1/48 scale ICM Hampden Mk.1

[RAGIII]

Looking Fantastic! I have been thinking about one of those UV set ups. You May have convinced Me!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

What a pity so much lovely detail will be barely seen....have you thought about making some clear parts or cut-aways to enable viewers to see more?

Stephen.

[Alexis]

Okay , not the pretties of aircraft but that is some beautiful work .



Alexis

[gedmundson]

Thanks to all for your comments - and yes, Alexis...there are so many early-war British aircraft that look very ungainly and this one is definitely a candidate...but in an interesting kinda way.

What a pity so much lovely detail will be barely seen....have you thought about making some clear parts or cut-aways to enable viewers to see more?

Stephen.

Thanks for the thought, Stephen - as with most aircraft I make, I prefer the overall look to be of the closed-up configuration and try to get it as realistic looking as possible. There's plenty to see through the glazings, and I may open the canopy on this cockpit since the ITA details are worth exposing.

As most of us have found, there are moments that we'd rather do over again properly during the building of a model. I noticed an open seam on the glazed nose of the aircraft that needed filling, and I though I'd be really clever and insert a small strip of stretched-sprue into it.  I'm not sure why I didn't listen to the voices in my head that said "remove that tape first" or "fix it later", but I went ahead and tried to add some Tamiya Extra Thin Cement to the nose with the masking tape still in place. Probably the most stupid move of my modelling life. Sure enough...when I dared check underneath...the glue had wicked into the tape and marred the nose glazing. A trip to the hobby shop for Tamiya polishing compounds (three types) and two days of polishing and re-polishing later I was able to get it back to an acceptable appearance, but it will never be quite perfect. Continuing with the painting as we speak.
Cheers!

DSC_3272c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr
Cement wicked under the masking tape making this horrible mess on the most prolific feature of the model.

DSC_3270c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr
The model measures out at a wingspan of 44cm which isn't quite a big as my ICM Heinkel, but still a large kit.

[DaddyO]

Noooooooooooooooo

Hate it when you do something like that; you can see a potential 'issue', but press on regardless 

Hopefully the polishing brings it back from the brink of destruction. Would it be possible to get a spare canopy from the manufacturer perchance?

Paul

[gedmundson]

Would it be possible to get a spare canopy from the manufacturer perchance?

Paul

I considered that Paul, but the logistics involved in removing the glazings from the fuselage (to replace them with new ones) would have possibly caused even worse damage to the model. The effected glazings polished out fairly well - with a LOT of effort.
Cheers!

[NigelR]

Doh! We've all been there........ Glad you didn't decide to consign it to the shelf of doom.....

[lone modeller]

That is a real b.....er Gary. I sincerely hope that the polishing/elbow grease combination will have removed the marks - at least enough that nobody will notice unless you tell them....

Stephen.

[gedmundson]

Thanks Stephen & Nigel - I always try to figure out a plan forward and realize that every project (of mine, anyway) is a compromise of some sort if I'm going to finish it. A lot of my modelling friends struggle with compromise and never finish anything.

As I'd mentioned earlier - I acquired a couple of 3D printed figures from MODELU for this project, and initially wasn't impressed with the fidelity of the detail on first inspection. I have to say after painting them up, they seem to be acceptable looking figures for a 1/48 aircraft vignette. I struggled to make out the small details, and had to refer to references of British WW2 equipment to make out what was what. The painting guide is basically the small photo of the two "posers" for the figures (from my initial post here) so I struggled to get the proper colours for the different bits of equipment used for these two airmen. They were finished with Vallejo acrylics, and I tried out some new Tamiya HGII paintbrushes which worked well. Also still enjoying the Tamiya PRO II sables, too.

Cheers!

DSC_3281c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr

DSC_3280c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr

DSC_3282c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr

DSC_3286c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr

DSC_3285c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr

DSC_3283c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr

[NigelR]

The figures look great for 1/48 scale - that's pretty small! I have just tried one of the Tamiya HGII brushes and have to say I like it.

[DaddyO]

Figures looking nice Gary and always good to hear about what brushes people are using. These smaller figures can take as long as the big stuff I've found, but I like the overall feel you've managed on them

Paul

[RAGIII]

I know the feeling of pressing on when you know you shouldn't. Done it many times, then had to go back and repair My error!  As for the figures, Brilliant as always!
RAGIII

[gedmundson]

Thanks Nigel, Paul & Rick! I've been making slow progress on several aspects of the build these past few days.

The Bristol engine assemblies have the exhaust accumulator rings at the front, and I've seen these called out in many bright colours in the past. Wartime photos have all kinds of weathered looks to these areas - and if you are lucky enough to find a "genuine" colour photo from that period it can be helpful in determining how to paint them. I chose to mask off the black/dark earth/green camo first, then airbrush the rings with Alclad II Brass, followed with a gentle, diluted airbrushing of a Tamiya acrylic mix of smoke, NATO black and a touch of brown.

I had never applied a black underside to a model before, and studied a few on-line builds as how best to emulate a weathered look to it. experimenting on some spare parts first, the process I used was to airbrush on a base coat of NATO black, protect it with a fine gloss coat, then add some small patches of XF-63 German Grey on the many panels. After again protecting this with gloss, I added a medium grey mix of oil paint thinned with mineral spirits to the surface detail (and the engraved panel lines and rivet detail is very nicely done on this kit). After about 45 minutes I wiped this off using a cotton bud. Pleased with my experimental results, I went ahead on the model working in small sections at a time.

To complete the underside before I begin on the upper surfaces, I tried to add the stencil markings using the 1ManArmy mask set. I'm absolutely amazed at how well these stencils work at that scale. I had used the 1/32 Spitfire set previously...but wasn't sure how well the 1/48 lettering would appear by utilizing these tiny masks. Fifty bucks well spent...so far 
Cheers!

DSC_3275c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr
The bright Alclad brass on the right...toned down with a dark acrylic Tamiya mix on the left.

DSC_3278c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr
NATO black was washed with a grey oil paint to bring out the fine detail of the kit's lower surfaces.

DSC_3289c_01 by Gary Edmundson, on Flickr
The 1ManArmy masks applied for the underside stencils, painted with an off-white.

[RAGIII]

The exhausts look excellent. When I do another aircraft that has similar parts.  I will refer back to your build. The layering of the "Black" with the greys looks fantastic. Finally, those One Man Army Stencils are a big, WOW!
RAGIII

[NigelR]

Very nice work Gary that allows me to employ my two favourite words - subtle and effective....