Mucklefest (Muckleford)

This was one of those events I discovered via Facebook, which is held in conjunction with the Victorian Goldfields Railway at their station in Muckleford. As it promised to be a nice day and I'm always up for a drive in the country I decided to go and have a look. Although it wasn't the biggest event of its kind that I've been to there was still enough of interest to keep me occupied and entertained for a few hours. If you've not been before it's well worth a visit and all entry fees go towards the local CFA volunteer fire brigade.

 

MPM 1/72 Gloster Meteor F Mk.8

Like the Vampire I only bought this kit because it was going out at half price at a closing down sale and what made it even more attractive was that it was the upgrade kit, which meant it contained a colour cockpit photo etch set, resin ejection seat and markings for six RAAF aircraft.

The kit went together without any problems but a little rework was required to reduce the wings and tail-planes trailing edge thickness and also to reshape the fin bullet, which was considerably oversize. Some plastic card and filler was also required to fill the lower wing to fuselage join, but otherwise all other joins were cleaned up with just a file and a little sanding.

Although the kit also included the underwing rockets and rocket rails I chose not to fit them as they seemed to be a lot of work, however I did opt to fit the under fuselage fuel tank as they were always a prominent fixture on the Korean War Meteors.

After priming the model it was then sprayed with Tamiya AS12 Bare Metal Silver, which I'd decanted into container and mixed with a little Gunze Leveling Thinner. The model was then sprayed with a coat of Future and after which the decals and a pin wash were applied. At this stage I felt the decals and paint finish looked far to bright for a Korean era aircraft, so to tone it down over-sprayed the model with a very dilute mix of Gunze H308 Gray. This was a fun build and if you can get your hands on the kit I'd highly recommend it.

Azur 1/72 de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk.5

The only reason I bought this kit was because it was going out at half price at a closing down sale and being a subject I've always had an interest I thought well, why not. Despite it's scale I was really impressed the kits overall level of detail and the build proved to be an absolute breeze with no need for any filler. The only additions to the kit were a set of Eduard seat-belts and aerials made from thin wire and the main landing gear struts were also cut and shortened to give the model the correct tail-down sit.

With construction done the model was then cleaned, primed and painted with Gunze H54 Navy Blue followed by a coat of Future. The kit decals were really thin and went on without any poblems using Micro Set and Micro Sol and conformed beautifully to all the surface detail. At this point I was really pleased with the finish of the model and was in two minds on whether to apply a panel line wash or not, however, I went ahead with it and applied a 50-50 mix of Vallejo Light Grey (75.515) and White (76.501). Pleased with the final appearance I then applied 50-50 mix of Vallejo Gloss (70.510) and Satin Varnish (26.519), which gave the model a nice scale semi-gloss finish as seen in the photo above.

This is a really nice kit and one I'd highly recommend to anyone with a passing interest in de Havilland's beautiful Vampire. 

Blitzes & Bitzes - Part 2 (Bullarto)

I've been noticeably absent from my Blog over the last few months mainly due to a recent hospital stay, which was then followed by protracted recovery period where I was unable to sit or stand for anything longer than 5-10 minutes at a time. However, having fully recovered and being able to drive again I decided to celebrate by taking a short drive to the small town of Bullarto to do some further exploring.

My first stops were at the stations of Musk and Bullarto, part of the Daylesford Spa Country Railway, after which I then drove down some of the smaller laneways in the hope of finding anything of interest. As I passed one farm I noticed some trucks parked in a paddock and upon further examination found even more vehicles parked in a corner near a grove of trees. For me this was yet another great find and proves that there's still a lot more to discover in and around this area, with another trip definitely being on the cards.

Roden 1/35 British Armoured Car Pattern 1920

Yet again my modelling buddies decided we'd tackle something entirely different as our challenge subject for this years Australian Model Expo and therefore settled on the Roden 1/35 scale British Armoured Car, which is not known for being the easiest kit to build.

As per the instructions I started on the chassis, which consisted of a myriad of parts that all required a significant amount of cleanup. Assembly of the chassis also proved to be a bit of a challenge as many of the parts are quite small and very delicate and require a lot of care to ensure that everything is properly aligned and square, but once assembled it does make into a very rigid structure.

With the chassis, engine and running gear completed I then moved onto the bodywork with all of the parts requiring a small amount of cleanup as well. Although assembly of the bodywork is fairly straight forward care also required to ensure that everything fits and this is particularly relevant when it comes to assembling the turret. With the bodywork completed it was then fitted to the chassis and thankfully all four wheels sat perfectly flat in contact with the ground, with no twists or misalignment, which is something that could've easily ended up being very different.

With all of the assembly completed I then brushed a coat of Mr Surfaces 1000 over the entire bodywork and turret - not the rear tray - to give it some texture, followed by a coat of primer. I then used the roundel decal to make a set of paint masks, which I used to mask off and spray the three colours on the top of the turret. This seemed to be a much easier way of tackling the area instead of trying to get the decals to conform to the hatch and rivets. The rest of the model was then sprayed using Gunze Mr Hobby Color paints and weathered with AK Interactive filters and washes.

To give the model some life I decided to add a figure, but had nothing in my collection that was really suitable. Fortunately for me though a friend of mine who has a large collection of figure parts, which he allowed me to go through and take whatever I wanted. From this I was able to cobble together a figure and finished it using a range of Vallejo paints.

So was this model really that much of a challenge to build? Most definitely! But one concern I still have is about the longevity of the vinyl tyres as they have a very sticky feel to them, which persists to this day. Despite being washed in a strong detergent, having been wiped with a mild solvent, having been sanded, been primed and sprayed with a coat of paint it seems to have made very little difference. Therefore, if your thinking of building this kit one day then definitely invest in a set of resin replacement wheels.

The Australian Model Expo 2016

Mark Carlisle won the 'Best Of Show' award with his 'Sygma Ophidian Adept'