Hi guys,

An update on the widow after an almost three week break.

I did my best on fitting the canopies (even using white glue as a filler) and as you can see, the results are not great. As everyone has said before, they have a terrible, terrible fit (some of the clear parts are even missing "mullions" (don't know the right word )), but I decided not to worry about it and waste too much time on correcting that. Instead, I will make tarps from a Kleenex and water/white glue mixture, cover the problematic parts, paint the tarps and "das is it". 

I thought about building up the cockpit sides to raise the canopy as some of the guys have done and suggested, but I have to admit that I was lazy to do it since I have very little free time and that would prolong the whole process, so I was impatient and decided to go the route of less resistance, or to call it the "cheat route" 

Maybe if there was a problem with only one canopy I would have put some effort, but since every piece had at least one problem, I just decided not to bother with them much. 

I will also leave all the openable parts of the canopies open of course, since the dry fit showed an impossible task to make it look OK. This will also show some of the interior which I put effort in. 

Cleaning up and fitting the rest of the parts was a time consuming task, but not as bad as the canopies. 

Still got a little sanding and filling to do, and then on to masking and priming.

Thanks for looking guys!

Cheers,

Nikola

Thanks Trey! Gonna need it, haha.

Cheers,

Nikola

looking great! I had to make strips of 1mm shims to get the gaps closed up on the last 2 I built, what a pita!!! Good luck

Thank you very much Lawdog! Glad you like it!

Cheers,

Nikola

Hi guys,

She's all closed up and waiting for me to come back from snowboarding holiday :)

From the dry fit test, I saw that there is going to be a serious war between me and the canopies. 

Thanks for looking!

Happy 2020 to all! 

Best wishes

Nikola

Thank you very much Trey! I am glad you like it so far. 

Cheers,

Nikola

That looks great! Yes its an old kit with not so crisp moldings but You are really making it pop! Keep up the great work!

Hi guys,

I thought I could share a couple of more cockpit shots before I close her up. Just very slightly better photos this time 

Again, thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Nikola

Thank you very much Gamera. Appreciated!

As I said in my above reply to Trey, the dials and gauges could be much better but since the details on this old kit are not that sharp, I will not mess with them. I will save my eyes for a better kit. :) 

Best, 

Nikola

Thanks Trey! Glad you like it. :)

Also thanks for the tip about the color. I will have that in mind for my next P61 which will definitely be a better kit next time. To be honest, I was lazy with the actual research and followed the instructions and some examples from the internet.

Also, the dials and gauges could use some work but the details on this old kit are not very sharp so I will probably leave them as they are now. 

Cheers, 

Nikola

Oh that looks good! Nice work on the cockpit.

Office is looking spot on ! I'm not %100 sure but the fire extinguisher might not have been red on these, might have been a solid brass color from what I remember when I researched my build. Looking forward to the next update!

Hi guys,

Almost out of the interior! Yey! 

I am building the kit OOB, so unfortunately no fancy seat belts, harnesses, interior decals, etc., and no time for all that to be honest. Looking to finish the kit as soon as I can.

Again, sorry for my awkward phone camera and image quality. I just don't have time for better photos until the model is finished. 

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Nikola

Nikola, I have the same kit, got about 75% done and then got angry with the canopies and set her aside and kinda forgot about her. 

I got the Great Wall P-61 last Christmas and I figure the same painting techniques you're using should work on her too. 

So if I pull out the Revell kit or start over with the Great Wall kit I could learn a lot by watching you either way.

Stole the words from my mouth. :) I agree completely Shipwreck.

Best, 

Nikola

Hi Keavdog,

Don't be discouraged at all, it is definitely a great subject to build in my opinion. I am probably whining too much since I have very little free time. :) And I just got back to modelling few months ago after a 20y break so I am no expert either. 

One can say that although it is a challenging kit, it is a skill honing experience and fun to build.

As I mentioned in the opening post, from what I've heard it made some modellers give up but I think that one just needs more patience, that's all. :)

We'll see how it develops further. Will keep updating. 

Cheers,

Nikola

keavdog

I just got this kit for Christmas - clearly not encouraged by the comments!  I'll be watching.

Well keavdog, the comments may not be encouraging if you are looking for a 'shake and bake kit'; but if you want to build a fine P-61, this kit will provide the means to do that, provided that you are willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. It will certainly hone your modeling skills.

I just got this kit for Christmas - clearly not encouraged by the comments!  I'll be watching.

Thanks Gamera!

She is a real b%#ch when it comes to flash and seam lines, and fit also from what I've seen dry fitting some parts. So much time wasted. Certainly bad choice for someone with two small kids and very little free time, haha. But since I love this aircraft, I will try and endure everything she throws at me!!! :)

Do you have the same Revell kit?

Cheers,

Nikola

Nice work there! She's coming along great! 

I'm taking notes for whenever I get around to building my P-61. 

Hi guys,

Update on the Widow for those interested 

Interior base colors (Interior Green and Zinc Chromate) airbrushed over dark yellow primer and purple and red complementary pre-shading scheme.

Certain corrections still to be done, paintwork and flash wise.  We'll see how it turns out when blacks, highlights, washes and wear are applied.

Again, apologies for the image and lighting quality.

Thanks for looking! 

Cheers,

Nikola

Hi guys,

Just an update on the Widow:

Dark yellow primer and complementary pre-shading finished for the interior parts of the plane. I used red pre-shading for interior green base (cockpit etc) and purple for zinc chromate and aluminium (wheel wells, underside, etc...)

The project is going slowly because I had to spend A LOT of time cleaning flash and seam lines from every single piece. The molds are really old.

I can't imagine what's in store for me when time comes to fit the pieces together, as the wings already caused some slight issues, but we'll see.

The kit is notorious for a reason, but hey, it's a skill honing challenge.

Also it's a great subject so I keep on going! 

Anyhow, bellow are the project update photos. Again I apologize for the image quality. 

Thanks for looking guys!

Cheers,

Nikola

Hi Lee, 

Thanks for the encouragement! :) If the clear parts turn out to be a real problem, I will just go with a "one of a kind hard top convertible variant" with tops left at the hangar for maintanance 

Cheers, 

Nikola

Did it once....not bad....except for the clear bits.
It was the only 1/48 scale in town at the time.
ROCK ON!!!! Give it a go!!!!!

Hi guys,

Just wanted to share with you my rough "virtual test" for the complementary pre-shading method for the Widow. The colors are approximate. Here it goes:

Step 1 - Dark yellow primer:

Step 2 - Complementary pre-shading:

Step 3 - Base color:

Bellow - Regular pre-shading for comparison:

Comments, opinions and criticism are more than welcome!

Thanks for looking guys!

Cheers,

Nikola

This will be interesting. I have one waiting in the wings for the time I feel like dealing with it so I look forward to seeing how this goes.

Thanks Gamera!

Will try my best! :) 

Best, 

Nikola

Hi Lawdog, 

Thanks, I am going to need it! :)

Also, thanks for the tip on the Mono kit. Will check that out as well.

I'll see how this one goes. Might even have to "Frankenstein" it. :) 

Cheers, 

Nikola

Oh awesome! Looking forward to seeing how you overcome the issues with the kit. 

Best o' luck!!!