Short Stirling Mk.V, 46 Sqn RAF.

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Now that the clear coat is on, it's not quite as noticeable - depends on the angle of the light, Irritating just the same though !
Been plodding on, and in the final stages now. Having a bit of a rest, as my hands and wrists are aching a lot, but I hope to have it all finished by tomorrow some time - had a lot of work to do trying to clean-up the small parts and undercart pieces, flash and ejector pin marks all over the place !
 
Thanks chaps.
Almost done, but batteries in all cameras need a re-charge !
Pics soon.
Just hope I cn get the Meteor NF.12 done at least - the 1/72nd scale NF.14 will be a bonus.
 
Thanks my friend.
A couple of pics taken before the camera batteries died, show a small problem I had with some of the decals supplied with the Magna Models conversion kit.
The large, upper wing roundels broke up as I applied them, and one of the fuselage roundels got 'chipped' on the lower section of the outer yellow ring. The raised surface detail has also 'broken through' on the fin flashes, showing a couple of rows of silver rivets !
Once the decals have fully settled, and been sealed, I'll retouch the damaged areas.
The code letters were adapted from those in the Magna kit, using separate letters, and the serial numbers (not yet applied in the photos) were made up of separate characters from an Xtradecals sheet.


 
Yep !
One of the fin flashes has also broken up and distorted, when the clear coat was applied, and has since been removed, to be replaced with an Xtradecal item.
 
You'r dead right there Andy !
Apart from another delay, it's not doing my already aching fingers and wrists any good, battling with delicate jobs.
I now need to let the model sit for a while longer, to ensure the decals are fully settled, before retouching them. The alternative is to try to remove them, and use some of my precious Xtradecal roundels (reserved for other projects), but, being a metallic finish, you can bet your last bacon sandwich that some of the decal fragments will stick like sh*t to a blanket !
B*ll*cks, I think I'll go to the pub !!!
 
Oh... again the decal issues. The more I think of that the more I become convnced it is a problem with the water . There must be someting added to it that makes the decal getting hard when soaked. It seems that the quiet warm water works better that the cold one.
 
I normally use warm water my friend, and keep the bowl beneath a hot lamp too.
The last decal problems, on the Airfix Mosquito PR.IX conversion, were due mainly to very visible carrier film, whereas here, the decal images are very thin, so much so that even the very tiny raised rivet detail has broken through them.
I rarely have problems with 'known' quality decals, even 30 year old 'Microscale' items, although if in doubt, I give them a sprayed coat of gloss clear.

I'm hoping to get this all finished either this evening, before I go to a friend's Birthday 'bash', or by tomorrow evening. The next few decals will all be from Xtradecal, so should perform better, then it's just a case of attaching the already assembled and painted bits and pieces and undercart, and glaze the fuselage windows.
Pics some time tomorrow - I hope !
 
Thanks Geo.

All decals are done, and the broken roundel has been replaced.
Just about finished, with all the remaining bits assembled and painted, ready to fit once the fuselage windows have been glazed.
I tried one window using Humbrol Clear Fix, but I wasn't happy with the way it worked out (before it set), as it's quite 'heavy' stuff, so I'll do them all using ordinary PVA, which is much easier to 'stretch' across the openings to form a 'film'.

Slightly behind my target finish time, due to spending ages cleaning up the props, and sanding them back to shape - all the blades were attached to the sprue by their tips, as well as the prop hub also being attached, which left quite prominent 'blobs' on the ends and surfaces of each blade, in addition to lots of flash on the edges of each blade.
One blade on one prop, was attached to the sprue, but not to the hub, as it had snapped off, and had to be re-attached using CA.

Going to have a break from the bench, as my hands and wrists are really aching after messing about with the props, and I don't want to spoil things at this stage by fumbling !
If I don't get it finished tonight, then it will be done tomorrow morning or afternoon, at latest - an extra day shouldn't make much difference.

Pics below show the assembled and painted undercart, and an example of one of the props, part way through clean-up.
Pics of the finished model just as soon as it's completed.


 

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