Small Wonder Models

Distracted by a never-ending series of household DIY tasks the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2 has languished on the bench for a few weeks. Today I snatched a little time to assemble one of the undercarriage legs to the rear of the Armory resin engine bulkhead.

Working on the Armory engine pod set for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2. Certainly one for the experienced modeller. Instructions are difficult to follow and there is some parts warpage to overcome.

After a two week break (due to a heating system refit at home) I am back at the bench working on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2. I am fitting the Armory resin engine pods. Nicely detailed resin but fiddly, confusing & warped.

After some deliberation I decided to first assemble the Xuntong 1/48th scale Tupolev Tu-2 wings with Eduard photoetch set for the wing flaps. This before building up the Armory engine pods. It is too complicated (and I don't have the bench space) to build up everything simultaneously. A compromise.

After a relatively quick & easy assembly of the kit tail to the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2 I moved on to sort out the wings. I have the Armory resin engine nacelle set to be fitted with both the Eduard sets for flaps & nacelles. A glutton for punishment. Complicated!

Finally moved on from the fuselage interior (of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2) to assemble the tail. As you can see this requires a lot of pressure with ten clothes pegs required. The kit lacks a little finesse when it comes to fit. It doesn't bode well.

I had wanted to move on to build the wings of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2 but found a lot of small unfinished jobs inside the fuselage. Added the gunsight, radios and windows. Was going to use the Quickboost windows but they are 3x thicker than the kit ones and wouldn't even fit!

Finished the interior photoetch for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2 so I can finally move on. I can start on the undercarriage and engines.

Not a lot to show for two hours of work. Wrangling with the microscopic Eduard photoetch for the interior of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2. It is so fragile that it will probably blow away if I point an airbrush at it. If it survives that long.

A few hours on the tiny photoetch is enough for me. Finished the rudder pedals on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2 so moved on to the rear gunner/radio operator position with the Eduard set.

Tiny photoetch can take up a disproportionate amount of time to put together. Rudder pedals and pilot seat from the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2 with photoetch from Eduard. No disasters here but it is time consuming if rewarding.

Steady work on the fitting of the Eduard photoetch sets to the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tu-2. The bomb went together nicely whilst work continues around the cockpit area nearest the pilot seat.

Very slowly slugging my way through the battle to fit the Eduard photoetch for the cockpit to the Xuntong 1/48th scale Tu-2. I don't recall Eduard being so difficult when I used them before. The instructions are vague and have obvious positioning errors. Almost like they never test fitted anything.

Thinning down the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tu-2 bomb bay doors to take the Eduard photoetch interior faces.

After a hard battle fought and won I finally claim victory over the Eduard bomb bay photoetch set for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tu-2. After sanding down the width of the mid-bulkhead I shoe-horned it in and can now close the fuselage halves. Gone for a lie down.

YouTube video by Small Wonder The Buried Giant (1/35th scale)

New video by me: slide-show of pictures from the Buried Giant diorama youtu.be/awrypyNvWqA

Buried Giant photos www.facebook.com/media/set/?v...

Pro-photos of the Buried Giant diorama now online

I think I am slowly winning this war to tame the Eduard photoetch set for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS bomb bay. The problem is trying to understand how to fit the pieces into a complex 3D space with no help whatsoever from Eduard.

Battling the Eduard photoetch bomb bay set for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. It's very tricky and is a real test of my experience. Getting it all to fit will take a minor miracle.

This Eduard photoetch set for the bomb bay of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS is a bitch. It is fighting me all the way. It needs to fit neatly into the model but the instructions are so vague about where precisely the parts should go.

Using the Eduard photoetch set for the Xuntong 1/47th scale Tu-2VS bomb bay is a baffling process. The poor drawings are misleading and don't supply enough detail to isolate the correct bend points or angle of bend. I proceed with extreme caution.

Cracking on with the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tu-2VS now with a little surgery to the canopy. The manufacturer supplies several versions using the same sprues so several moulded-on items like this have to be cut off.

OK so what's next on the bench? I have dragged this Xuntong Model 1/48th scale Tupolev Tu-2VS Soviet light bomber, from the Great Patriotic War, off the shelf. It has a surprising amount of after market that I had collected down the years. I had forgotten how much.

The giant skeleton diorama was designed to fit inside this unused display case I had made a few years ago. The scale of this piece is 1/35th. Figures by Miniart, skeleton by Airfix and the Skid Loader by Gecko Models. The Skid Loader was by far one of the worst designed kits I have ever built.

After adding the last of the flora to the diorama base and popping on the digger I am calling it done. One of the more imaginative and bizarre subjects I have ever done, it was inspired by faked pictures of giant skeletons I had seen on social media.

Slowly "planting" the diorama with the Nettles and long grass I prepared earlier. Each has to be inserted/glued into individually drilled holes. This is fairly straightforward into construction foam but time consuming.

I have completed all the flora for my diorama. I managed to get the Nettles over the finish line. The Nettles came with a bag of yellow fluff for use as seed but I couldn't see how to attach them so repurposed it as grass seed glued to the tips of filaments cut from an old brush.

Making 1/35th scale Nettles from cut paper using the Mig set. These look remarkably good even close-up. I messed up as I was applying all the leaves to fiive stalks forgetting I had ten stalks. I will have to try and space out the remaining leaves to fit all ten.

Sunday morning making 1/35th scale Poppies from laser-cut paper from the Mig set. There are hundreds of tiny separate pieces of foliage supplied if you have some masochistic desire and great eyesight. But I found the basics more than enough to be convincing.