Under my skin

There are some aspects of this hobby that I really dislike. Masking canopies is one of them, and so is making seat harnesses. My most intense loathing though is reserved for photo-etch. It can't be sanded, paint won't stick to it, it bends at the slightest touch and the tiniest parts launch themselves into oblivion. So it was with some trepidation that I accepted a request from the editor of Airfix Model World to build the Eduard 1/72 strip-down Fokker. Apart from styrene wing spars, cowl, prop and a few odds and ends, the kit is almost entirely photo-etched brass. Fortunately it's superbly engineered and the problems I had were all self-induced: folding parts back-to-front, and knocking the model off the workbench for example. I can't honestly say I enjoyed the build, but it did overcome some of my fear of photo-etch. The full article is in the August 2014 issue.

Japanese Hybrid

The trouble with writing a modelling blog is that, even if you're working on something almost every day, there really isn't much to report until a build reaches a significant stage, or it's finished. But this one's done, now: Dragon's 1/72 Ke-Nu. Like the real tank, Dragon's model is a hybrid of two of their Japanese armour kits, so there are lots of parts which don't get used. Everything went together really nicely. The DS tracks were great to work with and replicating the sag was very straightforward.

It was enjoyable to do an armour piece for a change, and it was equally nice to have the build published in the July issue of Airfix Model World. The magazine has quite specific writing criteria that took some getting used to, but they're a joy to work with – very professional, plus they actually pay in a timely manner. (Since I'm still waiting for several payments for articles published in SAMI, the earliest dating back to the September 2013 issue, I'm finding little motivation to write for them any more)