Like many Australians I model in a shed or garage which is subject to the effects of our climate. At the moment that’s meant many days are not suitable for modelling.
I’ve managed some more work on the 1.144 radar but with small parts it’s been a bit of a slog. My wife wanted the brass to be left unpainted so I’ve complimented that with gun metal for the resin parts.
That’s unfortunately highlighted a few sanding errors so it will take a little longer while that gets sorted and yes I broke off one of the support arms also.
The FW Ta 183 is stalled in this weather awaiting a Goldilocks day when I can paint.
And lastly the scene of Antageddon is now restored.I managed to break my big perspex sheet which has been replaced by two smaller sheets that will allow more storage space.
Regular readers will know I spent last year doing a regular weekly Sunday night update which will not continue this year.
About a week ago I had a massive ant infestation that covered many of my old models in both ants and their eggs which was truly horrible. I’ve nuked them and below are the results – this was towards the end of the destruction when the eggs were gone and so were many of the ants –
And some of the dead –
In between time I have gone back to doing some of the 1/144 Wurzberg radar – I now have a sanctioned colour scheme of the resin parts in gunmetal grey and the brass to be left in brass.
Like most brass kits it’s just a matter of following the instructions carefully and taking your time. It’s quite small as you can see below. The other thing is to use a sharp new blade and change it regularly.
And lastly the primer plus Italian late war grey is now on the FwTa 283. The only problem is that the Tamiya primer I put down first is VERY close in colour to the Vallejo version of this grey. I’m sure I’ve sprayed it all and any colour variation will just have to stay.
I was intending to airbrush the upper green on today but it’s way too moist for that after the rain which hasn’t left yet.
I’ve been following a number of recent posts on various parts of the Interwebs about Modelling and it’s mental health benefits of which I soundly agree with. I’ve even seen a post pointing out some of the potential mental health issues around excessive competitiveness, anger management (think models hitting walls etc) and stashes leading to hoarding etc.
One thing that I haven’t seen directly mentioned is that how you feel when you sit down to a modelling session. For me this is often indicative of my mental health. If I can’t relax enough to even start something then I’m probably not in a good place. I can sometimes get around this by choosing something simple like a bit of sanding to get me into a more zen like state but sometimes even that is not possible.
I try not to force it and go and do something else and come back another day and sometimes this can go on for a while. Clearing the desk and starting something new can help but the feeling of failure as another kit goes to the Shelf of Doom can be counter productive. As my partner says “Remember it’s a hobby” and then she laughs as it’s not always just that.
WordPress sent me a summary for the year a week back telling me how many people looked at this mess occasionally – in my case the below was not my reaction – it was around 15 which was higher than I thought it would be.
Actually it isn’t but that’s the last of the weekly blog updates. This was a one year project to see whether I could actually do this. Seems I could but I’d like to go back to doing my updates on a less regular basis with a little less pressure.
Most people do a year end analysis of what they did modelling wise with all the kits they finished and a listing of the almosts. I only finished a single kit this year but worked on many others. The kit finished was this old Academy fuel truck with some additions that I started work on many years ago.
The above is not a great photo but I was happy enough with the kit. If you scroll back over the last year you will see what I worked on – I’m too lazy to do this tonight.
Currently the Fw Ta283 is going quite well and is almost up to needing some primer. I was hoping to get to that but it still needed a tiny bit of primer and just a little more seam scribing. I’ve even got as far as selecting an easy paint scheme of Italian green over grey – the instructions have the FS codes so I just need to work out the appropriate Vallejo colours to maybe paint it in the New Year. Any help on this is welcome.
Above are the three tools I mostly use for scribing from left to right – a scalpel – a tool I got many years ago and a Dispae tool I got this year.
Whilst I was poking around in my cupboards I noticed I had a slight ant problem – I’m not a big fan of insecticides but given they have colonised where some of my old kits are stored it’s now war and Antrid has been put down today. In a few days hopefully it will be over and I can start the cleanup. This is the first time in 30 years this has been a problem.
It’s been a busy year with lots of personal stuff including my two children’s weddings, turning a significant age, and a six week overseas holiday and some work issues so in spite of that I squeezed in some good modelling time.
No New Year resolutions but maybe a hope for a quieter year and more modelling time.
After nearly a week of feeling crook I’m slowly recovering. The Ta 283 is finally closed up and I’m up to the second PSR cycle. I took a bit more care than usual in alignment and my first PSR cycle so hopefully it will not be too long till I add the wings and tailplanes/ramjets.
The front wheel strut support came loose so I’m leaving that off for the moment. The main strut is slightly off kilter so will need straightening later.
And a Perrons tree frog. These guys only come out when we get a fair bit of rain.
This was my progress on Saturday. It’s almost ready to close up except for my AMS it would have been. Sunday I was not well so this has lain dormant since then.
I still need to fix up the headrest area and fiddle with the main wheel struts. These are problematic trying to get them even so the wheels sit partly in the wheel wells with correct spread and facing forward.I thought I’d lost one strut trying to fit it in but the RLM02 strut had disappeared into the RLM02 wheel well instead. Just a few swear words accompanied that experience.
The Fw Ta 183 is almost ready to have the main body joined up. I’m still having issues with gaps at the internal bulkheads for the cockpit and u/c bays but they’re close enough that a little plastic filler should solve the problem.
I also purchased some Abteilung 502 pigments and some of their neutral grey oil paint that I want to try out on a German mini sub. These were from my local hobby store which is more like Warhammer in its style but in a warehouse so more space. Given its 5 minutes walk away this is very tempting.
Next week is busy with personal stuff but the weekend is free at least so I hope to get this joined up.
I got back on Wednesday night but didn’t really do any modelling this week.
Mostly unpacking, putting things up and settling in again.
I did get some quick photos of all my booty and the new decorations but apart from putting the Fw Ta 283 box on the bench and starting to sort through the photos from OS nothing else was done.
If you are an arachnophobe do not scroll any further.
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You were warned ! She is I think related to the St Andrews Cross spider but bigger with more muted markings. They seem to be an occasional visitor when the conditions are right.
I had to move her away from the side gate as not everyone here is quite as tolerant as I am.
So no real modelling done of course or anything modelling related after Telford but I bought some more related books.
Most of these aren’t that thick except the Monte Cassino book which is quite thick and heavy and at 50GBP or around $98 Aud. This is one from the THEN and NOW series and one I’ve wanted for a while.
Cosford is the Air Force Museum location about ten minutes by train and 15 minutes walk from Telford the site of the UK IPMS’s yearly model show.
This was my third visit with lots of Luft46 rockets etc and strangely enough I received email notice from Airfix as I had just finished photographing the full scale Me 410 that they would be doing a 1.72 kit that would be available at the show.
This was rather weird.
Saturday was a full day from 9 to 6 spent at the show and a half day on the Sunday.
Lots of people with far better cameras and abilities have posted photos and videos so I’ve only attached a few of my favourites that I took.
This was my third and probably last Telford but I walked away very satisfied that I had the fullest possible experience including the social experience.
I must also say that the head judge was a master of diplomacy and was clear in that what was being judged was art and hence would always be subjective. I also liked his statement that some people would be over invested in their model winning.
I can only agree as I don’t always agree with the judging decisions but mostly I feel the judges do get it right and in some cases some people will never be happy unless they win.
The above two were part of a club competition for a model on a beer mart sized base with no overhang permitted and a height limit.
Next week will be the last holiday post but it will likely be low in modelling content and lastly some books etc. I bought.
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