On the Workbench this Week..... Everything!

Sometimes us modellers get into a bit of a 'high' and build lots of things on the go at the same time. There are many reasons why you shouldn't try to build half a dozen kits simultaneously but alas that's the way it sometimes goes. 

The finished examples are below. First up - a pair of Airfix 1/48 Spitfires (both of them have since gone to new homes). The top picture is JH-C - a flyable Spitfire that can be seen (as of 2018) at IWM Duxford. The bottom picture is of the Seafire XVII - one of the later Spitfire models adapted for naval use.

ANOTHER Sea Harrier FA2 (the ongoing battle to trim down the jump jet collection continues).

An Avro Lancaster B I - built up using the Revell tooling. I'm on to an Airfix Lancaster next, so it'll be interesting to see how well it goes together compared to the slightly older Revell one.

Last of all, a Russian MiG-31B. I've never built one of these before and certainly had no idea how big the real thing actually was. It's really big. Even scaled down into 1/72 - this translates into a 'fighter jet' that is bigger than a WW2 bomber.

Coming up next week - another Avro Lancaster (Airfix new tool), a Bristol Beaufighter and Bristol Blenheim.

The Flying Triangle

There are some 'musts' when building scale model aircraft. Building a Spitfire is pretty much mandatory. Hawker Hurricanes, Mustangs, Bf 109s, Lancasters - all this iconic stuff really does belong in this list of planes you should build at least once. If you build models for a living you may well end up building them quite a lot.

One candidate stands out in my personal hit list. The Avro Vulcan.

There is only one mainstream kit where the Vulcan is concerned and that is the old 1980s vintage Airfix offering. 'Vintage' is another way of saying 'old and probably past it's best'. This has been a bit of a pig to build, fill, sand, fill a bit more, sand, fill even more....and so on.

However, once you get past the assembly stage you are left with this - a substantial lump of plastic.

It only gets better from this point onward. Adding a few coats of paint really does bring it to life - first the uniform Dark Sea Grey and then the Dark Green over the top. A few clear coats and some decals later..... one Vulcan B2.


Note that the actual camouflage is 'hard-edged' and not soft-edged as shown here. This is a result of me free-hand painting the Green camouflage patterns without the use of masks - by tidying up the edges with a narrow spray pattern the aim is to give a hard/soft-edge (if that makes any sense).

So there we go - one of the Aviation 'Must-Builds' successfully built. If Airfix were to release a new-tool Vulcan (similar to their Victor and Valiant) I would go out and snap one up like a shot. Until then, this old-school tool still scrubs up well!

Works in Progress - Lots of Harriers!

Given my unintentional leaning towards buying model kits of Harriers at seemingly every opportunity - the stash has had an overabundance of jump jets for as long as I've been modelmaking. I have built more Harriers than any other kind of aircraft - the build count sitting just shy of 50 models.

Despite building and selling Harriers at a semi-regular rate - the shelf seems to always have a ready supply of them. It has gotten to the point that the 'Harrier Stash' is almost as numerous as all my other kits put together.

Step One to cure this malady is to not buy any more Harriers. Will do.

Step Two. It would also be wise to build up a few of the ones I currently have in stock and thus trim down the Harrier population before the stash shelf starts to buckle under the weight.

The Airfix Sea Harrier FRS.1 and FA2 are both close relatives in kit-form that can be built in tandem. The plan here was to do the first and last Sea Harriers - hence the Mark 1 being in operational evaluation colours and the Mark 2 being in it's final livery before retirement.

SEA HARRIER FRS1

SEA HARRIER FA2

Next up we have a pair of GR7/9 kits (also Airfix). Again, they're the same kit with a few subtle modifications depending on the version you want. I wanted to depict one (GR7) as it was in-service and the other (GR9) in it's special farewell colour scheme just before the Harrier Fleet was retired.

HARRIER II GR7A

HARRIER II GR9

If in around a month's time you discover the online marketplace is flooded with Jump Jet models looking for new homes - now you'll know why.

On the other hand, if you happen to be after a 1/72 Harrier of some description you'll be well catered for!

Gallery Updated!

As per the post title - I have cleared out some of the older pictures and added a fair few recent builds. Since starting to 'properly' build models in a professional capacity I have made the transition from brush painting to airbrushing, from enamels to acrylics and from being utterly terrified of building helicopters to actually enjoying putting them together.

A few of the highlights in the new gallery are below - the rest are in the gallery!

On the Workbench - A little bit of everything.

Somewhat of a gap in posts due to illness - however the workbench is far from empty!

Red Bull AH-1F Cobra - a 1/48 model based on the old Monogram kit from a long time ago. Revell rebox a variety of models - some good, some less so. I think the Cobra is one of the good'uns - decent fit, low parts count and a fair amount of detail. The main challenge lies in not obliterating the raised surface detail.

Once all of the transfers are carefully layered into position (an exercise in patience if there ever was one) the result is pretty unique. I will have to keep an eye out for another one of these because I did enjoy building it.

Avro Lancaster Mk III - also from Revell. I learned a few lessons from doing the Dambusters Lancaster a few weeks ago - namely that painting the thing is easier if it is split into three main sub-assemblies. The wings and fuselage are all awaiting coats of paint (the yellow wingtips already done and masked off).

I tend to add the clear parts and delicate bits like turrets, landing gear and props last - if only to reduce the chances of damaging them while grappling with other parts of the model.

Lockheed Martin F-35A - the 'Joint Strike Fighter' - very expensive and controversial in real-life. Thankfully Italeri offer a 1/72 F-35 for a lot less cash! I will be doing a step-by-step build review of this and posting it to the blog + facebook page.

Finished last week, the Hawk T1. This is the recent(ish) Airfix tooling in 1/48 scale - goes together well, easy to paint (any colour you like so long as it's black) and a decent project to do over a weekend.

Finally, a pair of Lightnings. One is an F3 and the other is the later F6 - both being an opportunity to practice spraying metallic with the airbrush. More than any other finish - metallic silver really does show every blemish, dimple and scratch on the model. Much careful prep work needed!

Being a fairly recent convert to the world of Airbrushed Acrylics - I've found Vallejo Model Air to be reasonably user-friendly paints that work straight from the bottle. They've come out looking fairly presentable - the silver parts being painted with Vallejo Metallic Steel and the green being Vallejo Dark Green.

On the Workbench - The Heavy Mob

Known among flyers as 'heavies' - these are usually multi-engine types like the Avro Lancaster, B-17 Flying Fortress and anything that is big, heavy and having many, many engines. Even in model form you can very rapidly reach the stage where you end up with a whopper of a thing that takes over the living room table (much to the chagrin of family members).

First on the bench is the Revell Lancaster. A quick internet search will show some concerns about the kit's wing dihedral - it isn't quite as much as it should be on the real thing. In every other respect the kit is a delight to build. For a model maker this always poses an issue. 'Do I correct an otherwise excellent kit or build it as is?'.

I happen to have a completed Airfix Lancaster in my own collection to compare the wings to (Airfix is regarded in this instance to have the correct angle on their model) and the difference was not obvious unless you sat them beside each other. The Revell kit wings do have some angle on them - just not as much as the Airfix offering. In fact most non-aeroplane people wouldn't know what a wing dihedral necessarily was; so it may be a complete non-issue for the majority of the population.

That's the long-winded way of me saying I built it pretty much out of the box. I had a go at airbrushing the camouflage pattern freehand using some pencilled templates as guides. The edges are a bit more feathered than I would ideally like but when the thing is viewed overall it looks pretty good.


Next on the heavy list is another Arado E555 Amerika Bomber. I originally bought two of these kits and enjoyed building the first one to such a degree that I thought I'd continue on a high and build another one. Because why not?

RLM 02 (Grey) and RLM 71 (Dark Green) make up the upper surfaces. RLM 65 (Light Blue) is the underside colour. Splinter camouflage is quite a lot of fun to mask and paint - the current plan is to have some yellow recognition markings painted on the wingtips and tailfins.

The third candidate is the C-47 Douglas Dakota - the famous transport and general do-it-all aviation workhorse. This is actually the first Dakota I've built in 1/72 scale and probably won't be the last if this kit is anything to go by.

If you fancy making a 'biggish' model but don't relish the idea of a big parts count - the Airfix C-47 is a good option that goes together pretty well. The fiddliest bits were the clear parts (the front windscreen is fitted from the outside).

The above photo shows the current state of proceedings - waiting for some transfers/decals after being coated with a few layers of Klear.

Also in the works but not pictured yet is a B-24 Liberator - the old Airfix offering in 1/72 scale. Thanks to having lots of loose fitting moveable parts and being a subject of the 'phantom riveter' - that should be entertaining....

On the workbench - the Amerika Bomber and a Raptor

Arado E 555 'Amerika Bomber'

I've wanted to do one of these for a while for a couple of reasons.

1) I like flying wings.

2) Luft '46 is a virtual playground for a modelmaker - because it was essentially where the engineering people went a bit mad. After all, they never had to build the things - so they could do what they liked...

3) It looks like a spaceship even by modern standards - in a similar vein (although nowhere near as big) as the Vulcan.

Combine a Luft '46 Flying Wing that looks like it's straight out of Flash Gordon with virtually free reign in the colour scheme department - what's not to like? It also helps that it's a pretty good kit - top marks for Revell in terms of fit, ease of assembly and the overall quality of the finished product. In 1/72 scale it comes out about as big as a B-25 or Ju 88 - so a fairly manageable size when completed.

I don't exaggerate when I say that it is possible to assemble the majority of the airframe in a weekend. Revell went for the 'less is more' approach when it came to parts - the main body/wing assembly is made up of two pieces and the tail planes, engine pods, etc. are added as the build goes on.

Since this thing never flew and thus was never painted - you can pretty much go with whatever Luftwaffe camouflage takes your fancy. In this case - the choice was a two-tone splinter camouflage.  Colours used were from the German late-war palette - RLM 84 (Light Sky) for the underside, RLM 82 (Olive Green) and RLM 81 (Brown Violet).

After a not-inconsiderable amount of time picking off the masking tape - it was then time to fit the landing gear, gear doors and other bits/bobs. This is the finished result which looks pretty good.

Lockheed F-22 Raptor 

Also on the go (also from Revell in 1/72 scale) is a F-22 Raptor. This is a pretty good kit as far as muggins here is concerned - no real issues with fit or finish. HOWEVER.

I'm not sure what precise colour the USAF actually uses for the leading edges of their F-22s - but they evidently didn't share the specifics with Vallejo paints. The result is a pretty bright grey along the edges of the wings and tail(s). I don't think it looks too bad, but it's a bit more of a stark contrast than the real thing.

Sometimes however you just have to run with it and finish a model despite one or two misgivings halfway through. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The finished product looks like a Raptor and is pretty smart overall - the decals really do bring the thing to life and add a bit of relief to what would otherwise be a big grey stealth plane.

Both of these coming soon to a certain auction site near you...

Models of the Month No.2 - July - Whacky Contraptions

This month is something a bit different - namely subjects which are a bit unconventional. The madder, the better.

First up is the Boulton Paul Defiant in 1/72 scale. Relying on a two-seat fighter where only the man in the back of the plane has the guns is the kind of thing that could only be cooked up in the UK. Suffice to say it didn't work in the day fighter role.

In the night-fighter role it fared a bit better and arguably served to train up crews in the dark arts of engaging targets in the pitch black using the limited technology at the time. It rapidly fell by the wayside once the 'definitive' Night Fighters such as the Beaufighter and Mosquito began to be employed.

The model here is one such night-fighter version. The matt black scheme is courtesy of some automotive spray paint combined with a finishing coat of satin varnish to seal the decals and generally prevent fingerprints when the model is handled. This is Airfix's recent tooling - compared to the older tooling it is much easier to put together and it builds up into a smart little model.


Next up is a pair of Horten 229s (but only one pictured) - a flying wing design powered by jet engines. Currently one is finished - the other in the stages of assembly and prep just before painting. Both of these are Revell 1/72 kits. They went together without any fuss and are highly recommended if you want a kit that pretty much builds up out of the box.

These are very much 'Luftwaffe 1946' models - e.g. never flew operationally so a certain amount of creative license is allowed when it comes to colour schemes, markings and camouflage (within reason). Quite easy to mask off for spray-painting - since they are essentially just a flat wing!

Next up is the Messerscmitt P 1099, another offering from Revell in 1/72. I've never heard of this before - another 'what if' design of late-war Germany. The wings and engine pods are basically scale replicas of the Me 262 with a different fuselage. The plan with this one is to do a splinter-type grey/green colour scheme.

Finally - the Heinkel He 115 Seaplane. The Germans built a fair few flying boats / seaplanes / floatplanes of various types and this is one of the more successful models. Consider that this is similar in size to a medium bomber like the He 111 or B-25; it is not a small plane by any means.

Ignore the mess around it - was halfway through a clearout!

The kit is from Revell, which in turn is a reboxing of a Matchbox tooling that has been knocking around in one form or another since 1976. I can report that it is a pretty decent model kit - it fits well, the parts are all reasonably free from flash or flaws and the finished result looks very respectable.

The main issue was in lining up all the supporting struts for the floats as well as the crew access ladders. Thankfully resolved using some borrowed clothes pegs and patience.

Next week - another madder contraption - the Arado E 555.

On the workbench - 3 Harriers and a Tank (No it's not a Joke)

Having decided to hit the ground running with building Naval Aircraft - one of the most logical steps was to once again try to get a grip with the number of Harrier variants piling up in the cupboard. Long-term readers of this blog may well be familiar with the comical number of jump-jets that this model-maker has managed to accrue despite several culls of the stash.

Currently at the 'painted but nowhere near finished' stage - the above Sea Harrier FA2 in 1/72 scale. It just needs all the additional bits and bobs such as landing gear, jet nozzles, airbrake and underwing stores attaching. Once the interior is finished in terms of detailing the canopy will be glued in place and then the finishing touches of decals can be applied.

Currently at the 'finished and soon to go to a new home stage' - the Harrier GR7 using the older Airfix tooling with raised panel lines. The overall shape and finish of the model has still ended up looking pretty good - with the advantage of some additional markings such as the shark's teeth noseart.

Also on the go - but having virtually nothing to do with Naval Aviation - this Tamiya Kampfpanzer in 1/35 scale. This was testing the use of acrylics used via airbrush.

Most of my models (99.9% of them) are painted with enamel paints and either hand-painted, airbrushed, spray-painted with cans or a mixture of all three. I used some automotive spray paint to undercoat the model black - then slowly built up layers of green with the airbrush to get a sort of post-shaded effect of lighter/darker areas. This was using Vallejo Model Air - shot straight through the airbrush with no thinning. It is currently in the process of being lightly weathered, hence why the wheels and tracks are missing.

Finally on the go, this 1/72 Harrier GR3 finished in 1982 Falklands colours - currently (as of writing this) on a certain auction site and hopefully soon to go to a new home.

Once these have been finished off - it will then be time for something a bit bigger...

Models of the Month - Volume 1: Naval Aviation

For the past few months I've been pretty much building all sorts of things. There's half a German S-Boot sitting on the table next to me (still waiting to be finished), a Curtiss P-40 boxed for transit to it's new owner and three dozen 15mm AFVs all painted up and ready to go.

Orderly, this work area currently is not.

Beginning this month - I've decided to just focus on one type of model. To begin with I decided to focus on stuff that flies over water. There is a semi-sensible reason for this.

It is a basic fact that most aircraft in the world are land-based - so those make up the vast majority of the planes I model. I still buy all sorts of different planes based on any good deals or new releases that take my fancy irrespective. I tend to buy carrier-based or maritime kits; yet never actually build them. That is changing this month.

First up is this 1/72 Grumman Wildcat. Compared to the sleek lines of a Mustang or Spitfire - this thing looks a bit stocky. The Airfix model does a good job of replicating that heavy-set fuselage - dominated by that massive radial engine. Below is the real thing at Duxford - photographed in the hangar where they maintain many of the airworthy residents at the museum.

The kit itself went together with no issues whatsoever, it creates a smart looking model. This was built straight out of the box and using the second kit option with the brighter tail markings / old-style roundels. For newer modellers you might want to take your time around the landing gear area; it was a tad fiddly.

Second up was the Wildcat's historic rival - the Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero'. Physically smaller and more agile than the big Grumman; it was the Japanese naval fighter in the Pacific War. Ironically, there were far more potent / capable machines turned out by the Japanese as the war went on - but the Zero is the one that people remember.

The kit (1/72 Airfix) went together with no problems - it builds up into a decent replica of the A6M and was one of those kits that just kind of assembled itself without too much drama.

Not yet started but certainly on the to-do list, a pair of Sea Harrier FA2s - one in 800 NAS anniversary colours and the other in standard Fleet Air Arm markings.

The Harrier-stash-overpopulation problem is still very much a thing...

Hints and Tips No.3 - Natural Metal Finish

Natural Metal Finish - one of the hardest effects to replicate in model form. This is ironic - since on the real thing it simply unpainted aluminium - they don't really have to 'do' anything to create the finish!

Now there are many items on the market which replicate NMF really well - products such as Alcad come to mind. However I have found the easiest (and cheapest) method of making a decent bare metal look is to use car spray paints. Halfords do a can of 'Aluminium' spray paint - this is near-as-makes-no-difference a match to Humbrol 11 (allowing you to retouch areas with the brush if needed) but is harder wearing and easier to polish once cured.

The Fury does not have 'Natural Metal Finish' as such - most of the surfaces are painted silver and the only bare metal is on the cowling ahead of the pilot. However in the flesh it looked every bit as shiny as an aircraft with bare aluminium - so the same techniques would still apply.

The 1/48 Hawker Fury below is the good old Airfix tooling - a bit rough round the edges and requiring some work to fit correctly due to the age of the plastic. After dusting on a light coat - it was then given a second heavier coat to finish the model. The wings and fuselage were then buffed with cloth and cotton buds.

The real thing below.

Same method of Halfords rattle cans - this time on a few different models in 1/72 scale. Note that the P-51 and Vampire were 'weathered' using a thin brushed wash (didn't quite work according to plan admittedly) - hence the duller/streakier finish.

A word of caution however - make sure that whatever primer you use is compatible with the spray paint you intend to use! Don't ask me how I know...