Air Racer GB Round 2

Just the bees knees Howard!!!! WOW just an amazing build!!!

Super job on the Bulldog!

Wow, stunning. ill sort the front page shortly

I love those Williams Bro.s kits. The two Gee Bee R-1 and Z model I built from the original release didn't reqire as much filling as the Bulldog, but still were based on older mold technology. So expect some trim and fit , sand and fit from their kits.

 Still, Williams Bro.s has a line up of kits that are hard to ignore , and they build up into very eye catching models. I'm tempted to get a couple of their larger scale engine kits such as the Wasp or Le Rhone rotary .

 I remember my dad building the 1/72 B-10 and Boeing 247 years ago. They were beautiful models.

Williams Bro.s kits may take a bit of work here and there, but definitely worth the effort. 

Howard  

Daddy1 you da man for these air racers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am almost convinced to collect a few of these Williams Brothers kits for future racer builds. Another great plane for Daddy1 Racing Inc.

Really cant wait to see what you do with the 72 Chevelle In the dirt car group

Wow....very impressive Bulldog. Great intricate paint scheme, and the exhaust stains are a fantastic detail.

 At long last , the Bulldog is done! Enjoy the pics.

This has been one of the more challenging Williams Bro.s kits I've built. The kit itself is fairly easy , even the upgrades I did with the engine and prop. 

 But the filling , shaping and sanding around the wing roots , struts, and wheel pants does put it into a more experienced build range. 

 If I were to build this again , I'd tack on the wing struts , shape smooth the fairing to the fuselage. Then cut the struts loose till after paint and decals. Working between the struts ,wing , and fuselage  wasn't easy.

 Still , I'd highly recommend this kit, if from the subject alone. The 1/32 scale Williams Bro.s golden age racers is perfect for what often wasn't much more than a big engine with a pair of wings attached. The guys who flew these racers had some very large kahunas.

Howard 

Most impressive

 As promised , fresh pics.

The skinning on the blades was done with kitchen aluminum foil and Microscales foil adhesive. You have to make sure everything under the foil is smooth as with all bare metal finishes , blemishes will show through.

 After skinning gave them a coat of Future to seal them. All I need to do now is detail the hub and paint MM aluminum for subtle contrast.

Still need to finish the white outlines then a couple coats of Glosscoat.

Howard

 I've got the black scallops and swoops on the Bulldog. The decals are super thin and a bit on the brittle side .They reacted well to Microsol but some spots needed the coaxing of a second and third application. 

Doing some touch up then I'll paint the white out line stripes with an 18/0 liner brush. The kit has decals for those strips but the scallop decals were slightly off register so I'll have to go over the stripping on those anyway  with the liner brush.

 Fresh pics tomorrow. 

BTW - keep your fingers crossed, I'm going to try and skin the prop blades with aluminum foil. Should look very cool with real polished alumimum prop blades.

Howard

Daddy1 the Bulldog is lookin good, as was said above the extra work you did on the ribs it gonna pay off big me thinks. Hope this weather allows me some time painting too, its been cold damp and rainy here in SoCal all week.

Howard- yup, that red paint really looks good and like Mike said, the rib effect is great.

daddy1

The kit comes with patterns for masking  off to paint the scallops and swoops.  

Howard

You lucky ***. That lady in red looks mighty fine. Those wing ribs have added a whole nother dimension to the kit. 

 With many apologies for the delay in posting , lots going on in my little piece of the world .

I finally have color on my Bulldog. 

Had a little cracking and checking problem to sand out.( Paint went on too thick along top of wing while trying to paint the inside of the wing struts.)Sanded and touched up those spots.

The red is a half/half mix of the 1/4 oz bottles of Testors red and Testors dark red. 

 The kit comes with patterns for masking  off to paint the scallops and swoops.  

Howard

The promodeller P39 is 1/48 scale. Haven't thought up a scheme yet but i am sure me and the miss(us) can come up with something dashing lol.

MIkey that black paint went on great man, I always have a hard time with black. Thanks for the better pictures, now I really cant wait !!!

Heres some better photos.

Most of the touchup work i need to do is on the bottom. Thankfully black is very forgiving lol.

Thanks vetteman. I need to smooth the lines out a bit and a bit of black bled through in some places. Next step is decals (when i can figure them out lol)

WOW !!!! talk about fast !!!

Mikey I like what I am lookin at so far and really like the color lines you have choosen. This is gonna be good, cant wait to see where it goes from here  

Just taken the masking off. Needs a few touchups. 

Feedback?

Scorpiomikey

Cant wait to see it.

I have news people. Laid the first layer of black. Started masking it up and it kinda took on a mind of its own. The design looks nothing like i planned, but its gonna look epic when its done. Im praying i dont get any bleed through.

This bearcats gonna look sweeeet. So glad its sunny today.

Pictures MIKEY we need pictures man !!!!!!!!!!

Cant wait to see it.

I have news people. Laid the first layer of black. Started masking it up and it kinda took on a mind of its own. The design looks nothing like i planned, but its gonna look epic when its done. Im praying i dont get any bleed through.

This bearcats gonna look sweeeet. So glad its sunny today.

 Now if the weather will let me get the color on it.

Howard

Thank you guys, what I thought was going to be a fairly easy build turned into a nightmare. I am happy I was even able to finish it.

Stage_Left I do hope you will post pictures of your Gee Bee here, I really want to see the finished pictures.

Daddy1 your technique for the ribbing came out even better than I had thought it would, but then I should have known that this is a Daddy1 production. Looks fantastic man

Stage_Left

vetteman- wow, that's a sharp looking bird you turned out! Outstanding work......you've definitely earned the badge IMO.

 Here's some pics of how the "ribbing" turned out . I was hoping to shoot a base coat of white after work this afternoon when I got home from work, but the weather didn't cooperate. Looks like central Florida is in for few days of off and on showers and since my spray booth is the open end of my garage . 

 Tried painting farther up under roof once, the fumes were too heavy . Got to get a regular vented booth one day.

 I'm shooting MM insignia white enamel as a base for the red so the moisture in the air shouldn't be a problem . Just have to catch the rain free periods between rain squalls. If I can get this thing painted this weekend , I should have it finished by the middle of the next week.  

Howard

vetteman- wow, that's a sharp looking bird you turned out! Outstanding work......you've definitely earned the badge IMO.

I join you in thanking Mike for hosting the GB. I may not have finished my build yet, but I've enjoyed being part of the group.

Wow, Thanks vetteman, that means alot coming from you. Midget mustang looks awesome. Ill update the front page shortly. Feel free to grab that badge.

Well done, Randy!

Ok guys this lil Mustang is finished, I did have some worries near the end but I made it through the troubles. First a bit of history on this aircraft.

 Long Midget Mustang

In 1948 Dave Long, chief engineer with Piper Aircraft at the time, designed and built an all metal racer which he called the Midget Mustang. The public debut of the aircraft was at the 1948 Cleveland National Air Races. The closed course midget racers had a minimum weight of 500 lbs., minimum wing area of 66 sq. ft., fixed gear, at least a 6G structure, and the powerplants were limited to stock 190 cubic inch engines.
The prototype Midget Mustang #67 was close in the competition, taking 2nd in the elimination heat. Engine problems caused Dave Long to drop out of the finals however. He went on to build a prototype production aircraft and had made an arrangement with Schweizer Aircraft to produce the design before his untimely death in 1950. The Midget Mustang is well known for its air racing legacy during the late '40s and early '50s.

And a picture of the tiny Midget Mustang next to her big sister Miss America

Scorpiomikey thank you for hosting the group and allowing me to finish my build late. You are a good host and I hope to join more of your groups in the future.