Now that is a worthy home for your collection My overseas models stayed hanging from the ceiling or on the wall shelves in the AAFES Coffee Shop next to the flight line... probably long gone by now...

Oh, hai guise!

I've got nine small parts to install and then clear coat the Privateer and it's DONE!  I've put all the decals on tonight and it's looking nice!  I may decide at the last second to add some nose art of my own design.  I've mailed off three full boxes of models and there's one more box to fill with models and clothing and send it off.

I'll be taking pictures of it at the 2d ID Museum when I drop it off.  There might be a couple of WIP pics in the meantime.  And I'll also be posting the pics that I took at the museum soon, when I remember.  They had some pretty neat stuff, outside and in.  A WONDERFUL diorama of a T-e4, and an incredible 1/35 diorama of a street in Iraq.  The whole thing is about 4.5' long!  I've got some pictures of the diorama of the Battle of Chipyong-ni (when Ridgway made the troops stand and fight, using air superiority, superior firepower, and superior quartermasters corp to reverse the Chinese Communist Forces).  For an incredible description of this battle check out the book "The Coldest Winter" and you'll see what I mean.

I'll be carting all of my models and such to the museum sometimes Monday through Wednesday.

Cool! looking forward to that Privateer And especially to the 2nd ID museum photos. I only visited the 5th ID museum once when I was part of them and I had better models on my barracks room desk than they had in there. The dioramas that they had in there looked like ones that I had made in grade school. And mine came with me back home when it was time to ETS... I am still working on my personal 5th ID 1980s build collection...

IT IS DONE!! span="" id="mce_marker" data-mce-type="bookmark"> span="" id="mce_marker" data-mce-type="bookmark">

The Privateer is finished, I've even taken pictures of it!  Here they are!

Hey John, as you can see in the above photo, there's PLENTY of room for the gunner figures, and nothing inside for detail.  This, and the poor fit of the upper turrets with the figures, is the main reason for me thinking that the instructions are wrong.

Not very obvious, but you can see the opened bomb bay in the above picture.

Horrible, horrible way to assemble this airframe.  This part popped out three times, the last time I just gave up.  Were I to do it again, I'd definitely reinforce it from behind.  Maybe even go so far as to trench both sides and lay in a line of stretched sprue before I putty and sand.  This is a pathetic joint.

If I ever do this again, I'll include spars for the wing joint tabs, and remember to paint them (*DERP*!).  There should also be more structure for the bomb racks to attach to, they caused me a devil of a time.  And besides, in Korea they carried flash bombs (which I have a ton of back home left over from my B-36 kit!) instead of HE.  It also needs front and rear bulkheads, but hey, be happy that you've got bombs and open doors.  I liked the way that the white and off white colors of the aerials offsets the bright blue of the airframe.

One other thing, John; if I were to do this over I would still assemble the wings as a separate process, finishe them completely with decals, set them aside and THEN assemble the fuselage and finish it with decals before attaching the wings.  The fit is easily good enough to justify this, and the long wings and all of the guns make the kit danged hard to finish when it's all together.  I can see decaling the fuselage going MUCH easier without the wings in the way.

I didn't take any detail pics of the nose, but the inside of the turret needs a figure and crap loads of details.  If I wer to do it over, I'd inglude the interior portion of one of the dual mounts from the Academy kit on the interior.  The bombadiers position is pathetic.  It needs a panel to cover the underside of the turret, as well as a figure, bombs sight (Norden bombsight in the Academy kit), and it could stand to have a panel at the back end so that you don't see daylight from the rest of the kit.

I cobbled together some decals from a couple of sprue sheet here and there including the Eagle Strike AD-4 Skyraiders of the Fleet Blue Skyraiders sheet and the kit decals.

Anyway, it's done.  GOOD pictures after I deliver it to the museum, these are just to show off that I can complete a kit when I want to.  As if you didn't already know.

Okay folks!  Here's a link to my pictures of the 2nd Infantry Division Museum at Cp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, Korea.

s1193.photobucket.com/.../2ndInfantryDivisionMuseum

They also have their own Facebook page with a virtual tour (and much better photography than me).

www.facebook.com/.../122645287782897

Enjoy!

The Privateer came out quite well Andy, despite all the issue's the build caused you .

I'm starting to think about buying the Cobra Company PB4Y-2 detail set ;

www.cobracompany.com/72019.htm

It's a little pricey but it might go a long way in avoiding all the fit issue's you had and at least stop me from shelving the build half way through if things aren't going well . I wish I had thought of buying the Cobra resin set a couple of weeks ago when I place a big order with Cobra Company , Oh well , I place another order at the begining of September .

I like the idea of leaving the wings off and painting both the fuselage and wings seperatly , I think I'll leave my bomb bay doors closed . I have the same Wolfpak decal sheet gregbbear mentioned a little while back which has the "CH" tail codes for the Privateer , there's also markings for a Korea based RF-51 and a F4U-4 Corsair .

It's also nice to hear you found a good home for all the builds your leaving behind .

I got a little side-tracked these past few days and spent my spare time working on a YF2Y-1 Sea Dart and a F-14A Tomcat & CH-46E/F Seaknight . The Sea Dart is an easy build but before I knew it , I kinda fell into starting the Tomcat and Seaknight .....Gee I get easierly distracted these day's . Pop's see's the cancer specialist tomorrow for a check up , hopfully we will get some good news , I've only been able to work on my builds in the evenings , I'm hoping everything will start to settle down on the home front and I can get back to building and airbrushing in the afternoons as well , particulary some of the big Korean War cargo planes I started a while back . Anyway here's hoping .

John .

Andy: Great job there! Always cool to see a Liberator (sorta!) in blue!

Draken, could you take a shot or three of the Privateer that show the entire aircraft? Wingtip to wingtip, tail to nose? Please!

Well, my H-13 is finally done as of this evening. The finishing touches were applied late this afternoon and photos taken after giving it all time to dry while the wife and I went out to dinner... Steak and Shrimp at a local seafood eatery.... Mmmmmmmmm 

So without further ado...

BEAUTY job on the helo Stik!  Love the red crosses on the blisters and the anti skid on the skids.

You requested them, here they are.  Top side pics of the Privateer!

The last pic is of all the models after having been donated to the museum.  This is the only time that they have ALL been together in the same room, the Privateer having just been finished last night.  The Colonel was amazed at the total number of kits brought in.  I'd told him that there was a lot, probably near a hundred.  I don't think he realized what that meant.  He was REALLY happy to get the diorama of the Battalion Aid Station.  He was going to put that to immediate use!

SP: Great job there! Nice work on all the details you can see since her 'guts' are all exposed. And yeah those decals sucked right down and look painted on!

Andy: Nice! I'd seen all the stuff you posted here and on your website but somehow your models look even more impressive all gathered in one group there! Again, I'm very happy they found a good home.

Draken, thanks for those pics of the Privateer! I will use one on the front page here shortly. That is quite an impressive collection that the Col. is acquiring. Truly a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Gamera, thanks for the kind words. The fuel tank stars never quite lay down properly, but using a trick from the dark side, some strategically placed fuel spills pretty much concealed that... but the rest of the decals, just right.... after my last couple experiences with Revell decals these were much better.

OK Draken, your PB4Y and my H-13 have been added to the front page.

Who and what is next???

Don't forget the Thunderjet Diorama.  

Stikpusher , Absolutly Awesome work on the MASH H-13 Helicopter

I sure do like how your builds are finished ; The toned down and subtle weathering to the olive drab finish just looks perfect , particulary the pilots uniform .....Excellent build Sir

Andy , as usual you equally make them look perfect , nice job on the PB4Y and seeing all your builds at their new home , sitting together , is just magnificant . I'm just in awe as to what you have managed to build so far , especially the limited amount of space you had to build your kits ....I salute you buddy .

As for me , I'm almost ashamed and embarassed to post any WIP pic's as all I've managed to do today is several clear coats on the SHQ M4 Tractor

Quite sad compared to what you guy's have posted in the last 24 hours

Anyway , Awesome work Stik and Andy .

SP: Hopefully my Jeep will be next! I don't know when I'll get the M40 finished, Tigerman's Big Cat GB is kicking off so soon and I'll probably get distracted...

John: No apologies! You've got more done in this GB than I've finished over the last five years in total! 

I hope so Gamera. Without the figures, the jeep can be done quickly enough.... Add in figures though and my builds slow down considerably. Although I finally did make quick work of one on my H-13....

the_draken

Don't forget the Thunderjet Diorama.  

It's already up there...  It really was a hard choice as to which photo to use.

Helo, thanks for the kind words. At first I was not too keen on the final topcoat finish as I did not quite dilute the Humbrol Matt Clear with enough thinner- I forgot how strong that stuff is. So it altered the tone of the OD away from the browner shade I wanted. But boy did it give a nice faded look, so I am happy with that.

Well, I finally finished the F4U-5N!  Not perfect, but I am happy with it, and it feels good to finally finish something!

And finally, a far cry from Andy's or John's massive fleet of awesomeness, but here are my 1/72 aircraft for this gb, so far anyways...

Cheers,

Greg

Looks good to me Greg- nice work!

I like it a LOT  and I know exactly what you mean. My last few builds have not been "perfection" to me, but they look "good enough" and I am very happy to have finished something. I will get her on the front page honor roll soon.

A black bent wind bird looks quite sinister  

Gregbear, your F4U has been added to the front page of glory  (and a great way to shamelessly bump this GB back up top) 

Guys, if I may ask a favor of all of you here still participating... when you post photos of your completed builds here, can you PLEASE include the maker and scale of your builds at that time. This will save me from having to go back and page back thru however many posts to find which kit you have completed.

Sorry - wrong post!

Excellent work on the F4U-5N Night fighter Greg .

I agree with Stik that the overall black finish does look quite sinister , I also like the subtle exhaust and gun staining over the wings but I particulary noticed the nice yellow bands around the bomb tips .....Very , very nice work there and the yellow naplam tank sets makes everthing complete .

I think it was you Greg who mentioned a while back about Italeri bringing out some 1/72 F4U-7 corsair's , I picked up two the other day and I'm now thinking of using those two kits as my "WF" F4U-5N birds . Italeri provide different cowl fronts and I have a few wing radomes from other kits to use as well .

Aires have a nice set of 1/72 resin flaps for the F4U-7 , I picked up two sets for my kits as well .

My original High Planes / Italeri F4U-5N kit bash I'll now build as a F4U-5P recon bird . I have cut the wings to pose folded as well as the flaps but it's a little more work than I anticipated but it should work out okay . I haven't had much time for building of late , I'm still really busy on the home front ; Instead I started cataloging my kit , decal and resin/PE stash on the computer . I'm finding so much stuff I forgot I had , including those Wolfpack decals for a RF-51 Mustang and another F4U-4 Corsair from the Korean War . I also found a huge stash of F-4 Phantom decals as well as PE sets , so I've been matching aftermarket decal sheets with various kits .

I'm coming close to 1200 kits in total , for a few seconds I thought about thinning the stash a little but each kit seems to have some historical reference and fits beside other kits to complete different era's and so forth . I also found a nice stash of 1/72 US Bicentennial aircraft kits and decals about 12 in total that I completely forgot I had . They look very , very nice .

I also finally tracked down one of those 1/72 Ace AF-2S guardian kits , it's the fire bomber version but I already have the Airmodel vacuform AF-2W kit so I'm going to use the vacume belly radome on the Ace kit . I have puttied and sanded the Fairey Firefly and she is ready for masking , I guess I'm close to having something near finished along with my second (B-17) PB-1W AEW Fortress which has been sitting in the back room / spray booth for a few months  now , there's two builds that are almost done .

There's also the C-46 Commando , where I've been messing around with Squadrons vacu canopy . I might go back and try and use the kit canopy halves on the Commando , the vac canopy is too thin and flex's too much and I'm getting frustrated with it , I just would like to get builds finished , although I still haven't decided on what paint scheme for the Commando . I just remembered the C-54 Skymater build which is about 95% complete . The engine cowl halves on the Mach 2 C-54 kit are an awefull fit and I'm still trying to clean them up to look presentable which is probably why I painted the aicraft and other components and left the C-54 engine cowls for later . Oh and there's the Short Sunderland flying boat which has suddenly surfaced from under the bench and she is about 85% complete and doesn't need much more work before masking and painting .

Anyway I've rambled on enough , I wish I was posting pic's instead of dribble .

BTW , I like your fleet of Korean War builds Greg ; It might be a small fleet but I'm yet to build any of the one's you have , so Ive copied the pic's into the computer for reference .

John .

Thanks for the compliments guys!  I appreciate it.  Stik, sorry about not putting some info with the pics.  I'm glad to finally add to the front page again.  Thanks.

John, wow!  What a stash.  That is awesome.  I think modelers are very optimistic people.  Most of us fully intend to build everything in our stashes, even if only in our heads.  John and Draken, may very well complete them though!

The Aires Corsair flaps look nice.  I imagine they should work on any of the Italeri F4U's too.  The Guardian sounds pretty neat too.

Gamera, that M40 has got to be an impressive beast!  Don't let the Panzers lure you away!  Kidding of course.

Instead of bench time, I went and visited my LHS for the first time in months.  Not only was it nice to catch up with Gary, the owner, there were some nice new items.  He had some really nice Kits World B-29 decals in 72nd scale, to include "Command Decision" and "Ace in the Hole".  It makes me want to track down an Academy B-29!  I don't have anything KW on the bench right now, but I picked up an old Microscale sheet on consignment, that has Phil Delong's Yak killing F4U-4 on it.....

I hope all of you have a great weekend, and those in the US, happy Labor Day.

Cheers,

Greg

John: Those all sound awesome, looking forward to more photos!!!

Greg: Thanks! Still moving forward slowly on the M40, been distracted by the Dragon Tiger since it's got waaaaayyyyyyy less injection pin holes to fill! Will advise that the Academy B-29 is a nice kit, did one a little over a year ago, goes together quite well but is a big friggin' plane even in 1/72! (about two feet/ 20 cm!!!)

Sprayed a nice layer of mud on the Jeep this morning, not much left to do but washes and the dry-brushing! Figures done but for the fine-tuning. Got a guy at the nearby Korean restaurant to help me with some writing on the South Korean translator's helmet. Funny, he told me the words said 'soldier' which seems odd to me since he's wearing a helmet and fatigues - does he really need to be labeled as such? Seems like putting the words 'cowboy' on a cowboy hat or 'contractor' on a hard-hat... 

Beautiful B-29!!!  Very funny about the "soldier" on the helmet.  That makes me think of the Bill Engval, "here's your sign" kind of thing.

Cheers,

Greg

Greg: Thanks! Great kit, only problem I had is the seam kept popping along the top of the fuselage. I'd paint it and there would be a seam, I'd putty, sand, and paint and there would still be a seam. Finally figured out that I was popping the seam open every time I sanded the seam down! I was eventually able to get it fixed by very gingerly sanding it.

I was also admiring your B-29 Cliff . Very nice work indeed and thank's for the heads up on the seam issue along the top of the fuselage . I guess it would probably help a little for when I come to build mine , is to glue some plastic strip along the inside of the top and probably the bottom edge on the fuselage as well to help support the join to try and avoid any 'popping' later on .

John .

Count me in with the monogram F-80 1/48th