Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build II

Richard I wouldn't call Twelve O'clock High off topic at all Its one of the greats as far as aircraft go and you are right, to a B-17 fan its a must have movie.

I do have Tamiyas P-51B on the shelf that I won on ebay for a song and a dance a year or so ago. Then I saved my milk money and got the HUGE PE set from Eduard, Vac-u-formed canopy,True details wheels, all the whistles and bells. I just haven't worked up the nerve to build it yet Go figure huh. Anyway I am really looking forward to seeing your 51 build.

 Got both my choppers knocked out and got started last night. I decided to double up again, both Hasegawa's, I'm thinking maybe "Big Beautiful Doll" for one of em. I had planned to do a bit of extra detailing, however, I took an ash to the eye last night, burned a spot smack dab in the middle of my pupil. One eye tells me all is well, the other is a fuzzy mess.........feel kinda crosseyed!!!! I really feel for anyone who is not blessed with 20/20+.

 Anyway, these are both going mostly OOB, simple interior painting, canopies closed, and I do have a set of resin control surfaces for one of them.

Damn Fermis someday I am going to learn to build as fast and well as you do thats 4 days work for me man. Lookin good there buddy. Sorry to hear about your eye I know how painful and awkward working with one eye can be.

vetteman42,

Yes I have a thread started detailing the Sherman build. The name may yet change as the concept will go from 'stuck in the mud' to 'fell through ice' As of today the threads title is:

'Achtung! Eine Sherman in dreck'

~figured the German name would attract more views, seems Sherman tanks have been built a few times...

Once this 'in between' far from OOB is finished I will get more done on the P-51

Mike/TB379– F84 looks good!

Dobby – I am late to the response party, but add another vote to stripping enamel paint with thinner (NOT lacquer) and Q-tips. Lacquer will eat the plastic (been there done that lol).  In terms of “lint”, it pays to use the good cotton swabs (Qtips) and not the cheap generics, which seem to shed lint by just looking at them.

Lancair IV – Very nice job on the P-51, looks great! I also see now that the “seam” I saw before was the shadow cast by the light coming from above… oh well, sorry!

Rob – P47D  pit looks great; I think you nailed the belts, very well done!

Stikpusher - F-84E looks great, I like the effect of the different Alum shades.

Julez – I brush my Future on, using a wide stiff brush. Never had an issue with peeling paint, etc… but I usually let dry/cure for 2-3 days.  Great “stable” by the way, as I said before, no such thing as too many mustangs! ;)    

Kermit – Look forward to your build, have that one in my stash… I swore off Revell P51Ds after this build, notwithstanding Michaels’ 50% coupons, which lets me grab a P51D for 8$. The pit detail is just so much better in the Tamigawas.  PS – 12’oclock still a great movie to this date!

I will post some pics next couple days… nothing but cleaning up the LG, putting the props together, and filling in some sink holes (*yawn*). Will work on pit this weekend I hope.

cheers

Daywalker - MANY thanks for your technique on stripping paint using Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. It works great and it was so easy to do. It took about an hour, two dozen Q-tips and one painters rag. I only wish I knew about this stuff when I botched the job on my 1st Mustang.

Below are before and after photos. (Sorry about the lighting.) The one on the left (my 1st Mustang) is the one I ruined trying to use lacquer thinner to remove paint. The one on the right (my 2nd Mustang) is one I successfully used Mr. Color to remove the paint.

Back to my build. So excited!

Before:

After:

JMart

as I said before, no such thing as too many mustangs! ;)    

 

JMart, I couldn't agree with you more looking forward to seein some pics buddy.....(hint, hint)

Richard, Thats a whole heap of putty there mate, i'm glad it's you and not me keep it up...

Fermis, Man i can't wait to see your finished builds, your round one builds were outstanding

Wow this GB is really moving along so...........

Here i go again...

I was hopeing to use the kit decals for the stripes on the spinners and tails but on close inspection i've decided the decals arn't sharp enough in fact they look a little fuzzy so i guess i'll have to paint them on...Other problem areas i think are going to be the tail booms nose cone and 5 peice canopy....

The colours on the spinners struck me as familiar (mrs Bonnie) so i did a little research thinking they may be from the same group, it turns out that theyr'e not but were both based in Luzon in 45. Anyway during my research i Found this....

I want one.........

Dobby, sorry buddy we posted at the same time and i didn't see yours till i posted mine.....

Man what a horror story, after all that work....You are one determined individual my freind Your gonna have a real winner in the end.....

Richard- That masking look s like a real PITA, but it will be worth all of the effort!  Also looking forward to seeing your 'Stang.

Fermis- More great looking P-51 pics, your speed always amazes, especially with the results you achieve.  Really looking forward to these!

Dobby- So glad to hear it worked for you!  I would hate it if you had to scrap them and start over completely. 

I can't believe the speed at which this GB moves!  So many great builds to follow, I am loving it!  I was hoping to get some progress on my FW-190 before starting the MiG, but I am really thinking now i ought to just dive in!

Daywalker

Dobby- So glad to hear it worked for you!  I would hate it if you had to scrap them and start over completely. 

Heavens no! I wasn't going to start over for the THIRD time. If your solution hadn't come along, I would have pulled an Me109 out of my stash and gone back to those Luftwaffe camos I love so much.

Hey guys,

Been doing the pitwork during the past 24 hours... Quite pleased with it myself sofar:

IP turned out quite good. Flat black overall with gloss black dials, white drybrush, gunmetal drybrush on top of that (gives surfaces that metal shine on the edge; something i really like) and aluminum and red accents:

And the sidewalls... Added a black wash on the whole thing after all the painting btw...:

Almost ready to do some real putting together of stuff. Thanks for watching and see y'all soon.

Richard

WIP...

Just falls together....

Richard

P.s.: Julez, I take it that you took that P47 shot from the IL2 simulation game? Are you a player? Is that a downloaded skin? It is gor-geous, seriously...4

Kermit does the Tamiya kit glue its self too ? Good progress my friend, I can not see any seams in the pictures at all. Me thinks this build might spoil you Richard, I wanna try one too ! Cant wait to see it kermified.

Kermit, Nice work so far. I do like how that kit fits together. I've never built a Tamiya kit but have an Me-109 in the stash. I may have to do some drybrushing in my P-51s wheel wells too. Yours looks good. Great cockpit work too. I especially like how the IP gauges stand out with the gloss black. Did you airbrush the black detail on the cockpit walls, then drybrush? They look very crisp.

Did you airbrush the black detail on the cockpit walls, then drybrush? They look very crisp.

Thank you all for your comments. The seams are very lightly present but...ummm....very lightly LOL. Very nice

I always spray the interior green only and brush on the details with a fine high quality brush and some patience (always wait untill i get the right vibe for doing that). The revell flat black also has somewhat of a self levelling quality, masking any brush marks quite nicely. Alot of revells acrylics do that. And during my ship building days i also learned that brush painting usually involves two or three layers of thin paint instead of one heavy one. It really eliminates brush marks.

Richard

Great work everyone! I can't believe how quickly most of you work! A few pics of my WIP. I decided to add wiring to the back of the instrument panel, and also to the engine. I have never done this before, and I am happy with the look. Had some trouble with the fuselage seams. I would like for once not have to shave, scrape, fill and sand, but this may be asking too much!

Rob

kermit - Thanks for telling me how you paint cockpit walls. I got frustrated brush painting with Tamiya acrylics but will try the light coat approach you suggest. Another trick I've done is to airbrush the black then go back with a wash of green which ends up making the airbrushed work look very crisp since the wash collects around the edges.

maxfax - Very nice work on the cockpit and engine. The wiring is a great touch. I'm not sure what plane it is or what the scale is, but regardless, the detail is great. Well done! Everyone's cockpit work in this GB has been simply amazing! 

Maxfax That P-47 is looking really good, you have done a fine job on the wire detail, really makes the engine pop. The engine and pit are top notch to be honest. May I ask what kit that is I dont have that listed on the front page

Nicefit Richard does do nice work making detail pop with a brush I agree. I havent seen revell paints here and cant stand brushing Tamiya acrylics or MM acrylics so I have switch to MM enamels for detail painting. Works great for me and just a suggestion in case you cant find the Revell paints.

Tamiya paints not doing too well with brushpainting is something i have heard more around here. Personally i never used the tamiya paints so can't say anything coming from my own experiences.

Lately my LHS started selling the humbrol acrylics alongside of MM and revell paints. I found out that that brand doesnt like brushes either. Their enamel range is fantastic however so if the revell enamels/ acrylics are a problem to get ahold of you might wanna look for humbrol enamels for brush paint work.

Why do alot of tedious masking work when all you need is a steady hand, good paint and a decent brush...?

Just my own... Im not an expert at brushpainting in any way but have found out some stuff through trial and error; the most important thing being patience, secondmost important thing being layered painting as opposed to one big coat.

Richard

Kermit, Vettman - Thanks for your input guys about brushing enamels and acrylics in cockpit interiors. I will try both suggestions. I hope to get back to my build this afternoon...

WOW!

Being my first Group Build and first NMF builds, I can see you can't let the grass grow under your feet.

You miss a week and half and theirs already 12 plus pages to catch up on.

I have decided that the Academy 1/48 F-86F will be my sacrificial experiment for my first NMF. This will be straight out of the box.

By then I should feel comfortable doing my 1/48 Tamiya P-47D "Kansas Tornado" along with staying abreast with the GB updates from here on in.

Here is where I am at with my F-86F:

Now it is off to the gargae for a few coats off GLOSS BLACK!

Question - Can the landing sturts for this bird be painted "SILVER"?

IBuild148,

Wonderful choices for your first NMF builds I do like your taste.

Just took a look at the Academy F86 i built for the first NMF GB (Boy, that build was fun from A through Z) and i painted the landing gear on mine aluminum colored. As i can imagine that oil spills and dirt buildup would stain and darken the aluminum i think you can get away with silver there

I wonder how your F86 is different from the "Mig Killer" boxing i have built. Could you possibly take a shot of the box and the decals if you have the time? This is a kit i would certainly do again in the future, that's why. Looking forward to your build progress reports buddy.

Richard

EDIT: Word of caution about the usual Academy decals... Every single academy kit i have built sofar (and i do like this brand alot mind you) had very thick decals. They are going to need multiple coats of set and sol to settle exactly the way you want them to. I reccomend spraying the larger decals yourself or buy aftermarket decals. Just my 50 The are not completely unusable though, just tougher to work with...

Vetteman,

Thanks!

The p-47D is a Tamiya 1/48

Rob

Max, Nice, excellent work all around guys!!!!!!!! Love that engine and office Max!!

Great looking work Rob, that R-2800 looks ready to run!

Randy- If it is OK with you, I would like to switch my build for this GB to Hasegawa's 1/48 F-86F-30 Sabre.  I found one I had started years ago that I want to finish, this ought to be the catalyst!  All I have done so far is glue the intake and exhaust together.  Hope that is OK!

Maxfax I thought that was the Tamiya kit but wasn't positive, the front page is updated and thanks.

Daywalker no problem Sir your build is changed I would like to see the MiG though so let me know when you build it ?

kermit

IBuild148,

Wonderful choices for your first NMF builds I do like your taste.

. Looking forward to your build progress reports buddy.

Richard

 

Cant wait to see your progress pictures

To what everyone else said.....Richard, Rob, 48. Great work.

Richard, No Buddy i don't play that game, came across that P-47 pic doing a google image search.....

WIP'S.........

The academy pit isn't that bad and went together fairly well....Just need to give it a shot with flat clear to blend it all in.....

Hi Frank,

Hope all is well in Badgerland.

Mano-a-mano on the F-86F's. Now I have to really pay attention to details since I know who I am up against!