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

[NARSES2]

Progress report :

The Hurricane is now a complete air-frame and will be seeing some paint over the next day or two. It's gone together with no problems as you would expect from a new Airfix kit, other than where the front edge of the wing meets the underside of the fuselage which will need a little sanding. Mind you I seem to get this problem with every Hurricane I build regardless of maker I'll just have to see how the Arma Hobby kit goes ? I mentioned earlier that I was a little disappointed with the small amount of flash present on the smaller parts which is a tad disappointing, but the more so is a rather nasty scar on the upper nose just in front of the cockpit. Took some putty and a fair bit of sanding to eliminate. Mould damage or was I simply unlucky ?

The Ki-102 Randy is also now a completed air-frame and will go into the paint shop after a little cleaning up of some seams. I'm really impressed with this kit and Sword are to be applauded  The all round fit is excellent, but where it stands out is with the interior. Quite often with limited run kits they provide a stunning interior using resin and etch etc that looks great once built and painted, but does it fit ? Does it heck  Sword have provided a decent interior, all in plastic, which looks good when painted and some seat belts added. The big plus however is that it fits, and fits well. The fuselage halves then close around it perfectly without a gap. Indeed if I hadn't managed to slightly skew the rear fuselage whilst taping it to allow drying time I wouldn't have any seam clean up to do.

The AZ Mohawk has had her interior painted and some sub-assemblies completed and I should have an air-frame by the end of the week. So far so well with this kit although there is a slight difference in quality between the parts from the original boxing and the new sprue added to provide this mark of P.36. The recent sprue has slightly finer detail then the original which is as you would hope.

I'll just finish by saying that this Covid 19 Lockdown has definitely changed the way I model, for the better I'm sure. I seem to have more time, which means I'm not so rushed which has enabled me to try out, what for me, are some new techniques, some of which I've discarded but most of which I've embraced. The main thing however is that I seem to be more relaxed when modelling which in turn means I'm enjoying it more. Has it improved the quality of my builds ? I'm not sure, sometimes I think it has slightly and other times not, but at the end of the day that's not the important thing. For me the important thing is the enjoyment factor and that has definitely gone up 

[Rheged]

The main thing however is that I seem to be more relaxed when modelling which in turn means I'm enjoying it more. Has it improved the quality of my builds ? I'm not sure, sometimes I think it has slightly and other times not, but at the end of the day that's not the important thing. For me the important thing is the enjoyment factor and that has definitely gone up

If the enjoyment factor is increasing, very little else matters.   I'm delighted for you that this has happened!!

[TheChronicOne]

     That's the ticket!


I find myself having more fun with it when I let minor mistakes slide because re-doing things and adding hours to a build leads to frustration. It's made things much happier! 

[TallEng]

I agree with the relaxed modelling, not sure how I've managed that, but this week has been positively productive
i also agree with letting the little things slide... if you can't see it in the show case/shelf/from 3ft and it results
in a finished model then

Regards
Keith

[Old Wombat]

Well, it's supposed to be fun, & the more relaxed you are, the more fun you have, so you're definitely on the right track!

Who cares if not every model is as good as or better than the last?

Not me! If you're enjoying yourself, & the build doesn't look like it's been put together by a blind monkey with the DT's, nor should you!

[The Wooksta!]

I've a fabric wing Hurricane part built in a box, found it last week, but for the life of me, I can't remember what I had planned for it - it may either have been intended to be overall Alumimium dope with colourful markings (ex-Gauntlet squadron?) or a nightfighter in overall black.

There's a part built Defiant in a box next to it.  But I know exactly what I had planned for that.  It's exceedingly subtle, even for me.

[NARSES2]

I'm actually tempted with getting another fabric wing Hurricane to do in overall aluminium. I want to try out a different way of getting a different finish on the metal and fabric areas. Although I'll probably try it out on something else in the stash.

[NARSES2]

Very little progress last week as I was a bit rough and no it wasn't Corona/Covid 19 related. My first telephone consultation with my doctor, which was interesting  I tried to do some modelling, but it wasn't really worth it and I should have done what I was told by the doc. 

Anyway I was feeling better yesterday so got some modelling done Saturday and Sunday. Made progress on all the current projects and started a fourth. The Hurricane is getting it's top coats of paint, the Randy is ready for paint and I've made a bit of a "pigs ear" of the Mohawk's lower wing  My fault entirely, I screwed something when I fiddled with it whilst a bit "tom and dick". Still I screwed it, I'll sort it out.

The fourth project is Azure/Fromm's Ikarus IK-2. The recent PZL made me realise I like this type of aircraft with the upper fuselage mounted gull wing, and this one was in the stash. It will be real world as I like all of the RYAF options offered in the box. So far the kit appears to be quite nice.

[NARSES2]

The Hurricane is ready for its transfers, so progress is being made 

[NARSES2]

Hurricane is in the process of having its transfers applied. The ARMA ones are quite nice, just take a while to come off the backing paper. NOt up there with most Japanese transfers but a fair while.

The Randy has had a good wash down and I'll start on the paintwork in the next day or so.

The Mohawk has progressed. I think I've sorted my cock-up out, but she needs some primer.

The Ikarus is going very well. It's a lovely little kit and the fit is up there with the best. So far it's been a delight 

[NARSES2]

I realised I'd missed a couple of parts from the Randy and rather oddly they were a poor fit and will require some sorting out. I must have done something wrong as the rest of the kit is such a good fit ?? 

For various reasons I'm making slow progress at the moment, but at least it's progress.

[The Wooksta!]

I - and others - had similar issues with Sword's Spitfire 14.  The fuselage went together fine, so did the wing as I left out those stupid wall things Sword put in but marrying the two up involved the drill, the hedgetrimmers and some household bleach.  Strangely, it was fine when I taped it up with the c wing, it was the e wing that gave me the problems.

[NARSES2]

I - and others - had similar issues with Sword's Spitfire 14.  The fuselage went together fine, so did the wing as I left out those stupid wall things Sword put in but marrying the two up involved the drill, the hedgetrimmers and some household bleach.  Strangely, it was fine when I taped it up with the c wing, it was the e wing that gave me the problems.

It's simply the extensions to the undercarriage bays that are causing me a problem. The rest of the kit has been superb. Rather odd and I can't see what I've done wrong  Still it's nothing serious and some filler will soon sort it out.....I hope 

Talking of filler. I opened a new tube of Greenstuff which I like for "medium" duty work, and it's rather odd ? Seems to be two almost separate components, one green'ish the other clear'ish. Still seems to work o.k. but I've not tried sanding it yet. Of course it might just be the fact it's a fresh tube ?

[The Wooksta!]

Humbrol and Revell fillers sometimes have the same issue.

[TallEng]

Yes, I've had a couple of tubes of Revell filler that consisted mostly of thick styrene goop.
Luckily not recently.

regards
Keith