Kitbasher's blog: City slicker turned beach bum

[PR19_Kit]

Somehow I imagined you neck deep in snow in Bergen Dave. 

Or had they ploughed it by the time you got there?

[kitbasher]

Somehow I imagined you neck deep in snow in Bergen Dave. 

Or had they ploughed it by the time you got there?

Ha ha!
Today we had glorious weather, Kit, and took a 5¹/₂ high speed cruise up Sognefjord (in fact a scheduled service on something akin to a Thames Clipper that powers through the water like you wouldn't believe) to Flam; back on the Flam railway to Myrdal and then the local schedule to Bergen.  An amazing country, feel privileged to be here.

P.S. Hobbyland is actually a rather good general purpose model shop selling a fair (actually surprising) variety of plastic kits, railways, and a very good selection of RC cars, boats and aircraft.  Would satisfy any modelling cravings I would say.  Norwegian prices though - apart I think from something by Unicraft (which had a Hannants sticker on it!)

[NARSES2]

Farthest Westward Hobby shop would have been in Hawaii, Oahu but out on the Leeward Side   Farthest East would have been in Sydney Australia.

Was in Norway years and years ago. Me and some mates took the postal ferry up the coast. Great trip, fantastic country. Glad you are enjoying it Dave

[kitbasher]

Farthest Westward Hobby shop would have been in Hawaii, Oahu but out on the Leeward Side   Farthest East would have been in Sydney Australia.

Was in Norway years and years ago. Me and some mates took the postal ferry up the coast. Great trip, fantastic country. Glad you are enjoying it Dave

You win Westerlies and Easterlies I guess, Chris (at least amongst those of us living close to the Greenwich Meridian). But as lats and longs are fixed then can anyone out there in Whifworld claim more extreme co-ordinates?

[PR19_Kit]

You win Westerlies and Easterlies I guess, Chris (at least amongst those of us living close to the Greenwich Meridian). But as lats and longs are fixed then can anyone out there in Whifworld claim more extreme co-ordinates?

No chance! I might get somewhere with the Northerlies and Southerlies though.

My northernmost was a place right at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia in Finland called Tornio. Our hotel was right across the road from a hobby shop that was called 'Hobby Shop'!   My colleagues were convinced I'd fixed it.  

The Southernmost was one in Cape Town, South Africa. A wonderful little place just like a UK model shop in the 50s, lots of nooks and crannies and shelves all the way to the ceiling.

My furthest west would have been in Los Angeles and furthest east perhaps in Brno in the then Czechoslovakia.

[kitbasher]

So who can beat Chris and Kit then? You know you're out there somewhere!

[NARSES2]

My northernmost was a place right at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia in Finland called Tornio. .

Went there for a Stainless steel conference at the Outokumpu site just after they'd merged with Avesta Sheffield.  Never knew there was a model shop  but had some wonderfull reindeer meat burgers 

[PR19_Kit]

I was there in 1967 Chris, in the dead of winter for some cold weather car and truck testing. Who knows if the 'Hobby Shop' was still there when you got there?

[NARSES2]

Yup my visit would have been early 90's ? Bloody cold

[kitbasher]

To TAHS today to treat myself to something under a fiver that could be hurled together so I could prove to the world (and more importantly myself) that I could do a quick build..I'm forever trying and failing!

So I've plenty in the stash I could work on (real world and whif) but I know I'd be distracted - the quick whif I'd blogged about a while ago still needs to be finished as a result of self-induced 'mission creep'.

Instead I'll be building a £3.60 Kopro BH-3 OOB and real world (successfully resisted the temptation to get a cheapo Zvezda Su-25 for whiffing into a 1980's cheaper alternative to the A-10 in RAF service).  Wish me luck!

[kitbasher]

BH-3 quick build begins.  25 parts in toto.  Don't have all of the correct Humbrol colours but do have plenty that are close so some old school mixing will be the order of the day.

So, propeller and cockpit assembled (9 parts, honest), cockpit interior, som undercarriage struts and wheels painted.  35 minutes total (including clearing up some flash). What could possibly delay me?

Decals finished on a whif.  Some touching up here and there needed tomorrow.

Oh, and Holborn Modelzone shuts its doors at the end of August.  Branches closing down steadily throughout the country, with stock beng moved to those still open.  Might be further price reductions over the next few weeks according to te shop assistant I spoke to.  Sad.

[kitbasher]

Speed build part 2: cockpit assembly completed (inc painting) and fitted to fuselage half (instrument panel was attached yesterday); fuselage halves assembled; tailplane, rudder (there's no fin) and wingas attached. 6 more parts down, 11 remaining.
Things will slow down with filling (has to dry) and painting (I use enamels - they need time to dry), but the momentum is encouraging.
Wing struts, undercarriage asembly and at least anstart to filing tomorrow, hopefully.

[NARSES2]

Didn't realise you were still a dedicated enamels man Dave. However in this weather their extended drying time might be useful ?

[kitbasher]

BH-3 Day 3:
Joint filling and sanding; wing struts fitted; undercarriage assembled and fitted to fuselage - a bit of a fiddle but seems as though it will be very strong when the glue has cured; some additional filling.  Tomorrow probably won't present much time for modelling due to an evening commitment, but hope at least to finish the residual sanding and cleaning up and at least some priming.  60 minutes tonight, plus 50 minutes last night.  2 ¹/₂ (give or take) hours total build time so far - not bad for me!

Will probably attach the wheels, leaving just three more parts to fit thereafter (gun muzzles and windscreen, all of which will follow painting). 

Sadly no modelling this weekend as away at in-laws' Diamond Wedding party (plus a bit of Midland Expo on Sunday).  Still, the build is coming along and so far I'm not distracted by other half-builds awaiting completion.

Didn't realise you were still a dedicated enamels man Dave. However in this weather their extended drying time might be useful ?

Yes, die hard enamels man, me.  I realise at some point acrylics will probably rule the world but as a brush painter I've had little success to date with acrylics.  i know practice makes perfect and I guess I should persist.  I do like the Revell matt varnish (which can be nicely thinned with tap water, or mixed the Klear to make a satin varnish) and they do a colour they call Anthracite that's good for tyres.  I guess I should try the Humbrol acrylics; tried Xtracrylic once but found (as with Xtracolors) they are best used over Humbrol matt base coats.  Again this may be due to my being a brush painter and I'd get markedly different results with air brush.

[Gondor]

Anthracite is a type of coal, hence the colour being a very dark grey

Gondor