AUSSIE/ANZAC GB 2006 Jan 26 to Sept 21st

Well first of all to the build Ray, it's always great to have another Aussie on board.  I'll look forward to seeing some of your work.

Joe, I had a New Zealand mate at work a while ago who used to delight in telling me stories of NZ Shyhawks getting the better of US F-16s.  All round they are (were) a superb little combat aircraft.

Panzer, well sorry mate but I have searched everywhere that I can think of and none of my references actually say what color the Matildas were painted.  I think you are just going to have to use the old Mk.I eye ball and base your build on that restored Matilda in the photo.  Put it this way, no one's going to say you're wrong now are they.

Progress
Well not much in the way of progress unfortunately.  The Colors of Eagles (Vallejo) paint arrived the other day and I was all ready to start when I weakened and ordered the color PE set for the P-40 on Squadron, it was actually the external gun sight that swayed me in the end.  Anyway the Eduard set shouldn't be far away so I should be able to make a start soon.

Cheers

Hi guys, Just stumbled on this Group build..... can I play too?

My entries will be:

1/144 Revell C-130H 36SQN
1/144 Revell A330 MRTT 33SQN

I must say the the stuff I have seen so far is great..... and Hello Wayne, how is very sunny SA. The ACTSMS misses your wit and knowledge of all things figure like and military

Cheers

j.s.harrison wrote:

Oh God i remember that Van Halen clip, I must be gettin old..... Joe Nice looking Skyhawk, the camo job looks fantastic Speaking of the Skyhawk i remember a while back one of our current affairs tv shows did a story about the Aus Gvment selling the Kiwis our old Navy Skyhawks for ultra cheap and just to rub salt in the wounds they showed footage of a Kiwi A-4(ex RAN A-4) getting a missle lock on a RAAF F-18......

Thanks !

The clip is "Van Haggar"  I remember buying the true Van Halen "Diver Down" on vinyl!  UGH!

You're right on the "cheap"  the first batch was picked up for something like $150 Million NZ, don't know what the conversion is but considering a service span of 30+ years I would say they got thier money's worth and then some...

When I was researching the Kahu I came across a debate in the NZ Parliment that there is a bit of a stink that they have yet to sell them off going on five years after retirement...oh but for that winning lottery ticket!  I could have a 1/1 scale submission for this GB...of course flying it would be the trick!

The toughest thing so far has been the fin antennas.  I cut them from stock styrene, took about 5 shots, just got up from the bench, I think I got it this time.  Will be shooting the Future tomorrow and weathering on Saturday in between the Corsair start up...

Oh God i remember that Van Halen clip, I must be gettin old.....

Joe Nice looking Skyhawk, the camo job looks fantastic

Speaking of the Skyhawk i remember a while back one of our current affairs tv shows did a story about the Aus Gvment selling the Kiwis our old Navy Skyhawks for ultra cheap and just to rub salt in the wounds they showed footage of a Kiwi A-4(ex RAN A-4) getting a missle lock on a RAAF F-18......

great video i agree i loved the song DREAMS i actually have most of the album 5150 in my MP3 library as for the skyhawk i haven't seen an aircraft i like the looks of better and TOP GUN the movie didn't hurt the skyhawk fans either with them running rings around the tomcats most of the time

back to buisness the lower hull is complete still waiting on my turret conversion the one im building is the one with the 3in gun not the frog shown in the pic posted by jules which had a flamethrower

The Skyhawk always seemed to be a bit more impressive than the F18, perhaps it was due to the size and the sharpness of the moves...the Van Halen video doesn't hurt either (I am showing my age?)

JOE I like the look of the "Scooter" but then i cant the A-4 family are my favorite aircraft of all time i have other favorites but none stand up to the A-4 especially when the BLUE ANGELS were flying them the sleek pre avionics hump A-4E I believe

it's all in all just a beautiful aircraft OOPS sorry i got

I haven't started on mine either I'm afraid.  The paint has arrived along with the Eduard masks but I'm still waiting on the Eduard PE for the cockpit (Don't ask why it wasn't in the one order, it's a long story).  Anyway I have finished my Battle for Germany build, so this can get started as soon as the parts arrive.

Cheers

Progress on the Kahu.  Fujimi 1/72 Scale A4F with some tweeking.  The colors are not as they seem in the photo.  The green seems too brown and the gray too blue...I do not have the patience to fiddle with the camera settings.  The light green is home made, but it seems like a chromate...

oh well 

All in all it has been a fun build.  The kit is fairly easy.  Not a shake and bake though...some gaps around the forward fuseleage to main fuselage.  The tail has been trimmed and the intakes modified.  The ECM antennas will be attached to the tail with the rest of the fiddly bits.  Now working on tanks, Sidewinders and landing gear (fiddly bits).

It took close to two years to find the right decals.  Finally did through Airsailmodels.  Flying Kiwi brand, sadly the fin flashes are grossly off-register.

oh well

Yeah i remember that Sean, It doesn't seem like 2 years ago but.....

Was it that long ago already??? No wonder I feel old

A Bench grinder Ya know i have a chainsaw here if you need it.....

Lemme know the freight cost Jules, I'm sure I have a PE set that could use some trimming!

tweety1 wrote:

Last time I touched the PE saw I needed stitches and the Sabre needed a wash. Keen I am, silly I'm not.

Yeah i remember that Sean, It doesn't seem like 2 years ago but.....

A Bench grinder Ya know i have a chainsaw here if you need it.....

Panzer sorry mate but i honestly have no idea, you may have to ask the in the armour forum....

ok guys i need a wee lil bit help here as the lower hull of my aussie matilda nears completion i reailized that i have 1 lil problem the paintjob i have NO IDEA what colors a Matilda on New Guinea would be painted I have only 1 color pic of a matilda in aussie service so can anyone corroberate on the color or have other color references

it has been restored so i'm not sure if it is wearing origional type colors or a museum on a budget "make do" colors

You'll have that rig nailed in no time Southy!

Made a little more progress on the Magister. Gonna slap some interior green down tonight and try and finish up some c/p details.

Took the resin c/p floor into work and removed the excess resin with the 4" bench grinder. Got a few weird looks from the guys but. Some times 1/48 and dirty big power tools have to merge, and bugger using a PE razor saw, the resin was 3mm thick!

Last time I touched the PE saw I needed stitches and the Sabre needed a wash. Keen I am, silly I'm not.

Got my extra 2 packs of BMF Matt Aluminium for the Magister today , then while I was having a look for my masking film I found 2 packs of the same I'd ordered 6 months ago and forgotten about.

Looks like I'm set to do a P-38J when a GB calls for one

Darren i just sent you a PM mate, pretty cool feaure eh, I didn't even know about it untill you mentioned it....

Joe I'll be looking forward to seeing that Kiwi Skyhawk. they are strangely attractive in that scheme even for a prop man like myself......

SouthSally forth and hook into that truck mate

Oh oh Wayne it looks like you're going to have to pull out those scratch building skills

Cheers

I thought my build would be a simple thing, a couple of minor changes here and there and I would get the vehicle I was after. how stupid of me.  My plans were to build the truck and then place it in a diorama depicturing a vehicle I was driving in the mid 60s. The photo gives and idea of the dio I intend to build.  (Must appoligize for the quality of the photo it was taken in the mid 60s on a black and white film) 

The next photo gives an idea of one of the changes I didn't think about, the shape of the front mudguards, the kit ones have a rounded outside on the top, where the original vechile ones are flat. Have corrected one side by cutting the round edge out and replacing it with sheet stryene as the next photo shows.

Darren, Jules and Sean,

Thanks for the look.  The leading edge chips just did not turn out the way I hoped.  Oh well, I have a Hayabusa in my stash that is just screaming for a beating!

I seem to have mislaid my instructions for the 1/72 Hasegawa RNZAF Corsair.  I have plenty of resource material and there may be a total of 60 pieces in the kit, I will risk it and go on my own.

I am also working on converting a 1/72 Fujimi A4F to a RNZAF A4K "Kahu".  I will probably be dropping in some photos of that as well.  Not too much of a project really quite simple.  The thrill will be the three color paint scheme.

JoeRugby wrote:

My brother in law used to work for the Department of the Navy as an engineering liason on the F/A-18.  He was responsible for the Spanish and you Aussies.  He gave it to me for Christmas a few years back.  By the way the Christmas Party at the Australian Embassy is close to legendary status!

Aaagh I feel a swelling of national pride coming on

Joe nice work on the P-40  and I don't get what you didn't like about the leading edge chips, they look fine to me.

Jules, no I didn't get an email from you.  Did you get mine asking to let me know if you had changed address?  If not no sweat, just send me a PM that should get through, or just post that you haven't moved again.

Cheers

tho9900 wrote:

Has anyone heard from Jules???  haven't seen him around for awhile.

I'm still lurking around Tom.....BTW Tom i have a package here for you but my emails are not going through, can you send me an email with your postal address, I already have it but i'd like to double check.....

Sean looks greatyour a braver man than i useing BMF but it certainly looks very cool.....

Joe nice looking P-40Job well done, i'll update page 1 with your finished build.....Any chance we could see some more pics....

Darren, mate did you get the last email i sent you, i'm having trouble getting them to go through.......

JoeRugby wrote:

Thanks Sean, It is not a plate, it is a drink coaster.  You know one of those fiddly things your wife makes you put under your cold one as you sit down to watch the (insert favored sport here).

In Oz we use stubby coolers. There also great to slip over the gear stick in summer.

By the way the Christmas Party at the Austrailian Embassy is close to legendary status!

Show me an Aussie Christmas party that isn't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Sean,

It is not a plate, it is a drink coaster.  You know one of those fiddly things your wife makes you put under your cold one as you sit down to watch the (insert favored sport here).

My brother in law used to work for the Department of the Navy as an engineering liason on the F/A-18.  He was responsible for the Spanish and you Aussies.  He gave it to me for Christmas a few years back.  By the way the Christmas Party at the Austrailian Embassy is close to legendary status!

Thanks for the look the kit really is .  Honestly I am not trying to excuse my shortfalls by saying that.  The new techniques look okay, the leading edge chips are disappointing though.

That looks pretty good Joe

Like the plate, where ya get that from??

Well it is finished...old Airfix P40E...ugh what a nasty bugger this kit is, no fit what so ever...it was in my stash and I wanted to try free handing the camo and Swanny's salt technique for paint wear, never done either (sort of happy with my efforts)...warm up over, now onto to Corsair...that one is the Hasegawa, much better kit and I will work on much better results.

HEH Tweety LiNkS HEH LinKS TWITCH TWITCH I love armor Twitch Twitch Indie links Twitch Oooooooohh Ahhhhhhh purty track LINKS EEEEEEK KREMPS !!!!

heh sorry guys my lack of decent sleep has given me a MAJOR case of the sillies esp with all the Braile scale stuff i have been working on the lower hull of my matilda is comeing along well just waiting on the resie turret conversion to arrive more progress to come

tho9900 wrote:

Tweets - looks tons more realistic than alclad... I'll have to take note of some of the things you came up against with it though because I've only used it to mask as well...

I agree Tom, foil definately has it over Alclad. Nothing against Alclad of course, but when I look at Alclad finished kits I can see how the paint has 'rolled' over the panel lines. Foil is much better cause you use the panel lines to trim into and cut from most of the time.

The 2 problems with foil are the way tiny dust flecks will totally ruin a covered wing area, just stands out something fierce, and second is the minimal run of finishes they have to choose from.

Oh, and the price differance.

Using Alclad to cover a model works out ALOT cheaper than using sheets of foil.

@ $13 bucks a sheet I'll use 2 to cover this tiny Magister kit, while Alclad will cover 3 Magisters for $13.

And as for you guys and your track link things, I personally have no idea how you can do it. On my Panther I used Tamiya plastic links, 150 of the sods to be precise, and it was boring as hell.

But wiring all those together, and trimming the ends flush while keeping the track all nice and straight.

You have my sympathy

Harv  - sharp looking build!!!  Can't wait for the finished pics!

Tweets - I like the foil actually... looks tons more realistic than alclad... I'll have to take note of some of the things you came up against with it though because I've only used it to mask as well...

No progress here, between work and in laws I haven't had much time to model.  That and I am steadily plodding on putting the indie tracks together for the Tiger II in the BoG build and it bores me so I can't stay at it long...

I think this weekend I will try making some test runs on that custom decal for the nose art and see how it comes out...

Has anyone heard from Jules???  haven't seen him around for awhile.

Wow Sean that looks absolutely awesome from the photos. I'll look forward to checking out the rest of the kit.

Cheers

Ok a couple of pics of the foiled nose cone

If you look closely you can see the 3 pieces of foil I had to use due to the amount of curve on the front section of the cowling.

The other down side of foil, if your seams aren't spot on and flat, it really shows, even more so than Alclad.

It's good stuff, but really fickle to use.