80 Years of Airfix GB

Got a start on the Mustang.  Been working on it at club meetings.  Have the details painted in the office, just have to put in the placard decals then can button it up in the fuselage.

Nice to see her on her wheels Mark, those have come out really well.

That is looking really nice Chad. Interesting that your going this far before fitting the wings.

Watching this one closely Boddy. I saw one built up at our club last year and yep, its a good size. I have heard there is an isue with the fit of the fuselage halves, possably needs some clamping. Been keen to see if thats true.

With Janets daughter soon to finish Uni and hopefully getting her own place, i am planning on getting the spare bed out of my room at the end of the year and getting in a double depth shelf mainly to accomodate this and the Victor. My current ones are certainly not deep enough.

After opening the bags and checking out all the sprues, I have come to a sad conclusion....I will have to build this kit with the gear up.  I have no room on any shelf for this beast.  LOL!  She's a big one!  But I will have her flying with the bay doors open.  Shame about the gear, it was nicely detailed and would have been impressive sitting on a shelf....if I had one big enough for her.  LOL!

Hey everyone...great work here!  I must say they all are very cool, but the Omnibus is neat.  Different.  I like it!

I haven't forgotten about my part 2 of this GB.  The Nimrod is off the shelf and on the bench! 

Being I was in Desert Storm and spent a lot of time in Saudi...I'm going to do the aircraft that was stationed at Prince Sultan Royal Saudi Air Force Base.

Mopar Madness

Decals are on, panel lines have been “washed”, time to start the weathering then I’ll call this one done.

That's looking awesome Chad.  The metal finish looks fantastic.

Cheers,
Mark

Tales of the Omnibus - Chapter 6

Oh, we're getting close now.  Time to install the front axle, the fenders, and the wheels.  Here's what we're working with in this chapter.

The rear fenders had huge amounts of flash on the front edge.  Took a while to clean up.

Meanwhile the front fenders have a support member molded into the part, that should fit into a round hole on the chassis.  LOL.  I ended up cutting off the vertical slab of flash, and sanding the square peg into a roundish shape.

Here are the rear wheels.  The one on the right has a base coat of Tamiya XF-9 Hull Red.  The left wheel has been weathered with pastel chalks on top of the Hull Red.

I love working with pastel chalks for weathering.  I guess this goes back to my younger days when I did fine art (portraits, landscapes... etc.) with chalks and charcoal.  I use a short, stiff brush to apply layers of chalk, building up the darks and lights in successive layers until I get the result I want.

Wheels masked, ready to shoot Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black on the tires.  I read that the tires on these buses were solid rubber, so no need to make them look weighted.

After some light dusting of chalk on the tires, here they are ready to go on the bus.  I'm very happy with how they look.

The fenders were fiddly, but not too bad to attach.  Then the wheels went on.  This kit was "engineered" so that the wheels could rotate.  But they fit so poorly on the axles that they would never sit perpendicular to the ground, always angled one way or another.  So I decided to glue them in place, carefully setting the alignment as they cured.

Feels awesome to finally see the bus up on her wheels.  Just like that moment of satisfaction when an airplane gets to stand on it's gear for the first time. 

That's it for chapter 6 of Tales of the Omnibus.  All that remains now are about a dozen little exterior parts that need to be added (including a newspaper for the upper deck), and finally a whole bunch of decals.  I get started on all that in chapter 7.

Cheers,
Mark

Decals are on, panel lines have been “washed”, time to start the weathering then I’ll call this one done.

Mark, that... is... awesome!

crown r n7

Very sharp looking Bus !

Thanks Nick.

Bish

That is completly stunning Mark. Figures would make a nice addition but understand why you don't feel like tackling them. Some times you just want to get a build done and move on.

Thanks Bish.  Yeah, even though I've enjoyed the challenges of this build I'm ready to return to airplanes.

Mopar Madness

Wow Mark, your making this Omnibus into a real gem.  The figures are a bit on the silly side but I’d love to see what you’ve done with them!

And finally, thank you Chad.
Here's a pic of one the figures.  Just remember, you asked for this.
Don't blame me when you can't sleep tonight.

I actually can't show the other one I started.  Makes this one look like the Mona Lisa. LOL. 

Cheers,
Mark

That is completly stunning Mark. Figures would make a nice addition but understand why you don't feel like tackling them. Some times you just want to get a build done and move on.

Very sharp looking Bus !

Wow Mark, your making this Omnibus into a real gem.  The figures are a bit on the silly side but I’d love to see what you’ve done with them!

Tales of the Omnibus - Chapter 5

The freelance work I was expecting to start this week is delayed slightly, so I was able to get a bit of work done on the Omnibus the last couple of days.

Started off by glueing the steps to the stringer.  Had to do this in sequence, because the parts needed to be adjusted along the length of the join.

I had to add some styrene to the stairway platform (artificially highlighted in yellow), to improve the mating surface between this part and the underside of the chassis.  Original surface was flat but angled, so the platform would not have been level.

At this point the the bits are ready for paint.

The red (and dark brown on the reverse side) has been laid down, and now I'm brushing the Titan Gold onto the railings.

The stairway parts ready to be assembled.

Sequentially glued these parts together, starting at the bottom and working my way up. 

Rear platform attached to the vehicle.  the added styrene worked perfectly to ensure a good bond and a level platform.

Glueing the stairwell to the vehicle was quite fiddly.  I glued the base of the stairs to the platform first, and allowed it to completely cure.  Then I glued the top.  I had to improvise a clamping solution, because of the shape and the delicate railings.  I cut a rubber band and threaded it through the side wall and around the front vertical railing of the stairway, clamping the two ends after pulling a slight tension.  This worked much better than I expected.

I'm super happy with how it's looking.

One bit of weirdness happened.  While dry-fitting a part that goes on the rear wall, I dropped it... and it fell into the enclosed lower deck.
"It's okay Mark, just shake it out of there", I thought to myself.
I gently shook the vehicle and didn't hear anything.
Hmmm... I looked inside and saw that the part had landed, and wedged itself, between the front bench and the wall.  ARGHHHH!  Here's a pic.

Well after giving it a long think, I dug out a stiff bit of wire and bent a little hook on the end and carefully fished the part out.  Happily, I didn't scratch up any paint, at least that is visible.  lol.

Update on the figures.
Um... there probably won't be any.  hahaha...  seriously, I've been trying to paint them, and the results are somewhere between hideous and repulsive.  I've been working on this kit for 2 1/2 months, and really want to finish it up and return to building airplanes.  I've enjoyed working well outside my comfort zone with this vehicle, but I think the figure painting will send me over the edge.  Maybe sometime in the future I will revisit the figures, and add them to the vehicle.

That's it for now.  In the next chapter we'll get the fenders on, and give this machine some wheels.

heers,
Mark

Lol, thanks Mark.  If you squint just right, my blobs of white paint might just pass as switches and dials!

Looking great Chad.  Nice work on the detail painting, look forward to see your video.

Cheers,
Mark

You sure smoothed out those gaps Nick!

A little more progress on the Provost. Finished the interior and hand painted some very intricate and complicated dials and switches on the fuselage sidewalls lol!  I will provide a video tutorial at a later date.

I agree.  Really looking excellent considering that huge warp it had.

Cheers,
Mark

Nick, that didn't look good, like the Airfix of old. That was worse than the fit on my SM 79. You got to grips with it well though, would never know looking at it.

its looking like a sea fury... some putty here and there check for seams, I am really debating if I should prime with gloss black or flat for alclads high speed silver? its seems to me that this color is a glossy aluminum will test 1st.

Chad I tackel the bow one section at a time. The real problem is the cowling.I managed to get though it but I used 00 steel wool to even out the cowling ring. Here are my lastest pics. The plastic is very soft and can be a double edged sword but we will see whats next.

Oh no.  I’ve got one of those that I’m looking forward to building. What is the cause of the poor fit?

Bish and Mark many thanks

Mark the bus is moving along nicely . I like the wood grain on those benches and the yellow lights nice touch and on the undercariage.

Chad at least the trainer as a better fit then my sea fury.

That really is coming together Mark, looking awsome. Can't wait to see this complete.

Look forward to seeing that Chad, will get you on the roster.

Mark - Seriously great job on the Omnibus.

Started working on the Provost. Taped it together to check the fit and looks like this one should be a slamdunk. Interesting size comparison with the Lightning. This was definitely a tiny trainer!

Tales of the Omnibus - Chapter 4

Managed to get quite a bit done yesterday, which is good because I have a pretty intensive freelance gig this week and won't have a lot (if any) bench time.

We come now to the bits and pieces underneath the vehicle, the drivetrain and suspension.  There's not a lot to do here, as the kit is pretty minimal in this area.
I glued up the drive train and prepared the other parts for paint.

I was proud of myself for having the patience and steady hands to drill out the exhaust pipe.

Then I realized the exhaust was the other end!  D'oh!  I sighed, and drilled out that end too.

All the drivetrain, suspension leaf springs, and exhaust system painted and lightly weathered.

I don't know why, but I really enjoy exhaust pipes.  I like doing them on airplanes and enjoyed this one too.  I always put down a base coat of Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black, then dry brush over it with Tamiya XF-9 Hull Red.  After that I use a short stiff brush to add black and gray pastel chalk dust.  I like the result.

The suspension leaf springs went on without any problem.  Then the drive train and exhaust went on.  Sometimes, you need just the right tool to hold a piece down while glueing.

I know Airfix just wanted to give the viewer a taste of what's under the vehicle, but even I kknow that the exhaust manifold should not exit out of the oil pan.  lol.

With the underside built up, and some light dry brushing for weathering, it was time to glue the upper deck to the main vehicle. 

YAY!  It's really coming together now.  The finish line is in sight... just.
One problem now is, until the wheels go on the vehicle's a bit wobbly just resting on the springs and differential.  It easily falls over if I bump the bench.  So I need to get those wheels on soon!  That will be coming, but before that it's time to tackle the platform and stairs at the rear.  That will happen in chapter 5, of Tales of the Omnibus.

Cheers,
Mark

Tales of the Omnibus - Chapter 3 (cont.)

Finished up most of the interior detailing and weathering of the upper deck.  Used sprue-goo to join the ends of the hand rail at the front corners and left rear, then painted the railings with Tamiya X-31 Titan gold.  I like to use this for brass fittings.  It's too gold straight out of the bottle, but after I brush some black pastel chalk all over it, it takes on a very nice aged brass look.

Painted all the "crash pads" on the backs of the benches (Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black), then I glued them all in place.  I'll still do one more weathering pass up here after the vehicle is assembled.

Next I turned my attention to the lights on the underside of the top deck.  Here you can see the tiny lights on the bench next to the overturned top deck.  First I had to touch up some of the paint, because some rogue drops of red paint landed on the ceiling.

After glueing in the lights, I painted Tamiya X-2 Gloss White around the bases to give them that old-timey ceramic fitting look.  Not sure if it's accurate, but I like it.

I was going to leave the lights clear, but decided to paint one of them with Tamiya X-24 Clear Yellow, just to see how it would look.  I liked the look of it a lot, so I did the rest.  Again, not sure it's accurate but I like it.

And so we come to the close of chapter 3, of Tales of the Omnibus.  In chapter 4 we'll build up the drive-train and suspension, and finally attach the upper deck to the vehicle.

Cheers,
Mark

Bish,  since the Lightning is winding down I’m going to go ahead and start construction on my second entry into this awesome GB.  The theme for this build is going to be “easy”,  since the Lightning fought me most of the way.  I would like to enter the 1/72 Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.4. Fingers crossed, this will be a quick and easy turn around.