Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

kermit wrote:

You gotta love a P47 anytime you see one

gotta agree with Kermit thats a nice one Blkhwkmatt.

Kermit back. Hope you had a great time too ! I see the gremlins kept their mitts off your C47 while you were gone.

Thought I would let you guys know I dont know if I can compete with Fermis's fine build but the F-104C is back on the bench today. This one is gonna be slow going I think lots of work to be done.

Been working on my two models... The Meteor's cockpit has been going well, though I may have overdone the metal weathering a bit. I also added the weights to the front. I'm also doing the tailpiece of the the VF-11, which will have the same scheme as the tailfins.

Neu your Meteors cockpit is lookin sweet ! I just cant believe the detail some of you guys get into a 1/72 scale build. The IP looks really really good too, but ya gotta tell me what you made the seatbelts out of. You say you may have over done the weathering, it looks good to my eyes. 

Ah its just good old, PE... This is actually a good model by MPM; it has a lot of nice PE and resin, and the build is going smoothly without much problems. Its actually been one of the more pleasant days of modeling I've had in awhile.



The tailplane with the masking: I reused the same tape from tailfins.


Tailplane finished painting and the meteor fuselage glued together. The Tailplane had a bit of leakage but thats easily fixable.

Testfit on the VF-11. The lack of black paint is because I sanded down the centre due to excessive pitting.

Cockpit and control panel; all PE.

Testfit of the Meteor... Its a cool looking bird.

Neu They are both coming along nicely, I still cant believe the detail in Meteor cockpit even if it is PE. Its all so small, these big fingers could never do what you are doing with it. The VF-11 looks to be a major pain but is lookin good under your hand. Cant wait to see more !

Fermis your P-51D build the Galloping Ghost race #77 is on the front page shortly.

Guys I have my F-104 on the bench and have been building the cockpit for it as the Testers kit has none. Like I have said I am a slow builder so will have some pictures in a day or two. Loads of scratch building to do on this one.

Also I have a sad announcement to make. It seems one of our builders Pavlvs has been stricken and cant build at this time, I am hoping this will change so I wish to keep his build on the front page. Here is what he posted in the What If BG. I hope I am not out of line but all the prayers he can get will help.

Hi guys,

I have been derelict in my duties to this forum and I ask forgiveness. I have been attacked recently by Multiple Sclerosis that has taken the use of my legs and is now robbing my hands of function. I am undergoing treatment to reverse the loss of motor function but I have no idea what the results will be. Building models is becoming impossible due to the loss so I must ask you all to keep up this GB. I will continue with awe to follow your builds but can offer no more building of my own. Please keep up the good work and if you have a prayer or two to spare, I would br grateful if you could send them my way. (That is God's way on my behalf) In the mean time, even typing this post has taken about an hour to get it right so I will be watching but replying may be too hard. I am bowing out of the FSM forum so please keep building and keep inspiring with your awesome work. God Bless you all.

Fr. Pavlvs

 

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Guys sorry about my typo, our fellow builder who was stricken with MS is Pavlvs not me. Cant believe I forgot to mention his name. Sorry Pavlvs.

 Sad news about Pavlvs, I'm not a prayer but will send some hope his way.

 I had to go back through some of these pics here...WOW!!!! Great stuff! 86s hold a special place in my heart(right next to 51s)

 Anyway, I have a crossover entry(as mentioned by our great host, also hosting the Racer GB)

 It is 48th Hasigawa P-51, ever so slightly modified as the 1948 version of "Galloping Ghost" racer #77. The only mods are, deletion of the seat armor/headrest and filling & sanding down the gunports and all lights, except the beacon on the tail.

 The wings are white(rattlecan), the rudder and gearbay grey(rattlecan), anti-glare black(rattlecan), and the fuse will be airbrushed alluminum. Decals come from RED PEGASUS.

 This is my first go with a hasi, stang. It's pretty good, but I think the Tami beats it just cause the flaps can be dropped. The hasi has more interior detail and a more detailed gearbay.

 This one will be done in a day or so.

 

     FERMIS

Fermis I gotta figure out how you build so fast, I have been working on the scratch built ejection seat for my F-104 for 2 days now geeze. Its not perfect but close enough I guess. So hurry up Fermis I love posting finished builds on the front page.

Guys any hints on painting the burner can for this build ? I have never done one before. Base coat of silver then jet exhaust ?

Ofcourse i send my best out to Pavlvs. Noone deserves to be struck down by such a thing as MS. I wish you a full recovery and the ability to model again.

 Fermis,

From the looks of it (and the instruction sheet) your hasi is the exact same model as the checkertail i built for the group. Loved every second i worked on it and hope you will too. Cant wait to drewl on the pics

Vetteman,

For my last build (the F86) i used steel paint instead of aluminum (slightly darker tone), white drybrush and black wash to get the result i was looking for on the exhaust (that includes the engine).

Thinking about it i could have also used something of a red/ orange-ish wash (maybe dilluted clear orange paint) to get that burn marked steel look.... Might experiment on that on a future jet build

My C47 is progressing slowly but im getting there... Will shoot some pics soon but time is against me these last days. I beg for your patience gentlemen

Richard

 Hey V-man, just went back to the front page to check em all out, to get caught up. There is one missing. F-86d ,pg 15

 Oh, and I don't really build fast, I just cut corners and ixnay the unnessecary!!!

 For the burnercan itself, I sprayed flat black and drybrushed some silver then did a wash of raw umber. On the fuse, it's just different shades of "silver".

Fermis Sorry I missed that one, now now I will make it all better heres a tissue , will get it on the front page today. Thanks for letting me know Fermis.  

Guys check the front page make sure I haven't missed anyone or made other mistakes.

Fermis Your Saber is on the front page, again I am sorry I missed it.

Ok guys I feel I really got something done on the F104 although its not really much. This is a Testers kit with no detail at all just basically a shell. I have been working on the ejection seat for a few days now and cant resist showing off my labors. Actually it was more a labor of thought and tinkering than building. So heres what I started out with for a cockpit.

I had added tape to the seat for cushions and some plasticard to the seat back as a spacer for the ejection rails.

Here is what I have now.

Its far from perfect, I know the buckles are on the big side but I couldnt make them any smaller. I used plasticard, masking tape and beading wire. Now I gotta figure out what to do about the IP and side panels.

 

 Looks good Vman. If you ever get ahold of Hasi's 104(also boxed by Revell for 1/2 the cost!!!) you'll kick yourself for ever messin with the testors kit!!! I guess it'll be that much more rewarding when you kick this ones a$$!!!

 Now, for entry #3 for this GB. (also a crossover from the Air Racer GB)

Hasigawas 1/48 P-51d with Red Pegasas decals, "Galloping Ghost" in it's 1948 markings. It has since been highly modified and is still in the game.

 I used rattlecans for all but the NMF, which is my usual MM Metalizer, followed by a coat of metalizer sealer, decals, and another coat of sealer. I did a light wash on the panels of the NMF and just the control surfaces for the wings and tail. A bit of pastel powder finished off the exaust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        FERMIS

Vetteman, Impressive scratchwork Randy!. Always interesting to see what people can do with a bid of card, tape and wire. Couldn't do it myself buddy. Well done!

Fermis, Thats darn fast building there! And the result hasn't suffered one bit from it. Very nice racer and a flawless build. I noticed you decided not to paint the pit? At least i believe i still see some grey inthere... could be very wrong in wich case i apologize. Impressive model sir

Ok, i promised pics of my Gooneybird and here they are. I have finished constructionwork and masked all clearparts and items that will not be receiving a NMF. You will notice there is a big big gap where the cargo doors are supposed to be. I decided to fill up the hole with masking tape, spray the doors separate from the model and attach them later in opened up state. Closing everything up on the F86 made me decide on this right from the start

Especially the attaching of the wings left me with pretty big gaps to fill up so i hope it wont show when i spray it in NMF. Decided to use a gloss black base first so any leftover seams should show soon enough... Ah well, all in all the mold was pretty impressive considering it is stamped 1978...

Seeya next time boys

Richard

Fermis wow another nicely done shiney build for the front page ! Very well done finish too, I like the way the washes worked for you. I too have been playing with water color washes and really like using them. I am sure I would kick my tail big time if I got hold of a Hasi 104 Fermis, but these older less detailed troubled kits teach me a bunch, so when like my last build I get hold of a Tamiya kit things just go so smooth and easy. Besides I am a sick person and like the challange. Thanks for your complement on my ejection seat, I know it aint much but I had to show it off.

Kermit that C-47 must be driving you nuts ! Man it has a lot of putty on it but its coming along nicely. This one is gonna be sweet with the NMF on it, hurry up man I cant wait to see it. Thanks for you coments on my scratch building, to be honest I really got a lot of satisfaction from building that silly little seat. This scratch building opens a whole new dimenition to modeling for me. Richard I didnt think I could do it either, ya just gotta dive in and go for it. Just draw on your ship building skills and and git-r-done

Hmmmm, i must say i actually liked the build sofar, especially considering the fact that the mold is pretty aged. There is something about a NMF C47 that just causes me to keep smiling and giving it my best shot. I just hope i can deliver...

On top of that there is an extra reason why i want this model done as good as i can. I have told Randy why and in time i will let everybody in on the big mystery... It involves custom decals and sofar i have scr*wed up every attempt with using a wrong sealing agent. Just ordered a professional solution from microscale industries and hope that solves that little annoyance for me...

Richard

Richard that model is looking pretty good, I too like the DC-3 Frame, as I've indicated before, so to see your build is a bit inspiring for me to do one too. I've got the same feeling about my Meteor, particularly because I've done quite a bit of research on it looking up photos and reading its history. I spent last night scribing a panel line around the nose of the engine nacelles, only to look up reference photos to see there were no such lines (as you can see below the nacelles seem almost flush) Thus a whole night of work had to be puttied over and sanded down. Fine by me because the lines didn't look to straight anyway. :p

Thank you Neu. There's always this select few planes that always look good to you, no matter what finish. The Dc3 or C47, in it's military form has always been one of them for me.

Now, to save this group build from the deep dark abyss called page 2.....

For the LA5 i have been building for the racer group, also moderated by our always entertaining and pleasant host Vetteman i have attempted to use airbrush ready revell paints. This turned out quite unsatisfactory so for this build i have experimented with an alternative i have used before: alkyd based spraycans... From what ive learned about it, this is a sort of laquer. Don't really care about that as long as it works...

To make this the most shiny model ive built sofar (a goal i have set for myself from the start of this build) i have adapted the gloss black base method using these spraycans. Sofar i am extremely pleased with the outcome. See for yourself gentlemen:

Is that shiny and smooth as a babies rear end or what?

Yes, unfortunately there is a visible seam running down the spine of this lady but i am kinda ok with that considering the black turned out so well and the fact that this is a very old mold. I am even happy about the fact that it isnt as bad as it was before.

See ya next time!

Richard

Kermit that is one shiny black finish you have on that C-47, I havent messed with acrylic lacquer but will most deffiantly keep it in the memory banks for when I try alcald paints for a build, or could be Talon paints. Cant wait to see how this one turns out and I am really anxious to see the markings you will be making for it.

That Douglas is looking mighty fine Richard. Whether your undercoat enamel or a lacquer doesn't matter...the black undermine is humbrol enamel and it works just fine.

Progress continues on the Meteor and the VF-11... Meteor has been more final sanding and shaping. I finally got the canopy on the meteor, not without adding a HUD from a piece of vacuform. The VF-11's cockpit is almost done, but I trimmed the vacuform a bit off and I guess I'll need to fill the gap with white/wood glue before I can continue with it. I'll also clean up the pilot a bit too because its not as crisp as I'd like it to be.

Cool looking planes you have there Neu! Cant wait to see them finished.

Wanted to show you guys how the NMF turned out. Im so pleased...

In this last pic you can actually see the reflection of my hand on the wing.

Next thing is to paint engine cowlings, anti glare patches and wing edges. And im happy to announce the fact that i received white and clear decal paper along with a bottle of liquid decal film from microscale. Cant wait to work with it!

Richard

Neu your builds are coming along nicely. I am really impressed with the figure in the VF-11, my hat goes of to anyone who can paint figures that small.

Kermit WOW thats a bright finish !!! Glad I have my welding glasses on looking at it. Had to get them after seeing the finished Spitfiretron in the air racer group. The finish came out perfectly ! Frankly I was worried about the seam on the spine showing up big time, but low and behold I cant see it in the pictures. Did you use the Revell paint for the NMF or something else, I cant remember.

Sorry I havent been around in a few days guys been feelin lousy. But I am back again and ready to model on . The 104 has been waitin on some work.

 Neu . can only agree to what randy said. especially looking forward to what you do with the Gloster

Vette Thanks for the compliment. I used alkyd based spraypaint again for the NMF. Turned out quite ok but found out that it is a bit fragile...after airbrushing the cowlings with ordinary enamels the masking tape (tamiya tape, so it cant be that) tore off some of the metal... so i sprayed it over again and am gonna leave it for awhile...

And modeling is a hobby my friend, its supposed to be fun so if youre not feeling like it, dont do it. Im sure your starfighter will be stunning!

Richard

wow nice jobs all .

Thanks smoking guns and Richard... that DC-3 looks amazing. Recently I was thinking of building one as a christmas present for a friend who works at an airport, with a civilian all metal finish. The quality and sheen of your paintjob is so good it looks exactly like the photos of the ones that plied their trade in the 1930s and 40s. You're drawing me into building a DC3 one post at a time.

So I've moved a bit ahead with the Meteor, while the VF-11 seems to be stalled because of cockpit issues. I did the undercoat on the Meteor and got the overcoat done... then decaled 'er up. I ran into some trouble when I tried to fix the tail and I pulled off and tore the tail decal... so I tried painting a new national flag on, as you will see. It went well, until I realized I did the colours backwards and did the French flag instead :p. Its all good as I don't really care. Nobody will notice anyway... unless if you're from down under; then I apologize for my ineptitude.




You can see the tail slightly off, which required reworking.

The masking contraption I made and reused.

And the offending tail




And finally, her drying after her final wash before the top coat.

Neu Wow they are getting close to finished, you have been busy I can see. Only problem I can see in the pictures on the VF-11 is the canopy fit and I know you can take care of that in short order, unless I am missing something. The Meteor is really looking good, I like your masking jig too a good idea that is. I can see I will be putting 2 more on the front page soon.

Kermit I gotta know hows the C-47 coming along ??? I really want to see it.

I started work on the F-104 again this morning got some bulkheads glued in and will start the wheelwells a bit later today. I will get some pictures up in a day or two.

 

Randy,

The C47 is being built on, i assure you. After my initial painting session i waited for 24 hours before starting on the engine cowlings. It turned out to be a disaster as the NMF paint sort of melted and became soft under my fingers as i handled it while painting the engine cowlings red gloss.... Painting with Chrome alkyd spraycans looked good initially but came with its own set of disadvantages or so i learned It will work but needs alot of time to cure.

So i decided to go ahead with the engines, dealing with the NMF later.

BAD mistake.... The red came off along with the NMF layer as i masked the subsequent yellow striping along the red....

So i roughly repainted the red colour and left it for an entire week. This morning i gave it another coat of red and will leave it for another few days before i will attempt the yellow stripes again, dealing with the NMF layer once this is turning out ok

Richard

Unfortunate to hear about your problems Richard, I hope it turns out for you.

Well I'm done my Gloster Meteor. I'm actually really happy with how it turned out... the only thing that really didn't go to plan was the rockets which involved putting PE in a perfect cruciform. Its not going to happen. I'm putting the VF-11 off to the side for awhile, its canopy problem is ticking me off.








Fixed that smuge on the side of the engine there.

Kermit I have no doubt in the world you will beat that C-47 paint job into submission, I am sorry to hear about the setback though. I guess I will just have to talk you into using foil huh I have been really really looking forward to seeing this one finished.

-Neu- Thats a sweet looking Gloster Meteor, very well done. I also like your weathering effect, not over done but makes the surface detail stand out nicely. It is posted on the front page. I have always found the Meteor an interesting aircraft because the wings look like they have been clipped, kind of short and stubby. They must have had very high landing and takeoff speeds for their day. Can you tell me what paint you used so I can post that info on the front page, I think everyone likes to be able to compare finishes too, I know I do. I understand you needing a break from the VF-11 as I have that trouble sometimes too, but I hope you dont have to make us wait long to see it finished.