few images are just amazing. The shadows, the texture of the skin, everything just comes together to really make this build look like the real thing. Superb!

Absolutely stunning build coupled with a really moving subject/story. Thank you for sharing this one. With the weathering and other details you added, I really believe you nailed it.

Interesting photograph. It also appears (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the insignia on the fuselage of the green-nosed P-40N facing the camera does not have the red outline.

Bill, I like what you wrote there. The Il-2 I'm working on is fun, and I really enjoyed going at the cockpit and gunner position. But aside from flaps and a little scratch building to make it a photo-recce aircraft it is stock, because that was about all I was looking for. The Spitfire is an Eduard venture with seeing what can be made of their model. The Aurora on the other hand, that one is special for me for a number of reasons. Flying on the aircraft, wanting to scratch build, never having done any form of vac-form kits, and seeing what I can do, all those reasons are driving me with thi

Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it. This is definitely giving me a lot of good insight into what type of lathe I'll be looking at picking up. Thankfully for the next few projects I don't just need one yet, but soon... so I suppose it's time to start collecting the beans for a purchase in the future. Cheers, Mark.

Thank you everyone! I'm still looking at needing to have the custom set made for the Aurora, however for other projects these folks seem to offer a lot. It's a crying shame about HD, as they really seemed to be on the right track. I know I've got a couple sets from them (for the Spitfire) and am looking forward to using them. Nuts, I guess that's just how it goes. Cheers, Mark.

Much like others have said, if it can be seen, I'll throw everything I can at it. In the past, if it's an area that can offer a lot of interest and detail with the interior portions, but visible through a small window, I'd put lights in, or open up an extra hatch to get into there. Otherwise, no, if it can't be seen, it's not bothered with. Cheers, Mark.

Ahhhh, the classic "Bubble-Bubble Top" Canopy look! Yes. And that was a MiG? I thought it was a swing-wing from NASA with the Sabre being the chase plane. Huh, go figure. Learn something new every day ;)

Went to them to order all the tools I needed when I got back into the hobby. Not one single complaint to offer.

Looking at your Lanc, and now your B-17, All I can say is, YES! MORE! Mark.