Summer Blues

As we approach the beginning of September it's alarming to me that my last blog post was at the end of March; five months later I'm still in the same state of modelling lethargy. Over the last few months I've barely touched plastic, which I can attribute to various factors. Firstly, it just feels downright wrong to head downstairs to the bench in the basement while my wife's on the deck in the hot sunshine... Secondly, I'm feeling burnt out after a few years of intensive article writing, working to deadlines and cataloguing every stage – I enjoy it, but it can begin to feel more like work than recreation. Thirdly, several (though fortunately not all) of the forums that I used to visit on a daily basis for inspiration seem to have been taken over by snide, cynical, short-fused posters. And now the English Premier League is on TV again, how am I supposed to get any building done at weekends?

The last completion, back in February, was an Airfix 1/72 Curtiss Helldiver. Any rational person wanting a SB2C model would have started with the beautifully engineered, reasonably priced, readily available, highly accurate Academy kit. In my defense I was asked by the editor of Airfix Model World to build the old 1968 kit (albeit in a new box with lovely decals). To be honest, I probably derived more enjoyment/satisfaction from updating this old beast than I would have from building the state-of-the-art Academy kit, although the latter would undoubtedly have been way more accurate and a nicer model. The full build article has just been published in the September issue of AMW.

Slow March

March has not been a prolific modelling month, my 'real' job having kept me away from the bench for the last few weeks. However I did find time to create a new site for displaying finished models; my first attempt using WordPress. It's at:-

www.migrantmodelpix.com

I'll continue to use this site for blogging purposes, at least for the time being and assuming I can find time to actually build something...

Feeling Snarky

This is the re-released old Revell Snark, box-scale approx 1/81. Biggest task was sanding off all the rivets and raised decal-placement mouldings. Revell provide white decal stripes for the markings but I wasn't sure how well they'd fit so they were masked and painted. The build article is in this month's (March 2013) issue of Airfix Model World. 

Japanese paper planes

The Kayaba ram-jet fighter was very much an IJA '46 project, never proceeding beyond a single glider prototype. After the Eurofighter struggle I needed something quick and simple and Meng's 1/72 kit(s) did the trick; two in a box, superb fit of parts, good surface detail and no accuracy questions to anguish over. Both schemes are spurious of course, I did the camo a/c straight from the box, but added a little more cockpit detail and some panel lines to the orange plane. They were published in the Dec 2012 issue of Tamiya Model Magazine International. Based on the quality of the Meng kit I ordered their 1/72 F-102, which is en route from HobbyLink Japan.

Last flight of the Eurofighter

It's been a while. Not because I've not been building, but the last few completions have been for a magazine which prefers its article subjects to be not posted publicly until the magazine has been published.

The 1/32 Eurofighter was finally finished, or at least to a stage where it could be shipped to the customer in the UK. Fragile sub-assemblies such as the undercarriage and weapons were left off for the client to attach himself. FedEx did its job and delivered the model safely and I was relieved to hear that my customer was extremely happy with the outcome – I'm just waiting for him to e-mail me some photos of the fully-assembled model.

Euro 2012 Part two

Work continues on the Revell 1/32 Eurofrighter. For a modern-tool kit released in the last 4 years it's a shockingly poor fit.

The wing-root on top; it's even worse on the underside.

The wing root trailing edge – not just a gap but a step as well.

Lots of filling and sanding required to achieve a smooth tail transition.

Besides the sloppy fit there are numerous sink marks all over the airframe, the slats and airbrake seem to be the worst affected:

The fit problems are further compounded by Revell offering a multitude of options: open/closed airbrake, extended/retracted step, extended/retracted refuelling probe, exposed/closed engine bay etc. The kit has clearly been designed to show these options 'open', but closing them leaves large gaps and steps. Because my client wants the model to represent an aircraft on the flightline, none of the exposed options are applicable (except for an open canopy). Progress is being made, but it's slow and tedious...

Euro 2012

Some years ago I built a 1/48 F-18 for a pilot, and at the beginning of May he contacted me again to request a build of the Revell 1/32 Eurofighter. Although it's neither a scale nor subject that I'd normally work in he offered me a fair price and I agreed. Along with the kit the client sent Aires resin sets for the cockpit, engines and wheel bays (with the stipulation that I was to use them only if it didn't create huge amounts of extra work). The aftermarket cockpit is so much nicer than the kit's that I felt obliged to use it, and it did fit without too much surgery.

Yet to be added are the joystick and HUD. The canopy/windscreen have a prominent seam line running their full length which was removed with sanding and polishing, followed by a dip in Pledge.