On Track Show Folkestone 27th February

The first show of the year for Stonehenge modellers and a great way to start the year it was too! As usual we set off on Friday and after a very easy drive down to folkestone were all set up in the hall by 4pm. Friday evening followed the usual format of finding the seediest bar in town and setting up camp! It did help that they had Doom bar on tap too. 

Saturday morning saw us up bright and early for a good feed and off to the venue for a quick look about before the show opened to the public. We also had an added bonus of the Modelworxs table manned by Dick Francis next to us so that ensured plenty of banter both serious and hilarious throughout the day.

The show itself was busy from the start and we had plenty interest in our models and were kept busy chatting for most of the day. It did slack off somewhat after lunch but this could have been due to the rugby? I only managed a few quick tours of the halls but saw some excellent models on display and also some interesting items for sale by the various traders present. 

Again the show was a great way to start the year and it was fun meeting up with friends both old and new and sharing ideas and having a generally great time.

My very restrained stash addition!

Secret Projects And Other News

Everything has conspired to keep me away from the bench since returning from holiday, be it training courses or life in general. However I have had some bench time building the Takom Chieftain Mk5 in Iranian guise which when completed will appear in a future issue of Tamiya model magazine international. Unfortunately I can't show you any pictures yet until it's published but I will say the kit builds up really well and is light years ahead of the old Tamiya Chieftain. 

One secret project I can now share has just been published in the March issue of Tamiya model magazine. It's the new re-boxing from Tamiya of the Italeri M24 Chaffee. The remit for this was a straight out of the box build and I must say it was really fun to build it this way. Painting it was also a blast and the inclusion of stowage and a figure in the box was an added bonus.  

The article features a detailed account of the build and I'm very pleased to have it published. So normal service is almost resumed at the bench!

Next Saturday is also Stonehenge Modellers first show of the year down at Folkestone for the 2016 On Track show. So if you are going be sure to say hello to myself or Brian.

Some Winter Sun

Well it's got to be done hasn't it? A chance to get some sun and miss all the rain and grey weather here in the UK. We've just spent ten fabulous days in Fort Lauderdale enjoying the sun and the sights as well as visiting the wife's sister. 

As usual we had a full itinerary and managed to fit in loads of sightseeing and visiting some must see places. The highlights were swimming with dolphins and the Kennedy space centre, both were mind blowing in different ways. So I'm now feeling relaxed and rested and ready to get back to the bench.

Eggtastic! Me-109 Done

I finished off the little egg plane last night after adding the decals and a panel wash followed by matt varnish. Really had a lot of fun building this cute plane and found it strangely relaxing too. So first build for the year done already!

Egg Plane Painting

here's the little egg plane all painted up and in it's gloss coat. Nothing difficult and a nice simple scheme but fun all the same. The decals will be going on today at some point.

Happy New Year!

Yes indeed a happy new year to all & I hope you have a great 2016. 

Over the festive period when not at work I've done a few bits to the builds currently on the bench. The Bronco YW has been sucking the fun out of the build due to the insane small parts count and fiddly construction of some areas. The tracks where the easy part! 

One of the difficult areas are the light assemblies which like this one for the hull side are made up of multiple parts, this one has 7! Coupled with no locating holes etc on the hull sides it gets a bit frustrating at times.

The egg plane however has just been fun to build. I've now painted the cockpit, primed the model and am just making a start on the paintwork.