On the workbench....

After a brief break from putting model planes together - I decided to finish off a number of projects which have been on the workbench for some time. Some of these will be going to auction on Ebay at some point in the not-too-distant future; so keep an eye out for them!

1/72 De Havilland Tiger Moth (Airfix New-Tool)

Airfix has released a number of new-tool revisions of some of their classic kits over the past few years - this Tiger Moth being one of the most recent. The old kit wasn't bad by any means - but this new kit is a significant improvement in terms of overall detail. The struts connecting the wings, fuselage and tail seem quite a bit finer than the previous kit - this having the side-effect of making removing them from the sprues a very delicate process! 

1/72 Messerschmitt Bf 109 G (Italeri)

Currently drying after it's final paint coat and awaiting the fitting of aerials on the fuselage - this Italeri Bf 109 G has come together quite well with very little fuss. The intention at this point is to finish it in as a post-war Finnish Air Force machine.

1/72 Shorts Tucano (Airfix)

The second Tucano I've built - more or less the same colour scheme as the first time out! The advantage of doing a virtually identical kit more than once is that one is better equipped for the pitfalls the second time around! In this case, the question of how to fit enough nose-weights to stop the thing from falling over can be solved by the cunning use of some welding wire.

1/72 Consolidated Catalina (Airfix)

As promised in the last post - the Catalina now finished! A model which was by no means an easy build due to some fit issues - however the end result with transfers and detailing applied makes for an impressive spectacle when parked on the display shelf. (Note - this model's wingspan is short in this photo for a reason - the outer wings are removeable for the sake of easy storage). A selection of transfers were sourced from the spares box to represent a Coastal Command machine.

Issues with weight distribution in models seems to have been a running theme this week - the 'Cat' has a great deal of mass up high on the wing and so would need a lot of lead in the nose if balancing this using weights alone. The welding-wire solution came to the rescue once again!