April 2009 Ping

[R.F.Bennett]

PING!


STATUS REPORTS! ALL HANDS REPORT!

Gallery Stats:   

2395 files in 189 albums and 16 categories with 269 comments viewed 104502 times

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Total Members:     81
Total Posts:    1988
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Most Online:    68 - August 07, 2008, 05:36:35 PM
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[lastvautour]

Sunshine and warm breezes, no, that is not here! Which makes staying in more pleasurable. Currently on the bench:

1/144 scale

Trackers - sanding some more
HMCS Bonaventure -attached 3rd deck and have material for 4th deck in waiting.
SO4050 Vautour - primed with grey paint

1/72

Nil

1/48

Canadair Argus - outboard nacelle rough cut

1/32

Lockheed Hudson - cam paint applied. Will cover in gloss for decal application
Lockheed Starfighter - all pieces block cut and awaiting contour shaping


Lou

[Paul]

Assembled the Heinkel 113, scribed panel lines, and started painting it.  I guess I didn't let my primer cure long enough, or I used too much thiner in my first coat of paint.  I got a beautiful antique-style crackle finish, but not quite what I was shooting for.    So, I'm back to the sanding and priming stage.  Next time I'll use an acrylic instead of enamel on top of my enamel primer.  I think I'll start a Mitsubishi Ki-15 to distract me between layers of paint.

Thanks Lou for the warning about the scale of the Richard Ferriere plans.  I checked the dimensions of the Heinkel to my plans.  They seem OK and resemble the photos I've seen.

[Boomerang]

Continuing on with the Gloster VI.
Starting a Cierva C25 from the drawings in June 1989 Aeroplane Monthly.

Cheers
Gordon

[Lotus-14]

Too many projects to list, but it the world of solids; I'm working on the following:

1.   Strombecker California.  I have two California's which I got off of eBay, as partially complete models, but without the plans, and missing pieces.  With my complete kit, I plan to replicate the missing pieces, dismantle, and rebuild one to the kit design, and the other to the actual outline of the California from other plans.  The models will be probably be painted 1/1941 Measure 1 (Dark and light gray), as at Pearl Harbor.
2.   Strombecker Nautilus.  Again a partially built model, I plan to restore to the model with some alteration to little more closely resemble to the actual sub.  The Strombecker conning tower isn't even close. The model will be probably be painted 1/1941 Measure 9 (Black).
3.   Strombecker Yorktown.  I have an old kit with only two parts, but I picked up the plans on eBay, and plan on building it to the model, with some slight changes.  The model will be probably be painted 9/41 Measure 12 (Sea Blue, Ocean and Haze gray).
4.   Ideal Farragut.  I have a built up model, which I plan to restore, with some very minor alterations, again to get it a little closer to the actual outline.  The model will be probably be painted 6/42 Measure 21 (Navy Blue).

I have a reasonable collection of old kits, and sometimes will build replicas without using the original material.  In the case of the above projects, I will salvage some parts and replicate others. 
The Ideal Farragut is reasonably accurate and only has a few very minor changes to the flash shields and the gun shapes.  I don't change the models to full scale shape, but try and keep the spirit of the original kit design.
In the case of the Strombecker models, for some reason, and not just for simplification, they made very odd changes to the shape of their ships.  They could have never been used as an I.D. model, for example.  I would not use a complete kit to make the model, but on eBay, and at garage sales I have found completed models, most missing parts, which I use as a basis for a model.
I would someday like to have one of each of the small Strombecker ships, I am missing the Warrington, Tacoma, and what I think is the Texas, but I have never seen it.  There is also a larger Brooklyn, but it was part of a separate series.

[lmsjim]

I have been busy on my two Lionel layouts but have found time to work on a few solid wood projects. I have rebuilt or restored a couple of the pre-WWII Strombecker ships and am currently working on a Strombecker Boeing Stratoliner. I will post the results when I get a little more time.

[Balsabasher]

Just uploaded pictures of last weeks project the Armstrong Whitworth AW.52 Flying Wing,this is currently having primer applied and lots of sanding to do after that.

Currently looking for plans for the Cunliffe Own Concordia and Armstrong Whitworth Apollo airliner to build solids of these short lived but well ahead of their time aircraft,large blocks of timber are held in reserve for these subjects.

Bagged up and all cut out as blanks are the following types-Brewster Bermuda,Fairchild Argus,Bell Airacuda,Curtiss Owl.

At the carving stage is a Stinson Vigiliant shown in the album.

Just downloaded the drawings from SMM for the Westland S-51 and Sikorsky X5 helicopter's,also like the DH.110 and Boulton Paul 111 which I remember well as the old Veron kits.

Has anyone worked out the best way to download the plans yet ? I fiddled around in paintshop to try and resize them but there must be an easier way of doing things.

So plenty to get on with,subjects tend to be simple solids these days as time is so precious,I have been studying for the past 6 months which has been very demanding on time and stamina levels.
Balsabasher.

[R.F.Bennett]

Log in to the gallery, look for the "add to favorites" button on the gallery page of the image you want. NOT on the Full size image, but the page you click on to open the full size image. Go to the main gallery page and find "My Favorites" on the right next to search. Click that, Small white words at the right top of the box say, "Download as Zip file" click it and it will download your favorite plans. Be carefull the more favorites you have the longer it will take to download.

[Oceaneer99]

Paul,

Your Heinkel looks fantastic!

Garet

[R.F.Bennett]

Don't Panic!

Solid Model Memories has not been abandoned! 

We are experiencing a lack of activity that happens about this time every year. 
I like to call it "The Spring Thaw!" 
Since most of our membership resides in the Northern Hemisphere where Spring is springing (Except in Washington)
and little ones are getting out of school. Most modelers dig their way out of their sawdust encrusted caves and begin to reacquaint themselves with the outside world. They go to museums and airshows, family reunions, fishing, ect . . .
So SMM begins a bit of a Spring/Summer Hibernation and things grow very quiet. 
What's that!? You don't want it too! Well post something then. . . Build a Model and tell us about it! 
Answer the PING!
Get ta Work!         

[lastvautour]

Planted my Dahlias today and will put in some more tomorrow. In the cave, the Hudson is coming along, the Bonnie's hull is carved but not sanded, the F-104 is carved but not sanded, and everything else is getting a little attention each week, but no startling advances. This must be mid-month madness time?

As for the rest of you, get carving 

[Oceaneer99]

Aargh!  I went to hang my repaired P-40 model (it took a nose dive from the ceiling a few months back) last night, and it fell tail first this time, breaking off the tail surfaces with a crack through the aft fuselage.  So she's back in the shop for repairs.

My pink PRU Spitfire is sporting its new tail wheel.  I'm going to give it another coat of Future before I declare it truly finished.

My son's kayak is just about finished, with only deck straps to go.  I'm carving a Greenland-style paddle for him, and this has been the opportunity to use all sorts of hand tools, including my really big Swedish carving knife, my spokeshave, and my drawknife.  One side is now to the planed, 8-sided state, with the other just rough-carved to eight sides.  The final cross section will vary between diamond-shaped and oval along its length, so the bevels I cut twist along their length.

Garet

[R.F.Bennett]

My PT-09 Has torpedo tubes and gun turrets now. 
The head is still just a coffee can. 

[dave_t]

I never leave the cave. Is it April already???

[Balsabasher]

My cave extends to the outside in April where the dust can blow away in the wind,had a lovely full day today carving my latest project a big Consolidated PB2Y-2 Coronado flying boat with the sun warm on my back,the fuselage is made from 'real' De Havilland Mosquito balsa block sold post war to model shops as surplus to the shadow factories.
Pictures will be up soon of my two latest models,lots of card templates in the wings for some of the great plans placed here.
Today people watched in awe as I carved that Coronado,people do enjoy watching real craftsmanship at work still despite this throw away rattle the box age we live in,my workshop is on a trading estate so plenty of people coming and going.
Enjoy the spring weather,Balsabasher.