Thorvics'Blog

[Thorvic]

Anyway it will be nice to a new F-35B kit and being Hasegawa they are bound to do a variety of boxing's its just a pity we don't see 617 form till later in the year to see if ours actually get any Squadron markings and then its 2021 before we get 809 sqdn appearing  .

Well did sod all last night model wise, chilled out in front of the fire trying to stay awake whilst watching telly, never even warmed up the heater in the office and only did a quick overview of the web. First full week since mid December and the cold/wet snap has made the cold I got slow to move on so opted to chill out and will try and make better use of tonight instead.

[NARSES2]

Despite its foibles I still enjoyed this new Phantom and will be build quite a few more in the coming months, some real, some PC/Whif 

And that's the point of it, isn't it 

[Thorvic]

Well I did get some modelling done every day this weekend and its still doesn't feel like I'm getting far fast, I did a bit of spraying on Saturday but had to close the window and thus the spray booth down due to the artic blast still hanging around.
In the decal front I got the National and Squadron markings on the Airfix Phantom FG1 on Friday night and by last night I had fully stencilled the starboard upper fuselage, still the Port side and belly to do along with the bits not yet fitted to the airframe like U/C doors, tail planes and droptanks !!.
Now it does take time as I can do about three/four at a time to cut out soak, place and set, cross off and then move along to the next bit, thus slow progress, but in comparing the sides it does make a marked difference so its probably worth the effort, but will need to factor in the additional decaling time especially when doing real aircraft or matching the scheme and period.

Might get it finished for the Bolton Show on Sunday but I definitely won't have any other builds done this week as a result.

[Thorvic]

Managed to get a few more stencils on the port fwd fuselage on Monday night, but have been busy or not in the mood to do anymore for the last two nights so I doubt the model will now be finished for the show on Sunday. Not an issue as its real world anyway and for my collection, its not an issue with the model as the stencils do look the part when added.

I think I may have to address my build plans for 2018 accordingly, I have quite a number of Phantoms for real world FAA, Project Cancelled and What-if but the decaling process will need to be factored in for future builds, so I don't think I will be doing multiple builds at the same time as I initially thought.

I do have other models I wish to build especially in the helicopter area as there will be hopefully additional inspiration in Admiralty and the Helicopter, there are also 2nd builds planned of the WG-11 and Sea Chinook and of course I still have to make use of those excellent Model Art Sea King HAS1 decals on both an early sea king and alternatives...

Not even thinking about the ships in 1/700 which I will have to return to sooner or later.

Thankfully there doesn't appear to be too many must buy & build kits announced so far for 2018, there's a few I will buy of course to go in the stash, but probably only the new Wasp will likely jump straight to the build pile

[Thorvic]

Well the Bolton Show is over and it was quite successful for its new larger venue, so that a big well done to my former club, as they had aspired to upgrade to there for many years.

yes I did pick up a couple more Phantoms, and a couple more helicopters, the 1/7oo HMS Ark Royal IV wasn't quite ready so should get that later this month. Unfortunately due to fighting off a throat based cold before the show it has left me a little tired and drained. I tried to crack on with the Phantom Stencils on Monday afternoon once Martin H had set off home but found the mojo wasn't right - it happens, so have spent the last few evenings either reading or watching telly giving the PC a token look and leaving the model room closed to recharge.

Should be a chance to follow the news from the Nuremberg Toy Fair and decide if anything really grabs my fancy and become a must buy, the long overdue Italeri AW-101 Caesar will be one, but that's mostly as a donor for other Merlin version, the HSS-1 SeaBat reissue will be nice as that Italian Navy boxing has the A frame landing gear and depth charges. Not a great deal else has grabbed my fancy so far although there are some interesting prototype kits due from Eastern Europe including the Mirage 4000 commissioned by the French model shop and A&A models helewan Ha300 as they have also indicated they are planning to do the Vak-191 as well.
Ship wise it's just Trumpeter so far with their overdue Belfast Cruiser and the scaled down Type 23s (yes I will get lots of those !)

[Thorvic]

Rapidly approaching Huddersfield Show on Sunday and still stencilling the Phantom upper surfaces, only about 6 more decals to place before a sealing coat of varnish and finishing the undersides. Not so much that they are frustrating just a case of being in the right mood, not being too tired and not being too cold as all have had some form of effect over the last two weeks.
Will be glad to get it finished and out of the way not because its frustratingly slow as I actually like the build and will be starting another one soon, but because I have another Merlin to paint and want the Phantom packed away safe before spraying starts. 

I have a few more helicopters I plan on building, one being a Fujimi Sea King using the new decals from Model Art to do a real RN HAS1 aircraft as I suggested these decals and had to mix and match when doing the WG-11, Sea Chinook and Super Frelon  last year in these schemes. I also want to have another kit bash on the WG-11 and maybe do it in its Junglie role instead although folded rotors may be the choice this time.

[Thorvic]

Hooray - I finally got all the topside decals on the Phantom and gave it a varnish. Looks OK so far, but have to crack on with the underside stencilling and the underwing bits.
Dog sitting tonight so no chance this weekend as tomorrow night its getting stuff ready and Sunday its the Huddersfield Show. Next weeks is looking as cold and wintery as this week, if not worse so I guess I can crack on with decaling as spraying is out of the question as that window will stay closed for a few more days as a result.

Need to remind my myself to do a shopping list for Huddersfield, whilst I enjoyed Bolton and found some bargains, I clean forgot about restocking on supplies, tools and paints so as nothing screaming must buy at the moment I will have to do an audit tomorrow and see what I need and where to go for them.

[Thorvic]

Finished my Airfix Phantom FG1 last night, finished off the stencils and added the remain parts. Done as an OOB RN FG1 in 767 markings (I needed to do a built one, as built up a collection of the Fujimi F-4K kits and aftermarket decals I ended building the new kit OOB ! ). Went together OK and compared with the older Fujimi F-4K kit I have on the bench the detail is certainly a lot better on the Airfix kit. However those missing vents on the intakes are conspicuous by their absence !.

An enjoyable build and I will be starting my next one soon, but I need to get the other Fujimi kit done for a decal experiment, and then I have a Merlin to finish  .

[Gondor]

Finished my Airfix Phantom FG1 last night, finished off the stencils and added the remain parts. Done as an OOB RN FG1 in 767 markings (I needed to do a built one, as built up a collection of the Fujimi F-4K kits and aftermarket decals I ended building the new kit OOB ! ). Went together OK and compared with the older Fujimi F-4K kit I have on the bench the detail is certainly a lot better on the Airfix kit. However those missing vents on the intakes are conspicuous by their absence !.

An enjoyable build and I will be starting my next one soon, but I need to get the other Fujimi kit done for a decal experiment, and then I have a Merlin to finish  .

Wizard   

Gondor

[Thorvic]

Started decaling the Fujimi Phantom last night, got the basic markings on and a cancelled serial using the new xtradecal Phantom FG1 stencil and markings sheet as it included roundels and serial letters and numbers. Got another Merlin to decal which is a Whiff but still need to spray its rotor blades, but that wait till it gets a little warmer after I finish the decaling I think.

I received the first set of Ali Mclean's (ex-A2Zee Models) Phantom FG1 resin replacement parts yesterday for the Airfix kit, this is a resin replacement splitter plate with the grills and splitter details added along with the replacement fillets above the spey's with the vents added. Will be trying these out next. 

[Gondor]

I received the first set of Ali Mclean's (ex-A2Zee Models) Phantom FG1 resin replacement parts yesterday for the Airfix kit, this is a resin replacement splitter plate with the grills and splitter details added along with the replacement fillets above the spey's with the vents added. Will be trying these out next. 

Oh, sounds good. When will they be available, from where and how much?

Gondor

[Thorvic]

Well now that the winters last fling of a very icy touch has started to pass I was able to get into the model room this weekend and open a window without getting caught in an arctic blast. This allowed me to complete the decaling on the Merlin, varnish it and finish painting. I was going to call it as done but realised I hadn't added the wing mirrors which I will have to do tonight, need to add them as I used that Liquid Chrome pen Weaver recommended and they are superb.

So once that's done it will be another Whif Merlin to the collection, and all I need to do next is find where I put the flipping camera, so I can photograph it properly and post it up !!.

I think I may take a breather tonight after finishing the Merlin as I should really tidy up and clean up the work bench before starting anything fresh. Its cluttered with the used decal paper, empty sprues, used masking plus all the paints that ended up at hand whilst I did the work. A pain but necessary as need to clear down ready for the next build.

As to that next build, well I shall have to do another Airfix Phantom FG1 to try the Aerocraft models Phantom Intakes. It will be real world again as one of the aircraft that flew off HMS Eagle that were filmed by Pathe as the decals are on the RAM sheet, also a chance to do one nose extended, flaps down and hot to trot.

Of course once this is in build I'm bound to start another model possibly another helicopter as got a few project ideas to go at inspired by other builds, but will hold off on deciding which until the Phantom has started 

[PR19_Kit]

Who are Aerocraft Models please, and how did you know about them?

They don't seem to have an Internet presence, unless their prime business is in canoes and the Phantom intakes are just a sideline. 

[Thorvic]

Who are Aerocraft Models please, and how did you know about them?

They don't seem to have an Internet presence, unless their prime business is in canoes and the Phantom intakes are just a sideline. 

It's Alistair McLean who started to A2Zee, which Alec at Bramptom bought when Ali could no longer run it as his base of income and had to go back to mainstream working, So the quality is good. He posted up the intakes on Britmodeller so I emailed him and discovered that he was going to start doing his own conversion bits under his own brand as a sideline, I was interested as its the one area of the Airfix kit where they dropped a serious clanger and missed off the details but it was too late to bodge a workaround with decals.

http://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/

[PR19_Kit]

Thank you kindly, that looks pretty promising.