1:72 Maquette Ilya Muromets

[IanB]

Thanks for the positive feedback gents, much appreciated!
Antonio and Steve - I used micromesh to polish the transparencies. After reading of others using it a lot to polish canopies and paintwork on car models I bought some and I'm glad I did! It starts at 3200 grit and goes all the way to 12,000. I just used each sheet in turn, leaving the result you see.....

 I'll loose modelling time today due to having to clear the snow from yesterday, but the next step will be to get all the strut and undercarriage mounting points marked and drilled. That should keep me out of mischief for a while....

Ian

[Juan]

Lovely work, Ian! And a great pleasure to follow along. Your attention to detail is fabulous, and there are great tips and hints for us less-skilled modellers! Regards, Marc.

Agree wholeheartedly.  Outstanding.

[lone modeller]

This is a really impressive build. A bit bigger than the two Sopwiths……. A masterclass in improvement. Many thanks.

Stephen.

[andonio64]

... I used micromesh to polish the transparencies. After reading of others using it a lot to polish canopies and paintwork on car models I bought some and I'm glad I did! It starts at 3200 grit and goes all the way to 12,000. I just used each sheet in turn, leaving the result you see.....

Thanks Ian for sharing this technique, I will indeed give it a try!

Antonio

[IanB]

Thanks Juan and Stephen, there's a long way to go yet though.....
I spent 5 hours today looking through pics, measuring, and marking out the strut locations. I started with the upper wings, laying them on the plans and marking them, then I transferred those measurements to the lower wings. The locations didn't match the walkway positions I'd already added which meant either I would have struts that weren't vertical, or the wing walkways wouldn't be in the right place relative to the struts! After a lot more comparing and thinking, I realised that the fuselage for the sharp-nosed Veh is narrower that that of the blunt-nosed version, which is what the plans are for. Since I had marked up the lower wing walkways from these same plans it meant that they were slightly off. I decided the easiest way out was to mark the lower wing strut positions in the right place by lining up the correct positions with the upper wing, and add 0.5mm strips of plastic card to the inner edge of each lower wing to push it out a little and straighten the struts.



A lot of time and thought but well worth the effort, wonky struts just won't work!

Ian

[IanB]

Although I've been quiet for the last week, I have been busy. There's just not much point in posting pics when all I've been doing is cleaning up the joints. This last week has seen a succession of prime, fill, and sand, repeat...more than a couple of times! I finally reached the point where I was happy and got some CDL colour on her over the last couple of days. I have deliberately left the colour a little uneven as I don't want a uniform "painted" look to the linen surfaces.





 There's a little touching up needed around the windows and door but not too much as the framework for the windows will cover most of it. The nose section forward of the side windows will be aluminium so that's not an issue either. The next step will be to get the wing walkways painted: wood for the walkways and aluminium under the engines. I'll do the nose and engine bearers at the same time and will start on that tomorrow.
Thanks for looking in!

Ian

[Des]

Taking shape beautifully Ian.

Des.

[Alexis]

You have been putting a lot of work into this build , she is shaping up lovely so far . Your efforts have paid off excellent .




Terri

[Manni]

Great, very impressive, which effort you put into this kit. Shapes up very nice.
Chapeau,
Manni

[RAGIII]

This one is really looking great Ian! Has anyone mentioned the effort you are putting in is really paying off  Seriously the extras and detailing are awesome!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Very impressive modelling indeed. When the paint is added the improvements really begin to show - and it makes all the time and effort really worthwhile.

Stephen.

[TobyCoulson]

I think the technical term is WOW

[IanB]

Thanks everyone, your feedback is much appreciated!

Not much to report for this week's work as it took 3 or 4 attempts to get the woodwork right and of course, after each failed attempt I had to repaint and wait for it to dry before going any further! However, it is now done, although apparently my masking skills could use a little improvement!



I'll leave that to harden properly before masking for the aluminium areas under the engines, the nose, and the tops of the engine bearers. So due to work schedules, it will be midweek before any further progress is made.

Thanks for looking in!

Ian

[lone modeller]

Nearly missed this. Great work as usual - a little bit of touching in will not matter - you will be the only person to know!

Stephen.

[Des]

Very nice work getting the woodwork painted, a very intricate and fiddly job especially in 1:72 scale.

Des.