I may be some time…

Hi viewers, I’m always surprised and get a warm glow when I view the stats for this blog. So thank you for looking and feel free to ask a question or leave a comment.
I owe another apology for not updating, but the last couple of months have been rough, and the outlook for the next few weeks/months isn’t looking any better. I was made redundant and my good wife (I haven’t got a bad one somewhere else, by the way!) will be in the same boat come September. As much as I’d like to, I have even less time to satisfy the styrene fix as my new hobby is job searching. Nowhere near as enjoyable, but necessary. So, the stash remains untouched – at least the tight budgeting now in-force means it can’t grow – the unfinished kits remain unfinished. The Meteor is very nearly there and I may find a moment or two to add the final touches and post some photos. I really hope to get back in the saddle soon.

Be good!

Re-organising

Some friends are coming to stay for a few days, which means my man-cave will need to be temporarily converted from my (grown-up) work office with hobby embellishment to a bedroom.
This has resulted in a much needed tidy-up and stock take. So, the stash currently stands at:
(1:48)
Mk IX Spitfire (Airfix) Losing the will to live with this one.
F.2A/6 E.E. Lightning (Airfix) Unstarted.
Canberra PR.9 (Airfix) Unstarted.
PBY-5 Catalina (Revell) Small amount of work to cockpit started.
TBF 1-C Avenger (Accurate Miniatures) Unstarted.
C-47 Skytrain (Revell) Unstarted.
SR-71 Blackbird (Testors) Unstarted.
BAC TSR2 (Airfix) Unstarted.
N/AW A-10A Thunderbolt II (Hobby Boss) Unstarted.
Gloster Meteor F.1 (Tamiya) Almost there!

(1:72)
Concorde (Airfix) 80% complete
KC-135R Stratotanker (AMT) 30% complete

(1:32)
ASK 21 Glider (Revell) Some parts painted, wings made

(1:144)
Boeing 767-300 KLM (Revell) Unstarted.
BAE 146 TNT (Revell) Fuselage together
VC-10 K2 tanker (Airfix) Unstarted.
DC-10 Laker Skytrain (Revell) Unstarted.
DC-10 British Caledonian Airways (Airfix) Unstarted.
L-1011 Tristar TWA (Airfix) Unstarted.
L-1011 Tristar ANA (Otaki) Unstarted, still in shrink wrap.

Having a break

I’ve found it hard recently to spend much time on the plastic. Lots of things wrestling for my time, but now the nights are starting to draw-in I’m hoping to pick-up some of my long term projects to while away the hours. More to follow soon…

Over to the dark side

I’ve had an ebay alert set up for a couple of years now to try and nab a 1/48 SR-71 of some sort. Several close shots, some near misses and a couple of bargains slipping under the radar made me think I would have a long wait before getting my hands on one. I can remember a few years ago contemplating getting one; they were readily available, but we were in the process of moving house and it slipped my mind. Then, when I came to buy one, the supply had dried up and I had to resort to ebay. There were rumours of a Revell re-release, but nothing came of it. A visit to good ‘ol Affinity Models a couple of weeks ago was prompted by a hiatus in a Tamiya Meteor F.1 build (I needed to get some tubing and paints), and there on the shelf was the very kit I’d been looking for:

So I was obliged to buy it.

Just get it!

I didn’t have a decent airbrush set-up, and decided to do something about it. I got fed-up of trawling through modelling forums about what equipment to get – so many posts asking the same damn question.
I wanted a small, quiet compressor with an air tank and a reasonably cheap dual-action airbrush. I found the answers after reading this and this (which is what I’ve essentially ended up with). If you can’t be bothered to look at those links, essentially they give favourable, no nonsense reviews of low cost airbrushes and airbrush set-ups that you can get for around £100. As long as you’re not expecting something of the quality of the Iwata’s, these cheap airbrushes do a perfectly good job. I got the compressor from the nice bloke at Affinity Models in Longton for just a touch over £100. I could have got it cheaper on the net, but I’ve had a good experience at this shop and I’m more than happy to give my support. Also, a big factor was noise, and I wanted to hear it to see if I could use it without waking up the whole house. The compressor is quiet enough to use in the attic room without waking my baby daughter across the landing. Next, I got a BD 130 airbrush from the Absolute Airbrush Ebay shop. Looking through there, they have some fantastic deals on spraying kits. It arrived next day for £18. Yes, £18 for a gravity-feed, dual-action airbrush. It has an adjustable needle stop at the back of the handle, so I can get consistent results until my technique improves (or not).

I connected it all up, filled up with some drawing ink and got stuck in. Fantastic. Thick lines, thin lines, really thin lines – everything I’ll need to get some of those half-finished, waiting-for-paint kits back on the road.

Why didn’t I do this earlier? Dithering, that’s why. Wondering if I could justify spending hundreds of pounds on a top-end airbrush and compressor. Would I be better saving my money and putting it towards some tasty spray set-up? Well, possibly, but now I’m spraying away and getting results I’m more than happy with, without breaking the bank. Hell, last month’s mileage expenses pretty much covered the cost! I was afraid of wasting money on some junk that was unusable, but I was reassured by some of the aforementioned reviews and a bit of time sourcing information on the net.
The way I look at it is that I can learn to use a dual action airbrush without having to spend money I haven’t got. The little amount of time I’ve had to practise has produced results I’m really happy with, and I’m sure it will give good service until my skills and bank balance can justify pro equipment.