learmech64

Lawdog, Beautifull job on this P-61. I have this kit and would like to get to it one day. Will take notes from your build to apply to mine. Just FYI, the "Box" in between the magnetos is the Prop Governor. 

 

Thanks

lurch

That looks great. Very impressive. You did a great job on it.

 

Thanks

IBuild148

Looks fantastic lawdog!!! Makes me want to pull the one out of my stash but Ive got too many other builds going on. 

 

Thanks

Lawdog, Beautifull job on this P-61. I have this kit and would like to get to it one day. Will take notes from your build to apply to mine. Just FYI, the "Box" in between the magnetos is the Prop Governor. 

That looks great. Very impressive. You did a great job on it.

Looks fantastic lawdog!!! Makes me want to pull the one out of my stash but Ive got too many other builds going on. 

MR TOM SCHRY

WOW!  This turned out great!  I agree with you about getting a black scheme "just right" and you sir nailed it!  I plan to use your tips/suggestions on my next nighterfighter build.

TJS

 

Thanks Tom

WOW!  This turned out great!  I agree with you about getting a black scheme "just right" and you sir nailed it!  I plan to use your tips/suggestions on my next nighterfighter build.

TJS

chukw

Great build, Shirley- er, Joe!  Really nice finish on that black scheme.  I have the latter release on order- motivation to finish my Mohawk, when my eyes heal, that is. Cheers!

Chuck

 

Great build, Shirley- er, Joe!  Really nice finish on that black scheme.  I have the latter release on order- motivation to finish my Mohawk, when my eyes heal, that is. Cheers!

Chuck

deepscuba

WRONG SQUADRON. Carroll Smith was the CO of the 418th NFS. My father took over his job when Smith rotated back to the States. My dad was the CO till just after the end of the WW II.

 

Great story.....would you like a cookie?

WRONG SQUADRON. Carroll Smith was the CO of the 418th NFS. My father took over his job when Smith rotated back to the States. My dad was the CO till just after the end of the WW II.

1943Mike

 

Joe, forgive me if I missed something but what do you mean the turret was not included in the kit?

 

Thanks guys, your kind words are appreciated.  

Mike, The original A release does not come with a turret.  I did come with two drop tanks, however, I now remember horking them for the B I built a few years ago.  The B version had four tanks.  Sorry for the confusion.    

Wow Joe, not sure how you improve on perfection but you do with each new model!

I've done black and thought it looked pretty good but yours is simply outstanding.

Absolutely stunning.

Ok, now that’s just one cool looking bird!

Superb build from you as usual.

Joe, forgive me if I missed something but what do you mean the turret was not included in the kit?

That's an amazing looking beast Lawdog!

Bueatiful build. I have a Monogram kit that I hope to do soon. I hope that it turns out half as good as this...

She's a really beauty Joe! Thanks for sharing your techniques.

It a pleasure to watch your builds!

I subscribe to what ever you build next immediately.

Thanks for taking the time to post your build.

Damian

Thanks guys..

I'm finally done with this turkey. To recap it's the original release of the Great Wall kit in the markings of the 547th NFS Carrol "Snuffy" Smith and R/O Phillip Porter.  Smith was the highest scoring American Night fighter ace with 7 kills.  Four were on December 29th 1944, that being two JN1 Irvings, 1 A6m2-N Rufe float plane, and 1 K-84 Frank, all while expending only 382 rounds. 

I know I covered this, but I'll rehash a bit.  The kit is far better than the old Monogram kit but it's far from perfect, especially the original boxing which I used. I threw alot of aftermarket at this one, to include gun barrels, resin cowls, and resin props. I horked the turret and drop tanks from the Monogram kit because Great Wall opted not to include them.  I also used the Monogram decals for TAW and the Snuffy cartoon.  I lucked out as they worked great. Insignias and such are Aeromaster. I painted in the wing walks and tail stripes.  A few gripes are the ridiculous wing intakes (which I reworked), the lousy engine gear boxes (later releases fixed it), and the flimsy landing gears (I used copious amounts of super glue up in there). 

Overall, I'm happy with it. TAW wasn't the most flamboyant Widow but that's not always a bad thing.  I decided to keep the weathering to a minimum with exhaust streaking and coral dust in the panel lines. 

I think I will use the updated boxing for future widows though.   

Thanks for following....questions comments welcome.         

Your builds never ceases to surprise me every time I see one!

Your friend, Toshi

Love your work mate, you ARE the master.

I'm still to disovery the magic gloss base prior to decals, but you have nailed it again.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Stunning

Rambo

. So these did have the blue circle around the star and bar? From alot of color photos it's hard to tell if it did or not. Also are you going to do a dead flat or a semi gloss finish?

 

Thanks! Indeed they were normal stars and  bars, the blue was hard to see due to the black finish, as it kind of blended in. I haven’t decided on the sheen. I’ll probably go with sem-flat as these faded quickly in the Pacific. I believe they fared better in Europe though. I’ll see how it looks when I dullcoat it. 

Thanks guys, indeed, it's hard to make a large plastic airplane look like real metal.  I hope I achieved it.  

I have a quick update.  I gloss coated it with Alclad Aqua let it cure for a few days before decals.  I used the nose art from a 1994 Monogram release and they behaved great.  What a relief...

Other than the tail "star and moon", also from the Monogram kit, the rest were from an old Aeromaster sheet.  I had no issues.  It's time for a pin wash.  I'm thinking a dark grey to bring out the details.

I'm hoping to wrap this one up soon.