Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build II

Ok, whew... managed to get the decalling done just now... talking about holding your breath lol.

Apart from that first noseart decal i did break up the red trim along the anti glare panel and the red fuselage band so i will paint those on. Also i will attempt to use paint to make that noseart text readable again. Doesn't look that hard...

Pics to come soon, i'm back to the ICU/ hobby table

Richard

WOW! thank you all for your quick replies!!!  I got a pretty good idea of what I need to do now. these will be my first invasion stripes, so I hope it all goes well!

Good luck on the mustang Kermit!

OWL

Ok, i am calling this F-51 "done". Tried to get that decal in shape but in the end it broke off even more and my attempt at painting didn't really work out.... But luckily the other side however looks fine so i will (have to) display it from that side.

Like Vetteman said the liquid decal film makes the decals get off of the sheet a bit harder but the stuff really does work! You just have to trim the decals more like you would with custom printing jobs... After that it behaves just like an academy decal... soak soak soak and let it sit for a minute before applying it.

Anyways. Building this model has been problematic eversince i started it so i admit i'm happy it's offa my bench. Sit back...catch your breath...learn your lessons and move on i guess LOL:

Don't get me wrong, this was a great kit to build. Construction phase was a breeze. Still liked the hasegawa one that little bit better though.

Thanks for watching and thank you guys even more for your support. Appreciate it alot

Richard

Thats a nice little stang you have there kermit. I have been lucky with the decals in my older kits. Glad to see you were sble to save them and get it done. It should make a nice addition to you collection.

Soulcrusher

Richard, Buddy she looks great, well done You sound like your releived to have it done...So whats next??????

Richard, even with all the trials and tribulations you've had on this build, I must say that is a jam up job!!!!! You have proven what I believe to be two of modellings biggest virtues, patience(although tested) and persistance (or stubbornness to not let the plastic win) Well Done mate!!!

Kermit it seems in this hobby that the ones you have to fight from beginning to end turn out to be the best. What Simpilot34 said above states my thoughts, very very well done my friend I will get your build posted on the front page shortly.

On a side note Richard I will be starting my FIRST PAINTED thats painted mind you NMF next week as my little racer is about finished.

Boy, have I missed alot here!

OWL - SC and the others offer up some great advice about laying down paint. Keep at it and practice, practice, practice! BTW... the Mirage looks great!

Rob - Oh boy... that's a pretty Polly you've got there! Looks amazing and I can't wait to see her buttoned up!

B17 - Nice looking F-6B! I've got an AM A-36A that I need to get built one of these days.

Kermit - Great build on that F-51! I can't see the decal troubles from where I'm sitting... no harm, no foul! I've never built the Tamiya kit but I really love the Hasegawa P-51 in 1/48!

Randy - Looking forward to seeing you paint a NMF bird. After seeing the way you dressed up that Miss America P-51, I'm sure you'll have no trouble with a NMF paint! Did you say you will be trying Talon paints? 

kermit - Nice save on your F-51. I can relate to your experience with your build as i went through the same frustration with my P-51D. We're both glad those builds are done, aren't we? I'm already applying what I learned from that experience to my current AT-6 project.

vetteman - Speaking of the AT-6, here are some of my notes you might find useful. Probably nothing too informative but I thought I share nonetheless. Today i glued the wings together. I should have my airbrush returned to me (see below) soon and can then proceed further. I'm looking forward to seeing posts about your build.

AT-6 Texan Notes

1. When dryfitting all the parts involved in Fuselage Assembly (Step #3) I noticed that the fore, topside did not fit particularly well. My remedy was to remove the front instrument panel and sand some of the port and starboard ends. I also sanded off about 1/2 of the nodules on the backside of the instrument panel. Since it slides in easily, I'll reinstall the instrument panel once the fuselage is glued together.

2. The correct fit of the Nose Panel (#11) is dependent on the cockpit cage being flush with the upper part of the fuselage. The forward, starboard side of the cockpit cage was raised up a bit and needed to be sanded down. Not sure why this was necessary as the cage was mounted properly in fuselage (or at least I think so!).

All - I have to put in a plug in for Badger Airbrush company. I managed to plug up the "Shell" of my airbrush. (I know how it happened - rookie mistakes.) It was hard to insert the needle and often hard to remove the needle. I debated whether I should send it in or not, but in the end decided to send it in. All I had to pay was shipping - $5.15. They will professionally clean it and send it back. It would have cost me that much to drive to my LHS and buy airbrush cleaner. (I will pick up airbrush cleaner on my next trip to the LHS so I can safely clean the airbrush myself.) Anyway, I thought this was a nice service provided by Badger. Passing it on....

I'm looking forward too seeing some pics of these Texans

Thank you all so much for your comments. Lemme be honest by saying that i probably would have ended up hiding this model out of view a long time ago if i wasn't building it for this GB... Glad you guys still liked it.

Julez,

Whats next.... Thats a hard question really. I have that Mig i wanna foil, and a very sweet prewar Wildcat. (couldnt help myself and just sprayed a teenie weenie bit of green on some parts...)

But i really should finish up the B17 too... Haven't had the stomach yet to work on such a big project with that very demanding P51 in the way.

Nicefit,

Somebody once gave me the tip to go to a better car repair shop when your AB is clogged. Some of them have a machine they use to clean automotive parts with that vibrate. Would give you a proper name for it if i knew what they were called in english... We just call em "vibrating baths" if i translate it from dutch...

 Works really good on airbrushes too if you fill it up with thinnesr and put it inthere for 15 minutes. Hey, if you smile alot they might let you use it for free Even on well maintained airbrushes you will see that there is a good amount of goo coming out.

Vetteman,

Really REALLY looking forward to see you paint your texan Like what has been said before you really done a great job on your racers so i am absolutely convinced you'll do just as great with the Talon paints!

Richard

NiceFit that is some really incouraging news about Badger!!!!! I have an old 200 that pulsates for no apparent rewason and would really like to get it repaired. It's my very first AB and want to keep it. I liken Badgers to Zippo lighters, no matter how old, they still work. The very first Zippo is in the museum in PA and yes, it still works. Will drop them a line and see how much postage for me from down under. Thanks for that!!!

Sim let us know how you go with Badger, i have a 175 thats missing it's spring...I use my old faithfull Omni 4000 for everything because i prefer the gravity feed over the siphon but i would like to give my old badger to my boy for his 10th birthday....

Richard, go the Wildcat buddy, something that your familiar with for a stress free fun build after the Mustang.....

Hey i have WIP pics.....still have a bit to do before paint but i'm getting there...

Julez,

Great work sofar! What are the straps made of? Tape? Looks good my friend.

The wildcat... Must say i was very eager to start on it so the pit is mostly finished by now. Was planning on building it offline because of my pending B17 but i just can't get my mind set to it...

A little question now that i'm here to the Alclad users:

The hobbyshop i purchase most of my goodies from has Alclad but their main colors have been sold out for months now (aluminium, polished aluminium and chrome).

They do have "darkened aluminium" and "dull aluminium". Do you think these shades are useful for a NMF? Also there is a shop that has " chrome for lexan" but would that also work on styrene?

Richard

Thanks Richard, the straps are Eduard colored, i ordered the set for the Eduard mirage and trimmed it to fit the Hobbyboss one....It's not a bad kit although i had some fit issues with the intakes...

I'm not sure about the darkened aluminum and dull aluminum, i've always used white aluminum and duraluminum...I have been playing around a little with MM aluminum plate which is a buffing matalizer with some success but i'm not willing to use it as a base colour yet but i think with a little more experimenting i eventually will....

kermit - I've got a neighbor that works at Goodyear car repair shop. I'll ask him about the machine you describe. Thanks for mentioning it. In the meantime, I'll practice smiling a lot....        

Regarding Alclad colors, my LHS doesn't carry much either so I ordered mine from Squadron. I used the Aluminum and Dark Aluminum on my Mustang and was happy with the combination. I can't advise you on the other colors you mention, other than you can see some paint chips at Alclad's website. This reminds me, I believe I need to order some Polished Aluminum for my Texan.

simpilot, julez - You may have already found it, but here's information about the Badger airbrush service program: Badger Service/Support. I'm looking forward to getting my airbrush back early this week.

julez - I like that cockpit. Nice job! Ain't this a great hobby?

NiceFit thanks for the link(have added it to my faves), will drop them a line or just send it in. I will in fact include a note that I have replaced a few parts and still same problem of pulsating, if you guys can find the problem would you please tell me what it is lol!!!

I hope(strong word there) I can get in on this build before times up in May!!! I want to foil something!!!! Got a few to choose from so will let you guys know when the time comes, whenever that may be!! Sigh!!!

Jmabx yes I will be using Talon paints for the AT-6, and if that works out as I hope it will I may be using them for the Streak Eagle

Julez72 That cockpit looks spot on man I reallu like the seat belts and love the ejection seat pull straps, can you tell I am not a jet guy Tis gonna be one nice looking Mirage for sure.

Kermit you can not go and build a yellow wing off line, thats no fair Ya do know a yellow wing Wildcat with a NMF fuselage would work here dont cha

Nicefit thank you for the write up on the AT-6 kit I printed it out and have the notes in the box. I did do some trimming on it today and should be ready to start in on Monday or Tuesday. I hope the build goes relatively fast, I really want to try those paints and get moving on the F-15

vetteman42

Nicefit thank you for the write up on the AT-6 kit I printed it out and have the notes in the box. I did do some trimming on it today and should be ready to start in on Monday or Tuesday. I hope the build goes relatively fast, I really want to try those paints and get moving on the F-15

vetteman - You're welcome. Below is the latest addition to my notes. I'm almost at a standstill right now, so you might pass me! I'm waiting on my airbrush to be returned - hopefully by mid-week - and I'm waiting on a Flex-I-File I ordered to arrive in the mail. I ordered it directly from flex-i-file.com on 6/30 and it has still not arrived. Sent them an email this morning to find out why. In the meantime, I think I'll mask and install the canopy.

When I first looked at this kit, I said "A trainer. How boring.", but I've rather enjoyed the build. lol

3. Not a bad fit, but not a great fit either, for the wings and stabilizers to the fuselage. #1: For the wings, the starboard side is about 1mm forward. I'm not sure what caused that. #2: For the stabilizers, the port side has a 1mm underside gap. Sanding the attachment points of both stabilizers might have solved that problem. #3: The top and bottom leading edge of the starboard wing are not aligned properly. They must have shifted slightly after I applied the clamps. Spending a little more time during the dry-fit would have alleviated #1-2. #3 was simply a mistake.

Dobby that is a nice lil build you have there!!! Is that the Academy 1/72?

simpilot34

Dobby that is a nice lil build you have there!!! Is that the Academy 1/72?

simpilot - Thanks! It's the Revell 1/48 AT-6/SNJ Trainer. vetteman is starting his build of the same kit so you may be seeing many more photos...

Hmmm,... Well ofcourse i would share the build of my yellow wing prewar Wildcat with you guys. Just wasn't sure if our host would allow it with the B17 still on the list...

Have to admit though that i've been putting in some hours during the weekend and the pit and engine are just about finished... I would say... 20% finished...?

Ok Randy, write me up for one prewar F4F. I will make some pics of what i have shortly. Thanks for the warm support guys.

Richard

Kermit/Richard – Very well done and congrats on the finish!

Julez72 – Pit looks good and sharp; look forward to the rest of the build!

Not sure how you all finished your Stangs, but how do I polish Hawkeye metal powders to make them look more mirrory and less like silver paint? And how do you seal it (Future I assume. Seems to be the answer for everything.)  

Ok, as promised a lil intro and the stuff i have done sofar:

The intended finish and the decalsheet. Note the blue yellow and red spinner tip decals; thought it was kinda neat. Second pic shows the second finish option. The instructions say silver as the main color on this one but i believe these prewar wildcats were grey? Anyways, will do the colourful one myself...

The pit as it sits on my bench now:

And the double wasp:

Still have to age the whole bunch with some washes and stuff though.... Hope you like it and thanks for looking

Richard

Sorry I haven't posted any progress lately, but the XF-91 got put on the back burner while I'm trying to finish up a couple of other builds.

If you don't mind Randy, I would like to build a Hobbycraft 1/48 P-59A... in natural metal of course! I will also be building it for Mike's early jet group build if that's okay. Don't count out the XF-91 though. I still plan on getting her done. I've ordered a resin cockpit and wheels for the P-59 so I won't get it started for a week or two.

Please let me know if this is okay with you!

Thanks guys for the kind words, i hope to have the Mirage done in a couple of weeks....

I have to say WOW with this GB, it's just powering along and it's great to watch all these builds come together....

You guys are inspirational so keep it coming

BockSuv, I havn't tried Hawkeyes products yet but i'm planning to use them on my current build....If you go to Hawkeyes website you'll find some tutorials on how to get the best results from the products...If you have questions you can find Hawkeyes profile here in FSM and start a conversation...I found Gerald to be quite willing and very helpful in answering my questions...

Jmabx,

Oooh, that's a pretty rare subject you are going to build there. I'm gonna enjoy this one... Keep posting

Just thought to put in a one pic update. The cockpit and engine housing are merged to the lower fuselage (pretty neat oob innit?)  and i am about to work on closing it all up. That would be the one and only tricky thing about this particular kit imho but nothing too difficult for someone with patience and brains lol. Hey at least i score a one out of two there

Thanks for looking fella's

Richard

EDIT: woops forgot the pic LOL