Confessions Of A Terrible Modelmaker (pt 2)

 Before you read this post, you might want to read PART ONE

 If you already read it or just can't be bothered, here's a quick recap:

I make model aircraft

I suck at it.

I've just started making this

AZ Models F6U Pirate (International Version) 

 Now read on...

Does this look like the workspace of a well-organised man? 

  As soon as I began assembly I ran into my first problem. Up to this point every kit I've ever made has had those little peg & hole thingies to make it easier to get the pieces in the right place.

 AZ Models don't bother with this. Or the tabs you slot into other bits. This made things a little bit more challenging, to put it mildly. It took me 3 goes to get the tailfin put on without it leaning at a drunken angle. 

"Challenging" is also the word to use when it came to the undercarriage. For a start, whoever drafted the instructions was clearly looking at a Beta version of the kit. I spent five minutes rifling through the clutter on my kitchen table in search of the nosewheel bay roof before realising that AZ hadn't included one.

 Luckily I had some spare bits of Revell Lancaster lying about so bodged something together with a bit of chopping and filing and glueing. 

 (Looks like crap but I'm hoping nobody ever looks too closely at that bit.)

 Doing the mainwheels wasn't too bad until I tried to add the little supporting struts. One of the little sods promptly snapped in half and since just adding the other one would look stupid I was going to just forget about it. How likely is it that I'm ever going to run into an expert on the F6U anyway?

I found myself using that excuse a lot. 

 More Revell Lancaster bits and five minutes with a Stanley knife and I ended up with something that passes muster from a distance.

  A bit of Aluminium paint and nobody will ever know. 

 Next step, sort out the various gaps where Part A didn't quite match up to Part B.  Time to deploy the Miliput. 

  I may have overdone it a bit. 

 After smoothing out the putty as much as possible - or at least until I got bored - I thought it was an appropriate moment to slap an undercoat on this thing. 

 Maybe I used the wrong sort of paint or something but I thought it would be a bit more uniform. 

Whatever. No doubt the second coat would make it look prettier. 

 Arse. 

  On the plus side, at least all the washers I'd blu-tacked into the nose were stopping my Pirate from tipping back onto her tail. I just kept stuffing them in there until I ran out of space and clearly it worked. 

You'll notice that I haven't put the canopy on yet. That's because of two things.

1. Past experience has taught me to get the rest of the painting done first. That way I don't accidentally  camouflage the windscreen. 

2. I was ...err...rather apprehensive about painting the canopy frame and was leaving it until I felt brave. 

  Still, my F6U was sort of looking like a proper aircraft and so far I hadn't bollixed anything up too badly.

Next time around: I glue some more bits on, make the paint job look marginally more presentable and try to work out how to glue a tiny metal bit onto the fin without losing my temper.

 That's all folks.