Revell Wellington Mk. X, stalled builds - failed to complete anything in December !

December 2012 is the first month for three years that I've failed to complete something - in fact I haven't done anything of note for nearly two months now. I had been tinkering with some stalled builds  in the hope of finishing something before the end of the year - but no such luck. My usual remedy for 'modellers block' -  a little and often - is not really working for the Airfix Sea Vixen. My effort has been in the works for two years now and no end in sight...I'm still sanding and filing the lower boom/flap join which has proved to a real pain - in fact I pulled the flaps back off to go back over the join with more filler. At least the area is primer-ed now. And I haven't broken off the arrestor hook yet ....

Still, the modelling is ticking over -  a part-started Revell (Matchbox) 1/72nd Wellington Mk. X is also back on the bench.. I remember now why I put this one back in the box - no cockpit or indeed any other details to speak of and loads of masking of the two turrets which in itself will take a couple of sessions. I've been attempting to blank over the fuselage windows and am looking to complete this one -soon- as a Polish 304 Sq Coastal Command machine..I'm not going to bother with the Eduard interior etch set for this one - I just need to get something finished-  but have put in a scratch instrument panel, a bulkhead and door from plasticard, a new control yoke and tarted up the pilots seat. Nor am I bothering with any internal geodetic structure..

I have also made an attempt to finish the Revell Junkers Ju 88 (1/72nd) -  here's the latest view. This one stalled after I completely messed up the white camo finish, but after putting it away to forget about it I'm quite liking the overall effect now -suitably distressed I think you'll agree. Just got to put on some KG 76 AIMs decals and this one is finished ! See you again in 2013 hopefully, when I'll be knocking out a few AZ Spitfire IXs....

Polish Mustangs (303 Squadron, AJ Press)

Airfix P-51 in 1:72nd scale finished with Freightdog resin parts as Mustang IVA of No. 303 Squadron. Finished in the markings of CO S/Ldr Witold Lokuciewski. Note scoreboard of 11 black crosses under the windscreen. Decals and inspiration from the superlative AJ Press 'Polish Mustang units' book in their 'Fighting Units in Color' series. Roundels and flashes and Aeroproducts prop decals from the Xtradecal Mustang Mk IV sheet. (to be added)

Super package - A4 decal sheet, colour profiles and full page photos, perfect for the modeller ..and only £12. The decals were a little tricky to apply though, being incredibly thin. Made a mess of two of them. No colour pictures in the book although I did discover a nice colour(-ised?) view of  Jakub Bargielowski's 303 Sq. PD-Y in Militaria XX magazine from Kagero. Below that, a view of the Freightdog resin louvred intakes. I've still not achieved a particularly good fit on these.

Airfix North American P-51 Mustang Mk.IV Gift set - GA-S 112 Sqd - second finish of the month!

 Just finished this one which is good as I've managed to snap the nozzle in my airbrush when trying to extract it for cleaning - won't do that again in a hurry! As before, the weak point of this brilliant little kit is the sliding canopy hood as a two part assembly comprising of a `solid’ plastic framework and a clear glazing bubble. Same applies to the windscreen - because of this extreme care must be taken when removing the clear parts from the sprue as any mistakes cannot be hidden later and the joint between the parts is very toy like. 

   


 After two coats of Dark Green disruptive camouflage the model had a couple of coats Klear applied ready to receive the decals. Unfortunately the decals provided by Airfix for GA-S have a few errors. The roundels for the fuselage and lower wings are good and were used, along with the sharks mouth and fin stripes. The kit decals include red and blue B Type roundels for the upper wing surfaces which should in fact be the late war C Type with the narrow white ring - these were sourced from the Italeri P-51 kit. The code letters for GA-S appear to be white which is correct, but the serial number KH774 is missing from the sheet altogether. Also missing is the small crocodile insignia which was applied to the left fin area of Mustangs painted by 159 MU, but this could be sourced from the decal sheet of the old Airfix Mustang kit. Note the so-called 'firewall' paint job on this 112 Sqd Mustang. An oil wash brings out some of the nice panel line detail, especially on the resin louvred intake from Freightdog which can be seen nicely in the view below. Also worth mentioning that Freightdog do corrected decals for this machine as well now, which I should really think about investing in as I have no manufacturers decal on my resin Aeroproducts 'uncuffed' prop....you can click on the images to get in a little closer if you've a mind to..cheers, thanks for looking  and see you soon..

Zvezda Bf 109 F-2 in 1/72 - (4)

Nearly finished the Zvezda Friedrich, here in the markings of 'weisse 12' flown by nine-victory ace Ltn. Karl Vockelmann of 7./ JG 53. I have still to add a hint of exhaust staining and some stencils. Decals were taken from a variety of spare Academy and MSAP sheets. Vockelmann was reported MIA on 19.5.43 after Luftkampf. The Zvezda Friedrich kit was a little pricey and a little short on detail options compared to, say, the recent new Airfix Emil - no poseable flaps, aileron mass balances or separate rudder for example. Fit was indifferent and the large locating lugs on the canopy spoilt the overall effect - the model looks a little toy-like I think.

Airfix North American Mustang Mk.IV Gift set (2)

My good friend Tony O'Toole's lovely RAF Mustang IV features in the latest issue of Airfix Model World. Tony kindly sent me a few pics and colour details to help me with my own build, which I've incorporated along with the Freightdog resin update set..

The pic below depicts the subject of the Airfix kit - North American Mustang Mk.IVa, KH774 coded GA-S of 112 Squadron whilst based in Italy during late 1945, showing the side profile of its uncuffed Aeroproducts propeller to advantage. The louvred breather intakes on the side of the lower cowl, common to many RAF Mustang Mk.IV`s and IVa`s, are available for the kit from the Freightdog resin update set- like the Aeroproducts propeller these are not provided in the Airfix Gift set boxing.

 Note the camouflage finish is not at all as indicated on the Airfix gift set boxing - the model (and the real aircraft) is wearing the so called `Firewall’ camouflage scheme of Ocean Grey, Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey.  On the real machine this was applied by 159 Maintenance Unit (MU) in Italy and is thought to have adorned only 20 or so late war Mustangs. `Firewall’ refers to the fact that the colour demarcation line between the green and grey on the nose runs directly in line with the engine firewall. Most of the aircraft in this scheme were delivered to 239 Wing in Italy (especially 3 Squadron RAAF and 112 Squadron RAF) and as well as having smaller 6in serials - not included in the kit - they could also be identified by a small `Crocodile’ insignia painted onto the left hand side of the fin, just above the fin flash. The spinner of this aircraft was originally red, as this was the wartime theatre marking for the Mediterranean area but following the end of hostilities this was changed to the much paler colour seen in the photo (note how much lighter it is compared to the red in the roundel and shark mouth) which is thought to be the light blue adopted by 239 Wing at this time. 

Euromilitaire 2012 - more pictures!

In the absence of much new from me I'm sure you'd be interested in taking a look at some of the highlights of this weekend's Euromilitaire show held in Folkestone, Kent, England, now in its 27th year. Euromilitaire is the premier show for armour and figure modellers, no doubt about it, and the models on display are usually on another level altogether. However it did seem that the number of competition entries and general attendance were well down this year - perhaps the organisers will blame the sunny weather for today's poor turn-out. Or perhaps the 10 quid (GBP) entry fee has something to do with it!.. Enjoy the pics and apologies for their quality - as usual the main competition hall was particularly dark with the models being displayed well away from the large bay windows in Folkestone's leading exhibition venue over-looking the English Channel.  Personal fave was the 32nd scale crash-landed Heinkel He 111 with wounded crew..brilliant work. I'm sure much better pics of these models will be appearing in some magazine or other soon..I'll be putting up more pics over the course of the coming week... You can click on the images to move in close and/or see the full picture ! 

First up, 'Best in Show' 

More from previous Euromilitaire shows on this blog
http://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/euromilitaire-2010.html