War In The Pacific Group Build 2009 - 2010

Thanks fellas!  For the coating, I first sprayed a coat of Tamiya gloss black, followed by a coat of Alclad II white aluminum.  Then, I mixed a blue/green shade of Tamiya clears and sprayed that lightly over the top.  Aotake is a clear lacquer coating sprayed over natural aluminum.  When new, it has a definate blue shade.  Over time, the blue turns green due to exposure to sun, salt, etc.  I have seen photos ranging from a definate blue on pieces that have been shielded from the elements, to an almost apple green on pieces that have been exposed.  I added a bit more green this time as the aircraft I am depicting has been around for a couple of years.

I do have some photos of Aotake, but no scanner.   There are some excellent articles about it here.

Frank, isn't J-aircraft the best.

I know what you mean about a variety of shades, as I've seen late war Hayabusa's with a mid-green colour in the flap bays.

I always Gunze's Aotake for a straight finish, see the pic below.

But your technique looks great for faded or worn Ao.

And that's my 4000th post! It's only taken me 6 years.

Karl

Hi Karl, congratulations with your 4000th post! It's only 1000 times more as I.

(Oh shoot, this is my fifth...)

Thanks Karl!  I have one bottle of Gunze Aotake,w hich I save for specialoccasions as it is impossible to get here in the States!  I agree, awesome stuff.  Love that Hayabusa too, could we see a photo from the top?

KJ200 wrote:

And that's my 4000th post! It's only taken me 6 years. Karl

GEEZ you talk a lot!

Daywalker wrote:

KJ200 wrote: And that's my 4000th post! It's only taken me 6 years. Karl GEEZ you talk a lot!

Huh... Frank... that sounds a little funny comin' from you!!! 

Congradulations Karl!!!  That's awesome!

KJ200 wrote:

Stu, great job on that Avenger interior.

Thanks!  I feel I should clarify though, the pics are of the Jill's cockpit, not the Avenger's.

So fi you guys needed any further inspiration here you go:

My favorite picture from the trip.  This is the oil leaking out of the Arizona.  Very chilling to see:

Arizona from Big Mo (USS Missouri)

Big Mo's Big Guns

A Zero from the Pacific Aviation Museum

#1 Reason not to be a submariner in WWII:  Sleeping on live ordanance (Pic From inside USS Bowfin)

Luftwoller wrote:

Stu, the Avenger pit is looking spot on. Ive saved the pics as i have Acc Mins in my stash. Looking forward to seeing it coming together.

Build it!  IMHO you will not find a finer 1/48 kit of any aircraft better than the AM Avenger.  I've got several on the shelf and several more in the stash.  It is highly detailed, fits like a glove and looks as though it could fly off your shelf when finished.  For this build, though, I am using Trumpeter's big 1/32 Avenger

Hey Stu...Jill's innards look great..especially for that scale!!!! great job!!!

...boy i would never m ake it in a sub...with my snoring.....sleeping over a live fish....I would probably set it off!!!

Carlos

Daywalker wrote:

KJ200 wrote: And that's my 4000th post! It's only taken me 6 years. Karl GEEZ you talk a lot!

Not as much as some!

Frank, here are some pics of the rest of the Hayabusa.

This is the old Fine Molds kit built for the IJN Rare GB.

Thanks for the congrats guys, it certainly doesn't seem like 6 years.

Karl

Frank th Corsair and Zeke are looking great as usual!!!! Love the aotake!!

Karl CONGRATULATIONS on 4k!!!! The Oscar looks stunning btw!!!!

Thanks Stu for sharing those pics!!! Hard to believe that the Arizona is still leaking oil!!! Battleship tears I believe.

Guys, thanks for the comments on the Hayabusa.

There's a really easy way to achieve the worn mottled effect.

I just Futured the NMF, and left to harden fully for a few days.

I then just roughly applied the IJA green in as random a pattern as possible.

Let that set up for about 30 minutes, then went over it with a well wetted 1200 grade micromesh cloth.

The Hinomaru & anti-glare panels were painted, as were the yellow ID bands so that they could br chipped and worn in the same manner.

Simple as that.

Karl

time for an update not had much time on it but made a bit of progress not much is glued down yet im building and painting sections then il fit the whole section to the hull

force z

hood and pow

hood and repulse

arty farty pics

Thank guys for the comments on the jug! she has been giveing me fits.

Stu great job on that interior!

frank the atoke looks great! How did I miss the corsair, but it great

Karl that oscar is stunning

sorry if I missed anyone. I just got back from the model show and got some very nice goodies

Jason

Karl, the Hyabusa looks absolutely perfect. You nailed the paint finish and the distressign of the mottled green looks spot on. Very nice mate.

...Guy

Karl...very very nice.....great effect...

Well Ive started the Special Hobby Midway Buffalo....oh man.....this one is going to be a headache....no locating pins.....extra parts.....lots of flash to clean up and the parts are not numbered on the sprue so you have to always refer back to the parts breakdown.....having some fit issues too....so far all I got to show is lots of primed parts and an engine..oh and a deformed wing tip....all four sides!! Took me all of last week to clean up and make the engine look halfway decent....lots of flash and poor detail....the Elves got their work cut out for them this time!!

Carlos

Karl- That Oscar has got the be the finest model I have seen of one. The green overspray is perfect, absolutely perfect.

eatthis- Your ships are coming very well indeed!

I managed to finsih spraying the dark slate gray on the Corsair.  A lot of masking for sure!  Also masked off the fabric areas and faded each color individually.  Took a bit of work, but I am pleased with the results.  Upon removing the masks, I found subtle "stripes" for lack of a better word on the underside.  Not sure what it is, but hopefully the weathering will hide it.

I also sprayed the Zero with it's base color Ame-iro.  Looking at one of the paint chips I have of this color, I found that Tamiya XF-20 Medium Gray was a very close match for a faded version of it.  Here she is so far...

Looking good there Frank...that bent wing thingie is really coming along......now the Zero...when are you going to start painting her.......take a look at the cowling fit over the nose ...I had a helluva time lining up the gun ports and at the same time keeping the bottom of the cowling tight...dryfit it and check in case you need to adjust before you get too along with that grey. Also the panel lines on the fuselage towards the tail are really shallow..you start to loose them as the coats go on...you may want to rescribe as you go.

As for my Buffalo......oh man..I decided to cut out the aielerons to pose them in the down position....kind of spruce up the thing and after I cut them out I noticed the top wing half notch and the bottom wing half notch dont line up!! oh well I think I can get around this....now the wings...man....thick leading edges...Ive been grinding more than a stripper who's desperate for money....they still dont sit too well...I see some filler in their future...I will post some pics later tonight after the glue dries and the clamps come off...this is bringing back memeories of my HE-177 only a tenth its size..

Carlos

Great work on the engine Carlos. The wiring has really set the thing off.

Frankster, the paint is coming along great. Love the camo on the bentwinged thing. Was that done with sausages of blutack? You know what would really set it off...Some seatbelts from a 109..Im sure youve got some, if not i could send you a few.

...Guy

Carlos, the engine is looking good.

Like the wiring.

Eathis, great work on Repulse, looking forward to seeing that one finished.

Are you going to put it in a dio?

Frank, really liking the FAA camo.

Good call on the fading on the fabric areas.

Did you Future the underside? I know when I've masked over Future before I get faint marks left by the masking tape, however they disappear under the next coat of Future.

Thanks all for the comments on the Hayabusa, high praise indeed coming from you guys.

Karl 

Eathis the ship is coming along very nicely

Frank the corsiar' camo is very nice

Jason

Carlos- Thanks for the head's up on the Zero issues.  I definately see what you mean about those panel lines...

On the cowl, I test fitted a few times and the alignment looked good to me.  Sure do hope I am not in for a surprise down the road!  

carsanab wrote:

...Ive been grinding more than a stripper who's desperate for money....

Now THAT is funny!   Engine looks very good indeed, and I am certain you will get this one straightened out.

Guy- Yep, little sausages was the way to go!  This is my third attempt at painting a Corsair in proper FAA colors.   It has eluded me for years, but I think I finally have it this time.  As for those 109 seatbelts, AAACCCKKK!   I saw a guy recently who actually put 262 seatbelts in a Corsair.  What the heck was he thinking? LOL...

Karl- No Future on her yet.  Just the Tamiya paint.  I let the paint cure for a couple of weeks as I was working on other projects, so I really do not know what the deal is.  I am planning on a lot of weathering, so even if that doesn't completely cover it- it should at least blend it in.   I'll let you know how it goes!

Frank,

Were you using Tamiya tape?  Are the lines where two pieces of tape overlapped?  I had the same thing happen to me when I unmasked my Spit and Hurricane.  I thought it might have been because I left it on for the better part of a year, but hearing you had the same problem got me to thinking.  It might be that when we burnished the second piece of tape, the first moved slightly and the adhesive on the first piece acted as an abrasive and slightly polished that area, giving it a slight sheen.  Just a thought.  Since I didn't clearcoat afterwards I don't know if it will go away.

Heres a couple of shots of what I'm dealing with..

this is one of those that the gaps are the least of my worries..

Carlos

Carlos that doesn't look plesant at all! I fthe gap is one the easier fixes than YIKEs.

Jason

Im going to have to tell the elves to take the plane over to Earl Sheib's get some body work done beforehand.....nothing a little "Bondo" wont fix...thats wha kept my first car running....

c