Torsten's bench works

After a few days vacation in Czech Republic :czech_republic: I’m back at the Stangs and started with the decals on KH680, because I want to finish the Great Canadian Campaign first. Most decals are on now, only some stencils are still missing. I’ll apply them in the next days …

Like on my Spitfires I risked it again to take the transfer film off the decals after a day. It’s a fiddly and sometimes nerve-wraking work. In the end I came to the conclusion that it’s not really necessary in most times. The letter “B” got damaged a bit on both sides … :slightly_frowning_face:

… but “Edmonton Special” came out perfectly … :slightly_smiling_face:

On the right side flag of the rudder I noticed already on the decal sheet some kind of “emblem”, which is a misprint and I hoped it is only on the transfer film and not on the decals itself … :unamused:

… after taking the film away, the “emblem” was gone … :+1:

On these macro photos I can see a lot of dust particles though. But in real it looks a lot less cruel … I hope to have finished the Flying Maple Leaf by mid next week. The Flying Wombat :joy: will be finished after that.

Torsten :beers:

UA

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Torsten,
Finally I’m finding a little time to catch up on your Mustang’s Twin Build.
Decaling on the Canadian Mustang looks outstanding to say the least. But unlike you, I would opt to leave on the film if there’s that pesky chance of decal damage, as unfortunately you experienced once again. Still a little touch up and hopefully it won’t be noticeable.

BTW, glad that you had a great mini vacation. As for me, once retired, everyday is a vacation day if you don’t count the ever increasing daily chores list, and the endless trips to doctors, labs, and hospitals. Hoping to take my wife of 40 years today ( our anniversary) to Las Vegas this winter for 2 weeks vacation, and then the following year back to Hawaii. These would be our 1st real vacations since our honeymoon.

joel

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Thanks Joel! Very kind!

With the use of Decal Soft from Revell most decals lay down really well on the surface of the models. But you know who I named “Master of the Decals” not so long ago? You do it just perfect on your racing cars. And you’re right, there’s no really need to take off the transfer film from the decals. KH716 has a different set of decals where that is not possible. And my next project is a kit from Hasegawa. So no temptation to spoil the decals there.

My mini vacation (6 days) in CZ was really great. Have seen a lot and had nice warm summer weather all days. My big summer holidays this year will bring me hopefully to Belgium and Northern France, where I want to make a WW1 memorial tour, visiting some memorials and cemeteries. Did that already in 2012 but lost all photos because of a computer crash in 2014.

Have been in Vegas for 2 or 3 days during my first USA trip in 1992. Long time ago …

Okay, back to the bench!
Torsten

UA

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Torsten,
You’re a real life traveling man for sure. Here in the states we usually get just 2 weeks vacation. All the years of extra vacation I had which was up to 5 weeks, was lost when the company was sold. Now we can travel and do whatever we want being retired, but Covid had put an end to that ASAP, and now it’s just one health issue after another. Believe me, getting old sucks. The Golden Years are nothing more then having to go to the bathroom all the time. :frowning_face:

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True, but it beats the alternative! :grin:

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Tom,
Some days I have my doubts. Between heart and Carotid artery issues where I had two stents inserted in my left Carotid Artery in Jan, and a EP monitor inserted above the right side of my heart, it’s one specialist after another. And lets not forget the Retina disease in both eyes. I took those shots for a year and then changed to a very highly rated Retina specialist who preformed a Angiogram on the 1st visit, and told me as I suspected, the diseases I have in my Retinas, the shots have no effect on. But I’m still modeling the best I can these days.

joel

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Getting young??? :joy:

The person that said ‘youth is wasted on the young’, sure knew what they were talking about…

Peter,
No truer words were ever spoken. Just 5 years ago i use to power walk 2 1/2 miles 6 or 7 days per week no matter the weather. Now, I’m exhausted just walking down the driveway to the mailbox and back to the house. Sad but so true.
joel

7 Years ago I was running 15 - 20 km, 2 times a week and 10k’s 3 times a week. 3 years ago I was cycling 60k per day, 5 days a week. Now my knees complain if I walk 5k’s to the local shop and back. My doctor said “Well you are well past the wrong side of 60 to expect anything less… we are getting on” (he is a few weeks younger than me).

Missed you by a couple of weeks Torsten!

I’ll be headed there for four weeks of family vacation at the end of the month, to enjoy the summertime and catch up with family! Hopefully a visit to Letecke Muzeum Kbely (Prague Aircraft Museum) is on the cards too :wink:

Meanwhile, your Mustang twins are looking awesome! :blush:

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My fondest memory of the Czech Republic. Crawling over a Dana 7 years ago:

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I decided to leave that one for my next visit, Russ! Prague is only 500 km away from my door. But I can highly recommend another great aircraft museum. It’s the Letecke Muzeum in Mlada Boleslav, about 50 km northeast of Prague near the highway to Liberec. Mlada Boleslav is more known for being the headquarter and main factory of Skoda Auto. The Letecke Muzeum opened in 2015 and I went there just a few months after the opening for a model show. One of the best I ever had! Among other planes they also have there some airworthy (!!!) WW 1 replikas, which sometime fly at the airfield directly beside the museum. Just a fantastic museum! Entrance fee is 150 CZK.
Muzeum Metoděje Vlacha | Letecké muzeum v Mladé Boleslavi (letecke-muzeum-metodeje-vlacha.cz) (sorry, only in czech language)

And while you’re in Mlada Boleslav you must pay the Skoda Auto Museum also a visit! Skoda is one of the oldest car brands in the world, so there’s a lot to see. Plan many hours there! I went there in December 2018. It’s at the other end of town to the Letecke Muzeum.
About museum | ŠKODA Museum (skoda-auto.com)

And if you have some more time to spend I can also recommend the Lešany Tank Museum in Lešany, south of Prague. For that museum you should also plan a lot of time because it’s huuuuge! I stayed there nearly 5 hours. The halls are full of old, very old and new military equipment. And if you also love old (czech) civil cars, you’ll be right there, too. Not only Skoda …
Military Museum Lešany - Wikipedia

Peter, the Dana I saw in this museum wasn’t in as half good shape as the one you were crawling on …

Btw, KH680 is very close to the finish line. I’ll apply the last stencils today, so if everything goes well, it will be ready for take off on Friday or Saturday. KH716 hasn’t got any decals yet.

Torsten :beers:

UA

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Sooo, KH680 is nearly finished. All decals are on and sealed with Bodenglänzer. I give it another night to dry thoroughly and hope to apply the final matt coating tomorrow and add the external fuel tanks … :slightly_smiling_face:

Next update of KH680 will be the finished model, so stay tuned!

Torsten :wave:

UA

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You’re very lucky Torsten! :slightly_smiling_face: Prague is my favorite city! I’d probably live there if I could…

To není problém. Trochu mluvím česky. Ale ne moc dobře. :grin:

That looks like a fantastic museum. There are so many great places to visit in Czech. Unfortunately with family commitments this time around we won’t have a chance to visit, but it’ll go on the list for next time (Including a detour to the UK to tick off a few bucket list items there as well-flight in a two seat spitfire, for example :wink:)

KH680 looks brilliant-looking forward to seeing her finished off and that masking tape removed :star_struck:

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Torsten,
KH680 decaling really looks quite good. Can’t wait to see both Mustangs on your ready line.

joel

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Russ, my knowledge of czech are only two words and that are “Ahoj” and “Nazdraví” … :beers: Enjoy your trip to good old Europe and make the best of it!

John, would you take your seat and start the engine, please? RAF Pilot

Finally I have finished KH680, though I have again to do some more paint repairs … :roll_eyes:
Mustang Mk. IV
No. 442 Sqn., Royal Canadian Air Force
Hunsdon, England, April 1945
Pilot: P/O John Mallandaine
Kit: Eduard 1/48

Final coating was made again with a mix of Revell Aqua Clear Gloss and Matt, this time in a ratio 60/40 and I’m quite happy with the result. At last the external fuel tanks and the position lights were added. The tanks are painted with Revell Aqua No. 99 Aluminium. Demasking the canopy took only a few minutes. But sometimes it’s not a good idea to open the canopy when the build is finished. Though I glued it with only a few tiny drops of Ponal to the fuselage, the glue sticked really tight to it. So when I tried to open it this morning, some paint came off with it and now I have to repair some Black, Interior Green and - most annoying - Yellow. If you look careful you can see the chipping :angry: Other than that, I call this build finished. And just yesterday evening I found a photo of the original aircraft … :slightly_smiling_face:

Y2-B Mallandaine1

And while I had clear coat in the airbrush I also finished the side rudder of KH716. Had also some problems here because the decal on the left side flipped over and I made some emergency rescue to save it. This is the best result I could achieve …

I’ll start with the decals on KH716 on Sunday and hope to finish that build by next weekend.

Have a nice weekend!
Torsten :wave:

UA

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@BlackWidow Torsten, you actually know 3 words in Czech because “Na zdravi” is two words :slightly_smiling_face:

KH680 looks brilliant! Congratulations on a beautiful finish! :clap: :beers:

Looking forward to seeing KH716 in all her RAAF finery :hugs:

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Torsten,
The Canadians would really be quite proud at how your museum replica of KH680 turned out. As for the paint chipping, sorry but I don’t see it, nor do I see any issues with the left rudder decal.
Looking forward to seeing KH716 being rolled out to your flight ready line.

joel

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Thanks your your feedback, guys! Much appreciated! :slightly_smiling_face:

Joel, there are tiny chipping issues on the canpoy which I have repaired yesterday. They are not visible now.

KH716 has got the first decals today … :slightly_smiling_face:

Torsten :wave:

UA

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A little teaser for Russell (and all you other Aussies out there) … :slightly_smiling_face:
All stencils are still missing.

UA

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