Airfix Group Build 2011-2012

Khalee2

... Canopies don't seem to like me either, might have to try this white glue thing I keep reading about....

Yes, highly recommended, especially with canopies. Congrats on your first Airfix kit. I built some early on with mixed results, but have grown to appreciate these and Heller's older kits for the variety of models that can be found, and the low price.

is it important that you do that stuff?.

Khalee2

is it important that you do that stuff?.

Which stuff?

• white glue for canopies - doesn't fog, and can be used to blend canopies into the fuselage. For small gaps I prefer white glue over putty, easier for me to clean up.
• clear coats before and after decals - if you use flat paint, absolutely need something before decals to avoid "silvering". If you use gloss paint to start with, the decals can often go down fine as-is. A clear-coat afterwards seals everything in, a little more protection is good especially if you plan on adding washes or other weathering.

VanceCrozier

 

Khalee2:

 

is it important that you do that stuff?.

 

 

Which stuff?

• white glue for canopies - doesn't fog, and can be used to blend canopies into the fuselage. For small gaps I prefer white glue over putty, easier for me to clean up.
• clear coats before and after decals - if you use flat paint, absolutely need something before decals to avoid "silvering". If you use gloss paint to start with, the decals can often go down fine as-is. A clear-coat afterwards seals everything in, a little more protection is good especially if you plan on adding washes or other weathering.

OK, two updates for me - cracked the box open on the Heinkel 177. Will probably do some cleanup etc. this weekend, nothing too serious. I may go ahead & assemble the Hs293 "glide bombs". They're little kits all on their own! I'll need some putty on these though, there are some sink marks to deal with.

And the Mirage is in the home stretch, one of my assistants is quite interested, but she is used to seeing WW2 subjects out of me:

Clear coat on, I like how the colours came out.

Then I masked & painted the "sensor areas" on the tail:

Trying to decide if I need to give it an over-spray of very very thin tan to blend the upper surfaces or not.

The Mirage is looking good, Vance.

You assistant looks awfully helpful too.

Thanks Griffin - a little out of the norm for me, but having fun with it. Luckily, the assistant watches a lot, and touches nothing except the occasional paintbrush.

Been absent for a bit, come back and find all this progress.

TD:  I don't recall what scale your ship is, but those tiny guns and tiny planes always challenge me, even to simply hang on to them while fiddling with them.

Noah:  nice outcome on the Hs 129; the camouflage spots look good.

Khalee:  excellent looking Corsair; the Brit markings make it wonderfully different and unique.

Van:  great work on the Mirage; the colours are really pleasing; should look good with decals on; maybe the little assistant can assist with that.

Vance  re: the light over spray, I would wait until after decals, so they will "fade" a touch too.  Of course if your air craft is just out of the factory then not.

However, what ever the decision, your work  looks mighty fine  so far.   

Am sure if you need to rescribe a line or two, your assistant will be glad to oblige.

the mirage is a very pretty jet nice camo scheme too

May I come in?  It's an older 1/48 AH-64 Apache.  I bought slightly started, on ebay.  The seats weren't cut from the sprue well, and were glued in firmly, but at an angle.  The control columns were glued in, as was the back wall of the cockpit, and that's it, as side from a scratch on the canopy.

I cleaned up the seats, and polished out the scratch.

This is a cross-GB from a write-up in the forum 'Locate and Cement'.

Anywhere, here's a picture, after I sprayed the cockpit, with both bits on old CD's.

No worries, ill update the front page.

Thanks Scorpio, sorry for the poor quality pictures, this is where I am upto, I know it's been a while since I last checked in.

Mirage looks really sharp and good  

the henschel bombs bombs are not bad and revell fritz x have not so many pieces than the airfix old kit

wishing to see more 177 updates

bsyamato

...wishing to see more 177 updates

I'll likely start some portions of the Heinkel this weekend. My "production line" has been pretty backed up recently but the Sea Harrier and Mirage should be mostly finished soon.

Wow Vance, that Mirage looks amazing!  Sorry not been active for a bit, work and life commitments, etc.

OK, masked off the underside (I don't think well - touching up will be needed), and sprayed the green.  More green soon, then the grey...

checkmateking02

Been absent for a bit, come back and find all this progress.

TD:  I don't recall what scale your ship is, but those tiny guns and tiny planes always challenge me, even to simply hang on to them while fiddling with them.

Noah:  nice outcome on the Hs 129; the camouflage spots look good.

Khalee:  excellent looking Corsair; the Brit markings make it wonderfully different and unique.

Van:  great work on the Mirage; the colours are really pleasing; should look good with decals on; maybe the little assistant can assist with that.

I sprayed the grey camo, but hated the finished, so, more green, then back to the grey, this time a more standard paint, then my own mix.  However, I've mislaid my plans, so, here it is, with some camo on, that I could remember.  Decided to freehand it, rather than mask.  Hope it's OK

Thanks for letting me into this GB.  Sorry not done any work on the Apache since.  Your other works look superb!

Can I enter the GB with a semi-built 1/72 Concorde (09005)?

Looks good. Id add a bit more grey to the starboard wing and the tail.

No worries on the apache. Ive got a walrus i havent done much on in a long time.

Centhot the green looks strange after the grey, but grey looks correct ..

The green looks weird in the picture, but is fine in real life!  It's not the one recommended, but, something close, Humbrol 102, rather than 224.  I know it's not the one Airfix recommend, but, it's close, and, er, it's open, and being acrylic, will quickly dry up if not used.

Alex Shaw

Can I enter the GB with a semi-built 1/72 Concorde (09005)?

Anyone?

Sorry, missed you there.

Not a problem, ill update the front page now. You must have posted that while i was typing my reply lol.

Scorpiomikey

Sorry, missed you there.

Not a problem, ill update the front page now. You must have posted that while i was typing my reply lol.

Yay! I'll put up some pictures after I've made some more progress with it.

Good luck with that Concorde, it's not the easiest of builds.  Look out for the undercarriage, I recall someone having problems there.

Sat down with the Mirage & decals on Friday and...... they curled up like you would not believe. Not "curled up in the water", but after they were on & dried. I used some liquid decal film, the colours held well enough, but I'd say the adhesive is simply non-existant on these original decals. (I had also been warned about the "brown-paper-backed decals".)

So, I'm on the hunt for decals! Albatros made a massive sheet, but I'm only looking for the SAAF decals of course. I'll be searching some of the online sources for sales/trades. If I don't have any luck there I may have to go the "print your own" route. I'm certainly capable of it considering what pays my bills, I just need to find the supplies to do it right.

This is a fated build!  First I lost the instructions yesterday, now I managed to lose an airscrew set (propellers)...  Well, there were some 'challenges' up ahead.  The holes on the floats were either far too large, or too small (which is better).  As for the windshield, well, I already knew it would 'interesting'.  For now, this is a frozen build, still, at least I finished the Camel.