Haliburton

Port side degaussing cable fitted. Just needs a bit of tidying up. I followed the anatomy of a ship diagram more than the instructions that came with the PE. Good job I did because the part that is attached to the hull that the cable goes over is not shown in the PE instruction sheet. It was better to glue the cable to the anchor fairing before attaching it to get it correct. The fairing looks a lot better now than the clump of plastic that sat there. Looking at the photos on the web site I have probably made it to neat as it looks a right mess in reality. The picture from the book is of the Starboard side. But I reckon I have followed the run of the cable pretty much as it looks on the ship. Just a shame it will be mostly lost once the hull is painted.  If you have the patience with adding PE it so worth the investment in a good upgrade set. 

Thank you for watching and happy new year~!

Sigh, Roden kits are a challenge and this one is the second part of our club 1930’s themed group build.
luckily it’s not 1/35 but smaller but not easier! 

The decks and shelter deck and a couple of structures dry fitted. Everything goes together really well. One of the funnels will be replaced with the resin one.
I have removed the wooden deck. I just do not like these decks. They look so false and a painted one will look a lot better. There are some very nice details in the wood effect plastic deck. As the wooden deck came away so easy, I could see this being a problem in a year or so. And needing continuous maintenance over time. 

The base board has been built and the model is on the nice big square columns. The nuts are glued in place and I will give it 24 hours for the glue to fully cure. Then the hull will be removed to work on and replaced back on the columns when completed so all the work on the model from the decks up can take place with no need to touch the hull.
I have also done a trial run on removing the raised rail going round the hull and it is going to be a long but worthwhile job. it requires a very sharp flat scalpel and a bit of sanding with a very fine sanding stick. 
Having just spent nearly 2 years 10 months building Titanic and Queen Mary 2 I think I might treat myself to a week of no modelling to wind down and come at this project fresh. I know being retired means I am on constant holiday. But I reckon you need a break every so often. It will also allow me to do a bit more research and decide on how to do the various alterations to the model. 
Forgive the dog hairs in the picture. They get everywhere. I have to ban her from the work area once I start painting. 

Here are a couple of images of the current state. I have roughly reached the end of Step D in the instruction book, although I will not be slavish in following its build sequence. I estimate that I have spent about 19 hours to get to this point. Going forward I will attach timings to the log.

 

I began this model in 2023 as a test vehicle to rebuild my skills before embarking on the Occre Endurance (Gallery: Endurance by Chris D - Occre - 1:70). I had completed the basic hull construction before switching to the Endurance, which I completed in 4Q2024. Now that The Endurance is finished, I am returning to build the Egyptian Ship.
 
The kit instructions note that this model is based on images of a merchant ship from the temple of the pharaoh Sahure. He was the second pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty and reigned from approximately 2487-2475 BC. 
 
I will begin this log with some pictures of the ship in its current state, and then take up progress from the restart.

I think I’m done! 

Base coat of green down 

Arriving at my house today 🙂


Known as "the Rolls Royce of motorcycles", this bike from 1926 set speed records of over 130mph. Lawrence of Arabia was killed in an accident while riding his Brough Superior SS100, according to an article in Wikipedia.

Agreed! Although to give Airfix a little benefit of the doubt, it's perhaps possible that they couldn't get access/permission to scan the sole surviving Blenheim in Finland, and had to go with what they had. But the mistakes on the Mozzie.... 🙄
 
Time to crack on with the build!
 
Of course my first job has been to work on the modifications to the engine nacelles and fuselage. The latter was fairly straight forward. Although I could find no accurate drawings, I was able to locate the extra window reasonably well using photographs. I first scribed the panel line representing the window frame, before I drilled and filed the window.
 

 
A little bit of cleanup yet to do, but I'm fairly happy.
 
The engine nacelles were next. Both the port nacelle extension and the starboard hump were created using layers of 0.015" styrene sheet.
 

 
I started with the starboard side, as this seemed the simpler side to work with. The styrene has been sanded fair, but I think I need to make the hump on this side a little more prominent, so I will probably add one more layer of styrene over the whole thing, then fill and sand to shape.
 
The port nacelle extension was fabricated using three pieces of styrene sheet, cut roughly to shape.
 

 
It's still pretty rough looking, but some more filler and some careful sanding, and things should begin to look passable. To my eye, at least, the asymmetry is beginning to look somewhat correct for a wartime Bolly.
 
Thanks to everyone for looking in and your "likes"
 
Andy

For my next build, I've decided to take on a bit of a challenge (although, one starting with a reasonably simple kit).
 
The Bristol-Fairchild Bolingbroke was a Canadian licence built version of the Bristol Blenheim light bomber by Fairchild Aviation Canada. Originally conceived as a maritime reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, it went on to fulfill other roles, most notably in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Of the 626 built, over 450 were built as Bombing/Gunnery/Navigation trainers.
 
The Bolingbroke (or "Bolly") had numerous subtle features that set it apart from its nearly identical stablemate. As it was conceived as a maritime patrol airplane, provision was made for a 4th crew member, fulfilling the duties of the Radio Operator. To provide some light for his workstation, a window was added on the starboard side of the fuselage, just forward of the dorsal turret. As it was designed to operate in colder climates, it could be equipped with anti-icing boots on the wings, it also featured enlarged engine oil heaters. This last feature is only noticeable the starboard side engine nacelle as a beetle-backed hump. The port engine nacelle was enlarged in its entirety to accommodate a dingy, giving the Bolly a distinctly asymmetrical look when viewed from astern. On the Blenheim, the dingy had been stowed in a valise inside the fuselage, requiring the crew to wrestle it out, in the event of ditching. Most other changes were found inside the airplane, such as the instrumentation, although one Bolly was converted to a float plane.
 
Numerous Bolingbrokes survive in museums around the world. Many were sold to farmers after the war. Shorn of their wings, they found new purpose as storage sheds or chicken coops. Many would later find their way into salvage yards, where they remained for many years until local civics groups and enthusiasts "rediscovered" them.
 
Some basic history of the airplane can be found here, and some nice prototype photos can be found in this discussion thread here.
 
The Airfix 1/72 Bristol Blenheim IVF will serve as the basis for my build. 
 

 
Keeping it short and sweet, this kit comes in the usual packaging from Airfix. 
 

 
The plastic is the typical blue-grey fare from Airfix. As this is the Mk IVF variant of the Blenheim, there is an extra sprue with parts specific to that variant, in addition to the basic components for building a Mk IV bomber variant.
 

 
Pretty much bog-standard instructions and Cartograph decals are included in the kit.
 
As for extras, I've picked up a few odds and ends to help me with this build.
 

 
The Xtradecal set features lettering for Bolly 10103, in brilliant trainer yellow. I plan to build this version! I've also picked up the Eduard PE Blenheim interior set, as well as the Yahu models instrument panel. While it may seem odd that I've duplicated some things here, the Bolingbroke had duplicate instruments across the entire front of the cockpit. The extra parts should come in useful to model this feature. Finally, a necessary masking set, as this airplane features a ton of glazing, and I don't fancy masking that all by hand.
 
I've begun work on the external modifications, and I will be posting a build update soon. 
 
Andy
 

Queen Mary 2 finished. And displayed along with Titanic. both very nice looking ships. 
This has been a very good build from a good kit from Revell. However it has not been without the odd problem. Most notably the amount of broken and warped handrails. It has gone together very well for the most part. And the ships boats are 95% in a straight line. It has made a real change to complete a kit in such a short space of time. I could have made it look a lot more detailed with the added PE. But I did not want to add even more time to the build. Time for that with my next build. 

Davits fitted ready for the ships lifeboats. All lifeboats painted ready to be constructed and added. Then a few handrails  to add and it is finished. May finish Tomorrow  or by Thursday  at latest. Took two and a half years to build Titanic from wood. The difference between a wood and plastic build, this has taken just over 4 months. 
And I have these four models for my next project. 
 

Lancia D50 Grand Prix 1954 Test Car, driven by A. Ascari
This will be my first attempt at building a Model Factory Hiro kit, in the tiny 1:43 scale. As is common with any MFH kit, the first order of business will be to check all parts content against the instructions for completeness and deformed/damaged parts (hopefully none). It's common for the fragile little white metal parts to be bent out of shape, but now and then a part may be "short shot". 
For a small model, there are a lot of parts and detail.
As I sort and check the parts, I'll be organizing them into a plastic organizer box after the white metal parts have been run through the magnetic tumbler.
More photos to follow after the parts have been accounted for, cleaned up, and sorted into logical assembly groups. 

So the plans aren’t the best as they are photographs which are very grainy, and they also just miss out on bits! I have parts that I can’t figure out but they double up on the fragile stuff which is good for mistakes. A good razor saw and files are a must 

Quick build, I got this half price recently, Resicast beauty! I also got a 6 inch gun for a later planned diorama, but this one will go with the Roden tractor 

Hello everyone. I'm a new kid on the block. My mum gave me my first model when I was 6. That was 63 years ago. Over the years I have taken great interest in wooden ships. I am now building the Corel HMS Endeavour and I look forward to advice from your members. Thnx D.

Thanks for the tip Jeff. 👍
Let's see how I implement this.
But first of all I built the 12 pounder. There are eight of these to build for this deck.  With 14 individual parts per gun.
 

 
First I solder the gun barrel. Just holds up better.
 

 
The rest is then attached with superglue. What a fumble. But as always with Pontos, fantastically detailed
 

 
Painted and aged, they look so good.
 

 
I have to make eight more of these for the upper deck, sweat.
 

So, here's the basic fuselage parts. The bulkheads and salvaged cockpit bits have already been added to the interior skins.
 

 
The fuselage is kinda flimsy at this point.
 

 
The main exterior skin is now added.
 

 
That's it for now.

Assembling the cockpit required one evening's work.
 

 

Hello!
 
While I was away on Christmas vacation for a week, my Next Project (which I ordered on my birthday back in August) still did not arrive at my house, though the Polish Post swears it is on its way. So in lieu of the Next Project I have decided to go ahead with an interim next project. I have chosen to build the Fokker D.VI from MPModel for a couple of reasons:
The D.VI is mercifully short of rigging. The model is designed by Marek Pacynski.  
That second point needs some additional explanation. Mr. Pacynski's designs have been a mixed bag for me (see here for a prior example). I have completed two of them, but two others wound up in the trash can. The two finished models were both WW2 monoplanes; this one is a WW1 biplane. I have many of the other MPModel biplane kits designed by Mr. Pacynski in my stash, so this one is a guinea pig of sorts -- a build to see how the Pacynski WW1 kits stack up against the WW2 kits. Call me a masochist, but I'm always willing to give a designer another chance at redemption.
 
The D.VI, of which only 59 examples were built, is a relatively small and simple aircraft, so this kit shouldn't take too long to build if everything goes together with a minimum of fuss. That's what we're here to find out if it will do.
 
Stay tuned!
 
P.S. Mr. Pacynski is nothing if not extremely prolific -- you'll note that this kit is #9 in the MPModels series. That line now includes a whopping 124 titles.
 

 

A small update to end the old year. Major construction has now finished on this build. After some careful consideration, I applied only a few of the kit supplied stencil decals. Most of them are illegible anyways, and many were so small that they more resembled specks of dirt.
 
Assembling the landing gear didn't pose too many challenges. There's a small stabilizing strut that was a bit fiddly, but not impossible. The landing gear bay doors were next. I would strongly recommend to anyone building this kit, to avoid attaching the wheels until the last. This gives the most amount of useable working area to get the smaller parts in place. I replaced the kit supplied wheels with CMK resin alternatives. They look quite a bit better, in my opinion.
 
After assembling the landing gear, it was time to give the plane a layer of Dullcote to seal everything in, and remove the masking from the windshield. The canopy and window inserts were painted separately and then added.
 

 

 

 
Over then next few days, I will add a bit of light weathering. I am contemplating adding a small diorama base as well. Anyway, I have had fun with this kit and would recommend it to anyone who likes P-40s. Out of the box, the detail level is great, and can easily be upgraded with well made aftermarket parts. I expect one more update early in the new year with some final photos for everyone. Until then, thanks to you all for your continued kind comments and likes, and have a Happy New Year!
 
Andy

So I think the time has come to call this build finished. Hooray!
 
I've added a little light weathering with my usual PanPastel treatment. I've also dry brushed a little silver paint in the odd place to add a little more wear and tear. I'm no expert when it comes to weathering, but a little here and there helps, I think.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Thanks to everyone who has been following along and to those who have offered their kind comments and likes, your support is greatly appreciated!
 
Andy