Mad Steve

one word Gorbs - optivisor!

Aha, I too must googleify the interior colours then, I mean, Cant do a half arsed job, not on a GB anyway

Afternoon Chaps Another instalment Engine as it is, is finished, all the suspension bits are now in place and I gave the suspension and rear wing jobbie a coat of Clear. The rear brakes were also fitted after some of the unfunniest decaling I've ever done on the brake housings. None of the engine is visible when the cowl is on so i'm not worried about detail painting. The chassis plate is finally finished (woohoo) Decals on top and bottom and a clear coat makes them all nice and shiny. Now something happened, and I'm not exactly sure what, but after I had put the clear coat over the cowl, it kind of started eating its way through the green, on the sides of the cowl. This was met with a few fruity variables and really wasn't very funny at all, so I stripped the sides of the cowl down again, re base coated, painted and clear coated again... aaaand finally... I spent about 4 hours getting the two side cockpit decals in. They are two large flat decals, and they have to fit in the side and top of the cockpit. The nice thing though, is that when they are in they are completely invisible because the cockpit is all black Anyhoo, I fitted the bottom of the cockpit and gave it another coat of basecoat . Will try and get the Camel Yellow on earlyish before it gets too hot again, then the great masking fun begins again That's it for now, Its bloody hot so I'm going to dip me legs in the pool and swear at the stupid neighbours yappy dog

You and I see very alike Gorby It took like 3 days for the oil paints to dry enough to get a clear coat on them, then I read that it can actually take months for it to dry As far as I can see, all the Roland's fuselage Interior is all wood, but the grey version I have, has a black prop (woohoo) So maybe I should get up at 12:30 next friday and do the oil paints thing then sit and stare at it for 3 days, maybe it will dry faster is I staaaaaaaaare at it

Morning chap You know what actually puts me off doing a WNW kit? Every one you see on forums, magazines and actually in real life is a masterpiece. (well to me anyway) Yes there are tricks to employ, such as the wood grain decals or masks, but by eck, they do come out magnificent. I made a start on the W29 Hansa Brandenburg a while ago, I think I glued like 3 things together before it came to my dreaded bugbear, the wooden stuff, and its been back in its lovely box ever since. I've been playing around with bits of plasticard now trying to get the wood grain effect nailed down, and I picked that up again last night for the upcoming WW1 build, and I'm giving it a trial run on an Airfix BE2c . So yes, getting the wood and the rigging behind me would be nice and give me a bit more confidence to actually crack on and finish one of those lovely kits

Its okay, ill go play with myself again

is it tiiiiiiiime yeeeeeeeeet?

You're right Phoenix.... It needs a 2x4 But wait, my computery eyes aspy on the top shelf behind the hobbit, a Felixstowe... Why Duncan, were the peasants not prostrating themselves before this monument of plastic goodliness offering spare body parts just for the mere touch of its delicate sprues and yes.....

So firstly Mr Gorby tells me that I must go play with myself.... Now Mr Phoenix thinks I'm a pirate.... Arrrrrrr! I might need therapy by the time this is is over, or at the very least a very serious lie down

And I thought the 32nd scale DH2 was mad

I'd just like to say it really is nice having you around again Mish Missed you on the Dark Side, was always nice having a chat with you

Cool The 32nd UHU is quite a beastie, but that's a good size comparison We unfortunately can't get Gunze Colours down here and if we want stuff we have to import it, and with our postal system that's like trying to teach your Dog, Reindeer!

Very nice comment Gorb's To add to comment on 3D printers and the like. I don't think they are going to take over the hobby as some people see, I think they are rather going to be a major supplement to the hobby. People say they foresee going to the model shop of the future and seeing rows of cards, like gift cards, and you would purchase the one you want and then go home and print it then paint it up. But thats not modelling is it, its printing. Not really any satisfaction gained by printing something, you still want the challenge of glueing bits of plastic together. I think its going to be more along the lines of what it can offer in the aftermarket sector. You want to do a conversion to make a model X, then you can have the bits printed off, and as the technology gets better and more accessable, then the cheaper it will become. I don't think we are doomed just yet, I think technology will just make our hobby better.

Good Moaning Sorry I just saw this was from September... But in answer to you question Mulder, Tamiya Laquer paints are what we have been waiting for, for yonks They are aimed more at the Car and Bike modellers, but there are also available in quite a few camoflague colours Whats good about them? Well firstly, they are exactly the same paint that you get in rattle cans and mostly follow the rattlecan range, so you no longer need to decant paint that was previously available in cans (woohoo). They are 'airbrush ready' paint. They can be used straight from the bottle, (in my experience), but can be thinned down with Tamiya Laquer Thinners. They can also be used for detail painting etc. Most of them will put down a nice base for a gloss finish and they will not get affected my Tamiya Clear etc over them. If, like a lots of modellers, you aren't able to get your hands on zero paints, then these might prove to be a viable alternative, especially if you are already familiar with the Tamiya range. I have tried them, they are excellent, they cover well and dry to a very nice satin sheen. Whats not so good about them? Well, first up, they stink You have to wear a respirator when using these as the smell is quite intense, not to mention whats hiding within that smell. 2 other things that I've heard mention is the size of the bottles (10ml) and the size of the range. At the moment there are only 60 colours going to be available, but within those colours are ones only previously available in rattlecans like Mica Red, Pure Orange etc, but there are quite a lot of camo colours available. The bottle size may also be an issue. Most places only get the 10ml bottles of tamiya paint, (we get the big 23ml bottles of Acrylic and Enamel down here) and some are saying that although they are relatively cheap, you need to buy a lot of paint to finish,say a car. I've done 2 car bodies from one bottle, probably 3 bikes a bottle, and I would say you can do a modern MBT for about 3/4 of a bottle, but aircraft, especially the large scales I have no Idea. Decanting Tamiya rattlecans previously I would say that the bottles are about half to three quarters a can of paint. Tamiya also recommend that you only use their Laquer Thinners for thinning the paint. There's also been some stupid comments that it eats plastic, its too expensive and it clogs your airbrush.... Well I've never found any of that and I only use Acetone to clean my Airbrush and it certainly shifts it So, If you are an avid Rattlecan decanter and are having to decant paint a couple of days in advance of your painting session, those days are over Don't take my word for it though... go out and buy some and try it

Morning chaps and chapesess Its actually sad that most youngsters today are so transfixed by their phones that they are simply not interested, but I do think there is enough of the 'normal' ones that take up hobbies like modelling to carry the torch into the future. Looking around at forums etc all over the place though, it seems as if its the later generation that's actually going to be the ones that do this. Guys and Gals that have gone through School and Uni, got married and in their late 20's that are coming back into the hobby. It is up to us though to promote the hobby as much as we can, especially to the younger generation