BLACK VIKING

Here are some images of the lower part of the Ram in construction: 
The lower image is a dry fit of the jigging/fixing arrangement prior to application of the solder paste.

Well, today, we made a huge step (for us) forward.
 
We have been so busy, and right now, I can only run one laser machine at a time, as we have no space for another extractor, which we need to run both simultaneously - so have been drowning under work load, and running out of space for the business. We have totally outgrown the repurposed garage for the workshop.
 
With that in mind, we went to look at some proper business units, and I have just put a deposit down for a nice little unit, over 4 times the space I currently have, which we move into in January. I will be able to run both lasers at full pelt, and have much more space to put stuff!
 
I have added so pics of our modest little new unit – we have an option of having something larger as we grow more.
Realistically, we had little choice, as with Surprise imminent, that’s 18 kits we need to find space for, and a 3-bed house and converted garage can no longer cut it….

That should do it 

Surprisingly the aircraft carried its lifting cables externally where all weight is important to lug these around is a strange design decision 🤔 
 
This bit of ugly plastic is the kits version
 

So no self respecting ship builder on here could tolerate that..so made some

That's Better

Base coat down. 

Weathering the railroad track with pigments, then some splatters of oil. I’m happy with how this looks so far. Tomorrow I’ll add it to the base then put ballast around it 

And I’m done, thinking of calling it “the Bollocking” 

All together, the railing are a complete one piece print which are a paint and would have been better off as individual stanchions 

After all these years, this is the very first time I have ever attempted to build a semi tractor model. This one is a re-released, very old mold of the White-Freightliner. It can be built as an SD model (short cab) or as the DD model (extended cab with sleeper). Mine will be built as the extended cab DD model. The first thing I noticed was the troublesome seam created by attaching the sleeper to the cab. Because there is raised rivet detail, it's going to take some work to smooth out the join area, particularly the top. Will probably need to sand off all the rivet detail then replace it with some Archer decal rivets. I didn't have any of those on hand but placed an order for some that should arrive later this week. I used styrene strip stock to reinforce the joint and help keep it in alignment. The strip stock will create some issues when later fitting the interior tub inside the cab, but that can be overcome with a little work. For the time being, I will work on the engine, transmission and frame assemblies. I plan to follow the box art as my painting guide. This re-release does include a nice decal sheet to recreate the graphics as seen on the box.

Another building for you. This is the other "wrong side of the tracks" structure, where the land starts sloping down toward the river and incomes and property values are lower. Intended as a general tavern / store kind of place. You can see the kit's version here: https://www.blairline.com/samsroadhouse/ No photos of construction, because it's a pretty straightforward laser-cut kit and I didn't do anything particularly unique to it. Just some basic weathering.

I didn't use the kit's corrugated metal roofing (see link above), preferring tar paper. Although metal roofing was in use by 1900, my sense is it was far from ubiquitous. I don't have any other buildings I intended to use metal roofing on, and it'd look strange for the only building with such a new-fangled idea to be one of the rougher settings. I also didn't want a super-rusty look as even in the rougher part of town, I want Rocheport to have a well-kept appearance, and I wanted this to look like a relatively recent construction, not a 50-year-old wreck.
 
Notice the outhouse downhill in the back, that was part of the kit. Also part of the kit was a sheet of possible signs. I chose a couple brands that really were produced in St. Louis during this era, Falstaff beer and Star tobacco. The manufacturer's version has this building plastered with signs, but I think that's overkill clutter and like how just a few add some flair while letting the building breathe overall.
 

 
I intentionally chose this one and its partner across the street because they're up on posts, as is common for river-adjacent structures in this region. I used small pieces of crushed limestone to build up support pillars for the wooden posts. This is also pretty common around here in older buildings. Close eyes will notice in the first photo that I need to stick a couple rocks under the front porch posts.  I like how this sticks out over the slope that starts descending down to the river.
 
No paint on this one, it's all pastel weathering. I really wanted this to have a raw-wood look to it. The lower supports are intentionally more reddish to hint that maybe they were built from local Eastern Red Cedar, which is highly rot resistant and very common around here. I've built all of my full-scale outbuildings from it, and it would have been quite easy for someone to harvest in 1900, too. I think the raw wood goes well with the subtle grey of the sharecropper house, and contrasts with the brighter colors of the depot area.
 
And here's a broader view, showing how this frames the street leading from the river landing into town past the east side of the depot. That's the last building for this district; other than trees, other vegetation, and some fencing, that's pretty much how this is intended to look.

Thanks for following along!
 

So the diorama idea so far 

I think this piece is done. New hands arrived today. 

All 'stickered' up. Each foot step was 3 separate decals so I had to apply some wear and chipping before applying them.

 

I’m really not happy with the hands on two of the figures and will probably amputate them and replace with something a little more looking like hands and not plastic blobs. I’ll have black oil pouring into the engine 

Back to the dio 

Sorry for the late response as I've had one heck of a year as I lost my mum last year and we have moved back to Kent to be near No1 son .
I have attached some pictures for you to look at to show what I have been up to. 
Thanks again for the comments and likes .
Martyn 

After yesterday's excitement of finally receiving the parts I need to continue with my C15 build, I figured it is now a good time to update my progress on here.
 
Decals are now finished, including a plethora of stencils. Admittedly, I didn't include some of the smallest ones, as they tend to look more like specs of dirt than anything.
 

 

 
As you can see, I have also added the propellor. (I just had to get the spinny whirly turny bit on!)
 

 

 
EN921 had some... uhh..... racy nose art. Maybe a strategy to distract German pilots??
 

 
Underneath is grey...... very grey...
 
Next up will be the landing gear, pitot tube and aerial mast, then weathering and finishing touches. Looks like the end is in sight for this one!
 
Thanks, as always, for all the "likes"
 
Andy

Thanks @JKC27! It would be great to see your Spitfire build(s) here (if you feel up to it)!
 
So my experiment seems to have worked!
 

 
I think that looks fairly good as a worn walkway. Admittedly, it looks a little stark, given the lack of weathering on the rest of the airplane, but that will be fixed in time. 
 
After I had put down a layer of primer, I hit the wing root area(s) with a shot of Tamiya aluminium from a rattle can. I was counting on the Tamiya paint drying to its usual relatively hard finish. The Vallejo acrylics dry (initially) very soft, so I gently started scraping away the acrylic paint with a bamboo skewer to expose the Tamiya paint underneath. I initially smoothed the edges out with some ultra fine grit sandpaper, following that I dry brushed on some Floquil aged silver (a very close match for the Tamiya Aluminium) so further soften and blend the edges. This all has to be done before I overcoat the whole plane with Testors' Glosscoat, as the enamel will make it too hard to scratch anything off easily. 
 

 
The reason I used this technique is that I don't have any chipping fluid or other substitute in my stash, and I had seen this used to good effect by Youtube modeller Plasmo.
 
This morning I turned my attention to the exhaust pipes. If there's one thing that looks off about this kit, I would say that this these are it. Looking at the plethora of prototype photos, the Airfix exhaust pipes stick out way too far.... almost like a set of canards. They really ruin the lines of the airplane. You can see above how far they stick out! 
 
Luckily the fix is fairly simple, and some careful work with an aggressive file had my exhaust pipes looking mush better!
 

 
On the right, in the above photo is the unmodified part, quite a difference when compared to the treated pipes on the left!
 

 
Both sets of pipes have now been given the same treatment, and I think things are looking much improved!
 
Up next will be some final paint touch-ups (kind of an ongoing thing), then a layer of gloss and decals. 
 
Thanks for the kind comments and likes, as always they are very much appreciated!
 
Andy

It turns out that I did have the time to install the rudder chains:

And what beautifully manufactured and finished chains they are too!
 
So here is the state of play as of today:  

I expect to resume work in mid January.

Another one hits the cabinet not as good as the Hustler but pretty decent.I was able to cut away the most offending out register decal on the L/tail area while on the plane straight edge/razor/water.One can still see some register problems on the yellow arches but at this point it is what it is.The blue of the engine area I played with clear blue kinda worked just those areas usually had silver w/blue on top ...next plane.

Thanks for  your comments. That is actually a Greater Yellow legs. If you look closely the sand dollar and the sea shells were also carved from wood.  I also carved a couple of Sanderlings, a close cousin of the sand piper

I started doing model ships 4 years ago when the arthritis started. Before that for 30 years my hobby was woodcarving. I carved everything but enjoyed doing birds most of  all. I lost use of my right arm in 2010 so relearned to carve with just my left hand, not as fast as before. Working with wood soothes the soul like nothing else. 

Boots done, I want to make all these blokes dusty before I add them to the base. It’s spent the entire day adding rifle straps and gas mask straps