What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Saturday 12th March 2022

I was sent the SuperQuick County Station as a replacement for another Station Terminus and  quickly got to work on it. The front is fine but I couldn't find any pictures of the platform entrance so I am using the canopy from the Airfix Booking Hall and the chimneys.
The island waiting rooms have had their canopy used on the main line station. It will make sense when it's finished.
I've been reading up on railway scenery for the Hogwarts Castle Hotel project, definitely need a pasting table for this. I can reinforce the legs with the leftover pieces from the wooden bunkbed .

[McColm]

Sunday 13th March 2022

Nick brought over my stash this afternoon,  so I have moved the Hogwarts Castle Hotel into my bedroom to make some space.
I'm amazed at what I kept and yes I was right I do have a 1/72 Lockheed Neptune in the stash with a lot of 1/24 car kits,  Ford Capris and Jaguars of various types. There's a few kits which don't have the instructions with them.
At the moment there's lots to get on with now I have some filler.
Thanks again Nick 

[McColm]

Monday 14th March 2022

PSR on the current fleet and a touch up on the Argosy AEW with the cushion landing system. I took some parts from the Airfix Bristol Suprfreighter Gunship and added them to the turboprop Avro-Grumman AP-5A Charlton gunship so it's now got 'four for burning and two for turning '. Parts from the AH-72 Kestrel are now on the Westland HeliDyne with the original tail from my spares boxes. I've added a third vertical fin and a pair of air intakes also from the Airfix Rotodyne kit to hide a hole. The only downside is that I can't start anything new as I don't have the room.
A couple of folding tables would be ideal until I can get some shelves which are next on my list.
Vehicles are next on the build list

[McColm]

Tuesday 15th March 2022

With all my boxes of stash it looks like I will be buying from either the scrapyard or  spares repair to find the parts necessary to complete the builds especially the canopy. It could be the case of buying the Falcon Canopy range or whiffery using scratchbuilt materials.
The 'haven't you got enough to be getting on with ' will still be there but I do get bored with PSR which the current fleet is now on.
I know that I said at the beginning of this year that I would only build small models, this didn't last very long. Seems that I have a passion for the heavies.
I've also come across a couple of boat kits, the Airfix RNIL and the Revell PBT which could be interchangeable. I must have thrown away loads of stuff before I moved out from Nightingale Vale. I've found my paints box plus decals and paint mask for the Swedish Dragon aircraft. Just have to find which paints are acrylic and which are enamel.
I know that I have seen a drawing of the C-160 with the nose radome from the BAe Nimrod AEW.3 which will solve the problem of it being a tail sitter.
The miliput has been a real saviour, yes more PSR. I wonder if the Lockheed Neptune would look good with a pair of Rolls-Royce Tyne engines saves me altering the wings.

[McColm]

Wednesday 16th March 2022

After a nap in the afternoon and a trip down memory lane on my old Facebook page, a little bit of reworking was done to the following builds;

Bottom left Martin Marina has gone back to being an AEW & C.
Top left Avro Lincoln AEW.5 .The underside , inner  tail fins and nose painted acrylic black .
Top right Lockheed 'Top Hat'  AWACS.
Bottom right  Avro-Grumman AP-5A Charlton Mk2.


The Avro Shackerteer, tailless

[McColm]

Friday 18th March 2022

There's no surprise that the wingtips on the Shackleteer flying boat have been replaced by a pair of Hawkeye tail fins.

The Lockheed Top AEW & C has had the Rolls-Royce Tyne engines replaced by a pair from the Revell Airbus A400M with the propellers from the RB-36H Peacemaker.

Having found the 1/72 HobbyBoss A-10B kit it just needs painting, whereas the 1/1? Convair 880 is missing it's engines. I did spot parts of the Boeing E-3A in 1/144 scale but that has one engine missing. Three engines might work.

PSR  continues along with more kits found in the stash unopened.

[McColm]

Sunday 20th March 2022

I'm making progress with the 1/72 Avro Shackleteer flying boat. It's a pure kitbash, so it's one way to reduce the spares.
I'm not finding many pairs of spares which is a shame as the YF-23 is lacking it's tail fins. There was the Mantra ,I'll have a think about it.

Cars, I'm going to need some help identifying the parts on what goes where. Most are 1/24 and 1/25 scale. I do have a wreck of a Jaguar XJS TVR that will become the Eventer and body shells of the Triumph TR7 plus the started Lynx.
I'm not sure if there's a Mk2 Jaguar Coupe. As for the Ford Capris I think that I have a few complete kits although I did see a mustang body shell hopefully it will have an engine that I can use.
They can wait as the current fleet are on their way to completion, I've been thinking along the lines of an Air Museum to display my finished models.

[Pellson]

Sunday 20th March 2022

I'm not finding many pairs of spares which is a shame as the YF-23 is lacking it's tail fins. There was the Mantra ,I'll have a think about it.

Those fins being one piece stabilators, wouldn't they be reasonably easy to manufacture from sheet styrene? That would also give you the opportunity to shape them more freely?

[McColm]

Sunday 20th March 2022

I'm not finding many pairs of spares which is a shame as the YF-23 is lacking it's tail fins. There was the Mantra ,I'll have a think about it.

Those fins being one piece stabilators, wouldn't they be reasonably easy to manufacture from sheet styrene? That would also give you the opportunity to shape them more freely?

It's okay I found them right down the bottom of one of the plastic boxes.

[McColm]

Saturday 26th March 2022

The number 486 bus goes along Peninsula Park Road where there's a large retail complex it has Hobby Craft and Smyths which I will be checking out  next weekend. It was a test ride to North Greenwich Tube station.
The O2 allows visitors to climb over the dome, a bit out of my reach at the moment but the cable car ride looks interesting.
PSR on the HeliDyne and Marina. Well not any more just sanding as I'm out of filler.
The clocks go forward an hour this weekend in the UK

[McColm]

Tuesday 29th March 2022

More rummaging has revealed the 1/72 Airfix H.P. Jetstream or C-10 (the one that got cancelled). With 99% of the parts plus additional decals which will be used on my other current builds.
I also found the 1/72 Formaplane HS Andover/HS 748 and the OneMan 3D printed HS 748 AEW prototype. This has the landing gear missing hence the appeal.
I have managed to find a SAC white metal landing gear for the Lockheed P-3 Orion. I will have to measure this against the line drawings to see if it is long enough if not the DC-6 gear will do.
The Revell 1/200 Boeing 2707 kit is being assembled.
Painting can wait until I get some primmer and a few rattle cans.

[McColm]

Wednesday 30th March 2022

I had my phone assessment with Time to Talk this morning which lasted a hour. I'm being referred to a 'Sleep Programme ' that will help me get a full night's sleep in readiness to return to work next year.
PSR continues with the Andover AEW Erieye,  although the Formaplane has been cut out I'm thinking about a kitbash with the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye.  There was a proposal of a carrier AEW Andover and using most of the Hawkeye parts apart from the fuselage might work.  Yes the landing gear from the P-3 Orion does fit.
I definitely need to stock up on supplies, the Dapol Biggin Hill locomotive kit arrived today. No decals but as this will be painted red and have the Hogwarts Express name plate, I can get away without any.
Gives me a chance to see if the Airfix kit has all the pieces, if not then I can experiment with weathering and graffiti.

[McColm]

Friday 1st April 2022

I had my health assessment at Tresco House, Lisson Grove close to Marylebone Station. I caught a bus to North Greenwich tube station and then the Jubilee line to Baker Street changing onto the Northern line for one stop. Standing on the way there but I got a seat on the way back. I had forgotten all about the 'see a vacant seat and grab it before anyone else sits on it culture '. It's good to see that if someone sees that you need a seat they will give up theirs.
The walking made me feel really tired when I got back home, so I treated myself with eggie bread,some people refer to this as French Toast.
I have ordered some traditional Superglue as the one I'm using doesn't stick to all resins but it's good for metal and vacuum kits.
The Formaplane HS Andover C.2 fits great at the rear and with the wings from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye but the front part is slightly out. I might be able to use the fuselage of the Hawkeye after all and cut it just in front of the wing. Slot it inside the fuselage of the Andover then carefully sand so that the fuselage doesn't have any seems in it. I have kept the vacuum Rolls-Royce Dart engines which will go into the stash as I intend to use the engines from the Revell Rotodyne on this build plus the landing gear.
Painting,  instead of sticking to block colours I intend to include the Swedish Multi-pattern colour scheme, that way if I make any mistakes it will be part of the experimental colour scheme sort of paint by numbers with acrylic paints .
Some of the older started builds can now be finished now I have a production line.

[McColm]

Tuesday 5th April 2022

To my amazement I have 26 builds in various stages,  it's a bit like a production line where I can do little bits of work before I start feeling tired. Have a nap or watch something online and then go back to a few others.
There's an AEW & C theme covering most of the Western radar designs.
The largest is the 1/72 Revell/Monogram RB-36H Peacemaker which is undergoing a flying boat conversion. I think it will be mounted on a wall when finished.
Next is 'Big Bertha ' the Heliplane, a kitbash of a C-130E with the wings from a C-160 plus a raid in the stash. My second VSTOL Hercules .
I can do smaller builds such as the Fairey Puffin AEW.1 and the Jetstream AEW.
I thought of displaying most of my builds on a flight line similar to what you see when you visit an airshow,  two long shelves supported by book shelving units, the plan being that I can build drawers into the shelving units or have small storage boxes for my spare parts and reference materials down one side of the hobby room whilst over on the other side will be my train set layout.

[NARSES2]

26 ? 

I find 3 is the norm on my bench. I've tried working on one at a time, but that left too much down time, so I went back to 3 again. Sometimes there are one or two more but rarely. I've also 5 or 6 started kits which have been on the "shelf of doom" for ages and if I'm honest are unlikely to come off it, but stranger things have happened at sea