Mighty Mini's GB! 1/144 scale

I have an update on my Eurofighter. I nearly finished painting it and started assembly of the cockpit tub:

Everyone’s builds are coming along nicely, and rather quickly which made me feel a bit like a slacker so managed to take some time off from house projects to get some time on my C-47.  The fit problems are slowly being camouflaged with ample mounds of putty – and yet still more is needed.  There was a huge gap and small step on the left wing I filled with putty which left only a step needing correction on the right wing.  I have steps at the top and steps at the wing-to-fuselage joins, the wing is much too thick.  The frustration with the C-47 is rapidly dampening the enthusiasm to start the C-117, it may get further back in line in the stash pile.

Some progress pics: 

Nice looking there so far deattilio. Don't you just love kits that can make a bottle cap look big?

So, the one guy is saying "look dude, it's getting close to being done". And his buddy is like, "hallelujah!"

Crap, I'll fix this Friday at work when I can edit from my PC. Sorry.

Calling this one finished.

9/6. And done. Definitely not my best build, but I'll take it considering the issues I had. I'm sure there are some inaccuracies but I build for fun so not really concerned about them.

Sitting with a Revell E-2C I did a while back.

Nice build there kg4kpg. I think I might have to get the E-2C next but modify it to E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. My dad's actually working on it... Well, until Northrop moves the program to Florida.

Also, I'm thinking of extending the date, by another 144 days, because there aren't too many people involved.

Nice work kg4!

Nice nice work, KG4!  She looks fantastic all dolled-up with decals.
The E-2C is nice too... and also your carrier deck display :)

I had a great time working on the Falcon today!  A really really fun day.  I ordered a cheap 1/144 figure set on ebay last week, and they came in a couple days ago.  This afternoon I sat down to modify them into a flight crew for the Falcon as it flew during 'Empire Strikes Back'.

Solo, Chewy, Leia, and C3PO.  

Starting point.. 

Pick of the Litter 

The horror! 

Everybody looks happier 

I used this photo a LOT today 

The best I could manage.   I swear it looks lots better in person.

A view to the final product.  
Note that C3PO is flailing his arms, like he does through-out the whole movie!  hehehe

A view to the final product 

Also, I cut out the engine area for the LEDs 

kg4kpg,

     Good looking C-2 and very interesting shot staged next to the E-2!

Here is a couple of before photos of my Dragon Maus. A fairly large tank done in a very small scale. I received this kit as a gift around ten years ago. A fellow club member  won the two tank set (it originally included a Tiger tank) in a club raffle and only wanted the Tiger. He gave me the Maus. That was around 2004.

The kit includes 11 plastic pieces molded in a type of soft styrene as well as six photo etched grills for the engine intakes. I took a photo of the parts (minus the mantlet) sitting on my Droid Razr for size reference.

I started to paint the tracks in a tan color, but the enamel did not react well with the soft styrene. The paint didn't fully dry and the parts are a bit sticky to the touch. I will repaint them along with the rest of the tank using acrylics.

I'm having difficulty with Flickr and will add the photos when I can.

Now that the crew & cockpit is assembled and sealed, I'm turning my attention back to the light system.

Here I'm experimenting with just one LED inside the shell.  Next I will work toward mounting ~10 of them.

@Rob: Wow... That is so small... Wonder how it compares in size to the AAV I did at the start of the GB.... Nice gift.

IL2windhawk, I cannot write WOW big nor often enough to express how impressive that little Millennium Falcon is.

I got a coat of primer sprayed on my C-47, there are a couple spots where I need to revisit with putty and sand paper but, it is nearing her first coat of color toward the Texas ANG scheme.

Nice Millenium Falcon IL2Windhawk, and the C-47's coming out nice deattilio.

I have the GB badge ready. Check on the opening post of this thread to find it.

kg4kpg, that really looks great.

IL@ that is so cool looking.

Rob, I love those little Dragon kits.  Reminds me I need to do another Peanut Butter Panzer

deattilio the C-47 looks really ice so far.

I am still plugging away on my (normal size) M1A1.  I got the 109F PE detail set in the mail.  It is pretty incredible.  I'll try to get so pics up soon.

WOW! 

IL2windhawk, love what you did with the Falcon's cockpit! Clever, well-done paint job truly makes it look like the movies.

Rob Gronovius, cool kit. What a weird way to package it, huh? Big tank, small kit, and I can't wait to see it finished with your usual flair.

deattilio, the C-47 is looking fine . Keep up the great work and get that lady her paint job.

Meanwhile, I've been busy, but I finally got the F-18D finished. (as in "if-you-don't-mind-the-conspicuously empty-cockpit--finished"). I don't really have a ton of spare 1/144th figgies for the cockpit, so it's a 'drone' fighter.

Pics:

and that's it. Finished (what's funny is that the pics are larger than life-size).

I look forward to seeing more of your builds. Keep up the great work.

Klik

Nice F-18, Klik. Don't worry about the empty cockpit, my Typhoon will also probably have an empty cockpit as well..

Yeah, well, that's the only problem with Revell, you get an entire cockpit, sticks and all, but no pilots to fill the seats. To top it off, they're easier to pose in flight, rather than on their teeny- tiny landing gear.

Good luck with the build though. I had fun with my typhoon when I built that kit.

Klik

Klik, if you can pop the canopy off and get hold of the some Pegasus figs, the pilots they are easy make.  here's what I did and a Dragon carrier deck a couple of years ago.  Sweet camo.

This is what comes in the Dragon box.

This is a Pegasus German infantryman.

Body parts trimmed or cut off and repositioned.  Apply a little zip kicker on the head and a quick dip in some thick CA glue to leave a round bead on the head.  Paint in some details and some twisted wire for the oxygen and it looks fairly convincing. 

The salute before the cat shot.

Here are some really excellent 144th details from Brengun.  there are wheels chocks too but I am afraid if I take a deep breathe I may inhale them.

109F detail set.

Anti tank barriers

Fuel drums

Great stuff!  

This is the first time I've built 1/144 scale.  But it wont be the last.  What a fun scale.

Nice work on the -18 Klik.

WING_NUT, nice Superhornet.  I just built a Royal Maces Superbug last year.  Very cool scheme I think.

All that work on the wings is going to payoff big!

IL2windhawk

All that work on the wings is going to payoff big!

I've been working on the lighting system for a few days. It's been really challenging

I started out by gluing in a block of soft balsa to mount the lights, then I carefully measured the angles so the lights would disperse evenly. Then I drilled holes, glued the LEDs in, and got to work soldering. If you didn't know, LED's have almost no resistance, so you almost always have to add resistors to your circuit.  By the way, I used this online circuit builder to help me design the wiring diagram: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

Carefully-measured angles 

Soldering work 

All lights functioning 

Then, I cut away a strip of the plastic material from the lid of a clearcoat rattlecan, and glued it into the engine area. I was thinking I was almost done, so I tested the light system and I was discouraged to find the lights were not producing an even glow, but rather points of light.

Carefully measured, then sliced with razor 

Points of light 

So I started experimenting....
I first tried moving the lights around to adjust the focal length. Moving them toward the nose helped quite a bit. I also tried shining the lights through a multitude of different materials and stacks thereof. In the end, I cut another strip off the rattlecan lid and glued it in behind the other. This worked great, and I think the two are acting like a lens to refract the light out of focus.

Look closely, and you'll see two strips of clear plastic glued in. 

The end result is much better. I will add a few more lights to the array, but I think I'm on the downhill side of this challenging part on my build. I still have a light leakage problem to address (see the last photo). I've read that a lot of the starship modelers solve this by using aluminum foil to block the light.

Much more even light dispersal 

Light leakage 

Nice work there IL2. Nice lighting and electrical work. And the leakage actually looks pretty cool. Like a little UFO.

I've my Eurofighter on the backburner while I try to finish a M1a1, a T62A, a Pz. IV Ausf H, and a P-47 with so little work left to do. But after the Abrams I'll probably get back to the Eurofighter.... I'm also trying to acquire more 1/144 kits.

Nice work IL2!  I have the 1/72 FM 'Falcon.  I'm waiting until I get just a little bit better to build it.

Where did everybody on this build go?

Here's an update on the Typhoon:

    Here's the paintjob:

Still moving along like an arthritic iceberg.  I installed the forward windows and sanded them flush.  I filled the gaps around them with Mr. Dissolved Putty.

The fuselage half on top is mostly finished.  Just need to polish it down a little more:

I built the horizontal stabilizers.  I left out the clear part since it didn't really fit very well.  I'll use Kristal Klear to make the lenses.

If any slots are still open,I'd like to enter this group build.I have quite a few 1/144 scale kits in the stash.If I'm green lighted to join in,will look through and see what I can contribute.