king derelict

Thanks for joining Ken. Yes, they were incredibly brave. Some just disappeared under tow and were never seen again. Supposedly they had an operational range of 14 days and 600 miles and could make 2 knots submerged. And all that time in a five foot diameter tube. Alan

Thank you Craig. There is a small PE sheet to add some covers. There are a lot of fragile plastic pieces too. The control linkages for the rudder and planes are part of the kit so some careful handling is going to be needed. I have seen a suggestion that there is an Eduard PE kit available but I haven't tracked it down. I think the kit is a Merit kit under a new badge so maybe I need to look at Merit kits for upgrades. There are a couple of crew members available in aftermarket and the hatches can be set open - that's an interesting direction to go on. I haven't decided yet. Alan

I'm still on this submarine thing so next up is the I Love Kit of the X craft (WW2 Royal Navy mini submarine) in 1/35. These were the craft that went after the Tirpitz and reconnoitered the D Day beaches amongst other raids. A crew of four in a fifty foot tube. Creature comforts were somewhat limited. This is going to be quite big at 450 mm long. Just fits on the work table and its going to challenge the new compressor for the air brush. A lot of plastic in the box, reasonable instructions and a paint guide (paint it grey) Monster hull pieces And joined together. The fit is good but it needed clamping for a bit. Great idea about using sandpaper on the jaws of the clamps to hold sloping pieces. @CDW I think. Many Thanks There is a strut clamped by a feature in the rear lower hull Its awfully early for fragile stuff like that to be added. I'll be curious to see if it makes it all the way through This looks like an interesting but short build. I plan to liven up the paint scheme with chipping and rust. Thanks for stopping by Alan

I added the wheel well doors and the canopy after a dip in clear coat to get rid of the scratches. I used some Mig streaking wash to add a bit of leaking oil from the gearboxes at the wing tips. Some sooting around the exhausts and I think this one is finished. Photos aren't much better. I need to work on the lighting but at least the canopy is in place. Thank you for all the kind comments and the Likes and for stopping by. Alan

Thank you Edward. It was a lot of fun to build Alan

Thank you so much Mike. I was very nervous about the camo. Now I can dust off the Me262 kit. Its definitely an interesting subject. A STOVL collection would be an interesting project with this at one end and the F-35B at the other. So many models out there Alan

Thanks a lot OC. There are a lot of good ideas that I learnt from this site in the model Alan

Thank you very much Mark. Maybe I need to build a V-22 to park next to it Alan

Thanks very much Ken I'll try some sooting while I'm finishing the details. Alan

Thank you very much Craig. Much appreciated. I think its given me a bit of confidence to try another aircraft soon. This is a great kit for fit and detail. Their interpretation of the concept is quite good. It would be interesting to know if it was ever expected to make a conventional take off. Once the tail comes up those rotors get very close to the ground. Alan

Apart from reflecting on the happy days in aviation I actually have been doing a bit on the Westerflug. I air brushed the light grey paint onto the upper half of the model and had a bit of an unexpected result. The paint went on well but maybe because of the addition of too much thinner or because the panel lines are a bit deep the panel lines came through in the black primer even after two light coats of grey. I was trying to vary the depth of colour across the wings to make the aircraft look a bit used. I suspect the addition of the blue violet leopard spots will pretty much make it worthless. So I seem to have got the panel lines for free. I masked up and sprayed the matt black on the underside and completely forgot to take photos. It came out quite nicely and needed very little touch up. The wheel wells were busied up with some plastic rod hydraulic tubes and brake lines on the gear legs. I forgot those photos too. Then it was time for the scary bit - the leopard spots. I trialed sponge pieces and tried to make a cardboard mask and didn't like the results on a few test pieces, Eventually I settled on using a cotton bud with just the tip wetted with paint and then the excess dabbed off. I found it harder than it seemed to try to get a random pattern but I found that working the dabs over in about four layers got something that I think is acceptable. Possibly the spots are too big but I think teh overall look is okay. A gloss coat was added and the decals went on very nicely. The naughty insignia on the tailfin was a nice two piece decal that was easy to line up I put the rotors on - and they spin - although twiddling by anyone else is banned, The canopy has been masked and painted. Some basic touch up to follow The kit instructions list a raft of Mig weathering products but I'm at a bit of a loss to know whether it really makes much sense. The engine exhaust are in the matt black part of the paint scheme so sooting is not going to show. I've added a bit of bare metal around the wheel wells and gear but I don't see much scope beyond that. Any thoughts would be very welcome. Thanks for all the interesting input and the likes and for stopping by. Better photos tomorrow I hope Alan

Glad things are jogging along OK. Those KGL figures are great miniatures Alan

It will be a shame when this one is finished. Its been great watching such a wonderful aircraft come together. Its beautiful. Alan

Gosh Mike That is wonderful PE work Alan

The wood filters look great. There's always something else to buy. Sigh Great work Alan

That's it Doris. A pure artist with those ships I look at her stuff and I feel like the kid at the back of art class eating the paste Alan

I'm glad the paramedics were on the job and things look promising. Good luck with the doctors visit Alan KGL figures are great

Yes I remember. Another great card modeller. There was a (Czech) lady who built beautiful card ships too I think. All spectacular masters of the art Alan

Yep. It goes around. There used to be a sign outside the St Louis AV-8B engineering building that said "Home of the Harrier" Used to upset the BAe people something rotten. Alan

And then along came Boeing. They have out a welcome package to St Louis employees including a Boeing pin. A lot seemed to end up in the car park. The names live on a bit though The call sign for the X-32 at flight test was Phantom 1 (may not be the best inheritance for the wonderful F4) and the St Louis advanced projects is the Phantom Works Alan

The bane of cooperative ventures. I spent some time at McDonnell-Douglas St. Louis back in the 90s (when corporate budgets allowed office supplies with company names and logos) and there were die-hards who would cut the "-Douglas" off the end of their pencils. Rolls-Royce Derby went out of their way to ignore what was done at Rolls-Royce Bristol. As for Joint European ventures.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Alan

YES, you came up trumps as always Egilman. Thats the one I was reaching for. Its a shame it didn't make it into service. Alan

A beautiful model. It looks really good. Well done. Alan

Thanks Ken It looks a little better closer to actual size 😃 I imagine there were some fast grabs for the controls in this one at times Alan

The cockpit has been finished off in the late war dark grey. I added some dry brush metal on the wear surfaces around the cockpit and a panel line wash. I used the Mig panel line wash and found it didn't flow terribly well until I added more thinner. It's not terribly noticeable but a check with the canopy on suggests it's all going to be invisible anyway. Tape seat belts and I used the Mig crystal fluid in the instrument dials and then some bright metal wear. Then closed it all up. It went together nicely and needed little clamping to hold the fuselage halves together. The fit has been great. The stub wing is quite a complicated shape but it fitted without any persuasion. A coat of Mig One Shot black primer and then onto colours I borrowed someone technique and used clear coat to "glue" the masked canopy in place. It seemed to be a good fit and easier than masking around the seat Thanks for all the input and likes. I hope everyone has a great weekend Alan