I got this in the mail this afternoon…
and also this one which seems to be a winner!
1/48 scale ICM #48244, Dornier Do-17Z-2 kit review… we have another winner!
Next time when the mailman knocks on the door…
1/48 ICM 48261 Heinkel He-111 H-3 Kit Review… and it’s a beauty!
This is what I said to myself…Pierre, get over it and build it…
I have tried my best to get over the seams by using some scraping, filing and filling with just plain white glue, then white paint using my wet finger to take the excess off.
Necessity is the mother of invention…
We’ll see what happens, but now I have started having fun again with building the Spitfire Mk Vb. The wings have been mated together without too much frustration using clothespins.
Of course I will need to take extra care with the main landing gear.
And the fragile struts…
These will be glued last before painting. I have not decided yet how I will paint the Spitfire Mk Vb since there was different color schemes of Spitfires which flew over Malta.
This one is John Plagis’ Spitfire Mk Vb.
Source Internet
There are also the Smith brothers’ Spitfires…
Source Internet
Colorised by Pierre Lagacé
I have restarted building my now “infamous” Airfix Spitfire Mk Vb. I have reconciled with it yesterday morning using clothespins to glue the top left wing to the bottom left. Then the top right wing to the bottom right.
There is no need for any more acrimony on my part. I have decided to soldier on with that build although I keep shaking my head with some issues, mainly the main landing gear.
So what’s new on My Forgotten III?
I got mail yesterday afternoon…
I am so glad I had this impulse buying last month, and I just can’t wait for the mailman’s next delivery.
After these three, I still have a few more just waiting to leave by plane from Austria.
I just need to take a break after feeling frustrated with Airfix Spitfire Mk Vb.
I don’t need to show you my photos or to explain why I was frustrated since Jon wrote about his frustration on his blog.
Recap
Comparing 1/48 Spitfire Mk. Vb Kits: Airfix versus Tamiya- The Cockpit
This modeler is comparing two Spitfire Mk Vb, one made by Tamiya and the other one by Airfix. He encountered the same problems I had last week with the cockpit assembly. I always took for granted that model kit manufacturers do rigorous testing before putting model kits into production. It must have been apparent to someone that some parts were not fitting well leaving noticeable gaps as you can see here on Jon’s blog.
Also instructions can be sometimes vague and you have to figure out where some parts are to be glued which is causing some frustration even after dry fitting a few times. This had taken the fun out of building my Spitfire, but I guess that’s the challenging part of the hobby. Jon’s had a second and a third part where he had some more issues with the Spitfire…
https://www.jonbius.com/2016/10/26/comparing-148-spitfire-mk-vb-kits-airfix-versus-tamiya-winging-it/ https://www.jonbius.com/2016/11/26/comparing-148-spitfire-mk-vb-kits-picking-a-winner-a-politicians-answer/
End of recap…
During my intermission, I have been reading some parts of this book as a way to soldier on.
There was always this myth about Buzz Beurling being a loner… Well Nick Thomas shoots down that myth in his book about Buzz Beurling. I can remember now why I bought that kit in 2017 in my first uncontrollable impulse buying on Amazon.ca. It was about new Airfix model kits being released. I had not bought Airfix model kits since the 70s. All that would change in 2017. The first model kit I bought was not an impulse buying. It was all about building an Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I.
I wanted to build it for Gérard Pelletier’s niece whose uncle was an air gunner with 264 Squadron and later RCAF 410 Squadron. Her uncle was killed on September 3, 1942 while on a search and rescue mission. His niece had shared her uncle’s log book, letters and photos that he took in WW II. This is some of what I wrote on him on the original My Forgotten Hobby. Three years later Chantal and I still have not found the time to meet so I can give her this.
This is the first project on My Forgotten Hobby III.
I bought this kit two years ago on Amazon.ca for under $40 CAD. I had not built a Spitfire since the 70s and I have to say I was missing building a Spitfire especially since I have been writing a lot about Spitfire pilots since 2011. A case in point…
https://georgeboudreau.wordpress.com/
https://georgesnadon.wordpress.com/
https://249squadronraf.wordpress.com
/https://rcaf416squadron.wordpress.com
/https://rcaf403squadron.wordpress.com
/https://443squadron.wordpress.com
/https://rcafspitfirepilots.wordpress.com
/https://anotherunsunghero.wordpress.com/
https://colinfranksorensen.wordpress.com/
Getting back to my forgotten hobby for now, I keep forgetting to read what other modelers have written about what I am starting to build. I should have read what this modeler wrote before I started Airfix Spitfire MkVb…
This modeler is comparing two Spitfire Mk Vb, one made by Tamiya and the other one by Airfix. He encountered the same problems I had last week with the cockpit assembly. I always took for granted that model kit manufacturers do rigorous testing before putting model kits into production.
It must have been apparent to someone that some parts were not fitting well leaving noticeable gaps as you can see here on Jon’s blog.
Also instructions can be sometimes vague and you have to figure out where some parts are to be glued which is causing some frustration even after dry fitting a few times. This had taken the fun out of building my Spitfire, but I guess that’s the challenging part of the hobby. Jon’s had a second and a third part where he had some more issues with the Spitfire…
Having used my 3 gigabyte allowance on WordPress so I am moving on to My Forgotten Hobby III. Now I know I won’t regret what I have bought last week after reading two reviews on The Modeling News which is a blog about modeling…
This one is a review of ICM Ju 88D-1 a reconnaissance version of the Ju 88-4. I can see what I can expect from ICM Ju 88A-14.
https://www.themodellingnews.com/2019/08/dry-fit-review-148th-scale-junkers-ju.html
Excerpt
First introduced in early 1941, the Ju 88D-1 was a dedicated photo-reconnaissance variant based on the Ju 88A-4. The photographic equipment consisted of Rb 70/30 or Rb 50/30 high altitude cameras and Rb 20/30 low altitude cameras in various combinations depending on the mission. Unlike the Ju 88D-2, the D-1 had its cameras mounted in the fuselage immediately behind the rear bomb bay. In operational service, however, only the two starboard camera was carried, while a prepared rivet pattern on the fuselage underside marked the position for an optional third port side camera window. The Ju 88D-1 featured an optional gasoline-fired heater in the camera compartment with an exhaust vent in a streamlined fairing on the fuselage spine. The camera compartment was accessible for servicing through the rear bomb bay. To make way for the new camera ports the FuBL2 Lorenz blind approach radio antenna was also moved further aft. The Ju 88D-1 was able to carry the complete range of bombs or auxiliary fuel tanks available to the Ju 88A-4. The Ju 88D-1 quickly became the most widely used Ju 88 reconnaissance-bomber variant. [source: In Action #85]
This is a review of the Ju 88C-6b.
Excerpt
The Ju 88C was originally intended as a fighter-bomber and heavy fighter by adding fixed, forward-firing guns to the nose while retaining some bomb carrying ability of the A-series bomber. The C-series had a solid metal nose, typically housing one 20 mm MG FF cannon and three 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns. The aircraft retained the ventral Bola gondola under the crew compartment through individual units sometimes removed this to reduce weight and drag to enhance performance. The Ju-88C was later used as a night fighter, and this became its main role
https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/12/icms-new-kit-preview-sprues-cads-boxart.html#more
Amazon.ca has notified me yesterday that these two model kits are on their way to Canada from Austria…
These two are still being processed by the same vendor…
My Forgotten Hobby III 