Miles M.11 Whitney Straight by SBS Models

And this is what you get: nice box art 

Part count is on the lower side 

Instructions seem to be pretty clear.
Unfortunately there are no color instructions for the interior which is quite a pitty as there seem to be no pictures on the net to give any hint on it (at least I didn't find any). 

 

Part break down is smart. 

Casting is immaculate.  

The parts separate quite easily from the casting blocks.
(On the pic the wheels are clicked into the fairing) 

Everything you need to further detail in- and exterior. I missed only one part, which is an antenna one of the two planes that can be build with this kit, features on the available internet images. 

The clear resin parts look very transparent. Triple check the cut line on the rear canopy part.  

One of the planes decals are provided for. 

And finally the one I am going to build. 

The decals look very promising too. 

Ok. Let's start. As I haven't found any information whatsoever on the interior colors I was free to choose something to my liking. I decided on a light gray as base color. 

The floor got a wooden design as the plane is a wood construction and covered with plywood too, I considered this not too unreasonable.  

The upholstery on the seats and cockpit sides were depicted as leather. 

And here we are with the finished cockpit. The tank was kept in aluminum.  

Everything fits like a glove. I lost one of the control sticks and had to fashion a new one. 

The PE parts add to the nice appearance. The compass below the dashboard received a compass decal - probably never to be seen again. 😉 

So far I am happy with my design decisions. 

Some of the few minor improvements: the control surfaces of the stabilizer were bent as most of the pictures of parked planes show these surfaces droped. Those surfaces are connected by a rod that leads through a gap at the vertical stabilizer. So I opened that hole and fashioned the rod. 

The clear resin parts were added and required some attention and care. The little rear window sat too high so that I had to remove the support rim. At the right hand side I had to shim the frame the clear part rests at with an 0.2 mm styrene strip to get a good alignment with the fuselage. The part with the windshield needed meticulous adjustment too before it was glued into place.
Before masking a polishing session was due (the inside received the same treatment before mounting 😉 ) 

Finally a coat of gloss black base paint to check for blemishes (the window frames were painted interior grey as a first layer). 

Correcting all the blemishes I came across. 

I hope the vigorous handling is over. So the more delicate parts were added and aligned very well. 

You might have realized that I cut out the control surfaces and attached them in a slightly non-neutral position to add a bit more visual interest.  

this little plane is painted silver all over. So to prevent an all too boring visual effect I decided to color the base differently. I conciously decided against marbeling as the pics of the original plane look very even. This is underlined by the fact, that the fuselage is plated with plywood and shows a flawless finish. So the bottom received a black coat, as did the control surface of the vertical stabilizer and the ailerons.  

The cockpit window frame was painted first with the interior grey color. This I used as well for the upper side of the split flaps and the wing root. 

paint the base in middle gray color, check for blemishes, sand/scrape/polish - repeat. But at least I am very happy that I deviated from the instructions and did not mount the front end as this would have made my sanding life even more difficult than it has been done by the nasty little cheat line along the fuselage already.
I mentioned in the caption to pic 21 that I shimmed the right side of the rear canopy. In retrospect I should have done it on the left side too. Too late did I discover that the window frame does not protude nicely above the fuselage surface as it does on the right side. Maybe the hint will improve someone elses build at least.  

Aaaand another sanding session. As expected, the seam between the wingpart and the fuselage was challenging as were the edges of all the clear parts. Another coat of gray. 

After three times doing this I am still not 100% happy, but I will stick with this.  

Preparing a little base. Thanks Sven for the nice board you fashioned for me.  

Done. The base coat with all the different shades is ready for speed silver. 

I tried to emphasize the 3D silhouette of the controll areas by shading them with white. 

 

 

My first try with HGW rivet decals.  

 

Did not work too well, but the areas where it worked look pretty cool. 

Added the hood.  

My idea for a small vignette. Next step will be the top coat. 

Finally silver. 

Now the question is:
Is good good enough or do I strive for perfection? Some flaws escaped my ol eyes before.  

The color went on nicely but not perfect everywhere. I will sleep over it. 🙂 

The cockpit frames are much shinier than the painted fuselage and wings. So, another masking round followed after sealing the silver paint with varnish. 

And here it is. The boarding area on the left wing was masked and painted too. Demasking was surprisingly uneventful. A little black overspray went with a few strokes of a 6000 grit sandpaper. 

Decals and details will be the next steps. 

 

 

 

 

Decalling. The decals behaved well and went on without issues. To achieve conforming them into panel lines Micro Sol was not sufficient. Mr. Mark Softener Superstrong did the job without ruining the paint job.  

Not much to do anymore. 

I am calling the plane done. 

Build OOB with the sole exception of the sratch build central lower antenna. 

The kit builds beautifully. 

Those are some preliminary pictures in front of a photo background 

 

 

The little dio is still in the making. 

All animals prepped for paint. 

Main colors on black primer. 

The base is finished. The little styrene frame was filled with wall plaster to which I added some white glue to prevent cracks while drying and brown color.  

Onto the painted "earth" a strip of 6 mm fibers were planted along the fence. At the airfield area I dusted some part with the aid of an irregular mask, added then some spots of very fine scatter and covered the whole area with a mix of 2 mm fibers. Where fibers wouldn't stick I added some hairspray and repeated the process. 

The fence was build using toothpicks and tiny scraps of oak veneer. Everything was bathed in Tamiya panelliner dark and light gray. Bits of some long stapled moss I collected on a walk completed the garden work around the fence. 

Some motivational shots. 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sheep did not quite turn out as I wanted them but this will have to do now 

 

And the two dogs 

With all the animals done the end is in sight. 

Plane and dio ready for inspection. 

The fence received a final drybrush with light grey. 

I hope somebody notices the result of my meticulous research into sheep shit. 

A little placard will be added - one day 😉 

 

Bottomline quite happy with the result.