SPA Modeler

Wow! That whole engine assembly looks incredible!

Hey John, Border is coming out with a 1/35th Kate

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2023/0 ... .html#more

Selfishly like to keep your queue full

BlackSheep214 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 10:02 pm Wow…. just wow… incredible realism, incredible work!

I quit! Your work makes mine look amateurish. I know I do the best of my ability and I’m happy with the finished product. But sometimes I question myself should I have maybe given myself a little bit more effort in doing a better build? I don’t know. I don’t beat myself over it.

Watching you is like watching the master builder work his magic. At 58 yrs old, I’m far from achieving your level of work. I get lost in translation and/or feel overwhelmed on how to achieve such realism on my normal scale -1/48 scale aircrafts and some 1/72 scale larger aircrafts (bombers, transport planes, etc…)

I’m always at awe watching you put it all together and that’s a good thing.

Thank you for the comments, Tom! I really appreciate the positive vibes. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I get motivated when I receive affirmation. Like all of you, my motivation and bench time has its ebbs and flows. I honestly don't think my work is anything special. I consider myself an average modeler but always eager to improve. I've learned a lot in the 10 or so years that I've re-started this hobby and I hope to keep learning and sharing enjoyable projects.

Gary Brantley wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:15 am Tom, I know exactly how you feel. John is a master modeler, and his work demonstrates his abilities on each of his projects. I will never approach his level of care, precision and craftsmanship no matter how long I tried or how careful I am. It's a joy watching someone at his level and analogous to watching any artist who is a master in his field. Hey, I loved playing baseball when I was kid and I was pretty good at sandlot ball for a fat kid, but I could never play competitively at any higher level. You know, every baseball player can't be Mickey Mantle (or Aaron Judge-I know I'm showing my age now ). And every scale modeler can't produce work like John does. I'm just happy to be watching and learning a few tricks as he goes along and feel lucky to have him around this place!

Any room for a micro magnet on that engine cover, John?

Thanks alot Gary! Not a master modeler by any means but I am passionate about what I do and I think that passion fuels my desire to improve my work. Before I start a project, I usually have a list of things in my head that I want to achieve or perhaps a feature of the kit that I'm really excited about. And I'll usually hit some snags and bumps along the way that prevent me from getting to that image in my head. And that's perfectly fine because in the end, it's the modeling journey that makes it worthwhile, including the necessary detours.

I actually had thoughts about using magnets to help seat the engine panels but there would be some issues with that. The biggest being the thinness of the panels... difficult if not impossible to hide the magnets. But I think the friction fit will be enough to keep some panels removable without using magnets as you'll see below.

Medicman71 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:31 am Wow! That whole engine assembly looks incredible!

Thank you! I agree that the Border engine is very nicely done. Besides the ignition wiring, all of the detail is molded by Border and it is impressively done.

keavdog wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 10:12 am Hey John, Border is coming out with a 1/35th Kate

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2023/0 ... .html#more

Selfishly like to keep your queue full

Yes, I've seen the reports of the Kate along with the Akagi carrier deck. It is definitely of interest to me but I don't have definite plans for it...yet. My preference is WW2 fighter aircraft and I already have a couple of builds in the queue that I'd like to get to including the 1/32 Spitfire XIVe conversion and the new Italeri 1/32 Folgore kit. But ya never know!

Back to the Border 190A build, I have gone ahead and glued the nose ring cowling and the top gun trough part into place. The gun trough part was a candidate to be removable but it just would not seat properly without glue.



The remaining three panels (gun cover + two side engine cowlings) are pressed into position to see how things stay in place without glue. There are gaps but at this point, they are small enough for me to overlook.



Based on my previous dry-fitting, the cowling guns may interfere with the fitment of the gun cover so I'll have to keep an eye on that. If can't replicate the fit you see here with the guns in place, I may have to glue the gun cover down.

John, you are quite humble about your skill level. If you are an "average" modeler, I'd hate to think what the rest of us here are... Your skills and attention to detail truly do create incredibly detailed builds. Just looking at what you've done with the engine and cowl guns is masterful. Seriously it does get hard to not repeat myself coming up with superlative praise when you post updates on any of your projects.
I cant wait to see what the next update holds.

Humble indeed. You are an inspiration to us all to learn some methods and tricks of the trade.

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 3:57 pm John, you are quite humble about your skill level. If you are an "average" modeler, I'd hate to think what the rest of us here are... Your skills and attention to detail truly do create incredibly detailed builds. Just looking at what you've done with the engine and cowl guns is masterful. Seriously it does get hard to not repeat myself coming up with superlative praise when you post updates on any of your projects.
I cant wait to see what the next update holds.

Yes to everything said by Carlos

We're all in the same boat. Good at some things... not so good at others. There is always SOMETHING that I can pick from other people's builds that I need to improve. The day that I can't do that is when I'll start considering myself a good modeler!

I got some really thin sheet styrene... 0.010"... so that I can work on a final version of the inner gear doors. I decided to use a layered approach. The overall door outline was cut from brass sheet using scissors per the previous update. But I used the Silhouette Portrait to cut the inner raised detail shapes that I had previously printed on the adhesive vinyl material. No problem cutting this plastic using the standard Autoblade. If anyone is interested in settings, I can dig those up.


I also added a thin sheet on the outside of the doors so that I could put some rivet detail. These three layers were sandwiched together using thin CA glue.


Here's what the doors look like under a coat of primer.



I still need to work out the attachment points as well as the long door actuators but I think this will be a reasonable facsimile of the inner gear doors.

Beautiful scratch work, John!

Looks like it came right off the sprue. Well done!

Most excellent work John scratching up those doors using styrene and brass! Beautiful!