BlackMike Models

No, I bought the Montex mask set for the US Navy Roundel markings and it came with it. It wasn’t the best of fits and I have had to cut extra material from the mask to tidy it up so I wouldn’t recommend the Montex canopy mask on it’s own.

I’ve got all the sub assemblies built up as far as they can go. The canopy is masked off and all the small parts are off the sprues and cleaned up. I’m actually ready to prime everything now. As you see I have fitted the lower wings. There was a slight gap under one of the wing to fuselage joints that needed a smear of filler so that was the way to go. I am waiting on seatbelts to arrive but prefer to leave the canopy off until later if possible anyway. Next steps are to get primer on and then I could paint the upper wing. Duncan B

Very nicely done, I'm sure it will be very appreciated by it's new owner. Duncan B

It's early in the morning so that's my excuse but when I first saw the post from Mad Steve my eyes scanned the title and passed some of the information to my brain which processed it like this "It's Mad Steve, Category: Cars. so it must say 'Robin Reliant' (Did stomach get coffee yet? add to To Do list)"!! Meanwhile in another part of my brain someone is playing Jethro Tull's Skating Away over and over again and has been doing that since before I woke up! That's a bog awful attempt at building a three wheeled car famous for rolling over at roundabouts but it's a brilliant build of a fighter famous for having to put itself in front of it's 'target' to attempt a shoot down! I don't think there is anything out dated about the way you have finished it off and I certainly wouldn't be apologetic for the way you have done it either. As you have said it's your model built the way you want to do it, especially if it's going to turn out as well as this. Duncan B (maybe coffee will shut up my ear worm?)

Spectacular and it didn't take long either. I'm not sure how you manage to turn them out so quickly to such a high standard. Duncan B

That's a great collection and I like the idea of a well known type in lesser known operator's markings. Duncan B

That's a little beauty. You could fill a cabinet just with Vampires as there are so many RAF markings options out there. Duncan B

I’m really enjoying it. Cockpit detail is adequate for me but maybe others would want more. Parts fit is generally very good and the surface detail is nice without being overdone. We will see how easily the top wing goes on but I suspect it’ll be fine because the mounting points are positively moulded so providing the struts are a good fit it should drop into place (might have a wee test run before I start the paint throwing. Duncan B

Here’s where I’m at right now. Fuselage went together really well considering there’s a Council house inside it. The only filler required was where I had been a bit over zealous removing the sprue gates and some Mr Surfacer to even out some of the joint on the float. I’m cleaning up the surface detail and will reinstate any panel lines lost during the sanding. So far so good. I’ve already checked the fit of the engine into the cowl and then to the fuselage and also the fit of the tailplane. All fit well so can be left off until after the main painting is complete which will cut down on masking. Duncan B

Thanks Daz, it’s really down to the kit. Nicely moulded parts and it’s falling together so far. Duncan B

This afternoon I have mostly been building the sub assemblies. Like most biplane builds it’s going to be easier to pre paint as much as possible before tipping it all into a box, pouring the glue in and giving it a good shake at the end (I wish)! In the photos I have seen there is an obvious raised seam around the wing floats. The kit parts had engraved lines to depict this which would probably just look like a badly fitted joint so I needed to do something about that. I was thinking about masking tape strips when I remembered I had this stuff... (in black too which I used here). Not sure how it will cope with being painted over but we’ll soon find out. My next task is to clean up all the seams on those parts and then make up the main undercarriage. With regards to my previous post here is another photo of a VJ-4 J2F-5 Duck from the same time period as my one. It looks silver all over to me. (Photos credited to S Ginter) Duncan B

@pheonix54 thanks for that Paul. What I have discovered so far is that my a/c could be light grey fuselage with a painted aluminium float, lower wings and underside of upper Wings. That was quite common in 1941 and can clearly be seen on the USMC a/c on Neutrality Patrols in the Caribbean. However the photos in the Ginter book of this one don’t look to be light grey and the captions State it is silver. There are several pictures of other VJ-4 J2F-5s which are clearly silver also in the book. This particular a/c probably doesn’t have a wing chevron as it is doesn’t have any nose marking either and being No. 25 it was probably a ‘spare’ aircraft. The Flight colours were based on 18 a/c in a Squadron for Carrier based a/c at least. DB

I had some fun with some pigments this morning. The engine is now complete. I am rather chuffed with the way that has turned out (but wait until I discover I have glued the exhausts 1 cylinder out of whack!). Duncan B

A bit more work on the engine. It’s all as per the kit. AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Aluminium base with a wash of Citadel black and some ink to add the shadows. Tomorrow I’ll be playing with the exhausts. Duncan B

A bit more footering about with the cockpit and started on the engine. I added some lumps and bumps to the Radio Ops boxes to give him something to twiddle with (to keep his mind off the fact that he doesn’t have a seat!). In the real thing his seat folds up to the rear to allow access to the ‘Wine Bar’ in the cellar. Merit have been very light on adding detail into the rear cockpit and down below. That is a wine rack isn’t it? On to the engine, still more bits to go on. Duncan B