The Australian Model Expo 2015

Brad Fallen won the 'Best of Show' award with his Wingnut Wings FE.2B Late

Academy 1/32 F/A-18C & F/A-18D 'Hornet'

After almost fourteen months of hard work, I've finally completed the largest and most complex builds I've done to date and at times I even wondered if I'd ever get them finished.

When I was asked to build these models I initially had no idea of what to expect and merely thought they were going to be a simple out of box build. However, upon receiving the kits and opening the boxes I soon discovered that both contained a resin aftermarket cockpit set - from Cutting Edge and Black Box - as well as an Eduard 'Big Ed' etch set and started to wonder if I really knew what I was letting myself in for?

However, once I got my head around them I then just looked upon them as another pair of kits to build, which might provide a few challenges along the way and certainly proved to be the case. Because of this I decided to build them in tandem and although it's something I haven't done before, it proved to be the best decision to make.

For the most part the kits went together without any problems and as long as attention is paid to their assembly and cleaning up, the outcome will be rewarding. However, don't be lured into a sense of false hope as these kits do have their faults and the ones I had to deal with during the build were as follows:

• Many of the fasteners and panel lines on both kits were either shallow or non-existent and therefore, all were re-drilled and re-scribed, which is a mammoth task in itself.
• There was also a considerable step on both the upper and lower fuselage lip when the exhaust cones were fitted. This required a considerable amount of filing to ensure a good fit all-round, followed re-scribing of the panel line detail.
• The fitment of the intake lips is the biggest flaw with these kits and the reviews I read on the internet all said the same thing. To rectify this I resorted to separating both the fore and aft sections of the intake/exhaust trunks and then cut them in half. Another 1cm of material was then removed from the rear section of the intake trunks - aft of the turbine blank - and they were then glued directly onto the intake lips, which helped to align them in the correct position. Using a pair of side cutters I then removed a considerable amount of material from the rear face of the intake splitter plates, which was then followed by a lot of filing, sanding and dry fitting. Once the fit of the intake lips to the fuselage was as good as I could get them, they were glued into place and the small step around the periphery filed and sanded to shape. It took a considerable amount of time and effort to achieve a good fit and Academy should more to make this a lot easier.

With assembly completed the models were then sprayed with Tamiya Surface Primer L and the main colours painted with Gunze C307 Gray FS 36320 (for top surfaces), Gunze C308 Gray FS 36375 (for side and lower surfaces), C318 Radome (for the nose cone tips) and for a bit of variation the radome of the F/A-18C was painted with Gunze C35 IJN Gray. The bodies of  the missiles, bombs and drop tanks were painted with Gunze H308 Gray FS 36375 and the remaining items using a range of Gunze, Vallejo and Citadel (Games Workshop) colours.

The model was then sprayed with several light coats of Future, followed by the application of the decals. Although the decals are produced by Cartograf - which are usually very nice - I found the multi-coloured ones to be quite thick and they didn't respond to setting/softening solution as well as expected. I also had to contend with a considerable number of decals silvering despite my best efforts to alleviate this with several coats of Future both before and after their application.

The panel lines and details were then given a pin wash of Vallejo's Model Wash Light Grey (76.515), after which the models were then sprayed with a coat of Vallejo's Satin Varnish. Weathering on both was also kept to a minimum and limited to just APU exhaust, gun exhaust, engine vents and underside panels, as both represent a CAG aircraft, which are usually kept in immaculate condition.

Moebius 'Battlestar Galactica'

This is my third sci-fi subject to date and I've finally started to accept these kits for what they are - warts and all - and understand that it is less about the building and more about the painting when it comes to making them work.

With all the nice big chunky pieces the build proved to be a relatively straight forward task, whereas the cleanup on the other hand was quite fiddly and time consuming. Because of the latter I decided to add a set of Para Grafix etched hull inserts, which are a big improvement over the kits hull bays and hide some horrible gaps in these areas. Although they required a bit of care and effort to fit in are well worth it in the end.

With construction and cleanup completed the model was then given a coat of Citadel Chaos Black primer, followed by a coat Gunze H307 Gray overall. Raised areas were then sprayed with a very dilute highlight of Gunze H308 Gray, the engine bays with Gunze H317 Gray and individual panels done free hand (no masking) with Gunze H306 Gray and H337 Grayish Blue. The areas for the red bands were then masked and sprayed with Gunze H327 Red.

With painting completed, the model was then given an overall coat of Future and the single upper fuselage decal was then applied. A variety of washes from both the Vallejo and AK Interactive ranges were then applied along with some scorch marks using the sponge technique and Vallejo 70822 German Cam Black Brown. The base for the stand was then painted free hand using Games Workshop Shining Gold.

I enjoyed this subject because of its ease of construction, the lack of restrictions when it came to painting it and because it was a nice break from the more complex builds that I normally do.

History Comes Alive 2015

The third bi-annual 'History Comes Alive' event, which is organised by the Geelong Branch of the Military Historical Society (MHS) and the Geelong Military Re-enactment Group (GMRG) was held over the weekend of the 18-19 April 2015, at the Barwon Park Mansion in Winchelsea.

In keeping with the WWI Centenary commemorations, the theme for this years event was 'Gallipoli Before & Beyond' and as usual the grounds of the mansion were once again transformed into a number of military encampments. These displayed a variety of military equipment and vehicles all relevant to the various periods, with members of the MHS and CMRG dressed-up in period uniforms to help set the scene.

A number of military re-enactments were also performed throughout the day, with CMRG members re-enacting a Gallipoli

trench scene from the 'Neck' as well as a modern day Iraqi IED patrol, with the latter performed by a few well equipped Humvee's complete with explosions, gunfire and coloured smoke.

Despite it being a very cold day the sun did appear on occasions, but by mid-afternoon I decided to call it a day due to the strong winds, which were playing havoc with the dust. Although there seemed to be fewer vehicles in attendance this year there was still enough there to be of interest and to make it worthwhile day out.