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

[NARSES2]

Progress :

Beaufighter has had her upper colours painted. get her masked tomorrow and start on her undersides.

Started working on the Claude and it's interesting. The plastic is very nice with some exceptional engraved detail  The smaller parts are clunky as you might expect from a limited run kit but so far go together o.k. However the wing is a 5 piece assembly and lets just say it looks as though the fit to the wing roots could get interesting ! Hopefully I was being a bit sloppy when I did a very basic "dry fit" of the parts but it didn't look that good.

For relaxation whilst working on the Claude I started an old Hasegawa Ki-61. It's amazing how simple these old Hasegawa kits were. The cockpit has 3 parts - floor, seat back and instrument panel - and that's it. I've added a joystick but in all honesty that's all it really needs with the canopy closed. Very few parts so should be quick. I was tempted to fit the pilot as it's a nice figure and they also give you a standing, saluting pilot and base to pose alongside if you want in that pose you so often see of Japanese WWII fighters just about to depart on a mission.

[NARSES2]

However the wing is a 5 piece assembly and lets just say it looks as though the fit to the wing roots could get interesting ! Hopefully I was being a bit sloppy when I did a very basic "dry fit" of the parts but it didn't look that good.

Well I owe AVIModels a HUGE apology. The wing fits exceptionally well, indeed puts some more mainstream kits to shame  I think my initial test fit problems were caused by the fit of the wing centre section. The fit of the rear part to the fuselage takes a bit of persuasion because of the lines of the fuselage. The front of it to the cowl is a very good fit. In the end I cut it off and glued it separately, just needs a little bit of filler at the join and Bob's your uncle  :thumbsup:The other way would have been to use some hot water to soften the plastic a tad and "bend" it to fit. Once the centre section is fitted the rest of the wing fit is as said 

The Ki-61 is basically together although I did feel compelled to add a little more detail to the cockpit. It just looked so bare, so I added a couple of switch/electrical panels from black painted masking tape and some lap belts.

[NARSES2]

Some progress on all three kits and I've started a fourth. No idea why as I only normally work on three at a time, but the idea came to me yesterday and I started this morning whilst paint and filler on the other projects was drying.

It's an AZ Supermarine Attacker. In my brain is the idea that the development of the engine and airframe was pushed along far more quickly than in real life as the War continued and enough were built for a trials squadron (maybe a flight) to see some action in 1946.

The kit is at the limited run end of the AZ spectrum with some of the larger parts a little clunky whilst some of the small detail parts are exceptionally well moulded. Make of that what you will ? It comes with a resin cockpit insert which is nice but includes the ejection seat. My thoughts are to replace this with a normal seat as I'm not sure it would have had one in 46 ?

Also had another idea this morning and unusually for me it involves a jet  If I go ahead with it then I'll need to source both the kit and the transfers, but it could be one of those "double take" models if I do go ahead.

[Snowtrooper]

It comes with a resin cockpit insert which is nice but includes the ejection seat. My thoughts are to replace this with a normal seat as I'm not sure it would have had one in 46 ?

Well, according to Wikipedia, first live flight test of the Martin-Baker seat in OTL was already 24th July 1946 - but if the war had indeed dragged on to 1946, the development would have probably been rushed so it would have been available slightly earlier. Maybe captured Do 335's and/or He 162's encouraged the progress? *handwaving intensifies*

[NARSES2]

Yea I'm right on the cusp in my time line. Means I'm in a quandary. May just end up tossing a coin 

[zenrat]

I'd replace the bang seat with a "normal" one.  It's a subtle bit of whiffing that many would not spot.

[NARSES2]

I'm painting up the cockpit insert. Nice bit of casting. If I don't use it, it will come in handy for something else

[The Wooksta!]

Someone may have a mould... 

[NARSES2]

Well I've gone with the ejection seat on the Attacker. Even with my extended WWII scenario, I have it going through to Autumn 47, I'm really going to have to bend the parametres to fit her in. I've worked out how I can (don't have a detailed backstory  ) and that will allow me to use a bang seat. Anyway the insert is in and the fuselage is together, as are the wings. The wings and wings to fuselage are a good fit but there's a problem with the fuselage. One half is deeper than the other, by about 1/8th inch. I've aligned the upper join and will take a large file to the lower once the glue has set for a day or two.

Meanwhile the Beaufighter has had her masking removed and needs some touch ups. I think I thinned the black a tad to much, although it covered well, and some has used Airfix's panel lines to form little canals. Still no great shakes.

The Hein has finally had her yellow leading edges done - I hate yellow and apart from coverage problems  it seems to be one of the worst colours when it comes to cleaning a brush as well ??

Finally the Claude makes quiet progress. Every time I look at the thing from above I'm reminded of the Spitfire. So today I thought why not a fixed undercarriage pre-Spitfire ? May well get done if only as a prototype or as an export version as per the Hawk 75 versions with fixed undercarriage 

[PR19_Kit]

Well I've gone with the ejection seat on the Attacker. Even with my extended WWII scenario, I have it going through to Autumn 47, I'm really going to have to bend the parametres to fit her in. I've worked out how I can (don't have a detailed backstory  ) and that will allow me to use a bang seat. Anyway the insert is in and the fuselage is together, as are the wings. The wings and wings to fuselage are a good fit but there's a problem with the fuselage. One half is deeper than the other, by about 1/8th inch. I've aligned the upper join and will take a large file to the lower once the glue has set for a day or two.

Oh dear, I've got one of those attacker kits in The Loft too, and the fuselage issues aren't encouraging. Are you sure the moulding wasn't sub-contracted to Mach 2?

[NARSES2]

Oh dear, I've got one of those attacker kits in The Loft too, and the fuselage issues aren't encouraging. Are you sure the moulding wasn't sub-contracted to Mach 2?

I wouldn't worry Kit. It took me about 5 mins, or less, scrapping with a No 10 blade to sort it out. The plastic is well thick enough to take some serious handling  Plus the shape of the Attackers fuselage means you don't have to worry to much about being too heavy handed.

It is a bit of a curates egg. The 2 sprues seem to have been tooled by different tool makers ? Even the plastic is different. The fuselage sprue is shiny whilst the wings etc are matt and with much finer detail. Fitted the tail fin last night (they give you both the prototype and the production version) and its a great fit.

I'm enjoying it

[PR19_Kit]

It is a bit of a curates egg. The 2 sprues seem to have been tooled by different tool makers ? Even the plastic is different. The fuselage sprue is shiny whilst the wings etc are matt and with much finer detail. Fitted the tail fin last night (they give you both the prototype and the production version) and its a great fit.

That's odd, both the sprues in mine look very similar, even the gates have the same amount of flash on them. Mine's an F1 kit, but mentions that the FB2 used the big tank, but it only has the F1 canopy.

[kitnut617]

It is a bit of a curates egg. The 2 sprues seem to have been tooled by different tool makers ? Even the plastic is different. The fuselage sprue is shiny whilst the wings etc are matt and with much finer detail. Fitted the tail fin last night (they give you both the prototype and the production version) and its a great fit.

That's odd, both the sprues in mine look very similar, even the gates have the same amount of flash on them. Mine's an F1 kit, but mentions that the FB2 used the big tank, but it only has the F1 canopy.

I've been finding that with a few of these eastern European manufacturers. The two Siga FJ-1 Furys I've been using for my Twin Fury project were just as you describe Chris. From the vertical fuselage joining face of one fuselage half right to the wing tip that joins that fuselage half, the port side is completely different to the starboard side. You'd think they would be symmetrical wouldn't you ----  The parts for two Siga kits though are the same in both boxes so it's a mould manufacturing problem.

[The Wooksta!]

The AZ Attacker, like their Spiteful and Seafang, used the CMR kits as masters.  And the latter were pretty awful kits.

[NARSES2]

The AZ Attacker, like their Spiteful and Seafang, used the CMR kits as masters.  And the latter were pretty awful kits.

I felt sure they had for the Attacker and that was the only CMR kit I've ever given up on  In fairness, apart from the fuselage difference (easily fixed) this is a far better fit.

That's odd, both the sprues in mine look very similar, even the gates have the same amount of flash on them. Mine's an F1 kit, but mentions that the FB2 used the big tank, but it only has the F1 canopy.

Odder and odder. Mines the F.1 boxing as well.

I must admit that when it comes to AZ their kits are a bit of a mix. The Me 109's are excellent, almost mainstream standard. Others are not so hot, all buildable mind you. It's almost as though the designers etc have favourites which get all their attention and then other types which they don't like so much are dealt with more haphazardly ?