1945 GB

I think I threw a little black in with the burnt umber just to give it the right tone. Oils are very forgiving I am learning, and easily removed for quite some time if you are not happy with the results. My next experiment with them will be to try dot filters on some monotone scheme build.

I am really glad I began using oils for weathering. For armour I often combine them with enamel ready mad products and this gives a good range of finish possibilities. I haven't done a monotone build since I retuned to the hobby yet, in fact that Chally I will be my first single colour scheme. Will be a good chance to experiment.

Hey checkmate, I hope everything goes well for you. What a wonderful thought that you might have such an improvement in your sight.

The cockpit on the P-47 is progressing slowly but, surely. Pretty much have the instrument panel and gunsight done. We've had an early start to the monsoon rains here in Utah so I've had to keep up with the weed growth. This and  doing some nice hiking with visiting family have cut into the bench time.

I did however almost meet with total disaster. I was cleaning up the fuselage halves and in my initial test fit found both halves to have a fairly decent warp to them. They'd go together fine if I applied a good bit of pressure. So, I opted to dip them in hot water for a few seconds and take a bit of the warp out. I dipped the left half in for a few seconds and then pressed it down on a sheet of glass. I then test fitted that to see if i was making progress only to find this:

The tail section had completely warped upwards. But, the shock and disappointment was short lived when I remembered that I had the Tamiya P-47M in my stash and thus another set of fuselage halves quickly at my disposal. Whew! That was a close one. I'll just contact Tamiya USA and get a replacement sprue for the P-47M. Alas, we are still moving forward.

Yikes! Thank goodness Tamiya has superb customer service!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.  

Nasty looking cataclysm, Joe.  Glad you can get past this too and carry on!  

Some of the difficulty I've been having with CV-38 involved shaping plastic with boiling water, too; had to make some tubs for gun directors and I spent a couple of weekends alone on that project.  A lot of it got scrapped.

That's a strange one Joe. I take it the original warp was out to the side. Glad your able to sort it.

Hey Bish, I was wondering if its too late to join up?  Been away from the forums for most of the year, haven't built a kit since Dec, but the itch is back!  I was contemplating a quick build like the Dragon T-34/85 1944 kit I have in the stash and a GB is just thing to motivate me to start and finish a kit!

Ernest, this GB runs to the end of the year, so I don t know why not. But our host Bish will make the final say.

Thanks for the welcome Stik!  I've been away from the bench and the forums for too long and it will great to slap some plastic together and be part of the community again!

BTW, I saw your completed Hawker Typhoon and SU-76 on the front page!  Very, very nice!  One for Air, one for Land.....planning on doing one for Sea as well?

Of course its not to late Ernest, glad to have you on board and nice to see you back.

Well, I have been MIA for a bit on vacation, but I was following along via my email alerts here, and all I can say is wow - you all were doing such great work that it actually made me jealous that I couldn't get any bench time (and I was having a GREAT time on vacation!).

This first week back has been hectic, but I had almost an entire day of no responsibilities today (and some time last night), so I just went to work on my Corsair.

After two gloss coats, I applied my Eagle Strike decals. And they were utterly useless. They went down OK, but bubbled and silvered slightly. So I applied Micro Sol, and they literally came apart.

I tried two other decals to see if they got the same result, and they did. So I removed them with Scotch tape and opted to use the kit decals. Even though they're typical Tamiya and way too thick for my taste, They went down with minimal silvering, and a few coats of Micro Sol took care of that.

Next up were two more clear coats, and they did darken the color to something I'm more happy with. I think I'll use a different paint technique and do the standard pre shading over gray primer next time to keep that deep glossy blue rather than lightening and blending. I have a French Bearcat for that, and we will see which I like better.

I got some more work done after these photos, including mounting the landing gear, wheels and tail hook. I also managed to get the wings mounted once the bottom stuff was done, and got the lights painted. I did break one of the wing supports when I was removing my wheel well mask, and fortunately it only broke halfway and I was able to reinforce it with super glue. Now it should be strong enough to stay put provided I don't drop the thing.

Keep up the good work, all!

-BD-

P.S.: I can't remember if it was Stikpusher or someone else or even this thread, but there was a discussion about the proper color for Soviet armor. When I was in Berlin last week, I took a photo of the T-34 on display in the Tiergarten with a piece of white paper in front. If anyone wants, I can toss the pic into a photo editor to get the white balance correct and upload it. I don't know how accurate the color is given the fact that it's been repainted since the war, but it's one interpretation, and it looks right to me.

Nice work BD.

I would love to see that T-34 posted. A buddy of mine was stationed there back in the 80s and had some photos of some Soviet T-34s on display at that time. I wonder if they are the same tank. If I ever go back to Germany I need to visit Berlin, as I never have yet made it there.

Regarding the proper shade of green, that is a highly debatable subject. There seems to be quite a bit of variation in the stuff that I came across. Of course it was all post war stuff.

Nice work BD, good to see you back. That's not good news on those decals, I have used some eagle Strike ones before, for an Fw 190, and they went on ok. maybe you have a bad batch or something. You seem to have recovered it well though.Please feel free to post that T-34 pic. I did see a T-34 in Bosnia in the mid 90's. It was mounted on display in a Dutch camp. But I don't think the colour was accurate. It was painted pink. Wish I had been able to get a pic of it.

BD, despite your setbacks the Corsair is looking very nice!  I have no idea what accurate colors are for that F4U, but it looks great to me!  Can't wait to see it complete!

Hey Bish, thanks for letting me join!  I hit that modelling wall at the beginning of the year where you just need to step away and get involved in other things.  For me that was spending more time fishing, which is another of my hobbies/passions.  With the summer now in full swing, fishing has taken a back seat again so its back to the bench!

So here's my offering to the GB:  Dragon's somewhat venerable 1/35 T-34/85.  This one has been sitting in the stash for several years so I decided it was high time it was built!   Although it says its a 1944 production vehicle, its really closer to a 1945 production as evidenced by the flat front fenders and the non-perforated rubber tires on the roadwheels. 

It will mostly be OOB, but I found some issues that will require some AM parts.  More on that later; for now I managed to build up the lower hull and suspension rather quickly:

More to come! 

I'm really excited to be back....I miss these forums!

Beautiful results with your Corsair, Brandon, despite the decal mess.

I've got some Strike Eagle decals, so I'll be careful when I get around to using them.

Real world has been getting in the way of what is important lately. Good to see that others are doing good work indeed.

OK: IS2 is done. I'm going to stick this thug someplace in Pomerania in late February/early March 45. Figure some village near or a suburb of Konigsberg or Posen. The winter of 45 in Europe was very bad on both sides of the German border, so I think the fading whitewash and heavy pigments is pretty good history.

I think the cables I made worked out pretty well. I scratched some netting and stuck on some Verlinden resin tank crew gear. A little spare really, but I didn't want to stick boxes etc on the rear because it would cover some of the best detail and wouldn't fit well because of the pronounced vents over the engine.

Next up will be a base. I've been thinking about that for some time and I'm afraid my imagination got carried away. I wanted some proper cobblestone with mud, snow and ice about and maybe even a bit of a stream like you see in small Euro towns which would allow some more fun with water effects and ice. On the other side of the square I wanted to plant a  shattered brick wall and proper debris. Even had great hopes of building a Tamiya PAK 40 posed as after taking a few 122mm rounds and basically laying in pieces. Now that I look at all components I don't think I could make a dio that big and also put it in my house. The IS2 is whopping big with a monster barrel and the base would needed to be at least 2.5 the length of the tank and very wide. Might of worked if I had built a Stuart, but I think I'll have to settle for less - probably emphasize the ice/snow/mud because I could use the practice. We'll see.

One thing is for sure, this model is going to very hard to photograph: we'll want daylight. There's enough white in there to make things difficult. Of the pics here, a couple of the detail photos give the best idea that green is very evident. May also have to dicker with some more pigments. Pics below.

Eric

BrandonD: I really like how your Corsair is turning out. The paint looks rather good to me after the gloss coat. Unfortunate about the Eagle decals yet, you seem to have recovered quite nicely. Very excellent work and I'm anxious to see your next update.

Ernest: Welcome to the GB. Appears you have a real nice T-34 kit there and certainly off to a solid start.

Eric: That is a fantastic finish to your IS-2. Excellent weathering to reflect your scenario. I am sorry that you seemingly limited by space such that you are unable to create the dio you described. I would love to see you pull that off.

Stik: Tamiya does indeed have excellent customer service. It's even better should the part you request be available at the USA location. Soon after I set the P-47 aside after the mishap I called Tamiya USA to order a new set of their decals. They did not have a set available on site but, they informed me that they would have to order them from Japan and that would take around 3 months. I was OK with that as I was then in no hurry to get back to the P-47. As time passed I just kind of forgot about the order and then one day to my surprise they arrived, one year later. I was not bummed but rather impressed that they still honored my order.

CMK: I am very excited to see some pics of your progress on Shangri La. As I've mentioned before, I have the Ticonderoga kit and I'm anxious to check out the modifications you have had to make.

Bish: It was indeed a bow to the side on both halves. It just didn't have the mind to bend back that way.

I'm still plugging away little by little. I'll get you all some pics of bits here soon.

Joe:  I've been messing around with the Aces GB and the BoB GB at the moment, but I've still been working on CV-38.  Actually got most of the flight deck and hull painted, but I want to apply some highlighting and a pin wash before I post.  

I have vacation time coming up next week, for three weeks, so I'm looking forward to making some speed then.

Thanks, everyone! It's been fun, and I've really enjoyed being a part of this group build.

Eric, excellent job on that IS-2. It looks like a beast, but you've nailed the weathering and winter camouflage. I really like it.

-BD-

Ok, I am going to say I'm done with the Corsair.

This is one of the kit schemes, and it belongs to VMF-212 (Marines) and was flown by ace Lt. Philip Delong. Since the wings are folded and the aircraft is clean, I am putting this one on the aircraft carrier in transit to Okinawa in 1945.

All in all, I liked this kit. I ran into plenty of problems, but they were all of my own making except the decals. I have used one set of Eagle Strike decals in the past, and they worked just fine, so I am thinking these ones were hopefully a fluke, or else Eagle Strike wouldn't be in business.

Anyway, here are the pics. Comments welcome and appreciated. Eric, you know a lot about these and can maybe spot the inaccuracy on the markings that I realized after I had clear coated it 

For the gallery shot, how about the second one? Or the first one - whichever you prefer.

Thanks again for having me. I did just buy the new Revell FW-190 F-8, which is in 1945, but I don't think I'll get to it by the end of the year. If I do, well, I'll be back in here, but at this point I seem to be more of a spectator.

Cheers!

-BD-

Eric, that one well worn tank, nice work there.

BD, the Corsair looks fantastic.

Thanks for sharing your builds with us here guys. And Brandon, our more than welcome to jump back in if you can, but I hope you'll stick around and keep posting either way.

Joe, well I am sure we all know how you don't give up.

Brandon, one heck of job on your Corsair, and great photos too! 

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Eric, a very fine representation of the IS2, - weathering appears very detailed.

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Hi Ernest, good to see you here and look forward to your T34/85.

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I've made my decision on subject, and  it will be Dragon's Sherman III (M4A2)  in 1/35 scale.  Specific markings will be a RHQ vehicle from the Canadian 1st Hussars (6th Armoured Regiment).

Holy Roller had the distinction of having landed on D-Day, and was still in combat service when the war in Europe ended.

regards,

Jack

Bravo Brandon! BRA-VO! Very very beautifully built Corsair. You seem to have overcome all issues brilliantly. You sir, have pulled off one sweet build. Thank You so much for sharing your Corsair with us and I would love to see you come back with the A-8.

Wow!  Lots of great work going on! 

Eric - Love the IS-2 with the grubby winter camo!  I see you built the Cyber-Hobby Orange Box kit.  I read that it has some issues, but you definitely make it look like a winner!

Joe -  Thanks for the welcome, I really appreciate it! 

BD - Superb build of the F4U Corsair!  I went back many pages to see the work in progress..... I love it! 

Hey Jack!  Nice to hear from you again, thanks for the welcome!  The T-34 is the first kit I'm doing after the hiatus...I'm trying to keep it OOB to make it quick, but you know how that goes.....

Quick update on the T-34:

I mentioned that some aftermarket parts would be needed.  This kit has been in the stash for several years and when I started working on it I noticed that all the bags had been opened.  For me, that normally means that I've been raiding the kit for parts......  Sure enough, half the indy links for the tracks were gone, the fender tool box is missing and so is the clear headlight lens, all used for other builds no doubt.  So I dug around in the stash and found a set of ModelKasten tracks!  Since I have no other T-34 kits in the stash, I figured it was high time to use 'em!  

Very nicely detailed tracks but what a pain to clean up.  Each link has 5 attachment points!  UUGH!!   Then they have to be assembled to make them workable.  I've only got about a third of them done so far.

Not off to the quick start I had hoped for, but at least it's a start!

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone! I really appreciate it and am happy to be building with so many talented people.

And before I forget, here are the T-34 pics I promised. These were taken in late evening, but I included the white paper in the close up shot so you can compare it. Again, these have definitely been repainted since the war, so take it with a grain of salt.

Cheers, all.

-BD-

Oops - that is actually the breech of an artillery piece. I am not tall enough to stand up and get that shot of the T-34 on that pedestal.

-BD-

Nice pics BD. It may have ben touched up, but I would imagine they would have done there best to match it as close as possible.

Ernest, those track do look a challenge. I have been trying to get some of those but they are hard to find over here. I just got an Amusing Hobby kit yesterday and those tracks look just as tedious to prep as those in the kit.

I have decide just to push on through with the P-61. there wasn't really enough to do an update and it should be finished tonight anyway, so should have some pics tomorrow.

What a great looking Corsair!.  Well done, BD!

Those tracks look like a kit in themselves, Ernest.  What you armor builders put yourselves through!!

checkmateking02

Those tracks look like a kit in themselves, Ernest.  

Those AFV Club track sets literally are a separate kit in themselves. Some more complex than others. 

checkmateking02

 What you armor builders put yourselves through!!

Yes, indy link tracks  make me pause on building certain kits at times. I personally like link and length tracks best if a kit must have that sort of tracks. They are superior to the latest "glueable" vinyl soft flexible tracks that always seem to deteriorate and break for me either during the finishing process, or shortly after the kit is completed. Another expense and delay to replace them.