Hobbying In Place #8 Building the Airfix Handley Page Victor K2/SR.2

I know why projects go onto the shelf of doom. It is about expectations.

My expectations were to slide a project out of my stash as a sort of snack. A "snacky" build, you know, one with a low reference impact, fun and that would go together easily. A project that I could just pop into my mouth and "viola" a finished model. A quickie between lunch and dinner. A little side jaunt, just like the one I saw at the Butch-Ohare show. But not white, I needed to do something different. You simply can't come to a party wearing the same dress as someone else.

Instead I ended up with a project with Advanced Modelers Syndrome creep, one in which my expectations and the work I thought needed to be done were non congruent. So many issues...If I am just building for fun...then why does it matter if there is a small sink hole, unscribed panel line or slightly misaligned part? Should I not be just happy to hold this thing in my hands and build it? Does the finished quality define the building experience? Why is this thing two minutes away from the shelf of doom? Why can't I just enjoy building this thing?

The Airfix instructions can present a complex maze of tasks based on the version you are building. I am building the "A" version (which took a while to figure out, as it is not explicitly stated). I thought at first to cover the build steps with post it notes, but this made things more complex visually. So, I opted for this method. This saves time, you only need to figure out what you are doing once, instead of every time you open the instructions. Plus, it made me feel good crossing out steps with a red Sharpie. Oh, and the smell. Now that is hobbying.

I think this is my problem. Gappage on the wing tip section to main wing. If I had test fitted, filed and sanded beforehand I wouldn't be fixing this panel line mess. This is a user problem.

Here is some of those sink holes. These front intaky things had the worst fit. They had to match up with multiple parts.

For some of the gaps I mixed up some water based "Epoxie-Sculpt", rolled it into tiny snakes and used a bamboo skewer to press into the seam.

It was around this time that I flipped the model when it got caught in my sleeve. I had noticed the tail didn't line up perfectly with the wings, so one might believe that fate intervened and knocked the tail off. I do not subscribe to the idea of Fate, really I'm just a moron who's sleeve got caught on my model.

The sink holes here became apparent once I started leveling out the wing tips.

Intakes. Always a conundrum. The rear outer part (in place) needs to be blended into the wing. The nozzle is cone shaped, thus must be painted and installed before the outer part. This creates a finishing nightmare.

My solution is to find a way to install the exhaust nozzles after the outer fairing is on. The original part is cone shaped like the real thing. This is wasteful, as this detail exists only inside the fairing. To aid in the complex assembly Airfix should have made this exhaust tube so that it could be inserted from the outside. I found a tube that could be pressed in once the fairing is on. Using this method I can blend these parts into the wing and then install the exhaust tubes.

Another old project, half complete. This is a scratch built DMB-87 "Snuka" from "Space Battleship Yamato 2199". Bandai did a lot of the kits from the series, but the "Snuka" only as one of the smaller Mecha kits. The Garmillas empire ships are loosely modeled after Luftwaffe WW2 machines. The "Snuka" is a space attack ship complete with fixed landing gear and a siren.

Garmillas Anthem

Another crazy project, but we shall not speak of it. Hey, is that snow? Isn't it mid-April?

See how easy it is to get distracted?  

That's it for now. Keep building in an uncertain world.