And this brings me up to date...I finished this last night.  I have dry fitted the canopies to the fuselage and sanded the fuselage to try to make them fit together as best as possible. My plan is to dry fit, sand, mask, paint canopies separately, paint body, and attach painted canopies last.  I'm not sure how well it will work or not.  Gee whiz I picked a first build dinger.  These canopies are a STINKIN NIGHTMARE. There are so many individual windows on this plane. The bird cage below took me 2 hours to mask and I sure hope the Bare Metal Foil works.  It seemed easier than masking tape. I have yet to mask anything else yet.

harp.ta

Tamiya lacquer thinner will get the putty off while retaining the raised detail.  Just tip a q-tip in and then rub back and forth across the seam.  Sometimes you have to wet it a little, let it sit for a minute, then start rubbing.  You probably won't be able to get around sanding altogether but it's useful technique around areas where you want to keep the detail.

 

I have regular Klean Strip brand laquer thinner, will that work?  Or will that eat my plastic?

okietwisterdan

 

 

harp.ta

Tamiya lacquer thinner will get the putty off while retaining the raised detail.  Just tip a q-tip in and then rub back and forth across the seam.  Sometimes you have to wet it a little, let it sit for a minute, then start rubbing.  You probably won't be able to get around sanding altogether but it's useful technique around areas where you want to keep the detail.

 

 

 

 

I have regular Klean Strip brand laquer thinner, will that work?  Or will that eat my plastic?

 

I've never used it so I can't guarantee it won't.  You could always try it on scrap styrene or in an inconspicuous place first.

Here's the P-51, B-25, and B-17:

And also some pictures of the inside the B-24:

Wow, those are great photos! 

Frankly, I always buy pre-cut canopy masks when available. It's expensive for a tiny piece of tape but they're worth their weight in gold when it comes to cutting up five zillion tiny pieces of tape to mask greenhouse canopies.

BTW: I never use Future for anything but dipping clear parts anymore. Seems like everytime I've tried to use it for a clear coat it makes a giant mess. I only use clear coats from paint companies these days.  

Welcome aboard.  I have a similar story as my Paternal Grandfather did 13 missions over Germany in the ball turret of three separate B-17s (one for 11 missions).  He was shot down on the Munster Raid of 1943 and Pow'ed.  He wouldn't talk about it either, so it sounds like that was common amongst these brave men.  

You'll find that these old Monogram heavies don't fit all that well.  Thats not to say they cant be built into nice models....it just takes more time and effort. Have plenty of putty and sand paper handy.

Gamera is right, Futrure is worthless for scale modeling purposes anymore.  At some point they changed the formula and it no longer cures  It does a heck of a job on your floors though....

This is very cool to see your first build come to life, and watch as you learn and grow just on this one kit. You're doing fine work and you will make HUGE gains on the next one from what you learn here. I felt the same way you do when I first came back to the hobby, but with all the wonderful help and advise from all these great builders I have too grown alot. Looking forward to seeing more.

BK

harp.ta

 

 

okietwisterdan

Here are the bombs.  Once again, I realize that I should have sanded and/or puttied (is puttied a word?) the seams on the bombs to make them look cleaner...alas they are finished and I will do better next time.  I airbrushed Model Masters Olive Drab to paint them and used Tamiya maksing tape to make the yellow stripe.  I like the Tamiya maksing tape...it made pretty sharp lines and peeled off easy without taking the paint off.

I also painted the tips of the propellers while I had the yellow in the AB.  AARRRGGG I just now see the seams on the propellers too...I'm starting to notice stuff just making these posts and it's driving me nuts!

 

 

 

 

Bombs are always a pain, don't kick yourself too much.  You kinda gotta sand the crap out of em, then I like to use some thinned mr surfacer, sand again, then prime and paint.  Another trick I've started using for ordinance is to paint them chromate yellow underneath, then airbrush some hairspray over it, let it set up for about 15 minutes, then paint over that with an acrylic olive drab.  Give that another 15 minutes or so then chip em up with a stipple brush and add a couple scratches with a toothpick.  That exposes the yellow underneath and gives them the beat up effect you see so commonly on ordinance from that era.

It also allows you to see how the yellow looks painted on - and if you notice lines you dont like you can sand em down re-putty them and paint the yellow again without feeling like you have to start all over again.  Using an insignia yellow color for the yellow lines and prop tips also looks good, IMO.

 

Harp, you can save yourself some work on your bombs as they were never undercoated with zinc chromate as they are disposable.  Army Ordnance bombs were Insignia Yellow until March 11, 1942 when they were changed to Army Ground Forces Green which the color became standardized in 1943 as ANA-613.  Navy bombs were either Insignia Yellow or Light Gray until March 11, 1942.  Some yellow bombs were overpainted due to being carried externally, but very few.  It is rumored that a certain admiral said that he would not allow any yellow bombs on his ship.  The Navy relinquished bomb development to Army Ordnance in the AN Standardization Board in June 1941.  For your green bombs use an undercoating of new steel with some surface rust as they were rolled, jostled, and dropped so the paint can be very scratched up except late in the war as they were getting new deliveries constantly.  For a primer on ordnance, use this Navy primer, OP-1664. from 1946:

http://maritime.org/doc/ordnance/index.htm