Zenrat's Flying Circus

zenrat · August 24, 2015, 03:44:39 AM

The meatballs, the potato rostis and the crispy biscuits sandwiched with real chocolate...

Babs is almost done, Porthus is progressing (painted the tyres today) and i've started a Suez Skyray.

NARSES2 · August 24, 2015, 06:06:22 AM

Babs, Porthus and Skyray. Sounds like the novel Dumas never finished

zenrat · August 25, 2015, 04:02:05 AM

Dumas' long lost Sci Fi novel...

Librarian · August 25, 2015, 10:28:59 AM

Quote from: zenrat on August 25, 2015, 04:02:05 AM
Dumas' long lost Sci Fi novel...

Can't read that name now without remembering "Shawshank.." ! Alexander Dumbass

.

Captain Canada · August 26, 2015, 05:34:31 AM

Now you guys are making me hungry ! And of course the old Marks and Spencer days as a kid are kicking in ( when we'd drive to the city to go shopping )...those little jars of potted meat and fish

zenrat · August 27, 2015, 03:38:57 AM

Considering i'm building the Skyray with Suez stripes (operation Musketeer) all this talk of Dumas is appropriate.

Now, the Trumpeter Wyvern i'm pinching the decals from has a torpedo. Should I hang it from the Skyray?

Today I built a custom support stick to hold Porthus while it's satin cleared and touched up the chequer decals.

I painted some more of the inside bits of the Skyray that have to be done before the 2 halves are joined. It also seemed like a good time to attach the vertical tail as PSR will be easier at this stage. Looks like none will be needed though. The way the kit is designed with a separate nose means it would be fairly easy to perform rhinoplasty...

I also finished Babs apart from rigging the aerial wire. Writing a supporting tale is going well with complete and utter gibberish flowing from my fingers like oil from a hard ridden Triumph.
The stand I built for the Tilt Fan worked so well I may rip open another still sealed Matchbox kit to make another. It's basically the small sized clear Matchbox stand with the male part that fits into the fuselage slot cut off and a square of transparent styrene glued in it's place. I drilled a hole in each corner of the plate and then glued a short (1/8") length of styrene rod into each hole. The model sits on the rods rather than the plate and is thus less prone to wobbling.

Captain Canada · August 27, 2015, 05:10:16 AM

Torpedo ? Hmmm.....sound interesting ! Might work, but might look kinda funny as you'd think you'd have control of the sea anyway ? But I guess it's good to be prepared !

Do you have pics of the stand set up ? Or have I already seen them and just can't recall.....

zenrat · August 28, 2015, 02:36:59 AM

Stand set up is new. I'll try to remember to take some pics. I opened both my still sealed Matchbox kits but neither contained a stand. They are both Chinese versions (knock offs?) containing a very small tube of glue, pressure sensitive decals and a rather nasty smell.

The Tamiya 1/72 Skyray kit is a real treat. So far its going together really nicely although I did forget to drill the weapons mounting holes before glueing the wing halves together. I blame this on the neighbours distracting me by popping round for a visit.

I also put some satin clear on Porthus and completely finished Babs.

zenrat · August 29, 2015, 03:07:49 AM

The ability to order fish and chips or pizza online is what the interweb was created for.

I've hit a snag with Porthus.
Here's what it currently looks like in a long shot

But if you look closer you will see the satin clear has caused the paint to pull back in some places.

I used enamel rattle can paint over which I applied acrylic gloss clear and then decaled. After a week or so I then applied the satin clear and this happened. I've had no issues before using this clear over enamel and I'm thinking I applied the satin too heavily and the solvents leached down through the layers. The white that is exposed is the undercoat.
I'm not going to strip it or even attempt to sand it back. I'll put it aside for a while why I ponder my options but I think i may paint the exposed areas to look like the underlying structure - wood on the wings and metal on the nacelle.

ericr · August 29, 2015, 04:09:36 AM

Quote from: zenrat on August 29, 2015, 03:07:49 AM
The ability to order fish and chips or pizza online is what the interweb was created for.

and, to that respect at least, the success in total.

Quote from: zenrat on August 29, 2015, 03:07:49 AM
I've hit a snag with Porthus.
Here's what it currently looks like in a long shot

gorgeous !

Quote from: zenrat on August 29, 2015, 03:07:49 AM
But if you look closer you will see the satin clear has caused the paint to pull back in some places.

ah, bad luck ; it seems that you're being chemically creative at the same time as aeronautically, and creativity sometimes meets obstacles ... bon courage

NARSES2 · August 29, 2015, 04:57:55 AM

I've had a couple of things happen recently which I have put down to over zealous rattle can usage, mainly varnish. Must admit I've gone back to brush on some projects.

Porthus does look nice

zenrat · August 29, 2015, 06:24:00 AM

Thanks guys.
Eric - these days I restrict my chemical experiments to models...

I forgot to post this pic of the stand I made. Unfortunately just after taking the photo I tried to adjust the angle of the top plate and the stem snapped. I've modified it and will take another picture when the glues dried and i've tested it.

PR19_Kit · August 29, 2015, 09:05:19 AM

Others would call the varnish problems 'weathering'.

I'd leave it as it is.

zenrat · August 29, 2015, 06:02:09 PM

Hmmmm, maybe.
I'll paint the engine and the canopy and so on and see how it looks before I decide what to do.

zenrat · August 30, 2015, 01:10:41 AM

Can't wait for the BoB GB to start so I thought i'd knock out a quick OOB paint whiff.
One of these (Future Boy Conan - Falco)

painted like one of these

but with prewar style stars with the red dot in the middle.

It's a very simple kit and is going together well so far.