Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

Cheers Kermit, The floor was done by spraying it 1st with Tamiya acrylic Khaki and then, when dry, i got a tiny spot of Burnt umber oil paint and drew it back and forth with an old stiff brush. Ive done the same thing on my WW1 stuff to good effect.

...Guy

Sherman- T-4 looks to be comming along great, I love the looks of some of them Rusky birds. Almost "only a mother could love" ugly. I like it!!!

Luftwoller- You present something for judgement, and say "be kind", (as I read in another post) Thou shalt be judged harshly!!! That said........ AWESOME!!! pit looks great, fig looks great(where'd he come from?). I'm not just being kind, great work....hats off to ya!

Kermit- Very nice, I've done 2 Hasi. 51s, the first....not so good. I had to take another shot at it, did a lot of extra work and came out nice, decent kit. Looking forward to the end results

 As for me, the T-6s have been put on hold til I can get some pics, and I'm gonna take a little break from the shiny and clean, and go to dirty and green. Today at work, the DEA came in with a couple MI-NG OH-58s, I got inspired, so I'll be spending a little time with the rotorheads, if they'll have me!

 I'll keep checkin in around here, and will be back with a T-6.........maybe 4 or 5!!!

Yes, I was a hairhead!!!

                    FERMIS

I have been away for a few days and look at all I have been missing here !! We have been having brownouts here the last few days and I have been afraid to turn on the computer. I was at the autoparts store yesterday when a brownout hit and witnessed 2 of their computers give up the ghost, had to go to another store to get my parts because they wouldnt check me out sheesh. Wander what ever happened to doing things the oldfashond way.

Fermis Thanks for letting me know about the rerelease of the T-6 kits I will be on the look out for one. Oh and I do like your 51 Fermis like the figure too

Sherman1111 T-4 is lookin good ! I have to say thou you do like to come up with unusal subjects.

Luftwoller Great start on your P-51 I can only wish my pits looked that good.

Kermit I see we have another fast builder in the group. You are doing fine work there bud

Fermis WOW, your checkertail turned out beautiful. I really love what you done with the flaps and weathering. If my mustang turns out half as good i will be a very happy froggie Did you do the tail yourself or are they the decals?

Vetteman Haha no i am not that lightning fast... I am building on her for three or four weeks already.

Gave the P51 a coat of future yesterday and hope to be able to start decalling tonight. Will show some pics before that when i return from work.

My next NMF kit (still deciding on using the B17 in my stash or an all new one) is something i will share here from the very start. Thats a promise there!. First i need to finish up the P51, a P40 i am doing behind the scenes (futured it just now) and a russian I-16 that is halfway through. Maybe not so fast then but i do like to work on several projects at the same time, always done that...dunno.

Great work on the Chequer Tail, Fermis. What scale is it and what paint finish. It looks awesome.

 Im not quite sure that the female pilot has the correct regulation uniform on, and doesnt she know not to walk awat from the wing walk markings. Geez, pull yourself together woman.

...Guy

Hi all T-4 update and I decided to do a quick Missle build this am.

Old Nike kit reiisue from Revell

For an old kit it had a better fit on parts than the newer kits on the market.

jd

Sherman1111 Huhhh yup I remember them Nike missle thingies, nicely built too by the way Sherman. Got a close up personal look at a few of them as a kid. There were a number of them all around the valley here in the 60s, I think because of Rockedyne. Seeing them was neat I will say, however being escorted from the area wasn't fun at all. Hey you are really moving on that T-4 ready for alclad now is it ?

I had to walk away from the P-38 for a bit but will be back to work on it next week, that nose of really bad hope I can save it. Its the only hang up before foiling can begin. The rest of it has gone quite well. So figured I would finish up a P-61 I have been working on and generally screwing up a fair build with my bad airbrush work. Having fun and learning what "NOT" to do though  

Nice work Sherman, the missle looks very impressive.

I see youve sprayed the big bird black. Do you prepare all your Alclad builds that way? I need to ask as im getting fairly close to laying on some paint on the Mustange. When i bought some of my Alclad, i also got some Alclad Honey primer that is just clear and sticky and not black. I thought i read somewhere that you sprayed them black in prep for chrome?

Please put me right, im worried this may turn into a bit of a minefield LOL.

...Guy

I havent used Alclad paint but I have had very good luck using Krylon paint for plastic as a primer under Tamiya paints. The Tamiya seems to stick to it very well and refuses to come up even when I pull masking off and I use regular masking tape from the hardware store too. I use it on all my painted builds. Just my 2 cents worth

Promised you guys some pics before the decalling. Didn't do any work on it yesterday as i was finishing up a P40 i am doing on the side (see post in the normal aircraft area of this forum - comments very welcome).

All paintwork is done and the P51 had 48 hours to have it's two coats of future harden. I decided to do the yellow bands on the wings myself as opposed to using the decals and i hope the checkertail decals will match in colour... Guess i will see when i do it

A quick question before finishing up: Do you guys use a gloss coat of final varnish or matte? I am gambling on (semi)gloss here as you want the NMF to stand out but i can be mistaken here...

And to tease a bit: I needed a few things like paint and brushes and such so i visited a hobby shop in the next town today. For my next build i have found a great 1:48 kit! It is not WW2 era as i prefer to build but very close. Almost came home with a NMF Nieuport 28 WW1 plane in 1:32 but this one won in the end because of a higher "oomph" factor to me. Not telling yet what it is exactly

Untill next time with a hopefully nicely decalled up Mustang

Kermit A matte finish on NMF doesnt look good at all to my eye it will make the finish look very grainy and rough, besides most NMFs have a semigloss to them in real life, so I would submit you want a semi gloss for that used combat look and a gloss finish for a show aircraft. Just my 2 cents worth

Sherman1111 I dont like that mess either and dont want anything to do with spraying that stuff in the apartment. So I do paint with Krylon right out of the can with no troubles at all. I do fog it on in 3 or 4 very light coats waiting no more than 10 minutes between coats, I usually wait only five minutes between coats. The trouble starts when I waited more than the 10 minutes ( also in the directions on the can) the paint will orange peel like crazy. I have missed that window and waited a week for the next coat ( per can directions) and had the same orange peel trouble, so now I make sure I can get all coats done without interuptions, AKA dont answer the phone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I guess you use what you prefer in paints. Krylon gives me a headache, where I like the smell of Tamiya paints. As long as the results are the same. Thats what I like about the forums you get other tips on building, I learn alot from other builds and opions. This build has created a lot of steller aircraft. I have had a lot of fun in this one.

jd

My models have improved a lot because I joined the forums here, just passed a year here yesterday. I have only finished one GB the P-51 group and am almost done with a second one, the P-61 group and have been having a ball. This is the first BG I have hosted and at first I was a bit worried about it to be frank. But everyone here has made it truely a pleasure to host, cant thank all you guys enough for that and the very nice builds too.

The nice thing for me is that durning this GB I have been recovering form surgery from Feb, now that I have to go again in a couple weeks It will be good therapy durrning recovery again, When my wife is at work this house gets big, and having people to email durning the day makes the day go by faster, as it is a motivator to finish kits  raather than strting and not finishing. Thanks all for your support durning this time, and i look forward to more when i get out of the hosipital.

jd

Good luck in the Hospital, Sherman. Hopefully its not going to be to big an ordeal.

As for paints Im most definately learnig. I didnt have any gloss black as an undercoat for my alclad, so i tried a little semi gloss black on the flaps and the canopy frame. I then sprayed them with Alclad Airframe Alluminium. To my eye it came out a touch dark. More like steel than ally. Oh well, it should give some variation to the shades. In the UK its a bit difficult to find this Krylon Gloss black, so im using Plastikote Gloss black. Its an Enamel black in a spray can. Ive sprayed the rest of the airframe with this black and it looks fairly good. After its gone off (3hrs Apparantly) would it be wise to give the black a polish? I intend to spray the whole airframe in polished alluminium and then mask a few panels and squirt them with something else.

Ill get a pic or 2 up to show where im at shortly.

...Guy

You need to try a gloss finish for the primer, I have also used a dark grey with good results. I have not had to polish the gloss . Remember the polished aluminun is going to be really shinney. I have used it before and ended up repainting with just aluminum, to me it was too much . you might want to try a test before you paint your bird. as for my hosipital, this is a tricky surgery. The doctor is working on my spinal cord and nerves going to my right leg. this will be the 4th surgery in this area and I have a lot of scare tissue. I have a top surgen so I am not worried. But this will be the last time this can be done if it doesnt work I will be on meds and unable to work for the rest of my life.

jd

Sherman,

Lets hope that it will not come to that. I think, if i may be so bold to say so as the newest kid on the block here, that everyone in the group wishes you the very best and a speedy and FULL recovery. Fingers crossed from across the pond here

Good Luck Sherman. Hopefully everything will go as planned and you will be back to your old self in no time.

                                                                                            Soulcrusher

kermit wrote:

Sherman, Lets hope that it will not come to that. I think, if i may be so bold to say so as the newest kid on the block here, that everyone in the group wishes you the very best and a speedy and FULL recovery. Fingers crossed from across the pond here

What Kermit said JD. And please do keep us posted on how you are doing. Its no fun not being able to work.

vetteman42 wrote:

My models have improved a lot because I joined the forums here, just passed a year here yesterday. I have only finished one GB the P-51 group and am almost done with a second one, the P-61 group and have been having a ball. This is the first BG I have hosted and at first I was a bit worried about it to be frank. But everyone here has made it truely a pleasure to host, cant thank all you guys enough for that and the very nice builds too.

Randy as you have found hosting a GB is not as scary as it seems. I think the formula for a good GB is reading the forums for a while first and see what really sparks people's interest. Some our obvious. Usally any variation of something involving the Luftwaffe will pick up alot of interest. The bigest reason I see alot of GB either become non starters or die off is to make the GB subject to specific. Your idea of a NMF GB was a awesome idea and one of the most original ideas I have seen come along for a GB in a while. It is perfect for two reasons. It is open to any subject matter as long as it is NMF which means it atracted builder from the WWII era all the way through the jet age. The second reason is that NMF is a scary subject and a mystery to some. Having a GB made alot of people give it a try that might not have done it on their own due to the weath of information and all of the different techniques applied here. I for one am glad you went through with it and after I fiinish a couple of planes for the Regia Aeronautica GB I plan on building at least one more here. Well done on your first GB Randy!

                                                                                       Soulcrusher

soulcrusher wrote:

vetteman42 wrote: My models have improved a lot because I joined the forums here, just passed a year here yesterday. I have only finished one GB the P-51 group and am almost done with a second one, the P-61 group and have been having a ball. This is the first BG I have hosted and at first I was a bit worried about it to be frank. But everyone here has made it truely a pleasure to host, cant thank all you guys enough for that and the very nice builds too.   Randy as you have found hosting a GB is not as scary as it seems. I think the formula for a good GB is reading the forums for a while first and see what really sparks people's interest. Some our obvious. Usally any variation of something involving the Luftwaffe will pick up alot of interest. The bigest reason I see alot of GB either become non starters or die off is to make the GB subject to specific. Your idea of a NMF GB was a awesome idea and one of the most original ideas I have seen come along for a GB in a while. It is perfect for two reasons. It is open to any subject matter as long as it is NMF which means it atracted builder from the WWII era all the way through the jet age. The second reason is that NMF is a scary subject and a mystery to some. Having a GB made alot of people give it a try that might not have done it on their own due to the weath of information and all of the different techniques applied here. I for one am glad you went through with it and after I fiinish a couple of planes for the Regia Aeronautica GB I plan on building at least one more here. Well done on your first GB Randy!                                                                                        Soulcrusher

 , Vetteman, if we were a little closer(geographically), I'd shoot you a venison dinner for this one!!!

                                          FERMIS

Well as promised heres where im at, at the mo. Ive finished a few smaller bits like the prop and the wing tanks. I was going to do the cigar shaped paper? tanks, but thier detail was alittle lacking and trying to get rid of the seam without losing the detail, wasnt worth the effort. Hopefully, if i do another, ill try to find some resin tanks, cos i like the look of them. Anyhoo, Pics,

Hopefully ill get some more bits and bobs done tomorrow,

...Guy

fermis wrote:

soulcrusher wrote:  vetteman42 wrote: My models have improved a lot because I joined the forums here, just passed a year here yesterday. I have only finished one GB the P-51 group and am almost done with a second one, the P-61 group and have been having a ball. This is the first BG I have hosted and at first I was a bit worried about it to be frank. But everyone here has made it truely a pleasure to host, cant thank all you guys enough for that and the very nice builds too.   Randy as you have found hosting a GB is not as scary as it seems. I think the formula for a good GB is reading the forums for a while first and see what really sparks people's interest. Some our obvious. Usally any variation of something involving the Luftwaffe will pick up alot of interest. The bigest reason I see alot of GB either become non starters or die off is to make the GB subject to specific. Your idea of a NMF GB was a awesome idea and one of the most original ideas I have seen come along for a GB in a while. It is perfect for two reasons. It is open to any subject matter as long as it is NMF which means it atracted builder from the WWII era all the way through the jet age. The second reason is that NMF is a scary subject and a mystery to some. Having a GB made alot of people give it a try that might not have done it on their own due to the weath of information and all of the different techniques applied here. I for one am glad you went through with it and after I fiinish a couple of planes for the Regia Aeronautica GB I plan on building at least one more here. Well done on your first GB Randy!                                                                                        Soulcrusher  , Vetteman, if we were a little closer(geographically), I'd shoot you a venison dinner for this one!!!                                                                     FERMIS

Wow Coming from you guys the complements mean a lot. I really dont know what to say other than thank you.

I guess I am a bit humbled also because a group build is no better than the people participating in it. In this group we have builders with a fairly wide range of skills, and all are willing to share those skills, and have fun. Learning new methods, building ones skills, not to mention some great models, and having a blast doing it is what this hobby is all about, and I hope what this group is about. Thanks guys for making this group so much fun, I hope it keeps going all year long.

Luftwoller WOW!!! that my friend is gonna to be one sweet looking Mustang ! Very nice work on the drop tanks and prop too.