3RD ANNUAL SECRET SANTA GROUP BUILD FOR AIRCRAFT

Thanks Max.  I have to say that this Wildcat kit is one of the best I've ever done.  It's awesome.  I've been doing some work and not keeping everyone in the loop so I decided to stop and snap a few pictures.

Where the cats sit currently.  The landing gear is just placed in for a fitting..

Had some white paint leftover so I decided to use it to check some seams.  A small amount of sanding to do, but nothing major..  This kit just falls together.  Guess I'll get another..

Quick shot showing some more white paint.  Wonder where I had the tape holding the wings together while glue was curing?  Also notice my handy dandy parts holder.. A clay pigeon.  Cheap, effective, and about $8 for 90.  Can't beat that.

Not terribly thrilled with the Hobby Boss kit, but it does have some nice detail.  After joining the wing structure to the fuselage on the Tamiya kit, the HB kit just sat while I pondered how to attack this thing..

That's all for now, Hopefully I'll be done before Christmas.  Enjoy.

Mike

swingr1121 wrote:

I know, it's a tease.  Just two pictures.  Well, I'm used to teases.  I'm married now.    It's ok, I'll post more progress when I get going more.

LOL too funny, Mike. Cockpits looks great, you're making good progress.

Chris, the Intruder looks great! Make sure if you do decide to tone down the weathering use very light coats of highly thinned paint. Perhaps you could make it a patchy coat as well, to sort of randomize the weathering and make it lesss uiniform.

Mike and Steve,

Very nice work in the cockpits.  All three are coming together well.  Those radios are incredible Steve.

Here's the latest Intruder update.  The main body is all painted so I tried some weathering.  To me it looks too aggressive.  I Think I'm gonna try and tone it down a bit with a really light coat of flat gull gray over the weathered grey.  I've seen some dirty birds before - but this is a little over the top (and too much of it has that brushed on look - as it was).

Alot of the detail on the underside was lost with sanding and a coat of spray can white.  I tried to restore as much as I could with a very sharp pencil... 

Still hoping to get this one done before Christmas.

Chris

Good to see a lot of good work going on in here. Guess the deadline of Christmas has us all building. Here is my latest progress. Have all the main components built and I will be hopefully heading for the spray booth soon. Only obstacle right now is getting the canopies all masked up.

Here it is with the cockpit all together and all that PE crammed in there. Lost about 4 PE parts during the joining process

I did get the ose part masked tonight and over the next few days hope to get the rest done. Did I mention how much glass there is on this sucker.

Hope to have more to report soon.

Steve

Looks good!

Nothing compares to Tamiya ... 

Ok people, remember way back when like last Christmas when I received a Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat?  Well, I have FINALLY gotten around to starting it.  It's been a busy year to say the least.  This cat will be only the second completed build of the year.  Probably 2 of 3..maybe 4.  We shall see.  Well, I guess you want to see some pics, right?

Why two pits you ask?  I decided that I'm going to finish a build that I started last year and just unearthed in my modelling room renovation.  The other kit is a Hobby Boss F4F-4.  I figured what the hey, they've each got markings for Guadalcanal, so I'll build them as a pair.  I will say that the Tamiya kit is beautiful.  The Hobby Boss kit isn't bad, it's just that the Tamiya kit is awesome.

I know, it's a tease.  Just two pictures.  Well, I'm used to teases.  I'm married now.    It's ok, I'll post more progress when I get going more.

Mike

Here's s'more progress shots.

Got the main colors down.  I decided to go with the Hi-Vis scheme - and on a Hi-Vis Christmas-ish background !

Chris

Great work Chris and Steve!
Your pit is just awesome, Steve!

Still making progress on my JU-88. Got the front cockpit put together finally and all the main assemblies done.

Hope for some building time tonight during the game.

Looks great Bossman

Steve

Well, as I'm sitting here at the computer waiting for the little ghouls to show up at the door for trick-or-treating I figured I'd give an update on the second of the two kits that Secret Santa Zip sent me ten months ago.  Yikes - time flies !  I've cleared the workbench - so I'm hoping to complete this one before Christmas 2009.

Here is the 1/72 scale Hasegawa Intruder in the beginning stages.  Man this is a big aircraft !  In 1/72 scale it's as big as some 1/48 single engine prop fighters.

< Break for a Vampiress, a Deer, and a Ninja Warrior >

First some detail shots of the cockpit.  I'm not going crazy with the scratch building on this one.  The cockpit detail is pretty basic.  I've painted some of the seat detail and I will be putting in the crew figures eventually. 

And here's an overall shot of the assembled fuselage.  The fit isn't perfect - but gaps should be easily corrected with a small amount of filler.  There are all kinds of curved/bulged surfaces on the Intruder, including some concave ones.

< Break for a pumpkin and a butterfly > 

This should be a challenging kit - but it's one of my favorite jet aircraft.  I can't say I've seen many of these built up - especially in 1/72.  More to come....

Chris

Thanks for the comments guys, it much appreciated. I am now doing the wiring on the back of the radios and ip. Son I hope to have the cockpit put together.

Steve

Steve,

That is some impressive interior detail.  Looks GREAT !

Chris 

Hey Steve your Ju-88 is proceeding very well. That packed "office" sure look like the real thing!

As for the draw IMHO Ireand sould have won the game. As per usual Italy got lucky.

Another update from the lone builder. Spent the weekend building, filling and sanding, filling and sanding but all the major assemblies are complete. Most of the cockpit work is done and being assembled. Heres the stuff ready to go together.

The PE slowed me down a lot and I just found out my superglue has gone bad and wasent gluing anything so some new glue and im in business. The IP

Getting it al crammed into a small space and the flyght deck.

On a bad note just found out I am missing a whole clear parts sprue of small parts that has small fuselage windows that I dont understand, never seen them before on any other kit. Thanks for looking

Steve

Thanks Klaus, I migh get a chance to actually do a lot of building this week and weekend. I have finally figured out most of this PE stuff. All of the interior can be substituted with PE and man is that a lot of work. I have the major assemblies built so when the cockpit is done the rest should go faster.

Steve

P.S. Hey Klaus, guess the draw in Ireland means that we have to go the way of the playoffs. You darn Italians

Looks good so far, Steve.

im still plugging away, slowly but surely. ready to get main parts put together.

have most of the interior pe done and there is lots of it.

Hey guys, Im still here plugging away at my JU-88. Broke the box open 3 weeks ago and making progress. All the PE is slowing me down( first time using this much) but I will have pics of progress soon. Heading over to #4 now

Steve

Hey Mike, I hope you've read up on the techniques and precautions for using resin stuff. I've built a couple resin cockpits and wheels, so let me know if you've got any questions!

 P.S. Check your PM!

RadMax8 wrote:

swingr1121 wrote:   Awesome!  Count me in.  Guess i need to work on the kit I got from Max last year, huh?   Mike Uh yeah Mike. You haven't started yet?

Well, I've been doing things.  It's been a busy year I guess, with getting married and all.    Then the rain stopped and I was able to start fishing finally this summer, and the wifey got sick (don't worry, she's doing well) and things have been hectic.  Fear not, it is next on the build list.  Let's just hope that more stuff doesn't get in the way...

Lofweir wrote:

SECRET SANTA SHALL RETURN!  That's right, people.  Rather than let this tradition fade away and be mothballed like a worn out B-52, it's coming back.  Watch these forums for a post later this afternoon with all the details.

Thanks for keeping the ball rolling, James! You'll enjoy it!

swingr1121 wrote:

Awesome!  Count me in.  Guess i need to work on the kit I got from Max last year, huh?   Mike

Uh yeah Mike. You haven't started yet?

Lofweir wrote:

SECRET SANTA SHALL RETURN!  That's right, people.  Rather than let this tradition fade away and be mothballed like a worn out B-52, it's coming back.  Watch these forums for a post later this afternoon with all the details.

Awesome!  Count me in.  Guess i need to work on the kit I got from Max last year, huh?

Mike

SECRET SANTA SHALL RETURN!

 That's right, people.  Rather than let this tradition fade away and be mothballed like a worn out B-52, it's coming back.  Watch these forums for a post later this afternoon with all the details.