Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

Looks good so far Rob. I have been thinking about adding one of those to my stash to bone up on my NMF skills and the F-86 is a perfect choice for this GB. A fighter that saw lots of action and all of them were NMF. How do you like the kit so far? Anything to look out for and do you recomend it?

                                                                                             Soulcrusher

Smokinguns3 Thanks for the pictures, you have a very good start of a great subject for the group. I have always liked the looks of the F-86 it just looks fast and threating.

Sherman1111 your builds are on the leading page and thanks for joining us.

soulcrusher wrote:

Looks good so far Rob. I have been thinking about adding one of those to my stash to bone up on my NMF skills and the F-86 is a perfect choice for this GB. A fighter that saw lots of action and all of them were NMF. How do you like the kit so far? Anything to look out for and do you recomend it?                                                                                              Soulcrusher

Thanks Soulcrusher.....So far, so good, I guess.  The gear went together without a problem, except for the parts I lost.  Thanks to Revell and their great service, They sent me new parts without question at no cost.  I'm not assembling per the instructions due to a few things I've read about poor engine fit to lower wing, so I'm going to attach the engines to the lower wing first, the attach the upper and lower sections together.  The fuselage is glued together and I added a bunch of weight in the nose and some tubing so I can remove the nose pitot tube if needed.

I did replace the existing exhaust cans with Aires and the Elevons with Fisher Model and Pattern.

Hopefully I can get more time on this baby.

Cheers

Thanks for the feedback on the kit Rob. I definetly have to add one of these to the stash and build one. It is such a cool looking plane and it there is so much history that goes with it.

Randy here is a pic of the exact plane I am building. I ordered up my NMF paints today from some fellow calling himself Hawkeye Hobbies. I really wanted to try out the Talon acrylics and this is the perfect time.

                                                                               Soulcrusher 

Aaronw Not to worry the build is a year long. I guess this screwball California weather has you guys hopping, have had some interesting thunder storms here too.

Lancair Ohhhhh I hope you get time to work also I cant wait to see more pictures from your build.

Soulcrusher That is one nice looking plane ! Cant blame you one bit for changing your build, I have added that one to my wish list. I am planning on getting some Talon paint to to try out and maybe 1 or 2 jars of powder from that Hawkeye guy. I am still waiting to see his finished build too

vetteman42 wrote:

Lancair Ohhhhh I hope you get time to work also I cant wait to see more pictures from your build.

Vetteman42 - Not a matter of time...Need to find the ambition.  Heath and losing my job have knocked the wind out of me.  I'll get there, just not as fast as I thought I would.

Cheers

Lancair IV wrote:

vetteman42 wrote: Lancair Ohhhhh I hope you get time to work also I cant wait to see more pictures from your build.   Vetteman42 - Not a matter of time...Need to find the ambition.  Heath and losing my job have knocked the wind out of me.  I'll get there, just not as fast as I thought I would.   Cheers

Lancair Sorry to hear you got hit with both barrels at once. Hang in there buddy and get your health back thats #1 ya know.

Lancair IV wrote:

vetteman42 wrote: Lancair Ohhhhh I hope you get time to work also I cant wait to see more pictures from your build.   Vetteman42 - Not a matter of time...Need to find the ambition.  Heath and losing my job have knocked the wind out of me.  I'll get there, just not as fast as I thought I would.   Cheers

I know how you feel Rob. I have a bad case of Lyme disease that has destroyed my stomach which in turn weakened my imune system. Now it is attaking my nervous system and is making my hands a bit shaky. Huge amounts of time and money spent at the doctors and on medication. Making a little headway but still miserable alot of the time. The shop I worked at went out of buisness last week. I'm lucky at least in that respect because another shop owner had been after me to work for him for about a year now so a week off and I'm back to work agian tomorrow. Still I am not modeling as much as I use to because of feeling crappy so much of the time.

                                                                                  Soulcrusher

soulcrusher wrote:

Lancair IV wrote:  vetteman42 wrote: Lancair Ohhhhh I hope you get time to work also I cant wait to see more pictures from your build.   Vetteman42 - Not a matter of time...Need to find the ambition.  Heath and losing my job have knocked the wind out of me.  I'll get there, just not as fast as I thought I would.   Cheers I know how you feel Rob. I have a bad case of Lyme disease that has destroyed my stomach which in turn weakened my imune system. Now it is attaking my nervous system and is making my hands a bit shaky. Huge amounts of time and money spent at the doctors and on medication. Making a little headway but still miserable alot of the time. The shop I worked at went out of buisness last week. I'm lucky at least in that respect because another shop owner had been after me to work for him for about a year now so a week off and I'm back to work agian tomorrow. Still I am not modeling as much as I use to because of feeling crappy so much of the time.                                                                                   Soulcrusher

Lyme Disease isn't fun.....We had a weather guy on channel 7 here in Detroit that was diagnosed with that and he never returned to work.  I hope everything works out for you.

 Cheers 

I think if I was'nt so pig headed and stubborn the Lyme disease would have killed me by now. I just refuse to give in and do the best I can although I tend to find more restfull hobbies these days. I am lucky that I have a doctor right here in my home town that specialises in treating it. Lots of dietary suppliments eating the right foods and sometimes an IV to pump the nutrient right into my blood because my stomach works so poorly. I'm still at work everyday, replacing clutches and building engines doing brakes jobs and whatever else comes along. Modeling has become my favorite hobby now and it really relaxes me.

                                                                                   Soulcrusher

Sorry to hear about your situation soulcrusher.

I had a back injury about 6 years ago, that left me (almost) unable to walk for 3 years, so I sat and built models (for 3 years straight... no work). I believe that it is the only thing that kept my sanity intact. I have since had an operation, and now my back is pretty good. on the bright side my modeling skills have improved expedentially, and I still try to get in a few hours of building every evening.

I'm hoping to come out of this in the end feeling much better but unfortunatly some of the damage done by the Lyme Diseaase can be permanent. Especially the nerve damage but my doctor always keeps my spirits up and never stops trying to improve my life. As long as I can keep modeling I'll be alright.

                                                                                            Soulcrusher

Soulcrusher I dont know what to say buddy, that has to be hard on ya. Sounds like you like what you do for a living and you are so lucky you can still work. I know I loved what I did for a living and still I miss going to work, I was a machinist, aerospace and defence work mostly. I had to stop working 5 years ago due to 2 heart attacks, at the young age of 48, of course I didnt listen to the Docs till after the second one and 7 angieoplasties later. Its been a bit over a year now that I came back to modeling and I have to say it does keep my mind and hands busy a very good thing too.

Dioramator You must have had a rough time too and I am very happy you recovered from your back problem.

Now I must bore you all with some WIP pictures I have to give credit to this forum and all who post, share ideas, and take the time to comment, and help another modeler out. This is the best cockpit I have done to date. I did use some True Detail PE.

Heres the IP sorry about the fuzzy picture but is the best I could do with my camera. I did use PE for the insterment panel and think for me it came out very well.

A couple of the office, I used PE for the throttle quadrant and the electrical boxes, however I hated it for the seatbelts so used masking tape. I have been inspiared by chukw's build and tried painting the wire detail and using a light gull grey dry brush to give it a dusty look.

I didnt like the way the kit yoke looked at all so I drilled out the left side of it and cleaned it up with a knife and pin file.

And a couple with the cockpit installed, I need to add the gunsight crystal and do a little touch up on the paint.

As always comments are welcomed encouraged

Hi all,

My Squadron order came in today but the Express Masks for the F-84 canopy are on back-order! Wahhh! Never mind, they'll arrive eventually.

In the meantime, and in the absence of any hard research info on the 84 as yet, does anyone have a clue what the interior green shade would have been? The same as the one used in WWII, and still used on Mustangs and Corsairs in Korea? Tamiya's mixing instructions for it are very different from those for FS 34141...

cheers,

Mike/TB379

TB 379 I used the same interion green as in my P-51B, and looking at prime portal for ref pics it looks close enough to me.  Hope that helps.

Here are some WIP shots of my F-86, this is the result of one night at the bench.  Not to terribly complicated of a kit so far. I added seatbelts from masking tape and used future to simulate the glass on the Instrument Panel.  I am waiting on my Bare metal Foil to arrive before I can finish this one.  In the mean time I'll go back over all the seams and ensure that I have a very smooth finish.

Here is also a shot of the box for the second build:

Vetteman - I think that I told you this was a Mig 19, turns out that it is a Mig 17. Oops!

Matt

Here is my first submission for the group build.

Trumpeter 1/72 Su-15 TM Flagon-F

Nice little kit . I used Alclad 2 paints and Tamiya x-1 for primer, just a quick little build

The next build will be harder, Amodel tu-128

Thanks for looking

OK here is # 2 for the build Amodel Tu-128 Fiddler

as with all amodel kits you get 1/2 lb of flash on the parts, but it should be a fun build

builds are lookin good!

Can anyone suggest a non-solvent based filler to fill the gaps between the wings and fuselage?

Randy thats got to be tought two heart attacks at your age. I feel for you buddy. At least you P-38 is looking good so far. Are you going to make her shiny or weathered alluminum?

Matt looking foward to seeing the F-86 in foil. It looks like that kit required some filler in alot of the seems.

I received my paints from Hawkeye Hobbies today. Great service they arrived very quickly. I actually started on the  Ha-112 tonight. Just some basic stuff like removing the wings and fuselage from the sprues and cleaning them up. I also opened up all of the holes for the undewing rockets and wing fences. Going to start on the cockpit tomorrow. Just the basics. I really want to concentrate on the finish of this model and keep the rest of the build OOB. I can't wait to try out the new paints. I have not build to many NMF planes so I am excited about learning.

                                                                                        Soulcrusher

Smokinguns3 Thanks This kit is turning out to be a bit of a bear lots of fit issues and I think I will have to add lead to the nose seems it will be a tail sitter. Its coming along slow but sure.

Thunderbolt379 Hurry up cant wait to see some WIP from you.

Blkhwkmatt No problem I will change the front page for ya. You have a very nice start going there, but I do have to comment thats only one evenings work ??? You are FAST and do nice clean work too. Maybe I just have to stop thinking about what I am doing and get the work done huh.

Sherman1111 That is a cool looking Flagon, I really like the finish and the markings. Wish we could have seen WIP pictures of it. I am looking forward to seeing WIP pics of your Fiddler, looks like you have some work ahead of you on that kit.

Dioramator Wish I could help you out but I have only used Mr Surfacer or Squadron puddy thinned with Testors Lacquer Thinner

Soulcrusher Great ! You recieved your Talon paints now work can start I take it. Nice to hear that Hawkeye guy is a fast shipper, I am still waiting to see his finished pictures of his build I will be waiting to hear and see how they work out for you. I am planning on using the dull side of the foil, hopefully it will look like it saw service, I have already built two shiney show planes. The tough part of it all for me was having to stop working and stop flying, they were 2 things I really enjoied doing. I can however still ride the motorcycle once in a while, cant go very far only 50 miles or so but still feels good to get out there.

Thanks for that vetteman42. I didn't want to use the solvent filler in case it marred the surface of the plastic, as well as having to sand off rivets and detail. A friend once showed me a tub of waterbased plastic model filler... clean up with a wet Q-tip, I'll try to get hold of the name of it and post it here on the forum.

My P-51 has currently moved out of rotation (but not for long), My other WIP is a diorama I am building for the Model Expo here in Adelaide, I'm panicing a little as I would like to get it finished in time for this years show (if not, there is allways next year)... however I am really looking forward to starting the foiling, as I now have all the materials I need, but time is the factor.
So much to do, so much enthusiasm, and just not enough time to do it all. I will have to manufacture some more spare time.

As this is my first go at foiling, I have pulled out an old model bike fairing to have a first attempt at, I figure if I can experiment/ practice on the complex curves of the fairing, the big flat panels of the plane should be a piece of cake.

Now just getting off topic for a minute, what type of bike do you ride?
I have 2 passions in life, Model building and Motorcycling, currently have 3 road bikes, Ducati 996, Ducati Paso 906, and a Kwaka GPZ 900R.

Brett 

Brett right now I have a Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe. I started riding when I was 8 years old so there arent very many I havent ridden at one time or another. Ducati is one of those that I havent had the chance to ride, however they do look like a very nice ride, love the sound of them too. I have only known one guy that didnt like his so to me that says alot for the bike. I see you like the lets go fast bikes we call them crotch rockets here.  Feel free to PM me if you want to talk bikes

Its a good Idea you have to practice with the foil some before you tackle the P-51, I finished one a couple of months ago and It was a bit of a challange. I did find I got much better results putting the foil on a panel at a time. I had the worst trouble with the wingroot, I did figure out a trick and will be more than happy to share it with you if you like, will have to figure out Photoshop I think.

Matt and Sherman -- great work, guys! That Sabre is coming along very nicely (I have this one in my stash so am watching with interest), and the Tu-128 has always been a favorite piece of hardware. I've never bought Amodel yet, so working through the 'limited-run' issues will be most interesting.

I had a look at Prime Portal and the gear bays of the F-84C seemed to be bright yellow! I'm thinking maybe zinc chromate...? I don't want to get too bogged down with research, the object after all is to get to the NMF, so I'll wait for the Sq. Sig. book and see what it has to say, then jump into the project.

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

dioramator wrote:

builds are lookin good! Can anyone suggest a non-solvent based filler to fill the gaps between the wings and fuselage?

i thought it was apoxiesculpt so i went to their website and it says you can clean it up with either their solvent or water. i hope this helps cause i am really lookin forward to seeing your stuff

I found the filler I was talking about, It's called "Micro fill, ultra light filler" It goes on as a paste, and doesn't shrink when drying. when dry it is soft enough to sand back with your finger. It is recomended as a balsa filler, so I expect it could still be used on plastic, as long as no movement occurs (and would be great under a layer of foil).
http://www.hobbytools.com.au/prod70.htm

I have also found a similar product called 'Model Lite' "Use only where a strong joint is not required. Bonds wood, foam, fibreglass."
http://www.deluxematerials.co.uk/pages/fillerproducts.htm

Unfortunately the Australian supplier is currently out of stock

Well,

Got the foil in the mail yesterday, promptly spent 3 hours at the bench yesterday so I should be able to get a pic or two of the progress.  I will say this, the Bare Metal Foil is sweet!!!  It is going to make finishing the kit take longer though. 

Matt

thats flippin sweet! let me know how it works out. if its good ill pick me up some and try it out.