Thanks keavdog!

Just catching up on this. Great work on these two interesting birds/breakfasts?! Those props look fantastic.

the Baron

Welcome back, good to hear you're mending!  This was well worth the wait.  I'll second that, the yellow finish is excellent!

Thanks Baron!

Welcome back, good to hear you're mending!  This was well worth the wait.  I'll second that, the yellow finish is excellent!

Real G

Nice finish on the V-173!  Yellow is notoriously difficult to spray.  That rear shot of your model reminds me of the Ginter book.  

 

JohnnyK

I would like to add one more thing to your suggestions. I find that warming the spray can in warm tap water helps provide a smoother final finish. 

I will have to try that!

Tom,

Nice finish on the V-173!  Yellow is notoriously difficult to spray.  That rear shot of your model reminds me of the Ginter book.  

Tom Hering

Thanks Gamera! I have good results with spray cans by doing the following.

1. Shake the can for two minutes.

2. Hold the model at arm's length.

3. Keep the can 12-18 inches away from the model.

4. Lightly spray the model with a series of 1/2-second shots, covering it with a patchwork of spots, rather than trying to cover the whole model with a continuous spray.

5. Build up a solid, uniform color in two or more sessions, rather than trying to do it with one coat.

6. Use a white primer under yellow.

 

Thanks jeaton01! Getting better every day. 

The V-173 is really fine, Tom.  Sorry to hear about your medical issues and I hope it's all behind you now.

It's been a year since I posted anything about this project. It was a long Winter of modeling doldrums last year, with nothing accomplished. Then Spring and early Summer brought two major surgeries, and recovery time. But I've now finished the V-173. Finishing the XF5U-1 is next!

Finished applying the XF5U-1 kit decals that are supposed to represent temporary, taped-on walk/work panels. (Judging by the box art, instruction sheet, and Kitty Hawk's photos of a built example - second photo below - the kit's designers seemed to think these were permanent panels, as the national insignia is shown painted on top of two panels, and the tail hook is shown emerging from a panel.) I used a lot of Solvaset, both under and over the decals. I also accurized the kit decals using flat black acrylic and white stripe decals (page 28 of the Ginter book was my reference for this).

Thanks Gamera! I have good results with spray cans by doing the following.

1. Shake the can for two minutes.

2. Hold the model at arm's length.

3. Keep the can 12-18 inches away from the model.

4. Lightly spray the model with a series of 1/2-second shots, covering it with a patchwork of spots, rather than trying to cover the whole model with a continuous spray.

5. Build up a solid, uniform color in two or more sessions, rather than trying to do it with one coat.

6. Use a white primer under yellow.

Both look really really good! Very smooth even coats, super impressed with the yellow that always gives me fits whenever I apply it. 

After a few weeks of feeling burned out on this two-plane project, I'm back at it. Put down a coat of Testors #1246 Metallic Silver on the V-173, and a coat of Model Master #1917 FS15042 Dark Sea Blue on the XF5U-1.

Devil Dawg

That sounds more like the XF4U-1 (V-166B) than the V-173...... Supposedly, the V-173 flipped over on it's back during an emergency landing on a beach. The Corsair made an emergency landing on a golf course, and ended up on it's back as well.

Gary Mason

Real G

  The Ginter book also mentioned that the V-173 once ended up upside-down on a golf course, but the pilot escaped serious injury.   

That sounds more like the XF4U-1 (V-166B) than the V-173...... Supposedly, the V-173 flipped over on it's back during an emergency landing on a beach. The Corsair made an emergency landing on a golf course, and ended up on it's back as well.

Gary Mason

Thanks Gamera. Repeatedly correcting and refining a model can get frustrating and exhausting. But it feels really, really satisfying when you've finished.

Ouch, great to see her looking so good after all the krap you just went though.

The XF5U-1 is ready for paint, after filling, sanding, and priming - over and over again. Like the V-173 kit, getting all the seams and contours to look good was quite a job.

After a week of heavy rains, high humidity, a straight-line wind storm (80 MPH), and a 27-hour power outage, I was finally able to put two coats of Testors 1214 Gloss Yellow on the V-173.

Thanks RadMax8!

The V-173 kit seems to be made of a soft, weak plastic. The hairline crack along the port leading edge was jagged, and ran through the plastic next to the seam, not through the seam itself - perhaps because the plastic was under stress there. And when I was attaching tiny bits to the spinners, a large, thick chunk of spinner just cracked right off. I'm guessing the plastic is sensitive to chemicals and chemical fumes (primer, CA, accelerator), causing it to fail in spots.

Your efforts are well worth it! Glad to see the seams and flat spots aren’t keeping you down!

Success at last! A hairline crack opened up along the seam on the port leading edge, requiring one last session of filling, sanding, and priming. However, there are no more flats now - everything smoothly curves the way it should.

I guess I'm not finished fixing things after all. It's taking a lot of work to be happy with the transition between the upper and lower halves of the plane - along the prop arms and the leading edge. Prime and sand, prime and sand, prime and sand.

More seam flaws than I thought. Finished fixing them with CA and Vallejo Plastic Putty #70.401. Also did some corrective sanding on the port prop arm. During assembly, on the outside of the arm, there was a step between the upper and lower halves, which I tried to blend. Primer revealed I had created a noticeable flat along the join.

A note on the Vallejo putty. It must contain air bubbles, because I see a lot of pinholes after it dries. Two or three applications are required to fix this. The putty is a water-based mix of acrylic resin and marble dust. Same as Liquitex Light Modeling Paste, found in arts-and-crafts supply stores. But the Liquitex is much, much cheaper per ounce, and can be thinned to the same consistency as the Vallejo.

Primer is down on the V-173. Gunze Sangyo Mr. White Base 1000. A few minor flaws in seams were revealed, but that's par for the course.