3RD ANNUAL SECRET SANTA GROUP BUILD FOR AIRCRAFT

well I am getting ready to start my kit I am just finishing up the "mancave" I also do R/C model boats so my wife calls it the "POOP DECK" since she allowed me to convert one of the bedrooms to a modeling area I guess she can call it what ever she wants.

I have my computer, TV a small fridge for sodas {and some adult beverages} and modeling bench/storage. Last to go in next week is my paint booth and air compressor, and a coffee pot.

my old spot was so tight I could not finish last year's model {B 17} so now I should be able to hit both

Jim, great job on the F-18. As per your usuall standards it turned out great. Very nice job and I like the way it turned out. I have the same kit in my stash and look forward to building it soon. What are the main issues if any that you found in the kit.

Steve

Great work on that F-18, Jim!

sidure wrote:

Jim, great job on the F-18. As per your usuall standards it turned out great. Very nice job and I like the way it turned out. I have the same kit in my stash and look forward to building it soon. What are the main issues if any that you found in the kit. Steve

 Thanks for the words guys!  It's encouraging, and to answer your question Steve the issues, while few, are pains.  The Front Fuse needs to have the lip shaved down so it will fit into the main fuselage

Once that gets filed down it fits, but there is a gap but the cool thing is the front canopy covers it.

THe 2nd thing is the intake trunks. They are a 4 piece combo and be prepared to sand, fill, sand, fill, ad nausem!

THe only other thing is that the lip at the end of the intakes gets glued to the fuselage which leaves a nasty step that needs sanding, but becareful because there is a lot of panel lines there that will be wiped out.  

All in all it was a fun build.  You'll enjoy building it Steve, I guarantee. Thanks again to Day for picking it for me.

Nice job Mist !

Nice detail - right down to the ordnance - very crisp.  And like I said before - all the work on those intake trunks looks like it paid off.

Chris

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!  What a day...  I was working on my JAS Gripen and after some time working on the weapons, the cockpit I just find out that there is a piece of the fusalage missing.  Must of been when they made the kit.  Unbelievable....  So I begen to work on my typhoon to finish it off and the left shark mouth decal falls apart.  So now I have to remove the right side.  What is the easist way to take this off? I began to scrape it off but stopped so that I will not create any more work for myself.  Please, some one help me!!!

Have a nice day...

painklr wrote:

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!  What a day...  I was working on my JAS Gripen and after some time working on the weapons, the cockpit I just find out that there is a piece of the fusalage missing.  Must of been when they made the kit.  Unbelievable....  So I begen to work on my typhoon to finish it off and the left shark mouth decal falls apart.  So now I have to remove the right side.  What is the easist way to take this off? I began to scrape it off but stopped so that I will not create any more work for myself.  Please, some one help me!!! Have a nice day...

Try using masking tape.  Just place it over the decal and peel it off and hopefully the decal should come with it.  Start with low tack painters tape and if that doesn't work and doesn't pull up the paint try some stickier tape.  HTH.

Maybe I should of mentioned that I placed the decal about a month ago with decal solution.  It's on there pretty good.  Any other suggestions??

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I will keep you posted.

Thanks again.

I'm still alive - not dead - just yet.

 I have not done a lot of building lately, so I have not started my build. I do plan too once I clear the bench off and deal with some health issues.

 In Arnolds famous words:

I'll be back

DrewH wrote:

I'm still alive - not dead - just yet.

No but I've heard you were wishing you were last week.  Hope you are feeling back to normal soon Drew.  I want to see you tackle that Italian beast. 

Great job on that Super Hornet!

I've begun work on my twin builds for this GB, my gifts from Swingr1121 - Trumpeter's MiG-3 Late Version and Eduard's P-39Q.  I've only taken a few photos of my work in progress, but only after I have put together all the airframe parts with everything bottled up inside.  Didn't even occur to me to take pictures while I was working on the cockpits and other innards...sorry for that.

Any way, I have an issue with modeling and space, as I am currently plumb out of shelf space for any additional builds (except for the huge Tamiya F-4 Phantom II in 1/32 that I have set aside space atop a curio cabinet for, which I plan to build later this year).  Consequently I have determined that all builds will be either wheels up (unless of course the gear is fixed) or part of a diorama that I plan to do later this year.  So both the MiG and the Airacobra will be wheels up.  I've also decided that since my shelving disaster of a few years ago that took my one and only Russian VVS build, an Accurate Miniatures Sturmovik, that I will build both of these as Russian warbirds.

Not sure yet of the paint scheme for the MiG, but I'm leaning toward a winter scheme.  The Airacobra will be the standard US olive drab, and I'm going to attempt to render painted over American insignia with the Russian red stars painted (actually decaled) over.  I have found few references of Russian P-39s - even the Detail and Scale book I have don't have many photos, but I'll keep looking.

Any way, for the photos I do have, here goes.

MiG-3

The gear doors on the Trumpeter kit were a lot like the old Monogram kits - intended for wheels down.  I had to do some surgery on the parts to get them relatively flush with the underside.  I'm not entirely satisfied with my work in this area but I think once I fill in the gaps and get this bird painted, it should look fine.

Now for the P-39Q:

This Eduard kit is fantastic.  OOB it is pretty well detailed and goes together well, although the fuselage did require some extra incentive to mate together properly, provided by various clamps while the Tamiya liquid glue did its thing.  I feel like I did a very good job with the gear doors on this one even though they are also intended for the down position, which is why you see a gap at the top of the strut area.  The front gear doors even went in without much difficulty, which was a pleasant surprise.

A little bit of progress to show on the Acc Min F4-C.

The first shot is just to show off the crispy surface detail on this kit

OOoohh....   AAahhhh....    Yuummmm....   I like that very much !

More crispy detail on the topside.  Some of it will have to be replaced w/ stretched sprue over the spine.  It didn't survive the seam sanding.

I was planning to do this in the Gull Grey/White "Chuck Yeager" scheme - only to find out on the forum last week that AccMin specified the wrong color call outs and that the decals for Yeager's bird apply to the tri-color SEA scheme .  Instead, I decided to go for what is probably the most colorful scheme in the kit. It's an SEA scheme, but with a flashy red white and blue tail and wingtips in Commemorative Bi-Centennial decoration.

It brings back memories of being a school kid in 1976 - And how big a deal the Bicentennial was.  More to come...

Chris

Steven, glad to see that you got started!  Everything is lookin good so far.  That MiG looks like it's definitely crying out for a winter scheme..  ::ahem::   Happy that you're enjoying the kits. 

Mike

PS  Only 2 more weeks of freedom...

2 weeks with the ladies left...

Umm...   2 weeks til the wedding and 3.5 weeks til I have modelling time again..

Sorry I didn't post wip but here are my pics as promised. I built this in about 3-4 days so it was fast for WIP. Sorry the pics are bad also, I am new to photography.

Well here it is.

Chris, nice looking progress on the F4.  Sure is a nice looking kit! 

Andrew, that is one sweet looking spitfire and you said you built it in three days!!!   Incredible

Andrew - nice job ! I like the looks of that clipped wing Spitfire - nice job on the camo and decals - very smooth !

Thanks Dave !

Chris

Nice job on the Spitfire!

On Saturday we had one heckuva storm, so water-logged as we were, I was given time to spend at the bench.  I put in a bunch of hours at the bench, and was able to go through the DVD of Enemy at the Gates and then Empire of the Sun, which played twice, before I was done for the day.  In other words, I made considerable progress which I then completed tonight after work. 

I did really enjoy both of these kits but the Eduard P-39 blew the Trumpeter out of the water.  This was my second Trumpy kit and I have been generally ho-hum about their offerings.  Decent kits to be sure but a bit too heavy on rivet detail and some unusual pieces where one might not expect to find a separate piece.  On the MiG the intake scoops located on the wing fairings were separate pieces, and they took a bit of fidgety work to get them aligned properly.

The MiG is painted with Tamiya flat white topside and Tamiya Sky Blue heavily mixed with Tamiya flat white to make it more North Carolina Tar Heel blue-like for the underside.  Model Master metallics for exhaust staining, machine guns and exhaust pipes.

The P-39 is painted with Model Master acrylics - olive drab upper and neutral gray under.  I put on US insignia and over sprayed them with MM green drab, along with the MM metallics mentioned above for the machine guns and exhaust pipes.

Mixed burnt umber for a wash and applied Tamiya weathering pigments, and called it a day on these builds. 

MiG-3

P-39Q

Edit:  Just noticed in looking at the photos up close of the MiG that I have not attached the lens covering the wing light, nor the wing tip light pieces.  Oops, not quite done yet!

Very nice weathering work Steven.  Man you're quick !  Very nice builds.

Chris

 Yes Steven outstanding!!!!

 Chris your doing an excellent job buddy! If remember correctly don't you hand brush your models?

Zip

Zip,

Hey Man !   Good to hear from ya.  I've joined the ranks of those that own an airbrush - and my wife got me a compressor for Christmas this past year - but I still do quite a bit of brush painting.  Right now I'm using the airbrush for painting white (like on the F4 underside)  You can see a little overspray in the topside photo.   The Sand color is brush painted.

Honestly, I'm having a hard time with the airbrush.  I'm using MM acrylics with MM acrylic thinner and it's not working out as easily as I had hoped.  I started out just thinning the paint a little - but it clogged the nozzle very quickly.  When I use more thinner, it seems to take a really long time to dry, even with really light coats - and still the nozzle clogs up (at a slower rate).  It gives me MUCH better results than I could ever get brush painting with white - but it's a hassle unclogging and cleaning everything multiple times throughout a painting session.

I need to do more research in the airbrushing part of the forum to see if there are better ways to get acrylics to go on more easily.  I've heard of people using other thinning agents for acrylics.

Just this morning I laid down a coat of future on the white tail and wingtips on the F4 in preparation for the red white and blue striped decals. 

Have you cracked open that monster P-38 yet ?  Looking forward to seeing that one.

Chris

 Hey Chris,

 It takes a while to get the hang of the airbrush. Once you get comfortable with it though you'll love it.

 As far as the P-38 goes it's got to be the finest kit I've ever owned. Jeff gave me one of the best 1/32 kits out there plus the book and the Big Ed set of PE for it. I don't want to mess this one up. I will have to hone my skills alittle more before I tackle this bad boy. All schemes call for a NMF. I've only done one of those so far and that was on a 1/48 Mustang. A lot more surface on the P-38. I want to do it right.

 I reallty enjoy watching your builds.

 BTW I use just a couple drops of just plain water to thin my MM acrylics. Never a problem. Just don't over do it. Experiment.

Zip

Thanks again Steve.

Here she is - a little more "dressed up".  I finished the main striping decals because I figured I had to get them on to paint right up to their edge. I wasn't really sure where the inner edge of the wingtip decals ended until I got them on the plane. 

After the decals were on, I had to paint around the edges where the decal ends at the leading and trailing edges of the wings and fin.  Dark sea blue and insignia red were both very good matches for the decal colors.  The dark sea blue is just a wee bit darker than the decal - but it's tough to see the difference even in really good lighting.  I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out.  The rest of the decals should be a piece of cake compared to these.

Chris

Andrew- Your Spitfire looks great! Very nice.

Steven- Great work on both of those! Your weathering is top notch. I like the way you did the red star over the US star.

Chris- That Phantom will look great when it's all done. Very nice work.