In the Bear-ginning

[Captain Canada]

Looking good ! Such a neat aeroplane.....sleek and elegant yet mean....or something ! Not sure how to explain the looks....but I like the way this is going so far !

[Knightflyer]

DAY FOUR - Well the weather wasn't good enough for gardening (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) so spent a large part of the day modelling.

Some of the day spent on the Bear, undercarriage legs painted and installed, and it sits as it should, so I got the amount of lead correct 

Main undercarriage tyres and 'hubs' painted, 8 of (16 sides) almost as bad as the propeller blades, but at least I painted them on the sprue, rather than after assembly!

Filling and sanding at various places around the fuselage, including the upper and lower 'gun positions'.... I decided armament there just wasn't the RAF's style, although I'm not sure about the rear gunner's position

Also some paint to the outer lower wing surface ...just because I could, a fault of mine - I like to see some paint on the kit before I've finished assembly

So definitely it'll be a dark sea GREY BEAR , but I'm undecided whether it'll have the white upper fuselage as some of the Shackletons did....we shall see

[Knightflyer]

Pictures from last night - painted more than I realised - memory must be going  



and the Bear's Bottom!  

[Knightflyer]

DAY FIVE TO SEVEN - Well I've been a little distracted by the completion of my Whiff BAe EAP, but I have managed to move this a little further forward



Wings have received two coats of Humbrol 123, and then the fuselage upper surface has been masked off and received a couple of coats of Humbrol 130, I think another coat will complete that, along with the special recognition markings carried on the wings (the ones on the tail will have to wait until I can remove the masking on the upper fuselage so that I can complete  the task of 'greying the tail'



Now we come to something I'm not happy about.  The original Revell instructions say to paint the rear of the engine nacelles (and neighboring areas of the wings) with anthracite grey (Revell matt 9) which my conversion chart translated as Satin Black (Humbrol 85) Well as you can see I did this (at least to the engine nacelles) and I am not happy with the results. I'm presuming that it's intended to mimic staining from the exhausts (?) but it doesn't do anything for me and I'm considering painting the whole area the same as the rest of the wings .....what do you think, and thoughts/comments/suggestions 



Finally, there's an image that's stuck in my mind whilst I've been moving this model along. I think that the old FROG boxart (because of the head-on view of the aircraft) makes me think of how this Bear might look. It's probably only me, but what do you think? Until next time, ta-ta for now!

[NARSES2]

First re the nacelles. I'd go for the same colour as the wings and say she'd been cleaned up for a high level inspection. That's what I say when asked about weathering. Either that or she's just come out of the paint shop. Note I can't weather to save my life so don't. I admire people who can make it look right mind you.

Secondly. She would look good in a Shackleton scheme, but which nationality would the sub be ? 

[McColm]

looks good, try South Africa.

[Rheged]

She would look good in a Shackleton scheme, but which nationality would the sub be ?  

I agree about the Shackleton scheme.  I understand that the RN used "Krasnovia" as as opponent,  and have been heard to refer to  the "United Gromboolian Navies"  in some exercises.   Somebody's mother read him  the Edward Lear nonsense poems!

[Captain Canada]

South Communist Africa !

She looks great. Nice to see the diferent colours...really going to make this Baer stand out !

Love the box art as well.....boom !

[Knightflyer]

Hi All

Thanks for the comments, as the submarine isn't part of my plans, I shall leave it's identity of your fevered imaginations, although I shall be looking up "Krasnovia" and the "United Gromboolian Navies"    I'm already thinking about the consequences of a Non-Aligned UK Bear doing 'a grand tour' along the dividing line of the English Channel and then lazily proceeding through international airspace around the North Sea 

First re the nacelles. I'd go for the same colour as the wings and say she'd been cleaned up for a high level inspection. That's what I say when asked about weathering. Either that or she's just come out of the paint shop. Note I can't weather to save my life so don't. I admire people who can make it look right mind you.

Re the nacelles, I agree with you Cap'n C, the black has got to go. I'm not a weatherer, I admire the skills of those who can, but accept that weathering is something that requires a degree of subtlety that I can't replicate. So the grey paint will come out tonight and the nacelles with have a repaint 

[Knightflyer]

DAYS EIGHT TO THIRTEEN

Well I won't bore you with all the details. Basically nacelle undersides and fuselage bottom painted. Glazing and wheels fixed in place. Painting of 'detail' using lighter grey, silver and black. Now I just to decide on decals including serials....nearly there. Model Club meeting on Thursday night so should make it 

[zenrat]

Nice.

[Rheged]

It's a sort of swept wing Shackleton on steroids!  And it's looking extremely good too.

[NARSES2]

Coming on really well sir 

[zenrat]

The undercarriage has been puzzling me.  I couldn't figure out how those big wheels fitted through those small flaps.
Then I spotted the bulges on the rear sections of the nacelles...

[Captain Canada]

Looking good ! Almost has an airliner feel to it in that last pic.