Jaguar Mark II 3.8: Complete (#8 for 2021)

An excellent kit by Tamiya, and decent build, but not one of my better ones. 

There are lots of last minute glue smears on the body, and the metal transfers were a major issue which I partly fixed using this chrome tape I picked up somewhere or other.

 

 

The photos highlight another problem, which is an inordinate amount of dust that seems to want to stick to the paint. Not sure how to fix this without further disturbing the metal transfers.

Perhaps one day I'll buy another one of these and do it right. Meanwhile it's time to move on. Stay tuned!

Mosquito: Rescue from the Shelf of Doom

Well, I knew life was short, but I guess we forget... Raimo Leino, the admin of one of the more interesting scale modeling Facebook groups, died suddenly a week ago of a heart attack. He was retired from the Finnish air force, but he certainly wasn't "old"... As the group he founded (Oldies and Goldies Scale Models) featured mainly aircraft builders, I guess my memorial will be to get back to the 1/24 scale de Havilland Mosquito I started about 3 years ago. (My last post on this was December 2019). 

After the war, the Canadian aerial survey company Spartan Air Services bought several Mossies and flew them all around the world. (Although they sadly no longer fly Mossies, the company still exists under the name Sanders Geophysics, located at the international airport in Ottawa). The plan is to reproduce this civilian application. 

The first challenge will be the decals for CF-HMS, which are no longer available from canmilair.com. Most of the text and straight lines can be reproduced; and I have uncovered the Calgary Mosquito Society which is rebuilding CF-HMS to see if they have some additional image files, such as the Spartan Air Services logo (yellow triangle with a blue wing) in higher resolution that I might be able to print. 

 

 

The second challenge will be casting a clear nose cone... this will be an opportunity to get off my duff and work on the necessary techniques. Apart from that I need to complete the second of two engine and landing gear nacelles, and scan through the instruction book for remaining work needed.

Stay tuned!

Jaguar Mark II 3.8: Interior

After a month of focus on Dan Gurney's 1/43 Eagle Weslake, I've decided to go back to something a little easier for a break. The Jag has been on hold for over a month now.

The paint needed a bit of fixing; and the metal transfer pieces were in some cases replaced with a 1/64" chrome tape I had lying around. 

Inside, the decals for the wood dashboard went on particularly well. 

Final assembly looms large. Stay tuned!

Eagle Weslake: Chassis progress II

The rate of progress has been in the molasses range as I am finding it hard to get motivated. Maybe it's time to put it aside for a while... first an update. 

Lordy but these bits are small! Hubs consist of two cast pieces, sandwiching discs made of two pieces of  photoetched sheet, and a cast caliper.

Plumbing is complete, including the pipes running under the monocoque, with the exception of a microscopic bit of pipe which no one will ever notice.

Front and rear suspensions are also complete, and the car sits square on its 4 wheels. 

Exhaust pipes will be the next challenge, with the pipe tie-down clamps being both minuscule and flimsy. 

Still it will be nice to see it taking its place on the podium next to the second-place BRM. 

Stay tuned! One way or another, I'll have something to report in the not too distant future.