Good evening, everyone.
Again, thanks for the kind words. Andrew, the only tips I can offer are to read Des' site, look at the amazing builds by the modellers here- especially in the "Under Construction" folder- and on the GWITA forum and don't be scared to try new things. I'm still very much on a (really steep) learning curve of my own, mate. Looking at builds like Pete Nottingham's, Dave's (Kong), Marco's, Keith's, etc not only provides me with inspiration and tips, they also serve as great motivation to give new techniques a go.
Not much progress to report, I'm afraid. I've spent a lot of the last few weeks either in Brisbane, sitting in the back of Bushmasters and checking COMMS installations, or getting a tooth surgically extracted. Anyone who owns horses will know what I mean when I say horses have hard heads and are clumsy with them. Things are getting a little chilly here, so being in Brisbane was a nice change. But it hasn't left me any time to get up to the farm and do any painting. I was up there last week, cutting firewood for the ex with my son, but that took all day. Perhaps next weekend.....
So I've concentrated on stuff I can brush paint. Here's a shot of the Pfalz's propeller, using pencils on a Tamiya 79 paint base. This is "Take 3"- I've stripped two prior attempts and, if I hadn't got impatient and not put on the decals, I'd probably try again. It's a bit redder and darker than I wanted, but I've learned some lessons for my next 'plane. I've also used von Buckle's gear to make up some turnbuckles (here's a tip- those little bits of brass tube and copper wire have amazing rates of acceleration when they want to leave the tweezers) and experimented with making my own from brass pipe and fine wire.
However, patience being a virtue I don't possess in abundance, I also started on the Academy Spad XIII I bought., in deference to Gregory's recommendation. I've been experimenting with wood grain, trying for different colours/types of wood. I think I'm getting the hang of it, though taking these photo's has pointed out a few errors I need to correct.
Again, any comments, tips, suggestions and corrections will be gratefully received.
Cheers.
Dal.
PS I haven't put any coloured clear coat over the Spad bits, yet. I'm looking forward to trying a few different mixes of yellow, red and orange to see how the different colours I've done will turn out.
