Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

Sorry ive not been around lately. Dont like to be a poster and runner. So much great stuff.

Neu, the Typhoon looks fantastic.

Hopefully if time permits ill add another to the roster. But i have so many others on the go. Ill still keep looking in here though. To much quality to miss out on.

...Guy

Neu Looks great glad we were able to help you out with it. But did you end up using future as a gloss coat ? Also how did you buff it. I look forward to seein you join up and your build

Kermit Thanks I am sure I will be asking you some questions as we go along. This weathering thing seems to elude me,but with each build I try to weather it gets better so I will hang in there and maybe one day it will click.

Luftwooler I dont feel I have been adding to the builds and mostly lurk LOL, so dont feel bad about that as there are builds going on that are very much worth looking at and following. I hope you can do another build for the group and look forward to seeing more from you.

Ok guys time (finally) for another WIP picture. I finally got all the foil on and the canopy. Cant tell ya how happy I am I had a Squadron vacuform canopy for it as the kit canopy was lousy to say the least. I did have some fit problems with the vacuform but was able to fake it so that it looks pretty good. Tomorrow I will paint the antiglare and red wing tips and stuff like that but wont be able to finish it until next week because I need an ink cartridge for my printer to make a couple of decals.

Still tryin to figure out if this build kicked my but or if I kicked its but or maybe it was a draw.

Lookin' good there Randy

I've got a few spare hours to spend on the Mustang today
I'll see how far I get with it, but it is getting close to finished

Brett

 Dioramator : I agree on the "should i paint that invisable bit?" issue, but i always seem to still do it anyways. It also happened to be a very nicely detailed engine so i decided to "kermiefy" it. Keeps me off the streets...

Looking forward to your end results!

Luftwoller : 75% of the time i spend on FSM i just read and catch up without posting myself too. I think that's normal. Looking forward to your latest though...

Neu : SWEET tempest there!. Very clean build and a fine paintjob. I could have missed it but do you have some idea on what you want to model for the NMF group? As far as i'm concerned i'd say welcome to the party and more is better

Vetteman : Great job at foiling and your canopy looks like it fits like a glove so mission accomplished. Im really interested in the foiling thing but i'm afraid i will loose interest if applying it will take me to long, all these nice kits in my stash....*sigh*.

Ask anything you want buddy! Drybrushing alone makes a world of difference sometimes.

Richard

So here it is, done and dusted.

I am quite happy with the final result... not too bad for my first attempt at a BMF.

Actually this is also my first attempt at making my own decals (éclat, the serial No. and the one on the tail)...that is something I will try to avoid doing in future.
It is also my first group build, which I found very enlightening, and am toying with the idea of hosting my own GB in the future (when I clear out some of these existing projects... and get the weekend madness GB out of the way).
Also the first plane I have built in 8 years (and only my second one ever).

If I was to build this kit again, there are a few things I would do differently, but that's always the way, you never know how the kit is going to go together until you have built it.

Thanks to all you guys for your suggestions and feedback I received during the build, and thanks to Randy for giving me the opportunity to participate in the group.

I won't be doing another BMF for a while, as I have a few other projects on the go (but I will still be lurking in the background).

It seems I am building a lot more for other people than myself these days, so I don't often get to pick the subjects.

Cheers

Brett

Brett,

That's a very well done Mustang indeed! A model to be proud of, certainly considering you have added your own touch by making your own decals. Something i am going to try myself

Weathering is subtle but very effective as this model really gives me that aged metal feeling. The brown accents along the panellines really look nice. Wouldn't mind some more pronounced exhaust trails but that is a very personal thing. Well done matey! Arrr

Richard

I want to thank all you guys for you complements and encouragement on my build. This one has been a fight all the way and I think will be a battle all the way to the end of it. While working on the turbos yesterday I had a case of brain fade and made a mistake that I am not sure what to do about, will post a pic or 2 of it later and see what you guys think.

Nue your 1/72 VF-11 Macross is in I will get it on the roster today for ya. Will you let me know the kit manufaturer is ? It looks like it will be both a different, and interesting build, I look forward to seeing it progress. Are you planning to use foil for a finish or paint. Also I wouldnt complain if you built the Gloster Meteor either maybe you can do both ??

Dioramator An excelant build !!! Love it, the weathering is spot on to my eye. If I may be so bold I think you should consider submitting it to the reader gallery in FSM. You dont see, at least I havent seen any Aussie built P-51s. Man I love posting finished builds on the front page.

Brett I will tell you, hosting a group build has been a blast for me, I have learned alot and made some friends along the way, and it really isnt that hard a thing to do as I first thought. This one is my first and I have started another already, the Air racer group build. So I would say jump in the water is great ! If there is anything I can do to help you out along the way just let me know.

Neu Front page is updated with your builds so you are all set.

Ok guys heres what happened to me errrr to the P-38 . I decided to use some Model Master Aluminum Plate Buffing Metalizer Lacquer ( having never used it before) to paint some small parts that would have been almost impossiable to foil, namely the tubros and the turbo intakes. So that I did a couple of days ago, and frankly was very happy with the way the paint went on right from the rattle can. Yesterday I felt good enough to do a bit of work on the model so got out my tamiya red brown and smoke paint to finish up the turbos, got them all painted up, and set aside to dry, and procieded to paint the props. A couple hours later I checked the turbos to see if the paint was dry, low and behold true to tamiya style the paint was dry, so I picked up one turbo and got it ready for a wash to weather it a bit. I set the part down to get a bottle of paint and noticed on my thumb was a silver patch of what looked like paint, then looked at the turbo and yup there was a bright patch of silver where it had been a bit dull before. Now i am in a sudden state of confusion at this point as to what happened and what the heck did I do wrong. Then it happens, the light popped on as bright as a 1000 watt bulb. I had forgotten to buff my buffing metalizer !!!!!!!!!!! All that lose powdery stuff is under the paint I just applied ! Now after calming down from my bit of rage I decided to try and buff the exposed parts of the metalizer and then clear coat all of the turbos thinking maybe I could save the paint job. I used a Q-tip and started buffing and discovered the red brown was coming off and the smoke was coming off as I handled the parts ! Aw nuts so I just kept buffing and rubbing paint off. The red Brown paint being on the turbo bodys and the smoke being on the wastegate tubes. Anyway heres what I ended up with after this adventure.

This misadventure turned out pretty well I think and quite by accident I must admit. Althou I still have to figure out what color to paint the inside of the turbo housing as the instructions give me no idea. Maybe a dark grey ? Let me know what you think and if anyone else has run into this problem.

Every modelers has "just-one-of-them-days" every once in a while...

But from my end it's looking great so no harm done. Sometimes things like this even give me interesting new ideas. For instance, i once painted an engine aluminum, decided i didn't like it and coated it with semi gloss black afterwards.

In those days i used enamels ONLY and so drying times are longer. Forgot to wait long enough for the black to dry out and when i handled the part i rubbed off some of the black paint, revealing the aluminum underneath. It made my engine look like a charm in the end, nice and worn. So, moral of the story: if it turns out ok, you can FUBAR all you like

From what i have read about interior colors on p38's i would (myself) think both neutral grey and zinc chromate yellow would be acceptable and plausible for the turbo housings. Most material refers to interior colors of the pit and wheelbays anyways...

Richard

Mid weekend update time...

Like i said, i continued on the gunports (again, never to be seen again after closing it up with paneling...)...

And detail painted the airbrake area's (retouched after taking this pic and final weathering to be done later on)...

Kinda liked the detail on this area so i decided to leave these open.

Afterwards i continued on the (partial) landing gear assembly, leaving off some hatches and deciding to handpaint the main landing gear wheelbays after the NMF airbrushing job. Once this was done i finally could fill up gaps and seams using putty:

After sanding this lot tomorrow (pics are taken before sanding ofcourse), i still need to put putty on the wing edges, attach the already painted and masked canopy section and finalize with some sanding before this bird is ready for the spraying booth (yay...!) Gonna use the revell paints again but this time the airbrush ready enamel variant instead of the acrylic paint i used before.

Also received my AMD decals earlier this week and appearantly i ordered the wrong ones as the markings for McConnels AC are not on them (pic on the website i ordered them from did depict them...) Still need to decide weather to model a different AC or to partially use the Academy decals and the AMD ones...

And latest news to share would be announcing my next build for the NMF group. The revell C47 Berlin airlift kit (wingspan of 24+ inches!):

Experimental "new" thing would be trying/ attempting adding some custom decals on this build; something i have never done before... Hope to be able to make a start on it (and wrapping up the sabre) before i go on a two week holiday to the states to visit friends there early october.

Hope you enjoyed my latest and see you peeps again soon!

Richard

Kermit What can I say your detail work just continues to get better and better, fine work indeed. Its just too bad you have to cover that gun bay, it may be time to add an ordiance figure reloading so you can leave that bay open ? Just a thought ya know. It does look like we will be adding another fine build to the front page soon that has been Kermified

Richard you are right foiling does take quite a bit longer than painting does, I spent around 12 hours on the P-38 knowing it was not going to be an easy job. On this build I did have to pay special attention to panel lines, seems, and grain direction in the foil due to the fact that I foiled this one dull side out and cant hide any mistakes by burnishing it with steel wool. However I did a Revell P-51D shiney side out in around 5 hours total time not too long ago so it does truly depend on the airframe you choose to do. It can be quite tediuos and frustrating at times, but for me it is worth the extra effort in the end. If you should decide to give it a try I will offer you all the help and advise I can give you.

Did you want me to add the C-47 to the roster now ? Also what part of the states will you be visiting ?

Thanks for the compliments Randy, and yes you can betcha i will take you up on your offer if i should decide on foil finishing a model somewhere down the line. I understand a bigger model is more suitable for learning the technique (bomber or 1/32 scale)?

Yes, you can put me down for the skytrain. Might just be stubborn and make a very gentle start on it later today...

I will be visiting friends in Washington state. Can't wait to go as this will be my first peek across the pond and also my first flight EVER. Might as well do it right the first time Everybody keeps asking me if im afraid to fly but i'm very confident i will LOVE it. After the first turbulence i might walk up to the pit and ask for another go

Richard

Same here buddy! NMF is on, future is drying overnight... Then some last paintjobs like the yellow fuselage stripes and wheelwells and its decalling time. Photo's will be coming soon.

Richard

Hello my friends, time for yet another update. Finished all painting and construction at this point and my sabre is ready for decalling once the paint has dried sufficiently, hopefully can make a start somewhere today.

Have some spare time to do it as i had some serious dental work done today so ill be home for a few, giving me time to work on stuff, pain and circomstances permitting

Since my last update ive done heaps of time consuming little stuff and took quite a lot of pics as well but ive narrowed down the selection to show the most important stuff, taking our modeling friends who are still on dial-up into consideration:

After all the major assembly was done i took my sabre into the booth and first gave it a black layer, finishing up with future to protect it and make it glossy at the same time:

After that dried overnight it was time for the NMF layer, again using the revell aluminum paint and yet another coat of future for protection and shine. Yet another night of drying and it was time for the yellow and black fuselage and wing striping:

IMHO this went quite well and looks better than using academy decals this size. Would have probably looked much worse....

Once i retouched, futured and dried those i went on with final painting chores such as the interior green wheelbays, the black nose, gunmetal gunbay panels and little stuff like that...:

Gonna let this dry for a bit longer before i start decalling. After that i will attach delicate things such as the pitot tube and wheelbay covers and we will be nearing the finishline on this lady

Thanks for watching,

Richard

kermit wrote:

I will be visiting friends in Washington state. Can't wait to go as this will be my first peek across the pond and also my first flight EVER. Might as well do it right the first time Everybody keeps asking me if im afraid to fly but i'm very confident i will LOVE it. After the first turbulence i might walk up to the pit and ask for another go Richard

Neu - Thanks mate. Its always good to hear you inspire other peeps to do stuff per your own example

Im aware of the Seatle museum and i will be having an 8 hour stop at seatac. Really gonna try to get a few minutes inthere... Just dont't know what state i will be in after 10 hours non-stop..... Will be arriving at my final destination at around 9pm but it will be like 6 am the next day my own time...

Im really pleased with the decision to do the stripes myself. It takes a bit of work masking it all (30 mins for 2 mins of spraying) but all the hard work pays off in the end i promise. Suggest you use acrylics for them because of the shorter drying time.

Richard

kermit wrote:

Im really pleased with the decision to do the stripes myself. It takes a bit of work masking it all (30 mins for 2 mins of spraying) but all the hard work pays off in the end i promise. Suggest you use acrylics for them because of the shorter drying time. Richard

Kermit Wow Richard you painted those stripes on there ?? I am impressed, truly, they look better than any decal I have seen. Well done my friend. I was hoping you would be coming thru LAX but then I remembered I wouldnt be able to get into the terminal you would fly into. Flying in the giant tube may just ruin you so watch yourself lol. Then you will have to try flying one of the little ones.

I just have to paint the antiglair panels do a bit of aging another clear coat and my build will be finished.

Flying in the giant tube may just ruin you so watch yourself lol. Then you will have to try flying one of the little ones.

Like i said i will be flying a ten hour non stop flight to Seatac and after 8 hours of waiting on to a small, 1 hour flight to Walla Walla. I am supposed to pass mt. Rainier real close so that would promise to be awesome to see close up and personal

The stripes werent that daunting, just thin up your paint enough and spray close up with lowest pressure possible to be able to build up gradually and you'll be ok.

Richard

vetteman42 wrote:

Kermit Wow Richard you painted those stripes on there ?? I am impressed, truly, they look better than any decal I have seen. Well done my friend.

Finally after 4 months I can call this build finished ! I did learn a bunch on this build, nothing and I do mean nothing fit as it should have, right down to the wheels. I think I will be building another one one day and will do a few things a bit differantly. Anyway I weathered it a bit with a final semi gloss clear coat to tone down the shine some and I think that worked out well. Fuel stains were done with raw sienna oil paint and details were brought out a bit with burnt umber. I think next time I will use a dark grey. The exhaust staining was done with tamiya smoke before the final clear coat then toned down with pastels. I think the best addition I made was the vacuformed canopy I used over the kit parts, I can actually see all my detail work in cockpit. So here are some pictures of my lil nightmare build as always comments are welcomed.

Now to decide which pic to put on  the front page.

Randy, let me be the first one who congratulates you on a fine build!. Amazing how that foiling works for a model. I wonder though... the rivets show after foiling or did you have to do them yourself?

The canopy sure looks darn nice, must have been a real pita to mask the framing on it. Was it foil again or paint?

Seriously, i'm impressed with your model because i know personally how crappy the fit is on it. I take my hat off for you, you've earned yerself a beer there buddy!

Richard

And here are my final pics, randy just beat me by mere hours

Decalling took me between 5 and 6 hours total and they are a combination of the AMD and Academy decals. I am especially pleased with the way the tail decals fit like a glove with the help of a bit of set and sol ofcourse. Way better than my mustang.

Weathering was kept to a minimum since i think that the ground crew of the highest scoring Korean war ace were proud of that and wanted to have their top man fly a well maintained jet. Only the exhausts, wheels, wheel wells, undersides and panellines were lightly touched with brown and black pigments.

Just like Randy i am very pleased with the canopy as well. Since the mustang fiasco (forgot the tiny gap aft of the canopy so some paint accumulated inside) i have paid special attention to this particular part of the build. I could comb my hair, or whats left of it using the reflection

[disclaimer mode] Yes, it still needs a layer of semi gloss. I couldn't wait to show off my latest. What you see is the future shine[/disclaimer mode]

And ofcourse the final trademark sepia pic, like i always do:

EDIT: Before i forget... The NMF was again done with revells aluminum paint number 99, this time it was enamel based. For everything else i have mostly used the revell acrylics and one or two enamels by humbrol. Weathering is provided by tamiya (weathering set) and chalk powder. Decals are a combo of AMD's "sabres over korea" and OOB acedemy ones (crappy as hell but i needed them as amd did not provide the little text decals that go on the hatches and panels)

well done to both you guys, the builds look spectacular!

Don't you love that sense of achievement you get when you finally finish a project you have spent the last (4) months working on.

My Mustang has now gone off to my brother in laws as the pride of his showcase, but my wife was so impressed she wants me to build the same one for her, (I told her to make sure she gets the Trumpeter kit next time). I've also told her she will have to wait about 12 months before I will start it, as I would like like to get these (armor) dioramas that I am currently working on, out of the way.

Brett