Aircraft Detail for Modellers Group at Flickr.

As a result of some feedback that I have received and having reviewed my viewing statistics I have set up a new group on Flickr called “Aircraft Detail for Modellers”.

I was amazed to find that the most popular photograph on my photostream at Flickr was this picture of the pilot's seat from one of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's aircraft. A conversation with a friend and fellow modeller explained the reason, he is building the Tamiya 1/32 scale Spitfire and had used my photo as reference for painting and detailing the seat in his model. This led me to think – it would be a good idea to create a resource on Flickr to enable modellers who are also Flickr members to post and share their photographs of aircraft details so that other modellers can access and use them?

The more I thought about this the more I was convinced that it would be of benefit to other modellers, I have often wished that I could quickly access a photographic reference rather than trawl through a pile of books and magazines to find that elusive detail that is needed to complete a model only to be frustrated and the model put to one side. The advantage of this group will be that, assuming modellers post their photos, any other modeller can view the picture and use it as a reference, this would be especially useful were there is only one example of the aircraft in a museum or collection thousands of miles away in another country so a day trip to take a few photos is out of the question.

To be truly effective the group needs to have lots of people posting their photos to build substantial pool of pictures, so if you are already a Flickr member please become a group member and post your detail photographs. If you are not yet a member, have a look at what is already there by clicking on the link below and if you like what you see and want to participate, open an account (The basic account is free, a “Pro account” is $24.99 a year) and start posting.


Aircraft Detail for Modellers at Flickr.


This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Dragon Focke-Wulf Fw-190 A-8

 

Dragon kits have a lot of very finely moulded detail but the fit often leaves a lot to be desired. Unlike Tamiya, their designers do not seem to keep in mind that the kits are going to be constructed by people with widely differing abilities, the plastic is quite thin and delicate and frequently the parts lack clear or positive location points making assembly something of a trial and error process. Because of this the major parts such as the fuselage halves usually require reinforcement otherwise things tend to come apart even with the carefullest of handling.

This Fw-190 A-8 is no exception and in particular the undercarriage legs proved to be an absolute swine to get symmetrical with just the right degree of toe-in. My first three attempts resulted in the model sitting at varying drunken angles to left or right with the third being the least bad. Although in all other respects it was finished, I put the model away in a box for about a year, not wanting to display the thing in that state. In the end I dug it out, took off the undercarriage and with a good deal of trepidation tried to get it right and, believe it or not, everything slotted neatly into place without the slightest problem at the first attempt!

The paint used was Extracolor (It was built before I had become a convert to acrylic paint) and the decals are from Aeromaster set No. 48-061.

This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.