Thorvics'Blog

[Gondor]

Keeping the naval theme for the JP3, Admirals Barge?

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

Keeping the naval theme for the JP3, Admirals Barge?

Gondor

Would he have a second aircraft following astern with his Flag Officer, or would Percival have built a 4 seater version? 

[JayBee]

Second aircraft, but nor painted the same! 

[Thorvic]

Most focus on current build......

Lots of temptation there boys and certainly up my street, I might even need to pick up the Vampire T-22 decals for the RN options 

However I just about managed to stay on topic this weekend, it was a cold and wet weekend so it was an ideal time to be in the workshop as not too many chores I had planned were possible with the sleet, snow and rain showers. I did get out and pick up Duncan (aka Overkiller) to drive up to the LMS and get the paints that I needed for my current build, the Heliliner is in civil colours so I needed bright gloss colours so picked up the Tamiya rattle cans and equivalent paint jars, along with more primer and masking tape. I also managed to pick up another Airfix Sea king Commando as the rest of mine are up in the loft as I want to do an 80s version if I can.
Only trouble was in masking and spraying the Heliliner I left myself no really chance to do anything else, I had the work area set for spraying so was snookered, as didn't want to do building as that would generate dust and block up the work area, I couldn't decal the ASW merlin as that also would clutter up the desk too and after doing the decaling I wouldn't want to switch back to spraying so it ended up as the Heliliner or nothing. Its looking OK now, but still a bit of tidying up of the paint scheme, but it should look the part when finished and then I can post up photos.

More touching up tonight and cracking on with the smaller items this week and I will probably decal both Merlin's this week if I can. I have to work next Saturday morning so hoping to be finished by then so i can start something fresh next Sunday 

[Thorvic]

Had the new Airfix Shackleton AEW2 delivered yesterday, not bad not sure i'm a fan of the new plastic as it looks like the stuff used on the Modelsvit kits with a semi opaque quality to the grey rather than the familiar soft light grey we are now used to. Will have to see how it works out but I did find four items off the sprue and loose in the bag. Will probably do it real as seen Dougal numerous times at Manchester and I remember seeing one do the Air Display for the Bolton show which included a private display a couple of days beforehand in the valley behind us when they did a practice run mid week.

Modelling wise its been chuffing cold, the heater makes the workroom quite toasty if the windows closed but if spraying I need to leave it ajar to vent the spray booth. Did set up last night and gave the ASW Merlin a coast of gloss so I can do its decals after the Heliliner, but the Spray booth decided to stop working so had to abandon ideas of decaling last night whilst the room vented normally  . So new booth needed for Xmas now !!!.
Will crack on decaling the next couple of nights (in on O/T tomorrow so short weekend, but at least its paid) so will see if I can get both helicopters finished by the end of the weekend and get on with something new but probably Helicopter related 

Definitely looking like the Airfix Phantom will be January now so will have to see if I can line up a build during the Christmas week whilst i'm off, plenty to go at so will have to see where motivation takes us

[Thorvic]

Managed to get the Merlin and the Heliliner completed over the weekend, look ok but I definitely don't like gloss paint schemes especially gloss white  . Will try an get some shots done tonight as was a little too late by the time I finished. Nice to have a completed Merlin HMA1 in the collection, have had numerous kits over the years but being italeri whilst it looks good on the sprue there are the usual fit issues. Would be quite nice to see Airfix have a go at scaling down their 48th kit and doing a naval version considering we have four lots of Westland Sea King kits in the same scale.

Not really a great weekend was working Saturday morning, which was OK as we get overtime for that, but it meant an earlier night on Friday evening and an early start, the Amazon delivery I was expecting and stayed in for the Afternoon for failed to materialise, so had to go do the shopping on Sunday and to cap it off I had some tragic news from my Brother Saturday night which was unsettling which has put me out of sorts since  .

Will hopefully get over the funk and crack on a fresh project or two, although my plans for a quite Christmas could be somewhat disrupted so will have to play it by ear to some extent.

[NARSES2]

Hope things sort themselves out mate

[Rheged]

Much sympathy from chateau Rheged!  We too hope that circumstances improve for you soon.

[DogfighterZen]

Best wishes for you and your loved ones from the south of Portugal

[Thorvic]

Not really done much this week in terms of modelling, just waiting for the weekend to get some daylight for photos of the Merlin's then I can put them away so they wont be effected when I start modelling seriously again where sanding and paint dust would be an issue. Plus the weather and temperature sort of prohibit a spraying session for the next couple of nights as Storm Caroline passes over.

Cleaned up my Bristol 191 build but had to add filler so that will have to wait till weekend to clean up, so being in an odd mood I actually started clean up on a mach2 Squirrel. Something a little different but will require quite a bit of a tidying up to get something like an acceptable build, buts its not that bad and its better than nothing. Will probably whiff if as the model alliance sheet with the British Decal option is long OOP. Still its getting to the stage where some spraying will be required so again it wont get much further till weekend.

No further news on the family matter, so its a case of carry on as usual until we get more news.

[Thorvic]

Well that was a cold weekend, managed to get a bit of modelling done mostly prep work and early assembly on the next set of projects as was able to do a bit of spraying in small doses - The cold draught of having the window ajar was just about balanced by having the heater on full whack. Its did keep the aerosols warm enough to spray so that was positive.

Ended up on PSR on the Bristol 191, so didn't get round to any further assembly and it still needs a bit of scribing applying before I try that. It's an old kit but one of the last releases, so better decals but the plastic is the usual fair from Heller/Humbrol and has some distortion and warping issues  .

The fun part about the 191 is that it has a Wasp style undercarriage but on the same stance as a belvedere so I need to get the details done before the undercarriage, but I've got to effectively scratch build the undercarriage which will make building tricky. I'm going to need a jig to keep the airframe true whilst I create the undercarriage, which I why I probably chickened out and started prep work on a couple of Lynx instead. Still plenty to keep me busy some Projects some Whiff so a bit of fun.

Oh we got confirmation off Airfix on their Workbench post last Friday that the Phantom FG1 will not be out till January  , which is a shame as would have loved to have a go at them over the Christmas break.

[Thorvic]

Only did a bit of modelling last night, as I opted to not do any spraying and keep the window closed and the heater on as it was a bit parky out there. meant all I could really do was the fix the glazing in the lynx fuselage and fit the cockpit interior together. Will need a bit of touch up with the paint work and I will have to spray the rotor head and mounting as these are fitted above the cabin before the fuselage are joined.

The Lynx is going to be the AH.6 which was a dedicated variant intended for the Royal Marines, This is a Naval Lynx with wheeled undercarriage, folding tail but with the armament fit for the Marines. I think I will retain the HAS3 naval nose with Radar rather than the Army slimmer nose cone as being ship based they will need to transition between ship and shore. It will be fitted with TOW and a TOW sight and I think I'll go with the grey and green Army scheme to match the AH7s they ended up with and to not mistake it for the Navy Lynx painted in Army Colours of Black and Olive Drab.

[Thorvic]

Not much done recently, although the Lynx AH-6 is mostly assembled , just need to sort out the TOW launchers fit and to tack the doors in place for priming and then painting so possibly one to be done before Christmas.

The Type 191 is in PSR hell at the moment, noticed some more features so more mods and filler before I can get to scribing and then finally working on creating the landing gear. Would be nice to see a new Belvedere kit as the Airfix one is seriously dated and technically still a prototype.

Have got another Puma on the go and have started painting its interior ahead of assembly.

However the next couple of night like the last two will be taken up with Christmas, either shopping, wrapping or writing cards, then I can clear up the crap and tidy up ready for Christmas.

The planned Airfix Phantom build won't be happening due to the kit being delayed until January so next week whilst off I think I will give some thought to getting the above projects assembled and completed to clear the work bench as plenty more projects to go at :-)

[Thorvic]

Happy New Year, had a nice Christmas with friends & Neighbours but unfortunately succumbed to a cold last week so the productive week off work proved to be less so, I did however get some building done even if it wasn't all that I had planned.

The Type 191 has had some work done and is close to getting its Undercarriage created, but have been sidetracked completing some builds which I need to finish so I can clear down the workbench to give me some workspace to do the 191.

I have finished my RN Allouette III which I thought was a pure whiff, but have discovered it was looked at as a stop gap whilst the P531 evolved into the Westland Wasp !

I also finished my Lynx AH-6 (Cancelled Project), which is a Royal Marines dedicated version mixing the features of the AH-1 with the HAS-3 to create what is effectively a TOW armed HAS3.

Nearly completed is the 2nd SA330D Puma, again Royal Navy but this time as a Junglie Commando version. Decaled and varnished, but needs the last details adding to complete it.

Got my sister visiting now before she flies back to Egypt so won't be finished off till the weekend, but hopefully should be able to get all three photographed at the weekend if we get some decent daylight.

[Thorvic]

Well that's torn it, received an email yesterday saying the Phantoms were finally in stock and payment was taken so should hopefully receive the first couple of kits by weekend 

However I still need to finish off my Royal Navy Puma Commando, and I won't be able to do that till Friday night so I will have to get cracking on with that, clean the bench and get started on a Phantom ! 

Ah the dilemma, I said I would build an FG1 as soon as I got one and had expected it to be built after SMW in November, once they delayed it to December I thought I would be able to build one (or more) over the Christmas break but as they failed to turn up I cracked on with my helicopters instead. Now the dilemma is that after finishing these three helicopters from the Xmas break I have another three in early stages of construction, the Type 191 is ready for its landing gear and I have bits on the way for some more Helicopter related builds including another WG-11. But now I have Phantoms and I have three OOB options I want to build, plus variations on the display options with launch and fully folded kit parts to play with Then there are the projected units to do...... (and no there will be no Crab Air FG1s built, I will save those for the FGR2 kit later in the year).

I think I shall probably build one Phantom to get familiar with the kit and its build issues and maybe wait to see what aftermarket items become available to address the vent issues as well as extra detailing options. Then finish off some more Helicopters and spend the rest of the year alternating builds