1/48 Hasegawa Arado 234 Blitz-After 3 years..Finally Completed

I bet you hesitated spraying gray on that black finish lol

I'm really not sure how to take that but that's the intent alright.

Just so I’m keeping score at home... 

First you primed black, now you’ve marbled gray. Next you will paint light coats of the camouflage over top?

Ok gang. I got the gray primer ready this morning and shot my attempt at a marble effect on. I heard on the radio that it's National Scribble Day today so it's fitting. We'll be jumping from here on the rest of the assembly and camo scheme.

JOE RIX

Bummer they lost to SA yesterday though.

Thanks Joe! Had to smooth the paint job out a little more this morning. There's something about this batch of paint that I'm not liking. It's not drying fully and that's after waiting a few days. No worries though. After a coat or two of color I'll be able to handle it a little more. lol

Wondeful progress there Joe. I am immensely interested in seeing how your attempt at mottling turns out. Well, I'm quite sure it will turn out beautifully though.

I haven't taken the time to watch a full AAF game yet but, excited that Salt Lake has a team. Sounds as though they are quite fun. Bummer they lost to SA yesterday though.

Thanks Tony. Was going to get back on it this morning but ended up going to a San Antonio Commanders AAF football game in SA yesterday. Long day needless to say. Great game though!

Thanks Nick!

I black based this beast this morning and got a fairly even coat on it. I used the same method I use for my autos that I paint in black using semi gloss black for a base. I'm pretty happy with this.

Nice n' smooth:

Good to see the jet on the bench again.

Ok gang. I got the elevators/ stabilizers mounted up this morning, will do the necessary body work at the joints and then I'm going to shoot an automotive style semi gloss black paint job on this one to black base it. After that I'm going to try this whole marble pattern out for the first time to see just how well that system works.

Any how here we are all masked off (except for the landing gear struts) and ready for the black base.

Thanks MM. It's actually a 340 Six Pack.

I should have done this a long time ago but I acquired an Eduard canopy mask for this bad boy today so I can put the front end on it and commence with the paint work. Progress within the foreseeable future you guys.

That 440 Six Pack! Ok, that is some good luck. That molded plastic looks to be a great match for Dodge Bright Red! I’ve never built a car model, I think it’s the finish that scares me off.  She’s got a wicked stance too! 

I hear ya MM. Waaay off! It was enough that I shelved the build for the last few years.

As for my Challenger, I was pretty happy with that one as it was my first true all out auto build ever. Funny thing about the paint is that it is the molded body color with a clear that was shot from a spray can. It was pure dumb luck that it turned out as well as it did and there wasn't a single bit of sanding or polishing that needed to be done. It would be another 3 years of chasing that same beginners luck shine till I got it down pat on subsequent builds and then it still involves a TON of wet sanding and polishing.

My all time favorite build (and 5 time award winner at the shows) the Revell 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A:

That is a pretty significant offset! On a sidenote, any chance we can get a completed shot of that beautiful ‘70 T/A?

Thanks Steve, Greg and Joe.

Thanks fellas. Feels different switching back to aircraft. I had adapted the pinning method to autos when attaching the side rear view mirrors. Rule #1 in auto modeling--NEVER mount side rearview mirrors directly onto the car body without pinning. You're just begging for a blemished paint job and the mirrors falling off later.

Just drill a hole just large enough for the pin, test fit.....



Then cut the excess off....



drill a same sized hole in the mirror body and mount it with super glue...



Same goes for here. Just look at how far off it was. I swear I wanted to initially throw the whole build in the trash.

But...…………..here we are.

It is absolutely fantastic to see you back at the Arado. It always amazes me the effect of stepping away from a kit for awhile when "stuck" only to return and have an epiphany of an easy or motivated fix. Outstanding remedy to the engine issue my friend. Steady as she goes and continue the wonderful work.

Sure glad to see you back at this, Joe. Some of us have been holding our breath all this time. Relief!

Will you be able to resist a shiny gloss finish?

LOL Joe, 2 years is nottin'. I just recently reworked an Esci 1/9th BMW R75 that I built in 1974ish. I completely tore it down and repainted everything.

The cars are gorgeus specially that Chevy, man what gloss. Hey looks like the Arado will finally get assembled and it's looking pretty sweet. 

Well......after a couple and a half years here we are where I left off. I had installed the engine mount bosses and had test fitted the engine only to find that the engine was not centered in the engine nacelle. WOW!!

It was at that point that I had totally lost heart in the build. However …………..today I picked it back up and it came so easily to me. I cut off the locating pins that protruded out of the wing for the engine (getting those in there in the first place AFTER I had assembled the wing was a true nightmare BTW as they were supposed to be mounted in place from the back side before the wing halves were assembled. It took great pains to install those locating pins after the wings were assembled. Hindsight is a true beeeeyatch) . Cutting them off 2+ years after installing them wasn't near as painful as it would've been back then. I simply drilled new holes and made new locating pins out of cut off bobby pins to move the engine to the right a smidgen. Here we are now with the engine test fitted with it centered in the nacelle. Somebody break out tha friggin BEER!! There's gonna be a dang party!!!!

Thank you guys for the good comments. Still working my way through my holy grail build but will be back in business with this one soon.

Glad you’re jumping back into this. I go back and forth between wanting to do cars and planes. I feel like I don’t have the required patience or touch to make a perfect paint job, but racing is my first love and there’s a lot of cars I’d like to do...

Anyway, looking forward to seeing you wrap this one up!

Those are some beautiful show room finishes for sure! I really need to get over my fear of creating a nice automotive finish. There are a lot of nice automotive kits out there that are begging to be built! 

This build is awesome,

Your friend,

Tosh

Thanks fellas.

Nate.....Nate......Nate......It used to be a display case....now it's my paint drying booth. lol

mustang1989

I've been thinking looooong and hard about this one as of late. It has stayed, for the last 5 years, in plane....er plain sight at the right hand side of my work bench behind glass.



While it's true that I stopped building aircraft models 5 years ago in favor of my interest in automotive subjects, I had also reached a point where I started wanting more out of my paint jobs on aircraft. I consider my D-9 to be somewhat of a success story for me but I wanted even more than that. When I took on this 234 I had fears of it being "just another paint job". You know what I'm talking about, one that looked like it just rolled out of 1:1 paint shop and I just couldn't have that. I have recently watched paint jobs come together with processes that have been untried by me on aircraft such as marbling and black basing and feel that I am ready to "tip in" so to speak. I feel really comfortable (and perhaps too comfortable) with the mirror like automotive finishes that I set out on learning how to pull off some 5 years ago now and am ready for my next challenge in modeling.







After finally learning how to get consistent results with a shiny paint job I feel that I am now ready for the next challenge of learning how to master a war/ weather worn aircraft finish. I've got a lot of catching up to do on this build and it IS going to have to wait until the completion of my holy grail Silverado 454 SS build but I think we may be giving this one a "GO" next. Stay tuned........

 

Aahhhemmm,... most people put their models in the display case after they’re finished?

Glory Be and Hallalujah! The world is now as it should be.

Good to see you back at the Arado Bro.

mustang1989

 

 

Tojo72

I can't believe its been that long since you left off on the 234

 

 

 

 

LOL! They say that time goes faster the older we get.

 

 

You got that rigt. Surely it must be nearly Xmas again.

Will be good to see this one back.

tempestjohnny

Finally