Nick's Notes

[Nick]

This week I have been painting the bathroom. Again. 
It started when Mum bought a new shower head. I saw nothing wrong with the old one but she said...
That included a new hose and then she ordered new shelves and is now looking for a new bath rack.

A lot of PSR was needed to repair the wall where the rusty old shelves needed taking off. Fortunately we still have a tiny amount of the paint left as it has been discontinued. It's going quite thick too.

At the same time we did need to repaint the ceiling where the paint was peeling off after a leak of some sort. Needed 4 coats to stop the stain showing through. 
I did have a big fresh tub of white paint in the shed but I still had to make an essential visit to B&Q for new roller brushes and some tile cleaner spray (reduced to £1.60!).

Thankfully the new aluminium shelves don't need drilling. They have self adhesive strips that stick to the tiles. There are screw threads poking out of each strip and you then bolt the shelf to the strip.

[zenrat]

To hide water stains paint over them with oil based undercoat before putting on the emulsion.

[Nick]

To hide water stains paint over them with oil based undercoat before putting on the emulsion.

Ah, good idea, bit late for that now. Thanks anyway.

Modelling wise I made a fair start on my Avia B.534. Made by KP about 50 years ago it has more flash than an 80s movie. The fuselages don't align well as the right side is approx 1 millimetre smaller all round than the left.
The pilot has been starved going by the massive hole in his belly    and his seat just sits loose in the cockpit area, nothing to line it up with. Thankfully the canopy is so thick you won't be able to tell after I close it up!

I had an issue with the decals being so old and yellowed but Chris was kind enough to provide some Slovak markings as this is a RW build for the club. As I'm not fluent in Czech the instructions were near nonsense but I can guess by the drawings.

Here's a trick - if you need instructions or colour plans for a kit then check on manufacturers websites. Eduard produce a B.534 (which must be far superior to this) and they kindly provide their instructions online. I was able to print out the colour scheme for a Slovak machine and noted the paints needed. I then had to convert to Tamiya and Humbrol but it makes life easier.

**************

On the other side of the bench I have a trio of Dewoitine D.520 to be getting on with. I thought I had one Hobbyboss kit to do, nice and easy. But no. The contents of the box are actually 3 ancient Frog kits that I picked up for £2 in a mass bundle 4 years ago. I think I ruined the Hobbyboss one with bad paint and dumped it.

Again Chris has come to the rescue with some nice Romanian markings. I still have the Hobbyboss decals so at least one will be real French.
The original instructions are on Scalemates.  https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/6/3/8/154638-14-instructions.pdf
A production line is planned for these so I get all built in one session and then paint them.

[NARSES2]

The Eduard 534 is obviously a labour of love Nick as it really is a beauty and builds brilliantly. If you ever want to treat yourself 

[Nick]

The Eduard 534 is obviously a labour of love Nick as it really is a beauty and builds brilliantly. If you ever want to treat yourself 

I wish I had. I really need to break the habit of buying cheap kits and focus on decent manufacturers.

When building a biplane like the B.534 it is best to apply the inner struts first. That should give the wings the correct angle to sit at when fitting the outer struts especially when the wings are not parallel.
It's taken me an hour to fit four fiddly and ill-formed struts to a pair of wings. I am now high on glue fumes.

Because I couldn't lift the model to eye level in case the lower wings fell off I raised my worktop by using a shoebox. To see the fitting holes on the underside of the upper wing I had to place a torch on the new worktop, kneel on the floor to see properly, and fiddle the struts with tweezers to make them fit. Then I found that the lower wings had sagged which was why the inner struts wouldn't go in the holes so I placed a pair of clothes pegs to prop them up to get the angle right.
At this point I had to place another pair of pegs outside the outer struts to stop the upper wing from leaning out too far either side.

[NARSES2]

But your making progress 

[Nick]

The Avia is practically built apart from putting the wheels and canopy on. I gave it a first coat of grey primer along with the Aeroclub AMX that has been gathering dust since I started it many years ago. This is preferred way of finding gaps that need filling.

I found a gap. Well, I made it myself when I knocked a tailplane off the AMX. The glue is drying now. 

But I can now see what needs filling and sanding. so it's out with the PPP and an opportunity to try the Vallejo filler I picked up at last years London Model show.

Had a Zoom chat with the London club last night where we talked a lot about kits and I got a fairly warm reception for my idea of an RAAF Tornado in overall grey. I'm using a 1/144 Revell kit and a set of F-18 decals I found in the Telford Kitswap.

[Nick]

Botheration! 
My tube of Perfect Plastic Putty has dried up and I can't find the other tube that I'm sure I had somewhere in the stash, the reserve stash or the deeep stash.

Thankfully the Vallejo stuff is working wonders and I can order a new tube of PPP online, but not as cheaply as I would at a show. 

[Nick]

I have made a huge mistake. Possibly worse than awakening Cthulu.

In my fruitless quest to find my spare tube of putty I delved into the deepest of my stashes and uncovered things that should have lain forgotten for many more years. Dust coated piles of plastic, endless bags of unknown content, boxes of mysterious wonders, models and kits that I thought lost to the depths of time and space.

Much of this is half-builds. It's worse than I thought. My known list of kits to-finish has just increased massively.

And I have discovered many many kits I doubt I'll ever start. 

There is a bright side to all this - I just might be having a kit sale in the near future! 

[frank2056]

Thankfully the Vallejo stuff is working wonders and I can order a new tube of PPP online, but not as cheaply as I would at a show. 

I think the Vallejo putty is equivalent to Perfect Plastic Putty... they're both just conveniently repackaged acrylic artist filler. Vallejo has versions in different colors as well.

[PR19_Kit]

In my fruitless quest to find my spare tube of putty I delved into the deepest of my stashes and uncovered things that should have lain forgotten for many more years. Dust coated piles of plastic, endless bags of unknown content, boxes of mysterious wonders, models and kits that I thought lost to the depths of time and space.

BIG mistake Nick, that way lies madness.

[Nick]

I think the Vallejo putty is equivalent to Perfect Plastic Putty... they're both just conveniently repackaged acrylic artist filler. Vallejo has versions in different colors as well.

I find the Vallejo stuff a touch more liquid. It's more like Tippex while PPP is toothpaste.

In my fruitless quest to find my spare tube of putty I delved into the deepest of my stashes and uncovered things that should have lain forgotten for many more years. Dust coated piles of plastic, endless bags of unknown content, boxes of mysterious wonders, models and kits that I thought lost to the depths of time and space.

BIG mistake Nick, that way lies madness.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."   

On the other side of the bench I have a trio of Dewoitine D.520 to be getting on with. I thought I had one Hobbyboss kit to do, nice and easy. But no. The contents of the box are actually 3 ancient Frog kits that I picked up for £2 in a mass bundle 4 years ago. I think I ruined the Hobbyboss one with bad paint and dumped it.

You know what just turned up in an old shoebox? The HobbyBoss D.520, complete but unpainted. Looks great. I've just squirted it with primer
I also found a bagged Frog D.520 to go with the other 3. Nice.

[Nick]

If you have somehow missed it my completed Avia B.534 can be viewed here: https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=48661
Thanks for all the nice comments.

****************
I was in the Lake District the last 6 days, walking out on the hills and enjoying the fresh open air. Had to have several 'substantial meals' at local inns   
The rule is a joke really, one place offered me a very tasty platter which was a small portion of chips, 2 onion bhajis and home made vegetable crisps. If I'd realised it was only £2 I'd have had another one 
The Kirkstile Inn does a fantastic fish finger sandwich, the bread was locally made and the fish had been cooked in their own beer batter. Each pub was near empty

I spent the evenings building models in my room as the hotel bar was for diners only. If you are up in Keswick Lakeland Toys has a decent selection of model kits.
*****************

Now that London is in Tier 3 I'll be furloughed for another 2 weeks (starting tomorrow) which means I don't go back to work until next year so more time to build models

I've dug out all the half-builds with a view to Get Things Done™. First thing to actually do is sort out a large and old pile of paperwork that seems to be breeding and filling up all the desk space I want for modelling. The shredder will be working overtime - shame we don't still have an actual fireplace.

Coming soon: RAAF Tornado, RNZAF F-4C, RAAF RF-4E, Australian Army AH-1G, AMX, Hawk, T-45 Goshawk and a whole lot more 

R/W I'm building the Bell X-15 for my clubs Black theme build. I'm using the Revell 1/64 version which is toy like as all the control surfaces move. It was released in 1959.

[zenrat]

Beware of Tidying Up the Workspace.  IME it can all too easilly expand to fill all available time and before you know it no actual model building has been done.

Lake District is great country.  I have an Uncle and Aunt living there somewhere.

[Rheged]

****************
I was in the Lake District the last 6 days, walking out on the hills and enjoying the fresh open air. Had to have several 'substantial meals' at local inns   
The rule is a joke really, one place offered me a very tasty platter which was a small portion of chips, 2 onion bhajis and home made vegetable crisps. If I'd realised it was only £2 I'd have had another one 
The Kirkstile Inn does a fantastic fish finger sandwich, the bread was locally made and the fish had been cooked in their own beer batter. Each pub was near empty

I spent the evenings building models in my room as the hotel bar was for diners only. If you are up in Keswick Lakeland Toys has a decent selection of model kits.
*****************

Now that London is in Tier 3 I'll be furloughed for another 2 weeks (starting tomorrow) which means I don't go back to work until next year so more time to build models

I've dug out all the half-builds with a view to Get Things Done™. First thing to actually do is sort out a large and old pile of paperwork that seems to be breeding and filling up all the desk space I want for modelling. The shredder will be working overtime - shame we don't still have an actual fireplace.

Coming soon: RAAF Tornado, RNZAF F-4C, RAAF RF-4E, Australian Army AH-1G, AMX, Hawk, T-45 Goshawk and a whole lot more 

R/W I'm building the Bell X-15 for my clubs Black theme build. I'm using the Revell 1/64 version which is toy like as all the control surfaces move. It was released in 1959.

1) The Avia has turned out well!!

2)I used to live in Carlisle, so I know Lakeland well.  The Kirkstile Inn  fish finger sandwich has been filling walkers for some years now.  I've eaten quite a few of them there..........and yes, it DOES count as a substantial meal.

3)Can I second Zenrat's comment about tidying paperwork expanding to over-fill the time available.......but it does need cleared occasionally.  I wish I was as brave as General Allenbrooke, who cleared and unanswered paperwork into the bin at the end of every day.   He reckoned that only about 2% of it ever came back to haunt him.

4) Enjoy your enforced leisure; I'm looking forward to seeing a RAAF Tornado.

5) Agreed about Lakeland Toys in Keswick, I've bought a few good things there in my time...........and the Oxfam shop opposite is worth a look too.