Moebius 1/32 Battlestar Galactica 'Colonial Viper MKVII'

This is my fifth, and hopefully my last for a while, sci-fi subject to date and thankfully it was a much easier build than the Viper MKII.

As the figure in the kit is very ordinary - compared to the resin offering in the Viper MKII - I decided not to use it and instead built the model with the landing gear extended. With construction completed fairly quickly I then masked the canopy and moved onto the painting stage, which initially consisted of an overall coat of Tamiya Grey Fine Primer followed by a coat of Tamiya TS17 Gloss Aluminum.

As I wanted to use Mig's Absolute Chipping fluid on this model, my research showed that it would only work with acrylics and not enamels, meaning that I'd have come up with my own mix for the Pontiac Engine Blue colour. Following a liberal application of chipping fluid the model was then sprayed with light blue mix, which consisted of 80% Gunze H56 Intermediate Blue and 20% H21 Off White. Leaving the paint to dry for 20 minutes I then scrubbed it with an old cut-down paintbrush dipped in water to reveal the underlying Aluminum. Once I'd achieved the desired affect the remaining painted areas were then over-sprayed with a very dilute - almost translucent mix - of Gunze H25 Sky Blue. The engines, guns and landing gear legs were then sprayed with AK Interactive, Xtreme Metal Dark Aluminium (AK480), followed by a coat of AK Interactive Air Series, Engine and Turbine Wash (AK2033).

With the painting completed the model was then given an overall coat of Future and the decals applied. The model was then weathered by spraying a very dilute mix of Gunze H343 Soot around the guns, engines, intakes etc until the desired look was achieved. All the raised details were then given a light dry brush of AK Interactive, Xtreme Metal Dark Aluminium to further enhance these areas. The final touch was overall coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish, followed by the removal of the canopy masks a coat of Future applied to it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this model as it was an easy build and it gave me the chance to experiment with chipping fluid, something that I'd never used before and is now a lesson learnt for the future. 

Moebius 1/32 Battlestar Galactica 'Colonial Viper MKII'

This is my fourth Sci-fi subject to date and despite how well it turned out in the end, it was a bit of a complex kit to build, resulting in many gaps that needed to be filled, filed and sanded.

Also included in the kit was a resin pilot figure and because of this I decided to depict the model in an in-flight mode, meaning that I could dispense with the landing gear and just use the clear display stand instead. Simple.

With construction completed, all gaps filled and the canopy masked, the latter was then sprayed with Gunze H12 Black followed by AK Interactive, Xtreme Metal Aluminium (AK 479). The canopy frame was then masked off an the entire model sprayed with several coats of Tamiya White Fine Surface Primer.

Because I'd had a bad experience with the cockpit decals being brittle and disintegrating on contact with water, I decided to spray all the red areas with Gunze H327 Red. Because of the former all of the remaining decals were brushed with several coats of Microscale Liquid Decal Film in the hope that they would be salvageable for later use.

With the red areas masked the model was then sprayed with several coats of Gunze H1 White until the desired depth of colour was obtained. The engines and gun-bays were then masked off and spayed with AK Interactive, Xtreme Metal Dark Aluminium (AK 480), followed by a coat of AK Interactive Air Series, Engine and Turbine Wash (AK 2033).

With painting completed the model was then given an overall coat of Future and the decals applied, which thankfully behaved themselves this time around due to my previous remedial action. The model was then weathered, firstly by sanding back the red areas until the underlying white appeared and then by spraying a very dilute mix of Gunze H343 Soot around the guns, gun-bays, engines etc until the desired look was achieved. This was followed by a light dry brush of AK Interactive, Xtreme Metal Dark Aluminium on the raised details to further enhance these areas.

The model was then given an overall coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish, the canopy masks removed and a coat of Future applied to it and voila it was finished.    

Hasegawa 1/48 Nakajima A6M2-N 'Rufe'

After six year as a work in progress - some of this spent on the shelf of doom - I still don't know what made me finish this model in the end, but I can now say it's finally done. Additions included a Hawkeye Designs (#306) resin interior as well as an Eduard etch set (48 299), but as the canopy had been masked off for so long, I had no idea what the cockpit even looked like anymore, or if I'd even done a reasonable job on it.

What probably saved this model from the bin was the fact that I'd at least managed to get the primary colours down - Gunze H336 Hemp, H61 IJN Gray and H65 Midnight Blue - and also that it was a Japanese WWII aircraft, which is my main area of interest. Having Daniel Zamarbide's book - 'Aircraft Scale Modelling FAQ' - at hand also inspired me to try out some new techniques, with the view that if they didn't work out then I'd just discard the model anyway. After applying the decals and a good coat of Future to seal them all in, I was now ready to move onto the final stages of weathering.

As I'd decided to depict this model as an aircraft found on an airfield at the end of hostilities, I wanted it to have a slightly faded and weathered look, but not to the extent of overdoing it. I started with a very dilute and lightened mix of the base colour - 50% H336 Hemp and 50% H325 Gray - which was sprayed on panel by panel on those areas likely to be affected by sunlight, giving the paint a slightly oxidised look and moving towards a light grey. The undersides - wings, tail-planes and floats - were then given an overall misting of the lightened base colour, just to reduce the contrast between the upper and lower surfaces. The same method was also used on the engine cowl but with a mix of 50% H65 Midnight Blue and 50% H325 Gray.

I then added paint chips using the sponge technique and Vallejo's Model Air Steel (71.065) and enhanced these further with a Prismacolor Silver pencil. I then went around the edges of these chips with Vallejo's Red Leather (808) and a Prismacolor Terra Cotta pencil, to depict some of the underling primer. I was then in two minds about what to do next as the model still wasn't depicting the look I was after and it was then that I decided to experiment with Mig's Rainmarks Streaking Effects. I dabbed this on as spot on the upper surfaces of the wings, tailplanes and fuselage and using a brush lightly moistened with white spirits, dragged these in the direction that water would flow to create rain marks in the paintwork. To further accentuate this effect I then stippled it onto panels where water may have pooled, leaving a mottled type of stain. I then added a panel line wash using Mig's PLW Sky Grey (A.MIG-1607) and exhaust, oil and fuel stains using AK Interactive's Air Series of products.

With the weathering completed the model was then sprayed with Vallejo's Satin Acrylic Varnish (26.519), the aerial lead and propeller fitted, the masks removed and all the glazing given a coat of Future. To my surprise the cockpit looked even better than I remembered it - although I do things a little differently now - and in the end I was more than happy with how the model turned out. 

The base consisted of a recycled trophy plaque onto which was glued a printed airfield base from Scale Model Scenery (http://www.scalemodelscenery.com/) with the Marine figure coming from a Total War Miniatures set (http://www.totalwarminiatures.com/). I enhanced the base with some AK Interactive washes and pigments, static grass from Mininatur and some chocks and oil drums, which were cast from the set supplied in the Hasegawa Isuzu TX40 Fuel Truck kit.

Although a long time in the making I'm really glad I held off on this model for as long as I did, as I know I would not have finished it in the manner that I now have, as my modelling techniques have changed significantly over the ensuing years.

Hasegawa 1/48 Hawker Hurricane MK.IIC 'Kings Cup Air Race'

I built this kit for a club display, which take place in November to celebrate the 80th Birthday of the Hawker Hurricane. As a consequence from start to finish it took me just 8 weeks to complete this model, which for me is a real achievement.

The only things I added were an Eduard interior etch set (FE536) - mainly for the seat belts as the interior is almost invisible through the closed canopy - and a set of Aires wheels. The kit went together without any problems and I only used a small amount of filler on the underside aft, wing to fuselage join. I also sanded back the fuselage fabric as I felt it was a little overdone and filled the panel line at the rear of the upper deck as the transition from the timber deck to the fabric fuselage should be a smooth one. 

The model was then masked and primed with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer and painted with Gunze H5 Blue, H9 Gold and Games Workshop Mithril Silver. The decals are the ones supplied in the kit and went on beautifully over a gloss coat of Future, which was also used to seal them in as well. However, the Future gloss coat was far to shiny and to tone it down I over sprayed it with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Gloss and Satin varnish, which gave it much more realistic scale sheen.

This was a really easy and enjoyable kit to build and a nice change from my usual fare of commission builds.

What you find when you least expect it.

On a recent day trip to Trentham, with the intention of visiting the well known waterfall, I somehow missed the signpost and consequently took a wrong turn and by the time I noticed it I'd ended up in the small town of Bullarto.

Pulling into a side road in an attempt to get a GPS fix I suddenly saw what appeared to be an old abandoned sawmill. Being the adventurous type that I am and with a camera to hand I decided to check it out and at first discovered an old Chevrolet Blitz parked under a tree partially covered in blackberries.

As I explored further it was obvious from the undergrowth that the sawmill has been abandoned for some time with a number of vehicles on site slowly succumbing to the forces of nature. However, being in such a remote location off the main road vandalism was noticeably minimal, making the old sawmill all the more interesting.

Having spent a good deal of time exploring the place and realising where I'd gone wrong, I was soon back on the road again in the right direction towards my intended destination, the Trentham Falls.

Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18E 'Super Hornet'

This completes the trio of Hornets I've been building for the last 18 months and I hope it's the last Hornet I have to build for quite some time. It was definitely the easiest of the three to do though, as it only required the addition of an Aires (4295) resin/etch cockpit set, which fitted almost perfectly and is definitely a big improvement over the kit parts.

The only areas which required some attention were the upper and lower fuselage joins around the cockpit and the underside joins on the leading edge extensions. Other than that the rest of the kit went together without any real problems.

The model was painted in the standard colours using Gunze C307 Gray FS36320 for the upper surfaces and Gunze C308 Gray FS36375 for the undersides. Weathering on the model was kept to a minimum - as it represents a CAG aircraft - and the panel lines were given a wash of Vallejo's Light Grey (76.515), with the wheels wells, exhausts and vents treated with a range of washes from the AK Interactive Air Series.

Markings came form a Two Bobs, F/A-18E Rockin' Rhinos sheet (48-162), which went on superbly without any silvering. Hasegawa's series of F-18 Hornet's have to be some of the best on the market to date and with a little care build into a superb rendition of this aircraft, however I'm still not in a hurry to do another one.