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

[NARSES2]

Work continues on the Typhoon and the Mitchell.

The Typhoon is ready for it's transfers which, after all, is what I bought this boxing of the kit for 

The Mitchell is having it's very detailed interior painted at the moment, although how much of it will be visible once its all closed up is another things. "But I'll know it's there.....blah,blah  .

Painted the bombs for her and added their transfers this morning. Each bomb has 3 different stencils (so glad there's only 4) each of which is legible. It amuses me in a way that even these single use components were subject to the "bureaucracy of destruction".

Hoping my supplies of US Interior Green hold out for the Mitchell. Bottle is getting a bit low and I've nowhere locally where I can restock  May have to fall back on an old tin of Xtracolour, of which I have two for some reason ?, but that as we know takes an age to dry.

[NARSES2]

The Mitchell continues and I've learned that Airfix know better than I do. I diverged from the instructions on a couple of occasions, on the basis I knew better, and have discovered I shouldn't have 

When I build another one, and I will, I'll follow them. What I've done isn't disastrous, but it will make a couple of stages farther on slightly more awkward then they should have been.

[NARSES2]

I got to the point by the end of yesterday's modelling session where I could start assembling the various Mitchell sub-assemblies. However as I was feeling a bit cream cracker'd I decided to leave it for a day or so and therefore spent 30 minutes or so looking at my next couple of builds.

These will be the AZ kits of the Me 109 K4 and K14, one real world, one whiff in a box and was surprised at the number of parts not for use included on the sprues. These include two spare fuselage halves, two spare props and numerous armament options as well as a host of smaller parts, which if I'm honest I can't really see any difference on some of them between the two options offered ? However I applaud AZ's approach to the kits, certainly covers everything you could wish for. 

If the K4 goes together well/quickly I may well build their boxing of the butterfly tail version as my One Week Build ?

[NARSES2]

Progress 

I thought the Typhoon would be finished by now, but I had a senior moment and it took me 3 days or so to recover from it  It wasn't that serious a boo-boo but it just took time to get the yellow paint to cover sufficiently. However at least I now know that Games Workshop's Golden Yellow is a perfect match for the RAF's WWII leading edge yellow 

I've been building the 109 K4's cockpit and other sub assemblies. No problems, but there's a lot of it and with no option to open the canopy most will not be visible. The seat belt transfers look good though.

Now the Mitchell. As mentioned I'd put it aside for a few days. Now to be honest I'd done that because I was worried that after all the praise I've heaped on the kit it was going to turn around and bite me and I needed to be in a better mood. Well today was the day. There are an awful lot of internal parts/detail in the starboard fuselage half, plus the two wing spars and I was really worried that mating the port half was going to be a p.i.a. Well I slid it over the spars and it just slipped on and met the starboard half perfectly. The whole process took less then a minute, including running some glue down the seam. To be honest I was a little stunned because even if the kit fitted I was sure I'd have screwed something. However all the parts are so well engineered they literally just click into place, sometimes with quite a loud click, and just require a little glue using capillary action, indeed some are such a good fit I haven't bothered with glue. Seriously if a part doesn't fit then take it out, read the instructions and try again, because it's you  This may well be the best engineered kit I've ever built and I will be getting another.

[TheChronicOne]

Outstanding!!!!  Glad to hear it went well.   And.....  that does it; I'm buying one.       Time to go mow some lawns to pay for it I guess...   

[NARSES2]

You won't be disappointed mate, plus I'll get my commission 

Seriously if you do, it pays to follow the instructions, especially where the main undercarriage gear is concerned. I've caused myself a little extra work because "I knew better" 

[zenrat]

I've got an Italeri Mitchell in the stash.  It was cheaper than what they want for the new Airfix.
I'll whiff it and then i'll decide I still need to buy a new Airfix one.  So false economy really.

[NARSES2]

I've not built the Italeri one, but probably ideal for whiffery. I think the last one I built was the original Airfix one

[NARSES2]

Progress 

Both the Mitchell and the 109 have reached the paint stage and neither required much p.s.r. to get there. No surprise with the Mitchell, indeed the only bit that needed a little PPP was where I'd thought I knew better then Airfix and diverted from the instructions. I'll know for the next one, which is winging it's way from Hannants as we speak.

Much bigger surprise that the 109 only needed a little PPP in a few places and they were where in their attempts to get as many sub-types as possible from the same basic moulds AZ have had to resort to inserts etc. It's a fiddly kit to assemble and over fussy in places, but if you want a late 109 then it's probably the best available, I'm no expert. I have a couple of their WIF's in the box and they will get built latter this year.

Meanwhile the Typhoon is finished and here's a couple of shots of her.

Hawker Typhoon of 245 Sqd RAF Warmwell, Dorset, June –Aug 1945. (Real World)






Closer look at the reason I bought the kit. Not so much a shark's mouth, nor a tiger or lion's, more like one from a Chinese Lion Dancer's mask ?



Decided for my next builds to move a couple of kits that have been stuck at various stages of the build process for yonks back onto the bench.

[PR19_Kit]

A VERY smart Typhoon Chris. 

If it wasn't RW I'd nominated it for a Whiffie.

[TheChronicOne]

Magnificent!! Love the blues and of course the shark mouth.

[Rick Lowe]

Good work on the Typhoon. 

[NARSES2]

Thanks gents.

I had another "read the instructions" moment with the Mitchell yesterday. Working on the mid upper turret and I could not get the guns/ammo bins to fit. Thought it was odd so went and had a mug of tea and came back to it. After closer examination of the instructions I was trying to attach the guns to the wrong piece, which meant the bins didn't fit, which meant the whole thing didn't fit the turret. After fitting them correctly it fitted easily and perfectly. In all honesty I think the drawing could be clearer but then it was the last bit of modeling I did during Sunday and I was a little knackered.

[DogfighterZen]

Very nice work on the Typhoon, Chris! The monster mouth looks great, i love big teeth! 

Thanks gents.

I had another "read the instructions" moment with the Mitchell yesterday. Working on the mid upper turret and I could not get the guns/ammo bins to fit. Thought it was odd so went and had a mug of tea and came back to it. After closer examination of the instructions I was trying to attach the guns to the wrong piece, which meant the bins didn't fit, which meant the whole thing didn't fit the turret. After fitting them correctly it fitted easily and perfectly. In all honesty I think the drawing could be clearer but then it was the last bit of modeling I did during Sunday and I was a little knackered.

In Portugal there's a popular saying that translates into something like: "The hardware is always right."  Keeps coming back to me whenever i find myself in that situation. Too many kits have bad instructions, i hate it when there are small antennas and similar things that have no locator pins/holes and the instructions simply point to a wide panel with no exact spot marked on it. Guess it's where the photographic resources come in handy but even with the pics to guide, it can be confusing if the kit has very poor detail or weird engineering, making it hard to find an exact spot on which to glue a part.

[Old Wombat]

Very nice work on the Typhoon, Chris! The monster mouth looks great, i love big teeth! 

Thanks gents.

I had another "read the instructions" moment with the Mitchell yesterday. Working on the mid upper turret and I could not get the guns/ammo bins to fit. Thought it was odd so went and had a mug of tea and came back to it. After closer examination of the instructions I was trying to attach the guns to the wrong piece, which meant the bins didn't fit, which meant the whole thing didn't fit the turret. After fitting them correctly it fitted easily and perfectly. In all honesty I think the drawing could be clearer but then it was the last bit of modeling I did during Sunday and I was a little knackered.

In Portugal there's a popular saying that translates into something like: "The hardware is always right."  Keeps coming back to me whenever i find myself in that situation. Too many kits have bad instructions, i hate it when there are small antennas and similar things that have no locator pins/holes and the instructions simply point to a wide panel with no exact spot marked on it. Guess it's where the photographic resources come in handy but even with the pics to guide, it can be confusing if the kit has very poor detail or weird engineering, making it hard to find an exact spot on which to glue a part.

Which is the birthplace of the Whifverse!