AUSSIE/ANZAC GB 2006 Jan 26 to Sept 21st

Didn't know someone else was doing a Magister as well.

Harv, I thought the cowling would have been closer to chrome in appearance, thats how it appears in the images I have of RAF Magisters.

Have you had any fit problems, aside from the lack of locating pins on any part of the model!

Where could I start!!!!

This is the Special Hobby 1/48 kit and it has some painful fit problems.

- The cockpit needs to be fitted very carefully in the fueslage as it is not that good a fit, this includes not only the firewalls but also the floor.
- The wings also need careful fitting as they need to have the inside wing/fueslage joint carved out to join properly. This is also needed for the wing/fueslage joint area as it mismatches and requires filling and sanding to get the right shape.
- The wing leading and trainling edges don't fit that well together and the trailing edges require thinning.
-The lower fueslage join required a fair bit of filler as I hadn't trimmed the floor properly.
- The engine cowling is also a bit tricky in joining all the bits together. The choice is to fit it to the fueslage prior to or after painting. I chose to fit it prior to painting and foiund out the hard way that the humbrol metal paints don't like to be masked ie it lifted the paint. I ended up painting the fuelsage then sealing it with 'one go' then painted the cowl and spats.
The decals for the RAAF acft are quite good and sit flush on the model. Be careful of them in that they stick to themselves to well and can be impossible to separate. This is why I had to paint the wing walk with paint rather than the decal. It managed to flip onto itslef and wouldn't come undone.

It's a limited run model and these are the sorts of things I expect to have to do with a kit like this. It actualy goes better together than the Classic Airframes kits I have.

I hope this helps.

So it's safe to say it falls a tad short of a 'Snap' together kit.

Thanks for the info Dave

You could definately say that LOL.

The colour for the cowl is definately polished but i'm unsure of what exact colour it is. It will be good to see the end result of your build.

Finally purchased my kit for the group build.  Comparing the kit to the photos I have it looks like I will have to quite a few modifications to the kit to convert it to the Aussie version Im going to model.   Things like changing the side the fuel tank and spare tire are mounted on, filling in the gun hatch in the roof and changing the profile of the front mudguards. 

Foiled the nose section of the Magister tonight

I reckon it looks ok, will have to take a pic tomorrow and post it.

Foil isn't as easy to work with as I thought either.

For masking no probs cause all you want is a nice small section to stay on, but covering large areas and keeping tiny bits of dust out is actually quite difficult

I had no idea an itty bitty fleck would stand out like dogs bits.

And forget about peeling it back and removing the offending part, 9 times outta 10 the foil will tear.

Strange as it may seem, I reckon I'm actually gonna enjoy the hassles

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.

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

Cheers

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.

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

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

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.

That looks pretty good Joe

Like the plate, where ya get that from??

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.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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:

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

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.

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.

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

Cheers

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

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

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

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....

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!

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

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

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