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

[Rick Lowe]

Liking how both the 509 and 520 came out - I'll have to look into maybe doing something in the 520's scheme myself...

[TheChronicOne]

Tweaking is good, and almost essential on here. 

Agreed!   

And you had the most important parts... the blue hues, that red up front, and the glorious French roundels and flash.    I think it looks better your way.

[NARSES2]

Randy is ready for some spot priming after she's dried out. As mentioned the fit has been excellent and she's gone together really well. Sword have continued to use their own slightly shiny and harder than most plastic but that's not a problem, just needs a good cleaning before paint. There is one odd area of the kit and that's the rear of the nacelle undersides where the turbo charger is (if it isn't a TC I apologise but I know nothing about engines). It's not so much a poor fit as I think the designer assumed the nacelles would be symmetrical when in reality they are not ? It looks a little odd but as there weren't many of these built and most that were, were the low level attack variant then it's hard to say for sure. Not many photos or plans of the appropriate area out there. And no I haven't looked that hard  So it's either wrong on one side, wrong on both or perhaps, although I doubt it, correct.
All will become clearer when the photos go up.

Meanwhile the Beaufighter can have her sub-assemblies painted tomorrow.

[NARSES2]

The way the rear nacelle piece is made to fit on the Randy means that one of the inlets to the turbo charger from the exhaust doesn't fit. The other is a superb fit, this one is a tad short. Not a problem though, fixed in a blink with a little bit of cut down styrene tube. I think the designer definitely got confused with this area of the aircraft. I am for sure 

You get the correct bits to make the nacelle of the un-turbocharged ground attack version b.t.w. and I'm tempted to get this version and scratch up some guided weapons 

Started getting some paint on her b.t.w. Nice simple scheme 

[zenrat]

The use of "Randy" and "she/her" together has had the unfortunate effect of causing me to semi recall a piece of TV or movie where a woman with barely contained air bags walks up to the hero and says "Hi, i'm Randy".
"Of course you are" is the reply.
That has to be from a Roger Moore Bond film doesn't it?

[The Wooksta!]

I think it's a misquote, because a similar girl called Plenty Uptop says something to Connery in The Whyte House in Diamonds are Forever.  IIRC, she ends up face down in a pool.

[Leading Observer]

I think it's a misquote, because a similar girl called Plenty Uptop says something to Connery in The Whyte House in Diamonds are Forever.  IIRC, she ends up face down in a pool.

I thought that was Plenty O'Toole played by Lana Wood -     Plenty O'Toole: "Hi, I'm Plenty."
    James Bond: "But of course you are."
    Plenty O'Toole: "Plenty O'Toole."
    James Bond: "Named after your father perhaps? " 

[NARSES2]

The Randy has had her major paintwork. I've used Tamiya paints and I always have a slight problem with their darker colours for some reason. The grey undersides went on without a problem ; 2 coats of a fairly thinned down mixture. The green uppers however still had some smearing after 2 coats and needed a thinned down third. I sometimes find with Tamiya's darker colours that if you go back over them accidentally before they dry the brush can lift the colour ? The other "downside" is they are very matt and need at least a couple of coats of Klear before transfers. Getting there though.

The Beaufighter has had her interior green painted and the Anigrand resin job has had some remedial work on a air intake finished.

[DogfighterZen]

The Randy has had her major paintwork. I've used Tamiya paints and I always have a slight problem with their darker colours for some reason. The grey undersides went on without a problem ; 2 coats of a fairly thinned down mixture. The green uppers however still had some smearing after 2 coats and needed a thinned down third. I sometimes find with Tamiya's darker colours that if you go back over them accidentally before they dry the brush can lift the colour ? The other "downside" is they are very matt and need at least a couple of coats of Klear before transfers. Getting there though.

i've had the same issues with Tamiya colors when brush painted, i've learned the hard way to wait till it's dry enough or else it'll ruin the previous coat.
But OTOH, i think they're great for airbrushing, but i also agree that the matte colors get rather rough and need a good clear coat before decals.

[zenrat]

The Randy has had her major paintwork. I've used Tamiya paints and I always have a slight problem with their darker colours for some reason. The grey undersides went on without a problem ; 2 coats of a fairly thinned down mixture. The green uppers however still had some smearing after 2 coats and needed a thinned down third. I sometimes find with Tamiya's darker colours that if you go back over them accidentally before they dry the brush can lift the colour ? The other "downside" is they are very matt and need at least a couple of coats of Klear before transfers. Getting there though.

i've had the same issues with Tamiya colors when brush painted, i've learned the hard way to wait till it's dry enough or else it'll ruin the previous coat.
But OTOH, i think they're great for airbrushing, but i also agree that the matte colors get rather rough and need a good clear coat before decals.

Gunze acrylics can exhibit the same problem.

[NARSES2]

The Randy has had her major paintwork. I've used Tamiya paints and I always have a slight problem with their darker colours for some reason. The grey undersides went on without a problem ; 2 coats of a fairly thinned down mixture. The green uppers however still had some smearing after 2 coats and needed a thinned down third. I sometimes find with Tamiya's darker colours that if you go back over them accidentally before they dry the brush can lift the colour ? The other "downside" is they are very matt and need at least a couple of coats of Klear before transfers. Getting there though.

i've had the same issues with Tamiya colors when brush painted, i've learned the hard way to wait till it's dry enough or else it'll ruin the previous coat.
But OTOH, i think they're great for airbrushing, but i also agree that the matte colors get rather rough and need a good clear coat before decals.

Gunze acrylics can exhibit the same problem.

Maybe it's an aspect of the manufacturing process they use that's peculiar to the Far East ? I do find it odd that not all the colours behave the same way though.

Anyway she has had her Klear coats and can now have the fairly minimal amount of transfers the option I've chosen needs. I'll be using a combination of the kits and a  AVI Print sheet - B.29 Hunters.

[NARSES2]

Progress on 2 kits and none on the third.

The Anigrand Chain Lightning has ground to a bit of a halt. I now know why I parked her in the first place (apart from having no idea of how to finish her). A few bits missing and some of the resin has some serious problems. Looks like she was either a Monday morning or Friday afternoon kit. She needs some bits from the spares bin, props and spinner being the main, and some scratch building but I will finish her this time 

The Randy has had most of her transfers, there aren't many, and will get the rest in the next couple of days.

The Beaufighter has gone together very quickly and in the main fits like a dream. I don't think she will need any filler. The one area that gives a slight problem is the engine cowlings. They are 3 part and like all cowlings that are designed like that are a bit of a pain to get fitted around the engine accurately. Now 2 of the seam lines are covered by the exhaust and air intake so not a problem, the third needs a little fettling but I think I've sorted it. When I build my next one I'll just concentrate on getting the one seam sorted as the other 2 are completely covered by the other parts.

Should get some paint on the Beau this week. Not sure when as I'm a bit busy.

[NARSES2]

Randy's done 

Full details here http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,44118.0.html

[Old Wombat]

Nice job, Chris!

[NARSES2]

Cheers mate. Next 2 kits are broken out and being washed. Sticking to the Japanese theme. One real, one wif