Spey_Phantom's corner of solitude

[NARSES2]

i was planning on going to the Moorsele Modelshow yesterday, maby get some new stash, but unfortunatly, i was unable to make it, no thanks to the Belgian Railways, who decided that this weekend was the best time to work on the lines 
usually it take about an hour to get there by train, but due to the works, its either 2 and a half hours by bus, or 3 hours by detoured train. that way to long for me, especially for such a short trip. maby better luck in 2 weeks time in middelkerke, witch is about an 45 minutes by e-bike 


more soon.........

I feel your pain my friend. I've missed a few UK shows because of Weekend Engineering Works. However they can't really shut the network down during the working week

Enjoy Disneyland ..... I did 

[Captain Canada]

Can't wait to see the Airbus Nils...especially the RCAF one !

Be sure to take lots of build pics I'm planning on somat similar one day.

[Spey_Phantom]

Blog Entry #127


little to no activity this past week, mostly as ive been to busy at work and last friday until yesterday i was in Disneyland, Paris with my girlfriend.

while i was there, my whiff inspiration has been renewed, with a visit to Disney Studios, ive seen the Space Shuttle frm "Armageddon" and in the Disneyland park, the main street arcade was filled with Steampunk art & designs. many of the things ive seen really inspired me to do some kitbashing, and im looking into building something really soon 

back on the bench, no progress on the 1/144 SA330 Puma, should be continuing that build some time tomorrow or during the long weekend.
still on the bench is the 2 1/72 SeaKings (a neverending story  ) that need some attention.
also, i really need to get back at the designing of ther decals for the RCAF Airbus A330-MRTT. another project that needs decals is the Royal Saudi Air Force Su-30MK Flanker, might even design a Saudi Su-47 while im at it 
there are for the revived WW3 storybuild, im also gonna look for extra Su-47's to build Chinese and upgraded Russian AF versions.
there are still plenty more on the list, but i still need to work some things out.


more soon.....

[Captain Canada]

Welcome home !

I know the feeling with that steampunk stuff...need to start collecting interesting bits one of these days !

Too bad the Sea King story wasn't a neverending story in real life....love to see them fly on. But in the civil world, thy just might !

[Spey_Phantom]

Blog Entry #128


i just finished designing the decals for the Canadian A330-MRTT, but i decided to change the designation from CC-145T to CC-165T.
dont know if the fit's going to be perfect, but it should be fine 

with the long weekend just started, i might find some extra time to do some modelbuilding and relaxing.

this afternoon, im gonna do some cleaning of the workspace and then check the list to see if any other projects need decals/parts.
after thats its gonna be time for some actual modeling, thinking of giving the SeaKings some attention, since the progress the last few weeks has been to slow. might even do some work on the 1/144 SA330.
im also gonna see if i can design some more decals for other future projects, both realworld and whiff, including decals for a Belgian F-16AM and BM, Belgian F/A-18F (two-seater to go with the earlier built single seater). an old F-4G Wild Weasel also  needs decals, aswell as the future RAF F-4K Phantom FGR.2 (camo version). still need to check the list for more.

tomorrows plans are mostly errands, getting some supplies (paint cleaner, paint, maybe an extra revell A330 for the tanker conversion) and shoes for the GF's mother's wedding next month, otherwise im not gonna find the time to get them.

if the weather is good, im planning on going to the annual Harbour festival in Blankenberge on saturday, might get some good pictures of the NH90-NFH, i already have some of the delivery flight and on the ground, but i still need a few close airborne shots.

on Sunday, its the 5th annual Middelkerke Modelingshow.
info: http://daniel-brackx.blogspot.be/2015/05/5e-modelbouwbeurs-middelkerkse.html

might get some new stash additions there on the cheap 
Retrokit is going to have a stand there, and i do need some (about 5 sets) of 1/144 Conformal Fuel Tanks for the F-16C's i have in the stash. im also gonna see if i can find some parts for future WHIF projects (including refueling booms for the A330, otherwise im gonna have to scratchbuild them).


more soon........

[Captain Canada]

Well, if you're going to be printing off a set of RCAF MRTT decals.....

The Phantoms sound interesting.

[Spey_Phantom]

Blog Entry #129

again, little to no movements on the bench, i have been finding it difficult to find the time to some modelbuilding due to personal issues and commitments. im cleaning up the bench at the moment so i can continue on the 1/72 SeaKings and the 1/144 Puma.
im also gonna look to start another set of builds, including a Polish AF F-16C, using the Retrokit CFT set for the revell kit (bought 3 sets of CFT's over the weekend, was hoping to buy 5 but they didnt have enough).

a dry-fit shows they look quite good, and im looking at using them on future WHIF F-16's. im thinking of Croatian and Romanian AF Block 52+ vipers  .
my WHIF inspiration is a bit low at the moment, so im going to build some RealWorld 1/144 kits for a while, i might even take up a what-if or 2 in between. i always seem to get re-inspired when i build RW, thinking of the alternatives  

the JBR Decals MIG-21 decal scheet gives me ideas for future projects, maybe even Croatian Gripens or Cuban F-16C's. m also thinking about West-Ukrainian F-15E's and F-16C's.

im still working the interim job, after 1 month things are going quite good, i had a bit of a bad start today but hey, its monday for a reason  
just heared they want me to stay for the rest of the week, so thats good. the problem with this job is that any day can be my last, and i never know when my last day can be. it was originaly going to be a 5 day contract, im now at day 24, so thats a sign that they like my work.

i will not be building this weekend, staying the weekend at my GF's place again, going to Antwerp to a fundraiser this Sunday to raise money for the earthquake victims in Nepal.


more soon....

[Captain Canada]

Good stuff Nils. Have a great weekend !

[ChernayaAkula]

Blog Entry #125 <...>
with so many ECM and jamming pods being stripped from the revell growlers, im thinking of building some additional WHIF Electronic Warfare platforms. im already thinking of a Tornado ECR2 Jammer aircraft, possibly in low-vis German Bundesluftwaffe colors, but also an EF-16G "Sparking Falcon" in USAF colors (Electronic Warfare/Jammer version of the F-16C Blk.52+, as an EF-111A replacement), <...>

Sounds good!  Another obvious option would be Revell's F-15E!

[Captain Canada]

Pods under the fuselage or underwing ?

[Spey_Phantom]

Blog Entry #130

just got home this afternoon, after a very busy but exhaustive weekend.
on Saturday, me and Jessica went north of the border to the Dutch town of Sluis (just over the Dutch/Belgian border).
i managed to get some nice stash additions, although i didnt find the ones i was looking for, but i get some none the less 

i finally got that other A330-300 i needed for the A330-MRTT project im planning. this will be cut up and shortened to an A330-200 first, before tanker conversion can begin. im also gonna start looking into scratchbuilding the refueling booms. as for the underwing HDU pods, im thinking of converting some Tornado GR.1/4 external tanks, as these are roughly the same size/shape.

earlier this week, ive started restoring an old Revell/LS 1/144 SAAB JAS-39C Gripen. with the kit being hard to find these days and no longer available in these parts, i thought of using the old kit as a prototype for improving the horrible old mould.
main changed include new wingtip launch rails, nose extended by 2 millimeters, new scratchbuilt canards in a more correct shape, some new pylons for underwing weapons and a new centreline Fuel tank (from a revell F/A-18C/D).
as for colors, im thinking a Croatian Air Force version.

there is also a lot of other work that needs to be done, including new decals for older models that need to be restored (F-4G Wild Weasel, F-111E Aardvark,....)

i got a bit of a backlog of newbuild and restauration work for various kits, so im gonna see if i can find some time to start those 


more soon......

[Captain Canada]

Looking forward to the MRTT Nils. Those are going to be great.

[Spey_Phantom]

Blog Entry #131


with the Gripen almost finished, i thought i would take a break and do some decal designing.
i just finished the designs for a RW 1/144 Belgian F-16B, for witch the kit has just been ordered online.
im also gonna look into designing decals for a 1/144 RAF Phantom FGR.1 (to be converted from an academy F-4F).

i really need to get things moving on the current projects before starting any new ones.
the 1/72 seakings are becoming a real drag as they should have been finished ages ago, but due to lack of free time, they just keep gathering dust.

more soon, in the mean time, here are 2 concept profiles of the planned Belgian and Canadian Airbus A330-MRTT's

[Spey_Phantom]

Blog Entry #132

a new blog entry was long due, but i havent been at home this weekend, and writing one on a tablet isnt that easy.
i was out of town as my (possibly future) mother in law was getting married and i was invited to attend the wedding on friday.
first time i wore a suit, looked like a boss 

now back at home, im gonna do some priority re-organising of the bench and projects.
first off, im gonna clean up the bench tomorrow and start looking into making a new layout as i can hardly find anything under this mess 

second, im going to re-organise the projects currently on the bench.
i have made the following plan.

the new priority #1 project on the bench is a 1/144 Boeing 377 stratocruiser for a 1/144 transport GB over on Kampfgruppe 144, the first of possibly many Group builds. the current 1/144 revell Mig-31 Foxhound on the bench (witch started out as an attempt to correct the horrible 80's mould) will be scrapped! i have gotten a new 1/144 Mig-31 kit to try again, this one will go better as revell has upgraded the mould, including the redesigning of the main landing gear & wheels and the scoops above the intakes. the kit is still bad and i think revell would have been better off designing a new mould from scratch  "you can't polish a turd, its still a turd!"

the 1/144 Gripen upgrade will be put on hold for now, but its nearly completed. as for decals, i have decided to go with Croatian AF colors.

the 1/72 SeaKings will also need some attention this week, so i might look into those aswell. i have the day off on monday for a job interview and on Thursday i took an administration day to get some things sorted out.

im gonna be out next weekend aswell, as me and Jessica are going to the zoo in antwerp (visiting the monkeys, or as she likes to cal it "visiting the family"  )



more soon.....

[Gondor]

Blog Entry #132

"you can't polish a turd, its still a turd!"

Actually the Mythbusters proved that you can   

Gondor