Very cool Gary! 

Though the corrugated aluminum outer skin looks like it will be a bear to putty and sand away the seams. 

I think the first issue was in markings for the Byrd Polar expedition, hence the sled and dog.

Piers,

I would like to change my entry to this:

What with the Roden DC-3 being relegated to the "SOD", perhaps this will give me a kick to complete something.

Oddly, the model comes with dog-sled and men in parkas.  Guess they're delivering to California! 

Scale is one of those odd ones being 1/77.

Thanks!

Gary

Yeah she looks fantastic Piers, I'd never know all the problems with the kit if you didn't tell us. 

Your Vega looks mighty fine, Piers.

Finally I have a bit more to report on the Vega. I have assembled the undercarriage so it is close to the drawing, the shortened main gear and rebuilt struts made all the difference. So now she is standing on two wheels at least, I still need to add the tailwheel yet though.

John that is truly superb, love the scheme.

Thank you for your kind words on the Rolls.  It was a really enjoyable kit to build.

She looks fantastic Wedge!!! Love the weathering and worn paint. A busted headlight looks just right with the rest of the battered look of her. 

You and John are setting some really high standards for the rest of us to follow! 

Wedge, that is a fantastic result, you have finished it really well with great weathering.

You have got to be happy with that - which photo do you want on the front page?

Who needs headlights?  Very nice work!

Hi all

Finished off my Rolls Royce Armored Car.  It wouldn't be me if I didnt break something on my model.  The front right headlight, the holder was very thin and shattered it.  So putting it down to an accident in the desert and the threw the light in the back 

Reminds me of Fred McMurray and Erol Flynn in "Dive Bomber".

Nice work!

"We watch the skyways,

O'er the land and the sea!

Ready to fly anywhere that duty calls,

Read to fight to be free!"

Thanks, Piers and Cliff!  Perhaps the third picture, Piers, but you can choose another if you like.

John, that is a superb result! That is a bright, complex and involved scheme and you have pulled it off very well.

ANd you've done great work dbringing the detail out in the kit too.

Which photo do you want in the rogues' gallery?

John: She looks fantastic to me! Just for getting the yellow to work out I admire you sir! 

Piers: Great idea to use the wire. Adding something with a little strength that can be manipulated and bent should make things a great deal easier. 

I see I have failed to paint the position lights, but here are the finished pictures.  That vertical antenna wire gave me fits.  I tried to use the USCHI thread but for some reason the CA glue refused to bond.  After 8 or 9 tries I gave up and went to EZ Line and it worked OK. That part of Model Building was definitely NOT fun!

John, that is looking superb there, that is a great colour scheme, nearly there.

Wedge, it is looking great, it is an interesting idea to put a target on the roof of your vehicle....

For the Vega, the landing gear is the next step. With the the way it is provided I cannot get it to fit - I should have been test fitting it from the start. In the end the landing gear legs are 3 mms too long and have to be chamfered on the end to be able to fit at the right angle.

The main landing gear is a lot steeper than I thought - and the angle of the spreaders are not wide enough to reach the attachment points, so I shaped some 30 by 60 thou to kinda airfoil shape the cut to shape.

John: You're doing a fantastic job! She looks great and almost done now! 

Wedge: Very cool! Even if the roundel isn't perfect I'm assuming they were painted in the field so they probably weren't perfect in real life. Still, makes sure you won't misidentify her from the air!!! 

Got the armored car painted, weathered a little and the decals on.  Not overly happy with the roundel on the roof but will hopefully hide the errors under futher weathering 

jeaton01

Edging towards the finish on my AM SBD-1, just the practice bombs and antenna wires to be added.  These are fine representations of the SBD but I have to say it tested my dexterity and patience at times with all the fine detail and small parts.  Definitely on my list of models that I will love in the display case but not always when on the bench!

 

 

Edging towards the finish on my AM SBD-1, just the practice bombs and antenna wires to be added.  These are fine representations of the SBD but I have to say it tested my dexterity and patience at times with all the fine detail and small parts.  Definitely on my list of models that I will love in the display case but not always when on the bench!

Wedge

Work has been a bit slow going, but have managed to get the primer onto the armored car.  

 

 

Yeah, that looks awesome Wedge!!! 

That is coming along really well Wedge, and I would not call it slow going!

Work has been a bit slow going, but have managed to get the primer onto the armored car.  

Looks fantastic Piers!!! 

Weird about the setting solution changing the colour of the decals. I've had them go wrong about a million ways but never that.... yet... 

Thanks for the kind words, the short run kits can be a challenge.

So for a bit of a break, it is back to the vac form...

So I have got my solution for completing the colours on the cowling. For the light blue I tried multiple combinations of blues on some clear decal film to get the colour I was after. For the darker blue I again used the Fairey Rotodyne decal, using the Hasegawa cutting curves to get the shape right.

Started well, with a decent match for each of the blues. Trouble came when I had to use lots of decal solvent for the dark blue - it changed the colour of the blue! So a bit of touch up with a blending paint - next will be the clear gloss coat.

Piers: she looks superb!!! Great job! Those limited run type kits are a bear to build, and you did a great job on her! 

Greysnake: Looks cool! Seen Tauro kits before but never built one. 

Looks great, Piers.  The work was worth it.

Very nice work on the Arado. The rigging looks great on it. 

In regards to Tauro they were a Italian company that released some interesting subjects such as Italian battleships, aircraft, white metal figures and a handful of 1/35 armor. They were the only choice for some subjects until recently.

Tauro was way over ambitious for the time and what the company was capable of. Such as engines in aircraft kits, working suspension, tracks for the A7V tank they made in the early 1980's. I can only speak for the armor kits they made but they were pretty rough.