Haliburton

Today I started on the ball turret.
just 4 pieces inside and glued the two halves together. Put on the Eduard masks and gave it a prime. I thought it would be a quick little part to do… I was wrong!

At first I thought the seams were pretty good but the primer showed they needed a lot of work, so trimmed and sanded them down and after the 3rd check I was happy.
Next I started on the connecting mechanism, but quickly found out it was too narrow or the ball turret was too wide and so the arms were being splayed out and barely holding it in place.

I wasn’t sure if I’d done something wrong so let it sit while I thought about it and decided I’d modify it to fit better.

I measured how much I wanted to widen it by and added some plastic to each part and removed the centre pole so that it fit well. Then reattached the centre pole and spent awhile working out how far out of the plane the turret should sit. At this original height it seemed to be protruding a lot more than reference photos showed so trimmed it up till it looked right. Then I let the glue harden before sanding it into shape. Added the ammo boxes and also made an oxygen bottle which I’ll add later. Then test fitted it and gave it a paint.
 



This is how it will look once attached. I also learned during the dry fit that with the ammo boxes on I can’t install it if the two halves of the plane are together! So I’ll have to make sure to install the mechanism before closing it up. But I can remove the turret easily so that’s ok and can put the ball in its place once the undercarriage is on and the painting is complete. Also I’ve not painted the ammo boxes or any of the mechanism that is inside the plane, only the external parts.
 

There were some great reference pics of the internals of the ball turret so decided to add some of them, even though I don’t think it will be visible once done. It was just fun. But it’s complete now and on with the next parts. At this scale it’s getting on the small side but a bigger scale you could really go all out with details I’m sure! Hence why the bullets aren’t quite correct but I don’t know how to replicate them being in the almost clear looking feed. Maybe a fussy white would have been more accurate 

Just a quick update,
been abit busy at work and then I’ve gone away for the week so haven’t been able to do too much. 

All the aftermarket things arrived.
Eduard cockpit and front interior PE kits, brass barrels, weighted tires, seatbelts and last week the Eduard mask arrived so we are not waiting for anything now!
 
settled on bare aluminium for all inside except cockpit which will be bronze green. So did make a start painting and then have a black wash to dull it down abit.

From the bomb bay back to the tail will all be out of the box apart from barrels. So should come together pretty fast I think once I sort out what colours are meant to go where. I’ll try do a plywood colour with rubber walkways for the floor. 
hopefully next week I can get back into it!

Finished the "running gear," ready for painting. Tricky to assemble. The holes for the "hounds" (the two curved members penetrating the axle assembly) were considerably oversized, and it took me quite a while to figure out how to shim without throwing off other critical dimensional relationships. But I did it!
 
I don't expect nicely made metal castings, so I wasn't disappointed with those supplied with this kit! Spent a good deal of time cleaning them up and then correcting the shapes. But I am a very patient modeler. . .
 
The square-headed bolts are made from "escutcheon" nails. I squeezed them into a rough square shape in a vise, them filed the top flat and cleaned up the squeeze from the underside of the head. There are quite a few of these bolts on the model, so I'm getting better at forming them as the building progresses.
 
 
 

This is the green stick honing compound I use. Along with my stropping pad. As an aside, you can use this stopping pad to rehone, resharpen, your Exacto knife blades.
 

 
Stropping pad

 
By the way the stick will last several lifetimes. I inherited it from a fellow woodcarver when he passed.
 
Here's a couple links Strop pad and Small green stick
 

I added further coats of yellow glaze to the jacket. I also notices a mould line on one of the legs in yesterdays photos so I filed that off and built up teh colour there too. I have added glaze to teh breeches and I think they are good so its onto the detail

Following some very helpful input from @Jack12477 I used jewelers rouge tip on Q Tip to further polish the casque. Its coming up quite nicely. I may try one more iteration.
I added some white primer to the face to bring up the details ready for the flesh tones.


Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments
 
Alan

I may be overextending myself here but I don't think the Holland class submarine will take much longer to complete. This will be the next kit, a rare venture into aircraft and the surprises of a Roden kit.

The kit provides several alternative markings for "you know who's" personal aircraft from 1938 to 1943, ranging from civilian schemes through camouflage to Russian winter white. I like the scheme shown on the box art, The kit provides decals for the gloss black elements and the base is silver.
I am trying to decide whether this should be a polished metal finish or whether it was silver paint. So far the photos suggest that teh fuselage and wings may be polished metal with silver painted fabric tail planes. More research need and any advice is very welcome.
The kit looks very simple but teh painting may be interesting.
Thanks for looking in
Alan

Wrapped up USS Curtis Wilbur the other day. Here are my final pictures.
 
Overall, I thought the kit was good with plenty of well detailed parts and the final model looks the part. However, there are some detractors:
Instructions  could definitely be better. Some of the arrows are not descriptive enough to show exactly where a part needs to end up. The instructions even showed the torpedo tubes being mounted backward and an incorrect anchor/chain positioning. Some build sequences are questionable and I'd recommend careful studying to ensure that you don't run into trouble getting parts put on from following ILK's build sequence. There were also a couple of mislabeled parts. The bridge piece could have been molded differently to allow for windows that were not solid so we don't have to carefully carve them out if we don't wish to paint them. As mentioned previously, the propellers are molded too far apart. While fixing this is doable, it would be a hassle. Parts clean up could be troublesome on some parts with questionable ejector pin marks and some larger than necessary sprue nibs. Some of the photo-etch was either wholly unnecessary or just not well executed. Lastly, the whole configuration of the ship could be considered somewhat fictional. I was unable to match with real photos how they would have the final piece configured. If you're looking for 100% accuracy (I was not) then study reference photos closely and make sure you are paying attention to the year in which you are modeling USS Curtis Wilbur.




Thanks for checking it out!
 
 

Thanks Mike - yes CSM is great - I have another one in the stash as well. The parts detail and fit set their stuff apart.  Scott

Ahoy MSW! I just discovered this hobby/forum about a week ago and could not be more excited. I am brand new to model building of any kind but this really seems like it could hit everything I've been looking for in a new hobby. A few years ago I built an acoustic guitar with my dad and it was one of the most interesting/rewarding projects I've ever done and is one of my prized possessions. I've really wanted to get more into woodworking in some form, but my options are limited since I live in a small condo in DC.
 
Enter: model ships. I enjoy working with my hands (union electrician by trade), paying attention to small details, and have always loved the look of a grand sailboat. My 3-kit beginner combo from Model Shipways will arrive tomorrow, and I can't wait to dive into the Lowell Grand Banks Dory. I plan to do a build log since it seems like a fun way to extend the hobby and learn from others. 
 
Just wanted to say I appreciate the work everyone does to keep this an active and positive community!
 
Cheers,
Scott

Thanks Mike - yes CSM is great - I have another one in the stash as well. The parts detail and fit set their stuff apart.  Scott

Be hold the mighty Abrams, the king of the dessert!

I was quite satisfied considering the effort I spend, no PEs, just a bit of scratch built add on. Not the best M1 model out there but I will definitely repeat. This time with another dessert rat, the Merkava, by Revell too, rated at skill level 5.

I will make a small collection including T-90MBT and a Leopard II.

I decided to go ahead with my original plan and used the pieces of cladding I had already prepared to trial the idea on the far end wall.

'Loose tongues' keep the ends of the boards level where joints don't line up with the timber frames. The width of the cladding strips vary between runs, and the run that follows the line of the sockets is only temporarily tacked in place so that it can be removed to permit the installation of the ring main cable.
I'm focusing on the ceiling next and am currently converting those scaffold boards used as shuttering for the concrete base. 
Thinking of possibly giving the internal cladding a 'limed' or whitewash effect finish that makes a feature of the wood grain. This will then be coated with satin or matt varnish. We'll see...
Cheers,
Graham.

Time to get back to ships (well boats), I bought this monster and after doing some weathered 1/35 military stuff I’m ready for this. As it’s So yet era I can weather the absolute hell out of it and add some decent size figures. 

Thanks Mike - yes CSM is great - I have another one in the stash as well. The parts detail and fit set their stuff apart.  Scott

Just catching up with your log now.  Really nice job!  

Thanks Mike - yes CSM is great - I have another one in the stash as well. The parts detail and fit set their stuff apart.  Scott

Thanks Mike - yes CSM is great - I have another one in the stash as well. The parts detail and fit set their stuff apart.  Scott

Thanks everyone for the likes!  I’ve done some additional weathering, added the unditching boards and decals and will call this done!  Scott

Thanks Mike - yes CSM is great - I have another one in the stash as well. The parts detail and fit set their stuff apart.  Scott

Another beauty Scott!  CSM does seem to make some really good kits.

Thanks everyone for the likes!  I’ve done some additional weathering, added the unditching boards and decals and will call this done!  Scott

Well some time has passed but the work has continued.  The distractions of the season  - gardening in particular _ are definitely impacting my time at the bench.  
 
Scott 

Continuing on with my WW1 theme, I’m starting on the Lanchester armoured car offered by Copper State Models.  The number of frets with this kit are not huge but what sets the kit apart are the quality of the detailing and a most beautifully  detailed and colourized instruction manual on thick stock paper.  Lanchesters were the second most numerous armoured car in service during WW1 and was designed by the Admiralty Air Dept for the Royal Naval Air Service to support air bases and retrieve downed pilots.  Scott 
 

Thanks everyone for the likes!  I’ve done some additional weathering, added the unditching boards and decals and will call this done!  Scott