Well I thought it was about time I contributed a bit more so I am going to do a build diary of the Zero fighter.
I'm going to apologize in advance, my build diary may be a bit slow dependent on how much time I have available and hopefully I won't bore you too much with anything seen or already done.
I am going to do half frame and half skinned(plain) but will paint the inside of the cockpit and engine details and maybe some other bits I hope to do the model some justice.

So here we go
I started on the propeller blades well in fact I started on one(told you this is going to be a bit slow) I managed to de-burr the blade OK I went from a file to the wet and dry and took my time in fact I reckon about one hour in all for the first blade from start to the polish however I have not applied any sealer as yet will do the three all in one go, I found the fine wet and dry was leaving too many scratches so I thought I would look for a finer grade somewhere in the house but it turned out to be the same, so I thought I would give one of the sanding blocks I bought when I ordered the metal primer a try, I chose the blue one as this seemed to be the finest and indeed it worked a treat so just needed a polish


Now a word of warning on what I did next (although most of you will think what was he thinking of) and I don't know what possessed me to do it but I had a good sniff of the Brasso and blinking Nora I nearly jumped out of my chair , I can only think that I must have been trying to invoke some childhood memory as when I was a wee lad we had some brass knickknacks cant really remember what they were think they were Barbie and Ken's camping set(frying pan, kettle maybe some pots) so used to give them a polish along with the copper fireplace, well it was the mid seventies! I should also hasten to add, not to sniff Pure Non-Brewed Condiment Essence 16:1 as this has the same affect(yeah my folks owned a chippy) also wear a mask when painting a large area with red floor paint(please note I'm not a substance abuser)I just remembered I had a sniff of a Dry Wipe Marker in work the other day

Anyhow once I came down off the ceiling I gave a good polish on the blade what a difference it makes, i'll most likely give them a final polish before applying the clear metal primer, so here we are one down two to go just got to find a couple of hours to complete them.

please feel free to make a comment, advice, abuse or whatever, in fact please do, as it will be a while before next update
regards
Simon

Hi Simon
nice start on the prop, micromesh will give you a very nice shine too ,its available in several grades and you will see a difference
regards
Andy

Hi Simon
NP on the mesh another avenue im looking at is to use an Alclad ali finish on my Zero, Here's a link

http://alclad2.com/finishes/high-shine/

This may be another way to go
regards
Andy

Cheers Andy, for the info will deffo use for the D51 and also had a thought seeing as I maybe be getting a full pack one replacement for the Zero(due to the screwdriver incident) I may have a go on the blades.
regards
Simon

cheers Kev, yeah only a few hundred more we need

Thanks Jase
I thought it was about time, as you have to give something back
regards Simon

Hi Graeme
Thanks I have chosen not to paint the cladding as I don't have enough experience in aircraft painting but I think I would still go for the un painted look on the cladding as I like the look however I have been knowen to change my mind at the last minute so may decide differently
Regards
Simon

Hi Spencer,
Yes she is slowly coming along I haven't forgotten about updating my build log, have been taking pics along the way ready to post the next update but I have had to deal with a lot of time bandits for the last few months, at present I only have a couple of hours spare a week to work on my builds so just need to make some time available.
I am kinda of embarrassed not contributing more on a regular basis to the forum I guess a lot of members who post regular are just as busy as me but still manage to do it, hopefully I will post a update soon.
I have to take my hat off to all who make the forum what it is and find time to post on a regular basis.
My mother always taught me "you've got to give something back" I guess I am not living up to that at present!

regards
Simon

Thanks Spencer,
Appreciate your kind comments
Simon