John (helo), oops!  We may have been bidding against each other.  I was trying to get another F3D to do as EF-10B, and I was trying to score some Starfire decals too.  I was actually trying to get those for you.  Small world eh?  I have an extra copy of the F9F Panther in Action book too if you want it.  I can't remember off hand if it has engine shots though.  Got a bid on an F3D, with a Panther and Buckeye right now.  Hopefully, it won't get bid up too crazy.

Speaking of Panthers, has anybody laid eyes on the Hobby Boss 1/72 Panther?  With the Hase, Matchbox, Revell, and (maybe) others, I wish they would have covered some fresher ground like an F2H-2, or the F3D.  I saw the AU-1 Corsair again, as a future release for them in 1/48th.  Italeri just re-issued the -7 Corsair.  The last time, it came with the correct cowl and decals for an AU-1 of the "Death Rattlers".  Anybody know if they did that this time?

By the way, awesome stuff guys.  I haven't really been around much lately, so I got a real visual feast catching up!  The story of the defecting Mig pilot is fascinating too. 

Cheers,

Greg

I would very much like that F9F Panther book Greg I'm sure we can work something out .

I tried uploading a couple of WIP pic's of the MPM Gloster Meteor and F-94B Starfire but the computer kept freezing up ; I must of used up to much of the monthly download quota looking around ebay and the internet for Korean and vietnam War models .

I'll save the pic's for later in the week . I did manage to get the wings glued back on the second PB-1W [B-17] Flying Fortress , like the first PB-1W , Academy have the wing dhedrial to high and I basiclly had to pull both kits apart . One PB-1W has the radome positioned on the roof while the other is a belly radome . I also finally got around to glueing the wings and tail planes and fin on the Airfix Short Sunderland , another build I started last year and is waiting completion . I'm aiming for a 5 day airbrushing session over the Easter break , the tuesday after easter monday is ANZAC Day here in Australia , a lot like Veterans Day for you guy's in the States . So with my brother is at home during that time , hopfully I can get some airbrushing done . Sitting in the spraybooth are the C-46D Commando , Yak-9P and 18 and the O-1 bird dog . Also I hope to have the C-54 together and ready for painting as well  .

I'm busting to start the three night fighters , F3D-2 F7F-3N and the F4U-5N but I'll have to clear the back log of other builds first .

On the home front , dad will be having some tests done and then some Chemo to treat his lymphoma , he has an appointment later this week for a bone marrow test and the rest of the treatment will start after Easter . we're hoping he doesn't have to wait too long to have all the necessary stuff done and be back on the road to recovery .

I spent haeps of money this month on kits but I'm really happy with all of my scores , especially the rare/hard to find kits .

Got to dash , I'll post some pic's later in the week .

BTW , nice work on the Panther and Sabre Stik , Deafpanzer's tank is just awesome too .

                    John

SP: Nice! I love getting the plane together so I can start my favorite stage- painting!

DP: Looking good! Mr. Surfacer is Mr. Cool I love the stuff, since it's getting more and more of a pain to get it in the States don't know what I'll do when I run out.

John: Again, best wishes for your dad.

Gamera, I agree about how hard it is getting Mr. Surfacer.  In the past my LHS would sell those but I haven't seen it for a while.  I will ask them why next time I shop there.  I don't think I saw any at recent model show either.  I am running low so gonna order few soon...

DP: I understand it has something to do with Gunze's labeling. Seems that as a toxic substance it's supposed to have some warning label or some such. Since the label is in Japanese the FDA or whoever decides on labeling in the US says the warning label isn't kosher.

Guys, I was able to order THREE bottles of Mr Surfacer 1000 from Great Models yesterday.  Many vendors were out of stock...

Anyway I did alot of work on my Chaffee for last two nights.  It has gone thru pre-shading and painting stages and I am very pleased with the result. 

Remember I use MM enamel exclusively for armor painting and I found a great article about choices of Olive Drab paints.  It was recommended that I use MM Olive Drab #1711.  Weathering will definitely make it look little darker afterward.  The base paint was thinned as much as 50/50 to allow pre-shades show thru if possible. 

I don't think I need to do any post-shading and move on to the next stage chipping the Chaffee.  Or maybe detail painting... thanks for looking!

Very nice work deafpanzer, I'm very much looking forward to the finished product. Its a shame we cant get all these built models together in the flesh! Speaking of finished products, I had a bit of a mad weekend and got not one but two P0-2 biplanes finished. The one for this GB is the KP 1/72nd recent re-issue and is in the early 1951 markings of a machine of Pak Den Siks night bomber regiment. Hope you like...

Theres another one to add the the finished works folder stikpusher and for my next build Im going to turn to one no-one seems to have done. Im going to do the 1/72nd AZ models Taylorcraft Auster AOP-6. 

Doc.

DP: Wow, very nice job! Love how the pre-shading came out. She's gonna look great when finished. BTW: Thanks for the tip on Great Models- hope you didn't buy ALL the Mr. Surfacer they had in stock

Dr. Win: Nice clean build on the Po-2. Great work on a subject you don't see that often.

The pre shading looks great Deafpanzer , well done Sir .

Doc , I really like the two Po-2's . Both builds came out quite good . You and the Draken are certainly pumping out some great Korean War birds .

I'm bidding on an MPM Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly on ebay . Hopefully I can win it . I have built two Mach 2 S-51 for the GB but I messed up the fuselage windows with superglue on one of them  and then the decals didn't work out all that well . I sanded back the paint finish and remasked , so their also sitting in the spraybooth waiting to be painted . If I can win the MPM kit which comes with USMC markings , I'll paint the better of the Mach 2 S-51's gloss sea blue with Navy markings and the other not so good one olive drab for the USAF 3rd rescue squadron and try and scrounge up some yellow decal lettering .

My bid on the MPM S-51is $20 , perhaps I'll go as high as $25 . Old Model kits has one for $49 , which seems a little expensive ? .

Anyway the weather is looking okay for the Easter long weekend , hopfully I can get lot's of painting done .

Great work everyone

                                                  John .

Doc, your Po-2 came out very nice! A relatively unsung plane in the West that has quite  an interesting history when you look into it.

Deafpanzer, the Chaffee is coming along very nicely What's next on the beast?

Anybody who is intersted, Revell just reissued their 1/35 H-13 with several finish options, including Korean War MASH/Medevac, for under $20 here. I would love to see one built as part of this GB.

stikpusher

Anybody who is intersted, Revell just reissued their 1/35 H-13 with several finish options, including Korean War MASH/Medevac, for under $20 here. I would love to see one built as part of this GB. 

Hi Guys:

Just home from the hospital last night and rarin' to finish the Sabre Jet and start something new, such as an H-13 ...

Tell me where I can pick it up or order online and I'll get it and start immediately ... gonna have nothing but time on my hands for the next few weeks ...

Thanks,

pepper

Dr. Win-  Hope I was not dreaming... there were biplanes during Korea War?!?!?  And we didn't win the war... crazy?!?!?

Guys- Thanks for the comments on my Chaffee. 

Stikpusher- I have been working on the figures for last two nights.  My next step would be chipping but it will be very minimal before I can airbrush a coat of Future so I can apply decals.  I am waiting to hear from a friend here in the forum if he has spare me his Chaffee decals that he may not need.  I have an old set and it doesn't come with 'Eagle Claw' decal while recent kit release has better decals with 'Eagle Claw'.  I'd buy you one or two if you have it and don't need it... LOL

I can't vouch for these guys as far as online orders go, since they are local to me. But they were good at sending items overseas when I was on deployment and I would send my wife in to the store with a shopping list.

http://www.brookhursthobbies.com/Product-Detail.cfm?P=031445053139&N=10

Squadron and Great Models do not have it on thier websites yet...

Well , I haven't had much luck at the start of the Easter 5 day weekend .

I missed out on the MPM H03S-1 Dragonfly on ebay ; It went for $36 and I wasn't quick enough to increase my bid . So I dipped into the grocery money and ordered the MPM kit from old model kits for $49 .

I started masking the RAF Short Sunderland and the raised scribe lines on the canopy don't seem to match the Aims decal sheet for the Korean War Sunderland . Also after a couple of light coats of paint on the C-46 Commando , the canopy center join doesn't look all the great

I've removed the C-46 canopy  and will mask over the opening and continue airbrushing , I'll do the same with the Short sunderland and I just ordered from Squadron.com a vacuform C-46 and Sunderland canopies .

I also noticed on the Aims decal sheet instructions there's some type of Blisters on both of the underside of  the wings on the sunderland , I suppose I can scratch some up and add those later on ?

After all the work re-building my Airfix P-80C Shooting Star , I was about to mask for the olive drab anti glare panel and some blue on the nose to match the "saggin dragon" decals , I just noticed the very front tip of the nose has become badly distorted [ sunk in] . It must of been the superglue when I glued some fishing sinkers in . "Crap"

I checked Swords RF-80 as I thought the recon nose was a seperate part . It is but Sword have already removed the fighter nose section from both fuselage halves . "Double Crap" .

If there is a Recon nose I could buy seperatly for the P-80 , I could still salvage the Airfix Shooting Star .

I did win a Airfix 1/72 SH-2F Seasprite on ebay for my Vietnam War stash , I have the rotor craft resin conversion for a HUK2-1/UH-2A Seasprite , so It hasn't been all bad .

I'll continue airbrushing this afternoon , there's two PB-1W Flying Fortress's and an overall black color B-17 for the 3rd Rescue Sqd and also two S-51Dragonflys .

Lots to get done ,

Happy Easter everyone .

                           John .

stikpusher

http://www.brookhursthobbies.com/Product-Detail.cfm?P=031445053139&N=10

OK-dokey ... the helo ordered this orning alng with a decal sheet for the Eduard FW-190 I've almost ready to start on ...

I'll post back when the products arrive ...

Thanks for the tip,

pepper

Deafpanzer, you weren't dreaming the North Koreans did indeed use the 1928 vintage P0-2 biplane as a night harassment bomber and with some success! Very few were ever shot down simply because it was too difficult to spot on radar, too manoeuvrable to most UN fighter and its maximum speed was lower than all of the UN fighters stall speed! We had the same problems with them that the Axis did on the Eastern front in WW2!  It might of been the only biplane type used in the Korean war though I did find a very interesting image though when looking for material on the P0-2 - check out this link, we may need to add another design to the kit list...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18532986@N07/4675179389/

Doc - enjoying the unseasonably warm Easter weather in the UK!

I'm using Photobucket for the first time to upload pictures ;

This is a test pic of the 1/72 MPM Meteor Mk.8 kit for the RAAF No.77 Squadron .

I also picked up the Gloster & AW Meteor comprehensive guide for the modeller .

A really great and informative book , with 6 more Meteor kits in the Israeli AF stash the book will come in quite handy .

Anyway I'll hit post and see what happens.....

BTW , I'm glad to hear your back at the hobby bench Pepper

                                         John .

IT WORKED!

Don't forget, if you want to bypass the PE work on the rockets for those Meteors, the Academy Typhoon kit has them and is pretty darn cheap.  You just need the launch rails from the Meteor kit.

BTW, I picked up an Academy KF-16 kit.  I can't remember now if it was you or Doc Win that wanted it.  Lemme know.

I've just started the first of 6 resin armour kits from Milicast.  The resin is just a wee bit softer than the water trailer from retro kit, which is rather nice.  I'm not breaking things left and right on this one.  There aren't that many separate parts, and I'm replacing the 6 part M-2 MG with one from the Academy ground equipment set.  My M-39 is starting to look like a real nice unit.  Next will likely be the M-18 as its companion on the shelf.  I almost started my MPM HO3S-1 kit, but got involved with cleaning up the resin flash on this baby, then testing parts fit, the prepainting...  Yeah, it became the next one on the bench before I knew it.  Photos to follow when I can.

I'll let Doc Win have first bite on the KF-16 , if there's no interest , than I will certainly send you an email and we can work something out .

My dad gave me a brand new lap top computer , so this morning I went out to purchase an wireless modem . My brother has the ''Unwired" wireless modem but everyone seems to have sold out of them , even their own web site lists them as temporarily unavailable . All the stores I went into mostly have  wireless routers . I don't know very much about computers , so I don't know what the difference is ??? .  I may have to wait until Unwired re-stock their wireless modems .

A big thank you to Pepper for sending me a step by step tutorial on how to use photobucket , I'm really happy that Andy [The Draken] can now view the pic's I post . Also it seems a lot easier to upload them onto FSM's forum page than using image shack .

There hasn't been any airbrushing today as I was busy running around looking for a modem , it's back to the spraybooth first thing tomorrow.

                                             John .

Helo & Draken, definitely wasn't me after a YF-16! Don't do modern stuff!! However if either of you have a YB-17 or a C-46 or HU-16 then you would have my undivided interest...

Doc. 

Here's a couple of WIP pic's of the C-54 Skymaster .

The instructions suggest placing 90 grams up around the cockpit ;

I seriously doubt if the front landing gear strut could even support half that much weight ;

Some pic's in my reference books show a support pole under the tail section of the parked C-54 , so I think that would be a better option than adding all those sinkers .

The wings are ready to glue together as with the fuselage halves , I've dried fitted everything and it all fits together quite well .

I'll go and do some glueing .

                                 John .

John, the Heller T-33 comes with a seperate recon nose.  The US seems devoid of these right now.  I am trying to win a pair of Airfix F-80's right now.  I got the F-4 a couple of days ago, awesome!  Thanks buddy.  The Banshee and the books should be there soon.

DP, the tank looks fantastic!  What incredible work you have done.  The detail is amazing.

Dr. W, those PO-2's are great too.  Low tech solution to lack of air superiority.  Well, they helped make the US Navy's only Korea ace too.

Anybody have any experience with ICM kits?  I found a kit that comes with a NKAF Yak 9 and a Chinese Tu-2, in a "Korean War" boxing.  Worth the trouble?  Looks cool anyways.

Next to no progress here, between family and studying for promotion, I am almost forgetting what testor's paint smells like.

Cheers,

Greg

Gregbbear

Anybody have any experience with ICM kits?  I found a kit that comes with a NKAF Yak 9 and a Chinese Tu-2, in a "Korean War" boxing.  Worth the trouble?

That's the same kit that I have, and where my Yak-9P came from.  I did the Yak and had to cut the panel out of the spine and insert a piece of clear plastic, as well as make a deck and the DF loop antenna.  It wasn't a horrible kit, fit not fantastic, and I don't think that it was made to have a rotating prop.  The Tu-2 in mine is coated with some thick sticky goo that has to be mold release.  I've washed it twice in dish detergent, using a scotch pad the second time, and still can't get the slimey crap off.    Looking at it in the box, I'd say that the MG's are a bit over sized, and I'm going to guess that fit is going to be kinda touchy.  There's a lot of places for parts to not line up and cause issues.  I seem to recall paying $15 [USD] for mine about 10 months ago. 

Neither kit has any significant detail, so you can either go to town or build it OOB and just say, "Hey, whaddaya expect for a east European company?"  My Tu-2 is going to be OOB and I'm going to stick to the instructions as much as possible.

Oh, and the decals were FANTASTIC!  A definite plus to a mediocre at best Yak-9P.

Thanks Andy (draken)!  I remember what you had said about the Yak, but for some reason I was thinking it was from a different manufacturer.  I think I might pass on the kit for now.  I have enough challenging builds in the to-do pile.

Lost the F-80 auction.  I imagine it is only a matter of time before Airfix re-releases the kit anyways.  Then they'll be less than $10 new.

Cheers,

Greg

I just picked up the Gran kit for $15 and shipping.  I've already built the most recent release of the Airfix kit.  If you get a NEW Airfix version you'd better have replacement decals.  The one's they're making now are so thick that they WILL NOT conform to the kit!  I've got some Superscale for the next one I do, but I've not seen the ones for the Gran kit yet.    And the Airfix kit is SO barebones, it's scary...  Be prepared for lots of fit issues, the intakes are the worst part.  And I had some serious issues with the landing gear being to weak.  Watch out for that.

Type to y'all later!

BTW, OT:  I've got a white Turkish Angor cat here in Korea.  What do you guys suggest I do as far as cat hair in the models?  No matter what i do, he sheds, and sheds blankets worth of fuzz.

[quote user="the_draken]

BTW, OT:  I've got a white Turkish Angor cat here in Korea.  What do you guys suggest I do as far as cat hair in the models?  No matter what i do, he sheds, and sheds blankets worth of fuzz.

[/quote]

When you posted some pic's recently of your finished builds , I noticed all that hairy stuff .

I mistakenly thought you must be using a lot of fibreglass for another project , the stuff seemed to be over everything . I didn't say anything at the time as I didn't want to upset anyone and take attention away from the great builds you did Andy .

You could always shave the the cat !

                            John .

Greg , I'm happy the F-4 arrived safe and sound .

Thank's for the tip on the Heller T-33 , I found one on ebay listed as "buy it now or make an offer" ,

I made a reasonable offer and hope to hear back from the seller shortly . That's bad luck missing out on those two Airfix F-80's , On my Airfix P-80 , I added a lot of PE to the cockpit and undercarrige along with a resin seat , I was quite bummed when I thought it was all for nothing . Also , jeaton sent me replacement landing gear struts for the Airfix build and I just couldn't scrap the whole build now that I had come this far with her ; I was about to rob the Sword kit of the reconn nose .

Thanks again for help with the F-80 build , hopefuuly I can win the Heller kit .

                 John .

Started work on the 1/48 Trumpeter MiG-15 again. What a mess. I had started it, and right off found fitment problems to correct. Not happy with the Trumpeter kit, but you work with what you have. Spent about 2 hours getting the gun pod to fit under the nose correctly. Still getting my workspace right, which is rather difficult seeing as it has to be shared with my laptop and schoolbooks. Dunno where the airbrush is going to go. The workshed is out of the question as down here in South Georgia it is already hot and humid. May have to put it in the back room and vent it out the window...once I get the paint booth built. Busy, busy, busy.

Then I have a 1/48 P-47 "Doublebolt" trainer conversion to build in 8th Air Force/56th FG livery, and also a 1/144 B-52-I "Old Dog" stealth technology flying testbed. Those will be fun.

Dr. WIn- Thanks for the info about biplanes!  Germans also had difficult times shooting down British biplanes from their ships during the sinking of Bismarck too.  Moving too slow...

Greg- Thanks for the compliment!

Guys- No wife and no boys for a day and half.  Modeling for more than ten hours today. Life is GREAT!  I worked on the figures all day...

Here's the tank commander and it is about 90% completed.  I am allowing the off white enamel paint on eyes dry overnight before I can add black dots and wash around the eye.  Also will apply thinned burnt umber wash everywhere at the end.

Base coat has been painted on the GIs so will post more pictures tomorrow.  Happy Easter!

Gregbbear

Anybody have any experience with ICM kits?  I found a kit that comes with a NKAF Yak 9 and a Chinese Tu-2, in a "Korean War" boxing.  Worth the trouble?  Looks cool anyways.

Yes I have built one ICM aircraft kit, a 1/48 Yak-7. I really enjoyed it. certainly worth the small cost I paid for it. I have several other ICM kits in my stash. The only weak spots in the kits I have seen are noticable amounts of mold release agent often present on the sprues, and decals tend to be quite brittle. But no major issues about building them...