Regia Aeronautica GB II (06/15/09 to 06/15/10)

bondoman wrote:

Food was good and the people wonderful. Oh look, it's Miss Bondo with Miss Italy (runnerup) 2007.

Very nice Bondo! WHich one is the wife and which is he runner up? Hubba Hubba.

Sean, fantastic looking Devastator. Couldnt you italianise it? Im sure theres some decals knocking about.

Obi 1 (Aaron) your skills are putting us all to shame. Im going to have to go back to LEGO. At least i didnt have to paint it. Loving the wire details in the UC bay. Very prominant on Itlian planes it seams. Im going to have to try to replicate something like that for mine. 10.30 till 7ish tonight. Booo. I like earlys not these middle shits I mean shifts.

Steve, thats looking superb. Those decals look amazing. I got 2 wings worth on the CR.42. Did you trim out the centres of the decals as well as around them? I gave them all another future coat to protect them before i start the weathering process.

...Guy

Geezz, I am away for a few days and I have to catch up with pages of posts. Everyone appears to be having fun. Great work Aaron and I really like what you are doing to that kit. On my front I did get the smoke rings down over the last ywo days. I did the fuselage on Sat and let it sit for a day to see how they set. They looked good and I finished the rest tonight. Quick note on these Mike Grant decals, they are terriffic lay down smooth and respont to set very well. One note of caution though, trim them close as they will fold under themselves if you have too much carrier film on them. They take patients but are worth it.

Hopefully I can put the glosscoat down after I do a panell wash. Crap, I have to put the kit decals on first. DOHH.

Steve

Oh, ok, snacks before lunch but that's all you get!

The roast pig was pretty good too,

except that my friend Fred got us all 86'd for sticking his hands in it!

Sorry to hijack your thread, Guy, LOL

 Bondo I love the pics!  Your daughter looks like she fit right in!  The fellow who lost a leg looks like my now deceased father in law.  The first thing he ask me is Do you beat the women you date? I said, No Sir?! He replied that I had better start!  ( seriously he said that)  21 years later I now understand.

 Ok we got the before dinner and now the after but no food pics!  I guess I'll go heat up some more wedding soup. You look like you are fresh out of Rolaids!

Like the explaination on the historic memorial plaques. Too many stories like that. Too many.

Oh yeah in progress stuff.

Guy Jr has his wings!

I was working on the wing seams and wanted to show how much I thinned the cowling flaps. And thinned and thinned somemore. Then rolled up a black wire glued it into a circle (kinda) and put it inside to represent the exhaust ring that shows up in photo's  Here you can see a right and left view of the seams and the cowling doo hicky.

and a better shot of what the gear bays and fuselage guts look like now.

 Well  I think I am ready to paint! I had better decide which aircraft soon huh?

Dog gone it Bondo you made me hungry now!

Here's your Guy. Lost his leg in WW2 in a place south of Rome. Neither of us spoke Italian so it was a little hard to figure out. Him: Croatian. Miss Bondo is impressed, they are no doubt related.

Here's a plaque on City Hall of the dead from WW1.

Here's a plaque of the dead from WW2 (top), and the dead from 10/7/43 when the Italians surrendered and the Germans retaliated by bombing this town- six families, several people each.

Food was good and the people wonderful. Oh look, it's Miss Bondo with Miss Italy (runnerup) 2007.

Cheers, Bondo.

sfcmac wrote:

That has got to be an eye strain! You must be farsighted as I know those fellows are tiny!

I'm special, Near sighted in one eye, Far sighted in the Other

Thats why I never needed to drink beer, If the girl at  bar was to ugly I would just  close the appropiate eye and vice~a~versa!

Its all Daves Fault ha ha - where is he anyway ?

This is OT but Aaron wanted me to show this old Monogram TBD-1 Devastator I have been working on. 

If I need to be punished - send Wingus and Dingus right over    Ooops I mean

I like the rainbow of color you added

I just realized he reiminds me of Alex Trebeck!  Your answer must be in the form of a question please! Cue jeapardy theme music!

 I guess he saw it.

Sean those pilots are incredible. 1/72 and has a mustache! Looks just like Guy Jr!

That has got to be an eye strain! You must be farsighted as I know those fellows are tiny!

 I'm still goofing around as well.

cut the smallest wires loose off one of my many fried power supplies. Still thought they were a bit large but actually look ok inside. Again the rainbow of colors show up and it lets you know something is there!

Now the hole that used to look at the pilot from the wheels is full of detail and not see through.

Guess I need to focus.

Anyways Guy showed how he checks his seams with color while sanding. To show when the sanding is even ya know? I do the same but when you got a fit nightmare like this old kit you need the old trick of painting gloss silver to show everything! Oldy but a goody! Plus you can use it to weather chips and scratches later!

More to come! Keep em coming Sean! You need to show these fellows that Devastator! It is too cool!

Aaron - Man, I cant believe how good that Chi-200 looks. How Fantastic your detail can be seen from the outside. To me there is nothing more disheartning then to do all that pit work and then it sits down in a dark hole that cant be seen.  And then there is your Pilot - from the looks of him he must work for my old company... Really Cool, so you really had to make his nose ?  I would of went for a Carl Maldon look myself .

Well here is Guy jr. took me forever to get him away from the Jack Elam look. 

And the both of them together

Man, my eyes hurt from the reading glasses and optivisor combo. 

sfcmac wrote:

Ooooooo...  just you wait MacNeal!!! 

 Thanks SC ! Great pics!  I think I am going to have to stick to my guns and make this outta nothing. Any after market decals would have cost more than what's in this kit so far by about $6. I'll holler if I run into a stumbleing block!  Doing my best to keep er simple. The Smer decals? Not good some thick yellow after armacist roundrals a a black 2.  I'll come up with something and holler if I mess up ok? Good to know you got my back!

 Did Guy go to bed to sleep or was he kidnapped by girls dressed like dolls? Guess it depends on what your definition of knackered is?

Lets see. I am putting it all together now.

Bulkhead ready for wires and extra's

Guy Jr in the seat!

The details I put in actually show up for a change ! Wow I am excited. Hard to get the camera to reach down into the pit though.

Well take a quick break and give er some wings! Thanks again for the comments Fellows you make this real fun! ( anyone notice the subliminal message in pic 1?)

sfcmac wrote:

Do you know, i swear i had him on the bus today. Not a bad evening really. The Pussy cat dolls were playing in town and i was there just as all these hundreds of young girlies (Who dress like the dolls at thier concerts) all wanted my bus home. Oh its a hard life.

Dave, i feel your pain with the glasses episode. I spent a whole week searching for mine to no avail. Then i realised i dont wear glasses. Oooh i was mad.

Summit, Driving a bus is one of those things that seem really cool....untill you do it day in, day out for a year or 2. Then you hate everyone and everything. And the fact that your driving 13tonnes of aerodynamic housebrick, with all the accelleration of Honey really starts to grate. LOL.

Aaron, you are seriosly the man!! Your scratching details (Not the ones you told me about Hush hush, mums the word) on your 'Dog' of a plane are truly superb. Going that extra mile has turned your Reggy into a thing of wonder. Whats the colour scheme your going for? Have you chosen yet?

Crusher, you are doing a stunning job in my absense. Whats the homework for us. I love homework. Remeber i found Franks Piccy, God im ace LOL.

Anyhoos, im knackered and off to bed. You kids play nice while im gone.

...Guy

Sean I use a brush that is about 1/4 inch wide that is very soft.  Do not shake the Future like paint because this causes air bubbles. Move the brush along slowly and if you get a bubble go over it agian very slowly to remove it. The biggest thing is make sure the work are is dust free. I like to give the workbench a wipe down with a wet paper towel right before I start. Future is like a dust magnet so the cleaner the area the better. Do not expect it to be perfect. When the final dullcoat is applied it will hide all of the small imperfections. Now off with you and have a go at it or Aaron will be wondering where the pics are of your work! Guy is at work so I am handing out the homework in his absense.

Aaron here are some pics for you. If you do not see anything you fancy I can post some more. If your decals are not that good let me know and I could send you some that are sure to be better than the junk that came in the Smer kit.

                                                                        Soulcrusher

 Hey thanks Sean! I re read the whole thread and there was a pic I hadn't noticed of one as well. I am saving them all and trying to figure out what is best.

To show my gratitude I have specially made an attempt to make my deviant pilot antatomically correct.

This fellow is awful. No detail no face not much but a blob. To really paint a good figure you have to start with a good figure. I did not replace him simply because the point of this build is to make something out of nothing from nothing. So I painted shadows and carved features with a sharp hobby knife. I am no Michael Agelo especially in 1/48. But here is what I came up with.

Normal viewing at size he looks not so bad.

Zoomed in you can see he has no face. Just dots and bloches in cuts made by the knife and a nose shaped from CA.

A lotta work for what it is but keeping with the kit parts.  Like you say he is tucked in pretty well so not much will show and he will do fine.

On the up side my bulk head is done and other details added to flat gear covers.

 A little more than a flat piece of plastic now.  Lotsa color to show something in the dark space. Drilled some holes from nose to this bulkhead and will add some wires for cables ext to jazz it it a bit.

One more -

Not the best, but all I could find at the moment in my books.

I will keep looking though.

Pilot - Guy jr. is starting to look quite Dapper. I am pulling out all the tricks as I know Dave is going to come in with something looking like it should walk & talk. 

SC- Could you post a pic of the Brush you use for clear with something to gauge the size? (bambi eyes Please)

Well Sean the Queen is keeping me busy today. Letting stuff dry and working on the honey -do list. I had some Italian Wedding soup for lunch so I am raring to go!

 Anybody got some good profiles or pics of the MC 200?  Thinking about a desert version. Kinda just trying to figure out what I am representing. Man the time to paint came up quick!.

Thanks for the Great comments on "Guy" the 1/72 Pilot figure.  That is my second figure I have attempted in the last 15 years. He actually has more color but the work light washed them out.You most likely wont be able to see much of him through the windscreen anyway. But he will be in there

Aaron - you are the Modeling King , I cant believe how much that kit has "Popped" with the extra detail.  You do a few more of these like that and you will never want to look at the newer "super Kits" anymore. 

Dave -If I could have all the hours back for searching for my readers..... The worst for me was several months ago my Wife had a Conference out of town and I went along. Took a stack of FSM from the 80's to read. Left my glasses at home ,could not read or see anything at all. Two days stuck in a hotel room during a Monsoon rain with nothing to do. 

Thanks a bunch SC! Actually seeing that is kind of a relief. I was just using Frank's link and the 202 kits to give an informed guess at it. Looks like I got pretty darn close! Do the happy dance!

I just sat down to do some more on the wheel  bay area. So your directions are right on time!

I am trying my best to carve and create stuff out of what ever is laying about. I found an old circle stand for the atrocity of a figure from the Arii 109, I made a template shape by mushing clay into the upper fuselage and removed it to trace the shape outline onto the circle. Then I just roughly dremeled to the line and presto! Got a bulkhead that fits like it was made for the kit.

Ten after much much clean up of the lower fuselage and wing I started playing around with ideas. The center beam was lame so I drilled out 3 hoes on each side and wallered them out a bit with the hobby knife.

Also made some back walls for the wheel bays out of masking tape and super glue. In the process of detailing them a bit using the 202 wall as an example.

I use a lot of white glue to tack it in place and let me position the tiny pieces then set it with CA when it looks right. Works well.

The front walls are thin. When attached to the fuselage there is no room to add much so I drilled a few more tiny holes to make it appear more structural as in the center beam but lots smaller,  did the same for the upper fuselage edges that show through.

Have to finish the rear wheel well walls and do up the bulkhead a bit then we are in business!

sfcmac wrote:

I dunno how he does it? Must be something in the Tea?  Do you think he takes them to work? I can just see him driving that huge wheeled monster on the wrong side of the street. Hobby Knife in one hand MA 205 in the other while steering with his feet! Then trying to explain to the Bobby that he thought he was in Texas.  Yippie KI Yeh! Thanks for the comments fellows. I am really trying to keep it simple. I was going to ask of anyone had a decent kit instruction of the MC 200 to try to copy some details but between Frank's link and looking at the 202 which is supposed to be a reengined 200. I figure I can get ball park enough for a kit that had nodda!  Probably more fun that way.  You notice it also has molded on antenna and pitot( 2 of them) tubes. Working on the wheel bay area. Kinda complex wasn't it?

Aaron if you feel like going nuts here is a copy of the Classic Airframes instructions that has a very detailed cockpit and wheel well area. So if you feel like it here is everything you need to go nuts!

                                                                                 Soulcrusher

Sean, nice work on painting that pilot   In 1/72 that is really hard to pull off.  

Aaron you crazy nut.  Pulling out an old geezer of a kit and then detailing the heck out of it.  You rmaking the rest of us look bad!  It's all your fault!

Guy, looking good.  She's coming together nicely.  

I spent most of last night and this morning looking for my reading glasses.  I'm at that age where I'm blind as a bat without them.  Seams one of the kids (ya it's their fault) knocked them off the side of computer table.  Sheeesh!!!  Anyway, also a little under the weather today so I hope to just take it easy and see if I can do as good a job on my little pilot as Sean did.  

Oooh one of those Double Deckers Guy ? I have always wanted to ride in one of those open topped ones.

I got the fuse sprayed white for the "belly band" also painted the rudder incase the crosses on my decals have yellowed to much to use. I will place one over the bright white background and see how that looks. If to "creamy looking" I will remove it, and mask the crosses.

It will be a slow day today waiting on paint to dry. Guess I will attempt to  paint my other pilot . 

Wowzers, now thats a whopper fer sure. Im only a lowly bus driver. But i still whittle away while driving. Puts the fear of god up the******drenched old codgers but im sure the fumes from the tenax subdues them a fair bit...That and the gin.

I did a bit on the UC today. The gear doors had some awfull PE bits that i remade out of styrene sheet. Much better i feel. Ive also added a few of the resin bits like the small vent on top of the fuz, the aerial isolator thingy and the spercharger intake. Anyway, Blab is worth nothing without piccies and i havent got any as yet, so tough LOL.

Wish me luck, with the grannies.

...Guy

sfcmac wrote:

I dunno how he does it? Must be something in the Tea?  Do you think he takes them to work? I can just see him driving that huge wheeled monster on the wrong side of the street. Hobby Knife in one hand MA 205 in the other while steering with his feet! Then trying to explain to the Bobby that he thought he was in Texas.  Yippie KI Yeh!

All~right this has my curosity ? What does Guy drive ?One of these ?

I dunno how he does it? Must be something in the Tea?  Do you think he takes them to work? I can just see him driving that huge wheeled monster on the wrong side of the street. Hobby Knife in one hand MA 205 in the other while steering with his feet! Then trying to explain to the Bobby that he thought he was in Texas.  Yippie KI Yeh!

Thanks for the comments fellows. I am really trying to keep it simple. I was going to ask of anyone had a decent kit instruction of the MC 200 to try to copy some details but between Frank's link and looking at the 202 which is supposed to be a reengined 200. I figure I can get ball park enough for a kit that had nodda!  Probably more fun that way.  You notice it also has molded on antenna and pitot( 2 of them) tubes.

Working on the wheel bay area. Kinda complex wasn't it?

Aaron- Nice work!  That is some very convincing work there.  I like your paint stand too, is that a champagne bottle top left from the party with Wingus and Dingus?

Guy- You maniac you!  You say you don't get any benchtime in, and yet you almost have ANOTHER one finished!  How the heck do you guys do it?

 Wow Guy ! I thought you didn't get any time? Looks like it is almost together! That fit of the pit is a shame but looks like you have escaped most of the headaches I experienced.  Probably just cuz your a lot better at it!

Did you get all those tiny PE Mumble jumbo sorted? I can't believe all the tiny little reenforcing plates you have to add to the wings and fuselage area.

Going to peep at mine this AM. Nekid twister? I like to jello wrestle with them. Of course you think it is jam.

Its me again, The man with the light in his eyes.....pom pom pom. Aaron your right. I just cant seem to get any bench time. Too many chores it seems and its bumming me out. Ive not even got any time to play Naked twister with Wingus and Dingus, Boooo.

 Im loving coming to the GB though. Everyone is really kicking some butt with the builds, its all excellent. Your scratchbuilding work is awesome and Seans figure painting is cracking as well. Frank, IMHO, id go with the kit part, the resin looks too iffy for my likeing.

Dave, your inflight should be great. Are you going to add a prop blur? Perhaps fabricate somthing out of acetate?

Aaronw and Jeff, (Not another Aaron, Geez. Cant be as nutso as ours though) Nice to see you lads. Theres no rush, keep looking in. Im sure we'll all be here waiting for you.LOL.

...Guy

EDIT. Oops i didnt post he bits i wanted to show you LOL. Heres where im at,

In this one you can see how much i had to thin the sidewalls down,

after working out that i can get the pit in afterwards i proceded sorting the fuz seam out, so far no filler,

I was a bit concerned about how the fit of the fuz to the wing was going to go but was pleasantly surprised. Once the U/C wheel bays were thinned right down, it was spot on,

Even the glasswork looks promising. Heres the Oil coolers all sanded and primered, Looking a lot better and more Macchi like, Woo hoo. The black line you can see is how i do my seams. I hand paint on a contrasting colour and, when dry i sand it down. Any low points show up a treat. Also the nose section is a bit like Franks 109, A piece let in afterwards. This wasnt a bad fit but a smear of Mr Surfacer will beautify the old girl.

Hopefully, i might be able to get some bench time later. I have to work tonight, 6 through till midnight, Boooooo.

...Guy

 Tofu and peanut butter? Whatever it is it must be working cuz that little guy is tiny and he has features!  What did you do break out the micro scope? Wow !  WHen you gonna paint mine? Heck in 1/48 you could paint him with a mustach probably!  Very well done!  I like figures even the model ones.

Not done just yet Frank. That's funny. Got the family here today so gotta do those daddy/ husband things.  Why doesn't the world just leave us alone eh?

I did get things painted up a little. I took some liberties and brighted things up a little although I saw those colors on the engine pics on that link you sent. I test closed it up to see what could be seen and it looks pretty convincing looking down the open top.

SC?You t your AB but it is't what you wanted? Well I'll be a monkeys uncle! I bet that's Dave's fault too! He's been kinda ornery with his lack of sleep an all. Not too much you can do but regroup and reorganize. Guy needs a chance to ketchup anyways. Not sure but he seemed really on the go today!

Well here are my last pics for the night. Tomorrow I'll figure out what to do about that huge hole where the wheel wells should be.  Odd you can look right through the bottom and see out the top.

Where is that wine Gum?