king derelict

Hi OC, unfortunately the flag is completely plain so no guidelines or anything. It is a great figure though alan

Thanks guys. I’d hate to attract lots of booing and hissing alan

They still look good up there. There is never enough display space! I love the large models but I have nowhere to put them. The 1/48 Flower class corvette is hogging most of it all on its own. Alan

Oh yes. I don’t think I am capable of free handing it. I’m wondering if I can paint the white and then mask with small diamonds of tape and then paint the blue. Or is that cheating in the figure painting world? Still not going to be easy Alan

It was always the consolation for supporting testing out at the GE test site at Peebles OH. At weekends I would head over to Dayton and spend the day at the museum. Its an amazing place. Alan

I hope I am not provoking chaos here, usually I am quite content with one model at a time but the FW200 and the Bavarian cavalryman seem to be prone to short bursts of activity followed by a 24 hour drying time. So its time for another Eastern European adventure back to my youth. The Argosy was the last aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth and were a major improvement on the Hastings. It still amazes me how many British aircraft companies there were in the 1960s and the wide range of aircraft produced. The box is well stuffed with bits, even a small fret of PE and decals and paint schemes for several aircraft. The twin boom layout is possibly going to be challenging to build. I dived in and built the wing. No location pins but the trailing edge is moulded on both sides on the upper half so makes a solid locating feature. The wings joined up nicely with a few clamps holding it while the glue set. There is some structural detail in what I think are going to turn out to be the wheel wells. I moved onto the crew quarters and unlike the Condor there is a lot of bits devoted to it. The control console (with tiny pilots yokes even), seats and even the navigators table. I don't see how any of this will be seen, the windshield is far too small and there are no other ways to view it. I do plan to pose it with teh rear doors open but bulkheads prevent a view of teh cockpit. I've built up the cargo doors which have gone together nicely. Some real challenges ahead, not least the paint scheme but so far its another nice Mikro Mir kit Thanks for looking in Alan

A 1/48 C-130 must be a huge model too

Thanks Mark That would make sense - I don't think i got round to the outside displays. There was just so much stuff inside. Great museum. Alan

Its by no means an addiction. I can stop doing these things whenever I want. With the FW200 spending most of the day waiting for the primer to cure ready for the next round of smoothing and shaping I thought I would try another Art Girona offering. Thirty Years War again; this is a Bavarian Cavalry Standard Bearer. The nonchalant pose sold it to me After filing off some mould lines I joined the standard and left arm to the torso. The down side of the relaxed pose is that I think its going to have to be painted assembled. I'm nervous about trying with him on one leg. The flag and the yellow / green bands on the arms are going to be challenging. I drilled the head so it can be stuck on a cocktail stick for painting and I started polishing his helmet Thanks for looking in Alan

Not a lot of visible progress going on here. I seem to be stuck in a cycle of add filler, sand back, prime and repeat. I decided to go with the in-flight concept after finally finding that the gear is full enclosed for the main wheels and the tail wheel is partially covered. The main gear covers were a struggle to fit and are the current source of the shaping activity. I'm not sure they were really intended to be closed. Its a bit heavy for my acrylic rod so I have ordered the next size up which I think will fit. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thats a phenomenal model. Painting it must have been quite a task. I'm sort of tempted by the 1/144 scale one but the FW200 has me somewhat anti-Roden at the moment😄 Alan

Seeing one of them in flight must have been very impressive. An aviation sight up there with watch a thousand bomber raid pass overhead. I have been to the AF museum at Wright- Patterson but for some reason I don't recall the B-36. I clearly remember Bochscar the B-29 (an appropriate reference for today) and a B-52 (or am I confusing that with the one at EAFB) Alan

Thank you Phil alan

Nice choices. The Continental Marine should be really nice and no long bendy things like lances, pennants or ramrods Alan

Postage is a bit pricey but they are heavy packages

They seem to ship very quickly usually within a day or so and shipping has been around a week to ten days to Florida. They are a small business. The person who packed my orders is the person who paints the figures. so what are you thinking about Jack? American Civil War? They have some interesting figures for that era. I especially like the Zouave. alan

You talked me into it. Nathaniel and a friend are on their way from Spain alan

Well, I'm not sure what happened this morning but this nearly took a short flight into the bin. I think it was the lack of detail parts and the look of the bare plastic daubed in filler. Anyway after a deep breathe I airbrushed some black Mig One Shot primer on and suddenly it seemed viable again. I found I still needed to add a bit more filler in places so primer will be reapplied tomorrow once the filler has been sanded down. I'm actually thinking that I quite like the look of the Condor in flight something like it sits on the painting stick. I would use a length of clear acrylic rod and maybe make a base in the shape of Germany with 1939 borders. I'm not sure if this sort of thing is an acceptable presentation. It also leaves an aircraft in flight with stopped props so maybe I should leave the idea for the jet age. The landing gear is not bad but a bit basic. I spent a lot of time studying photos and video online trying to determine exactly what configuration is accurate. So far it seems that the two bladed props are accurate and so is the modified window layout. I watched one video suggesting that D-2600 had a gun turret behind the cockpit but so far I haven't seen any photos to confirm it. A clear nose with a gun is also said to be there but again no photos. The kit has the relevant clear parts (as well as the gondola under the fuselage. If I go for the wheels up option the main gear doors are part of the kit but I am not sure whether the wheel is supposed to protrude through the door or retract fully. Photos seem to suggest that they retract fully. The kit provides nothing for the tail wheel and again photos are vague whether the wheel is covered, retracts or just stays in place. As a trans-Atlantic airliner I would have thought they would have wanted every bit of drag cleaned up but maybe in 1937 it wasn't considered worth it. So a few things to consider as I clean up for the next paint session. I saw Roden have a 1/144 B-36. About a 20 inch wingspan even at 1/144! Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments Alan

Thank you OC. Oh yes I remember them well, also the clear plastic frosting with the glue if you got it on the piece. I remember the Airfix Concorde having those strip of window pieces. Alan

Thank you very much OC. They have a number of musketeers and arquebusiers in similar uniforms. They also have some English Civil War figures International Serie Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Art Girona (art-girona.com) I am quite tempted by Nathanel Feinnes Alan

Thank you Phil Alan

Thank you very much OC. It was a nice kit to build too. Alan

A start has been made in between finishing the other models in progress. The Roden box is very full of parts but there are large numbers of bits on the sprues that don't apply to this version. The windows were added to the fuselage halves. There are no interior details and no way to see them so the fuselage halves were then joined. The fit was excellent. Very little gap, just a nasty sink on the upper fuselage behind the cockpit. Adding the wings was another matter and a significant gap is present between the lower wing and the fuselage. I'm using Mr Dissolved Putty for the first time. Apart from the pungent smell I like it. It seems to dry to a harder and more workable finish than the Vallejo putty I have used in the past. I've masked the windows ready for priming. The kit provided black decals that will surround the windows and cockpit and hopefully the masks will fall within the area of teh decal. An oddity in the kit appeared at this point. The decal for the nose has a window between the cockpit and the wing. There is nothing to indicate this on the fuselage mouldings but all the paint schemes also show the window. I have run a thin piece of masking tape across where I think the window will be and hopefully I may be able to drill it out after the decal is placed and shows where the window is situated. On the other hand there is a window to the stern of the main run of windows in the cabin and this does not appear on any of the versions shown - but the instructions has you add the separate "glass" insert as if it should be there. I have filled it in per the photos I have found online. I think I will try a trial black priming and see how many defects are still present. After priming I will build up the engine parts, cylinders and nacelles and add them Thanks for looking in, likes and comments Alan

Thank you very much Chris Its very reminiscent of the submarine invented by Leonard of Quirm (a character found in the Terry Pratchett books) Alan

Thank you very much Andrew This was a better experience than I expected, no flash and everything fitted well although no alignment pins etc Alan