slightly OT: Building away from home, DaFROG builds RW (the horror, the horror)

[DaFROG]

So I'm in Adelaide for work again and like last time i brought some white metal figures to keep me busy. However like last time fate had other ideas.
On the first day one of my faceless minions brought to my secret laboratory not only the brunel No3 steam driven galvanic microscope but also this, which is where the horror comes in:



Quail in terror (Quail are by far the best birds to be in terror i find)
As my faceless minion claimed to still have the transfers (if not the undercarriage) I said i could re-paint it.
Said minion also had a 1/48 ICM spitfire mk IX which still in it's bag, but more on that later.

Dissasembly was surprisingly easy as although the glue had attacked the plastic it stayed rubbery and could be pulled apart with ease



Thankfully my accommodation is well supplied with pegs
Once the wing was together i decided to rescribe the raised panel lines (they would be lost anyway if i sanded off the paint pen markings).



I just used the raised detail as a guide, blacked it with a permanent marker so i could see where i had scribed and then scribed away. following scribing i re-blacked the lines then sanded off the raised detail leaving teh scribed lines black and allowing me to check the scribing.

Undercarriage doors courtesy of an expired drivers licence:



Note that the undersides have been "painted" with a paint pen as well, it's still kinda tacky and clogs up sandpaper and emery boards nicely.

[Tophe]

Hard work...

[ysi_maniac]

Just a suggestion: use ethanol to unpaint it.

[DaFROG]

Just a suggestion: use ethanol to unpaint it.

Probably won't work on the paint pen we use them at work because they aren't affected by methanol.
Acetone on The other hand works wonderfully however I'd like the model to stay vaguely recognizable not turn into a pool of sludge
Ethanol/methanol will of course work fine on the permanent marker.
I wet sanded it as i had to remove the raised panel lines anyway (wet and dry sandpaper if plentiful at work so i "borrowed" some)



The tail had "balooned" due the action of whatever it was that had been used as glue.
I put some clothes pegs on and dipped in a cup of hot water whihc got it back into shape but put some cracks in and damaged the trim tab. Half the fin is now a mix of supa glue and bicarb soda

[DaFROG]

the MR super clear UV cut strikes again this time it has brought out brush strokes where previously none could be seen.
it's also not uniformly flat although the decals which were super glossy have been flattened nicely there are glossy bits on the brush strokes.
Bah it's back to dullcote for me i think

[DaFROG]

Finished off with some paint chipping, pastel weathering and a flying stand made from a bamboo skewer, a paperclip and a clothes peg.
my faceless minion, who has apparently been living under a rock, or at least in New Zealand, claims it is the best paint job he has ever seen.

I'm now coming under increasing pressure to build the ICM 1/48 spitfire IX kit he had bought because of the box art.
I built the tamiya Vb a long time ago and it seems the ICM kit has a similar level of detail if not ease of assembly as there are virtually no locator pins and there is a bit of flash. it also comes with a bewildering array of alternate tail surfaces 4 (count them 4) seperate wing tip options 3 wing gun variations and 2 sets of cowling and air intake panels along with 250lb bombs and drop tanks and full engine.
I am sorely tempted to make a high altitude PR type just so i can paint it pink (and possibly enter it in teh pirate GB) but the decal sheet comes with marking for J.E. Johnson's  aircraft circa 1944 and as i have just read Full circle his "history of aerial fighting" i may have to go with that. Invasion stripes are indicated and there are no decals and the only spray anything i can lay my hands on out here would most likely be from a hardware store which might cause some difficulties. I have however just ordered some bubble jet decal film for the pirate GB (be afraid be very afraid) I shall see how it turns out, maybe i can use it for the invasion stripes

[buzzbomb]

Well that is brilliant.. a job well done.

Although normally, when one is away on work, at their expense, one may tend to find other evening diversions..like beer and food.

However this is quite an excellent alternative

[DaFROG]

Well that is brilliant.. a job well done.

Although normally, when one is away on work, at their expense, one may tend to find other evening diversions..like beer and food.

However this is quite an excellent alternative

Unfortunately I don't get to expense food or beer Although i do get a fixed allowance, tax free i might add.
However, I just bought a house and also due to weather constraints (also the distinct lack of safe ways to ride to the powerstation and the large numbers of large trucks) i'm not riding to work so that in addition to eating out every night AND beer would probably not help my fitness. (i've been here for 3 weeks already and at least 3 more to go)
In terms of "other evening distractions" I've been to the local strip club once and once was enough

Fear not however i have the ICM spitfire IX and if anything can occupy your time it's an ICM kit, especially one with a full engine and rather complicated cockpit (i'm trying to decide which of the electronic devices in my possession to sacrifice to get copper wire for detailing the engine, perhaps i will buy some cheapo headphones)

Yarrrr an' there also be the pirate GB yarrr (exits stage left timbers decidedly a shiver)

[GeorgeC]

In terms of "other evening distractions" I've been to the local strip club once and once was enough

Tell us more!  Acrylics or enamels?  Couldn't they help you with gatting the paint pen off...

[DaFROG]

todays episode brought to you by:



courtesy of the hello kitty showbag from the adelaide show (Mrs frog wants them back but they are quite comfortable)



I've started on the ICM spitfire cockpit by drilling out the bulkhead



my USB extension cable made the ultimate sacrifice

[sotoolslinger]

Excellent reclaimation work Frog

[DaFROG]

some progress on the spitfire.
I've decided to skip the engine as it would require a bit of stuffing around getting the bulkhead in and removing panels.
The cockpit went together quite nicely with some minor embellishments ad the afore mentioned drilling







The fuselage is now all buttoned up and i have the wings on which was an epic struggle to get right. At least all i had to do was carefully trim (in at least 6 different locations) rather than add new material. The wingtips are separate and have a bit of a step when installed, should have thinned the inboard sections a bit before gluing the upper and lower halves, ahh well PSR is fun right?