Paint and glue

Though the weather was nice enough this weekend to require some weed-killing, I did manage to move some models along the production line.

In the paint shop, I put a coat of Medium Sea Grey on the lower surfaces of a Meteor NF11 and the upper surfaces of a Bristol Brigand. Though Valom has something of an uneven reputation in terms of engineering and fit, I thought the model went together well enough. The resin engine vents don’t fit very well and there is some significant filler on the nacelles themselves, but the fuselage and wings went together with minimal adjustment. The Brigand is a fairly large aircraft for a twin-engine type, so after I get the surface work done on the MSG coat it will be time to mask it up and apply the lower surface Black paint.

Another plane that got the lower surfaces painted was a Horten type Ho-7 flying wing. The choice here was RLM65. I think it will take some cleaning up too, so it may be some days before these planes get to the decal stage.

In terms of construction, I continue to fight my way through the Sword P-47N. I am told that the Sword kit is considerably more accurate than the Italeri version, but it isn’t scoring very highly on the buildability scale. Just about every seam has required extensive filling and sanding, the resin engine did not want to go in straight, and the cowl ring was a fit nightmare. Given that much of the surface will be a NMF, adjustments like this require a lot of finish work.

Plus I have a couple of new projects entering the production cycle. Both are Siga kits of US Navy postwar jets, the FJ-1 Fury and the Martin Mauler. At this point I’ve barely got the cockpits together, but they will loom larger in the days ahead, along with the series of Lockheed twins.

Some statistical information for those who enjoy it: I’ve finished 25 models by 31 May 2012. Last year by this point I had only finished 21, so it appears that unless I completely keel over or lose all my free time (which, if it means returning to employment, I’ll accept in the interests of financial security) I should beat last year’s record of 39 completed models in the year.