Thank you everyone for your feedback on my Texan build.

kermit - I lucked out with the Polished Aluminum. My LHS had only ONE bottle of Alclad II left, and it was the 105. Lucky for me, that's the finish the instructions called for. Yes, it is a very shiny finish, especially over the 305 Gloss Black Base. Go for it - build yourself a Texan! The kit is inexpensive and fits together nicely.

vetteman - Yea, I apologize for disappearing like that. I got involved in re-finishing teak on several sailboats and it took much longer than planned - but all the boats look great so it was time well spent. You did a fantastic job on your Texan! That was one specific build I was looking for as I paged through the numerous forum entries. And looky - we got kermit hooked.

gamera - The cowl and rudder where not all that hard to paint and I just happened to have masking tape that was the perfect width. I was careful to use Future between color applications so scratching or lifting would not occur. I'm quite pleased how they turned out, especially considering they were my first attempt at such painting.

The decals went on today. Next I'll put on the engine, cowl, propeller, landing gear, flaps, and wing light covers. Unfortunately, I lost the antenna but have ordered a new one from Revell. I'd like to apply a wash around selected areas. I'll have to read through this group build's posts to see what approaches do and don't work.

Oh thats beautiful foil work Miss Owl That is gonna be one stunning P-51 !

INCREDIBLE, Owl!

as promised, here are update pics of Lambie, the P-51b I am foiling. This is the first time I really concentrated on getting the different hues in the foil. I used the shiny side of the foil, the dull side in some areas, and the shiny side buffed with 0000 steel wool in others.

The foil over the gun ports and exhaust was stained by leaving a scrap of foil in bleach with a penny and fishing weight. (I read about a similar technique in a recent FSM, but since I did not have that issue with me I just winged it). It worked nicely, darkening the foil. I buffed the gun port foil with the steel wool to give it a different color than the exhaust area.

I really like the results!! 

OWL

I have a bunch of foiling done, but I cant show you guys because I left the camera charger and transfer cord in my room....an hour away from my dorms. I do not have a car,and d it will be really odd for my mom to make a special trip all the way to school to give me camera stuff.

OWL

Edit: nevermind, I found the camera stuff in a shoebox....pics shortly! 

Nicefit: She looks fantastic! The NM looks great and I love the cowling. I know how hard it is to get lines that straight and perfect.

Vetteman: looking forward to the Streak Eagle. I assume the name 'Streak' came from being so fast. Then again I think of the old fad of running across your college football field wearing just a smile. Naked guy= NM finish naked plane...

Now I am hearing that old Ray Stevens 'They Call Him The Streak' song in my head.....

Nicefit  glad to see you back been wandering what happened to you and the T-6. Your Texan is looking great. You did make a good choice painting the stripes on as the decal does not sit down very well on the cowling. I know its a lot of extra work but it does pay off in the end result.

Kermit ummm, well,,,, I dunno,,,, leme see here, another T-6 in foil ?  Foil you say ? A second foil build from the green one ?? YOUBETCHA !!!! We will soon have a small flight of Texans, and if we get a couple more we will have us a herd of em ! Your build is listed on the front page my friend.

NiceFit

Hey all - I've been away from the forum (and my build) for quite a while BUT I'm now "back in the booth". I had over 300 forum posts to catch up on. You all do some amazing work. I'm very impressed with the photos and write-ups. Kudos to everyone!

As for me, I've gotten the NMF done on my Revell 1/48 AT-6 Texan. The finish is Alclad II Polished Aluminum (105) with selected areas done in Aluminum (101), both over Gloss Black Base (305). I'm quite pleased with the finish. It is MUCH better than the finish on my P-51D Mustang, so I feel I've progressed. The cowl and rudder are painted instead of decaled. I should be able wrap up this build next week.

Nice finish, well done!

Cheers

Nicefit,

Excellent and smooth finish! Tried to get my mitts on ALC105 but my online store already sold out.... Almost looks like chrome doesn't it? Wonderful job on masking the cowl and tail too. I remember doing that for a P47D i did and it took some work but it looks so much better than decals

Well,... Can't say it is an original and it would be the third same one after Vetteman and Nicefit here but i am really up for another NMF job and i would wanna build my own Texan.....in foil... U ok with that Randy?

Richard

Hey all - I've been away from the forum (and my build) for quite a while BUT I'm now "back in the booth". I had over 300 forum posts to catch up on. You all do some amazing work. I'm very impressed with the photos and write-ups. Kudos to everyone!

As for me, I've gotten the NMF done on my Revell 1/48 AT-6 Texan. The finish is Alclad II Polished Aluminum (105) with selected areas done in Aluminum (101), both over Gloss Black Base (305). I'm quite pleased with the finish. It is MUCH better than the finish on my P-51D Mustang, so I feel I've progressed. The cowl and rudder are painted instead of decaled. I should be able wrap up this build next week.

Sorry I have been AWOL the last couple of days, the flu hit me like a Mack truck, its about done with me now though.

CallSignOwl those pony's are gonna look good parked next to each other, the blue really came out nicely.

Casper I hadnt spotted the ejection seat sitting a bit high so as Gamera said I wouldn't worry about it. Anyway the front page has finally been updated with your finished Starfighter and the other builds, the Thunderstreak and Mirage have been added.

I should be starting the Streak Eagle end of next week finally, I am excited about this build, the NMF is going to be a real challenge I think. as I will be using both foil and paint.

Gamera

 

Still don't worry about it Casper- fantastic build despite one small issue there.

Thanks Gamera, comments like these make all the work worthwhile. Always good to get feedback as well as something nice sitting on the bookshelf!

Cheers

The mail has been kind to me today. Got my Lucky Models order (highly recommended from HK) containing an Eduard 1/48 Mirage 2000 special ed. containing resin, masks, coloured and natural PE with 7 different markings.

Now Vetteman, If I'm not being too greedy could you put this down as my fourth build (the 3rd was the Thunderstreak I posted about the other day) I have a few GBs this year but hopefully can get another 2 in for this metal finish by the end of May! It has a wicked NMF most of the way up the fuselage with a torn metal effect near the intakes.

Cheers

PS I just installed the Photobucket App to iPhoto and uploaded to a new album in a tenth of the time if I had of done it via my browser

I got in a furtive spray session (garage is full of boxes because of the move and I'm really not allowed to paint inside) and applied a bit of blue to the D.  Afterwards, I began applying a bit of foil to the B. Here they are right now:

With the new restrictions in place about painting (even brush painting...) I will probably be doing the D in foil too if it goes well with the B mustang.

OWL

DUH!

Now that you point it out the high seat is clearly obvious in the 4th and 6th photos. I think I was looking at all the work inside the cockpit and the great NM finish. I guess you could cheat by pulling out the seat and sanding a mm or two off the bottom. 

Still don't worry about it Casper- fantastic build despite one small issue there.

Nice cockpits, Owl and Redraider!

Owl and Gamera, it sure looks obvious to me! May be the angle of the photos I took. When I was constructing the True details cockpit set the instruction called for removing the entire floor of the office!!? I thought it was odd so I didn't do it. It was not until the pit was glued in that I realised what they meant. The ejector seat needs to actually sit below the floor line to fit under the canopy. I had always built this bird with the intention of leaving it open and I agonised whether to ditch this seat and built the Verlinden spare I had which would have been way more work and not as nice a seat as I already had. So the top of the seat actually sits level with the back canopy, not slightly under as it should really be.

Vetteman same paint was used as the Sabre, Mr. Colour Metalizer Aluminum. I got better at the dremeling but occasionally slipped or made a nick which I had to sand down of hide. I got better in the end and found a very light, right to left motion on the slowest setting buffed it the right way. I did finish with a gloss coat and attempted to weather again with light oils but the same thing happened as to the Sabre but I was prepared and able to rescue the small test portion I used.

I do like the details alot and am very happy I put in the extra time and $ to make it nicely detailed.

BTW I have ordered the Tamiya 1/48 F-84 Thunderstreak so put me down for my third in the NMF GB :)

Cheers

Casper that is most definitely a battle you have won hands down Love the finish on that big Starfighter, it looks convincingly used, Very very nice work on that NMF, and all the added detail really makes the model stand out.   What paint did you use again ?

PM inbound to ya Casper

CallSignOwl yup thats the kit I was talking about, I would love to hear your thoughts on them both when you are finished with them. I have the Revell and Tamiya B kits on the shelf but have no idea when I can build them both to compare them. Of course I haven't built a Tamiya P-51 kit yet, but had a blast with the Revell.

Owl the office looks great , very nice work on the belts and IP. I like the way the sidewalls worked out on the Revell kit too. I see the Tamiya is getting close to seeing some paint. Oh man that finger of yours still looks sore, right on the tip like that takes some time to stop pounding I know.

Redraider oh yes that extra drop of future on those IP dials really made them stand out as they should. The pit is looking great, the True Details parts made it look much better for sure. Keep up the good work.

I need to build sumpthin shiney !!!!!!!!!!!

I got the cockpit done last week and I guess I forgot to post pics here.  Right now I'm working on the seams and then filling and sanding the panel lines on the wings too.  Depending on when the Ultracast spinner gets here I may be able to shoot the yellow sometime this week

Owl: great lookin' cockpits. I may have to pick up the Revell kit, sounds like a really nice kit.

Casper: She looks beautiful to me! I love the opened gun bay and the extra detail you put in there. I'm not much of an expert on the F-104 so I have no idea what the mistake might be. She looks great to me.

ummmm, I dont see anything wrong casper. probably one you say it it will jump out. And it might not even be that obvious either...just to you because you built the plane!

and here is the beginning shots of the B mustang. I think I said previously, but the sidewall detail is a separate piece that you glue to the fuselage. The cockpit assembled quickly however. I added seatbelts from masking tape and handpainted the Instrument panel.

also there is a stamp on one of the elevators, so watch out for that!

and here is where the Tamiya D mustang is at: The wings more or less clicked into place. There are some very nice fits on this build. The prob blades are separate though, so that took a bit of fiddling to get right.

OWL

Ok, I'm gonna call this bird done! Spent all day mucking about with the fiddly bits and as they say on Iron Chef, "This official metal finish battle is OVER!"

All comments welcome and see who can be the first to notice the obvious 'mistake'

Cheers

Ok so after drying, dremeling and decals (have I whinged about how much I hate decals??!!) I fit all the doo-dads (almost all) like landing gear etc. and give the bird a gloss-clear coat. This has dulled the gleam a little but it should come up nice after it drys. Also hides the imperfections caused by the dremel. A tricky process but I hope it adds realism to the model representing dents and scratches etc.

This is one big bird! The biggest thing I ever built.

Cheers

MY revell B is number 5256 and has recessed panel lines. IT looks very nice. I've just started on the cockpit on that one. It comes with separate sidewall detail that you glue to the fuselage halves....I've never seen that before.

Right now, the tamiya kit is assembling quite nicely, there is not much sanding needed at all. The top of the nose is separate, but attaches beautifully!! I was shocked at the crisp tiny seam. It was no deeper than the rest of the panel lines. The wings also fit very well. I guess IM so ticked by this fit because I'm used  to building a lot of older toolings.I  will Have pics in teh morning!

I still dont have Alcad, so I am still using MM paints here.

I love painting cockpits!

OWL

Firesmacker yes we have another Jug in progress ! You do have a good start goin there

CallSignOwl cross overs are just fine with me and the group rules, so the front page has been updated with your builds. I havent built any of the Tamiya Mustangs but I have done the Revell Mustangs, both B and D models. Fell in love with the newly tooled B, kit 5652, is that the one you are building ? If so I will be watching closely to see how it compares to the Tamiya kit, would like to hear your thoughts on them too. Cant wait to see a foiled B either. Are you going to use alclad on the D model ? Now for the fun stuff, your pictures look like they are of the Tamiya D model, and I want to tell you that is the very BEST pit I have seen come from the OWL factory !

I do dry brush, it really makes the detail pop and helps to blend colors. I thought I did enough on the pit, but the flash probably washed it out a bit. The picture was taken in the dining room and the lighting is funky there....  I have just started doing the washes though. I cant remember if I did a wash on the sidewalls before I closed up the pit.

OWL

Pits and engines are the most fun part i agree

Hey, have you tried the drybrushing techniques yet? really makes the sidewall detail stand out. A wash for the deeper parts, white drybrush and maybe a bit of gunmetal afterwards makes the boxes and ribs stand out great. Just a thought...

Richard

as always, construction starts in the cockpit. Here is the cockpit of the Tamiya D. I have to say, I actually prefer the detail in Monograms D-mustang. It seemed a bit more complete...The seat was better in Monograms too, leaving me to use a Truedetail's p-51 seat. Which is very nicely detailed, btw. IT was a blast to paint!  The IP came with a decal which settled nicely over the instrument faces. A thin acrylic wash brought out details.

OWL

p.s. Did I mention I love painting Cockpits? They are my favorite part of the build.

alright Vetteman, here I am!  I have two mustangs, both in 1/48:  A P-51D from Tamiya and Revells P-51B.  The D will be painted NMF, but I am trying foil on the B. The B will be a crossover with the Mighty 8th GB, is that permissible?   Also, both planes will be "blue noses" but the D will be a fictitious plane I am making as a gift.

I am building them side by side, so I hope I don't get the pieces mixed up!

OWL

Nice job, Casper. I like how the color varies here and there. Just like the real thing.

Got to my P-47 yesterday. I'm using unpainted PE seat belts so I'm waiting until tomorrow for the paint to dry then I can get the 'pit all done. You can't really tell from this photo but I did pick out some detail. When I take pics of the finished office they should show up better.

Thanks for looking. As always, any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Regards,

Jeff

Casper that Starfighter has my mouth waterin.

The front page has been updated with your build sir.