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toboldlygo

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Blog Entries posted by toboldlygo

  1. toboldlygo
    A slight case of deja vu here, the first Airfix kit I built on returning to Aircraft modelling was the 1/72nd Scale Boulton Paul Defiant NF.I, a few months ago Airfix released the 1/48th Scale Version of the NF.I and it was to tempting to resist...
     
    It's a very straight-forward build, though I chose to use the Eduard Zoom Photo-etched cockpit and masking set as well.
     


     

     

     

     

     

    A successful use of the masking set on the turret.
     

     

     

    A trial fit of the turret after painting
     

     

     
    Masking up all done and ready for some paint
     

     
    Back in black and final assembly in progress..
     

     

     

     

     
    Ready for transfers..
     

     
    Transfers done - I chose to do the 264 Squadron version.
     

     
    (Spoilers of the next big build in the above photo)
     

     

     

     

     
    Two Defiant's, two different scales...
     

     

     
    Until the next Big Build
     
    TBG
  3. toboldlygo
    On with part 3...
     
    Progressed slowed to numerous railway commissions anyhow fresh from paint and after some touching up, I painted and fitted the engine exhausts..
     

     
    I then masked up to do the partial invasion stripes..
     

     

     
    Once everything was dry, I gave the Tempest a gloss coat of Tamiya Clear in prep for the decals..
     

     

     
    Once this had cured I decaled the underside
     

     
    .. and put it back in the box due to railway commissions.
     
    Roll on 5 weeks later and recommenced decalling.
     

     

     

     

     
    While doing the decals I started painting the prop.
     

     
    Once the decals had dried sufficiently, I sealed them in with a few coats of Tamiya Flat Clear and gave the Tempest a few coats of Vallejo Oil Wash and then removed the masking.
     

     
    As of today there's a plane and a lot of painted (or partially painted bits)
     

     
    That's all for now
     
    TBG
     
  4. toboldlygo
    Better late than never, here's part 2 of the Tempest V build:
     
    With some light fettling the wings were assembled and fitted to the fuselage.
     

     

     

     
    Rudder, tail-planes & ailerons were added next:
     

     

     
    The fuselage base for the canopy was also dry fitted at this point.
     
    A cameo from her troublesome elder sister
     

     
    I had some aftermarket arrive..
     

     

     
    Some parts painted & fitted. Plus prep done for painting.
     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Canopy assembled & prop assembled, plus resin exhausts
     test fitted.
     

     

     
    Let the painting begin..
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Part 3 coming really soon
     
    TBG
     

  5. toboldlygo
    Time for Part 4...
     
    So where I'd left it, there were bits painted & part painted and a Tempest waiting for them...
     
    With the silver parts retrieved from the loft and the wheel centres masked so the tyres could be repainted - these were sent back to the spray-booth. The undercarriage doors were fitted to the main legs and the dry fitted to the plane - along with various other undercarriage & underside parts (saves glue & paint going everywhere), before gluing into place with Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. These were left to dry, before any touch up paint was done.
     

     
    With the wheels back from paint, these were test fitted (the holes needed opening up). Once I was satisfied with the fit - these were glued into place using Roket Odourless. I also started doing some of the weathering with powders at this point (Tamiya).
     

     
    With the Glue set, the Tempest sat on her wheels for the first time.. 
     
    ... before anyone comments, yes she does look like an early jet 
     

     
    The canopy was glued in place, as was the very fine photo-etch Aerial and the undercarriage locked down indicators (this are very small)...
     

     
    With the prop painted and weathered, this was fitted..
     

     
    And with the weathering done - it's time for the final reveal..
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    No cameo of the next build you cry, well you may of well already seen it  
     
    That's all for now
     
    TBG
  6. toboldlygo
    In an interesting diversion from the Trains, Planes and Armour - I've discovered a liking for ships..
     
    Building HMCS Snowberry for a client,  I got quite interested in the Flower Class and purchased the 2018 tooling of HMS Buttercup by Revell...
     
    The Kit...
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
    Certainly not as many sprues and a lot less flash.
     
    The hull went together very quickly, no need for clamps!
     

     
     

     
     

     
    Painting the Hull & Deck(s)
     

     

     

     

     

     
    I used Vallejo Model Air paints (as per Snowberry), the colour scheme is quite different though!
     
    After giving the hull a clear gloss coat (Tamiya X-22) the decals were applied.
     

     
     

     
    Time to clean, paint, assemble and fit a few parts (predominately the rear depth charge racks)..
     

     

     
    Time for brief Cameo from HMCS Snowberry, alongside her little sister
     

     
    After a few semi-gloss coats of clear on the hull, more parts were cleaned up, painted & fitted to the stern of Buttercup..
     

     

     

     
    More to come, however till next time...
     
    TTFN
     
    Toboldlygo
     
    or
     
    James
     
     
  7. toboldlygo
    So here's the second past of the build - I'm not going to over narrate the build as it follows the instructions..
     

     

     

     

     
    Yes that is the Attacker lurking..
     

     

     
    Aft deck complete..
     

     

     

     

     

     
    A Midships on the way to completion...
     

     

     
    A Midships complete!
     
    Working forward..
     

     

     

     

     

     
    Towards the forecastle
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Cursing at  the rigging..
     

     

     
    Out in the open air...
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    And a cameo...
     

     
    Until the next build
     
    TTFN
     
    TBG
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  8. toboldlygo
    I thought it was about time that I caught up with a few builds that I haven't done blog entries on...
     
    This is the first and possibly the biggest, namely the ex-Matchbox tooled Revell 1/72nd Scale Flower Class Corvette..
     
    Early on in the year, a client (who I do Railway Commissions for), asked me if I'd entertain building him HMCS Snowberry and I said yes..
     
    So back in May I started on the hull..
     

     
    One huge box of bits 
     

     
    First job, build the stand
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Assembling the hull - it put up a fight!
     

     

     

     

     
    Adding the deck (including removing planking) and lower superstructure.
     

     
    A handy reference guide.
     

     

     

     

     
    Making a few adjustments and doing some filling.
     
    That's all for part 1, part 2 will be up shortly
     
    TBG
     
     
  9. toboldlygo
    After about a 3 month break, I returned to HMCS Snowberry, my plan of action was simple, get the hull cleaned up, add some details to the forecastle and get the hull into painted..
     

     

     

     

     
     
     
    Hull cleaned up, more wooden decking removed and detailing added.
     

     
    Looking fine in Halfords Grey Primer
     

     

     
    While the primer was curing, I made a start on the main gun.
     

     
    In the spray booth - well mostly! Western Approaches colour scheme being applied, instead of mixing paints as per the Revell Instructions, I used close matches in the Vallejo Model Air Range (71.044 Grey RLM02, 71.101 Blue RLM78 & 71.121 Light Gull Grey). Yep I knocked off the rudder!
     

     
    With the Keel painted Anthracite Grey and the masking removed she was back on the workbench.
     

     
    More detail added to the main gun.
     

     
    Rudder refitted and screw installed.
     
    Roll on another 3 and a half months and she was back on the bench..
     

     
    A sense of scale, next to the RAF Rescue Launch - HMCS Snowberry is ready for her deck to be painted.
     

     

     
    Deck painted - Revell got the colour call out for the deck wrong!
     

     
    More details added, main gun deck installed.
     

     
    Gun shield decaled and wheel house fitted.
     

     
    More bits added, and more railings fitted.
     

     

     
    More bits added, it's endless building boxes and boy do they need clean up!
     
    That's all for now
     
    TBG
  10. toboldlygo
    So in part 3, I'm building, painting and adding lot's of bits!
     
    Lot's of sanding was involved too lol
     
    First up was adding the boiler room structure. I opted to build this up on the ship, rather than a separate structure to ensure a better fit.
     

     
    Once I got it to fit right, it was painted and then glued in place.
     

     
    With this allowed to dry for a bit, I busied myself making up the various parts that go on to these bits of structure. These were painted and then glued in place and then the aftermarket handrail posts were fitted and rigged up with EZ-Line.
     

     

     
    The boiler room vents were then added and allowed to dry while I started work on the funnel.
     

     

     

     
    After painting the funnel and adding the detail parts (and rigging lines), the funnel was glued into place. Once dry the rigging lines were also glued into place. I also started adding bits to the engine room roof..
     

     

     

     
    With this done, I got on with assembling painting and fitting the mast and the ladders.
     

     
    While painting various bits for the engine room roof, I painted the skylights for the engine room.
     

     
    And finally I glued all the remaining parts I'd made on to the engine room roof. 
     

     
     
    That's all for now
     
    TBG
     
     
  11. toboldlygo
    On with the build - I've been busy..
     
    Up next I busied myself with clean up on various parts of the rear main gun - I also had to modify one part as it was a short-shot.
     

     
    I also painted and added a couple of the life buoys..
     

     
    The rear gun was added next..
     

     
    At this point I decided to add some of the rigging - lots of pennies in the swear jar!
     

     

     
    Then I got on with a job I'd put off, because of the clean up - the Hedgehog Anti-Submarine Mortars..
     

     

     
    These were painted and fitted to the ship.
     

     
    I went back in the instructions and cleaned up (there's a lot), assembled, painted and fitted a lot of parts (including the anchors & chains..
     

     

     

     
    Then I concentrated on getting the top deck of the bridge to fit, before painting - again there was a need for some plaster-card..
     

     
    I painted the side frames first and glued them in place using the upper deck to ensure alignment.
     

     
    The top deck was painted and glued in place. Once dry a few more bits were added.
     

     

     
    I would say I'm nearly there, but here's what's left on the sprues..
     

     
     
    That's almost all for now on this build (I'm build the remaining guns atm)
     
    Till next time
     
    TBG
     
     
     
  12. toboldlygo
    14 Months Later..
     
    In what will hopefully be the penultimate part of HMCS Snowberry's build and in the new 'Works', I make substantial progress on the Very Big Build..
     
    First order of business was to figure out where I'd got to in the instructions and give Snowberry a dust down.
     
    Fortunately that was the bridge..
     

     
     

     
    With the bridge being put in place, I could get the rigging done - EZ Line from now on.
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
    The bridge is nearly there just the radar tower to build - oh here that is..
     

     
    While the radar tower was in paint, I got on with adding the posts and railings to the engine room roof - I used aftermarket posts from Great Little Ships and EZ Line.
     

     
    With the radar tower installed - the bridge was finished and it was time to go back to the right place in the build sequence.
     

     
    Bits added to the aft of the engine room.
     

     
    I decided at this point to replace some of the original rigging I'd done with EZ Line. Plus the nameplates went on (20 year old decals are not for the faint of heart) , the steps (in the wrong place) and the jibs for the depth charge launchers - these had a few tweaks.
     

     
     

     
     

     
    Then came the tedious part - making up depth charges and the launchers.
     

     
    The launchers fitted in place beautifully (thankfully).
     

     
    Not many complete sprues left now..
     

     
    With the dinghy racks assembled (needed some mods), I discovered the ladders to the aft deck from a midships where in the wrong place  
     
    These were moved, while the dinghy racks & depth charges were being painted for the port side.
     

     
    With those parts all glued in place, I added the rope to one of the reels/drums (4 feet of twine).
     

     
    Rinse and repeat for the port side and then I added a few bits a midships for the boats..
     

     
     

     
    That should've been it, however today I assembled the boats..
     

     
    These need a bit of work (including some very visible raised ejector pins!)
     
    That's all for this part, sorry it was so long in coming.
     
    TTFN
     
    James
     
     
     
     
  13. toboldlygo
    An update of sorts, it's been a month of hell for me, so I'll be brief.
     
    First up N15 30805 Sir Constantine has left the nest, here's another shot of her (the other picture is in my gallery)
     

     
    West Country 34002 Salisbury was up next, now complete and in storage till I resume sales in late September. Another picture of her is in the gallery.
     

     
    Currently in the paintshop awaiting weathering is West Country 34103 Calshot and on the workbench is a narrow cab T9, destined to become 30117. That's all for now.
  14. toboldlygo
    Ok it's November and I've been busy with loco's amongst other things lol!
     
    I've been adding pictures to my galleries as each loco's been done, but I thought I'd share a few different shots with you as a little treat
     
    First up is West Country Class 34019 Bideford:
     

     
    Then it's the turn of N15 30770 Sir Prianius (note the fireman's tools on the tender):
     

     
    Up next is a diversion in Malachite Green (under all that dirt) in the form of West Country Class 34048 Crediton (yes I've done her in rebuilt form too) :
     

     
    Finally another Bullied, yet again very dirty Q1 33036 (means I've now done the last 5 members of the class):
     

     
    I haven't slowed up either, I've got 2 more locos on the workbench or in the paint-shop, these are Rebuilt West Country Class 34095 Brentor (another one I can scratch off the to do list) and T9 30337. These will be finished in the next week or so (hopefully).
     
    Then I'll be starting another N15 - 30797 Sir Blamor de Ganis and once all the bits arrive I've got another Rebuilt West Country to build literally. Take the salvaged tender and loco chassis from the defunct 34100 Appledore (which nosedived off my paint table 18 months ago), add a new rebuilt WC/BB body and another Wrenn 5,250gl tender top acquired off ebay and I'll have another bionic Bullied, in this case 34031 Torrington!!!
     
    That's all for now
     
    TBG
  15. toboldlygo
    Well it's finally time for an update, well it has been over 6 months lol
     
    I've been so busy with Loco's going across my workbench that it's been difficult to keep track.
     
    As it stands today the tally for West Country's/Battle of Britain's stands at 105 of the 110 strong class covered by me... so far. With 3 more donor's awaiting their turn on the workbench - 34086 219 Squadron (Last Air smoothed), 34032 Camelford (1st Sound Fitted and penultimate 4,500gl tender Rebuilt) and 1 other which identity remains undecided. I just need donors for the other 2 now.
     
    From January 2013 to today, the loco tally is pretty scary...
     
    Southern Region: 8 x WC/BoB's, 3 x Merchant Navy's, 3 x King Arthur's, 1 of each Q1, M7, N, Standard Arthur, Schools
     
    Western Region: 1 of each 28xx, 57xx, 45 xx
     
    Midland Region: 2 x G2a, 1 x Patriot
     
    Eastern Region: 1 of each B1, O4, L1, D11
     
    That includes these two that are currently on my workbench (plus a glimpse at one that is to come..) :
     
    King Arthur (N15) Class 30781 Sir Aglovale (a Sir Lamiel used as donor)
     

     
    D11 Class 62663 Prince Albert (with a B17 lurking behind)
     

     
    30781 is just waiting to be masked up ready for weathering and 62663 has just had most of the detailing parts added. As I have found with virtually every Bachmann Loco I've worked on, it will need to be degreased thoroughly before I go anywhere near it with a airbrush, as the lubricant they use just seems to spread everywhere... grrr!!!
     
    Along with the two mentioned above, there are 16 more Loco's that are on the books with more to come...
     
    Just for a treat here's one I weathered earlier
     

     
    Till next time
     
    James (toboldlygo)
  16. toboldlygo
    Well she's had an adventure or two, been from one end of the country to the other and three different owners. Now she's back home where she belongs, I'm talking about one of Bulleids of course, one that was a reluctant sale to a certain dodgey car dealer - 34093 Saunton.
     
    Missing a step was the only sign of her epic journeys, that fortunately was in the parts bag so was quickly re-attached and the correct shedcode fitted (71A Eastleigh). A quick dust and she had her picture taken in the afternoon sun.
     

     
    Also finally finished is my A4 60031 Golden Plover, not clean, but not filthy either Though for running she'll have the pipes removed.
     

     
    Currently in the paintshop is 34060 25 Squadron and finished and looking for a new home is 34055 Fighter Pilot
     

     
    That's all for now....
  17. toboldlygo
    As I was feeling Loco'd out, a client brought me something else to build - a Timber Tracks GWR Coaling Stage.
     

     
    Initial impressions, it's a big kit - in fact Mum when she saw the box assumed it was 3 kits!
     
    First up the instructions guide you in easily, with the relatively simple task of building the tank - in fact this shows the way the whole construction of the kit will go (layers)..
     

     

     

     
    Next up is starting to build up the main part of the building...
     
    First up the carcass:
     

     
    Next up, the inner ground wall veneers (the vee block was made by me, nearly 30 years ago).
     

     
    Then it's the first floor.
     

     
    Next it's the inner first floor veneers (pegs and clamps come in handy here).
     
     
     
    Outer walls next - these align quite easily.
     

     
    Due to not being a "Gold" Member I've reach my 10 MB limit for this part - part 2 will follow shortly.
     
    TBG
  19. toboldlygo
    Final part of the Coaling Stage build, in this it focus on final assembly, painting, detailing, weathering and even some soldering 
     
    Adding the coaling drop to the front - the instructions were very vague on how it went together!
     

     
    The time consuming part, hand painting the exterior, I applied a coat of light concrete and then dry brushed the exterior with light brick acrylics..
     

     

     
    I then painted the interior walls white and then dry brushed dark brick randomly to the exterior brick work.
     

     
    After painting the floor weathered black and touching up the brick work, I painted the exterior trim
     

     
    After fitting the glazing, I weathered the interior and put a light wash of black over the exterior. Oh and painted the stairs..
     

     
     
    Next up the roof was fitted.
     

     
    Coal trucks added to the interior..
     

     

     
     
    I masked every thing up and airbrushed the roof of the tank, once dry I added the platform for access to the tank.
     

     
    The bit I was dreading making up and soldering the railings for the tank access platform - it went better than expected!
     

     

     
     
    After paint the railings by hand, it was then a case of making up and fitting & painting the ladder support and trimming the ladder to length (the ladder & stairs will be fitted once the coaling stage installed on the layout..
     

     

     

     
    Then it was back to paintshop for final weathering..
     

     

     

     
    And that is a cameo, by another Timber Tracks building.
     
    Till next time TBG
     
     

  20. toboldlygo
    After she made a cameo in my last build and with loco's out of the way it was time to make a start on the 1/48th Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3.
     
    Being a Collectors Club Model it gives two very different schemes to do one is the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Evaluation version (Bf 109E-7) and the other is a captured RAF version (Bf 109E-3) - I chose the latter.
     
    Compared to my last build, this one has gone together very quickly.. so far.
     
    Cockpit and aircraft interior painted and detailed.
     

     
    Fuselage button up.
     

     
    Wings assembled.
     

     
    Fuselage cleaned up & wings fitted.
     

     
    Flaps and tail planes added (some filling is required).
     

     
    Ailerons fitted, along with other bits.
     

     
    Rudder, elevator and cannon fairings fitted - plus a lot of filler and rubbing down!
     

     
    Underside painted and yes it is yellow!
     

     
    That's all for now
     
    TBG
  21. toboldlygo
    After a brief interlude (okay a month), due to GWR Loco's - I finally resumed work on the Bf 109...
     

    Before I masked up the underside, I painted the wheel wells and radiators.
     


     

    I masked up the underside and parts of the cockpit canopy - which had I pre-painted prior to fitting and masking up (next three photo's show that sequence)
     


     

     

     

    Once the topside of the fuselage had been given a few coats of BS Dark Earth and allowed to dry. I used the blu-tak & masking tape (or MORPH) method to layout the camouflage.
     


     

    Once painted the masking was removed and too my surprise it had worked very well, with only a small amount of touching up needed.
     


     

    Touching up done and the guns & exhausts added.
     


     

    Today I busied myself painting and assembling the undercarriage, along with a few more parts. However to my dismay I discovered a short on the sprue and a missing part, so I've got to scratch build a Pitot tube assembly.
     


     


     

    That's all for now
     
    TBG
  22. toboldlygo
    The Messerschmitt BF 109E-3 is finished at last (after a big break due to GWR locos)...
     
    Ready for transfers.
     

     
    For such a small fighter there's a lot of Decals!
     

     
    Decals done and final details being added.
     

     
    Finished and the obligatory next build cameo (I did promise Shack Attack Part 4 would be coming!)
     

     
    Posing in the late Longest day Sun..
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Until the next build or another Loco oriented entry..
     
    TBG
  23. toboldlygo
    Is it Armour, is it Railway or both - all I know is it's big for 1/72nd.
     
    Brief history of the model, it was first released by Hobby Boss in 2007, the Railway Transporter was released in 2008 (without the KARL), this version was released last year, so it's two models in one.
     
    Box-Art
     

     
    Instructions & Colour Call Out.
     

     

     
    The KARL (you have the option of modelling either 040 or 041)
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    No flash to speak of or any ejector pins in the wrong place.
     
    The Railway Transporter.
     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Again no errant ejector pins and just some minor flash on the wheel hubs.
     
    Overall it looks to be an interesting and slightly challenging build and some alteration to the build sequence will be needed in order to ensure everything lines up.
     
    TTFN
     
    James
     
  24. toboldlygo
    So in a brief interlude from the Attacker build (waiting for the filler to cure properly), I decided on a quick build. This kit arrived Thursday morning:
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    The parts removed very cleanly from the sprue and only need a minimum of clean up.
     

     

     
    Though an older tooling (2006) the fit was very good.
     
    Obviously I've diverged slightly from the instructions because of painting..
     

     
    To give some extra weight the lower hull is die-cast, so super glue is needed to glue the front & rear panels to the lower hull.
     

     
    At this point the wheels and tracks should be fitted, however I decided to make things easier and build up the top of the hull and the turret (the top of the hull is secured to the bottom half of the hull by two screws)
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Next wheels, lower hull and the underside of the topside of the hull painted.
     

     
    The wheels, idlers & drive sprockets where glued to the lower hull and the tracks returned from paint.
     

     
    With the tracks assembled and fitted the hull could be closed up finally and a Cromwell appears.
     

     
    With some minor filling and clean up done, the tracks where masked up and it was ready for paint.
     

     
    A coat of Nato Black was applied.
     

     
    Then a shadow coat of Insignia White
     

     
    After several coats of Dark Green and some details painted the Cromwell is nearly ready for Decals.
     

     
    A photo taken under more different lighting.
     

     
    That's all for now.
     
    TBG
     
  25. toboldlygo
    On with Part 2 of the build and to be honest there was much left to do..
     
    Decals were applied, some of which needed an awful lot of Microsol to sit down properly - was going to do Option B on the decal scheme, but opted scheme A instead. I also fitted the towing cable after the decals had gone off and started off the weathering with some dry brushing using Vallejo Model Air Rust & Dark Umber.
     

     
    I then put on a clear coat of Tamiya Flat Clear and Vallejo Wash (Black) these were allowed to dry thoroughly, before any more weathering was done.
     

     
    After Airbrushing on some more dirt, I was delighted to see that my resin aftermarket stowage kit arrived early and trialled out where I would put a few bits.
     

     
    The resin parts were then primed and painted and glued into place with Glue N Glaze, I then added some securing ropes using EZ Line. Once the glue had set, I went to work with the weathering powders and the Cromwell was done..
     

     
    Overall a nice quick kit to build - will I build another Tank, quite possibly  
     
    So here's the finished Cromwell out in the open..
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    That's all for this build, till next time.
     
    TBG
     
    Edit: 20/11/2019 Forgot the Cameo didn't I? Well here it is 
     

     
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