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@Rockhopper do I actually need that compressor though if I already have one? If not, have you got a link to the airbrush without it?
Oh sorry, I didn’t notice you already had a compressor. If it’ll go down to 10psi on the regulator and it’s got a moisture trap and you can connect the airbrush hose to it then yes, it’ll be great
I’d budget £100 and get a Neo or an H&S Ultra. I use an Ultra, lovely bit of kit.
As mine has outlived the ebay £15 ones numerous times over it has worked out cheaper in the long run.
Christmas Build is GO!!!
And I fully expect to have it finished by June.
Which immediately begs the question what angle for the tilt rotors so it doesn't sag/fall over/sit on them?
Rotors will be up. Wheels down, no crew and maybe the ramp open depending on how the interior turns out.
Less likely to crash if it is on the ground.
Harry, I have some up close photos if you'd like them for painting/decals etc?
Nice one! Anything from the main cabin would be appreciated. Also where it gets stained or dirty.
That should see you right Harry.
Thanks!
If you can't save them in higher enough Res, let me know and I'll googledrive them and send you a link.
They're fine. Interesting to see the mottling in the grey. Will try and replicate that.
Did anyone get anything off Santa?
Can't recommend Hobby 2000 enough. Reboxing of old, but very good kits with new decals, vinyl masks and a proper massive top opening box.
No new kits, we are slowly chipping away at the accumulated mass of half built stuff.
I have had some time over the last couple of days to make a bit of (slow) progress with the BF109 (excuse the mess on the board). I've freehanded the rough shape of the camo and I'll tidy it up by using putty when I've enough time to get all the further coats on and then putty straight off (see woes below).
I also learned a valuable lesson with the mig putty I mentioned a page or two back... It is brilliant to use but eats the paint finish underneath it if left on for too long (in may case about a month because I was busy and forgot about it 😖) and I had to clean the Hunter up with IPA, repaint bits of the grey and then touch up the green by hand / eye. If I'd finished it in the first sitting it would have been fine 😡😡😡 see new strategy above...
I'm doing the yellow and black striped wings for that per the Tangmere aircraft but decided to paint not decal the stripes. I'm in two minds whether that is the right choice given how badly the yellow is covering the metallic underside after two coats but I think it will be better longer term. 🫤
My younger son has some nice WH40k stuff in progress although what possessed him to buy Tyranids to add to the mix is beyond me.
Ignore that one 🙂
Christmas build complete!
The kit was a bit of a donkey, but I'm quite pleased with the outcome.
Just notices the shonky wheel. Will sort it out!
Mate, that's cracking, looks the business. Hope the photos helped.
They did. Particularly the staining on the paint.
Your runway needs some tlc, moss and very uneven. 😝
How on earth do you turn this stuff so quickly? Cracking as always.
I'm well on with the next one!
Airfix Sea King (not the new big one).
And a much better kit than the Osprey it is too! 
Christmas F22 Spitfire. 613 sqn 1949
And Airfix Zero WIP - Xmas pressie from my daughter
So, what have we all learned in 2023?
My “lessons” were as follows:
1) Paint canopy framing with a brush then neaten it up with a cocktail stick after about 10 minutes, when the paint has dried, but not set hard. Then mask over the whole lot.
2) Drop the pressure on my airbrush and keep an eye on the gauge as, for some reason, my compressor allows it to creep up over time.
3) Tamiya Clear is ok for the pre-decal gloss coat if you follow point 2.
4) You can put canopies on with Tamiya Extra Thin instead of PVA if you dot it in the corners and allow capillary action to do the rest.
5) Check the provenance of the kit, a fancy box (and price) may be disguising a crappy re-box.
Disclaimer: These work for me and may, or may not, apply to everyone else!
Lovely Spitfire BTW, and the Airfix Zero is a cracker.
My lessons;
1. Take your goddamned time.
2. Experiment, don't be afraid to try new things
3. PE on 1/72nd is rarely worth the effort, especially in cockpits; you should probs. stop buying it.
4. The more you look after your airbrush the more it will look after you.
My Modelling Resolutions
1. Try different eras, and go out of your way to do different kits to what you normally do.
2. Start/Finish that 1/48th Chipmunk in 6AEF colours you said you'd do.
Thanks for the kind comments @HtS, I've been trying different paint application techniques (cheaper Airfix kits are great for this) Quite leased with the results
I really struggle to find the time to do any model making. Need to get back on it.
I did a Bolton Paul Defiant that really got me interested in doing some model making as a relaxation hobby, so I bought the Tamiya Sea Harrier (not the greatest model, but I made one when I was younger that my brother smashed up, so wanted to do it again) and all the paints, glues, masking stuff, filler etc.
I have just checked the latest photos of progress for it and they are dated the 4th Jan 2023.....and that's just the pilot in his seat & the engine assembled & painted.
I need to find the time to get on with it.
Great models by the way - I love the Osprey & that Spitfire looks very good, nickc
Looks like good progress @stumpy01, you should be pleased with that engine. 👍
That looks like the Tamiya Sea Harrier, it goes together well, but its not got a good reputation for accuracy.
Yeah, nickc, it is the Tamiya Sea Harrier.
Annoying thing about the engine, is that painting anything further back than the compressor fan is largely pointless as it can't be seen. I wanted to use it for practice though.
I have seen some YT builds of the model & there are some messy gaps and parts that I might try to fill. It also is inaccurate in places, but it was dirt cheap - I think I paid £12 & it's a good model to practice on.
I am not convinced how I am going to paint the fuselage yet, as it requires a mix of paints & I want to make sure I mix enough to get all coats done. I might just use a colour that is 'close', rather than worrying too much about it being spot-on. I had decided this already, but forgot what I decided as I've drawn the bloody thing out for so long.
I got a Trumpeter 1/35 STRV 103 C (Swedish S Tank – Mad looking thing… Google it!) for Christmas. This will be my first AFV and I’m keen not to mess it up. So, I bought a Tamiya Chieftain in the same scale for less than £20 as a paint mule. I think it suffers the same criticism as the Sea Harrier, in that it isn’t 100% accurate, but it goes together well. I’m looking forward to painting the Chieftain and playing about various “filth” techniques. I may even try a small diorama.
All this could go out of the window of course, as depending on how the Sea King goes I may decide to build the SAR version that I have in the stash.
@stumpy01 - Tamiya have something that is very close to Extra Dark Sea Grey. Will try and find which on it is...
The Airfix Zero is a cracking little kit. I think mine was £6 from Lidl.
The Sea King is going together very well. Airfix seem to have sorted their act out. Anything produced in the last decade has been really good in my experience, and anything older has been nostalgic, but a bit shit.
Going to have to do more of their stuff and wean myself off Italeri and their re-boxes, because the last couple have been awful.
Harry_the_Spider
@stumpy01 – XF-91 IJN (Yokosuka Arsenal) Gray
@Harry_the_Spider - thanks a lot for this - just spotted it! It was so long ago that I bought all the paints & other stuff I forgot what my plan was for this colour.
I have just looked at the paints in my collection. I have two pots of XF-61, so have a suspicion I meant to order XF-91 at some point & got my numbers mixed up.
I also have a Humbrol colour 123 which is extra dark sea grey. So, maybe I bought that to be used instead. It looks very pale though, so would definitely need to try it first - it looks more like a grey primer colour.
Anyway - thanks for the infor - a great help!!
Like the Zero - nice texture on the wings. The panel lines look a little overdone, but thats an Airfix feature and I haven't figured out how to knock them back either
The Airfix Zero is a cracking little kit.
Yep, surprisingly good. Goes together well good detail in the cockpit, just a bit of filing on the fuselage seams, undercarriage is a bit spindly, but once in place its fine, decals are good. For the price you can't go wrong really
The panel lines look a little overdone, but thats an Airfix feature
Yep, they're somewhat trench like on the kit, so once you've started...Airfix are so inconsistent; I did the Spit F22 and that's got nice fine engraving, but this just overdone. IRL, they'd be centimetres deep.
I also have a Humbrol colour 123 which is extra dark sea grey.
Aah, the nightmare that is EDSG...Just don't go anywhere near the modelling forums if you want to retain your sanity.
nickc Full Member<br />Aah, the nightmare that is EDSG…Just don’t go anywhere near the modelling forums if you want to retain your sanity.
How does it compare to the great debates about Sky?
Equally severe.
In fact most of the colours of WW2 fighters - especially Luftwaffe RLM colours seem to attract the most fastidious of modellers TBH, they can (and frequently do) argue about whether EDSG contains any violet, whether 8th AF P47 were either solid green or a splinter dark brown/Green, and if they were; which brown. Whether early BoB 109s were ever painted RLM02 as an exterior camo colour. Why; after 1944 when the two tone grey day fighter scheme was replaced by a brown/green scheme did Luftwaffe Arado jets continue to be painted the two tone grey scheme....You name it, they will argue about it.
It's not helped by early colour photography of course. The colours these P51 were painted was the subject of much discussion over the years...Blue* or Not?
*Turns out they were either Olive Drab or RAF Dark Green...
Fortunately I’m blessed by:
a) Being ever so slightly colour blind.
And
b) Not giving a shit.
I got some pedant frothing last week by suggesting that a RN Sea King rescue helicopter was Extra Dark Sea Grey when it is actually Medium Sea Grey.
I quickly admitted my error, and may have even mentioned point “b” above, but it still had someone spit out his pipe and get ash on his slippers.