All Subjects - Aussie Group Build 2005

Nice job on the Wessex Mike

Nenad your hawk is coming along nicely

Bad news on my end, no one seems to make a decal sheet for the black diamonds sabre so if i want to do it i'll probably have to cut some decal stock or paint it on......

Cheers Mike.
Yes I will be there. Can you please bring the Hawk decal sheet in and I'll pay for it then?

Cheers
Nenad

Nenad

Looking good mate!

Plenty of time for the deadline, I have not even started, still waiting on my Spitfire VIII!

Club tomorrow night too, you going to be there?

cheers

Mike

Hi Guys,
Here is my most recent progress on my Aussie Hawk 100 LIF(Lead-In Fighter).
It's the Italeri 1/72nd scale kit. So far I have glued everything together and have sanded everything. Hardly any puttying will need to be done. I have found the fit to be pretty good. The wing root seam needs some help.




I have some Pavla ejection seats for this, and will paint up the cockpit and install it after painting the exterior. I modded the cockpit tub so it can be installed after painting. The decals I am getting off Madmike. I can't remember what brand they are. Fingers crossed I can finish this by the deadline....

Cheers
Nenad

Nice job on the Wessex madmike. I remember hearing a story from one of my dad's mates who used to fly one of them. It was back when the RAN still used the Wessex and they had to land it on one of the US navys aircraft carriers. All the american sailors were excited when they landed, but they couldn't figure out why. Turns out they all thought it was a vintage aircraft doing a display for them. Shows how behind the times the RAN were.

Darren

Yes I did and many thanks, I thought I emailed you??

I have the cockpit assembled and tonight all goes together and the fuselage assembled. For an old kit and a bit basic, it looks pretty good really.

Thanks for the kind words

Mike

Loveley job on the chopper Mike

BTW did you ever get those Spitfire decals that I sent?

Cheers
Darren

Not sure if I have shared this modelto everyone or not.

This is the 1:72 Matchbox RAN Westland Wessex HAS.31 built around August 2004. Kit went together really well in the main, with fiddly bits being the canopy fit and the undercarriage legs. I needed to scratchbuild the intake at the nose. In hindsight I should have used a finer mesh but this was all I had available. Next one I will use bridal veil mesh.

It won silver at WASMEx 2004




Hope you like it

cheers

Mike

I got a coat of RAF azzure blue painted on my tomahawk today. I'll mask and paint some mid stone on the top side tomorrow. Then I'm gonna try my hand at some free hand camo with the dark earth colour in aa few days. Anyone got any tips for free hand camo jobs? I'll need all the help I can get.

I pulled the CA Meteor out of the stash to sniff the plastic last night and realised that I'm just not in the mood for it at the moment. So Wayne, if its not too much trouble I would like to change my Aussie GB kit to a 1/48 Tamiya Brewster Buffalo 453 Squadron RAAF.

There, I feel much better now.

Thanks
Darren

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Cool Jules. I used BMF for around the exhaust, and mixed Model Master Buffing metalisers to get the right tone around the canons and exhaust. Are you gonna use the kit decals? Cause they are pretty cruddy to say the least. Just the thought of using Micr anything made the decals break up something fierce.

Tweety Hmmm BMF around the exaust, sounds cool but i only have a sheet of Chrome....
As much as i like the 76 SQD Sabre i think i like the &5 SQD black Diamonds just a little better so i won't be useing the kit decals at all, I'm going to ring around and see if i can get a hold of the decals today, hopefully tey will come with the stencils too......

Cool Jules.
I used BMF for around the exhaust, and mixed Model Master Buffing metalisers to get the right tone around the canons and exhaust.

Are you gonna use the kit decals?
Cause they are pretty cruddy to say the least.
Just the thought of using Micr anything made the decals break up something fierce.

Tweets Yeah mate under closer examination of the pc you can see the outer wing flaps are a slightly darker shade than the rest of the wing with the exception of the leading edge's.........
I might paint the main colour of White aluminium over the entire thing then use the normal aluminium for the outer flaps, I'm thinking a mix of Aluminiun nd Duralinium might be the way to go for the Leading edge.........

Wow CarlGreat shots I noticed many of the pics are from the AWM, I'm gonna have to go down there for a visit one of these days

Jules, that variation in the NMF tone goes 2 ways.
It is a shade darker in tone, and so are the outer wing flaps, and certain sections of paneling along the wing root.
I would try mixing 2 different shades of Alclad to get the tone you want.

But not all Sabres showed this variance, at least for the flaps and root etc.
Might be more hassle than it's worth, but seeing as your making the Highplanes kit, a little extra isn't anything at all.

QUOTE: Originally posted by j.s.harrison BTW enlarge that Sabre pic and tell me if you see a different NMF on the wing leading edges..........I was under the impression that the Raaf Sabre was all White Aluminium except around the gun openings and around the exaust Oh yeah if you feel like making another Sabre Just Do It

If you compare the P-51 with the Sabre on my webspace (http://www.bandhaboy.fotki.com/) you can really see the contrast. The P-51 is NMF (except the wingswhich have Aluminium paint) and the result is sooo much shinier & brighter than the Sabre finish (that Sabre is at Bankstown airport in Sydney). The give-away on the Sabre is the area below the elevator just in front of the jetpipe, you can see a curved line of the painted vs non-painted metal.

Darren i found that pic after doing a google search for RAAF CAC Sabres 75 SQD, and i agree it's a fantastic pic

Dave your certainly on a mission with that oneI'm looking forward to seeing it all dressed up in RAAF Colours

Tweety Sorry mate i can't help you with that one, i never looked into it that deeply, info on the Bell 47 seemed to me to be a little sparse
BTW enlarge that Sabre pic and tell me if you see a different NMF on the wing leading edges..........I was under the impression that the Raaf Sabre was all White Aluminium except around the gun openings and around the exaust
Oh yeah if you feel like making another Sabre Just Do It

Good luck with that one Dave, it looks like it will be nice after all the hassle is said and done.

Well, made a start on my Bell 47 today.
I now recall why I stopped buying Academy kits
Not only do I have to update this kit from a D to a G model, but the fit is something else.
Talk about seams, and parts that dont line up!!!

Ah well, I chose it, so I gotta deal with it.
Does anyone know if the Aussie Bell 47's were ever used in there gunship form?
ie- dirty big canons hanging off the sides where the stretchers usually go.

Darren, it was a combination of problems, the resin itself, as well as my test fitting process. That I am also combining two different resin sets for the same acft doesn't help.

The instructions tell you to trim away the tamiya engines etc along the panel lines. If you just do that the engine will not fit properly as you have to trim the lower wing area inside the wheel well area to ensure that the engine fits length wise. Even after a fair bit of trimming I still had to force (not my fave bit) the engine onto the nacelle to fit it on.

Another problem is that the resin engine component is skinnier than the original engine. So when you fit the engine onto the engine nacelle seperate from the wing it looks OK. When you place the complete engine etc onto the wing the original nacelle is a fraction skinnier than it is supposed to be thus leaving a fine gap on either side of the nacelle/wing fitting area. As you can see in the photo below, the gap is only very small but it is still something that you have to fill.



Something I missed when putting the engine and wing area together was that there is a fairing on the original engine that fairs the engine to the air intake on the original parts. On the resin engine and intake there is no fairing so there is a significant gap between them that needs working on.

I'm sure I have done something wrong somewhere, it's just a case of what and where.

I saw the highplanes sabre at the hobby shop yesterday. I had a look in the box, and those resin fuselage halves look like a bit of a problem. The ones in this kit were badly warped. I might get it one day, but not just yet. I'd like one in my collection though.

I'm still working away on my P-40B. I've got it all stuck together and I'll do some sanding and all of that fun stuff today. Might give it a coat of primer during the week.

QUOTE: Originally posted by darson Jules, [:0] where did you lay you hands on that magnificent photo, it's absolutely stunning.

I've also got that one with my Sabre pics:
http://www.bandhaboy.fotki.com/sabre/

That's a Sabre that was rescued (from a RAAF crash in Malaysia???) and restored in the 90's. There are a number of official RAAF pics around & it's a lovely looking thing.

Dave, great looking progress of the Mossie and excellent photos. What exactly was wrong with the fit of the engines?

Jules, [:0] where did you lay you hands on that magnificent photo, it's absolutely stunning.

Darren.

Dave, that resin nacelle looks like a bugger!
Mind you, it's a heap better fit than the Highplanes Sabre fuse!!!!(LMAO @ Jules)

Jules mate, you had to go and post that Sabre pic didn't ya!
For some stoooopid reason, I really feel like making another Sabre
Knowing what I know about the Highplanes kit, the next one will take 1/2 the time, and look twice as good as the one I made last year!!!

I never learn!

I think i'm just a glutton for punishmentHmmm maybe i've been hanging around Tweety too muchNah the bottom line is thats how bad i want a CAC Sabre in my collection, besides i'd like to test my skills on something other than Hasegawa and Tamiya kits

That sounds like you love stress to me! Or are you just a glutton for punishment? I still don't have the courage to attack the Sabre conversion yet.

Yeah dave i'm planning on doing an aussie A-20 one of these days but a Beaufighter wouldn't be bad either, i hear the Tamiya kit is a sweet one

Speaking of stress i'll probably be joining you at Advanced Hair Studios after this Sabre build, not only am i doing the Highplanes conversion but i'm also sticking in the Ultracast C/pit.............

Jules, I have a A-20 on order at the LHS but am still waiting for it. I also have the Red Roo book on the A-20 so I can do it a bit better this time. Next Aussie GB hopefully.

A Beaufighter Mk2C using the new Hiplanes decals and a CMk conversion is my other effort this time. Hopefully it's less stress than the Mossie. I have lost enough hair as it is!

Dave your Mossie is coming along very nicelySo are you gonna make another A-20 this year as well

OK so here's what i'll be trying (emphasize TRYING) to build this year........

75 SQD CAC Sabre............

Here are a few of the in progress photos of all the resin going in to the Tamiya Mosquito



This is the resin panel for the cockpit showing all the extra work that will be needed just to make it look the part.



The resin engines need a pile of work to fit or my original cuts were not quite right





I have heaps of painting work to do just on these bits as well as adding all of the detail to the cockpit. All the major components are just test fitted at the moment.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 So, has anyone started their Aussie GB's yet?????????

I went to start on the Hawk but the side instrument panels are so crap on the white metal tubs I realised I'll have to file 'em down & scratchbuild something reasonable. Given this I've put it aside & gone back to the Mirage. I'll finish that off first & then try cutting up some 1mm toggle switches & lights.

The Hawk fusulage halves are such a poor fit it's had me fretting as well. Do you file away the join until they fit or stick 'em together & go mad with putty? I can't really judge how good the profile is with the plastic in such a bare form - not thrilled either way. (I loathe sanding putty.) At least the bad bits get out of the way early with this kit, the quiality improves dramatically once the basics are laid down.