Dan Vadas

Hi all, Still waiting on my next model so I've built a "quickie" for my Admiral's neighbour, who is an Elvis impersonator working the clubs etc. It's a free download of a Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar (I have no idea what guitar he actually plays, but it was probably the best one I could find on the Interweb ). The model took me two days to make. Not a bad design, considering the guy who did it isn't a professional Card publisher. However I "did my own thing" in some areas. First one was to re-colour it - the download was fairly garish and un-attractive IMO. I used Inkscape to turn it into a type of silver for a lot of it. Here's the main body with re-inforcements added : After spending over an hour cutting all the tabs on the side pieces I finished up cutting them all off again, as the fit was terrible : Without the tabs I needed something to glue the sides to, so I cut some 0.5mm card slightly smaller than the front/back pieces and glued them on : No more build pics, so here's the finished model. The strings are my own addition (the kit only had them printed on). They are elastic rigging cord : A couple of coats of Gloss clear still need to be applied. Danny

"Ships in Bottles" is the one category where actually add the Scratchbuilt models to the Kit Index. There are quite a few - 63 to date. Danny

The final lighthouse - Green Cape near Eden on the New South Wales South Coast. At 29 metres high it is the state's 2nd tallest lighthouse. It was built between 1881 and 1883. More info can be found HERE. The main body of the lighthouse was a bit tricky to glue together owing to it's shape : The way this scalloped feature was designed in the kit didn't work, as the card delaminated after folding and the gap didn't close properly. I drew up and cut 8 triangular pieces to replace the original - they turned out a LOT better : Decorative knees support the platform. These were laser cut : Two domes, one for each building : The finished model : Danny

You can't edit or delete another member's post. This can only be done by a Moderator or Admin. You can do your own though. Danny

Thanks Ian. I've given it a couple of coats of clear lacquer and it will be kept in a closed glass-fronted cabinet so it will probably last quite a while - longer than me anyway . My main enjoyment of a model is in the actual building. Cheers, Danny

Thank you to all who have followed, Liked and commented on this build. It's much appreciated . Here are the final pics : Cheers, Danny

The Hornby Lighthouse at Watson's Bay, Sydney. It's also known as the South Head Lighthouse. Built in 1858 it was the 3rd lighthouse built in Australia following the wreck of the Dunbar with the loss of 121 lives. More information can be found HERE. This is the simplest of the four in the kit - it only took me a day and a half to make. Lining up the red stripes was critical to the outcome : Most of the windows and doors are recessed. These little portholes took a bit of planning when fitting them : The finished model. The railings are laser cut card : Danny

The wires go most of the way into the central part. In hindsight I probably should have painted the reinforcing piece with CA before skinning it. I think the card itself probably has a bit of flex in it - it wouldn't take much over that short distance to make a much bigger difference over the length of the blades. I think the only difference a coat or two of lacquer will make is to add more weight to the blades - I've already coated all the relevant control parts with CA, which improved the amount of "droop" in the blades. I'm reasonably happy with the result . If I were to build another helicopter I'd design my own system for attaching the blades. Nothing drastic, maybe just replace the card control reinforcing part with some brass tube silver-soldered together, which would then be covered with the kit skins. I'm currently giving the model a coat of Model Master Semi-Gloss clear, pics of the completed model will be posted shortly. Danny

Hi all. Having finished the Cape Byron lighthouse and the M24D Hind helicopter, and still waiting on my next kit, I'm making the other 3 lighthouses that came with the first. These won't take long, so I hope my other kit turns up soon. Here are pics of the three : Tacking Point, Port Macquarie : Hornby - Watson's Bay, Sydney : Cape Green, Eden : First up is the Tacking Point lighthouse near Port Macquarie NSW. It was built in 1879 and was the 4th of five lighthouses built around that time on the NSW mid-north coast of similar design. More information can be found by clicking HERE. I'm going to donate it to the Port Macquarie Maritime Museum so it can keep company with my HMS Vulture, which I donated to the Museum several years ago. They have a cabinet full of models built in unusual ways, but as far as I know this will be the first one made from paper. I've actually finished this one already - it took me 2 1/2 days. Here is a pic of most of the parts, some of which I've already prepared : I reinforced the base with a few card strips : The utility building : The dome for the light. The additional card in the middle is a method I've used for previous domes - it makes it much easier to glue : The completed model : Danny

Found it (click HERE). Danny

As seen HERE in this video. I know it's not a Hind in the video but the principle is the same. Danny

Do they actually refuel helos in midair? A scary thought with the blades whirring overhead . EDIT - it seems they do : They can have that to themselves . Danny

Last things to complete were to glue the rotor blades into the central control : The blades could be a problem as time goes by. I'm not very happy with the way they are fitted - the control arms seem too weak for the weight of the blades, so I wiped CA glue over virtually all the control arms to try to stiffen them up a bit. It worked to a certain degree but time will tell. Danny

The two canopy doors were fitted next, followed by the Gatling gun and the probe. Any thoughts on what the probe was for? I'm thinking maybe a lightning rod? : Danny

On the home stretch now. I've fitted both halves of the fuselage together : Now came time to fit the missiles to the weapons platforms : Last thing to fit before turning the helo back up the right way was the lower antenna : Danny