can i join this please?

iv got a 1/72 eelightning f3 i havnt the faintest idea how to do nmf yet though lol (iv got a 1/32 lightning f3 but i wanna do a what if witth hat)

alrighty, here are some pics of where I am at right now. the wing stripes have been painted and that one stripe on the starboard side has been touched up so it is not so noticeably crooked.   I have to apply a protective coat of future over the repainted belly area tonight, so once that has cured, I'll get going on those  

OWL

Had to play catch up here and review the old posts.   Great job going on here, really like the P-47 and F4F!

Some progress has been made.  Winglets where installed and it looks like a plane now.  Engine fairings and flap guides installed

The winglets where in easy upgrade:

Ready for paint for the most part, couple of seam checks need to be done:

Owl and B17pilot,

Great work to the both of you! Is that an A320?? Looking forward to how things progress on both your builds

Ok,.... official stuff...

Vetteman, your always friendly host contacted me and asked to let you all know that he had some computer problems so he couldn't get online for a few. While he is awaiting his new one he wanted you guys to know he is gonna be back soon.

Richard

kermit

Is that an A320?? 

Nope, its a Boeing 757 1/144 Minicraft kit, the winglets are from Contrails.  Naturally its going to be in the NMF livery of American Airlines

I'd like to get in on this, and the model I have in mind is Special Hobby's 1/32 X-15A-2.  All that black is in fact, bare metal, and it's more like a really dark gunmetal with blue tints than pure black.  In any case, I'd like to take a shot at trying to duplicate it.

b17pilot - Great progress on your 757. Can't wait to see the NMF. I built a ton of airliners when I was a teen and may have to do one again. Would love to get my hands on an orange Braniff International 747…

owl - Way to go on those invasions stripes. Painting stripes are not is easy as it seems. Getting tape to uniformly wrap around the front of a wing can be tricky - at least I found it to be - and I was only painting a single wing stripe on my P-51. A Courage Badge for you, my friend!

kermit - I love your yellow-winged birdie. That's an attractive paint scheme. Well done.

aggieman - Nice progress on the Peacemaker. The cockpit and the pilots look great. (I have yet to paint/put a pilot in any of my airplanes.) That bomb bay - outstanding - painting all those individual bombs would have drove me nuts. LOL

maxfax - That is one beautiful P-47. You should be satisfied with the result - it's OUTSTANDING! How did you get all the fuselage and wing surface detail (e.g., panel lines) to pop? The Mustang is looking just as good. Very crisp invasion stripes. Is that the Revell kit?

gamera - Great detailed work on the internals of the B-29. It's a darn shame most of it won't be visible because it deserves to be! And that car engine - a beautiful application of Alclad Chrome.

As for me, I'm still working on the AT-6 Texan. I've been focusing on the engine, landing gear, and propeller assemblies before tackling the fuselage, cockpit and wing seams.

Funny thing: I got my airbrush back from Badger, but they sent me someone else's. Apparently they had two 100 LGs come in at the same time. The one I sent in had a medium tip needle and head assembly but the one that came back had a fine tip needle and head assembly. They're going to mail me a new medium tip needle and head assembly. This airbrush also had a quick disconnect which mine didn't have. So I came out ahead - an extra needle as well as a quick disconnect!

Great work everyone, looking forward to seeing more pics!!!!

Hey guys,

Just a little WIP pic post... My Mig 15 is currently sitting on the bench looking like this:

Cute little kit, just like the reviews told me. Bit of a gap on the upperside of the wing/ fuselage joint and some flash here and there but all in all i am having lots of fun with this cheap Mig

Didn't really have an interior to speak of, apart from a seat, control column and IP, so i didn't bother taking pics of that when it was finished... Hope you don't mind.

Vetteman has assured me that raised panellines are not a problem using the foiling technique so i am taking his word for it and start my big foil adventure soon Keep your fingers crossed for me....

Richard 

NiceFit

 

owl - Way to go on those invasions stripes. Painting stripes are not is easy as it seems. Getting tape to uniformly wrap around the front of a wing can be tricky - at least I found it to be - and I was only painting a single wing stripe on my P-51. A Courage Badge for you, my friend!

I just painted my first wing stripes ever on my "return to modeling" P-51B, and stumbled on a trick that worked really, really well for masking the stripes.

After trying and failing to get the tape to wrap around the leading edge of the wing, I cut two strips of equal width and applied one to the top surface, then lined the other up on the bottom so the tape met exactly coming off the leading and trailing edges. Then I just taped the two pieces to each other and pinched them so they covered the leading and trailing edges that way. 

Also found it's a REALLY good idea to fold the ends of each strip over on themselves so you have something to grab when the time comes to pull them apart and off the aircraft.

DoogsATX, that is exactly the way I did the stripes! it worked pretty darn good for me.

I have finished applying the belly stripes on teh Mustang. so once that has cured it is on to the OD portion of my plane!   

Kermit, that Mig is looking good. I cant wait to see it all foiled up!

B-17, i can already tell that your passenger jet is going to be a looker

Great job you guys!

OWL

I think I'm going to have to hop on with this group build. Didn't realize it ran until May 2011! 

I literally just started on a SBD-3 Dauntless, but my next four kits on deck are going to be NMFs to some degree - two yellow wing F4Fs (since these are being built to adorn the kids' rooms, I'm going for "accurate-ish", but planning a few fun touches), a P-51D, and another P-51B (NFM underside, RAF Dark Green up top).

To be honest, a good natural metal finish terrifies me. But no way to face a challenge like head on, is there?

Hey NiceFit- Thanks!

I used heavily thinned flat black acrylic paint with some dishsoap in it, and with a very fine brush, touched all the panel lines and rivets, and then after about a minute, wiped off the excess. It took a very long time(for me anyways) to do that.

The P-51 is the Revell kit.

Rob

Eatthis, DoogsATX, Richard B.- Guys Vetteman is our charming host for the GB. According to Kermit he's having some computer problems. I won't speak for him but I doubt he'll have any problems with any of you joining in.

Richard- Wow the F4F turned out great! Real change of pace from the blue.

Steven- Really nice work on the B-36. She's coming together great.

Guys the B-29 is together but the friggin' seams keep popping loose whenever I try to sand them.

I used Tenex which is the most powerful cement I own. Grumble, I'll get it fixed just give me time.

Rob - Gorgeous Jug! The Mustang is looking great too!

Owl - You're making good progress... keep at it!

B17 - Nice work on your airliner! I've never built a kit like that but really want to one day.

Nicefit - We want to see pictures of that AT-6!   Nice score with the airbrush by the way!

Kermit - Nice work so far... can't wait to see how you make out with the foil.

DoogsATX - That sure is a nice looking Mustang!

Gamera - I'm working on a kit now that has the same problem with the seems popping. The glue just doesn't want to melt the plastic. Just have to go easy I guess.    Looking forward to your progress.

Just a mockup of the fuselage to see what I have to deal with.  It's bigger than I expected, measuring 20" from nose to tail.  That's 1/32 Williams Bros GeeBee beside it.

Richard (Kermit) looking forward to seeing her in metal!!! One thing about foiling, is when you're done, you won't have to worry at all if it looks like metal!!!!

Ladies n Gentleman, Boys n Girls, and children of all ages, I am back !!!! And with a brand spanking new computer to boot, thanks to my baby sister. Cant tell you all how lucky I am to have her, I was going to piece together a used computer and she went out and bought me this one as I was working on the other one. Made my eyes leak and everything. Thank you so very much Mickie

I see you all have conspired to make catching up a bit of a chore, so much progress and beautiful finished builds, I am truly impressed with the talent in this group.

Aggieman the added detail really adds to a nicely done bomb bay, that is some nice wire work you have done there. With the bombs all installed it looks sweet, well done. The cockpit looks really good too.

Maxfax Polly is a stunner to be sure I would say you have this NMF down to a science now. I think your staining and weathering is perfectly done, not too much nor too little, it sure does bring like to the model.

Ibuild148 I am looking forward to following your build.

CallSignOwl those stripes came out great ! I really like the fact that they aren't perfect, that's exactly whats wrong with the ones I did not too long ago. Took a bunch away from the look of my build as it looks store bought. So you go girl I cant wait to see it finished.

B-17 yup now it looks like a 757, cant wait to see some shine on it, those winglets really did the trick.

Kermit thanks for your help letting all know I didnt fall off the face of the earth. I do owe you a pint or two

Your F4F is a show stopper for sure, love the color scheme and the markings. A nice save on the wing stripes too, but I knew that would be a walk in the park for ya. Your MiG wow I cant wait to see it in foil my friend its gonna be sweet.

Nicefit hows the AT-6 coming along ? Haven't seen any pictures in a while, mine is about where yours was when you last posted pictures. I did run into the same troubles you did with the IP going into the fuse and files the ejector pins off and sanded the top of the IP so the cover would go on right. Other than those troubles it went together well. I will try and get some pictures posted this evening.

Eatthis, DoogsATX, and Richard Bartrop welcome to the shiney side, we will be happy to have you join us here. Just give me your build info and I will update the front page with your builds.

RichardB that is a nice looking Gee Bee Z you have there, I have been looking for one in 1/48 scale, haven't had any luck yet though.

I am still trying to get this computer organized so it may take a day or so the get the front page updated with finished pictures. Windows 7 takes some getting used to over XP

It's been a rough week ... a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I learned that she was pregnant with our 3rd child, a child we never really expected to have due to our age.  There is heaviness on our hearts this week when she started bleeding and eventually had a mis-carriage.  This was our 4th mis-carriage.

So not to belabor the bad news, how does one handle it?  As the dad there really wasn't a lot I could do directly other than offer emotional support.  But I've actually taken it harder at times than my wife.  But I do have my hobby, so I managed to spend a lot of quality time at the bench this week. 

This B-36 needs to be a great build.  I wasn't real happy with my last build, a B-1 in huge 48 scale, and while I may return to that one some day, I've decided that this one is going to make up for the disappointing effort on the Bone.  Having said that, I've picked a hell of a kit to accomplish this.  The kit itself is actually quite good, but the finish is what is inevitably going to cause a lot of issues.  NMF finishes are inherently the most difficult we aircraft modelers can attempt.  And the worst part of it is the seam work.

There is a big nasty seam running along the length of the fuselage halves on this kit, top and bottom.  I've spent about an hour every night this week working on the seams, modifying my seam techniques somewhat.  I initially did a light sanding followed by scraping the seams where necessary with a seam scraper.  After that I sanded some more, and followed that with putty where it was needed.  I then sanded again, all with a heavy grit sanding stick, and got the seams to look decent but not to the passable stage just yet.  Once I was done with that sanding, I attacked the seams again with progressively finer sanding pads, eventually using a 12000 grit pad, and got a nice shiny seam that was virtually unnoticable in terms of running your fingernail across it.  For areas where there was still a bit of a click I applied a thin layer of CA and rubbed that into the seam, then let it cure for a couple of hours before repeating the sanding process.

The seams really looked good at this point, but I remained unconvinced.  I spent a part of this day at work (where I should have been working, but that's beside the point) considering what to do next.  I ended up spraying a layer of Tamiya white over the entire seam, and this is exactly what I needed to do.  It revealed that I still have work to do, particularly atop the fuselage in the center of the wing root area, and along the base of the rudder.

Sorry, no photos yet, but I thought sharing my modified technique might be a good idea.  (The modification was the CA).

Steven - Sorry to hear of your loss. My best goes out to you and your wife.       I can imagine that the seam on that big plane would be a chore. Sounds like you're tackling it the right way!

As for me, I managed to make some progress on the P-59. The True Details interior looks really nice and I wish I could have done a better job with it. The instructions say it should be painted Bell green and gave a couple of FS callouts for the color. Both of them were at the opposite spectrum of greens!   I chose a color (closer to the darker of the two suggested) from something I aleady had on the shelf... Russian topside green!   Maybe not accurate but I like the way it looks.

I didn't do a wash on the interior because it was already a pretty dark color and I was afraid that a black wash might darken it more. I decided to try a heavy drybrush of the colors of light green and grey instead to try and make details stand out. I think it came out looking pretty good. What do you guys and gals think? Any suggestions before I close it up?

Steven sorry to hear about your loss. I know how it feels buddy. Back in September of 1993 my wife lost our child. It would have been my first though she had two already that were my stepchilden. It hits you hard but good family will help you get through. In my case I got a double hit because 8 month later my wife died.

Jeremy making good progress I see. What product do you plan on using for the finish?

Soulcrusher

Steven - May God be with you and your wife through this difficult time.  BTW I too, am fighting the seams as well, I think I'm on my third round of putty/sanding.

Vetteman - Welcome back from your computer troubles.

Steven,

My sincere condoleances. It is a terrible thing to lose a loved one and i am wishing you all the best in the world with picking up the pieces and trying to move on.

Randy,

Feels a bit weird after typing what i just typed but i am truly glad you are back buddy! Had stuff like that happen to me too and everytime i had it it made me realise how important my puter has become in my normal life Luckily i have been working briefly as a computer repair guy so usually i can fix anything happening to it myself as soon as it happens.

N E ways... glad ur back

Thanks to all by the way for your foil encouragement I am starting it today and just hope i wont turn you guys down. Quickie question though... Do you guys dillute the foil adhesive and do some kind of prepping of the foil or do you just both "as is"?

Richard

Steven, as has been said already I too send out my condolences and wish you all the best in moving on. Not easy to do I know. Keep the faith brother!!

Richard, I've never used the Micro foil adhesive but, I believe you use it straight up.

Jeremy, she's looking good mate!!!

Steven I have been where you are and my heart and condolences go out to you and your wife, Hang in there buddy we are all here for ya.

Kermit I find the adhesive spreads better with a soft 1/4 flat damp brush, I dip the brush in water then blot most of it off on a paper towel before I glue. It also slows down the drying time a bit too which allows you to smooth the adhesive a bit as needed. It also seems to help the glue self level a bit better too.

Guys the front page has been updated finally

Eatthis, DoogsATX, and Richard Bartrop you are all listed on the roster. Eatthis I am not sure of your kit manufacturer so I need that, and DoogsAtx what kit or kits are you going to build ?

Thanks guys!

SC - I'll be using Alclad. I really like the way it goes on.

Just a quickie...

There was a big void behind the IP that you could see with the wind screen on. I filled it by glueing styrene rod for instrument backs and adding wire. Looks better now. I tried to take pictures with the windscreen on but my camera wouldn't focus.

Steven - so sorry to hear about your loss. My wife and I went through the same a few years ago, and had a bad scare that she might miscarry our firstborn as well. It's hard because the only thing that really helps is time. Personally, I'm always driven to fix things...and this isn't the kind of thing one can fix.

You're fortunate though, that you have modeling. I have yet to find a hobby that's better at both engaging your mind and taking it off of other things at the same time. 

vetteman42

DoogsAtx what kit or kits are you going to build ?

Two 1/48 Hobbyboss F4F-3 Wildcats in pre-war livery, with a twist. I'm building these for my son and daughter, so they're going to be a bit more fun than necessarily accurate. 

More to come as I kick them off. I'm still playing with the Dauntless' cockpit, so it'll probably few late August or early September...

jmabx

SC - I'll be using Alclad. I really like the way it goes on.

Ah I see you be using the Guy method then. He swears by the stuff. I myself am sticking with the Talon paints mainly due to the lack of the nasty fumes.

Soulcrusher