The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

I found the Airfix Zero to be very fussy around the delicate undercarriage parts. Installed, they are fragile and I do not trust them. But it does look good!
Decaling has commenced.



It has been ages since I built a Japanese model, and I am not sure how much and what kind of weathering I will apply. Less is more, methinks.

The 1/72 Gnat also gave me trouble with the u/c parts. I did some forced bending to get the model to sit level, even before the wheels are on.

Thanks for looking,

David

Looks good!

I'm having similar issues with the NT 262 - It's a bit of a fiddle in places.

Airfix landing gear can be disappointing sometimes. Take for instance, the otherwise excellent 1:72 P-51 kit. The gear legs on that are not only misshapen, but soft and bendy. They also don't fit particularly well.

Airfix could have had the premier P-51 in the scale, but they blew it with that crrrap gear.

The zero legs at least look better, but I can only imagine your concern.


As for weathering - I agree with your less is more approach. Especially for 72nd scale.

Maybe a light umber wash, highly thinned? Those panels are pretty hefty, and probably don't need accenting, but a bit of tint might look nice. I dunno.

That looks excellent, David. TBH, I've found all of the Airfix new tool kits that I have built required modelling skills beyond what I would say was beginner level, including the need a fair bit of fettling to get a decent fit - none of them fell together for me.

The zero is looking good thus far....and I echo the sentiments of the others with regard to the U/C on the P51 and the Zero....

Softscience wrote:As for weathering - I agree with your less is more approach. Especially for 72nd scale.
Maybe a light umber wash, highly thinned? Those panels are pretty hefty, and probably don't need accenting, but a bit of tint might look nice. I dunno.

Agreed, Ralph, the panel lines are already noticeable highly obvious. I will aim for just the control surface hinge lines, and some of those are also fine already.

And here I am trying to work out how to mask the top and bottom colours of the VC10.



I had to do this for my RAF Comet, and I was not entirely successful - a bit of correction was required after the decals went on. It would be nice to get it right this time. Eyeballing it is not good enough. I think I will have to photocopy the TwoSix decals, temporarily fix the copied cheat line to the fuselage and mark out the zig-zag. Fingers crossed.

Cheers,

David

That is a classic RAF Transport Command scheme that you are aiming to apply to the VC-10, David but the masking ain't easy by the looks!

If you trace the decal, use that as a mask for a light spray of a light colour (anything that won't show under the actual colour, then mask a touch above/below depending on which part of the tracing you use....if that makes any sense at all?

iggie wrote:If you trace the decal, use that as a mask for a light spray of a light colour (anything that won't show under the actual colour, then mask a touch above/below depending on which part of the tracing you use....if that makes any sense at all?

I think so, Iggie. Sounds like a reasonable option.
Thanks,

David

skypirate wrote:

Softscience wrote:As for weathering - I agree with your less is more approach. Especially for 72nd scale.
Maybe a light umber wash, highly thinned? Those panels are pretty hefty, and probably don't need accenting, but a bit of tint might look nice. I dunno.

Agreed, Ralph, the panel lines are already noticeable highly obvious. I will aim for just the control surface hinge lines, and some of those are also fine already.

And here I am trying to work out how to mask the top and bottom colours of the VC10.



I had to do this for my RAF Comet, and I was not entirely successful - a bit of correction was required after the decals went on. It would be nice to get it right this time. Eyeballing it is not good enough. I think I will have to photocopy the TwoSix decals, temporarily fix the copied cheat line to the fuselage and mark out the zig-zag. Fingers crossed.

Cheers,

David

That's lovely. I've always had a soft spot for the VC-10 as I used to live near RAF Brize Norton.

OCD has kicked in again!
I have made a start on the gunsight improvements for the Airfix Zero.



The carpet monster is already slavering!

Cheers,

David

Love the gunsight David, and those panel lines look sublime

I agree with iggie - that's a very nice bit of work!

Thirded, that Zero is really shaping up nicely, David. It's good to see someone else torturing their eyesight with tiny additions like that gun sight - as a fellow "I'll just add a bit more detail" sufferer (one who has recently drilled out 1/72nd Spitfire exhausts for instance) I believe it to be very necessary additional work and not at all mad

Oh nice. That patina of grime over the zero looks just right.

Great touch with the sight. Will it be visible through the thickish canopy?