It won’t have escaped the notice of loyal readers that the Display Case is no fuller than it was more than a year ago. So what has been going on? You may well ask.
Contrary to appearances, I have actually finished a handful of projects since my last gallery was published. I painted a Life Miniatures bust of Amelia Earhart, but that was done as a gift, so I chose not to share it. I finished a McLaren MP-4/7 which I had in the drawers for ages, but that was out of the box with nothing noteworthy about it, so it doesn’t belong here.
And then there are my unfinished projects, several of which became a bit less unfinished. I tell myself that it’s productive to be working on something even if it doesn’t feel like I’m nearer to finishing anything.
The dog ate my homework
Due to some reasons, the projects which I mentioned this time last year are still on the shelf above my desk now.
Ducati
I started to paint the seven sections of bodywork, but that turned out to be even more frustrating than I envisaged. Having run out of my favourite white gloss (Vallejo Premium) and found it out of stock at my usual retailer, I waited for it to reappear, lost patience, and went back to Mr. Hobby GX1. That’s not a favourite because it has a narrow thinning window, is difficult to spray smoothly, and attracts more dust than poly paints during application. Oh, and it’s highly noxious and toxic, obviously.
After many coats and a few repaints, I almost completed it when we had the hottest summer on record. For me, very hot weather means limited airbrushing time and reduced energy which has to be spent on the most important things. After running my business, a household, and this website, modelling got whatever I had left.
And since then, I haven’t quite been able to muster the enthusiasm to do the next steps: decals and a clear coat.
Mazda
Alongside the Ducati, there’s still the MX-5, and it’s still as it was a year ago, due to a series of unfortunate events. I was becoming increasingly unhappy with the paint finish, which I realised was building up around details while I repeatedly tried to rub down each dust-filled coat. It was obviously time for it to receive an alcohol bath, during which the window frame snapped!
I refrained from jumping up and down on the whole model, bought another kit, and started on the new body. That was going much better until the next foot-gun. It was tacked onto a spray can as a handle for painting, and to put it in a drawer, I just needed to pop the lid off the can… The body shell pinged off, shot out of my grasp, and the paint got chipped. Oh! 🤬
The remedial work is on my to-do list. In the meantime, I needed a change so I started a couple more new projects. Yeah, I know…
El Matador
First up, something a bit different. I’ve been converting an AFV Club AEC Matador into a ‘50s civilian crane truck, with the addition of a MiniArt crane. My work so far has been shared at Scalemates.
The long-term plan is to construct a garage scene and partial building around it, but initially it will be displayed on its own, situated on a small base.
Char FCM 2C
One of my earliest completed models was Meng’s enormous Char 2C, replete with an aftermarket tail. It’s cool enough to be on display even while several later models have come and gone.
As a rule, I won’t revisit a subject unless the first was trashed and I’m willing to buy a replacement. But after finishing the 2C, I enjoyed it so much that I always had an itch to redo it to a higher standard one day. It’s long out of production now, but I had some rare luck with an eBay auction and so the model shown will at some point have a successor, which is under construction now.
And because I’m not a slave to historical accuracy, I’ll be placing the new one on a cross-section of a trench to emphasise its vast size.
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