1/48 CA-13 Boomerang - One Final Detail!

Yes, I know this post previously said it was finished, but I finally managed to get a gunsight! With the change of role to army co-operation/ground attack/photo recon, some Boomerangs had their gunsights removed (sometimes replaced with an "intervalometer" for photo recce work), and instead were fitted with a simple ring-and-bead gunsight. This was the case with "Sinbad II". Now it's finished!!!

Thanks for the kind words Brad. Already started on the next, my P43 Lancer. Not quite so easy as there are much fewer scources than the Boomerang, and this kit needs some work to get it right. As for pilots, why would I want some clumsy oaf getting in the way of all that lovely cockpit detail??!

Great finish, Chris!  It's been fun to follow your build-what has it been now?  Eighteen months or so?  If the kit fought you, you certainly overcame each obstacle well, and as was said, if you had problems, it can't be seen on the model.  Clean build, great colors, subtle weathering.

If I had to give any negative, it'd be that you need to add a pilot   (I'm an old Monogram hand, and I have an affinity for figures!)

I'm looking forward now to seeing those projects you have listed in your signature!

Best regards,

Brad

Thanks Mike

Some really fine work went into your model. It looks great and anyone would be more than proud to display this little gem.

Kudos

Thank you Johnny, John, and Toshi for your kind words

Wow, a beautiful job.

Your friend, Toshi

It's a beauty.

Well,strictly not quite finished. Still waiting for the ring and bead gunsight to show up, but aside from that, finally done! As this is the first aircraft I've built in twenty years or so, I'm not too displeased with it. There are a number of bits I am not 100% happy with though, and I will do differently/better next time I build one of these. Also first time with airbrush, first time using acrylics on aircraft (always enamels prior to this one), and first time priming before painting. Anyhow, here's the pics

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Meanwhile, only a few components to add and at last it will be finished. Well, that was the plan. Then I fitted the first of the gear doors. Firstly, it is the wrong shape. The outline is correct, but it should be dished outwards over the wheel. But far worse, once fitted, it sits in the wrong position. The mount and other sticky-out bits are all positioned too far back, which means the door sits way too far forward past the front of the wheel, whilst the back of the wheel isn't covered at all. Even at this late stage, the kit is fighting me!!! I stuck some plasticard on the rear face of the door, then started shaping and sanding. The photo shows the newly modified door against the OOB item. Just a little minor cleaning up to do.

Great felling when you get close to the end of a build.

And what a build you have created, well done.

Look forward to seeing the finished build.

You're approaching a great looking finish!

Funny, I always have two bottles of Tamiya's X-20A hanging around too.

Not much more to do. A bit of masking to remove, a bit more weathering, sticky-out bits like wheels and prop to add still, but nearly there.

Thanks. I think I've figured out why I was having problems with the stencil decals. I ordered a new set to replace the few I'd screwed up. They went on fine, so I reckon my original set must have been sitting in my stash rather longer than I realised!!!

On the subject of decals, it's funny how , if you follow photographs of your chosen aircraft exactly, it can sometimes look like sloppy modelling? Studying photo's of "Sinbad II" showed that the position of the code letters on each side doesn't match. On the starboard side the top edge of the letters line up with the tailplane and the bottom edge of the cockpit. On the port side they sit several inches lower, and the S is at a very slight angle.  

Looking really good, Chris. 

At the decal stage, and currently applying stencils. I decided to use the set from Red Roo rather than the kit stencils, as they are much finer, much more legible, and much less obtrusive. That's the upside. The downside is they are incredibly fragile! If you are buying a set of these, buy two! They are only A$5 a set. The instructions say to use a setting solution. DON'T! I did initially, and the first two broke apart almost immediately. After that, water only. Even then, the important word is gently. I used a set of tweezers to hold each one under water for about 20 seconds, then placed it on the model near where it was needed. Then use a wet brush to gently tease it from the backing. Do not try to force it. Wait until it virtually wants to jump off the backing itself. Then use the brush to tease it into position, using more water if reluctant to move. I know this might be teaching folks to suck eggs, but I cannot overemphasise the fragility of these decals. They look great once they are on though!

Thanks guys!

Excellent!

For your first time painting an airplane model with an airbrush, it looks pretty darned good!

Bleed-through can be resolved with chipping

Finally we have paint on plastic. Clearly there was a bit of bleed through in a couple of places, and there is some touching up and a lot of weathering, etc, to do, but seeing as it is the first time I've ever used an airbrush to paint one of my model aircraft, it could have come out a whole lot worse!

Thanks. Still one issue to figure out before committing paint to plastic for the camo.

Very nice work Chris. How did you go with the camouflage? Did you get it sorted out?

Look forward to another build instalment in the near future.

Damian

As things have come to a grinding halt while I unravel the last piece of the puzzle that is Boomerang camoflage, I decided to sort some of the bits and pieces, such as the prop. I replaced the kit one with a whitemetal one from Tasman's CAC CA13/19 Boomerang Engine Accessory Set. It needed a fair bit of cleaning up, but it came out ok. In addition, information I have is that the spinners were prone to cracking around the backplate mounts, so a field mod was introduced to rivet a strip of aluminium along the back edge of the spinner as a strengthener. This is visible in photo's and often misinterpreted as a join line. On some aircraft this appears to be a different colour or possibly bare metal, but I am assured it was painted. Possibly not very well though as a few pics show this coming away. I glued a thin strip of microstrip around the rear edge, and then rubbed it down as thin as I dared, before painting it aluminium and then dry brushing the spinner colour over the top to give a peeled paint look (sort of!). The whole thing was painted using Humbrol enamels, and then sprayed with a coat of Tamiya flat clear acrylic with just a spot of dark earth and medium grey mixed in, just to tone everything down very slightly. When I'm ready to fit it, I'll remove the shaft from the back and drill it to accept the engine shaft.

Ok, so here's the issue. Here we have probably the best known Boomerang, and colour schemes for this aircraft published by Aeromaster Decals, "The CAC Boomerang" by Richard A Franks, and the example which sits at the foot of my posts. Then there is the pic of the actual aircraft. Anyone notice a problem?

Ok here's my rather Japanese looking Boomerang! For the fist time when building aircraft kits I sprayed it with Tamiya primer, which fortunately is white. Photo's show much of the paintwork on this plane to have been very faded, so the light base will help. The black nose will give a dark base as the cowlings and access panel immediately behind where the "Sinbad II" cartoon sits were much darker and slightly shiny due to groundcrew wiping away oil residues. The green around the gun ports is because, according to the information I have, before doping new patches over the gun ports, the old residue would be removed using acetone, which is not very paint friendly, meaning you got a discoloured area where the primer showed through, and sometimes even bare metal.

Right, now for the fun bit! Markings and camo!

Very impressed with my Montex masks...... NOT! The ones for the outside of the canopy are ok, but the inside ones are wrong, as are the upper/lower wing roundels, and there are none for the fuselage roundels and fin flashes. Can anyone suggest a suitable material for making my own masks that will not rip off the paint or leave a sticky residue?

Thanks

Finally ready for masking and paint!