king derelict

Most of the floors or courtyards seem to be a gravel surface and Aedes Ars gives you a tiny bag of white ground material which is nowhere near enough to do anything useful with. I could mix it with some ground block material but it would have to be mostly block dust to cover the ground so I think its off to see what Woodland Scenic and others have to offer. Thanks for the help Alan

Thanks OC. The templates and the guide are contradictory in places and I agree with you the wall needs to be doubled and that's the direction I have gone in. Alan

Very nice work on the details. The photography is excellent too Alan

Lovely work. As an old DH apprentice it's nice to see another De Havilland build Alan

Lovely subtle weathering Alan

This should be a fun model. I'm looking forward to seeing a bare metal finish and learning more about getting a good result. The large inlet grill is interesting. I suppose it's cooling for the antigravity kit Looking forward to seeing this build Alan

Beautiful work. The wood colours really stand out Alan

the engine looks first rate. Definitely could be mistaken for the real thing. Just the right amount of grime. That looks a great kit. I must take a look at a RFM model - what am I saying I have quite enough plastic in the house as it is - but it does look tempting. Alan

I've made an initial sanding of the outer tower walls and completed the curved tower after much grumbling. Its a bit messy but it will clean up although its going to be very frustrating to sand down between the pillars and windows. I then discovered a mistake with the curved tower. Somehow I had let the template creep out of position while the glue was setting and didn't notice it until I came to start the walls around it. You can see the section of green at bottom right showing where the wall should go. And with the next level in place there is a nasty gap. So I dismantled the upper part of the wall on the right, cut some card to shape and glued it into place after filing the right side wall to a steeper angle where it meets the pillar. That allowed me to rotate the pillars a bit and the wall will curve more. I rebuilt the wall and it seems to have done the job. I plan to add another piece of card under the upper part of the tower which is just resting in place at present. That will be large enough to sit on the walls and should help stopping any light bleed I did a quick check and all lights are still functioning. I started on the upper works and am now down to the last bag of blocks. I think I will make it but its amazing how many blocks disappear from the tray when you lay one of the longer walls. Now I am encountering some conundrums with the upper details and the plan (general guide) is no real help If you look through the arch into a courtyard marked C there are arrows on the surrounding walls showing where piece "C" is fitted. This lines it up with the sill of the arch that leads from the courtyard into "B" Thats fine except that then leaves the raised floor halfway up the initial archway. I'm not sure what the optimum solution is. Maybe cut back the floor and build a set of stairs running up to the raided floor. There is another curiosity. The templates seem to suggest that interior walls are not built . Instead a series of piers three blocks high are built at intervals along the walls. That might hold the floor - except its too small Piece "C" is one blocks width too small for the space so will fall within the piers - or even an interior wall. The same is true for courtyard "B": I think I will make some new templates that are wider and build interior walls for them to rest on. The guide doesn't have any useful views on the subject. It looks like we have reached the interesting part of the build. I'll see if there are any detail photos of the real thing that might be enlightening. Otherwie its time to get that artistic license out and read the fine print! Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments Alan

Hi Mike Thank you very much. Its taking longer than I expected. I need frequent breaks to keep up the enthusiasm for sanding, fitting gluing and repeat but its coming together. Luckily the final sanding and the use of the sanding dust in the gaps cleans up the final result very well. I keep saying I need to stop buying the kits - and then someone has a sale Alan

Beautiful work Alan

The interior is really nice. I second that it would be a shame to cover it up permanently Alan

Thank you very much OC. I started cleaning up the walls and it has rekindled my enthusiasm. I finished the round tower and even laid a few blocks on the roof details. I've found I made a mistake with setting up the template in one spot but I think it's going to be unnoticeable unless the governors of Loarre castle show up with dividers and plans Alan

Wow, that's a great skill. I seem genetically incapable of making a square cut on a piece of wood so I admire this very much. looks great so far Alan

That's a great thing to do Alan

Landing hear looks really nice Dan Alan

Lovely to see that great build again Alan

Those are great printed parts Alan

Still plugging along and reached a bit of a milestone today. All the outer walls of the main toers are complete - well apart from filling in the intricate little bits on the round tower - but it still feels like I'm making progress. The windows and archway look a bit rough but they will be opened out as part of the general sanding and clean up. There is some serious sanding ahead. The bag of blocks still looks pretty healthy so I might make it with what was provided. The details of the upper section are going to be interesting. Some areas are going to be difficult to get in to sand down and shape and there are a few bits that I am not really sure how they are supposed to look. The instruction sheet ducks this stuff and the photos don't really show what is going on. I'm hoping it will become more obvious as the blocks pile up. It may have been easier to have added the cardboard templates a bit at a time and blocked up each section but I wanted to know where the lights needed to be placed and setting out the templates was the only sure way to get it right. I think its still doable but it may increase the cuss factor. Thankfully most of the courtyards do not need tiling. I'm thinking about taking a break to do something quick but different after the tower walls are completely finished and cleaned up but at the same time I am still enjoying weeing this come together. A compromise might be to paint some more figures which will be needed later on. Thanks for looking in and I hope everyone has a great weekend and Labor Day holiday in the US Alan

Thank you OC. Seeing visible progress is sustaining me but I'm starting to want to do something different as a break. Alan

Lovely model OC. It's getting scary that I remember this one as a new aircraft after the Wessex and I suppose that holds true for a lot of other aircraft. It seems like the 50s through 70s generated so many aircraft Alan

And sometimes that makes it worse. Trees are higher and some older buildings are more susceptible. When Francis came through here after more than thirty years without a burrito really made a mess. Two weeks without power and I liked a six foot high pile of branches that stretched thirty feet down the kerb.. Wilma came through the following year and the Lights were off for two days and the yard had very little debris. I hope all is well over there Craig Alan

This will be a fantastic diorama Alan

A beautiful result OC . The pilot is a great finishing touch Alan

Laying the rivet lines down so accurately is great work Alan