Big Kev

Another quick update, though I have spent most of the week so far scribing, patching, scribing, filling, scribing, sanding... I tried to add some detail to the cowling by scribing the latches, and also the panel line that separates the forward section from the aft: You'll also notice in that photo the replacement reinforcement straps on the aft portion of the wing root. The next photo shows my attempt to scribe the prominent under-fuselage hatch. I have drawings showing this as both a near-perfect circle, and a more squared-off shape with rounded corners. Since I wasn't sure which interpr

Can't help you with your decal question (though I'm sure there'd be some about), but Airfix did indeed go bankrupt a while ago (12-18 months?), but have been bought and resurrected by Hornby. Hornby has promised to honour the release schedule as it stood at the time of Airfix's bankruptcy, and re-release many of their old kits. Even more promisingly, I've heard that they're keen to permanently retire a lot of the old (read: crap) moulds that Airfix has been recycling for decades. Others will know more. Kev

Some more progress today. I've added brake lines to the undercarriage legs and primed them. I've also primed the airframe ready for fixing the inevitable flaws (the most obvious one being the seam still partly visible on the port fuselage side near the engine). The top received two light coats of Mr Surfacer 1000 out of a rattle can: Unfortunately the underside only got one coat before the can emptied out The gear legs aren't great, but neither am I as a modeller, so they'll do. Hopefully they'll look OK once they're painted and weathered: Looking much better than it was in the pre

Wow, nice room. I'm jealous! Kev

Thommo - try heating a pin or metal rod with the candle instead, and then quickly passing that along the length of your sprue - it's safer and more reliable (you have more control). I generally use elastic thread these days (something called 'Knitting-in-elastic' or some such I believe). It can be attached with super glue, but will bend if you bump or knock it. Kev EDIT Sorry Thommo, I didn't read your post properly - I see now that's exactly what you're doing.

Thanks ChernayaAkula. Yes, much filling and sanding, and not over yet! I've almost given up on this kit a few times, but keep returning to it. I've seen a couple of masterpieces made from it, and just discovered this thread over at LSP today: Fw 190D-9 on LSP Wow, makes me want to bin mine now and move on! Oh well, hopefully more pics soon. Kev

Looking good Hazmatt! Kev

Not sure if you mean which Gunze paint, or which brand of acrylic. You certainly can't thin lacquer-based or enamel paints with water! I believe you can thin Gunze Aqueous paints with water, but I don't do so myself. Not sure about other brands. My question is, can you use straight tap water, or does it need to be distilled? Kev

This kit is the old Revell tooling from the late '60s or early '70s. I've had it in my stash for about 15 years I guess. I probably bought it not long after its 1990 re-release in the Lone Eagles boxing (it had a copyright stamp of 1990 embossed on the outside of one of the elevators!). I guess I'm about half-way through it, though struggling a bit at the moment. I sanded off all the rivets and have been slowly rescribing it, though I'm not sure how to tackle the rounded hatches and panels yet (I don't have any of the ready-made etched templates). As well as my first real attempt to detail

Wow, I never thought of that! I've got one of the Revell Contacta bottles with a blocked application tube, and had given up on ever freeing it up. Thanks for that tip! Kev

Any wound string will do the job. These come in various sizes, but usually in sets with their unwound brothers - I'm not sure if they're sold individually these days. On a normal steel-stringed guitar, you would have 3 of each (low E, A & D wound; G, B and high E unwound). I always buy my strings in balanced sets, with a high E at .009", and a low (wound) E at .042" (otherwise known colloquially as '9 to 42'). I have to confess that I don't really know what gauges the other 4 strings are, but I wouldn't use 0.42", as it looks way too thick for most model scales to me. Whatever gauge consti

Wow, I thought for a minute I was seeing 48th scale at least! Nice work on the air brakes. Kev

That's just a guy thing - we always add an extra half-inch Anyway, apparently it is actually 5.5". Kev

Only a couple? I know it's only a bit of fun, but the only thing it's testing is how much bulls**t you know, not how smart you are. Thomas Edison wouldn't have had a clue who was US President at the end of WW2, or what the hell "Pakistan" even is, let alone what they speak. True IQ tests are more about solving logic puzzles than information regurgitation, and they do their best to eliminate cultural biases, but in the end there is no real way to quantify a person's intelligence (or lack thereof). I'm still miffed about getting 26 twice in a row though! /off Kev

You'll have to upload your images to a third-party host and link to them. There's a note about image attachments being disabled at the top of every forum page (every page that lists topics that is - not the actual message pages like this one). Kev

I scored 26. Both times. Kev

Cool. Saves me buying it from you on eBay later on ;) I was on the lookout for civil stuff, but there was better bargains to be had at the retail stands in the main event (heaps of Minicraft kits for $15), but of course I'd done my budget at the swap & sell by then - only just had the $8 left to get in! Can't see why you didn't win any prizes either - they look as good as the others in the photos. But then hey, my Caravelle didn't look too bad in the photos either! If I enter next year, I'm sure I'll be the one skulking off with the non-prize-winners. Gotta finish something else between

Thanks for the photos Ray - I definitely didn't see many of the ones in your shots. Most peeved about missing the Concorde in person! I've got the Revell kit winging its way to me (snicker) as we speak. Also picked up a Trumpeter Il-76 at the swap & sell - looks awesome in the box. Kev

Tony - I saw this kit in person today at Expo. Congratulations on your third place! The number of airliners there was disappointing however. Maybe I'll have something ready (and acceptable!) by next year. Kev

Ah, the Heyford. I actually won one when I was a teenager (and they were new!) in the only model competition I've ever entered - run by the toy department of the local department store of the country town I grew up in! I have no idea what happened to it, other than that I never built it. Kev

One of the things I loved about Matchbox was their subject choices. Sure, many of their kits weren't great, but even today they're the only game in town if you want to build a particular subject, and the Wellesley is a great example. Modern kit manufacturers seem to stick closer to the 'mainstream' (and I'm not even going to attempt to define that!) than ever. You don't see this one built too often, so I'm looking forward to seeing it done. Kev

I saw yours on Hyperscale recently Mike - very nicely done. Contemplating the same scheme for mine, but I think I like the Cirrus Aviation one more. Haven't seen one built in that livery yet. Kev

That's turned out fantastically well. Love the scheme too. I only hope mine looks as good when it's done! Kev

That's some crazy artwork on that thing! Looking forward to seeing your progress Jelle, especially with the decals! Kev

Wow, that looks fantastic! It seems the Challenger is flavour of the month at the moment - Tony P is building one ( http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....=114913&hl= ) and I'm about to start mine. Tony's doing an RAAF version and I'll be going OOB. You've set the standard though! (How did you get that slightly metallic blue effect?) Kev