Autumnwatch

 Usually I spend January to September painting stuff for armies and then the autumn on any other stuff that takes my fancy. My main project for the autumn was a 1/241 Millennium Falcon kit from Revell:

As kit it was quite simple to construct. The painting took a while though:

I used a variety of Humbrol and Revell pale greys and a wash of Citadel contrast white, with a little bit of drybrushing to finish. On the whole it was a fun little kit but the cockpit canopy caused me some issues. The canopy doesn't quite fit properly and then the transfers don't quite fit. I actually stuck my thumb on them and ruined them, then had to order a new set. I eventually got them to stick with the liberal application of Vallejo decal fix, which unfortunately dried a bit misty.

1/241 is sort of 6mm isn't it? It would have been nice if there was a landed option. I imagine that a more skilled modeller than me could cut the loading ramp out and scratch build some landing gear if they wanted.

While shit scrolling through t'internet I came across a reference to the (postwar) Luftwaffe operating a few Canberras. Intrigued, I searched for them and found this:

It turns out that they had 3 of them. Packed with lots of sensitive electronic equipment, they would fly up and down the Inner German Border. Conducting research. Meteorological stuff, that sort of thing. Because of course the average West German citizen needed to know the weather conditions along the IGB at all times. Apparently the paint scheme was their way of saying to the world "We're not a spy plane, honest!"

Anyway, as soon as I saw it I knew that I had to make one:

I've used an ancient Citadel Blood Angels Orange from the 1990s for the main colour. Not sure how I'll ever get to use it in a game but it looks good. At some point I'll add a proper flight stand rather than permanently resting it on a paint pot.

I've got a few other random things in the pipeline before I get started on this year's army building, ready for the campaign season.