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12) if you’re anything like me, some magnifying glasses. Especially if you’re going to be fiddling around with anything smaller than 1/48 scale
13) good supply of some wet'n'dry I start at 350, then 800, 1000 for finishing. used with a dab of water you can smooth to a good enough finish.
14) Tamiya masking tape.
That Corsair is smashing. And you’re right, every day is a school day with modelling - always something new to learn…
That Corsair is rather good.
15) Primer. I use grey acrylic from my local motor factor. Costs about £6 for a can. It helps the paint bond and it highlights any areas that need attention before the colours goes on.
16) Sanding and polishing sticks. I got some from Flory's.
17) Tweezers.
18) Cocktail sticks and bamboo kebab skewers.
You don't need all of this stuff on day one though. I've been adding tools over the last 4 years.
Can anyone recommend a good magnifying glass lamp combined sort of thing? I would like to get back into making a few models this winter (after about a 50 year break) but my eyesight's not what it was.
I too could do with one of them and one of those jig things that allow you to get the wings level.
Can anyone recommend a good magnifying glass lamp combined sort of thing?
I think they're pretty much of a muchness; I have quite a good generic mains/battery chinese one with a heavy base and a ring of LEDs that I got from a local craft shop but it's not seen much use since I got a head magnifier (see johndrummer's item 12)) - my head magnifier's similar to the £16 Rolson one that Amazon have and has been a godsend for various things including modelling, particularly since developing a covid-related eye problem that has really not helped with fine detailed work!
Well I popped into Hobbycraft. Kinda felt expensive but I bought a few things. Got an A3 cutting mat. I may have splurged a tenner on a little Revel 1:72 P47 Tomahawk. Got some Tamiya masking tape. Some Revell filler / putty.
I already had a sprue / side cutter and decent knife.
Got the instructions open for the Tomahawk. I need to drill some holes out on this model. Is a cheap £10 Amazon hand drill OK for this kind of thing? The ones in Hobbycraft were like a tenner plus another tenner for the bits.
I used to use the tip of the knife blade to open up the holes in the wings. Then I bought a pin vice & some small drill bits, it’s a lot safer. I have a nice scar on the tip of my wedding ring finger…
https://www.modelhobbies.co.uk/tamiya-fine-pin-vice-d-01-32mm--74050-53689-p.asp
https://www.modelhobbies.co.uk/tamiya-03mm-fine-pivot-drill-bit-shank-dia-10mm--74114-74498-p.asp
As for paints…
You can buy them as you need new colours for your next model. I prefer acrylics to enamels, they clean up and dilute with water rather than white spirits, dry a lot quicker and they don’t stink the house out.
Hobbycraft do Humbrol, Revell & Tamiya paints, plenty enough colours to start with
Thanks again!
I was pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of paints for the Corsair are good for my Thunderbolt (yesss I know I said Tomahawk got mixed up). Only need a few extra colours. I have a really good local craft shop I'm going to visit next Saturday. Would prefer to support them if at all possible.
Is a cheap £10 Amazon hand drill OK for this kind of thing?
Cheap hand drills often have eccentricity problems - I have one that's completely useless for small bits as the eccentricity is often larger than the hole. For small holes I use pcb drills, available cheaply from Ebay in a large range of sizes and can be used without a pin vice or in a dremel. Very sharp though, so be careful - I once spent a day at the Telford model show wondering why my finger hurt only to discover when I got home that when I'd stabbed myself with a drill the previous day a bit had broken off in my finger.
Thanks! Ordered the Model Craft one plus some bits!
When buying kits I find that Jadlam are usually reasonably priced and they don't sting you with postage. Aldi sometimes have them in for a fiver too.
Chipping away at the 1/48 Corsair. Taking a lot more time on this. Cockpit done. Engine nearly done. Freester Jr did the painting. The assembly and decals were fiddly so I helped with that. The exhausts on the engine nearly finished me. Fiddly as... then I realised when I tried a dry run on the fuselage that they were offset by 90 degrees. Luckily the glue hadn't dried. Disassembled, got it right. By then the paint had worn off. Realised the exhausts weren't going to be seen apart from the ends so do I touch them up...? According to the rule you'll know even if I can't see them they got painted again...
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Just finished this. Tamiya kit. A bit different from the box art!
EDIT: obviously I have no idea how to embed images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/70071315@N02/51659955094/in/dateposted-public/
PSA - 25% off Revell kits on the Hobbycraft website as part of their Black Friday offering.
PSA – 25% off Revell kits on the Hobbycraft website as part of their Black Friday offering.
Great PSA thank you. As I'd been to Hobbycraft for the first time a few weeks ago I got an extra 15% off code that worked!
Bought a Revell Red Arrows Hawk starter kit (comes with paint and glue) as a present for one of my lad's mates
A Revell 1/72 Lancaster and BF109. They'll go in Jr's Xmas stocking 😉
The Revell Lancaster is a good kit. I posted some pictures of mine earlier in the thread.
Needs a lot of gloss to prevent the big aircraft code decals silvering on the Matt black.
The Revell Lancaster is a good kit. I posted some pictures of mine earlier in the thread.
Needs a lot of gloss to prevent the big aircraft code decals silvering on the Matt black.
Thanks! Good advice I'll go find the pics.
If you are doing exhaust stains the smoke from the outer exhausts went under the wing, the inner three went over the wing. Something to do with the airflow and the wing dihedral.
I will try and remember that!
@Freester - This past week I have been building the same Revell Corsair kit as you - I feel the part count is too high for a small kit that doesn't fit together particularly well. Not really enjoying it to be honest.
@Freester – This past week I have been building the same Revell Corsair kit as you – I feel the part count is too high for a small kit that doesn’t fit together particularly well. Not really enjoying it to be honest.
This was my first build in many many years and Freester JR's first. Looking at it now I can see a few things that are obviously fitted very badly but I don't know if it was rustiness or lack of skill or the kit.
We've currently got a 1/48 Hobby Boss Corsair F4U-5 and a 1/72 Revell P47 Thunderbolt in progress. I guess we'll be a bit more aware of what is / isn't so good about these kits this time round.
It's gotta be fun right?
As long as you don’t have to make tank tracks link by sodding link!
We've have had a productive day.
Win #1. Realised the crappy Revell 'Painta'brushes were crap - not stiff enough and no real point. Spent marginally more on a different set that had a couple of flat and some really fine stiff pointed brushes and noticed the win with the detail. This was Freester Jr who did a great job of the detail on the thingummujobbies inside the cockpit on the 1/72 Thunderbolt.
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Cracked on and got the Thunderbolt fuselage welded together. Undercarriage up was the decision on this one...
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On our other project - the 1/48 Hobby Boss Corsair good mix of Blue and Grey (after asking advice on Britmodeller) that makes for a nice USN Sea Blue so been cracking on slapping that on various bits in readiness for some assembly...
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So almost a year since I bought them finally got round to building these with the kids
Being honest I finished up the details on all, reasonably happy considering it my first model planes in 30? Years
Aldi have these in again at the moment and can't recommend them enough (come with paints & brush)
https://www.aldi.co.uk/airfix-spitfire-starter-set/p/062318187957511
and a 1/72 Revell P47 Thunderbolt in progress.
Airplane jokes: What's the procedure for evading enemy fire in a P47? A: Undo the seat harness and run around the cockpit....I thank you, I thank you, I'm here all week, have the fish...
Good work everybody. Finally finished my Tamiya Storch. Brother in laws brother in law (!) passed away last year with a large stash of unbuilt kits, from which I bought this and sort of did it in his honour - cheers Stephen!
A nice kit but tricky in places, lots of fiddly canopy etc…
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John D - looks fiddly - you want to try these track links 😀
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Looks like someone had the same grief as me
Looks like someone is mentally scarred by those tracks you keep bringing it up 🤣
Lovely work on that Storch @timbog160 not sure I fancy painting that canopy...
Cheers Freester - it does come with masks but you have to cut them out yourself - pretty intricate!
Not a very manoeuvrable plane?
no, just really really big...
Indeed. 🙂
Funnily enough my next in line is a 1/32 Thunderbolt - inspired by this chaps work:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GAd_4E8wcx8
I have no idea where I’ll put the finished thing though, and there’s also no way I’m doing the bare metal finish.
^ Planning on doing some plastic surgery?
Taking shape... https://photos.app.goo.gl/wRp5eVUmHkJPrRT87
Only popped out for a couple of paint pots…
I think you forgot the paint
@Harry_the_Spider - Needed for some remedial work on my Corsair build! Razor saw is awesome, not sure I've got the hang of the scribing tool yet - still have a tendency to wander like when using a craft knife.
Harrier looks great, what scheme are you doing? Also what ever became of your Victor build(s)?
@Freester - Managed to get one colour but the other one was out of stock, think I can mix the right colour though so all good🙂
Nostrils best way to use the scribing tool is with some old style thick plastic Dymo label tape as a guide - still tricky though!
The Harrier will be in Falklands colours.
The Victor lies half painted and ignored. It needs finishing, but I'll probably re-paint it in camouflage rather than the hemp scheme.