Fleet Air Arm Group Build

Darren,

Thats a great photo Thanks for sharing it with us. I'd love to know where the picture was taken. All those types in one place, what a sight!

I recon you deserve this weeks prize bottle of rum!

Cheers!

Very cool pic Darren.  Thanks for sharing .

Regards,  Rick 

Lads I came across this image this morning on Hyperscale and thought it was simply too good to pass up as a reference for this build.

I'm not sure if that's a Seafire Mk.II or a Spitfire Mk.V but the other types you can spot apart from the Corsair are a Martlet, a couple of Sea Hurricane and a couple of Barracudas.  Note the way the camo on the spine of the Sea/Spitfire doesn't join neatly at the top and just how bleached out the paint job is.

Cheers

Got a bit more done on the Spitfire and the Lynx, I've sprayed the yellow leading edges and sky fuselage band on the Spitfire and have done some more sanding on the Lynx.

It seems like these two builds are taking ages............I'll be glad to them finished. 

Dave, nice job on the pit!

Tony, nice job on the Merlin.  Looks great!

Dave, Nice job on the Barracuda. I too really like the shading / dry brushing and would love to hear what colors / paints you used.

Thanks,

Leon 

Dave,

very nice work on the Barracuda! The interior looks great.

Darren,

Thanks! It was much easier than I thought. I would definately give it a go at doing the exhausts if I were you.

I have now finished the mesh and I'm just waiting for the paint to dry. My card technique did not look good so I tried something else...........more on that later! 

Looks good Dave.

Regards,  Rick

Nice work on the Barracuda interior there Dave and just as a matter of interest are you going to add any harnesses?  Also, what color are you using as a shade the interior frames etc...

Cheers 

Here's a few more images of the Barracuda cockpit

Darren great work on the exhaust pipes, they should really make a difference to the finished kit.  I've always been to chicken to try that myself, I usually rely on good 'ol Ultracast for my exhausts .

With regards to the mesh, have you thought about getting some fine PE mesh from Eduard and using that?

Tony lovely job on the Merlin it looks incredible and thanks for posting those shots, it's always nice to reference the real thing.

Cheers

Darren,

I'm excited to see the mesh when you have it done. It is always good to see what people have done to add to kits to make them more realistic - always nice to put a new trick in the bag...

TonyO

1st - Nice job on the merlin. It looks really good.

2nd - Wow! Wow! Wow! Thanks for the pictures. Those ones are definitely going to get saved in the reference folder...

Bob,

Thanks for the compliment. I look forward to seeing your hellcat.

Leon 

Tony,

nice work on the Merlin! Very well done. Many thanks for posting those photo's too. Nice to have a look at the "real thing" when we build models.

Cheers,

Out for a few days, miss a lot....

Darren-very nice work on the exhaust.

gwaihir-thanks for posting the pics-I'm building a similar Hellcat for this GB-I will use the pic for inspiration-you did a very nice job on the build

TonyO-Great job on the chopper.  And thanks for the pics-a good reminder that the enemy wasn't the only hazard to be faced.

gwaihir wrote:

The second is a hellcat which I need to take better pictures of one of these days, but for what it is worth...(Hasegawa - kit and decals)

Nice work on those, here is a pic of the real one, I got it from the son of HMS Ameers ships photograper who is a friend of my mother 

but its not typical of the squadrons aircraft as they usually looked like this

No computer or internet for the last few weeks but have finished the Merlin HM1 so a few pics.

straight from the box build using Xtracrylix paint .Nice interior detal all invisible when finished. 

Thanks Leon

I know what you mean about seams.....horrible little blighters! Still, like you say its worth that extra effort to make a better model. I could leave it as is, but I just would'nt be happy with it.

I'm working on some filter covers for the Lynx at the moment. Its supposed to be a mesh but the kit part is just a piece of plastic. I have experimented with some mettalic card by scoring a mesh pattern on it with my scalpel, then cutting it to shape and gluing it to the kit part. I need to paint it but when its done I'll post a pic and see what you think. At the moment, I'm undecided about it.

Darren,

Nice job on the exhausts! I think that is one of those details that is very small and unnoticed by many, but when put together with other small details really adds up to making builds extra special. In my opinion definitely worth the time - nice work!

Now about seams...I hate seams. Sometimes I dread them so much that when it comes time to gluing a fuselage together and knowing that I will have to deal with the microscopic seams that you don't notice until it's too late, I will actually loose interest and put a kit away (the corsair I am pulling out again for this build) or I will go to my building station and only spend around 10 minutes building because I don't want to tackle it. Argh! I hate them! So good for you taking the time to go back and fix the one you found...and if you ever find that magic trick that makes them all disappear on the first try, I'll buy you a real bottle of rum...

Hope all is well.

Leon 

Quick WIP update on my Spitfire.

I got the the idea off JWB over on the aircraft forum to drill out my exhaust stacks, I had never done it before but after seeing how his turned out I thought I'd give it a try.

Not bad for a first go?

Did another re-spray on the Lynx, one of the seam lines is still showing so its back to filling/sanding again.

We'll keep your seat warm for you Frank.

Leon-

Awesome work!  I am really looking forward to seeing your Corsair when it's done.  YW on the wing heads up, shouldn't be a problem as long as you take your time.

I'll be out of town for a couple of days for work training, but will be back later this weekend.  Save a couple rums for me for when I get back, I'm gonna need it!

Leon,

nice work! If my Hellcat comes out half as good as that I'll be very happy! Thanks for the inspiration.

Reading through the thread I see some great builds put out there as inspiration. Great job guys! Excellent work! I'm going to have to try one of those trumpeter kits one of these days...

I have two of my own to add to the inspiration. First, a martlet - from the Tamiya wildcat kit. Included some very minor fixes / sanding away of details, and a different spinner (from a P-47 kit). Decals are Aeromaster...

The second is a hellcat which I need to take better pictures of one of these days, but for what it is worth...(Hasegawa - kit and decals)

Thanks Frank. I think just knowing that it is something to watch for and not blindly following the directions helps. I, too, will definitely dry fit - multiple times...

Leon 

Cheers Frank,

I will certainly be dry fitting those Corsair wings..............

gwaihir wrote:

The only thing I am a little worried about is the wings - I hear they can be a little tricky going in the unfolded position. I understand the best way is to join the tops, then bottoms, then outer to inner. I'll be interested to hear how this goes for everyone...

I had trouble gettling the wings to line up in the unfolded position the first time around, and unfortunately did not test fit them prior to final assy.  The second time around I built it I folded them up-no problem!  This time, I think I'll leave 'em down but will DEFINATELY test the fit before commiting to glue.

Darren- The paint job looks great to me, I think it's gonna be a stunner when finished!

As the cap'n said, rum all 'round! 

Darren, Leon,

thanks for your comments about the Spit.

Its the latest Mk.IX in 1/48 from Airfix. To be honest, its not that good. With some work, it can be made into a reasonable looking MkIX. The let down is that the wings are way to thick and the trailing edges are also too thick. I added some bits to the 'pit and dropped the elevators. The rudder is a much thinner replacement from another model.

If you ask the "rivet counters" they will tell you that we still do not have an accuarate Mk.IX in this scale and they will bite your head off if you build the Hasegawa one, but I recon thats the one to build.

The wings on the Corsair.....I've heard the same thing. I only built it once before and that was with wings folded. So I guess we'll have fun figuring it out.

Anyone else got a take on this?