Not
content with the masochism of spending huge amounts of effort in a largely
hidden interior - I then discovered a new means of torture using Klear (Future)
- it was a feature new to me of this wonder product. Once the cockpit was
finished, I superglued on the canopy (nicely coated with Klear (Future) for
perfect transparency). All looking great - no fogging of the canopy - I merrily
got on with painting the kit. So far so good. A couple of days later I thought
I'd just run the kit under warm water to clean it before final painting. Whether
the water was too warm I don't know - but my wonderful cockpit detail slowly
faded away behind an opaque white coating inside the canopy. After much wailing
and gnashing of teeth - it was obvious that Klear (Future) does not like too
warm water! Has anyone else ever suffered this - is there a wonder cure? Anyway,
after leaving it a day to see if it cleared (it didn't), in an act of
desperation I proceeded to drill a small hole into the floor of the front
cockpit and then syringe yet more Klear (Future) through the cockpit (and out of
the cargo area). Eventually it worked - white fogging disappeared but at the
cost of a less than perfect canopy - but by this point I was happy to at least
be able to glimpse my hard work in the cockpit.
Click on
images below to see larger images
After
adding most of the main kit parts - I finished off the painting - as usual by
brush and Humbrol enamels. I have only ever brush painted - the thought of
cleaning (and paying for) a decent airbrush has always proven too much for me.
The money spent on the airbrush could always be better spent on adding to the
400+ "to build pile" growing in my loft!
To
finish of the painting - after a quick overpainting of the "Yellow 66"
decals with Humbrol 24 enamel - I decided to follow some of the hints and tips
on ARC and attempt some panel line detailing with some oil paint and thinner.
This was only my second kit I've ever risked "ruining" by doing
this. I know its not perfect - but if anyone else out there has been modelling
for years like me but has never felt "good enough" to try weathering
panel lines my advice would be DO IT! It takes a lot of courage to first take
the plunge with covering a lovely paint job with "burnt umber in
thinners" - but the degree of depth and realism it adds to a model is worth
the worry and work.
Anyway,
the rest of the build was relatively uneventful - I replaced the kit's
antennae with 3 and 5 amp fuse wire, added some aeriels with invisible mending
thread, added the supports for the open cargo door (more fuse wire),
scratchbuilt the tail support from plastic rod (as the kit one snapped) and
built a new pilot's access step from fuse wire (as the kit part was too chunky).
Finally
- more inspiration from ARC to create a display base - an off cut of wood from
the garage, scribed with a needle in a pin vice. Humbrol 27 brush painted
concrete, and Humbrol 33 wash - then the closest I come to "after
market" products - some Hornby scatter grass.
So -
there you have it - 7 months of occasional modelling - one Esci Hind enhanced
with drinking straws, fuse wire, a lump of wood and some railway modelling
grass. Hope you enjoy the end results as much as I enjoyed building it - oh -
and long live ARC - my daily source of modelling inspiration!
John