VickersVandal victimises a Velixstowe

[VickersVandal]

Whatever jratz may say about his generosity, express shipping the replacement cockpit halfway around the world is truly the act of a gentleman
Thanks John!!

Now that I have the cockpit I feel even more hopeful of getting in by the deadline.



Spray primer was rushed due to squeezing in modelling time between wrapping Christmas presents and preventing over sugared small children from killing each other It came out much too thick and pooled. Managed to wipe most of it off quickly before it dried.

I believe the key is short, controlled bursts.......not holding down the trigger and screaming LET's ROOOOOOCK!!!

My bad. Will retry with more finesse.

[JamesPerrin]

You always need to be prepared to give a kit a couple of light coats of primer, especially with white. There is no shortcut here as well you've now learnt. Don't worry I've made the same mistake myself more than one

[VickersVandal]

I make it too often too. Focused, uninterrupted modelling time is hard to come by so shortcuts are always tempting. They never work out of course....

So, what do you do when you have an incredibly disturbing dream at 4am and can't get back to sleep?.....
Pull out the pin drill of course! I've decided to rig with monofilament for extra strength so a few hours was well spent drilling out holes for it.

[VickersVandal]

Conscious of the looming deadline, I'm still chugging away. I'm on hols with the family so trying to fit in build time between trips to the beach or giant fibreglass fruit...

Getting an even primer coat was a struggle but all done now and next up is a Cato of RLM green for the wings and then masking and spraying the fuselage swirl pattern



Also had a crack at improving my wood grain effect for the trolley. Pretty coarse for 1/72 but I'm getting closer to something I'm happy with.

[PaulBradley]

So, are you modelling from a hotel room, or is this a "staycation?"

[VickersVandal]

We're staying with friends and in fact I have far better modelling facilities than I would at home - they've given me a large table in the study . The problem is time. The weather is amazing and there are too many excellent beaches nearby

[VickersVandal]

Beaching trolley complete



I'll probably give it a wash to bring out the individual planks.

[MDT]

Nice work on the trolley - looks very delicate!

[VickersVandal]

Thanks.. It wasn't too fiddly. I had to replace the kit axle with brass rod as the wheels were never going to slide onto it without catastrophic reaming. Had another aaaagh moment when Mr Stupid Head glued the sidewalls in the wrong place
Thankfully glue was still not set when I realised the mistake.

Had a trial run at masking and spraying a swirl. Not too shabby but edges too thick for comfort so I'll need to be extra careful to apply thin coats of red. Glad I chose to spend time on a dry run and not rush straight into spraying the fuselage like a fool.

[MerlinJones]

These will be handy;
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AIMS7204;

[VickersVandal]

These will be handy;
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AIMS7204;

Yes, but not for me....

I ordered from Hannants in late November. Why couldn't they have had these in then?!

Oh we'll, can't go back, gotta go round the Horn....



All masked up ready for Willy Wonka swirls to be drawn and cut.

[VickersVandal]

My wife is a smart cookie - she just suggested using carbon paper to trace the patterning onto the tape, instead of cutting through the template as planned. Should make things easier. Now I'm off to find some carbon paper...

[PaulBradley]

Almost as groovy as Al's Boston!

[VickersVandal]

One side cut. Sweet mercy what a job!!!



Deep calming breaths....it's all good practice.....it's all good practice......deep calming breaths......

[MerlinJones]

Sweet job, though.

Regards,
Bruce