Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

SupressionFire your figures look great !!! I really like Freddie's eyes very well done. Cant wait to read how you did that. Are these figures going into your P-51 dio ? Oh and congrads on your Glue Cozy tip , fun to have a tip in print isnt it.

PM inbound SupressionFire.

Kermit WOW!!!!!!!!!!! really ??? you are gonna finally try a foil NMF ?? I cant wait to see that kermified foil finish. Now I guess I will have to try a painted NMF huh Gotta admit I am getting really excited about round II.

Julez72 oh but I cant wait to see your finished build, I am truely liking ot a lot ! Glad you decided against the flat finish too, scared me with that. The only place I have used a flat finish on a NMF build was over the exhaust stains to make them flat because the gloss or future over them made it look funny, gloss stains dont work for me.

Looking good Julez!!!!!! Beautiful work on the finish and decals!!!

Suppression.. Thanks for the comments, this build is turning out to be one of those rare ones where everything goes right.....

And yeah it's a Australian, 82nd Squadron based in Japan after the war, part of the occupation force i guess...The decals are from Red Roo Models.com, a company based here in OZ....not bad decals, the carrier film covers the entire sheet which was new to me but they responded well to setting solution and even though you can't see it in the pic they are sitting snug in the panel lines.....

Julez72,

Excellent finish on the Mustang! Are the markings from a Australian squadron? Very cool Also what decal set did you use? For some reason Calgary, Alberta Canada seems to be the mecca of fine AM decals. Mike Grant Decals + Leading Edge Decals are based there.

Suppression..Great work on the figures i'll have to do a couple myself this year, just to add a sense of scale to my models.....

Vetteman. No it's not too late, i decided not to flat clear or wash to accent panel lines, i think the panel lines stand out enough the way it is....I'll probably give it another coat of future as it's final finish, gotta keep reminding myself that i'm modeling an aircraft that is fully restored and in mint condition....

WIP......Pic...

Suppressionfire,

LOVE the scratchwork there buddy; makes me think of the two wooden ship builds i have shelved gathering dust. Great work m8

Wish that it was may already so i can announce new stuff to kermify and make shiny Randy, i already solemnly promise you to attempt a foil finish in the next year

Richard

vetteman42,

Thanks buddy, not asking for extensions just a partial build pass for NMF II. Anyhow its still just under a month off so here is a side tracked two figure display im working on for a contest saturday. I know a bit less than silver for NMF but both figures and the bright yellow spinner cap are going to be included with the Mustang display when complete. No room for the hood! Scratch built the saw horses today and playing around with final positioning, tiny gears ect. are watch parts that won't be included in Mustang display. Just this mock-up for the weekend. Second photo is 'Freddie' with eyes! First time I attempted eyes, Anyhow its another fool-proof new technique I cooked up today so I may save it for FSM's 'Reader's tips'

~BTW~ 'Glue koozie' in 'Reader's tips'  FSM May issue is me LOL...No im not a glue koozie but my tip is

SupressionFire I for one, and I think most here, want to see your completed build, way too much fine work not to see your P-51 finished.  With that said I am quite sure we can work something out. So not to worry.

Julez72 I am more than likely a bit late on this but I wouldn't recommend using a flat coat on NMF as it seems to create a grainy finish. I have used semi gloss with very good results.

Thunderbolt congratulations on your PhD submission, I know you have worked quite hard on it the past couple months or so. That, however, brings a question to mind, a very touchy one, but I gotta ask it anyway.

Does this mean we will be having to call you " Dr Thunderbolt379" ? Welcome back we been missin you around here.

back Mike!!!! Hope it all went well!!

Hi Randy and all,

After a frantic month in which my PhD was finally submitted (can we say "stress?") I'm back on the bench and starting to clear some work that's been hanging around since February. I fully intend to get back to the F-84 and finish it, and I'm thinking of fielding a 1:48 ProModeler F-86D for the second go round.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks guys for the kind words, i really do appreciate it

Vetteman, yeah i did put the black underneath the duraluminun, and then dosed it with future again...

I'm still standing in a land i'm unsure of regarding NMF, should i accent the panel lines with a wash, should i put down a light coat of flat clear to blend it all in or leave it shiny, maybe just flat clear the anti glare and wheels...............But still i'm happy with my first effort so far....

Supression, looking forward too seeing more WIP pics, i'm following your build quite closely, you seem to have infinite patience.....

NMF GBII, sign me up....not sure yet maybe another P-51, i like those pacific ones of the USAF with the black stripes on the wings....I'd like to do Hartmans Sabre as well, it would look good on a display base next to his 109G......

vetteman42, would a 49% complete P-51 qualify for NMF II? Just wondering as I have a contest next weekend and want to get one more Ultracast figure done along with bases for him and two others. Hate to rush work as  I have a lot into the Mustang. Somehow one month won't be enough i'm afraid As you may have noticed I never scooped up the badge... it wasn't meant to be...now NMF II and a year to 'git R' done' is more like it! Sign me up! If not my next NMF is planned to be a post war Spitfire that flew around Canada for PR visits. It will be OOB with guns removed.

Well a accurate spinner cap it is not! Dang I should of posted the question before tackling it! Doh Like a few other modifications it does look cool. WIP's on friday I promise!

kermit Well in all the confusion I figured it may be a April fools joke. Sorted now and NMF II is more realistic of a deadline for my current build.

Julez72 I would say those gun bay panels and ailerons came out great ! You must tell us how you did it, did you use gloss black underneath then over coat with the aluminum ? Well done

SupressionFire WOW!!!!!! your engine cowl looks fantastic. I love the chipped paint around the fasteners and panel lines. I have to comment on your fasteners on the spinner, they look great, but I do believe they are inaccurate. I know there was a bolt on the tip of the spinner but am not sure of how it was attached. Anyway heres is a close up picture of "The Gun Fighter's" spinner. looks to be an inspection panel near the base. between the prop blades.

Hope this helps you out.

Ok guys I guess the competent host complement is blown ( thanks for the complement Kermit ) I did mention a while back that the NMFII would start on April 2nd. Dont know what the  I was thinking. Anyway I will start round 2 on May 2nd and the build will go for a year as the last one did. So my apologies to all and to Kermit for the confusion. To answer Richards question I will be starting a new thread for round II a couple of weeks before the start date. Also any ideas for group badges are very welcomed so help me out guys.

As for my build for the new group I am planning to do a NMF P-61 that was flown in the south pacific. Just cant stay away from those old Monogram kits ya know. More particulars on that later , but I will be blaming Hans von Hammer for this one.

But...but...but....

I am thinking that NMFII will more than likely start on April 2nd and run another year. I figured if I started it on April 1st well it might just jynx the group LOL. So let me know what you guys think of a rerun and the start date.

Randyyyyyyyy! Im seriously confused now....LOL

Please accept my sincere apologies if i misunderstood a thing or two here

Richard

Randy wrote on page 1: This will be a 1 year long build starting May 1 2009 and ending May 1 2010. So build 1 or 2 or more. And feel free to take a badge when you sign up, gotta give it back if you don't finish though.

kermit : At the last day of this NMF GB's term...

Unless my calender is missing a month, or kermit is playing a April fool's joke I believe there is still a month left to 'Git R' done' Anyhow more exciting WIP's soon of the completed hood and prop spinner cap...hopefully that will be motivation to complete by May 1st!

At the last day of this NMF GB's term i just wanted to drop by and say to everyone who participated in the group that i had the greatest time with you guys this year and am looking forward to doing it all again for a next term with new and interesting planes being built, tips and tricks being shared and having a blast with it in general Three cheers to Randy for being an outstanding and very competent host!

Randy, will you start another thread for the next GB or just keep this one going? Just wondering...

Thanks to all of you again.

Richard

GREAT WORK GUYS!!!!

Hate to double reply but the forum is slow this early in the day!

Besides I have new motivation to build once the work bench is cleared! IE kitchen table LOL. I found the build was in a rut and had to complete.. something? So I chose the hood which will be displayed off the model to feature the engine. Used aluminum foil for...the aluminum finish. Dry sanded with 1500 grit to flatten any  surface imperfections, also added a 'scuffed + cold worked' look. Most of the fasteners were re-worked with a tool I made, the olive drab went on a bit thick so I touched the details with the tool which 'chipped' them to stand out, also dry sanded it with 1500 grit.. The yellow is Krylon enamel 'Sunbeam' sprayed OOC (out of can) over Testor's flat white. Intend to 'chip' the fasteners in the yellow and wash with Tamiya 'smoke' arcylic to further accent the detail. The panel over the exaust will be darkened with a thicker wash of this, decals are on and all will be sealed with Testor's 'semi-gloss' clear OOC.

The spinner cap ready for yellow paint. Base again of Testor's flat white OOC followed by Krylon 'Sunbeam' Took a educated guess that it needed fasteners as well, added two on either side of the prop openings for a total of 8. Is this accurate? Didn't think it was glued on, intend to scratch build the housing around the propeller.

Julez72, Great progress on the P-51. Using two different types of silver paint really set off the gun bay panels. Guess your next step is decals and then the 'fiddly bits' IE landing gear and other various breakable details. Couldn't help but notice the Lego tractor parked in front, it gives the plane a sense of scale. 1/48 I am guessing?

WIP Pics....

Julez72 Its 1/32 scale and thanks for your complement

maxfax The Trumpeter P51-D kit. It comes with clear sprue fret to allow for 'see through' effect. Fuselage interior details as well, most would add to it but a nice start with all major basic items.

Thanks fells for the interest, the kits 'rubber tires' need replacing and i'm waiting for a lower limit credit card to arrive to order a set of resin ones from Squadron mail order. The kit offerings look like front tractor tires, all examples I have seen have diamond treads, the rear one is worse so AM is my decision on that.

Supression, man that is a nice office, love the real wood floor......Is that 32nd scale???

WIP pics from me soon, I just finished adding the Duraluminun and it came out pretty good...

Suppressionfire- WoW

I love it! I wish I could create such detail, but my lack of patience gets the best of me- once I start a kit, I want to finish is ASAP to see the end result.

Which kit are you making?

Rob

Suppression that looks great!!!! Can't wait for more!!!

Supression Fire yeah I remember your pit now ! Your throttle quadrant really impressed me. I was planning  to try doing the same thing on my next 51 build which will be very soon. I did find the white on the IP a bit distracting, but, now that I see it "IN" the model I love it, as it really makes the IP pop out at you and shows all the nice detail, much more so than the black with silver dry brushing does. And hey isn't artistic license a huge part of our hobby ?

vetteman42

Back on page ??? of this GB are some pictures of just the cockpit. I had painted the gauges with a white outline before reading they were not... I think it looks cool and admit they are not accurate. The throttle body on the right hand side was modified to look like Massimo Barbieri's in the November 2004 issue of FSM. Once again I posted pictures somewhere in this GB? His is a 1/15 scratch built masterpiece but a P-51 B so mine may not be 100% accurate as well. The right hand side was changed up to look like a actual picture found in the magazine 'WWII Fighters' winter 2007 issue. That is where the idea for a wood floor came from. The handle to close the bubble turns freely and the hose wrapped in wire was scratch built.

No after market parts, just some scratch built modifications to OOB. The gun sight will be modified and installed when the canopy is closer to being finished. Here are a few shots of the throttle body so you don't have to look through 100's of pages to find them LOL

I go for cool and better than OOB more so than 100% accurate. Unique over exact. 'Build em' all and let the contest judges sort em' out!'... well sort of as my builds are painfully slow

vetteman42

Sorry I haven't been around in a couple of days guys, but as you know life does sometimes get in the way of fun ya know.

We all know what you mean Vetteman, I was gone for 2 years........I'ts good to be building again...

this being my first NMF i'm not confident enough with the allclad to try tinting so i think i'll undercoat black and just see what happens...If there isn't enough contrast between panels for my liking i'll probably put on a light coat of flat clear over the duraluminun and leave the rest in future...

Jules....

Sorry I haven't been around in a couple of days guys, but as you know life does sometimes get in the way of fun ya know.

Julez72

I am liking what I am seeing in your build. That is a very smooth finish you have on your 51. Wish I could help you out with your panel color question but I have never painted a NMF before. I have heard of some that mix in a very small amount of blue or black paint to change the tint on metal finishes but I cant say I have heard of anyone doing that with Alclad II.

SupressionFire

You have done some beautiful work there bringing back the lost detail, it really comes out nicely under the foil. I really really like your cockpit, is it OOB or AM ? Had to ask ya know.

Looks great...I especially like the pit....

Agg! My computer crashed monday, That being said here are a few WIP's from this weeks progress...

Adding lost rivet detail on the belly. The grey is Tamiya filler sanded smooth.

Foil added to protect the work, at this point I was eager to get some on to protect the rivets.

Little square stub had to be removed for the main flaps to fit correctly and be dropped

Here is the left side with stub and the right fitting better, the flaps needed modification as well...

Worked on detailing the landing gear bays also made a tool out of a large needle to replace lost fasteners that look like large screws with a slot in center, those WIP's ill show another day