Narses2's Blog - or what I'm slowly making progress on

NARSES2 · January 27, 2016, 06:07:06 AM

I'm afraid my sources must remain secret but lets just say a couple of pints of bitter were involved

NARSES2 · January 30, 2016, 05:11:05 AM

Little bit of work done on the Vengence and I also got the Ms 406 out from where it was put prior to my Northern Interegnum and did a little on that as well. Hopefully get some more done on both on Sunday. Hopefully next week is fairly clear (last couple have been traveling and busy when at home) so should get some progress made.

NARSES2 · February 01, 2016, 06:41:40 AM

Got some more work done on Vengence and the Ms 406 plus dug out the kit for my next Cold War GB build, it will be another British flying wing in the Canberra class this time. So a medium bomber to go with the strategic

NARSES2 · February 07, 2016, 06:08:59 AM

Vengence has been varnished so now needs one spot of glazing with Clearfix and she's done.

Got the interior of the Ms 406 complete as well. This was due to be a straightforward, simple, relaxing O.O.B. build but....I found I had an Eduard Zoom etch set for her plus I'd got a Yahu pre-finished instrument panel at Telford so she got a tad more complicated. Now I've found that with my dodgy eye the level of concentration ; hand/eye co-ordination required for this type of work means I can only spend 30 mins or so at the bench at the most, before a break. Any more and the quality of my work (which is so-so at best) falls of the edge of the cliff. So she obviously took longer than originally planed. Done now and can be closed up, but was the effort worth it ? Well I used the complete etch set which is unusual in itself for me and to be honest its probably not worth it in 1/72 unless you are going to open the canopy, which I may still do. I'd probably just go with etch seat belts if I had them, tape if not, and the Yahu instrument panel which is absolutely fantastic and just slots into place after 2 minor bends.

Rest of the build should be straightforward, and yes I've checked to see if the etch fowls the fuselage closure, and it doesn't.

NARSES2 · February 08, 2016, 06:14:01 AM

Vengence has had her Clearfix so now needs photoshoot.

Ms 406 as expected went together very quickly once the innards were done. So she is all together awaiting a small amount of p.s.r.

Started cleaning up and prep work on my next Cold War build. Another RAF flying wing but this time a medium bomber

NARSES2 · February 09, 2016, 07:20:56 AM

Well the Vengeance is finished and can be found here

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,41667.new.html#new

Here's 1 pic of her

NARSES2 · February 10, 2016, 07:09:13 AM

Well the etch didn't foul the fuselage but it did the canopy

The Hasegawa canopy is a very good fit and the etch headrest etc screwed it. Got it sorted but this has made my mind up not to bother with these sets in future. When I got back into the hobby I thought from reading the mags that these sets were almost de-riguer. I soon learnt better but not until I'd bought a few. So in future I will simply add seat belts (etch if I have, tape if not) , my own home made electrical boxes to the side walls and a instrument panel if the canopy is to be opened. Rest just disappears from view.

Got some preliminary work done on my next flying wing - A.W. 52 a.k.a. the Auckland - which is the AV Resin kit. Very nice moulding, very little flash and fit looks good. Got some holes drilled and pins fitted to help with the wing and fins fitting as she's a big and therefore heavy thing

NARSES2 · February 11, 2016, 06:52:51 AM

406 is primed and paint will start over the weekend

NARSES2 · February 13, 2016, 05:31:28 AM

Well the 406 is painted. I used Hataka paints for the first time and am quite impressed. They are a Polish company who produce dedicated sets of paints for a whole host of specific forces/periods. Unlike others who do this they don't do 6/8 paints per set regardless of what's need (with the inevitable fillers) but the set will only include the colours needed. I'm using the Polish WWII set and it has 4 shades, other of their sets have more. They are acrylic and come in the now fashionable eye dropper type bottle. Thin with water and airbrush or brush. They need a good shake before use and then I've found they brush very well from the bottle over Halfords primer and dry quickly with a nice semi-gloss sheen. 2 coats has been adequate. I've only seen a few traders stocking them and got these at the London Model Show because I thought "if a Polish company can't do correct Polish colours, who can ?"

I'll definitely bear them in mind when paint shopping.

The A.W. has been cleaned up and all the bits needing it have been drilled and had pins fitted. Time to break out the epoxy

NARSES2 · February 22, 2016, 06:12:53 AM

Nightmare journey home from Huddersfield yesterday. Took 8 hours, I can cross the pond in less

Basically all London trains were cancelled and then they ran a reduced service but threw us off at Doncaster and tried to cram 5 train loads onto one train

Eventually got home after standing all the way, great fun

PR19_Kit · February 22, 2016, 06:24:02 AM

You should be able to claim compensation for that length of delay Chris.

NARSES2 · February 23, 2016, 06:41:20 AM

Yup Kit. Once you are delayed by 30 mins you can claim. Over an hour and it's a full refund plus they have to offer you a cheque now not just a voucher

Claimed yesterday

NARSES2 · February 29, 2016, 06:25:56 AM

Got confirmation from Virgin East Coast that my cheque is on the way

Anyway on to the modelling. After a bit of a hiatus caused by the eye injection and subsequent course of drops

managed to get some modelling done yesterday. Got the final transfers on the Ms 406. I've had a bit of a problem with these if I'm honest. They come away from the backing quickly but then stick like limpets as soon as they touch the kit. They can be moved with a copious amount of water but it's a pain. They are also very fragile and prone to break up. A couple of the checker boards resemble a jigsaw

Surprisingly when dry they are still very fragile and prone to crack up. Now part of that is because there was a long gap between the two transfer phases on the kit and the first lot hadn't been "Futured" until the second tranche, but stick like limpets and then crack up when dry

??

They are by Techmod by the way and I've not had a problem with them before.

Also got some more work done on my Kate and figured out how I'm going to build my F4-F so as to avoid the slight problem I had with the cockpit/undercarriage assembly on the first one.

Captain Canada · February 29, 2016, 03:42:27 PM

Ouch...that's a long day Chris ! Glad you finally arrived home tho. Happy modelling !

NARSES2 · March 02, 2016, 06:25:23 AM

Not much progress but should get the Ms finished this weekend or early next week. I then want to have a real crack at my A.W.52

Also been having a think about tackling a couple of subjects outside my normal "comfort zone". There's some nice WWI period tanks about in 1/35 and I was thinking of having a crack at one of the French ones ? St Chammond ? Also pondering a ship. IBG (I think) have brought a couple of Hunt Class Destroyer Escorts out in 1/700. Now they are of the Polish crewed ones but my dad served as an AAA gunner on one before he got transferred to Indefatigable. So might build it as a tribute. Need to dig some old photos out first though and see if there are any of the ship rather than him in various states of debauchery

I'll have a good look at Southern Expo in a couple of weeks