Greetings Everyone,
It is time for me to get in here and join the ranks. I truly regret that I have not been active on here for awhile. Finishing up my F6F Hellcat for other GB's and taking care of other life priorities required my attention. I was taken aback though by how long it had been since I last posted here. Although I have been following the GB closely and let me tell you, you all have turned out some models that are absolutely phenomenal. I will take the time to catch up with the individual kudos each one deserves on another post. That should be a lengthy one considering I haven't acknowledged anyone's work since Stik finished his Typhoon. I have definitely been remiss in my participation here. So, time to make up for it.
I was initially going to build the Eduard 1/48 Lavochkin La-7. Given the time constraint I now find myself in I sought out something that I might be able to complete under the remaining time. Then at the urging of my good friend Joe(Mustang 1989) I have something for you all if it meets the approval of Bish and Stik. A few years back I started a Tamiya 1/48 P-47D Bubbletop for the Big Beautiful Jugs GB. This was my first attempt at an NMF finish and thus, my first time using Alclad. I was very nearly finished when I pulled a boner of a stunt that still baffles me today. I was applying my panel wash which consisted of oils thinned with turpenoid. This went on quite well over the Alclad Gloss coat. All I had left to do was the left side of the fuslage. And then I received my new bottle of Mig brown wash in the mail. Right then I decided I needed to try it out on the remaining portion of my P-47. And yup, it started to strip the the Alclad gloss and paint. I was in shock. What in the wide wide world of sports possesed me to leave my senses like that is still a mystery to me today. Don't worry, it gets worse. In an attempt to fix the affected area, I masked it off and shot a new coat of aircraft aluminum Alclad. Bad idea. The Alclad just produced a dull grayish spot. On to make things even worse. I masked off the wings and tail planes, sprayed a full coat of Aclad gloss on the fuselage and then shot some more Aclad aluminum on top of that. Now the entire fuselage was the same dull grayish color. I was now out of time to complete by the deadline and thus, it has sat in a plastic container ever since. Here is how it appears now:
I had considered for all this time to just strip the paint off the fuselage and repaint. But now, as Bish may well understand, I have about had my belly full of paint striping. In the meantime, I have acquired another Tamiya P-47 and another set of decals. My intent is to just start over and build a new cockpit, fuselage and wings. I have the engine, cowling, landing gear and bombs all done already.
Here is the aircraft I was working on. It is "Eight Nifties" flown by Maj, Clyde V. Knisley 510th FS/405thFG. He was shot down Jan. 1945.
Thus, I submit to the group, would this qualify for the GB given that I will be rebuilding the vast majority of the model?