Thanks vette, personally im not happy with it. The canopies fogged because i had to take a line out and then it just wouldn't polish up properly no matter what i did. Some of the foil work is wrinkled. The decals didnt go down properly because i didn't realize i needed to future it first (me being a blonde) But, i suppose considering it was just an experiment it came out ok.

sorry, got the photo out of focus a little.

Scorpionmikey,

Congratulations on a very good model! Let's just say that one is his or her own worst critic Personally i certainly wouldn't mind having it standing on my own shelf! Foil work looks great (better than mine...) and very shiny indeed. Great work buddy.

Well,...

Took my P38 out and shot a couple of pics to get everybody familiar with my next companion:

Build options provide for 4 different lightnings. A standard P38J, a droopsnoot, photo recon plane and a pathfinder. Ofcourse with appropriate noses, parts and decals to go with them:

Funny thing to note when you first open the box is the soft PVC tires:

I have been having this one on my mind for a long time now and personally i am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into this project Thanks to all for watching, commenting and providing for a very good atmosphere in this GB. Always a pleasure to be here in the shiny corner

Richard

Just started out and sprayed some interior green on the pit... A prominent feature i missed on this kit is a kind of hose (pilots air supply?) that runs from next to the control column to somewhere underneath/ behind the seat so i cannibalized one of my guitars and clipped off a bit of the D string sticking out

Richard

Wow, a lot's gone down in the past few days! Looks like the forums might be picking up again?

Owl and Scorpiomikey - great job on the foiling! 

Richard - Crap dude you build fast! The Alcladed Jug looks great though! Looking forward to your P-38, though I wish you'd have held it for a week to build it as a crossover with the P-38 Group Build (a lot of us, myself included, are building our first Lightnings)! Of course, the speed you build, it'll probably be done in a week

vetteman - Looking forward to seeing the Texan! Got my polishing powders (and some SnJ...for some reason I was under the impression it couldn't be masked...) this week and tried them out briefly on an Alcladed portion of the Fail Dauntless. Even just buffing with an old t-shirt, you can see a difference. But I think I've found the excuse I've been looking for to pick up a Dremel!

I should be swinging back in in the next week or two with the P-47 and P-38. Once the Commie birds are done. The Yak's out of principal painting now (protip: DO NOT USE PLAY-DOH TO MASK!!!), and the Lavochkin goes under the airbrush tonight...

vetteman42

Owl

I'm getting there, don't rush me!      I had to hop on home to get some pictures taken for ya.

alright guys, she's finished!  Enjoy!

OWL

Kermit - Nice work on the Jug!!! The finish looks nice and smooth... too easy with Alclad!

OWL - Great job on the MiG! You must be glad to have that one off the bench. Seems like it fought you to the bitter end. I really like the black and white picture.

Mikey - Wow-o-wow!!! The F-100 is a sharp looking plane and your kit looks awesome!   You may not be too pleased with it, but I love the way it looks! Shined up nicely like the one here in the New England Air Museum.

Well done!

Kermit wow you dont even give the grass seed a chance to germinate do ya. no grass growin under your bench I am still unwinding from my last completion, haven't even been in the mancave today.

Scorpiomikey thanks for the last picture, it will do perfectly. Hey ya know I think we modelers are much harder on our builds than any judge is. Your F-100 is a fantastic build and as others have said it would be more than welcome on my shelf.

CallSignOwl awwww what can I say about your build, other than You took a demanding kit that fought you tooth and nail in a back ally all the way to the very end and turned it into a work of art. I love it. I think your persistence is an inspiration to us all, I know for a fact it has been to me with my last build. I am also, because of your build, thinking looking for a MiG fast mover for a future build. Anyway it a beautiful build and I hope you are patting yourself on the back big time. All the extra work you did really paid off too, the picture I chose I think shows your build off the best. YES I HAVE become an OWL fan.

Ok I have to get all your build info together and get the front page updated with 3 builds, I am tellin ya its a treat thank you all.

The front page is all updated with the new finished builds, and I have corrected a number of mistakes I found there. There were a bunch of them, my apologies to those where the mistakes were made.

I see there are 24 completed builds so far and we still have 6 months to go I want to thank all for making this group so successful and fun You all ROCK.

Jeremy, very cool pic Hows that sweet build of yours going?

Richard, uh oh you have that P-38........Tail Booms I started that kit a while back in here, I boxed it after a paint mishap or rather a mistake, my alclad cracked up, i guess i didn't wait long enough for the undercoat to dry.....It's on the repair list though

Mikey, Nice foiling job buddy, well done indeed

Owl, well done, i like those first two pics, particulary the second one, very cool

Randy, I agree this GB rocks....24 finished is impressive and with all the builds still in progress i dare say it will be 30+ by the end date....You can expect a couple more from me still to come

Wow, great work guys and gals!

Richard: The P-47 looks terrific! I love the Alclad too, great stuff, I love the fact that you can actually mask over it without it peeling off. Only problem I've had with it is the undercoat keeps giving me problems.

Julez: Sharp looking Fw-190D. I like the NM undersurfaces, they're a nice touch that make her stand out.

Owl: Great job on the foil! I think you've really captured the aggressive look of the MiG-21 quite well.

Scorpy: Fantastic job on the 'Hun'. I love the shiny well maintained look about her, I swear you and Owl have almost conviced me to try the foil, if only I didn't love the Alclad so much!

Owl and Scorpy - great job on the foil!

Kermit - Yeah you should've waited a week to start the P-38!  Watch out for those PVC tires, they love to eat unpainted and sealed plastic hubs.  I got the Ultracast wheels on order for my P-38.  Plus that P-47 looks real good, especially knowing how fast you built it.

Thanks for all the kind comments guys. I will say this however, theres a reason i didnt take photos of the belly

Julez72

Jeremy, very cool pic Hows that sweet build of yours going?

 

Thanks Julez!  Been slow with the Airacomet as I'm still a little disappointed with the amount of crap in the paint.   I'm going to leave it alone and finish it up per your previous request.   I managed to get the OD anti-glare painted on the nose yesterday and I'm going to mask off the wing walks tonight and spray them tomorrow. It's all down hill from here if I can get my @$$ in gear!!!

Your definatly your own worst critic mate, i get dust on all of mine, future appears to be a magnet for it...The NMF on the Airacomet looks great to my eyes I like the lines of that model as well, very cool.. thats a clear part on the tip of the nose isn't it???

The fuselage is pretty dust free, it's the wings that don't look good.

The tip of the nose has a landing light. I don't have any pictures but I added a backing and bulb behind it because it looked pretty hollow in there. You'll be able to see it once I unmasked everything.

I love the finish on your birds Julez and I was curious to know if you put a clear coat over the model when you are finished. I usually don't but I'm not sure how to take the shine off the decals and I don't want to alter the look of the Alclad finish. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Jeremy, i've experimented alot on my last four NM builds but i think i've settled on a final coat of future thinned down with about 20% Tamiya X-20a, unfortunatly it stills atlers the sheen of unsealed alclad...I've also freehanded some heavily thinned flat  coat about a 50 50 mix to the black stripes, anti glare panels and decals to my PTO Mustangs to help blend them in a bit....I really enjoy playing with NMF because you get so much variety in finishes just by altering undercoats and topcoats...I think i know enough know to take on that Monogram B-29

Thanks for the compliments! I think I did such a good job on the MiG because I had to keep up with you guys!   It was a challenging build but I enjoyed myself and that is what it is all about right?  This is probably my last NMF build for a while. I have the Viper GB I am starting now, but I will be lurking around to see the great works you fellas put out!

Scorpiomikey: don't be too hard on yourself, that Hun looks very nice!

Kermit: you are one fast builder!! WOW. I loved that Thunderbolt and now you are on another build?! Good luck on that P-38, I heard horror stories about the fits on that kit.

jmabx:  that Airacomet is looking sharp! cant wait to see more

OWL

Julez72

I think i know enough know to take on that Monogram B-29

Julez72

CallSignOwl we are surely gonna miss you around here, and hope to see you back sometime.

Ok all I really have been working on the AT-6, I really have Got it all masked and ready for paint and even shot some yellow paint on the wings and tail. But I need another bottle of paint, as you know yellow doesn't cover very well at all. Anyway here is a picture before I ummm added a faint coat of yellow. Oh and wouldn't you known it, Squadron now has the vacuform canopy in stock for it now .

Oh yeah as you can see on the TV in the mancave I was watching Baa Baa Black Sheep while working today. Nice Corsairs huh

Julez72

I think i know enough know to take on that Monogram B-29

Do I see a future build for the GB or what?

One of the things this GB has illustrated is that NMF does have its challenges as well as its rewards. Some are learning that the option of using foil isn't any easier than painting.

In either case the surface prep needs to be done properly. Foil like paint makes surface flaws pop. Foil too has its own issues such as spidering creases, puckering around surface details and scratches from burnishing.

Painting is overall less labor intensive and doesn't share some of the issues as foiling has. If there is a speck in the paint, it can be easily addressed, whereas one under the foil means removing the foil from the offending area.

Larger the scale I found was easier to foil than those smaller. With painting, scale isn't so much an issue when working over and around surface/shape details.

Too many fret that a NMF is difficult and never attempt them. But it doesn't require any more effort than any other paint scheme (unless you are applying foil). If you don't get the basics of construction and finish done properly before applying paint...your model's overall appearance will be the same whether its NMF or not. Paint or foil doesn't hide poor technique and craftsmanship.

Its been fun following this build...I should get going on one of mine!!!

HawkeyeHobbies

Too many fret that a NMF is difficult and never attempt them. But it doesn't require any more effort than any other paint scheme (unless you are applying foil). If you don't get the basics of construction and finish done properly before applying paint...your model's overall appearance will be the same whether its NMF or not. Paint or foil doesn't hide poor technique and craftsmanship.

Agreed 100% 

NMF freaks me out a little bit more than, say, painting a plane in straight-up olive drab, but I'll take it over some of those complex masking jobs any day!

DoogsATX

HawkeyeHobbies:

Too many fret that a NMF is difficult and never attempt them. But it doesn't require any more effort than any other paint scheme (unless you are applying foil). If you don't get the basics of construction and finish done properly before applying paint...your model's overall appearance will be the same whether its NMF or not. Paint or foil doesn't hide poor technique and craftsmanship.

 

Agreed 100% 

NMF freaks me out a little bit more than, say, painting a plane in straight-up olive drab, but I'll take it over some of those complex masking jobs any day!

Hey like those crazy camo jobs on some Luftwaffe birds

Hawkeyehobbies would love to have you join us here

I dont find NMF any more difficult than a painted build, although foiling does take a bit more time as far as aplication goes and you have to be a bit more careful with your paint aplications, ( knowing your paint and how it sprays) What I have found as a result of building NMF is that my color painted builds have improved a bunch as far as surface prep and paint aplication goes.

B17Pilot

 

 

Hey like those crazy camo jobs on some Luftwaffe birds

Strangely, Luftwaffe stuff doesn't freak me out THAT much. Okay, some of it does.

I'm thinking more about birds with lots of hard lines around complex curves. A lot of nose markings on NMF Mustangs, for example (I've got a blue-nose from the 352nd in the stash, and masking that curve terrifies me). Or the spiral pattern on some Luftwaffe spinners. Give me mottling any day, next to that.

DoogsATX I use a trick for masking stuff like the blue nose Mustangs using the decals as a templet or the painting drawings on the instruction sheet. I scan them and blow them up to the right  size if needed, print them out on the printer and use that to cut my masking. Might take a little tweeking but it works for me. I used this trick on Miss America in the first Air Racer GB worked great I think. The only decals I used on it was the lettering for sponcers and the race number all the rest was masked and wasnt to difficult.

That's a great idea, vetteman! Think I'll have to try it...not sure how well it'd work on something like fuselage bands on a Wildcat (even my twisty/curvy tape was bewildered by that), but for weird profile curves I think it'd probably work. And with the blue-noses, it's just that kink from horizontal to diagonal. Everything else could be straight-edge tape until it curves under the fuselage.

I do have the B-29 here just trying to figure out how far to go with it regarding the engines...The kit is good with fairly good detail inside but i would like to open up one or two of the engine cowls so i'd need some replacement R3350 engines...I couldn't find any resin sets so i think the best bet is to get a couple of Tamiya Skyraiders and use those, maybe 4 if the props are the same, and better....I'll also replace all the gun barrels with the Karaya metal barrels, wheels and i'll tinker with the cockpit a little...My 7 year old daughter is a huge Tom and Jerry fan so i'll be getting the Atomic Tom decal set and i think i'll add her name (Ruby) to the other side...Vette, i'll start it in the new year after i've conquered all my  other GB commitments, not gonna join many Gb's next year, i want to concentrate on the Superfort and the Trumpy Wellington...

Hey Doogs, if you need to do a spiral spinner on a luftwaffe bird i highly recommend Eduards precut masks, it's like $5 and you get about 10 spirals...I used it on my D-9 and it took 5min to do...

Julez - thanks for the tip about the Eduard masks - didn't know they had one for the spirals. Very nice!

Looking forward to seeing that B-29! You should definitely set up a WIP thread for it, especially if you're going with all those engines!

Also...I'm officially back in this GB! I've had some delays with the Commies, so I had a frank discussion with them last night and we decided it'd be alright if I spent time with other models. 

That said, the Monogram P-47 is officially on the bench!

Not sure what all to say about the kit. It's a 100% nostalgia build for me. Detail and engineering-wise are about what I expected. One of Monogram's better kits from a certain era, but it's no Tamiya. Ejector pin marks everywhere - including multiple points along the fuselage seams. Flash. Hard, brittle, silvery plastic. Wide sprue tabs placed at inconvenient locations. 

I spent most of last night cleaning seams and sprue marks and test-fitting the major pieces.

Overall, this is one big boy. Here it is next to the La-5 WIP:

The cockpit tub is also one piece. Which, awesome for fit, less awesome for detailing. But I got the painting started last night with some White Ensign Dull Dark Green:

Looking forward to getting on with the detailing and maybe the IP tonight.

Ha don't get me started on ejector pin marks, the 29 is covered in them Your T-bolt looks pretty good from here though, have you thought about the raised panel lines yet? I need to accentuate them on the bomber or it will end up looking like an aluminum tube but i don't want to use a wash, i thought about a hard line but narrow preshade to change the sheen of the topcoat but i'm open to ideas from you guys here...

maybe carefully run a pencil along the raised panel edges?

OWL