In the meantime, I have moved on to more aircraft trouble. Determined to kill this problem, I am getting further and further down the simplicity stakes. As we were taking an extra day's holiday over the Bank Holiday weekend, I took a Hobby Boss HE162 Salamander home, knowing that there was a Russian option in the box which was all over light grey. There was me thinking, this will be easy.
So, this is how it coes. I get the model put together fine. I was wondering a bit about it being a tail sitter but as the body is cast in one limp of plastic, there is nowhere to put any weight anyway. I get it painted and the canopy masked up. So far so good. Now we come to decalling. I HATE decalling with a passion. I find it the most tedious activity known to man, at least in the modelling world. This always makes the process a bit suspect. Firstly, I messed up one red star so that loeft me leaving off the marking on the underside of the wing as I had to use one of those for the top wing. Then I found that a marking on the tail had folded so it wouldn't settle properly. I assumed that nobody would know what it was and you can only see one side at a time so I left it as it was - the pattern was indicernable in any case. I cambe back next day to find that the 02 on one side had moved out of alignment.
Back to the shop (thank goodness, I can open up when I want to - this was Bank Holiday Monday). I knew I had a second He162 on the shelf so I brought that home, thinking that I could make a pair, the second one in Luftwaffe markings and I could steal the Russian ones from this kit. Needless to say, I didn't take any paints, and as I don't do Luftwaffe, I don't have a collection of RLMs at home.
On went the final decals and from then on everything didn't go too badly. Gloss varnish, a couat of Pro Modeller Black Wash - my last attempt at doing panel lines - and then a coat of matt varnish. It was then that I noticed the one of the small decals on the tail(remember that one was on incorrectly) had come off in the burnishing stage of the panel line operation - needless to say, it was the good one that came off. Still I have a second set of Russian decals so I can fix that.
Back to the Luftwaffe version. I had cause to go back to the shop on Tuesday so determined to pick up the paints then. I forgot the paint list! So, I took one of each off the Vallejo Model Air rack, thinking that I can put the ones back that I don't need.
BTW, did I jmention that it turned out to be a tail sitter - hence the support from a pipette ion all the photoes. Oh, and I also forgot to mention that I broke the front protruberabce 9don't know what it is called) off during the panel line episode, so I had to drill a hole and make a replacement!
All this, and I still have the Luftwaffe version to make!
Just to show I have some skills, I also attach a photo of the state of play with a Young Miniatures figure that I am painting. This is a DAK radio officer. Somehow, I think I am better at figures than I am aircrat, in spite of making aircraft since I was 14.
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