SS-23; New windows again!

After a couple of days away from it and having lost the urge to drop-kick the model into the rubbish bin I've made new windows. I used a vernier gauge to get an exact measurement for the windows and because the clear styrene is fairly thin I knew it would be tricky to fix them in. Doing one window at a time I used a blob of Blu-Tack on the end of a wooden rod to get the piece into place then used liquid polystyrene cement to tack the window to the frame (yes I know poly cement does'nt work with resin).  I thinned down some PVA wood working glue with water then brushed it around the window to hold it in place, finally cleaning the Blu-Tack residue off with IPA.
I did this instead of using cyano glue as it would 'fog' the styrene and I did'nt really want to coat the clear styrene in Johnsons Kleer, also it looks a lot neater than cyano due to the fairly slow drying time of PVA glue.

All that's left to do is paint the rubber window seals then I can continue with the weathering.

SS-23; FFS! A word of caution using masking fluids

Parental advisory as the following contains strong language.

So the thing is finally painted and I'm moving on to the weathering stage which means it's close to finishing....
HOWEVER I used a masking fluid (Winsor and Newton) to mask the windows which is not THAT unreasonable I suppose as I've used the stuff before with no issues, unfortunately this time it has solidified under the paint. The masking fluid had stuck fast so I've had to use a chisel shaped craft blade to try and remove it and of course this has completely fucked up the side windows, fortunately the front windows have been spared as the masking fluid was applied later.
SO I'm back to replacing windows and putting more shit into the cabin, when I can face the model that is. At the moment I've put it back into a box before I trash it as I've really had enough of the fucking thing.

Rant over, we now return you to your regular programmes

SS-23; Finally! The windows are done

Sorted! Looking MUCH better;

So now I'm happy with them I'll mask off the windows, get some more primer onto the model and MAYBE even get it painted green :o)
I might finish the damned thing this year...

Eduard Albatros

Well it's just one modelling disaster after another at the moment. After the ongoing problems with the SS-23 I thought I would get this one back on the bench and you may remember that the decals broke up on contact with water. I had to get a new decal sheet with a different colour scheme which required a repaint mainly on the wings.
I thought I would take the opportunity to remove a couple of scratches in the paintwork seeing as the wings were to be repainted so these were sanded back and sprayed but they still persisted so the top wing was rubbed down again and this time sprayed with primer. Unfortunately the primer reacted with the acrylic paint so I've had to completely strip the paint and when removing the masking tape the struts broke off and during the stripping process all the etch bits on the wing have come off too.
I've now put the model back in a box pending the decision whether to scrap it or not as with the struts breaking off the top wing will be VERY difficuly to secure.

I suppose on the positive side at least the scratches are out...
Funny enough after looking back through this blog it would appear that a few projects have stalled and are destined for landfill; the Hasegawa P-51D Mustang, 1/35 Tristar Fieseler Storch, this Albatros, the Tristar 1/35 Sturmtiger etc.
A lot of problems have been mainly down to the paint as all of the models have suffered from a grainy, pebbled finish that I think can be attributed to spraying acrylic at too low a pressure but also there have been numerous problems during construction especially with the SS-23. That thing has been ongoing for almost 12 months and to be honest is sucking all the modelling mojo out of me, more to the point it's making me question whether to continue in this hobby as everything I touch just seems to turn to rat shit these days.

SS-23; The windows are out again

Ok this may look a little drastic but I have a cunning plan. Honestly the windows have been a 'mare' and the damned thing is dangerously close to being launched out of the house BUT I've an idea how to make them look pretty once again, unless I just board them up like the real one in a Russian military museum......
Anyway;

By the way those are the SIXTH set of window frames I've had to make mainly due to operator error.

SS-23; Back to the day job

I've hit a major problem. You may remember I replaced the front windows as the kit ones were crap however it's only at the undercoat stage have I noticed that underneath the left window the beading is missing (it must have been during the window fitting).
Anyway I'm having to think of how to replace it. I've tried fuse wire (it did'nt work) and a thin roll of Milliput but the stuff just did not want to stick SO I'm left with the only choice of having to remove what's left of the beading around the window and try again with fuse wire bent to shape all the way around instead of a section (I've already removed a section on the side).
The more I look the more I see just how crap it looks around all the windows and to be honest I'm rapidly losing interest in the whole project. More later...

Edit; I *may* have found a solution (no not a hammer although it's VERY close), it involves cutting new window frames from sheet styrene, fixing clear styrene behind them then dropping the assembly into the space so yep, you guessed it the windows may be coming out AGAIN!
It's my own fault really as I should have made a better job very early on before I glued the cab onto the hull but still this build is getting on my tits, especially as I've spent near enough 9 hours staring at the damned thing thinking of a solution.

Masterbox zombies (pt 5)

The figures are more or less built, I still have to add the coat tails from Magic Sculpt to the rider but it gives an idea of what I've done so far;

The rider figure took some chopping to get the 'sit' right as it was looking down toward the ground so there's a few gaps to fill plus the right arm and hand were altered to better fit the handlebar grip.
Still having fun so far and it filled a rainy day in the UK too!