SPA Modeler

I built this for my great nephew who is in love with planes. Since this was going to be ceiling hanger for his room, I kept this one simple and basic. Aside from drilling out a few parts, or thinning the tail fin rings on the bombs, this was kept pretty much original. I hand brushed this using Humbrol enamels, and since the kit decals did not look to be in good shape, I used some from an Aeromaster set that was in my decals bin. The propellor spins and the landing gear retracts... it is a 1964 vintage kit after all...













Not my best work, but a refreshing change for simplicity, and my first start/completion of the year.

Congratulations! I wish you journaled this beauty! I would love to see how you painted the camo for my own projects. What brushes did you use? Great job, bud.

Very cool Stick! I remember building one of those on an old card table in the kitchen when I was a kid. Just looking at yours brought back good memories of that, the Fw-190 and the Mosquito. All built at around the same time on the same old card table.

Scruffy wrote:Very cool Stick! I remember building one of those on an old card table in the kitchen when I was a kid. Just looking at yours brought back good memories of that, the Fw-190 and the Mosquito. All built at around the same time on the same old card table.

Ernie and Carlos,

My first workbench was also a folding card table—for stick and tissue plane builds I needed a surface that could be set up quickly and left in place for enough time to let the glue dry. As much as I tried to protect the surface, I ended up really beating that table up—and my mom was not a happy camper about that...

Nice idea!

And that is indeed a cool feature with retracting gears!

Also an intersting detail, the yellow bombs, cannot recall I would have seen such before ..


Kind regards,
Kari

speedgraflex wrote:Congratulations! I wish you journaled this beauty! I would love to see how you painted the camo for my own projects. What brushes did you use? Great job, bud.

I tried to keep this one on the fast track, so minimal “journaling” on this one. It was time for modeling as opposed to online showing what I was doing... I used some red sable brushes, but in all honesty I am not overly pleased with the results. I used to do far better hand brushing. I know it’s a perishable skill, but I fell that the Humbrol did not flow as well as they used to. Nor did my brushes feel as good for smoothness.

Scruffy wrote:Very cool Stick! I remember building one of those on an old card table in the kitchen when I was a kid. Just looking at yours brought back good memories of that, the Fw-190 and the Mosquito. All built at around the same time on the same old card table.

Yeah, I think the last time that I built this kit, I built it on my bedroom floor over newspaper, and used Testors square bottle paints and their white handle brushes. The Mosquito and 190 I built more recently with better results.

speedgraflex wrote:

Scruffy wrote:Very cool Stick! I remember building one of those on an old card table in the kitchen when I was a kid. Just looking at yours brought back good memories of that, the Fw-190 and the Mosquito. All built at around the same time on the same old card table.

Ernie and Carlos,

My first workbench was also a folding card table—for stick and tissue plane builds I needed a surface that could be set up quickly and left in place for enough time to let the glue dry. As much as I tried to protect the surface, I ended up really beating that table up—and my mom was not a happy camper about that...

At the home I used to own, my painting area was in the garage. I had a card table set up there for my kids to work on their stuff alongside me when I was out there. Needless to say that tabletop is covered in a painted mess. My wife uses it now, with a cover on it, for her home office...

KSaarni wrote:Nice idea!

And that is indeed a cool feature with retracting gears!

Also an intersting detail, the yellow bombs, cannot recall I would have seen such before ..


Kind regards,
Kari

Many of the old Monogram kits from that series era had various working features: folding wings, dropping bombs or torpedoes, operating bomb doors and canopies, retracing landing gear and moving gun mounts... perfect for a young boy. As far as the yellow bombs go, I did come across a few color photos of RAF bombs painted as such, so I went with it for a nice touch of color...





Thanks to all for looking and commenting...

Two done now in January!!! I have almost met last year’s total

Very nice indeed Stik - I wish mine turned out that good

Stikpusher wrote: Many of the old Monogram kits from that series era had various working features: folding wings, dropping bombs or torpedoes, operating bomb doors and canopies, retracing landing gear and moving gun mounts... perfect for a young boy. As far as the yellow bombs go, I did come across a few color photos of RAF bombs painted as such, so I went with it for a nice touch of color...

Thanks Stik, one learns every day something new, that is for sure!

- Kari

Well done, Stik!!

Thank you Blacksheep!