Monogram Mafia IV Group Build

Hey Don Carlos, I took care of dat ting for yah. List my builds as complete please.

It's an offer you can't refuse.

Thanks Tony and Bob,

I'm still working on the final coat for body but also added the suspension and glued the engine in. Here's where it sits now.

Looking good Steve

Agreed... nice work on that car!

Well, I’m running short on time, and have decided to do this kit for my second build...

As usual, work starts in the cockpit. I wasn’t planning on any AM, but when I opened the box, I found that I had bought some Ultracast seats with harness and squirreled them away in here, so I will use one. 

which means that I had to fill in the mounting slots for the kit seat

So all this is now ready for paint....

More soon....

I'm still here, I just have been working on the body over and over. I'm not going to put anymore coats on it although It's not as glossy as I would like. The interior is drying right now so I don't have any pictures yet.

Well I say that but you need to see what won peoples choice and the big eagle at EagleQuest this year.

So since I don't have pictures of my poor attempt, I'll let you feast on this instead.

1/18 Revell Mustang GT

I could have sworn I took more pictures of this. I'm sure it will be in FineScale soon.

Looks pretty shiny to me MC!

This is a simple fun kit. Just me speed!

Over the weekend I did get the fuselage assembled and sanded

and the Ultracast seat glued in place

So today I started some painting... I’m trying black basing in the cockpit and other interior areas such as the wheel wells...

then I mixed up a custom Interior Green using Tamiya Yellow Green and NATO Black... I airbrushed on very thinned coats over the black base

more in a few days...

Here is after this mornings detail paint session so far...

obviously I still have more to do here....

Looks good Stik-I like the black base & your paint blend-will have to give it a try next build

Thanks Bob! Next time that I try this, I’ll use more thinner and less black in the top color mix.

I just have this bit of progress that I’ve made- the seat harness is mostly painted, and Promodeler instrument decals added to the IP. I made my best shot at replicating the actual instrument positioning by type to the decals that I had.

So I decided to fix up the gun sight a bit... I can’t stand a solid sheet there where it is supposed to be glass... so I opened up the solid sheet to represent framing...

Then I painted it up and once that dried I added a drop of clear to represent the projector lens, and some clear sheet for the lens... once that dried a quick dose of Future to make it look shiny....

and of course, some Future on each instrument as a lens glass

And some dry brushing on the cockpit sidewalls, floor, and seat, along with some wash in the seat itself to help the belts stand out a bit more....

almost ready for installation....

The belts and IP are looking great Stick.

I finished the body painting, installed the interior and attached the body to the frame. Now I need to paint the door handles and a few other things, add the fenders, lights, window frame etc, add some radiator bracing and I think I'll be finished.

MC, that hot rod is starting to look pretty boss!!!

So when we left off, I still needed to complete the cockpit paint work, which I did yesterday...

Then I assembled the cockpit tub

and then installed the tub into the fuselage

and last thing I did yesterday was to get the wings glued in place...

I first glued the lower wing in place, then once that had dried, I added the upper wing halves with all the rubber bands to minimize any gaps... the upper right wing had some mild warping at the trailing edge, so that’s why I used the clothes pin to clamp that issue... it worked perfectly...

Today before work I did the seam clean up at the wing root areas... all the rubber band work helped on that big time! 

Starting to look like a P-40 now!

So last nite after work, I did a bit more work on this when I came home... I added the horizontal stabilizers, landing gear fairing front caps, and the cowl flap panel... and then let it dry overnite...

This morning I got in a quick airbrush session and applied a coat of Tamiya Neutral Gray to the undersurface.

It’s getting there now....

Well, I’m past my 6 month deadline as of yesterday... but since I’m running this show....

I have doing my usual small bits of progress here over the past few days...

I dry brushed the radiator detail on the insert piece

and once dry, glued it in place

don’t worry, the engine access panels are just tacked in place for painting, so I can install the exhaust stacks after the base color is on...

Today I added the Desert Pink over the OD in the window scallops. 

Since I had extra in the airbrush cup, I sprayed the rest over the wing tips to see how the color looked over the bare plastic as opposed to the OD base in the window scallops. To my eye, the color has a more vivid tone that compared to over the bare plastic. In direct sunlight, the difference is more noticeable about the depth of the color.

So, like on the real 57th FG P-40s, I’ll paint the uppers in OD first, then apply the Desert Pink, AKA Sand 26, on top for a nice even tone. I am using Polly S (pre Polly Scale) Desert Pink, which I bought off our our own Duke Maddog from his IPMS auction “mystery box”, Christmas 2017. I prefer their take on the color compared to all the other paint brands. Thank you Mark!

The pit and the radiator look great Stick.

I miss Polly S. I  still have a few bottles left from the 70's!

Thanks MC. It’s funny how the discontinued paint lines can still have such fans after so many years. Polly S was excellent stuff. Polly Scale was pretty damned good too. MM Acrylics... a poor substitute... Floquil.... a true loss... They can come up with new stuff, but the shades and performance is never the same. All paints are not created equal, and never will be.

Here's what's left of my little solders.

Bob, thank you.

MC, I would do some serious harm to get some more of the Floquil blacks,,, faded, scale, etc... 

Well, today was detail work in preparation for painting. I masked off the canopy parts and then glued them into place

Then I drilled out the exhaust stacks...

and then some more drill work on the gun muzzles

and that was it for now... the air temperature in my work area was approaching 100*, so it was time to go into the house where it is cooler... perhaps this evening I can get some paint on when it cools down and the sun sets...

Nice job on the stacks Stick. I can't get that thin without drilling through the sides.

MC, you can see where I dinged up the edges of the #2 stack on each side. But not too badly... it always happens. For this reason for me, AM seats and Exhausts are a good investment...  

Now that it has dropped down into the mid 80’s, after topping out at around 105* or so, I was able to get in another airbrush session. 5 parts Tamiya OD to 2 parts Tamiya Khaki, thinned with lacquer thinner.

I’ll let this dry and cure overnite, and hopefully tomorrow do a topcoat of the Polly S Desert Pink over the OD. It’s supposed to be about 10* cooler tomorrow and should not break 100*

But the OD is only a base coat for the Desert Pink. Which I airbrushed on this morning. Warm air temps and low humidity made the surface a bit on the gritty side, but overall I think that it looks just right. 

I need to go back now and touch up the demarcation lines with Neutral Gray. The Tamiya pigments are more fine, so I can get a tighter line and spray pattern. Especially if I dial down the air pressure. 

Well, my days off were filled with things that kept me from my work bench as much as I preferred. I did get my final touch ups of the Desert Pink/Neutral Gray right finally. And I mixed up the red for the spinner, plus painting the propeller blades first the yellow, then masking the tips for the black... lastly I airbrushed on a coat of Future. But I think that upper surfaces need another dose before I apply decals...

Looks great Stick