Model Kits

I bought a few more models on the way home - Revell's 1:144 Concorde and Tu-144, 1:72 Revell FW Ta-152 and P-51 Mustang as well as a 1:48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk Vb.

Despite making a start on any of the kits I bought or was planning to build before the trip, I entered a group build on a model forum with the topic being locomotives. Because I'm known to make things harder for myself, I decided rather than build either the Dapol Battle of Britain or Evening Star kits as they were intended, I would mash them together to create a rebuilt West Country/Battle of Britain class. I've already done most of the scary, irreversible tasks involving cutting up the boiler and frame parts from the two kits to get what I need. There are some fit issues which was to be expected given the parts aren't designed to be compatible, though the same could almost be said about the kits' intended uses.

I didn't just dive straight into it without any planning, so hopefully these few pictures help you understand my thought processes. I spend more time looking at parts and wondering how to make them fit than I do actually building the model.





As you can see, it's sort of a waste of parts but if I desperately wanted to make use of the leftovers I'm sure I could knock up a decent looking fictional loco but at this point I'm willing to keep them for future projects. I do plan on doing another 'not as intended' Dapol kit in the future though I really should be working through all the kits I have already. I spent a lot of time drilling out the holes in the wheels as well for little visual improvement though once it's painted, it may make a huge difference. As for the colour of the loco? Let's just say that green isn't the only prototypical livery...