Plastic modeling and RC hobbies

[wheelsup_cavu]

9 hours ago, FurphyForum said:

NNOOooo... Naughty kitty.

100% right there with you.

 

Wheels

[Sea Serpent]

Ship is fine.  I wanted him in there for scale, and because he’s a cutie, but the photo session ended abruptly after that.  This model was probably made for younger hands and aspiring neurosurgeons, so it’s miraculous I actually completed it; I wasn’t going to let him tear it to pieces!

[gn728]

12 hours ago, Sea Serpent said:

2 days ago, finally complete...

Serpent - that is a really nice build. I didn't know Revell made a Flower in 144. I do remember, years ago Matchbox made one in 1/72, that thing was huge. Great work on yours....👍 

[Lothar29]

16 hours ago, Sea Serpent said:

A few months ago..

2 days ago, finally complete...

 

Today:

 

 

This photo will be the new meme of the modelers 🤣

PS: sorry little boat

[javelina]

I bought this kit on eBay about 20+ years ago, been meaning to build her at some point.  Maybe this summer, she'd look great cutting the waves in my pool.  I will do the RC conversion. 🙂 (I'm too lazy to take a pic of the model box that's sitting up in my garage storage bin, so I "borrowed" this pic for illustration purposes).

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by javelina

[gn728]

Nice - there's a classic - first issued 1964.... 😎

[wheelsup_cavu]

Looks like it will be a nice build when you finish @javelina.

 

Wheels

[ZachariasX]

I just posted this in the IL2 forum, but since I mentioned the following builds here already, I'll also post it here.

My kids got the Typhoon and the Tempest kits from Airfix, both 1/72 scale:

The Typhoon for the younger and

the Tempest for the older. Their choice.

It is of note that the kits are from new moulds and do not in the slightest resemble previous kits, like for instance the MatchBox Tempest that I built when I was the age of my older son. The plastic parts are relatively thick walled and make for robust parts. See here the example of the Typhoon:

The Typhoon is a bit more conventional to assemble than the Tempest, following the matching of the fuselage halves, then add top and bottom of the wing parts and attach them, plus add the empennage parts. The digital construction of the kit shows as the gearbox inside the wing can be used as a base for the cockpit as well as serves as structure to attach the wing on, the lower wing being one part to ensure perfect alignment. From just gluing together parts, they are really kits with parts that snap together and just need some glue to keep them in place.

Regarding details, it is clear that these are beginner kits that are supposed to give best results with minimal proficiency in building them. There is no engine and for the ones that care for dealing with small parts (although they might seem huge to you @Feathered_IV) that would be just the cockpit assembly. The riveting... well.. the aircraft has flush rivets that shouldn't be visible to anyone (with exceptions) and they also have small gaps in the panels. Because it makes the aircraft fast. In the kit however, the prominent panel lines would be what corresponds to gaps that are basically the with of two fingers or more. Those are drainage channels. It is really made to pour wash in and be able to wipe excess in rabid manner, yet it still looks like panneling. But be it. It suits the purpose, even though if the kit were from Eduard, it surely would look different.

The younger, doing the Typhoon, quickly understood that is was sensible painting the parts on the sprue. He had to mix the green for the interior. As it is aircraft, he gets to decide what the exact shade of green he wants. But I printed pictures for him as reference.

The assembly of the cockpit is a nice feature, though challenging for a child. As British aircraft engineers hadn't invented the cockpit floor yet, it turned out to be a fun assembly and using the gearbox structure as base is a neat feature of the kit.

Fitting that inside the assembled fuselage halves is a different question though, especially with the dashboard and the sighting assembly. Tears and terror, but it worked out eventually. The elevator parts fit only one-way (which is a big help for some) and the also snap in maintaining the correct angle. Very, very nice.

That was about the time the older one found the nerve for plastic modelling. Jealousy is a big and widely underrated motivator. The Tempest kit takes the assembling technique a step further: Both upper and underside of the wing are one part with the gearbox structure in between, as you can see in step 8 of the plan. That part is actually the most important step in the whole build, as it turns out.

Meanwhile, the work on the Typhoon continues and the wing parts get attached on the gearbox structure.

The plane assembles nicely and the parts really need little work compared to other kits. Given how thick the parts are cast, they are also very easy to glue together and they make for a very, very solid construction. How far to build for painting and decaling is not a trivial decision, especially for a kid, so I told them when to call me to set up the airbrush. This time I bought the Tamiya colors and silently cursed myself for having blowing the Revell Aqua Color snot through an airbrush. The kids were eager to play with the airbrush. Which is normal, anything that can cause major damage to the surroundings is popular with them.

That said, it was that damage that prompted me to stop them from proceeding for the sake of my marriage. I reall, really needed a spray hood.

Some months later I finally bought one to have the kids finish their builds as I needed my space on the desk for building some RC Buggys. It was money well spent on that hood.

Of course, it had to be the one with the big mouth. The paint scheme doesn't have to be exact, i just showed how to cut waves in the masking tape and how to stick it on the plane to make the patterns match "in spirit". It is a very unintuitive process for a kid.

But I guess it turned out ok. He was happy.

We were even painting the yellow leading edge of the wing, only to find out there are stickers for that. m(

I let him do the larger decals; stencils are for kids that killed their parents.

Meanwhile the older cared to proceed with his Tempest, seeing the progress of the other.

In the Tempest, the the very English cockpit is a piece of work to assemble. In principle, it fits but...

He pressed on, as one absolutely had to attach the wings to the airframe to get a semblance of a finished product. Alas, what even I didn't see when I passed by again (for some damage control to the hobby room), that he inserted the gearbox part upside down bewteen the wings. The lower part of the cooling duct (red circle) should insert as bottom of the fuselage, but is now inverted!

Meanwhile the Typhoon needs rockets. Rockets with yellow tips. These are his kind of rockets. But first the rails.

As the Typhoon progressed further, the older assembled the English cockpit. But as he tried to insert the wing/cockpit part into the fuselage, great misery! The wings were glued such, that is was not practical to take them apart anymore. I realized that I maybe should have had a closer look at the building progress instead of mainly checking for paint and bloodstains. What to do? In order to salvage the model, I had to take over, and I cut off the inverted cowling part, reassembled the cockpit and put the things together.

Now, everything kind of fit, but the problem was that the inverted gearbox insert has all the notches to attach the somewhat complicated landing gear struts in the wrong place! It meant ihad to do the whole landing gear, as for a kid, tuning the parts and making them fit is not really their cup of tea. So I fit it together and stencilled the Typhoon.

Alas, the kid not only inverted the gearbox part, but he also didn't drill the holes for the antennas as well as for the fuel tanks. They are marked on the inside of the part. Also, he didn't put in the transparent parts for the landing lights and formation lights. They are inserted from the inside and are wedged that way. That will be a fun procedure getting them in from the outside...

A neat detail is that the fuel tanks are on a transparent sprue, as their fairings are transparent. Really, really cool finally having that right on a kit.

The kid still had fun airbrushing the parts after I got the parts together.

Same procedure for the camo, an excercise in cutting masking tape and puting it on ina meaningful way, rather than getting fussed by being exact with the outlines. Putting the one central part wrong cooled his building enthusiasm enough already.

I guess it turned out ok.

This time, we used the sticker for the yellow leading edge, only to find out that masking and painting it would have been easier. Again, I let him do some of the big parts, but doing the leading edges terminated his enthousiasm for the moment. I mean, they really are a piece of work.

Putting on the wheels and tanks as well as the transparent parts for the lights on the underside. It was a fun exercise, but not for kids. I mean, we know where the tanks go even without having the marks for it. Same for the Antennas. However, he was happy with the result and put on the makeup for dust and dirt himself. With trenches like that, it doesn't really need much paneling, unless you like the look of a 3D puzzle.

Putting on my usual mix of 50-50 humbrol gloss and satin cote, they turned out ok and are now finger proof for dakadaka.

The landing gear on the Tempest was also a piece of work. In principle, it works great, but with all the notches in the wrong places, one has to get a bit creative with the parts to make them fit the right way. The Typhoon has a much simpler arrangement.

The photos are poor quality, but the planes are not meant for too close of an inspection. But the kits are really nice. One thing I though funny, on the plan, they inverted the red and green light on the wingtip, making starboard red. On the boxart, it s correct. But given these are English aircraft that take off on the other side of the runway, it might make sense and thought sensible to put it that way.

These are really great kits that, as a first in 1/72 scale I'd say, they are actually fun to assemble. They have great details, like the option of having ammobox covers open on the Typhoon as option or having the double stack exhaust pipes assembled from two parts each to make them correctly aligned are nice features. For casual builders, these are truly top-notch kits.

[Boom]

When I was knee high I was really into modelling. Mostly Airfix 1/72 scale aircraft and 1/600 warships, and later Revell once they became available in Oz.

Recently I looked up Airfix models, and was surprised just how limited there range is now. Just a shadow of former glory. Sad.

[ZachariasX]

3 hours ago, Boom said:

Recently I looked up Airfix models, and was surprised just how limited there range is now. Just a shadow of former glory. Sad.

iPads are poison, I tell you.

[Feathered_IV]

On 8/16/2023 at 7:49 PM, ZachariasX said:

they might seem huge to you @Feathered_IV

They definitely look pretty big. I especially like the Tiffie though!

I've been working on a Macchi M.5 since June. A ton of extra work went into it but it's starting to come together now.  I'm hoping to start the rigging soon.

 

[Feathered_IV]

Finished 😉

 

 

 

[javelina]

On 9/26/2023 at 6:36 AM, Feathered_IV said:

Finished 😉

 

 

 

 

Incredible work!  I wish I had steady hands to do this. 

[ZachariasX]

On 9/26/2023 at 3:36 PM, Feathered_IV said:

Finished 😉

[Feathered_IV]

 

Just finished a scratchbuilt Pfalz D.IIIa in 1/144. It was my first time using lozenge decals. I definitely felt myself level up there. 😇

[ZachariasX]

On 12/27/2023 at 1:44 PM, Feathered_IV said:

lozenge decals

Were you drawing and printing them on decal paper?

Anyway… amazing work, as always!

[Feathered_IV]

On 12/31/2023 at 1:49 AM, ZachariasX said:

Were you drawing and printing them on decal paper?

Anyway… amazing work, as always!

Not this time. The lozenge decals are made by Aviattic and come in A4 size sheets. I think I have enough of the stuff to last a lifetime! 

[ZachariasX]

[Feathered_IV]

My Christmas holiday challenge. I’m trying to be all cool about it.  But on the inside I’m like: OMFG it worked!!! 🙀

[ZachariasX]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:48 AM, Feathered_IV said:

OMFG it worked!!! 🙀

Your friggin‘ matches haunt me in my sleep…

Edited January 10 by ZachariasX

[busdriver]

On 1/9/2024 at 1:48 AM, Feathered_IV said:

My Christmas holiday challenge. I’m trying to be all cool about it.  But on the inside I’m like: OMFG it worked!

Do you perform brain surgery on mosquitos in your spare time? You are one talented sumbitch my hero.

[Feathered_IV]

Cheers Bd. I'm hoping to do a Taube with them this year.  🤞

Also messing with a very long-term Curtiss F9C. Just need to find some .5mm white lettering for the USS Macon on the fuselage and it is pretty much done.

 

 

 

[javelina]

Incredible work and detail for such a small model.  very nice!

[Feldgrün]

Either that's a really small model, or those are huge matches! 😁

[Feathered_IV]

What are you doing up there???

Get down!! 😱