BLACK VIKING

Hi all and thanks for the comments and likes  
A bit more done the wings and tail fins have been fitted and the fuselage glue together.
I have dry brushed the whole aircraft to give it a worn look.
 I have found out that she was hit by flack and number 2 engine caught fire but was put out quite quickly. It was replaced and a new cowl fitted but wasn't painted for a few weeks so I have shown this.
Just a little bit more to do then she will be complete.
Thanks for following 
Martyn

Hi all and thanks for the comments and likes  
A bit more done the wings and tail fins have been fitted and the fuselage glue together.
I have dry brushed the whole aircraft to give it a worn look.
 I have found out that she was hit by flack and number 2 engine caught fire but was put out quite quickly. It was replaced and a new cowl fitted but wasn't painted for a few weeks so I have shown this.
Just a little bit more to do then she will be complete.
Thanks for following 
Martyn

Hi all and thanks for the comments and likes  
A bit more done the wings and tail fins have been fitted and the fuselage glue together.
I have dry brushed the whole aircraft to give it a worn look.
 I have found out that she was hit by flack and number 2 engine caught fire but was put out quite quickly. It was replaced and a new cowl fitted but wasn't painted for a few weeks so I have shown this.
Just a little bit more to do then she will be complete.
Thanks for following 
Martyn

Hi all and thanks for the comments and likes  
A bit more done the wings and tail fins have been fitted and the fuselage glue together.
I have dry brushed the whole aircraft to give it a worn look.
 I have found out that she was hit by flack and number 2 engine caught fire but was put out quite quickly. It was replaced and a new cowl fitted but wasn't painted for a few weeks so I have shown this.
Just a little bit more to do then she will be complete.
Thanks for following 
Martyn

Yeah I've been known to do that on occasion also.... So your not alone....

Back stern done...
 
 

And then there were ten:

Hello,
Upper shroud work is progressing nicely!  Also thought I would include a bow shot, as well as a picture of the model when it was originally completed back in the late 1970's or early 1980's.  Everything on the bow had to be scratch built. 
Thanks,
Mark

Stunning work my friend 
stay safe 
Martyn 

They look very nice to me Michael stunning work.
Martyn

They look very nice to me Michael stunning work.
Martyn

The bulkheads and deck supports are glued in and I  am working on the dummy cannon rails. I'll  let this dry overnight  and finish the hull framing tomorrow. 

Beginning of planking stern after WzM...

Another day of lockdown and I'm glad to say the weather is quite decent so been outside sanding  Winchelsea bulkheads. I've not forgotten about the dauntless but only doing little bits at a time so I've still got something to do in the coming days!
So the main landing gear has been fitted and I've attempted to make a paint mask for the canopy. 
For the likes and comments I thank you. 👍
Cheers 😁
I'll post some photos of the canopy if it works out, but for now take my word for it that it is fiddly, frustrating and may get binned amid muttered cursing and hair pulling 🤬(scalp scratching)

just look through my old pic and find a cuppel pic that might bee of interest 

A bit more progress to day  (boy I love the fit of this kit so far  - it  almost falls together)    next was to paint and fit the two pedals, quite straight forward  they pop in below the bottom frame,   next  I glued the other side to close up the cabin bath tub assembly.
 
After  putting this aside  - I woked on the two fuselage sides adding a few more fittings that were then painted and weathered, I thne did a dry fit  - all seems well  with the fuselage going together well.
 
OC.

Thanks Edward
Some of our kids are also grown up, although not really gone. Two of them live within walking distance of our house. It oldest one who just turned 50 lives about 800 miles away. In reality the two we have at home now are actually grandchildren we adopted years ago and while they still call us grandma and grandpa we still consider them just two more sons just like the others. After 50 years of continuous children I doubt we would know what to do if it was just the two of us. Probably end up shooting each other.
 
Well you were all warned. Here come the pictures! Like I said I had hoped to get more done than I have but at least there is some progress. Part of the reason is the amount of detail work that is needed in the cockpit area on this model. Once all of this is done there is almost nothing else to this kit of any significance. So without further due here are the pictures:





I have some chores to attend to again today, but I will try and get some more build time in and make a little more progress in this incredibly slow part of the build so I can continue to torture your sensibilities.
 
Thanks for looking in.

No, the Trafalgar one was just a joke. Thanks for the above post.
I'm not really a ‘Watercolourist' in the proper traditional way . I paint with watercolour paints, yes I use the transparency at times but for white, I use Gouache. I know 'zilch' about the technical side of things, all the fancy names for different colours. To me, I use for eg. dark blue, middle and light blue. . I paint using what I call my 'Spitfire' method. If it looks right it probably is. I’m a great believer in drawing. I draw the Subject then 'colour it in. I have the idea for the painting, draw it then paint it, sometimes changing it as I go. As it was here. It was just this afternoon 24hrs after I finished the original that I decided to put in the Swordfish. It was a toss up between it and a Catalina. There is an idea for a Cat. Lurking in my mind.
Jim
 

Stunning work my friend 
stay safe 
Martyn 

Update +Swordfish with Seaboots

I already thought that something was missing on the previous painting 😁. Beautiful work!

Depot ship HMS WOLFE , two T class submarines, a TID Tug and a Rescue Tug
W/C 14” X 10”

Well it has been a while but finally some progress to report. I have not been Idle since my last update but since I could only manage one coat of poly a day and waiting for paint to dry is boring enough I did not think it was worth an update.
 
I decided I needed some shiny bits and pieces. The kit did not provide any so I had to make them.
 
I stared with come strip brass I had laying around.

And cut off a couple of small pieces about an 1/8" or so. Then a little rough shaping with file and sand paper.

Then I clamped them both in my handy all purpose jig one on top of the other.
 

and drilled some holes.

Then I rubbed them around in some jewelers rouge.

And this is what I was left with.
 

Add a little bent wire and rings and .....

I added some rope and whipped some loops onto the rings.

I glued the plates in place with a tiny drop of medium CA applied with a sewing needle.

Then very carefully drilled through the holes.
Once that was done it was simply a matter of pressing the hasps and loops in place.
 

And I think that with the exception of a display base which I have yet to make up my mind on that we can call this one finished.













At least 3 coats of poly on everything with a light sanding with 800 grit between coats. All in all this has been a fun and challenging little project. I think the few mods I added give this one a little character and uniqueness that made them worth doing.
 
I will update again when I figure out the base.
 
Until then thanks to everyone that followed, liked and commented on this build. I hope you had as much fun as I did with it.
 
Best regards and stay safe.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Next step, getting difficult to continue, still waiting on parts, running out of subassemblies. I usually prefer to collect everything I need and run a build right through to the end one continuous stream... but having issues with shipping delays in the middle of a build is no fun at all....
 
Trailer colors.... we know the bullnose and doors are black, and the sides have their murals.... what about the rest of the trailer......

Movie capture, looks grey....

Yep, light grey... the real thing.....

Now that looks like a light ghost grey. (but look at that light level also, it's so bright that the light is reflecting off the tread of the tires!)
Let's try another pic without the intense light....

Now that's more like it, sunny day in the shade, medium light grey seems to be a good choice, and look at the upper right corner, under intense flash, it shows a blue cast....
Testors Aircraft Grey is what I'm going to use.... I think it fits the bill perfectly.....
 
Trailer parts, minus the box....

Painted Aircraft Grey....

We start with the sliding tandem unit frame.... 7 parts... (and notice that under the bright flash, it has a blue cast to the aircraft grey, color is spot on)

So the first step is to mount the spring/flange parts to the outer side frame rails...... This is where the first problem reveals itself....

Sorry for the blurry pic, but it is still clear enough to see that the flanges on the spring parts sits proud of the frame rail. It is supposed to sit flush with the frame rail top flange...... So I have to relieve the spacing on the inside of the part.

Unaltered part at the top, relieved part at the bottom, done by using a flat file to shave the part down between the flanges without damaging or breaking off the springs....

Again sorry for the blurry pics, corrected part at the bottom, untouched parts at the top. Relieving is necessary because the crossmembers need to fit between the side rail flanges while meeting the spring flanges flush. Without shaving the cross members do not fit tight to the side rails which is needed for strength....

Gluing the springs to the side rails....

Crossmembers installed and squared, the forward end is too the left....

Axles, radius rods, brake levers and air pots installed......

Auxiliary air tank and regulator installed along with the air hose support.....

Stock wheels and tires assembled and installed temporarily to get the delicate detail parts off the table where they will get broke.... 
 
The sliding tandem unit is now complete, I have resin wheels and true rubber tires on order if they ever get here, they are much more accurately detailed and the new tires have the correct tread pattern as seen in the movie.... And, except for the landing gear, I have no other sub-assemblies I can build without more parts arriving.
 
At this point I think I'm going to put this on hold until the parts arrive, I have tractor hubs, trailer wheels and tires, mural decals, and other assorted needed details arriving sometime in the future from all over the country and world in fact... until they get here there isn't much I can do, and I usually like having all materials and supplies on hand when I start a build.... This is why this is advancing agonizingly slow, (agonizingly slow for me) So I'm going to put this on hold until all the parts arrive and I can proceed like I enjoy doing.... smoothly and without interruptions beyond my control....
 
In the meantime to occupy myself and bore you to tears, I'll be starting another build log shortly on a simpler subject that should be easier without the delays... haven't decided what yet, I need to look thru my stash and see what I've got that isn't going to require any aftermarket or just minimal scratchbuilding, that rules out ships, most armor and most aircraft.  Maybe this will work....
 
An OOB blast from the past would be perfect.....
 
Rest assured, you will NOT go away without seeing the end of this build, until I have glued the last part and posted pics of it for you!
 
Thank you for looking in and commenting....
 
EG

Our public education system at work.... (teachers more clueless than the students) And ours are some of the highest paid teachers in the country!!!)
Anything I can do to help? :-)
 
The bird will patiently wait, we here will patiently wait, (no matter how much we don't want to) and pray that you and yours stay safe, take no inordinate risks, as we are all in the same boat as you for the most part....
Thanks for the warning my friend, but I'm sure, no one here classifies it as a warning to fear....
 
Remember, when the world dishes out lemons and refuses to allow us to make lemonade, grab a mint julep instead, more tasty and satisfying in the end... (it's become a crazy world out there) 
 
Take care and stay safe, we will be here..... (as long as the guv doesn't shut down the internet in the cause of social distancing)