I liked that!.  Black first then light coats of interior green, nice idea!!

Stoutfella Thanks for the reminder man ! To be honest with life's trials I had completely forgotten them.

The group badges are up on the front page.

Ruddratt Like Doogs said above that does look real ! I for one have always liked painted fenders on most bikes, I think they are an improvement to your build over the chromed fenders IMHO.

Doogs oh I like how your interior turned out !! I have my B-29 waiting for interior paint and think I will be giving your idea a go. If I can ever get out there and paint it that is.

hi Vetteman,

I've got an Academy P-51D that's looking for a good home. Can I join in here please. It's unstarted.

Cheers

Tony

Taxtp welcome to the group Your build is in and listed on the roster.

I've been out of the loop on this group for a little bit... Lots of great work so far though!

Stout- Awesome work! I admit, I am sometimes still intimidated by decals, but not nearly as much as I used to be. With a little work and lots of solvent, they can be made to look just fine. Good to see you pulled those off. Well done!

Ruddratt- That bike is looking sweet! As Doog said, it looks like the real thing sitting there!

As for me, since this group goes for a year, mine has been pushed back a couple slots to make room for builds that are ending sooner. But don't worry, it's still on the radar!

Thanks, -Budd

Vetteman: I settled on different markings for my B, ones that are more appropriate for this build.  And I swear these are FINAL! (just put the order in  lol).

A tornado came through a couple weeks ago and threw our pole shed into our house and wrecked 3 cars, so Ive put modeling on hold recently.  But everything is cleaned up now and I'm back in the mood to model.  I would have started the B already, but I plan to start it this week as I finish up a P-40 for another group build.  The D will be on hold for now as I think I'm gonna tear into my Helldiver soon too.

Mike: That looks spectacular!!! I'm not much of a bike and car modeler but gee whiz that looks good!

Doogs: Nice work there on the P-51B and interesting idea on the B-25 - interested in seeing how she comes out.

Matt: A tornado??? And three cars wrecked? Ack, hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

Guys, the cockpit on the P-47D is slowly moving to completion. Hopefully something soon.

Thanks fellas! Glad you're likin' it so far. Went at it some more last night and will continue today - looking to have it finished soon, and with tomorrow a holiday up here, that should give me enough time.

Doogs, I'm liking that painting technique. I remember a bit I think was in one of Shep Paine's books where a guy painted a KV1 in a similar fashion. I'd totally forgotten about that method until I read your post. Thanks for the reminder! .....and that bomber is looking awesome! Top notch work on the 'pit!

Cliff, I've never built a bike kit, and the last cars I did were more almost 4 decades ago (remember those drag racing cars from MPC and Johan?). Just felt the need to try something different and still keep within the theme of the GB. Looking forward to that T-bolt!

Matt, sorry to hear about the curve that Ma Nature threw your way. Glad nobody was hurt and you're back to modeling.

taxtp - welcome aboard! Can't wait to see some work on that 'stang!

Budd, good to hear you're still in on the build!

OK fellas, I'm calling this guy done. This was a fun change-of-pace build for me, and I enjoyed every minute, along with the different challenges it presented - can definitely see myself building another one somewhere down the road, perhaps one of the 1/6 scale kits. Randy, thanks for providing a great venue to share it in - this is a great GB, and it's got me checking the stash for another entry - one with wings this time though. Got it narrowed down to 3 entries - I'll let ya know soon. Hope you guys enjoy the pics!

As far as painting goes, It was neat to try some of the Alclad's I'd never used before, like the chrome, and use it along with my usual standbys (aluminum and duraluminum). For the maroon color, I went with a base coat of black and sprayed multiple light coats of Testors red #1104. MM Acryl semigloss black was used for the seats and frame, and Tamiya clears were used for the lights and gold anodizing.

beautiful finish, puts my one to shame

freaking amazing! Great job

Wonderful work!

Hi lads. Please sign me up for a project or two aswell. I just managed to get hold of some Alclad Pollished Allu paint and I'mm planing to try it out on a few things.

I will do a Hobbyboss 1/48 Mirage IIICZ in SAAF delivirey sceeme, I also have a semi-built 1/48 ME 262 that I think will look cool in NMF.

Thanx

Theuns

Mike: You're not an auto modeler!?! Wow! That makes her even more impressive. That's some beautiful work my friend! I'm not joking when i say she could if photographed right be taken for the real thing!

Mike - you almost make me want to try my hand at a big bike. Don't suppose anybody makes a good Triumph Bonneville?

Making some solid progress on the B-25 and P-51B...probably going to have to slow up a bit though while I wait for a Sprue Bros. delivery. 

Here's the P-51 cockpit so far:

And the B-25:

Gentlemen (and lady ), thank you so much for all your comments. Seeing the high caliber of work you all produce on a regular basis makes me appreciate your words even more.

talentless - believe me, you are anything but that. Took a look at that Tessi 1D you built - that is a real work of art, and gives me something to shoot for with my next bike build (yes, there will be another).

Doogs, I'm flattered that seeing my build would even have you consider building one yourself. Gonna have to do a search and see what's available with a Triumph logo.

......... and those offices! Man, you are becoming the cockpit master! Stunning work!

Redraider no worries man, its a modelers prerogative to change his or her mind dontcha know 

Ruddratt Ok I am grabbin my brain bucket and takin her for a ride !!!!!!!!!!!! That my friend looks real The addition of cables and the gold anodized rims and engine cases really makes it stand out. I did a chopper for my lil buddy and let me tell ya they are a challange and not as easy as you might think.

Doogs Looking like the master is at work again I take it the new AC unit is working ?

Ok guys and lady I have come up with an idea for group badges that I haven't seen done before. I will be keeping the two that I posted on the front page for the group. However I will also be offering others that I think are really cool but I will ask if you want these, please can you host them so I dont clog up my photobucket.

The new ones will be up in a few minutes, Stoutfella and Ruddratt  I hope you like these and claim them.

Whoa Randy!!! That is very cool. You rock, buddy!!

Vetteman42 those group badges look good, especially the Sabre

Doogs I'm following your build with interset, learning a lot. Thanks

Rudratt After I saw your finished build a had to go for a ride, jumped on my little scrambler and went for a spin in the bush. That bike looks like the real thing!

Anyway, here is some progress on my Sabre:

The panel on the righthand side is freshly applied foil, it looks a bit like chrome to me so I sand it down with 1200 grit paper, which results in the panel in the middle(careful, you will be suprised how quickly you can sand through the foil!) The sanding takes care of any of the irregularities caused by the adhesive or other 'unwanted' objects(up to a point)

I then polish with 2000 grit paper and results in the panel on the left, which to me looks more like the real thing. I just received some sanding pads that go from 3600 to 12000, I will polish some more with these pads to see the effect.

vetteman42

Ok guys and lady I have come up with an idea for group badges that I haven't seen done before. I will be keeping the two that I posted on the front page for the group. However I will also be offering others that I think are really cool but I will ask if you want these, please can you host them so I dont clog up my photobucket.

The new ones will be up in a few minutes, Stoutfella and Ruddratt  I hope you like these and claim them.

I'm honored, sir

I have indeed grabbed a new badge and put it up in my own 'bucket. I'm switching from SlickPic to Photobucket, as that seems to be the service of choice among this bunch.

Thanks!

Randy, just an FYI: On the front page, you list my completed build photos starting on Page 2. It's actually Page 8.

Doogs: Really looking forward to seeing that Mustang. Nice work on the cockpit so far.

Jolley Roger: Good progress on the Sabre. I'm interested in following your work with the foil.

Doogs: Your usual great work there on the cockpits.

Jolley: Looking forward to seeing how she comes out there, I've seen such good results with foil yet I've still not got up the nerve to try it.

Randy: Those look great! At the rate I'm moving hopefully I'll get to claim one before the GB is over.

Joly Roger your foil work is really looking good. I know its a lot of work but let me tell ya it pays off big time in the end. I like the idea you have about making panels look different and have a couple of suggestions for you to ponder. You can use the dull side of the foil along with the shiny side, I know they say to glue only the dull side but I have done this quite a bit with no troubles at all. IMHO the dull side works great on the leading edges, I use a tooth pick to burnish it down and the scratches that creates makes it look like the edge has been beat up a bit. Works well on walkways too. Also CallSignOwl came up with a solution she soaked the foil in that darkened it just a bit, looked really good, I dont remember what it was but I am sure she would tell you how she did it.

Stoutfella sorry bout that, the front page has been corrected.

Guys I am happy you like my badge idea, personally I think it really cool and will continue it as builds are finished. Its a neat way to show off your builds I think.

Gamera know how you feel bud I haven't been able to build anything in months it seems. However I am vowing to build the B-29 and finish it for this group.

Another idea for the foil. You can put it in the water whilst you are boiling an egg. It will darken it, and you can control it by when you take it out. I haven't done this trick for years, but it's a good one.

Cheers

Tony

BIt of an update. I ordered two Eduard P-51 placard sets - had great results with their P-47 placards in the past, so I figured what the hell. Of course they don't make one for the Revellogram B-25, but placards are placards.

Here's a look at where the B-25's office is at:

Question for anyone that has a good eye....does it look like there are yellow stripes on the wings of this plane?

The official markings for 31st FG Mustangs were red noses and wingtips and then yellow bands touching the red wingtips and then another set midwing.  However not every plane had the yellow stripes.  The picture on the right shows a partial stripe on the flap but it doesnt appear to extend on the wing itself.  The decal sheet calls for no yellow stripes, a color profile in the book "The 31st Fighter Group in WWII" says yes, but these pictures are inconclusive.  I'm leaning towards no stripes but idk. 

redraider56,

Hard to say.  There does appear to be a stripe next to the one on the wingtip.  Looking at this:

There might ALSO be one mid-wing about the same place the stripe on the flap is, but looking at the B/W photo, I couldn't say the stripe on the flap is yellow.  The "dark area" that might be a stripe does not (to my eyes) go all the way across the wing.  (Upon looking at it further, that MIGHT be a joint in the wing that makes it look as if it ends there.)

Tough call.

Gary

PS> This technique works better when you have the negative.  I LOVE examining old B/W photos for details!

Thanks Gary, thats an interesting way to look at it.  It's hard to tell what's a panel line or a stripe, but if the wings were puttied and lacquered, then there wouldnt be any panel lines near the wingtips.  My guess if that there is that partial stripe on the flap that the aircraft did have the stripes at some point.  There's a ton of pictures in that book and with some aircraft the yellow is quite evident and on others they are barely distinguishable.  That photo on the left almost does make it look like there was a stripe and the placement would be appropriate.  If there was a stripe it would have to be yellow because no other pictures I've looked at showed anything other than yellow, but I agree with you, it really doesn't appear yellow, but then again very hard to tell in B/W. 

Redraider56:  If you do decide to put a yellow stripe, you have a slight bit of evidence to back it up.  Guess it depends on what looks best. 

On another note,  I thought I would ask the participants in this thread about NMF, since I'm planning on doing a P-47 in its bare skin.  But, I was wondering about primers.  Is it best to use flat?  Gloss?  Grey or white?

I've actually thought about using flat black to primer the aircraft to give it a duller finish, but I don't think I have the skill to pull that off.  Anyone tried it?

Thanks!

Gary