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

[DogfighterZen]

Nice work going on here!  The cockpit of the Kate looks very good! Now, the AW is new to me, guess i've got some reading to do...

[PR19_Kit]

The AW52's going to be really something Chris, it was a BIG aeroplane for sure.

I can vaguely recall seeing it fly at the 1948 Farnborough Air Show, but as I was 6-going-on-7 at the time, and it was the first big air show I'd ever been to, I was totally boggled much of the time. 

[Captain Canada]

Nice work Chris ! Looks like the boys in the Kate are making jello  The AW looks great as well ! Looking forward to seeing more of that one.

[Dork the kit slayer]

Good work 

[NARSES2]

Cheers lads.

As expected the Kate went together remarkably quickly once the innards were complete. Everything closed up as it should without a fuss and as the engine and cowling can be built and painted separately (and have already been done so) she is now sitting there awaiting her White Ensign Ame-iro. I'm doing her as she would have been when they sailed from Japan, therefore without the green upper camouflage colours which in all probability were applied on the way.

The AW meanwhile has its other wing attached and the F4F is in the process of having her ID markings painted

[NARSES2]

Painting and some assembling. The Kate has started to have her Ame-iro applied and will probably need 3 coats to get a good coverage. I find White Ensign paints a little thin. However they go on well and dry quickly so no hassle at the end of the day. The F4F has had the first of her RLM 65 coats, the AW has had some putty applied to the other wing joint and initial assembly and painting of the Beaufighter innards has started. I've noticed that Airfix have moved away from pin and hole assembly on this kit to a tab and slot alignment method. Fit is fine so far and she looks well engineered. Compared to the Kate the innards are simplicity themselves. You can't see to much on a Beau' so Airfix haven't gone over the top with it.

[NARSES2]

Progress on the paint front. Both the Kate and F4F have reached the stage where they can get their transfers applied. As expected the Kate needed 3 coats of Ame-iro. The Beaufighter's interior is painted and varnished so can close her up tomorrow, just got to get the Yahu instrument panel into place first.

The AW has had some p.s.r. done on the other wing but needs a little more. I managed to get some epoxy glue on the under surface of the wing and it's a right pain to remove 

[NARSES2]

The Yahu pre-painted instrument panel just slipped into the Airfix cockpit. Perfect fit  I like these Yahu panels as there's no fiddling about with them as they come in one piece that just slots in, no brass and photo film to assemble. Plus they are cheap  So the Beau has now had the main parts assembled. Just a couple of seams to tidy up and then they can go together.

[NARSES2]

So progress has been made 

The A.W. has had her first coat of primer and as expected still needs a fair bit of work on the wing joints.

The F4-F has had her transfers completed and is now just awaiting her canopy framing and varnish.

The Kate likewise has had her transfers completed and I must comment on their quality. I was a little concerned that there were rather a lot of red outlined panels and flaps which were supplied as one transfer (a hollow rectangle basically). These were remarkably sturdy and took a lot of manipulation with no complaining/problems at all. Very well done Airfix. I now need to fit some of the fiddly bits, fit the undercarriage, get the canopy framing done and get her varnished.

Some minor progress with the Beaufighter, the engines have been given a wash etc.

I want to finish the F4-F and Kate this week as the following week is earmarked for spring cleaning.

[NARSES2]

More p.s.r. on the AW ; the F4-F and Kate have had their canopies fitted and it would have helped if I hadn't tried to fit the Kate windscreen to the F4-F  It was a surprisingly reasonable fit  . Getting there, frames to be done next

[NARSES2]

Frames are done and the F4-F is matted. Just needs nav lights done, prop fitted and that's it  Kate needs her gun, radio mask and a coat of semi gloss prior to having her folded wing fitted and she will be there as well

[zenrat]

...Kate needs her gun...and a coat of semi gloss...

One of my sisters is Kate and this just made me giggle...

[NARSES2]

Glad to amuse 

Well Kate has had her varnish and I must have shaken the bottle enough this time (counted to 500  ) as the Airfix satin behaved. The two should get finished this weekend.

Also did some work on the "Plastic Soldier" A9 Cruisers I got at Southern. Going to do a CS version in Europe, a 2pdr version in the desert and am thinking of doing the third as an improvised A.P. carrier ? Remove the main turret, cut the turret ring away (as per the Ram Kangaroo) but leave the two auxiliary m.g. turrets.

[NARSES2]

Well Kate has had her varnish and I must have shaken the bottle enough this time (counted to 500  ) as the Airfix satin behaved. The two should get finished this weekend.

Spoke to soon  In the cold light of day there are still some whitish area's although no where near as bad as previously. However this is the second kit Humbrol varnish has managed to spoil for me so no more. I'll be throwing both the bottle of matt and satin, unless anyone else is having better luck and wants to pick them up at MK or Northern shows ? For matt  shall return to Windsor and Newton Galleria. Not sure if they do a satin, but there again how often do I need it ?

I'll also be having a chat the next time I see a Humbrol/Airfix stand at a show just to see if I am doing something stupid ?

[DogfighterZen]

Have you tried Tamiya's XF-86 Matte clear? It's been working great for me, both hand brushed and airbrushed, plus, you don't need to shake it 500 times, a good 50 will be more than enough.