Plastic Modelers in the IL-2 Community

[DD_FT-]

4 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Nice work!   That’s an excellent reference shot of the Swordfish.  I’ve never seen that dimpled area just behind the wing root before.  I wonder if that is on the original aircraft?

Thanks.

I guess it is part of it. Difficult to tell, as that part might mostly be obstructed from view by the lower wing...

[ZachariasX]

4 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Nice work!   That’s an excellent reference shot of the Swordfish.  I’ve never seen that dimpled area just behind the wing root before.  I wonder if that is on the original aircraft?

It needs that cavity to have room to fold the wings back.

 

See, someone completed what I think is the very same kit and opted for folded wings:

 

You can see how close the trailing edge of the wing gets to the fuselage. The model doesn‘t show the seam from rigging the canvas to the fuselage, I guess that is ok. But definitely you could add?

 

[von_Tom]

8 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Nice work!   That’s an excellent reference shot of the Swordfish.  I’ve never seen that dimpled area just behind the wing root before.  I wonder if that is on the original aircraft?

 

One of my pics from Duxford 2012.  Unedited save for cropping.

 

Click on the pic for a larger image.

 

von Tom

Edited December 15, 2020 by von_Tom

[DD_FT-]

Ha, I think Duxford 2012 inspired me to put those men in... that way.

A squadmate took below picture, I was there and then as well \/ 

 

 

[XQ_Lothar29]

Modeling friends, this year 2020 has been Bad, no, very Bad !!.
Today, to end this Damned year, we only needed the tragedy that in my view, for modeling lovers, is a Very Tragic News.
Eduard's Warehouse in the Czech Republic, has burned for much of the day.
They leave Eduard without Material, Until they start producing again.
At the moment your online store is closed until further notice

 

Link to Eduard facebook Homepage:https://www.facebook.com/EduardCompany

 

some photos of the whole day, until the fire has been extinguished:

 

 

 

 

 

And the official Eduard store, as you can see, is totally out of order.

My Christmas shopping stays in the smoke.

 

The important thing after all is that you do not have to regret any injuries.

 

Much encouragement to Eduard, a company in my view, with very professional work and an unbeatable price quality.

 

[40plus]

That is heart breaking news. ?

[ZachariasX]

So... after about a quarter of a century away from plasic modelling, I'm trying to teach the kids. Today those darn iPads are everywhere and just drumming the glass is good for nothing. Why not learning to be somewhat constructive and learn to paint decently?

 

 

At least they like aircraft. Here, at the museum there is inspiration to be found. A-99, the only all original and flyable Storch left here and poor HB-HOP who will never fly again. The last remaining flyable Ju-52 is in Friedrichshafen now, to where Junkers also relocated. It will receive P&W engines. The media didn't take it well that the last round of spares for the BMW radials came from glacier finds.

 

Now, both of these aircrafts are by no means beginner items for plastic modellers.

 

 

The Morane is a better choice I figured. The Museum shop also has a Czech 1/72 kit of that. RS Modells. Never heard of that. I think that kit has about my age. But be it. The Tamiya 109G-6 kit didn't have Swiss decals. I took the chances.

 

 

That kit is super odd. It has parts for many Morane variants but the parts are not very detailed. All parts require lots of work to remove molding rims etc. But then.. those parts hardly fit together. It has few parts, that is what I wanted, but if they don't fit, that requires a lot of nerve. Especially when you are trying to get an 8 year old to do the fitting. ("Yes, you need to do more sanding.. there.. and there... and there...") I figured it was better when we shared work. There is only so much you can ask from someone who just wants to join fuselage and wings and then off for play.

 

 

Painting the parts on the sprue is easy, but goes against the whole nature of a boy. Sheer desperation when fitting the parts and the "I hold, you tape" (and vice versa) but eventually it works well. But that really asks for patience. I was surprised how long he had the nerve to do that. We managed.

 

Masking the canopy also took some time. I do one, you do... etc. After doing every panel at least twice and leaving more scratches on the glass than strictly necessary, it turned out far better than I thought it would.

 

 

I truly suck at paint brushing. But I figured that I wanted a good look and got a cheapo airbrush, like $150 USD pistol and compressor. Most surprisingly it works. As a better spray can and nowhere as good as a decent one. After a light grey priming of the whole model (I kept the light grey as underside color) starts the masking. If your airbrush has the precision of a spray can, you better use lots of tape.

 

For colors I used the Revell aqua color acrylics. The idea of having a kid spraying around enamels, especially where the laundry is done as well didn't come across as a good idea. But it is the place with a ventilation. Doing acrylics seemed ok.

 

 

 

After some layers of green (needed to mix the moss green and the bronze green to get somewhere), the white. I refrained from getting the stripes on the fuselage as well. Too stripey and less to ask from a kid.

 

 

But he did surprisingly good. I mean, every tape you see here was aplied and removed about three times until we got it straight enough.

 

 

Although there are stickers for the cross, I felt it was more manly to cut the stencil and show him that how to do that. We traced an cut a lot of crosses from Tamiya paper until we got some that were ok'ish enough. But he managed.

 

The most difficult thing to learns is really how to hold the model such that you can work with it comfortably while not  dipping your elbow in your palette or kicking the kife off the table and make it stick in your foot. (The model took two blade tips, but no feet were hurt, surprisingly.)

 

 

Getting there. Masking tape removed, landing gear added. I think we put every part on about 5 times. But if I didn't lose my nerve, neither would he. The markings are not as perfect as if we had put on the stickers, but as long as the lines are straight, you get away with almost anything and it still looks ok.

 

 

About done.

 

The decals were a bit of a headache. "Put them in and count to 15, then take them out with the pincer and put the paper on the model next where you want your decal". Yeah. Of course I was fishing for that J-231 sticker that came off the paper. For good reson I soak them in a small flat dish. After he put them on it landed all shrivelled. It took a bit of a nerve and tons of "decal set" to get thet J-231 sticker back somewhat in order again. But the next decals were better. I used matte varnish as a base to put the stickers on and that was not a good idea. At the shop where I bought colors, they didn't have gloss spray and I didn't imagine the flat one to be that flat.

 

The antenna was fun. Heating sprue and pulling it is just what kids need to entertain themselves. Abusing Christmas decoration was not productive however. I was charmed that an old 60W light bulb has just the right temperature. With patience, it allowes for perfect heating if you slowly pulled it along the glass. It is cold enough for the plastic not to stick. Also pulling it along and around the bulb provides extremely even heating and it worked like a charm.

 

I did some chipping but no paneling yet, I would need a gloss varnish for that. The aircraft are rather shiny in real life, despite using flat colors. Without a clear coat, I cannot do the panelling and weathering.

 

But for the time being I am ok how it ended up. The original requirement was that it would look better then the pre-built plastic models you can buy in that scale. I consider that the bare minimum.

 

If I find a suitable varnish, I might get him to do some more work on that one. At least he was effin happy with it, he didn't expect the thing to turn out in such way. Next is a Corsair.

Spoiler

 

Compared to that Morane kit, I expect the parts to fit like Lego. They sure look great and clean on the sprue.

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by ZachariasX

[STN]

RS models does some decent kits. But most of them are "short runs"= lots of filling and sanding, not easy to put together. Definitely not something for children to get motivated.
Anyway, thumbs up for introducing the kids to the hobby.

[STN]

The flying toilet seat lives. Have to do some repairs though, the varnish was not hardened enough, when I tried to do some polishing.

[LukeFF]

@ZachariasX, that's great that you're getting your son into modeling. My dad got me into it at about the same age. We built a couple of RC cars together, plus some other odds and ends for my model railroad. And, all this reminded me that my dad has video of me at age 9 assembling a '56 Chevy model car (so, 1989). I uploaded the video years ago for an old neighborhood friend to watch, and after reading your reply tonight I remembered it was still there. ?

 

I still have that single-minded seriousness to this day, and I can tell I've passed that trait along to my son. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, as the saying goes. ?

 

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by LukeFF

[STN]

Lovely times. Reminds me of me being 8 -9 years old and putting together the MIG jets from Kovozavody. Colours? Who needs those. I remember putting a kit together in one afternoon ?

[csThor]

Drat! Was trying to airbrush a model last night, found out the seal on the nozzle of my Infinity is done for. The new one won't be here until Dec 30. 

[cardboard_killer]

Maybe a bit off topic, but it is modelling.

 

 

[Feathered_IV]

Black basing for the Pfalz silver-grey..  I scrubbed like I was prepping for surgery.

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Feathered_IV

[40plus]

Jiminey Cricket... The amount of miniscule detail you achieve Feathered never, and I mean never, ceases to amaze me. Well done.

 

I spent today finally painting out the 1:32 scale Mikulin AM-38 for my IL-2 kit... I'll post some pictures when it's close to done. I've decided to add some of the missing oil lines using lead wire.

[Feathered_IV]

Thank goodness the silver went on okay.  I used Mr Metal Colour Aluminium and gloss white, with a few extra drops of clear gloss to help bind the metal particles.  The silver-grey is a strange colour, in that it can look very dark in some lights and really quite bright in others.  Hopefully what I've got is a reasonable base for some washes and subtle weathering later on.

 

I bought some 1/144 crosses some time ago from a company called Mark I.  Most of them are not fit for purpose as the white outlines are well out of register.  I hoped I could at least trim one pair down to a consistent width for the tail of Hecht's machine.  Then I realised any I stuffed up could be used as a 2nd chance to make the plain black crosses for the Buddecke D.IIIa.  I decided to give it a try and it seemed to work.  Providing I had enough magnification and a sharp enough scalpel.  Speaking of magnification: I just now took a broken pair of cheap arse 6x reading glasses and stuck them onto the front of another 6x pair.  I now have access to 12x magnification...  Look out world!  

 

Here's a shot of the two little terrors reclining on the decal couch.  From this angle they look like a couple of lazy Fokkers. 

 

 

[XQ_Lothar29]

Hello fellow hobbyists and simulators.
I hope you like the work that I have come to present.

It is an Academy 1:72 -B17 F "Memphis Belle"
The photos go from the beginning, opening the box, until almost the end! I am only missing 3 details, which have to be finished tonight.
So when the varnish dries, I can start to finish the little mud effects under the wing and in the wheel arch. Tomorrow, she starts a little trip to her new owner's house.

I wish you like this express work

 

Work in progress, step by step. Images 79

they are not in order

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok here I leave images of the current state, along with the base.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I only had 3 weeks to do it. so I have not been able to do more details.

 

I hope you like it.

 

 

[Feathered_IV]

Lovely shading Lothar!  That will look amazing under the flat coat.

 

Got some more done on the first Pfalz too.  It's looking very 109-ish with that yellow nose.

 

[40plus]

2 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

It's looking very 109-ish with that yellow nose.

 

Pfalz did it before it was cool.

[Lusekofte]

2 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Lovely shading Lothar!  That will look amazing under the flat coat.

 

Got some more done on the first Pfalz too.  It's looking very 109-ish with that yellow nose.

 

How is it possible? To make them so small? If I pick up that matchstick, I probably break it. Lego is too small for me, I have to use Duplo

[Feathered_IV]

28 minutes ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

How is it possible? To make them so small?

 

I don't know.  Mostly its a good set of drawings, an accurate way of measuring and a bit of magnification.  A stressful work environment really helps too.

[HappyHaddock]

7 hours ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

How is it possible? To make them so small? If I pick up that matchstick, I probably break it. Lego is too small for me, I have to use Duplo

 

As a fellow micro-modeller who has worked down to 1/2500th scale  it's not so much the scale of Feathered_IV's work that impresses me, but I will admit to a sneaking admiration to the precision and tidiness of all he makes in 1/144th scale... there's a level of craftsmanship that surpasses what I expect of most model makers that crosses into that of a watchmaker.

 

I'm sure the man himself will confirm  or deny this, but I suspect, both from the standard of his work and previous comments he has made that he either is, or was, a goldsmith/silversmith involved in making fine jewellery?

 

Myself I'm facing the pretty daunting prospect of having just signed contracts to scratch build a massive 1/1000th scale project (if that's not a mutually incompatible description for a tiny scale model that is to be bigger than a full size double bed?). This looks set to dominate my working  life (and evenings and weekends?) for the next several months. I know full well that my biggest challenge will be to keep cranking out more new content every day rather than get carried away detailing and refining previous parts the way I would if it were a private project for myself.... This will be one of the very few occasions I have allocated part of the  client's budget to formally breaking a project down into it's hundreds of component parts and detailing these across a complex spreadsheet describing exactly how many hours I can afford to spend on each part so as to stay on schedule and budget.  There's simply too much scope for gut instinct and my natural tendencies to lead me astray.  Heck I have already had it written into the contract that I could spend their entire budget and deadline researching their project with no guarantee of finding enough period images and plans to make accurate models of every component part they want the project to include! Taking an extra hour or two to just make one thing a little better isn't a problem when it is just an hour or two. However multiply that up over many hundreds of component parts and pretty soon you are months behind schedule, the budget has gone out of the window and you are dealing with an angry client who needed to meet a deadline...

 

Within the terms of the non disclosure agreement I'll try share one or two images once I get started since I know a few have expressed interest in the little things I make. In the mean time, whilst it's not as neat and tidy as Feathered-IV's work, here's a pair of images  I may or may hot have shared before of a previous 1/1000th scale scratch built aviation model and a larger 1/144th scale version of the same subject.

 

HH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by HappyHaddock

[ZachariasX]

Question to the pro‘s here, what kind of varnish do you apply as a finishing for smaller plastic models, like 1/72 scale?

 

I‘m asking because real aircraft, although (often) painted in flat colors are rather shiny when polished (museum grade). A matte finish is usually way too flat and take away the shine of a polished surface.

 

Usually I applyed just a thin single coat of glossy varnish by airbrush. As my boys like how the Morane turned out, I got them to build another one each. Airbrushing enamel based varnish is not something you have kids that are less than 10 years old to do, so it has to be the brush and this is usually making the surface more glossy. That‘s not a bad thing, they like them that way (and that is all that matters), but I was wondering how you guys do the finishing after applying dirt/weathering and chipping.

 

We are in the finishing stages getting the Revell Spit Vb and the Corsair (both these 1/72 Level 3 kits) done, cutting corners on every step that does not immediately show progress. Making a model and making kids do a model can be very different things at times. I guess I spent half of the building time under the desk with a flashlight looking for things like a control column or hub caps after handing them over held on tweezers...

[Feathered_IV]

 

23 hours ago, HappyHaddock said:

I'm sure the man himself will confirm  or deny this, but I suspect, both from the standard of his work and previous comments he has made that he either is, or was, a goldsmith/silversmith involved in making fine jewellery?

 

Good guess.  I've been a gold & silversmith for about 25 years.  There isn't a lot of crossover in techniques, but you do get to borrow some very handy tools.

Got the decals trimmed last night while bingeing yet another season of Dr Who on streaming tv (I'm a late convert and had no idea it was so good).  Tried a test fit of the upper wing today too.  Bring on FC2.

 

[HappyHaddock]

11 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

Question to the pro‘s here, what kind of varnish do you apply as a finishing for smaller plastic models, like 1/72 scale?

 

I‘m asking because real aircraft, although (often) painted in flat colors are rather shiny when polished (museum grade). A matte finish is usually way too flat and take away the shine of a polished surface.

 

Usually I applyed just a thin single coat of glossy varnish by airbrush. As my boys like how the Morane turned out, I got them to build another one each. Airbrushing enamel based varnish is not something you have kids that are less than 10 years old to do, so it has to be the brush and this is usually making the surface more glossy. That‘s not a bad thing, they like them that way (and that is all that matters), but I was wondering how you guys do the finishing after applying dirt/weathering and chipping.

 

We are in the finishing stages getting the Revell Spit Vb and the Corsair (both these 1/72 Level 3 kits) done, cutting corners on every step that does not immediately show progress. Making a model and making kids do a model can be very different things at times. I guess I spent half of the building time under the desk with a flashlight looking for things like a control column or hub caps after handing them over held on tweezers...

 

I always maintain the best materials or tools for any job are the ones you are most comfortable and familiar with. The fact somebody else can get good results working a particular way doesn't mean the same approach will suit you.

 

Myself I'm not a fan of any kind of varnish, and although I own three different airbrushes I try to avoid using them where I can. Pretty much all my work is done with fine paintbrushes using a mixture of acrylics, inks and chalk pastels. That said I don't really work the way most modelers do. I come from a fine art background  (well actually I trained as a theoretical physicist but went on to become a museum conservator before going full time with my miniature arts/crafts) so I don't so much view painting models as accurately colouring in 3D technical drawings one part or layer at a time, more a case of painting pictures on 3d canvases. In many cases I am painting "wet on wet", so crude as it may seem it may be the primer or undercoat that is binding on the chalk weathering. The approach may sicken many model makers but working professionally you pick up too many bad habits. If I do feel a need to seal a model I tend to favour  magnolia emulsion paint from the DIY store heavily dissolved in wax floor polish. In the tiny scales I often work in it adds a final subduing finish, not so much to "weather" the model to suggest dirt, age or damage, but to "hue down" contrasts to give more a of a "scale colour" effect to simulate atmospheric haze and distance that otherwise makes vibrant subject look small and subdued at distance.

 

As for making models with kids... that's much like making models professionally... it's not about the quality of work you are capable of, it's about how many corners you can cut to get the job done quickly. I love the rare commissions for wealthy collectors that really don't care what a job costs or how long it takes, they just want you to impress them.

 

HH

 

 

38 minutes ago, Feathered_IV said:

 

Good guess.  I've been a gold & silversmith for about 25 years.  There isn't a lot of crossover in techniques, but you do get to borrow some very handy tools.

 

 

My own experiences with  jewellery work are pretty limited and come from work as an experimental archaeologist  studying and trying to replicate the work of early medieval smiths which is as much about trying to replicate the errors and faults inherent in primitive techniques as in trying to overcome them... all the more so when a museum client wants a replica piece in an "as excavated" condition rather than as new a thousand years ago. Much as I've got in my workshop digital furnaces and kilns, wax injectors and all manner of other modern kit for lost wax casting... you learn a heck of a lot as a craftsman working over a charcoal forge with beeswax, horse dung and clay.

 

I may be one of the few model makers alive who can claim to have refined and made their own sheet metal from raw ore dug out of the ground, not because it was beneficial or necessary, but because I wanted to see if I could!  So, as you say you do get to borrow some very handy tools when it comes to model making... that said my "hobby" is learning new craft techniques something I can pretty much write off as business expenses as I make a point of never sub-contracting out any aspect of my work, anything I need I do in-house myself. Consequently  over the last few decades I've amassed the kind of workshop that would be the envy of many an amateur model maker.

 

Cheers

 

HH

 

 

 

 

[Hoots]

59 minutes ago, HappyHaddock said:

 

I always maintain the best materials or tools for any job are the ones you are most comfortable and familiar with. The fact somebody else can get good results working a particular way doesn't mean the same approach will suit you.

 

Myself I'm not a fan of any kind of varnish, and although I own three different airbrushes I try to avoid using them where I can. Pretty much all my work is done with fine paintbrushes using a mixture of acrylics, inks and chalk pastels. That said I don't really work the way most modelers do. I come from a fine art background  (well actually I trained as a theoretical physicist but went on to become a museum conservator before going full time with my miniature arts/crafts) so I don't so much view painting models as accurately colouring in 3D technical drawings one part or layer at a time, more a case of painting pictures on 3d canvases. In many cases I am painting "wet on wet", so crude as it may seem it may be the primer or undercoat that is binding on the chalk weathering. The approach may sicken many model makers but working professionally you pick up too many bad habits. If I do feel a need to seal a model I tend to favour  magnolia emulsion paint from the DIY store heavily dissolved in wax floor polish. In the tiny scales I often work in it adds a final subduing finish, not so much to "weather" the model to suggest dirt, age or damage, but to "hue down" contrasts to give more a of a "scale colour" effect to simulate atmospheric haze and distance that otherwise makes vibrant subject look small and subdued at distance.

 

As for making models with kids... that's much like making models professionally... it's not about the quality of work you are capable of, it's about how many corners you can cut to get the job done quickly. I love the rare commissions for wealthy collectors that really don't care what a job costs or how long it takes, they just want you to impress them.

 

HH

 

 

 

My own experiences with  jewellery work are pretty limited and come from work as an experimental archaeologist  studying and trying to replicate the work of early medieval smiths which is as much about trying to replicate the errors and faults inherent in primitive techniques as in trying to overcome them... all the more so when a museum client wants a replica piece in an "as excavated" condition rather than as new a thousand years ago. Much as I've got in my workshop digital furnaces and kilns, wax injectors and all manner of other modern kit for lost wax casting... you learn a heck of a lot as a craftsman working over a charcoal forge with beeswax, horse dung and clay.

 

I may be one of the few model makers alive who can claim to have refined and made their own sheet metal from raw ore dug out of the ground, not because it was beneficial or necessary, but because I wanted to see if I could!  So, as you say you do get to borrow some very handy tools when it comes to model making... that said my "hobby" is learning new craft techniques something I can pretty much write off as business expenses as I make a point of never sub-contracting out any aspect of my work, anything I need I do in-house myself. Consequently  over the last few decades I've amassed the kind of workshop that would be the envy of many an amateur model maker.

 

Cheers

 

HH

 

 

 

 

 

This is truly fascinating! You have had (and still have) a wonderful career and life by the sound of it. I love historical manufacturing but am not at all good at anything involving finesse and lack the tools and time to make things from scratch. Wooden boat kits are my downfall, I love them but they take soooooo long as I can't devote enough time to them.

 

[Feathered_IV]

Nice one!  New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art bizarrely has a gift shop here in Oz.  Me and Mrs F were browsing through there when she took a liking to a tiny gold pendant replicating a thing called a christogram.

 

 

It was a nasty cheap thing of low relief and very high cost.  I said as much and quick as a flash she said: make me one then.  ?

I walked right into that one. In the end I had to make three.  One for her, and one for her mother and sister. 

 

 

 

 

  

[Hoots]

The only problem with this thread is that I run out of reactions I can post almost immediately...

[HappyHaddock]

2 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

 

It was a nasty cheap thing of low relief and very high cost.  I said as much and quick as a flash she said: make me one then.  ?

I walked right into that one. 

 

 

Spare a thought for the poor sod who had to design the cheap tat that sells in museum gift shops.... I've done my fair share of pattern mastering for that sort of thing where you  have to create the masters from which a sweatshop in some developing nation then churns out hundreds of low quality cast copies a day.  You are wasting your time and money creating a high quality piece if the client won't pay for something decent that will  be more complex and cost them more to mass produce. It is an entirely different skill set intentionally making something that has to  meet very tightly defined "low standards" where "quality" work wouldn't be acceptable.

 

As for "requests from friends and family" I feel your pain on that one as I've been there many a time.... Most of my family are 1/12th scale doll's house miniaturists (if that's the correct term for such a large scale?) I've shot myself in the foot too many times in ending up making stuff for them because the market can't make a profit out of selling anything high quality.  Similarly when it comes to my wife and her/our love of historical re-enactment; I've ended up making so much for her because "....I know you can do so much better than the stuff I can buy at this, that or the other trade fair". You  make a rod for your own back when it actually comes to trying to surprise  a spouse with a "special gift" as you can never just  buy something, nor can you just take a few hours to make something simple once she has become used to getting simple things.

 

That said I did win some serious brownie points the time I tailored and hand embroidered her a reproduction Elizabethan corset... that she wasn't expecting!

 

HH

 

2 hours ago, Hoots said:

 

This is truly fascinating! You have had (and still have) a wonderful career and life by the sound of it. I love historical manufacturing but am not at all good at anything involving finesse and lack the tools and time to make things from scratch. Wooden boat kits are my downfall, I love them but they take soooooo long as I can't devote enough time to them.

 

 

Well people often say it must be great to have turned various hobbies into full time employment (or alternatively they look at my CV and claim I'm a delusional fantasist who couldn't possibly have done everything I claim), truth is whilst I do do all this through choice it is in no way the same as doing what you love for the enjoyment... by and large the things that generate the enjoyment are the same things that stop projects from being financially profitable!

 

As for wooden boats, years ago I used to care for a museum collection of 200 year old Napoleonic prisoner of war models of sailing ships which was interesting, and I have also done a little work pattern mastering for one or two manufacturers  who used to make kits of wooden boats. However at the other extreme I have been involved in not one, but two experimental archaeology projects building full size replica Viking  vessels; with a little stretch of the imagination you could claim I took the smaller of these out on the Irish sea, though in truth, although tidal water it was about as inland and sheltered  a coastal a location as you could find. As far as I am aware the second and larger boat I designed still hasn't been completed by the group in charge of the project, though I did produced  replica woollen textiles for their sailcloth so they wouldn't   have to use more a modern hemp/canvas sail.

 

HH

Edited January 2, 2021 by HappyHaddock

[Cybermat47]

2 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Nice one!  New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art bizarrely has a gift shop here in Oz.  Me and Mrs F were browsing through there when she took a liking to a tiny gold pendant replicating a thing called a christogram.

 

 

Your wife wants to march on Rome, depose the Emperor Maxentius, and replace Roman paganism with Christianity?

 

[Buglord]

Happy New Year all. i was going to crack on with the latest part on my project but the washing machine decided to leak everywhere so trying to fix that at the moment. Happy 2021 fellow plastic crafters...

[Hoots]

2 hours ago, [Pb]Cybermat47 said:

 

Your wife wants to march on Rome, depose the Emperor Maxentius, and replace Roman paganism with Christianity?

 

Well, it’s the start of the weekend, good to have a goal set. 

[ZachariasX]

Finally got the Spit and the Corsair together. This was indeed abit of a different approach as every step had to be one that produced results. Kids are very keen on playing with the thing after every step. This makes me repairing and tweaking details on my own after every session.

 

 

The kits are rather nice and it is obvious that Revell uses sprues that contain all possible variants. It's just the individual packet that narrows down the type. Some smaller sprues are obviously exchanged. First, washing the parts.

 

Second is painting insides and small parts on the sprue. Kids are really good at that (although they tend to paint in "larger scales". Problem arises when one finds out the other is better at painting. Huge problem. Then you fix that problem eventually and touch up some of the parts.

 

After that (and a having good break) assembly starts. That is easy, holding small parts with the tweezers is not.

 

 

Took us a while to get to this stage. It's incredible how far small parts can fly off tweezers. I know every detail of my floor now.

 

 

As for the immediate results requirements, I had them airbrush the Revell Aqua Color directly on the plastic. After a masking orgy on the Spit we got the camo on that one, first the bottom light grey, then top all grey, then masking the camo and the green. Then the leading edges, but by paintprush. Same goes for propellers. Then wheels, prop, antennae etc. got assembled. It had to have an antenna wire, they liked that on the Morane. So, antenna it is. I just took a thin thread. Two layers of paint each, you can spray over after 10-15 min. These colors are very handy, but having them such that they make a perfect finish is VERY hard. A far cry from the enamels.

 

 

Almost finished. Did some paneling, then added a thin layer of gloss cote with the brush, then the decals. I had them do the larger ones, but it took a bit of an effort from my side to even out the shrivelled ones. Next is another layer of gloss cote on the decals and the dirt makeup to fingerproof the model.

 

In all, it was a big success, as they really like their planes. And that is all that matters.

 

They were rather enjoyable builds. The parts fit fairly well and they do so usually at the right angles. Not at all like the RS Model Morane.

 

It really has been years since I did the last model before the Morane, but it came rather easy as I always had an idea on how to improvise after messing up things. Looking at how kids do it for their first times, the main challenges are really not building, glueing or painting. It is more like:

 

Can I reliaby place things where they are both at hand and I do not kick them off the table with the elbow?

Can I place a palette where I can conveniently work it with my brush but I don't put my hands/arm/fingers in it while painting?

Can I hold the model such that while I work it, my hands are neither in the light nor in my view?

Can I work such that my hands, fingers and the place stay clean?

 

I very much admire @XQ_Lothar29's build. A B-17 is a lot of work to get right and he does so in a very cramped space. You really must master your fingers if you can make such a beautiful work like that, there is no room for error. I have to clear and clean the desk after each step, else it will be a disaster.

 

I guess for a next model I let the older one build all by himself. He may or may not do paint jobs, I don't care. I never did at his age. I remember myself going to the local shop and buy one of these Matchbox 1/72 kits for CHF 6.90 at the time (like half the nominal price they sell now for; CHF and USD are about 1:1) and patched them  together and put stickers on. It took me a while to get through the fuss and and put on the colors by myself. Real paintjobs I learned from building RC airplanes. Turning a box full of wood and maybe a polyester frame into an aircraft required some more work. But before that I really didn't care so much about details like coloring.

 

I think I'll do one plastic model by myself later on as well. But then unmolested and I will not have to repair before a next building etappe. (They get airtime very soon.) I will also try out some different techniques. It will be just some experimenting. On that I have to thank you guys on your input. It is probably true that building these things, anything goes regarding procedures as long as you get what you want.

 

The great thing about plastic modelling is that if family sees you are at it, they don't feel free to interrupt you for whatever reason (like when you are in MP with IL2), you look as busy as you truly are. It's rather relaxing.

 

[THERION]

7 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

Kids are very keen on playing with the thing after every step. This makes me repairing and tweaking details on my own after every session.

 

Congratulations, mate, especially for your patience! I tried to do some models with my two sons, but alas it always ended up with me doing the models

and the kids in the meantime chose to play with their console or meet some other kids outside. Maybe I was too perfectionist or I didn't have patience,

but maybe my kids didn't have the patience too...

[ZachariasX]

47 minutes ago, THERION said:

Congratulations, mate, especially for your patience! I tried to do some models with my two sons, but alas it always ended up with me doing the models

and the kids in the meantime chose to play with their console or meet some other kids outside. Maybe I was too perfectionist or I didn't have patience,

but maybe my kids didn't have the patience too...

Thanks! I don't think it is any kids fault for not having too much of a nerve to do this hobby to a degree where you get remotely presentable results. Consoles and the likes are an unfair competition anyway.

 

What I found that works is when I prepare the individual building steps such that they can come, do that thing and then leave, doing whatever. This leaves at least about 2/3rds of the time to me for preparing, then touching up and cleaning tools and tidying up the desk myself. This means they get the thing together in relatively little on their own and what they are seeing is rapid progress. Every time they are finished, it is me sitting down touching up the things they did and I do take my time for that. These first planes are just to show them that it is easily possble to make far nicer ones than the ones they sell "finished". And the kids appreciate that. It takes a bit of a self esteem, only obtained by work done previously, to accept failing at what you are doing and happily try again. I try to get them there. In the end, I find it irrelevant how good it looks in the end as long as they have fun doing it.

 

Regarding patience... You hear the *click* when a part fies off the tweezers, somewhere, it's just "Everybody out!" and then you take your time finding that thing again. Also I wouldn't want them to clean the brushes etc. I want to use those tools again. I'll notice when they are trustworthy to tidy up the shop. That'll be in time. Till then, I'll have a better sleep when I know things are in order.

[HappyHaddock]

9 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

 

 ...to accept failing at what you are doing and happily try again. I try to get them there. In the end

 

 

I do (or at least did before the whole covid thing)  a lot of demonstration work and teaching at model making exhibitions and conventions and in many respects the above is an ideal I try to instill in all model makers regardless of age and skill.

 

Regardless of the level you work at there will always be people better than yourself and those worse, the only competition is with yourself. The only way to get better is to push yourself with challenges that you risk failing at, but to not get disheartened if that happens as you learn most from the biggest failures. 

 

The "hardest" part about working professionally is that you have to guarantee a client success within their budget and deadline and so you  are always having to work within your own capabilities, this is the very reason an amateur should  eventually be able to outperform a professional, an amateur can afford to take risks and try again and again until they get where they want to be.

 

keep up the good work with kids

 

HH

[STN]

...my spider sense is tingling

[Hoots]

8 hours ago, STN said:

...my spider sense is tingling

 

This design seems to be a classic case of "just because you can do something, it doesn't mean yo should..."

 

[STN]

Rigging done..... sorta kinda.... ?️

[40plus]

1 hour ago, STN said:

Rigging done..... sorta kinda.... ?️

 

When does the circus tent go on?