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skypirate
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Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

Good to see the relocated Forum spooling up to speed!

Here is my Sack saucer coming together. You can see I have to build up the cockpit sills so that the canopy might fit better, and also fill a gap at the rear of the cockpit. It will still need some filler around the canopy. Lots more fitting fun coming up with the undercarriage - if it wasn't for the sheer oddness of the thing I would be tempted to let it go. I am starting to worry about all the other Special Hobby kits I have accumulated! (Maybe Trumpeter and Hobby Boss to the rescue!)

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And here is my 2nd FROG Firefly showing the wheel wells going in:

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...then first coat on the undersides.

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The Airfix 1/48 Spitfire VB rebuild has also had the undersides painted.
The Hasegawa 1/72 Soviet Hurricane IID is finished; I have yet to take some photos.
Now to get serious about masking the 1/48 Jaguar for the wrap-around scheme.

cheers,

David
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skypirate
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Post by skypirate »

So I went off and spent an hour or so fiddling with Blu Tack masking on the 1/48 Jag. I have not done this before though I have heard and seen of it. Good grief! Having covered the topsides, I am not looking forward to covering up the base colour in between with paper cut to fit. And I still have to do the underside! Glad I had a go but it seems like a lot of effort. Tempted to revert to my usual method before I stuff up the paint job.

David
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Post by Mikeew »

Hi David, very interesting way of boxing in the wheel wells on that Firefly, worked a treat though! Lovely job.
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by MrDyzio »

skypirate wrote:Good to see the relocated Forum spooling up to speed!

Here is my Sack saucer coming together. You can see I have to build up the cockpit sills so that the canopy might fit better, and also fill a gap at the rear of the cockpit. It will still need some filler around the canopy. Lots more fitting fun coming up with the undercarriage - if it wasn't for the sheer oddness of the thing I would be tempted to let it go. I am starting to worry about all the other Special Hobby kits I have accumulated! (Maybe Trumpeter and Hobby Boss to the rescue!)
Dave,
I have the same issue with Sack, which is taking long vacation in the darkest drawer. Because of poor fitting I already gave up on the most of Special Hobby line.

Marcin
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Stamford
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Post by Stamford »

Nice work on the Fly - the wheel bays are a must on this kit as the wing join looks nasty from underneath otherwise. How thick is that plastic card you used - I need some of that!
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Post by flakmonkey »

The Firefly looks really nice and the saucer is bonkers enough to be worth all the effort in the end. Can we see the Jaguar? You don't see many of those built , it's one of my favourite Airfix 1/48 jets.
Would ya like to learn to fly? Would ya? Would you like to see me try?
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Post by hamden »

Hi
Like what your doing to the Firefly, the saucer looks interesting looking forward to seeing these finished

Roger
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skypirate
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Post by skypirate »

Stamford wrote:How thick is that plastic card you used - I need some of that!
Hi Stamford,
that is Evergreen 0.010" sheet styrene.
For my first FROG Firefly, I did not go to that effort, and it looks awful.

For flakmonkey, here is the current state of the Jaguar. One of the resin flaps has been dislodged. I used epoxy cement for that.

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We all know the horror stories about the fit of this kit. But I am partial to the Jag as well. Built the old Esci kit many years ago. Might even consider the 1/32 Trumpeter kit (not to mention the Buccaneer; I have yet to tackle the Airfix 1/48 kit, waiting in my stash) but price will probably get in the way. If Hobby Boss had got the Tornado right, I might have been encouraged to look in that direction.

cheers,

David
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skypirate
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Post by skypirate »

Time for an update.
The Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Vb rebuild is still fighting back. Eagle Strike decals went on.

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The QJ-J squadron codes for each side were printed on one piece of decal film.
Lots of traps for the unwary here. The decals were printed so that the codes under the cockpit are lower than the codes behind the roundel. This is quite obvious on the decal sheet. So I worked out which was port and which was starboard and off I went. Port went on in one piece. I had fair warning; the decal did not want to move around much, even on Micro Set, and the unprinted decal film between the codes and roundels was commendably thin.

No such luck on the Starboard side. In my struggles to place the large one-piece decal correctly, I messed it up and lost both 'J's.
Then I discovered that for the starboard side the instructions specify a re-ordering of the codes i.e. J-QJ, so the one-piece decal does have to be cut up! And that would have made life much easier for me!
But too late for that now. This 2nd rebuild will proceed with dodgy code placement on one side.
Here are the missing codes roughly painted with Xtracolor Light Aircraft Gray (quite a good match), awaiting touch up:

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The Eagle Strike roundels and fin flashes are relatively thick due to all the colours and could not handle the front curve of the fin or the underwing bumps. I have noticed this with other Eagle Strike decals, but I have many more in the stash!

On to the Airfix 1/48 Jag.
Major painting is complete, awaiting touch up.

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I resorted to hand-painting the camo demarcation lines and airbrushing between. I had a little difficulty, which may be my Xtracolor DG enamel getting old and the lacquer thinner evaporating quickly leaving thickening paint in the airbrush. Or something like that. If Gengriz can hand-brush a 1/48 Sea Vixen so beautifully, there is hope for us yet!

I am a bit apprehensive about the white cheat-line all along the bottom of the red spine. Xtradecals provides the stripe, but how pink will it look???
More masking and undercoating?
Aaaarrrgh!

cheers,

David
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by hamden »

Hi

Spit: looks good so far and your Jaguar is stunning

Roger
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Softscience
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by Softscience »

Those are great looking models.


Here's a cheat for the cheat line.

Before applying it to the model, get yourself some all white decal paper. Trace the pattern from the xtradecal sheet onto some white paper and then trace again onto the white decal (it may be easiest to cut out the pattern from the xtradecal sheet, and then use the negative opening to trace an outline onto the plain sheet via hobby knife).

This way, in case the red pokes through the first decal, you have a second layer to apply over it.
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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

Softscience wrote:Here's a cheat for the cheat line.
Thanks, Ralph.
I plan to hand-paint a thin gloss white line (!!!) and apply the decal over that! I reckon I can manage that if I mask the camo side.
Watch this space! Wish me luck!

David
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Post by JamesPerrin »

I'd second Ralph's suggestion as the way to go. The Jag should look smart when complete.
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skypirate
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by skypirate »

I have hand-painted the white stripes on the Jaguar spine and fin - this will give the white decal stripe a chance.
Not game to share a photo of it!

However, here is an update on the Sack saucer.

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The canopy is being test-fitted - reasonable after building up the windscreen sill.
Since this photo was taken, the main painting, topsides and undersides is complete. Now for the fiddly resin bits, undercarriage etc..

The Airfix Spitfire VB rebuild is also at an advanced stage:

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Decal disaster (see earlier in these pages) has been fixed, and the matt finishing coat is on.

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I have decided that even the refurbished cockpit deserves better viewing than possible through the thickish Airfix canopy (even though these are new parts). Unfortunately I am out of acetate Spitfire canopies, so it will be quite a wait until I can get one.

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This model also ready for fiddly finishing - scratch-built pitot, perhaps the antennae including IFF, nav lights, etc..

Elsewhere on the bench:

Three (yes, 3!) HobbyBoss 1/72 FM-2 Wildcats under way as FAA Martlet VIs. I'm afraid I got carried away when I saw a Techmod FAA decal sheet - not enough for 3 complete models, but I can raid the decal bank.

And on another front, I was told at IPMS last month that Airfix 1/72 Spitfire VC wings (I have 2 in my stash since 2006) are as thick as Hurricane wings, so I had to see. It's true! Horror! Some of you may be familiar with these extra VC wings that were boxed with the old VB kit. The trailing edge would pass for a decent leading edge! I can't see any practical way to make this look right, not even mixing the VB and VC wings; they are not 'made for each other', so to speak. What a shame.

cheers,

David
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Re: Skypirate's Hideaway

Post by Narayan »

Spit looks great David particularly the cockpit. How is the Jag coming along? The paint scheme looks interesting.

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