realworkingsailor

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

Just a preview of how the 3D instrument decals look inside the cockpit tub. More go on the inside of the fuselage sides. Have been using Gators Grip acrylic glue to aid in decal adhesion. Thinned white glue should work well too.

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

good evening everyone
 
first of all thankyou for the comments wrt the the boi, he attended the vets today, and was put under, whilst they did xrays on his teeth and biopsies on his gums, on inspection they do not believe it to be anything nasty, but the results will be back in a week, no teeth were required to be removed, 
 
build day day 22 1st planking completed
a bit messy in places but it went without any real issues, tomorrow is set aside and get some sanding done
 
 



 

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

Beautiful job!!!
 
Looks like you have the putty technique down.... 
 
Perfect soft edge camo....
 
Well done!

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

As always, thanks everyone!
 
No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.
 
Andy

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy
 
 

And that’s the big bits, primer coat down. I’m going to give it a day to dry, then a light sand and I’ll place all the eyelets for the rigging lines, then preshaded before camouflage 

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy
 
 

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy
 
 

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy
 
 

I have to continue to express my profound gratitude for the continued kind comments and "likes", you guys are the greatest!
 
I figured things would begin to speed up, and I don't think I was too far off!
 

 
First up came the seatbelts. Some minor surgery was required on the right hand side of the seat (left in the above photo). Airfix has a cast on lever on that side of the seat, and by carefully inserting a sharp chisel blade I was able to cut it free from the seat. The important thing is to leave the detail intact, so a lot of care was needed. By cutting this slot, this then allows the lap belt to be properly anchored on the side of the seat, with the lever passing over top. I know these particular seatbelts are not 100% accurate for a Typhoon, but for me (and any casual observer with a magnifying glass) they're close enough.
 

 
After the seatbelts were attached to the seat, the seat could then be mounted in the cockpit. Overall I think the aftermarket made for a nice little upgrade, at a relatively cost effective price point. With these details, I am seriously giving consideration to having the canopy open, I think it would be a disservice to hide all my "hard" work! 
 
*Eagle eyed viewers may notice the bandage on my left index finger. This is due to an unrelated bread slicing incident last evening, and not the result of any lapse of due care and attention in the employment of my hobby knife. Incidentally, if you're slicing some crusty bread, make sure you have a good grip to prevent the serrated bread knife from grabbing and rolling the loaf and dragging your finger into its path. Oh yeah, and keep your fingers further away from the knife next time too.....🙄
 

 
Once the glue for the seat had set, the fuselage halves are then mated, and glued, and taped together. There's a few extra bits and pieces to navigate around to get the halves to join up, but with a little care, things came together nicely.
 

 
The rudder and tail fins were next to go on. Nothing really remarkable. Just be aware that, as far as details go, the tail fins are not symmetrical, make sure the correct one goes on it's proper side. I think I did a quadruple double check on that before I applied any glue. I'm pretty sure I got it right... I think...
 

 
The lower half of the wing was next. This was a multi step process to get them glued into place. Tape was used to hold things in place temporarily until the glue set.
 

 

 
For today's finale, the upper wings were also attached. The kit does make provision for the gun bays to be left open, but I decided on mine to keep them closed. A personal decision, mostly because, for me, I felt it complicated the painting and lettering process.
 
The next steps are hardly worth documenting; there's a few areas where some filler and some sanding is require. Nothing too major, the worst spots are the chin fairing under the radiator, followed by the forward joint of the lower wing (just aft of the radiator outlet). This shouldn't take too long and painting will happen soon.
 
Andy
 
 
 
 

Are they anything like Archer’s rivet decals? Or, at least, the next logical step. (Instead of just a dot of resin, an actual moulded detail).
 
I thought from your initial picture they were flat, but I see they’re anything but. 
 
A very interesting product, I would imagine slightly less expensive than PE?
 
Andy

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy
 
 

Are they anything like Archer’s rivet decals? Or, at least, the next logical step. (Instead of just a dot of resin, an actual moulded detail).
 
I thought from your initial picture they were flat, but I see they’re anything but. 
 
A very interesting product, I would imagine slightly less expensive than PE?
 
Andy

Are they anything like Archer’s rivet decals? Or, at least, the next logical step. (Instead of just a dot of resin, an actual moulded detail).
 
I thought from your initial picture they were flat, but I see they’re anything but. 
 
A very interesting product, I would imagine slightly less expensive than PE?
 
Andy

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy
 
 

Thanks for all the likes, everyone!
 
After a little filing and sanding treatment, painting has now begun. As I mentioned in my first post, I was considering modelling this after a Canadian operated Typhoon, sometime in the mid-summer (later July - early August) period when the camo schemes were slowly being restored. From what Ive seen, this usually meant the upper invasion stripes were painted over first, then as time (and paint supplies( allowed, the lower surfaces followed suit (in some cases it looks like these striped areas may have lasted into the winter of '44-'45).
 
I initially thought that I could mess around with the supplied invasion strip decals to achieve the look I was after, but I've instead decided that I would try my hand at painting the striped myself, and not have to mess around with large sheets of opaque decals (which can cause trouble with merely a backwards glance). Over the course of my "research" (looking at YouTube videos of model builds for hours), I saw a technique whereby the builder painted the invasion striped first, before the rest of the model. This made a lot of sense to me, as the amount of masking is considerably reduced (just mask the stripes, not the whole airplane)and even more reduced for me as I'm only striping the lower areas.
 
 
 
I would say that things have turned out fairly well. 
 

 
Just a couple of tiny spots to retouch, but otherwise I'm pleased. The stripes work out to 6mm wide, at this scale, and fortunately I had a roll of masking tape that exact same width. Also of interesting note, the Canadians didn't quite follow the painting specification when applying the stripes to the tail section of the airplane. On British planes, the sky band forward of the tail was uncovered, with the first white strip immediately ahead of it. The Canadians simply incorporated this band into the aft most white strip, which is why my tail bands may appear to be in the incorrect location. I'm not sure if this applies to other Canadian aircraft, but it seems this was the standard of 143 Wing Typhoons (438, 439 and 440 Squadrons).
 
Andy

Thanks everyone!
 
Mike  (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes.
 
Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted:
 

 
Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added:
 

 

 
The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. 
 
Andy