At the end of my previous post, I’d got my two Junkers models as far along as I cared to take them before applying decals. And, after two months in some sort of Covid-plus-Brexit-induced postal limbo, my decals from Mika at Arctic Decals finally arrived. These featured the typographically correct letter “N” for LN-ABH, as … Continue reading Revell 1/72 Junkers F13W: Two Builds – Part 4
At the end of my previous post, I had reached the stage of being ready to apply decals to LN-ABH. But with the decals still in Brexit/Covid postal limbo between Finland and Scotland, I turned my attention to the earlier version of this aircraft, registered as D 260, when it was part of the Junkers Spitsbergen … Continue reading Revell 1/72 Junkers F13W: Two Builds – Part 3
By the end of my previous post, I’d completed all the necessary revisions to the kit parts to produce an in-flight model of Gidsken Jakobsen‘s ill-fated Junkers F13 floatplane, LN-ABH. (See the previous post for details of its fate.) Unusually, I painted the fuselage and wing parts before complete assembly—because of the boxy nature of … Continue reading Revell 1/72 Junkers F13W: Two Builds – Part 2
So here I have two slightly different editions of the same kit, because I intend to build models of two distinctly different versions of the same airframe—specifically, Junkers Construction Number 650, which went into service as a float-plane in May 1923. (The “W” in “Junkers F13W” stands for Wasser, which is German for “water”, designating … Continue reading Revell 1/72 Junkers F13W: Two Builds – Part 1
By the end of my previous post in this build log, I’d managed to get the aeroplane mostly assembled and primed. The next task was an all-over coat of Tamiya gloss black (softened with a little white and blue), ready for decals and weathering. Once that was in place, I was able to add the … Continue reading Eduard 1/48 Westland Lysander (Special Duties In France): Part 4
By the end of my previous post, I’d adapted all the major bits and pieces that needed to be adapted. The next thing was to get the fuselage halves closed around the interior, which was less straightforward than usual because the Eduard kit doesn’t provide any sort of locating pins on the fuselage halves—you’ve got … Continue reading Eduard 1/48 Westland Lysander (Special Duties In France): Part 3
At the end of my previous post, I’d completed the assembly of the cockpit and rear compartment of this aircraft. Some more bits and pieces needed to be modified and detailed before I could begin assembly. First, wheels. The Lysander had a spatted fixed undercarriage, with landing lights recessed into the front of the spats. … Continue reading Eduard 1/48 Westland Lysander (Special Duties In France): Part 2
This is Eduard’s reboxing of an old Gavia kit, which has gone through a number of iterations. This “Limited Edition” contains the original Gavia parts, along with additional parts to build a number of different aircraft, together with Eduard’s resin and photoetch detailing, and a welcome set of paint masks for the extensive canopy. (I’d … Continue reading Eduard 1/48 Westland Lysander (Special Duties In France): Part 1
The whole of the effort put into pick-up operations in France throughout the war—measured by aircraft and personnel costs—was minute. In a well proportioned history of World War Two it might deserve a sentence or a footnote. And yet it is hard to imagine how the irregular forces in France could have developed to anything … Continue reading RAF “Special Duties” Pick-Ups In France: Three Memoirs
At the end of my previous post in this build log, I had the basic colour scheme and much of the detailing in place. But there was a significant challenge ahead. Because I’d chosen to build the Optica that appeared in the cult-but-dire science fiction movie Slipstream. And I probably should have researched this a … Continue reading Sharkit 1/72 Edgley EA-7 Optica: Part 2