Heya Helo,

What color do you use for the control surfaces?  Just curiosity's sake, that's all.    I'm using the AS-12 for NMF a/c and I've been brush painting the control surfaces Testors' bottle flat Aluminum.  Select panels get steel and exhausts are usually painted either a rust for piston engines or Academy metallic grey for turbine engines.  I save the Academy flat Aluminum for landing gear.  It's just so much darker and 'flatter' than the Testors' paint.

A couple of weeks ago I sprayed the Italeri RD-4 [C-47] Skytrain with Tamiya's AS-12 rattle can silver .

I tried to darken some of the center wing panels by airbrushing Tamiya's acrylic XF-56 Metallic gray but it came out to dark ; I had spent quite a while masking for the different shades and when it didn't work out , I was a little reluctant to do all that remasking again .

So today I just masked the wing and tail flaps and lightly sprayed again with the Tamiya AS-12 rattle can and it seemed to cover the previous airbrushed acrylic XF-56 metallic gray without any issue's ...

I'll let the paint dry for a couple of days and see how things look then .

I wasn't sure if the rattle can silver would cover acrylic silver , I hope it works out ???

BTW ; The sabre is looking good Pepper ;

DP , as usual awesome work on the tank figures and the Chaffee is looking great as well .

                              John .

Pepper- I really like that Sabre jet.  I'd love to build it whenever I am ever tired of working on armors...

John- Congrats with the eBay win.  I buy most of kits and aftermarket stuff via eBay nowadays.

Guys- Quick update on my Chaffee... I continued to work on two American GIs and finally painted base coat on the stowage & tools.  Still long way to go...

Being bachelor is officially over since my wife and boys are back home from visiting my mother-in-law for the weekend...

Hi All:

Almost  finished with my Sabre Jet ... still some decals to place and, obviously, the nose wheel, nose weight (I forgot to put it in before closing up the fuse) and canopy and windscreen ... should be done tonight ...

pepper

I've had some luck and won the Heller T-33 on ebay

At the start of April , I had only used ebay once in the past , I've got about a dozen kits arriving over the next couple of weeks as well as after market decals ; It appears I may have become a bit of an ebay Junkie .

I also came across a Hasegawa/Minicraft F9F-2 Panther with the exact USMC makings I needed for my K-3 Pohang aircraft dio .

So the Airfix F-80 re-build lives on , she will now be a RF-80 .

                                                       John .

pepper kay

I've found that if I soak my parts in bleach overnight, then wash with warm water and dish soap, that all the mold release disappears right down the drain ...

pepper

RE: soaking parts in bleach ...

One thing I'd like to add ... this works great for resin parts and I've never had a problem with plastic either ... however, with plastic parts, I always check to make sure the bleach won't affect them ...

I do that by using some of the sprue from one of the parts trees to test ... if the bleasch doesn't affect that, it won't affect the kit parts either ...

pepper

the_draken

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.   

I've found that if I soak my parts in bleach overnight, then wash with warm water and dish soap, that all the mold release disappears right down the drain ...

pepper

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...

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!

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.

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 .

[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 .

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.

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

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.

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

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 .

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. 

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 .

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'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 .

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!

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

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 .

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...

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

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

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.

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 .

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.