Old_Tonto's Tepee

[JamesPerrin]

Sone nice builds going on. I like the look of the NASA Starfighter

[Stuart]

A very nice selection of builds OT.

[Old_Tonto]

Thanks for the kind words chaps. Sadly not much going on at the moment as I'm working on some 1:1 scale book shelves for SWAMBO.
This is the state of the bench today:



The MiG-29 has had a couple of coats of Klear applied and is ready for decals and some dielectric panels need masking off and painting as does the anti-dazzle nose panel.
Once that is done I'll get the nose attached and U\C on. Then the engine cans will need painting and fitting.

James, you will be pleased to read that the Starfighter is about to get some attention as the Eduard Spitfire I'm working on for the Merlin GB is doing my head in!
The starfighter is 90% complete. I need to add a beige panel to the spine behind the canopy which I think I'll do with some decal paper. Then its just a matter of adding the U\C which is already painted and seal the whole thing with a coat of gloss varnish. NASA keeps these things polished.

Don't get me wrong, the fit of the Eduard kit is excellent. It is just overly complex e.g 7x pieces for each wheel well including a sub assembly. I'm not that interested in Spitfire wheel wells.
Any way I have built the interior and got the fuselage together.



So I guess I've made more progress than I thought.

[K5083]

I agree, the parts count in those Eduard Spits is excessive, but your little cockpit looks terrific.

August

[iggie]

I must admit I'm quite happy with having changed my Merlin build to the Lancaster after seeing the parts count on the Eduard Spitfire! That said, yours is looking excellent

[Old_Tonto]

I actually cleaned my workbench today.

Just got a couple of builds on the go at the moment. An Italeri MiG-29 which has been hanging arouns for ages and I have started a refurb on an old Airfix F-5E.



The MiG will be East German whilst I plan to do the F-5 as a black US Navy aggressor.

The F-5 was covered in a really rough coat of Humbrol enamel that looked like it had been applied with a spatula! It must have been one of my early efforts about 40 years ago. So it spent an evening in a sealed bag with Mr. Muscle in order to remove the paint. After washing it down I decided to fettle the cockpit tub as the origunal Airfix one is pretty bare. So I have added a floor and scratch built an IP to take a decal I had spare. New side consoles were added too & I have a very nice True Details seat that will lift the whole office area. The canopy was cracked too but I have a spare.



The nose section was badly fitted so I have filled and sanded that level at least on top. More work is required on the underside and I still have a few spots of paint to remove. I'm planning to sand all the panel lines off as they are raised and a little heavy for my taste. I'm not convinced of their accuracy either.



This is where I'm up to this evening. Still plenty to do on the Tiger and I need to find a spare undercarriage & make some U\C doors, air brakes etc.

I'm just assessing what the MiG needs before doing anything else on it.
More to follow.

[Old_Tonto]

It's been a while since I updated this here workbench. I did have a shoulder operation in November so that nobbled me for a while (my excuse & I'm sticking to it!).

I did manage to finish a couple of builds for the 'What might have been' GB, Polish Spitfire & Japanese Viggen.





So now it's back to these two that are turning into bench queens.
This is an old Airfix F-5E that I stripped back.



I started to decal this Fulcrum only to discover that I don't have enough national markings.
So I've ordered another set of excellent TOM decals from Germany. Once they arrive I can get this one moving again.



I'm also starting this one as I seem to be on a bit of a What-if thing of late.



It's also a very big box that is taking up too much room.

[gnomemeansgnome]

I really like the work you have going on here, especially that whiffer SAAB! That Arado Amerikabomber has been taunting me from the stash for a while; shall be rather interested to see how you get on with it.

[iggie]

Nice work going on OT
I too have the Arado and like an awful lot of other kits I need to move it up the pile

[Przemek]

Polish spitfire! It was so close ... ;) Honey for my heart, because the plane is beautiful Arado will be "what if international" too?

[skypirate]

Wow!
All interesting projects, Iain.
I am keen to see how that F-5 refurb turns out. The Eduard Spitfire is really eye-catching in those markings. And I have built the Arado 555 - a lot of fun!

Cheers,

David

[ShaunW]

Some great stuff going on, OT, I've already seen your excellent Polish Spitfire and Japanese Viggen and that Arado is certainly an interesting looking "Luft '46" subject. I've never built any kind of whiff/Luft'46/paper panzer or whatever you want to call such machines but I did once nearly buy a Revell 555 - the box art of those Arados over a city that looks suspiciously like New York, being intercepted by P/F-80 Shooting Stars, really gives a feel of what might have been but thankfully never was!

[Old_Tonto]

Thanks guys.

It has been a bit hectic at work of late so not much bench time for me. I did however get the decalling completed on the MiG-29 Fulcrum.
Here it is after some weathering and a Klear coat.



Shiny.

As you can see I have attached the resin nose cone. Much better shape than the Italeri supplied one.

Once that has dried I will give it a satin varnish I think. Then onto the U\C, exhaust cans. aerials, weapons etc.
Last but not least of course the canopy needs fitting. I can't even remember if there is a painted cockpit tub! It's been that long since I started this kit.

As it turn out all I had done was paint the interior light blue and applied a wash to show up the details.



So I need to detail the IP, add the control column (which fortunately is still on the sprue ) and add a seat.
The kit seat is rubbish but I have a resin replacement that I can use. Unfortunately that means I will have to remove that annoying square lump in the centre of the cockpit tub, otherwise the seat will be too high to close the canopy.

[Old_Tonto]

Got a bit more done on the East German MiG-29 Fulcrum.

IP finished, seat & control column installed & canopy closed up. Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the seat before closing everything up.
It was a lovely Pavla resin K-36D, all in black.



Unfortunately I knocked off the nose whilst attaching the canopy and two of the gear bay doors.
Here she is undergoing a second nose job.



I'm at that awkward stage where I'm knocking bits off as fast as I attach others!

Pressing on I got the missiles attached, 2x AA-10 (Alamo A) & 4x AA-8 (Aphid).



This was the standard load for the DDR Fulcrums. Just a few small aerials to add now and she is done.

I've also made a start on the Ar.555 'Amerika' Bomber for my Luft 46 project.
Not much to show yet as I've just sprayed the interior Xtracrylix RLM 75 and painted the seats a leather colour then dry brushed some silver over the raised details.



I won't do much more on the inside as the canopy glazing is quite thick. I am toying with the idea of adding some crew figures and doing it in flight.
I would need to make a fairly hefty stand but it would save me adding a ton of weight in the front as this one is obviously a tail sitter.

More to follow.

[iggie]

Really nice work on the Mig cockpit and IP, it really looks the part. The 555 also looks to be coming along well; I take it that the large boxes formed in the lower wing are bomb and/or undercarriage bays?