Librarian's Banana

[kerick]

Everybody is coming down with something this season. Get some rest to help fight it off. The Thwacker is looking good!

[Librarian]

Thanks . Putting her new bunkbed together right now (on a break) and considering the amount of allen-key-blisters cropping up I may have to give Thwacker a break...amazing how the lurgi saps the strength .

[kerick]

A little break seems to help the inspiration too. Be careful with the knife if you are taking cold meds.

[Captain Canada]

Looking good !

[Librarian]

Despite some serious hacking and gakking I've managed to do some detail work today:



I thought the starboard side was a bit sparse. There's a crew door but absolutely nothing inside the fuselage. Put together a little access compartment, the door will be half closed with a minigun attachment for starboard defence (like on those cool ch-53s or suchlike). The cockpit bulkhead was devoid of detail so spruced it up, as with the cockpit overhead control panel which again was completely devoid of any details. The cockpit itself is built around the same lines as I did for the B-25 with new seats, consoles and lots of didgeredoos:

[Captain Canada]

Great work on the interior...this is going to be awesome !

[Librarian]

This is going to take a little more time. I find my energy levels drained and eyesight strained very quickly with this whateverITisBUTnotMANFLU. Shattered.

Haven't built a Kinetic kit before but if the S-2 Tracker is an example then they are very akin to Matchbox kits of old, but with the fit qualities of ancient Airfix. In fact the quality of fit puts them very close to cottage industry. Lots of test-fitting and sanding required. For a relatively new mold there's quite a bit of flash about too....beware.

[Captain Canada]

Thanks for the heads up ! I had wanted to buy that kit and super detail it into a 1970s era CDN Armed Forces bird, in that lovely eggshell blue colour....maybe I shouldn't !

[Librarian]

I should point out, just in case I get in the poo with Kinetic, that this is the Italeri release of their kit. It's possible the canopy has shrunk as the fit is poor. The cockpit/forward wheel bay needs trimming etc so the fuselage halves join. The wings, nacelles etc, although tricky, go together pretty well as does the rest of the fuselage. Wing/tailplane mating surfaces need sanding down for a flush fit.

I always think like a youngster with his hard-extorted pocket money when building a kit. You, me, we are experienced modellers and can overcome most modelling hurdles but if this was a kit being built by a young one then a mess of glue and plastic followed by a rejection of the hobby could result. Revell have a habit of late of releasing Special Hobby/MPM kits which, although good, would be a tricky proposition for the inexperienced. The price of said kits would also put them in the affordable range of today's well paid juvenile. At least the original SH/MPM kits have "For Experienced Modellers" on the box.

I'll post update photos asap.

[Captain Canada]

SH/MPM kit ? Is that 48th scale as well ? Same kit ?

[Librarian]

My apologies for the confusion. I was referring to Special Hobby/MPM kits like the 1/48 Seafire or 1/72 A-20 Havoc that Revell have reissued under their banner. Lovely kits but not for the inexperienced.

[Librarian]

Just broke my own rule...when an instruction sheet gives a nose weight amount, always double it (and then some). Kit said 50g, I put in 65g and she promptly sat on her tush. Fortunately the engine nacelles/power-eggs allow the addition of plenty extra. I guesstimate about 150g minimum has gone in and she just sits right. This is lining up alongside Academy's P-38 for worst fitting mainstream kit I've built in last five odd years. Apart from that she's shaping up nicely; just pretend she's a short-run kit and psychology does the rest .

[Captain Canada]

I have a bunch of shot for loading shotgun shells, small but heavy and really easy to drop into little nooks and crannies for just such occasions !

[Librarian]

Now the problem comes in deciding which colours to go for. I'd like her to sit next to the B-25 which dictates light grey and white cabane top with USAF markings. But I also like the idea of the SEA green top with black undersides and Marines markings. I'll post some piccies later... .

Whilst admiring that Stingbat with Osprey props I started to think about an Osprey gunship. But then I thought could the whole Osprey wing and rotor assembly be scabbed onto an S-2 or an S-3 or an E-2 hee hee hee where's me pills.

[NARSES2]

I always think like a youngster with his hard-extorted pocket money when building a kit. You, me, we are experienced modellers and can overcome most modelling hurdles but if this was a kit being built by a young one then a mess of glue and plastic followed by a rejection of the hobby could result.

Excellent point, well made