Cosford Model Show more pictures can me found on my new photo site simply click on the above photo for a direct link
Thursday 9 April 2009
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Cosford Model Show Sunday 5th April 09
Doesn’t seem two minutes since Huddersfield model show before were off to our second model event of the year, longer journey this time down to Shropshire but its twenty years since I have been to the air museum where the event is been held, so a visit is long overdue and with the prospect of seeing all the excellent displays both in scale model & full size form, the new Cold War hanger not to mention all the stalls to spend one’s well earned cash its not surprising I’m full of anticipation as we head south on Sunday morning.
Arriving at just before ten its already looking like the event will be well attended as there are plenty of people on site already, not surprising really these events are popular, it’s a nice day weather wise & entry to the air museum/model show is free, not very often you get anything for free these days! I’m sure this encouraged several families that were in attendance too visit
All four public hangers are been used for the show and its all very well laid out, stalls and model club displays had been placed in and around the full size aircraft which worked well I thought and also helped to distribute people rather than everyone having to fight there way threw, my partner clearly liked the layout too, having felt a little cramped at times at Huddersfield show. To be honest I didn’t know where to start! We just didn’t know where to look first, one thing was immediately apparent, the very high standard of models on display and it wasn’t just aircraft oh no cars, boats, armour, figures were all represented,
By time we had finished in the first two hangers my partner headed to the café for a break leaving my mate and myself to explore I’d already made some purchases and my rucksack reflected this, handy to take to these events as long as there not to large of course my digital camera was working overtime too.
Three of us reunited so we headed into the impressive coldwar hanger which opened a few years ago, wasn’t just the outside of building that was impressive, inside several planes hung from ceiling like the airfix kits we used to hang from our bedroom ceilings back in days when it didn’t matter what the finished kit looked like as long as we had fun building it! and where else in the world can you see Vulcan, Victor and Valiant all under one roof? nowhere! Again more model club stands to explore and the museum shop on way out of the hanger had some reasonably priced books for sale.
After enjoyed our lunch sat in sunshine we ventured into the last hanger, which housed a few Luftwaffe types that were of particular interest to me.
Five hours after arriving (Even my partner admitted time had flown) I was happy I hadn’t missed anything the rucksack was full and I had acquired several bags of goodies on the way so it was time to head home. All in all a very enjoyable day out, well organised, well laid out &
Defiantly an event worth travelling too, Well done also to the organisers who deserved the very good attendance on the day and all the clubs present for making the event so worthwhile!
Doesn’t seem two minutes since Huddersfield model show before were off to our second model event of the year, longer journey this time down to Shropshire but its twenty years since I have been to the air museum where the event is been held, so a visit is long overdue and with the prospect of seeing all the excellent displays both in scale model & full size form, the new Cold War hanger not to mention all the stalls to spend one’s well earned cash its not surprising I’m full of anticipation as we head south on Sunday morning.
Arriving at just before ten its already looking like the event will be well attended as there are plenty of people on site already, not surprising really these events are popular, it’s a nice day weather wise & entry to the air museum/model show is free, not very often you get anything for free these days! I’m sure this encouraged several families that were in attendance too visit
All four public hangers are been used for the show and its all very well laid out, stalls and model club displays had been placed in and around the full size aircraft which worked well I thought and also helped to distribute people rather than everyone having to fight there way threw, my partner clearly liked the layout too, having felt a little cramped at times at Huddersfield show. To be honest I didn’t know where to start! We just didn’t know where to look first, one thing was immediately apparent, the very high standard of models on display and it wasn’t just aircraft oh no cars, boats, armour, figures were all represented,
By time we had finished in the first two hangers my partner headed to the café for a break leaving my mate and myself to explore I’d already made some purchases and my rucksack reflected this, handy to take to these events as long as there not to large of course my digital camera was working overtime too.
Three of us reunited so we headed into the impressive coldwar hanger which opened a few years ago, wasn’t just the outside of building that was impressive, inside several planes hung from ceiling like the airfix kits we used to hang from our bedroom ceilings back in days when it didn’t matter what the finished kit looked like as long as we had fun building it! and where else in the world can you see Vulcan, Victor and Valiant all under one roof? nowhere! Again more model club stands to explore and the museum shop on way out of the hanger had some reasonably priced books for sale.
After enjoyed our lunch sat in sunshine we ventured into the last hanger, which housed a few Luftwaffe types that were of particular interest to me.
Five hours after arriving (Even my partner admitted time had flown) I was happy I hadn’t missed anything the rucksack was full and I had acquired several bags of goodies on the way so it was time to head home. All in all a very enjoyable day out, well organised, well laid out &
Defiantly an event worth travelling too, Well done also to the organisers who deserved the very good attendance on the day and all the clubs present for making the event so worthwhile!
Monday 30 March 2009
HobbyBoss He162 Salamander Kit Review
Hobbyboss sure keep turning out the kits, must be working overtime at their factory! I know some of their more basic kits aimed at younger end of market have been given some stick, I don't wish to get into that here, lets just say I wanted a quick build He162 in my collection and the Hobbyboss kit was available at the very reasonable price of £3.99, well come on we are in a recession!
23 parts make up the kit (Two clear) main front fuselage is all one part, so is the rear fuselage which is also molded into the upper wings so basically once these two parts are together all that needs to be added is tailplanes and engine small amount of filling was required on the two engine halves. I must add the cockpit detail is some what lacking and a little poor overall a very suspect looking seat molded into the cockpit floor doesn’t help matters, looking back I should have attempted to remove the seat molding and add one of my own. But I added straps made from masking tape and with a little dry brushing and side detail added I was happy enough. At this stage the model was undercoated with Halfords Grey and then painted in Humbrol enamels, two colour schemes are provided by the way one a 1/JG1 machine of the Luftwaffe from May 1945 Light blue undersides, Light Green or Brown Violet upperparts. Mr color paint references are used throught.the other a captured Soviet machine from 1946 in an overall Light Gull Grey scheme.
Once painting was complete the whole airframe was left to dry for a few days then model was given a coat of Klear, decals went on with no trouble with no silvering. Only a few basic decals are given with no stenciling and of course the Swastikas came from an aftermarket decal sheet.
Next stage was to add the undercarriage and doors the front undercarriage is all one part, as for the one-piece canopy (Other clear piece in kit is the gun sight) this can be fitted tightly into place without the need for gluing via locating lugs molded into the part itself.
Short service life of these aircraft meant that weathering was kept to a minimum I added the odd paint chip with a silver artists pencil and panel lines were given a wash with citadel black ink.
Unfortunately the model was a tail sitter as I hadn’t put enough weight in the aircraft’s nose so an old coaster was given a blast of Halfords primer and dry brushed with a darker grey to which the model was glued.
So to sum up a nice quick build kit at a very good price, I think the completed model captures the look of the real thing very well, I’m certainly happy with it and can recommend it!
23 parts make up the kit (Two clear) main front fuselage is all one part, so is the rear fuselage which is also molded into the upper wings so basically once these two parts are together all that needs to be added is tailplanes and engine small amount of filling was required on the two engine halves. I must add the cockpit detail is some what lacking and a little poor overall a very suspect looking seat molded into the cockpit floor doesn’t help matters, looking back I should have attempted to remove the seat molding and add one of my own. But I added straps made from masking tape and with a little dry brushing and side detail added I was happy enough. At this stage the model was undercoated with Halfords Grey and then painted in Humbrol enamels, two colour schemes are provided by the way one a 1/JG1 machine of the Luftwaffe from May 1945 Light blue undersides, Light Green or Brown Violet upperparts. Mr color paint references are used throught.the other a captured Soviet machine from 1946 in an overall Light Gull Grey scheme.
Once painting was complete the whole airframe was left to dry for a few days then model was given a coat of Klear, decals went on with no trouble with no silvering. Only a few basic decals are given with no stenciling and of course the Swastikas came from an aftermarket decal sheet.
Next stage was to add the undercarriage and doors the front undercarriage is all one part, as for the one-piece canopy (Other clear piece in kit is the gun sight) this can be fitted tightly into place without the need for gluing via locating lugs molded into the part itself.
Short service life of these aircraft meant that weathering was kept to a minimum I added the odd paint chip with a silver artists pencil and panel lines were given a wash with citadel black ink.
Unfortunately the model was a tail sitter as I hadn’t put enough weight in the aircraft’s nose so an old coaster was given a blast of Halfords primer and dry brushed with a darker grey to which the model was glued.
So to sum up a nice quick build kit at a very good price, I think the completed model captures the look of the real thing very well, I’m certainly happy with it and can recommend it!
Sunday 22 March 2009
Saturday 14 March 2009
Thank you
Very big thank you to everyone who has visited the blog during its short history,please keep checking for updates, & feel free to email my web address to anyone who you think would be interested in visiting the site.
Friday 13 March 2009
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Airfix Henschel Hs123 1:72 Scale
Certainly been a around a few years this one, though as far as I am aware other kits of the Hs123 in this scale are few and far between, on first inspection flash and sink marks are present but its to be expected with the age of the moulds, just means time has to be spent cleaning up the parts before anything can be started. In all 37 injection moulded parts make up this kit with a single clear park for the windscreen, this isn’t the best of clear parts I’ve seen but will do.
Once parts are cleaned up construction can begin after I painted the cockpit area and seat Humbrol 31 there is no other cockpit detail thought to be fair once the fuselage halves are together you can’t see inside the cockpit very well I added a seat cushion made out of bluetack which was painted and a black wash applied.
On to the engine assembly, once the ample flash has been removed and the parts painted silver and washed with citadel ink it looks the part. The front end fits onto the main fuselage with no problems the fuselage halves cause no problems when joined and only a small amount of filler is needed on the underside join and where the two lower wings meet the fuselage. There is a lot of raised detail on the fuselage sides and tail which didn’t look right to me and certainly didn’t show in any pictures I observed off the real thing so a took time to sand all this detail off was worth the effort I think. At this stage the spats and wheels were added, the upperwing which is all one part
Is glued to the struts and this whole assembly left to one side as I knew it would be easier to paint both this and the rest of the airframe with it removed and add it to the rest of the plane later on, also I had already decided to apply markings to represent the Condor legion which would require a certain amount of masking! Another reason for leaving the upperwing off at this point.
There is another colour option of a machine in Luftwaffe markings, this is also a splinter type markings so your going to have to use plenty of tamiya masking tape!
Before painting I applied an undercoat, for this I used Halfords own brand Grey Acrylic Primer, If you haven’t used any of the Halfords car sprays do so! It sprays on easily and gives a good even coverage, dries quickly too allowing you to crack on with the job in hand and another plus, its cheaper the undercoats offered by certain modelling brands!
Undersides were hand painted with Humbrol 65, and the uppersurfaces were again hand painted with Humbrol 87. Next came several sessions of masking the complicated stright edge/splinter camouflage scheme Humbrol 31 and 98 been used to complete the rest of the scheme and tips to the upperwings and rudder were painted white.
Now I’m not the best when it comes to making having only just got back into modelling but my patience paid off and I was happy with the end result. Once all paint was dry I glued the upperwing in place, before applying decals the whole model was given a coat of Johnson’s Klear floor polish which gives a good glossy surface for the decals to adhere too. Unfortunately the airfix decals were poor and several broke up very easily once in water, in the end I had to carefully touch up the black strips on the rudder and the serial numbers on the fuselage sides with black paint, but you can’t tell, no honestly you can’t!
Now onto weathering the airframe, I had painted the engine cowling matt aluminium earlier on during construction so once the top coat of camouflage had been applied and left to dry I stuck celotape on to the cowling then ripped it off exposing the aluminium paint underneath in an attempt to represent chips in the paint this worked well I also decided to add a few chips with a brush again using aluminium paint and further chips were applied with an artists silver pencil basically I was trying out different methods all of which I think worked well. Exhaust streaking round the engine was represented by black pastel applying using an small make up applicator (bought in pack from Superdrug!)
Finally the whole model was given a coat of Humbrol satin varnish spray and hey presto done.
Yes I’m sure there are a few better-moulded kits around but the Airfix kit is readily available having been recently reissued at the very good price of £3.99, despite the poor decals I can defiantly recommend this kit which with a bit of effort can produce a decent looking model.
Certainly been a around a few years this one, though as far as I am aware other kits of the Hs123 in this scale are few and far between, on first inspection flash and sink marks are present but its to be expected with the age of the moulds, just means time has to be spent cleaning up the parts before anything can be started. In all 37 injection moulded parts make up this kit with a single clear park for the windscreen, this isn’t the best of clear parts I’ve seen but will do.
Once parts are cleaned up construction can begin after I painted the cockpit area and seat Humbrol 31 there is no other cockpit detail thought to be fair once the fuselage halves are together you can’t see inside the cockpit very well I added a seat cushion made out of bluetack which was painted and a black wash applied.
On to the engine assembly, once the ample flash has been removed and the parts painted silver and washed with citadel ink it looks the part. The front end fits onto the main fuselage with no problems the fuselage halves cause no problems when joined and only a small amount of filler is needed on the underside join and where the two lower wings meet the fuselage. There is a lot of raised detail on the fuselage sides and tail which didn’t look right to me and certainly didn’t show in any pictures I observed off the real thing so a took time to sand all this detail off was worth the effort I think. At this stage the spats and wheels were added, the upperwing which is all one part
Is glued to the struts and this whole assembly left to one side as I knew it would be easier to paint both this and the rest of the airframe with it removed and add it to the rest of the plane later on, also I had already decided to apply markings to represent the Condor legion which would require a certain amount of masking! Another reason for leaving the upperwing off at this point.
There is another colour option of a machine in Luftwaffe markings, this is also a splinter type markings so your going to have to use plenty of tamiya masking tape!
Before painting I applied an undercoat, for this I used Halfords own brand Grey Acrylic Primer, If you haven’t used any of the Halfords car sprays do so! It sprays on easily and gives a good even coverage, dries quickly too allowing you to crack on with the job in hand and another plus, its cheaper the undercoats offered by certain modelling brands!
Undersides were hand painted with Humbrol 65, and the uppersurfaces were again hand painted with Humbrol 87. Next came several sessions of masking the complicated stright edge/splinter camouflage scheme Humbrol 31 and 98 been used to complete the rest of the scheme and tips to the upperwings and rudder were painted white.
Now I’m not the best when it comes to making having only just got back into modelling but my patience paid off and I was happy with the end result. Once all paint was dry I glued the upperwing in place, before applying decals the whole model was given a coat of Johnson’s Klear floor polish which gives a good glossy surface for the decals to adhere too. Unfortunately the airfix decals were poor and several broke up very easily once in water, in the end I had to carefully touch up the black strips on the rudder and the serial numbers on the fuselage sides with black paint, but you can’t tell, no honestly you can’t!
Now onto weathering the airframe, I had painted the engine cowling matt aluminium earlier on during construction so once the top coat of camouflage had been applied and left to dry I stuck celotape on to the cowling then ripped it off exposing the aluminium paint underneath in an attempt to represent chips in the paint this worked well I also decided to add a few chips with a brush again using aluminium paint and further chips were applied with an artists silver pencil basically I was trying out different methods all of which I think worked well. Exhaust streaking round the engine was represented by black pastel applying using an small make up applicator (bought in pack from Superdrug!)
Finally the whole model was given a coat of Humbrol satin varnish spray and hey presto done.
Yes I’m sure there are a few better-moulded kits around but the Airfix kit is readily available having been recently reissued at the very good price of £3.99, despite the poor decals I can defiantly recommend this kit which with a bit of effort can produce a decent looking model.
Thursday 19 February 2009
Sunday 15th February Huddersfield model show
My first model show for many a year! and one I was certainly looking forward too, arriving at just before 10am I was struggling to find a parking spot! obviously I underestimated how many people would be present first lesson of the day learnt!
Well I must admit I didn’t know where to look first as there was a whole load of models on display to look at, plenty of stalls to explore and boxes of kits and accessories to rummage threw, how will I go on at Telford I hear you ask! after a walk round the outside stalls a quick chat with Brain & Allen my partner and I had managed to set up a sort of pattern round and I was soon spending the well earned cash and taking in the excellent models on show! Only the thought of breakfast broke us away from the main hall. Most add I do like the layout of this event as its handy having food/toilets on hand, my partner did comment that it was a little crowed in places (Never heard her comment on this fact in shopping centres!) and I did agree but this in no way detracted from the event, I was more than happy with my purchases so we did several more laps of the hall taking pictures along the way certainly a very enjoyable event (Yes my partner did enjoy it) and was great to be in the atmosphere of a model show after so long, roll on Cosford!
Enjoy the pictures from the event more will be up-loaded in next few days, click on pics to enlarge.
Well I must admit I didn’t know where to look first as there was a whole load of models on display to look at, plenty of stalls to explore and boxes of kits and accessories to rummage threw, how will I go on at Telford I hear you ask! after a walk round the outside stalls a quick chat with Brain & Allen my partner and I had managed to set up a sort of pattern round and I was soon spending the well earned cash and taking in the excellent models on show! Only the thought of breakfast broke us away from the main hall. Most add I do like the layout of this event as its handy having food/toilets on hand, my partner did comment that it was a little crowed in places (Never heard her comment on this fact in shopping centres!) and I did agree but this in no way detracted from the event, I was more than happy with my purchases so we did several more laps of the hall taking pictures along the way certainly a very enjoyable event (Yes my partner did enjoy it) and was great to be in the atmosphere of a model show after so long, roll on Cosford!
Enjoy the pictures from the event more will be up-loaded in next few days, click on pics to enlarge.
Wednesday 18 February 2009
So here it is my first post for my new blog, firstly If your reading this, thank you for your time and please bookmark this page, tell a friend about this site and continue to return for updates, I welcome all positive comments and feedback.
I would just like to add I have only recently been back building kits the last few months after a break of several years so If any of my posts/comments appear to be lacking a little in information or knowledge this is my excuse why ha ha, now enjoy….
I would just like to add I have only recently been back building kits the last few months after a break of several years so If any of my posts/comments appear to be lacking a little in information or knowledge this is my excuse why ha ha, now enjoy….
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
