Hey Boyz 'n gal

Back from the USA i had a few moments today to get up to speed with everything that has happened since my absence...

Special cheers go out to Doogs and Randy. The pit of that jug looks just right to me and will only improve with some careful weathering techniques applied. A definate showstopper pit!

And Randy,.... I have to say once more that your progress on the Harvard is absolutely stunning. These talon paints must be really pleasing for you to use and look at, certainly considering the fact that alot of paint brands would have kicked your hiney with such a mishap. One more vote for me to find me some of that paint myself although i have been nothing but amazed by the ease of use and shinyness of the alclad i recently started tinkering with

Just now i have recommenced work on the P38, dealing with a massive jetlag at the same time. The pit is now joined to the lower wing part and i have just finished basic construction of the left main gear wheel well... Hope to post some WIP pics soon but first and foremost i am gathering intel (and strenghth) to do my 48 hour build for the weekend madness gb comin up this weekend.

Richard

Richard

Scorpiomikey your "Bling Skyhawk" may not fit in here too well, however I hope you will show us pictures of her when finished. I think its really a cool build. Thanks for the story behind it and sharing it with us.

Julez72 hey come on man one can never have enough 51's aint no such a thing as too many ya know. However if you should decide to try Talon on the 29 I would suggest that you play with it like I did  on some bits and pieces and some scrap plasticard. But if you feel the need to do another P-51 it certainly would not ruin my day by any means.

DoogsATX I have been waiting for this build, good start on the Jug. May be a bit off topic here but the Yak and La5 are looking sweet my man.

I have been looking at my build and thinking about using the powder, I have messed with it a bit and like the way it works. But I think I like the look of the T-6 without the powder, more like a flyer than a show plane type of thing I guess. The difference between the guy who drives his hot rod to the car show verses the guy who trailers his to the show sorta thing.

I use 2 airbrushes one for a larger spray pattern, but it will do fine work also, that would be a Wren model B, got this one many moons ago when I was a kid of 16 years. The other one is a double action, the widest pattern I have gotten out of that one is 1/4 inch. Its the Deluxe Airbrush kit from Harbor Freight for 14 bucks, its the one I used for the Talon paints.

Casper I have to admit I have not used Alclad so I don't know weather Talon is to use than Alclad or not. I have used lacquers in the past and never had it act as forgiving as the Talon did. And frankly I don't want to spray lacquers in the mancave due to health reasons. The only other pianted NMF finish I have used is MM Metalizer and I hated that stuff but some swear by it. DoogsATX build two Wildcats together and painted one with Alclad and the other with Talon.

Well my build is just about ready to call finished, got the decals on and she's on the gear. Only things left are the final clear coat for the decals and putting on the flaps and a scratch built more modern antenna, didn't like the mast one that came with the kit on this one. So with any luck I will have finished pictures Thursday.

As always plenty of action going on in here

Gamera, vey nice looking P-38 you have there, very cool...I have the academy one here half built, it got hangered after a paint mishap which requires a total paintstrip...I'll get it done oneday

Mikey, Ahh that scooter, i've seen that one before..excellent choice mate, very cool

Randy, love your build mate, i feel strangely attracted to the Texans lines and want one on my shelfYour gonna have to stop saying how good talon is mate because your seriously making me want to try it out which means i'd have to do yet another Mustang before the B-29 to test it out.....

Doogs, As usual buddy great work, looking forward to seeing some more from your end...I'm anxious to see how you deal with the raised panel lines

vetteman - what airbrush are you using? I've found that Talon won't spray well for me at anything less than half-throttle. That's through two different Iwatas (0.3mm and 0.35mm nozzles). 

Also, are you going to polish that Texan up? Just used polishing powders and the dremel for the first time on the La-5 yesterday. Had some bleed-under along the masking line (can't win with that plane!), but the polish+Dremel is pretty awesome.

Meanwhile, the Jug progresses. Performed some wing surgery today.

I wasn't happy with the kit blast tubes:

So I cut them off, drilled out the holes, and installed some barrel stops:

Then stole some tubes from one of the Tamiya Razorbacks in the stash:

It's rigged up so I can drop them in after the painting's complete.

I also don't believe I've shown it here - but here's the cockpit pre-oil wash. The one-piece tub was a PITA when it came to detailing, but I'm mostly happy with it. Most impressive, I think, is that the entire thing's OOB, save for the Tamiya tape belts and one Waldron buckle (to replace one sacrificed to the concrete monster). Monogram's PE stuff is actually decently solid. I was most impressed with the throttle quadrant and the way it actually looks pretty close to the real deal.

Tonight I'll be closing up the fuselage and maybe - just maybe - starting on the Revellogram P-38.

I had thought of using the Alclad paints but Vetteman seems to be heartily endorsing the Talon paints. As I haven't started the model yet and the aircraft colours are a ways off I have a bit of time to work out my options.

Welcome back to the hobby.

WOW...a F-104G in 32 scale. That's one I have to watch. What do you plan on using for the NMF?

Well yeah Kermit thats normal for up there in the far north But it aint down here in sunny southern California. I mean on Friday it was a balmy 97 degrees here, I wore shorts and on Saturday it topped out at 67 degrees. Geeze. So I figured.....................

Hey Richard you scored on the Trumpy cant wait for that big beast. Should take you at least 2 weeks to finish it

Guys I couldnt wait any longer and didnt get any time on the bench today so the T6 still isnt finished but I wanted to share my painting fubar.

As anyone who has used Talon knows ya turn the air pressure down to around 15psi and just barely crack the needle and mist the paint on. I used 5 coats to get the finish I wanted. At coat number three I must have suffered from a bad case, a very bad case of brain fade. While shooting the left side of the fuse just below the cockpit I did the unthinkable, I opened the needle on my airbrush all the way. I ended up with a run about an inch long and big enough it looked like one could surf on the thing. Now I know that the AT-6 is not a fast aircraft at all, but mine almost set a world speed record with a supersonic flight into the nearest wall. After the air in the mancave finished turning blue, a very deep blue by the way, I decided to finish the rest of the paint job, then sand the run out and respray the site of the calamity, so I went ahead and sprayed the last 2 coats. I set the model down to dry and came back about 45 minutes later to check out my handy work on the right side at least. Now this story does have a happy ending, are ya ready for it ? I turned the model to look at the mishap and low and behold the run was gone, that's right it was gone. I couldn't believe my eyes !  Wait am I looking at the right side ? I know the run was there on the left. Here take a look at the pictures.

I wish I had a picture of the run itself, it was just below the step for the front hole. So I can say with conviction that I couldn't be more pleased with the Talon paints, never have I used a more forgiving paint.

I also used the full strength hardware store tan masking tape cut into 1/4 inch strips to mask the antiglare panel, wanted to see how tough this paint is. As you can see I had no lifting problem at all, nor did I have any chipping on the canopy frames when that masking was removed like I have always had with other paints. This stuff seems to bite into the plastic very well.

Thanks Soulcrusher for talking me into trying Talon paints.

you are here in the States ?? Hummmm that must be why the weather here has been a bit strange.

Hmmmm........ Grey skies.....tormenting rainstorms......irritated people..... No, can't say its different from usual.

Really looking forward to a talon painted AT6! I am sure it would look every bit as good as i expect.

Oh, and now that im here.... I was browsing internet hobbystores yesterday and found one i have bought from before in the netherlands that has a huge warehouse sale with everything being 50% (!!) off. So i endulged myself and purchased trumpeters F4F-3 Wildcat (Early)!. So that means 1/32th scale yellow wing fun for me in the future....i'm so excited!

Richard

Lol thanks guys.

Story behind the "bling bling skyhawk".

It was built in 1967 for the Australian Navy as a TA-4G.

In the mid 80's (1987?) After being purchased from the RAN by the RNZAF It was upgraded to a TA-4K and repainted to commemorate the RNZAF 50th Anniversary.

Heres what she was repainted as.

It was effectively removed from service for about 2 months while it flew around air shows and did a recruiting run for the air force.

Theres a whole heap of info about it here.

http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/RNZAF_50th_Anniv_Skyhawk.html

Gamera the P-38 is looking fantastic, that a beautiful finish so far, and the B-29 parts ?? Wow I am chomping at the bit to see them both come together

Scorpiomikey nuthin in the rules says the NMF has to be aluminum I find the idea of your build intreging to say the least, can you give us some more info on your build ? Hope you have a great and relaxing vacation.

Kermit you are here in the States ?? Hummmm that must be why the weather here has been a bit strange. Seriously I hope all is well and you came for fun.

Guys I gotta tell ya I LOVE TALON paint !! I made a major fubar on the paint job and the Talon was very forgiving and bailed me out. The T-6 came very close to flying into the closest wall at a high rate of speed. I will explain more tomorrow when I post some WIP pictures. Anyway all the masking is off and fiddly parts are ready to go on along with decals. I hope to get her finished in the next couple of days.

Wow, been offline for a few days and look how much fun everybody had! I love all i have seen just now!

Just a little update from your green furry friend... I had to unexpectedly fly into the USA a couple of days ago and expect to be back on the 9th... So y'all know whats happenin[;)

Richard

Mike: What can I say? I love the bling bling Skyhawk!

Scott: Ahh Casper is cool! My sister has a Boston Terrier not much bigger than a chihuahua. She's the perfect guard dog since you know someone is at door when she runs and hides!

The F-104 in 1/32 is going to be really impressive, looking forward to seeing her come together.

BTW: Headed south on vacation/holiday to see the USS Alabama and then out to the US Navy Aviation Museum in sunny Pensacola, Florida. See you guys and gals in two weeks!

Thanks Gamera for the commenst and yes the avatar, that's one of my dogs (Casper the chihuahua) being an idiot.

An update to my build, I just learnt that my Eduard exterior set is now on it's way and I also added the Verlinden 1/32 set to see what extras I amy be able to add to the cockpit but mostly for the resin cannon.  I now should be able to make the office from parts of the True details cockpit, Eduard interior photo etch and Verlinden resin set.

Nice work everyone. i really love seeing NMF birds done well.

Ive got another project on the go which is a metal finish, but not really NMF lol.

just thought id share since its kinda the right stream.

Doogs: She's the 1/48th Hasegawa kit. The aircraft is from this Aeromaster sheet:

http://www.modelingmadness.com/scotts/decals/aero/am48631.htm

She's the middle aircraft. I thought the red bands and the small nude noseart made her the most interesting P-38 I'd seen.

Gamera - that P-38 doesn't happen to be Nellie Ann, does it? At least I think that's the name. Got an aftermarket decal sheet for my upcoming build, and the one I'm tackling has the same red tips and boom bands.

Also is that 48 or 72? Hard to get a sense from the pics.

Scott: Welcome to the GB. Nice looking work and awesome avatar.

Vetteman: Looks pretty darn cool so far.

Julez: Guess I should get some work done on my 'little' B-29 as I fall more and more behind!

Mostly happy with the wings, nacelles, and tail so far. I'll have to mask them and overspray a few parts in slightly different shades so she's not so bland. The leading edge on the wing and part of the tail fin are black so I masked them off to leave the black undercoat on them. The fuselage is still in limbo. I sprayed it the other day and it had a bad case of the fuzzy-wuzzies. I'll have to sand the krap out, wash and repaint.

And the P-38 I started way back before this GB is slowly inching along. I need to go back, mask and clean up the red areas and the antiglare panels. She's not in the GB but I'll post these here just for the #$@% of it.

I have a WIP !!!! Aint that sumpthin ?

Anyway as I said got the yellow on it yesterday and a clear coat of future last night. I used Tamiya Lemon Yellow but thought it was way too bright so I darkened it a bit by mixing in a few drops of Tamiya red. It worked out very well to my eye but in the pictures I took you really cant see it. I am planning to mask it today and hopefully shoot the NMF this afternoon. Once I get the Talon on I will take some pictures in natural light and hopefully the yellow red will show up better.

Julez72 - Can't wait to see that B-29!!

Julez72 wow a B-29 in 1/48 will be ummm quite large indeed, you plan on using it when not on display as a surf board ? The front page has been corrected with the correct scale Julez, I had is listed as a 1/72

Ok I finally got back to the bench and have some yellow paint on the AT-6, wings of course and interior green on the canopy frame. I will try and get a few pictures up this evening when that paint has cured. I am hoping to get it masked and shoot the Talon NMF before the weekend. Geeze I am a slow builder I need lessons from Julez and Kermit me thinks.

vetteman42

 Hey BTW I didn't catch the scale of your build, 1/32 maybe ?? <HUGE EVIL GRIN>

Ha ha it's actually 1/16 lol, imagine the size of that truthfully it's the Monogram 1/48 kit....

Thanks for the input regarding the raised panel lines...Owl, i've seen the silver pencil used to good effect on a P-47 before, i may have to experiment a little...

Doogs, will be paying close attention to your Jug build and how you tackle the raised lines

Scott. to the GB, looking forward to seeing that big Starfighter come together...Nice 262 build BTW, very cool

Julez72 I can understand waiting till after the first of the year to start the 29, that thing is gonna take a bunch of special attention I am sure. Hey BTW I didn't catch the scale of your build, 1/32 maybe ?? <HUGE EVIL GRIN>

DoogsATX  I will be keeping an eye on your P-47 and how you handle the raised panel lines. I will have to take a peek at the build on Hawkeyes site, thanks for letting us know about it. My F-15 build has raised panel lines too.

Casper the Chihuahua back to the hobby, the FSM Forum, and, to our marry group build. Glad to have you join us and cant wait to see that big Starfighter build. Your build is listed on the front page, so jump on in when ever you are ready. Very nice work you have done on the Me262 you have going, I like the extra detail you have added, that engine really looks great

Julez72

Ha don't get me started on ejector pin marks, the 29 is covered in them Your T-bolt looks pretty good from here though, have you thought about the raised panel lines yet? I need to accentuate them on the bomber or it will end up looking like an aluminum tube but i don't want to use a wash, i thought about a hard line but narrow preshade to change the sheen of the topcoat but i'm open to ideas from you guys here...

Yeah, I've got a plan. Or...plans. Since this Jug's only NMF on the undersides I figure it's a good one to practice on.

Plan 1 - I'm going to be using either Talon or SnJ enamel - have both, haven't decided which yet - combined with Hawkeye's polishing powders. Apparently the polishing plays differently on raised details than on flat surfaces, so that should provide some visual distinction.

Plan 2 - Saw this on Hawkeye's site. Someone post-shaded a Zeppelin using a few drops of black enamel mixed into SnJ Decal Sealer (which as I understand is basically the same carrier material as SnJ enamels, just without the metal pigment...so doesn't mess with the finish). Masked the lines, then sprayed a tight freehand post-shade right along the masking line so the color only landed on the aft side. Looks really, really good.

maybe carefully run a pencil along the raised panel edges?

OWL

Ha don't get me started on ejector pin marks, the 29 is covered in them Your T-bolt looks pretty good from here though, have you thought about the raised panel lines yet? I need to accentuate them on the bomber or it will end up looking like an aluminum tube but i don't want to use a wash, i thought about a hard line but narrow preshade to change the sheen of the topcoat but i'm open to ideas from you guys here...

Julez - thanks for the tip about the Eduard masks - didn't know they had one for the spirals. Very nice!

Looking forward to seeing that B-29! You should definitely set up a WIP thread for it, especially if you're going with all those engines!

Also...I'm officially back in this GB! I've had some delays with the Commies, so I had a frank discussion with them last night and we decided it'd be alright if I spent time with other models. 

That said, the Monogram P-47 is officially on the bench!

Not sure what all to say about the kit. It's a 100% nostalgia build for me. Detail and engineering-wise are about what I expected. One of Monogram's better kits from a certain era, but it's no Tamiya. Ejector pin marks everywhere - including multiple points along the fuselage seams. Flash. Hard, brittle, silvery plastic. Wide sprue tabs placed at inconvenient locations. 

I spent most of last night cleaning seams and sprue marks and test-fitting the major pieces.

Overall, this is one big boy. Here it is next to the La-5 WIP:

The cockpit tub is also one piece. Which, awesome for fit, less awesome for detailing. But I got the painting started last night with some White Ensign Dull Dark Green:

Looking forward to getting on with the detailing and maybe the IP tonight.

I do have the B-29 here just trying to figure out how far to go with it regarding the engines...The kit is good with fairly good detail inside but i would like to open up one or two of the engine cowls so i'd need some replacement R3350 engines...I couldn't find any resin sets so i think the best bet is to get a couple of Tamiya Skyraiders and use those, maybe 4 if the props are the same, and better....I'll also replace all the gun barrels with the Karaya metal barrels, wheels and i'll tinker with the cockpit a little...My 7 year old daughter is a huge Tom and Jerry fan so i'll be getting the Atomic Tom decal set and i think i'll add her name (Ruby) to the other side...Vette, i'll start it in the new year after i've conquered all my  other GB commitments, not gonna join many Gb's next year, i want to concentrate on the Superfort and the Trumpy Wellington...

Hey Doogs, if you need to do a spiral spinner on a luftwaffe bird i highly recommend Eduards precut masks, it's like $5 and you get about 10 spirals...I used it on my D-9 and it took 5min to do...

That's a great idea, vetteman! Think I'll have to try it...not sure how well it'd work on something like fuselage bands on a Wildcat (even my twisty/curvy tape was bewildered by that), but for weird profile curves I think it'd probably work. And with the blue-noses, it's just that kink from horizontal to diagonal. Everything else could be straight-edge tape until it curves under the fuselage.

DoogsATX I use a trick for masking stuff like the blue nose Mustangs using the decals as a templet or the painting drawings on the instruction sheet. I scan them and blow them up to the right  size if needed, print them out on the printer and use that to cut my masking. Might take a little tweeking but it works for me. I used this trick on Miss America in the first Air Racer GB worked great I think. The only decals I used on it was the lettering for sponcers and the race number all the rest was masked and wasnt to difficult.