Model kits

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the lancaster kicks ass

Major General
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Dec 20, 2003
just wondering, does anybody apart from me make the little plastic model kits, you know, like airfix and revell, if you do could post back, thaught it would be interesting.................
 
I've made plastic models of some different types (sci-fi and planes mostly), but lately I've started putting lots of work into my planes, specifically a 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1A, and this summer I will do a F4U-5 or F4U-5NL (Revell I think). After that I'll probably get a Tamiya F4U-1D, and so on until I have all the variants I can find of 1/48 Corsairs.
 
Take your time (my -1A took several months, although a month or two was waiting for the spray paint to arrive), paint the cockpit before putting it in...don't try to do touch-ups with spray paint unless you mask everything else off (my -1A canopy has a bit of white paint on it, luckily only noticeable up close). Spray paints are the best for the exterior, I used the Tamiya aircraft sprays, expensive but really good finish. Use ground charcoal/pastels for weathering (I got a really nice effect around the gun ports). Use gloss paint or a gloss varnish before adding decals, it makes them look better, and then use a dull varnish afterwards to seal the decals and any other final details (used on my -1A and read from a book, seemed to work fine). Do a bit each day, once you've painted something, leave lots of time before doing something else to it (I would build a bit and paint, then play computer games or read for several hours or would wait overnight to let it dry fully). Next time I'm at home I'll see about getting a few pictures of it.

There's a few other things I haven't tried but want to, but I can't find the right stuff to do it. One thing I read (I worked in a hobby store) shortly after finishing my -1A was how to get the lines between two colours to be blended. You simply use paper cutouts of the areas you don't want sprayed and attach them with blue tack a little above the body so some of the spray will make it under the cutout slightly.
 
I've been building models since I was 12, and I still do it at 21 and in college! Luckily the girlfriend doesn't think I'm a nerd, hehe. I started with the humble Monogram SNAP-TITE B-25 and eventually built the Tamiya 1/48 Lancaster (one of my few forays into the 1/48 market -- it was on sale) I believe I have 75 - 80 1/72 models at the moment...including 8 Spitfires :D

-- Chris
 
I mostly did 1/72 modern planes, then I got Battlefield 1942 (one of the few games that I can fly in that my friends don't hate since they can be good ol' groundpounders :lol: ) and got back to WWII planes, got CFS2, and decided the 1/72 Corsair I got wasn't good enough. I was going to get the 1/32 Corsair, but I decided it was too big for my desk, so now I'll eventually have a lot of 1/48 Corsairs :D

If anyone really wants a nice Mustang, Spitfire, or Stuka (I think there was a Stuka) I've seen the Mustang and Spitifre kits for a 1/24 scale model. They look sweet, lots of details, rubber tires, and lots of other goodies from my quick looks through them. I can't comment on how accurate everything is (meaning the details most people wouldn't care about, like the proper gauges in the right spots) since I don't know what either of the cockpits, the gear bays, treads on the wheels, etc look like exactly from memory and their sizes...

Unfortunately they cost $130 Cdn or so (and there isn't a Corsair)
 
I have done F4U-5NL Corsair model from Revell and took me a while to finish up. Archer, I am also planning to buy Tamiya Corsair Model and I dont know what to get lol, check on the site: http://www.tamiya.com
 
Rafe35 said:
I have done F4U-5NL Corsair model from Revell and took me a while to finish up. Archer, I am also planning to buy Tamiya Corsair Model and I dont know what to get lol, check on the site: http://www.tamiya.com
I have the Revell F4U-5/-5NL sitting under my desk at home to be built in the summer. It's great, I'm friends with the owners of the hobby store in towns son, so at a trade show my friend saw it and the store got it specificly because they knew that I'd buy it :lol:

I did the F4U-1A from Tamiya and it went together well and looks great. All their Corsairs are based on the same parts (ie my -1A came with the cockpit for a -1/-2, a radar pod for the -2, canopies for -1A and -Ds, and fuel tanks for early and -1D models. The only thing I don't like about it is my paint job is good, but still looks pretty bad...so I think I'll be getting a new -1A after I build a -5, -1D, and a -1 or -2, or both. Unfortunately I haven't found any -4s in 1/48 yet :( The Tamiya kits are quite expensive, but compared to the 1/72 planes I built they are much better quality. Their aircraft spray paints are also really good, but again, expensive.
 
I've been building models and painting miniatures since the '60's :oops: but I haven't done any lately; I've found that 3D models don't take up as much room, never require dusting, can't be broken by beastly children, and can be animated, to boot!
 
I have built most of the US series of WW2 fighters and Bombers and also a balsa wood P-51 rubber band powered model that actually flew without breaking. The detail of any of the Japanese models is the best. I just purchased another plastic P-38 model recently and I see by the box it was made in China. I was surprised to see how detailed the parts were. There was very little flash but trimming was no problem. The P-38 was easy to assemble and it looks quite good. I hang them from my basement ceiling and they are fun to look at and be an armchair pilot.
 
it gives me...........................funny dreams *staring*.....................
 
ahanswurst said:
I have built most of the US series of WW2 fighters and Bombers and also a balsa wood P-51 rubber band powered model that actually flew without breaking. The detail of any of the Japanese models is the best. I just purchased another plastic P-38 model recently and I see by the box it was made in China. I was surprised to see how detailed the parts were. There was very little flash but trimming was no problem. The P-38 was easy to assemble and it looks quite good. I hang them from my basement ceiling and they are fun to look at and be an armchair pilot.

is that a Revell P-38 ahanswurst? the one that can be a fighter (Richard Bong's) a nightfighter or a pathfinder? i want to get that one but i dont know if i have the patience...
 
The Revell P-38 is not too hard to assemble. My P-38 was a Chinese model and no name. But I liked the Revell P-38 model because of the decals included. I painted all of the parts while they were still connected to their plastic trees. Then I cut the pieces off and touched up the area. It takes a long time but the finished P-38 looks good. So try it what do you have to lose ?
 

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