Hey Stik ;

Another finished Korean War bird for the front page ...

1/72 Mach 2 RB-45C Tornado ; 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Yokota , Japan

                  John

John, I hate you...    The Tornado is INCREDIBLE and you've done a fan-damned-tastic job with it.  Having built and correctly detailed a few Hasegawa Golden Age kits, I know what goes into a build like that.  I'm very impressed.  Kudos to you! 

On a totally separate note:  I had a totally unexpected visit in my classroom from the school's principal.  He was actually watching the teacher across the hallway, and she was being critiqued by other teachers.  He saw my models (for about the umpteenth time, but acted like it was the first) and was totally fascinated by them.  He was happy that I was using Academy kits when I could, and VERY happy that I was including the DPRK figures and kits.  He was also happy that I knew a lot of details about the war itself.  By the way, the Koreans call it Yu Gi Oh, which is translated as "The Start In June."  Seeing as how it never ended officially, I guess that makes sense.  And you learn something new every day, eh?  He freaked out over the Superfortress and the diorama, and loved the RoKAF planes.  I wish that I'd already done the C-46, mine's going to be RoKAF insignia.  I took the liberty to show him the first page of the build and what everyone else had done and he loved it.  It took a while for him to understand that we've not met each other in real life and we're doing this from around the world.  He was flabbergasted, and loves what we're doing and says that it's very respectful of us to remember the war this way.  Considering how much interest he had, I think that I'm okay to hang up any models I choose now... 

Anyway, I thought that you folks would like to hear about that kinda stuff from the 'front lines' as it were.  So keep up the good work dudes!

I've got the two US M-101's done, the Communist 76mm field gun and caisson, the Communist 122mm and 152mm as well.  Not mentioned before are the various mortars on both sides, the M2 Long Tom and a few others, as well as the British 25 Pounder and 5.5" gun, and the 40mm Bofors gun.  I've got the Communist 57mm ATG and the Katyusha to do before I take photos.  I want to have all of my arty together in a line up against each other for a really nice pic.

Have fun guys!

Hi Everyone:

Again and as always, kudos to all for all the great work you're doing ...

I've a question for the group ... I'm just starting a kit that has PE parts, with which I've never worked with before ... I understand that one tip to make them more manageable is to anneal them before removing them from their frets ...

OK so far ... my question is: some of the parts are colored - instrument panel - seat belts, etc. ... do I leave them on the fret when i anneal the whole thing or should I remove them and just heat and cool the non-colored parts ...

My Sabre Jet only needs the canopy attached and I'll be posting pictures of same - hopefully, tonight ...

Thanks again,

pepper

PS A thought just occured to me - how 'bout if everyone, when you think of it and/or have the time, tell where you're living ? ... reading the post above, it was interesting that the head honcho at the school was amazed that we're a group scattered to the four corners of the globe ...

Anyhoo, I live and model in Garland, TX, USA (an 'outburb' of Dallas, TX) ...

Helo, the Tornado looks great and has been added to the front page! Just a nitpick, but I dont think the USAF started wearing beenies (berets) on their APs/SPs until the 1960s when berets became the rage among many branches of the US military (along with jump boots for non airborne personnel). Helmet liners with the bright colors and big letters would be more likely. But overall very sweet!

Pepper,

Photoetched parts are made of copper, which is annealed by heating to dull cherry red, then quenching it in water...the opposite of how you do ferrous metals. Having studied blacksmithing, I have worked with copper and aluminum as well as steel and iron. Forging aluminum is probably the most difficult thing I've ever done.

Still wrestling with the MiG-15 at this time. I had started it some time ago, put it away, and when I started working on it again found several things I had to correct. But progress is being made. I have until June 1 till summer semester starts, so I have some time to work on it.

I've been to DFW a few times, that's all I've been in Texas. I grew up in Indiana, now live in central Georgia. Full time student, working on getting some business classes taken so I can start on an MBA program, hope to go to law school eventually.

OOOps ; Sorry about using the wrong "Security Police" in the RB-45C Tornado build .

I have some other 1/72 scale figures I can use to replace the modern era ones , thank's for the tip stikpusher .

I've decided to remask some of the C-47 Skytrain and paint the roof section white like in the pic below , which I just found last night searching around the net ... 

Hopfully I'll have some of my armor builds completed this weekend as well .

                                 John .

WOWSERS!!! WHat great work has been going on as always!!!! Hate to say it but my Corsair will not be finished for some time. Hats off to everyone!!!

Hey all! 

I've gotten involved with my ICM Tu-2 and thus sidetracked away from my towed arty kits.  In the meantime i found something with StumbleUpon that might interest someone.  I can't remember who it was that's building the 1/72 A-10 with Osan AB markings (Helo34?  Was that you?) but this will come in REALLY handy!

http://www.fencecheck.com/forums/index.php/topic%252C344.0.html

The link is for a web page with nice hogs from Spangdahlem in Germany, but they use the same paint scheme and have the same weapons kit out as the ones here in Korea.  I'd never seen the walkways quite so dirty, and then I realized that it must be an anti-skid finish for the crews and it collects dirt.  The underside views are phenomenal!

Enjoy!

Andy (Draken) , yeah that was me working on the A-10 Osan Warthog , so thanks for the link

Thanks also for letting us know what the school principal thought about everyone builds , including yours .

I see how it must of seemed a bit strange for him trying to figure out why a bunch of folk's would get together over the net and build model aircraft in a particular theme . However it's like what Gregbbear said a while back , you start reading and finding out about all types of aircraft that you didn't know exisited or even operated in the Korean War ; So it's a great learning exercise as well , it is for me anyway .

I didn't get as much airbrushing done over the weekend as I hoped, hopfully this week I can stuck in and get some paint on the builds lined up in the spraybooth and I only managed to finish two little 1/72 jeeps that came with the Academy P-51 kits , so I still feel I'm way behind finishing builds off .

Oh well slow progress is better than no progress !!!

                                                 John .

Hi All:

Got a problem and need some help ...

I masked off  the F-86 canopy yesterday with Testors 1/8th" masking tape - highly recommended by my LHS ...

I painted the interior color first, then added the exterior color t ...

Some time later in the afternoon, I gently pulled the tape off and was pleased the way it masked the canopy but more than peeved at the residue it has left behind ... I've tried some number of different 'things', trying to clear the goop off, all to no avail ...

Thinner, Goo Be Gone, Orange Stuff, Green Stuff, gently 'scrubbing' with a Q-tip, a little bit of dish soap and warm water - you get the picture ...

Any suggestions ? ...

Thanks,

pepper

first suggestion... use only Tamiya tape in the future... never had a problem with that stuff... every other brand, including 3M Blue low tack, left behind residue or worse.

2nd suggestion: try using a wooden toothpick to carefully scrape off the residue. Apply Future afterwards to clean up any marks left on the canopy.

3rd suggestion: and it must be done most carefully to avoid damaging decals ( I learned this the hard way) take a piece of Scoth "frosty" clear tape, make a small loop you can use with a piece, burnish it down to each offending piece of reside, and pull that stuff up. It is time consuming intricate work, but that stuff sticks to whatever you want and wont let go. Just be VERY wary around decals, painted canopy frames and such....

well ive got most of my f86 put together and have sprayed it gloss black. im not gonna use alclad , im trying snj polishing powder and buffing. its looking ok but i think ill pick up some alclad for my next BNF and take alot more time polishing my model! oh well heres some pic so far:

Ha ha ha ha!  A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum.  Okay, not the Forum, but in the process of spray painting some kits.  I've decided that, following the Tu-2, my next kit(s) will be an M-26/M-46 combo.  I decided to take my last two rattle cans of OD outside to pre-paint what I've got.  I step out of my three story walk up and look up and down the road.  GREAT, half a block away (all of the first floors are businesses/restaurants) is a WIDE open spot, no doorways, no cars, light breeze, plenty of light in the darkening dusk.  I'm 90% done and a car pulls up...

The guy HAD TO SEE ME!  Here's this big tall fat white dude underneath a brilliant white lamp with shorts and at-shirt on when everyone else is shivering in pants and a jacket.  He pulls in right in front of me, mid spray.  I rattle the can for him so he can see.  Three dudes get out, I rattle the can point to the parts and what I've got in my hand.

One guy says, "Oh, lacquer?"  YES!  YES!  LACQUER!  YOUR PAINT JOB IS NOW SHITE!  (not having the necessary Hangeul I just kinda pointed at the paint can and his car).  They all laugh and wander off. 

Hoooooooo-kay!

I stepped FURTHER out into the street, where the wind was not predictable and finished the last 10%.  I really hope he doesn't mind a rough dusting of Tamiya AS-6 OD Green (USAAF II) on his silver car.  Really, I was TRYING to be nice!  Some people shouldn't be permitted to breed. 

Anyway, got the dragon wagon and the Patton pre-painted and awaiting assembly whilst waiting on the Tu-2...

Some assembly required , nice work so far on the F-86

Andy (Draken) , I'm even more impressed with your modeling skills and builds ; Especially the fact you have to stand out in the street under a street light to paint your model parts . Here I am with a indoor sprayboth and two entire rooms in the house devoted to my hobby and you can still pump out some amazing builds !!!

Those three chaps must of walked off thinking , "did you see that crazy white dude"

                                       John .

Okay, this isn't my auction, and there's not much time left.  An Academy "Korean War" B-29 and it's at $19.00[USD].  Heckuva deal, I paid the full $45.00 for mine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Academy-B-29A-Super-Fortress-1-72-Model-Kit-Limited-Ed-/300556964285?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fa9751bd

For a change, I haven't been asked to go out with friends tonight.  That means I've been slaving away at the ICM Tu-2.  This kit may not be Satan on Earth, but it is definitely quite evil.  Fit is very bad, tricky in some places, downright impossible in others.  Assembly is not a stellar job, lots of guess work on the part of the modeller mere.  In fact, I've already screwed up following the directions and not paying attention to what I'm doing, I left a clear part out off the bottom of one of the wings.  I'll try to put some clear craft glue in there post assembly.  The fuselage is in about 7 or 8 pieces due to the strange curves.  I'm SURE that this could've been done much better with fewer parts.  Virtually nothing fit.  Most parts had a little gap or needed some sanding.  Some were just not going to work well at all.  I've used more filler putty and sand paper on this kit than in the last dozen or so.  Frankly, I'll be happy to be done with it.  The following shots are WIP, I've sanded it but not washed or primered the kit.  Somme assemblies are still needed (engines, oil coolers, gear, pilots, and clear parts).  Frankly, I'm not at all disappointed in what I've done to this point.  It was a TOUGH build!

Wait, WAT?!?!  Damned cat, always getting into my work...  Little fluffeh turd factory.  Strange but true, he LOVES to lick the rough side of wet/dry sand paper and both sides of regular sand paper.  Something in the glue he must enjoy...  Yeah, he's also the source of all the white hairs on my models.

Awesome work on the Tu-2 Andy , she certainly looks and sounds like a brute to build but it's coming together nicely , I like the cat too !

As for me nothing finished but a few new things started ;

1/72 Airfix F2H-2P Banshee...

Thank's to Gregbbear for helping me out getting the Banshee kit .

Next is Minicraft's 1/72 F9F-2 USMC Panther...

Along with Hasegawa's F9F-2 USN Panther , I'm yet to cut the wings for a wing fold ...

Also Fujimi's 1/72 A-1H Skyraider being back-dated to a AD-4N USMC...

I've cut the wings for a wing fold and I scrounged around the spares box for a consol for the 2nd and 3rd crew members ,

I'm not sure if I made a mistake cutting out the crew access fuselage doors , I cut mine in the same position on both fuselage halves ,

however the Airwaves instruction sheet shows the crew door on the starboard side of the fuselage slightly more forward over the wing but

reference pic's in some of my books show both doors opposite each other like I did ???

                             John .

John, do you ever sleep? If I maintained your build speed I think I'd be wandering around saucer eyed from the paint, glue and varnish fumes mumbling 'hey man, come and look at the fire pixies...'  anyhow...I've finished the Auster A0P-6 at last, mostly went together quite nicely apart from the interior cockpit framing which does need quite a bit of trimming and fettling to get the clear part to fit on top! 

One for the completed build page Stikpusher...

Draken, Im liking your remarks about us being so far spread but still this community. This is my first GB and Im loving the motivation and inspiration that everyones comments are giving me. I think towards the end of it we all need to put pictures of ourselves up so we can all see who we've been communicating with for so long! 

Now I need some help of all of you out there - Im trying to find the following kits for the stash and they are like rocking horse droppings here in the UK... I'm looking for the 72nd scale Monogram HU-16 albatross, Williams Bros C-46 and the Academy SB-17. Does anyone have a spare of these in their statsh the'd be willing to part with?

Doc.

I think for my next build Im going to do the F-94B Starfire. I haven't seen one on here as yet, so that gap needs filling. Then maybe the Seafire...

Well, I'm afraid I'll leave someone out so let me just say:

Fantastic work everyone!!!

I suppose I got interested because of a cute Korean-American waitess that used to work in a local Japanese resturant. I'd read a bit about Japanese and Chinese history but nothing about Korea. The more I read the more I became interested. I'm still amazed that before the 20th century Korea had only been successfully invaded once despite standing on a natural invasion route between China and Japan.

OMG!  I've just gotta find onna those kits!  That's an awesome build.

All three of the kits you've mentioned have been showing up regularly on eBay as of late.  Here's the link I use to look for stuff, you may want to change the details as you will.  It's for US$ kits available in the US.

http://desc.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=1%2F72&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=corgi%20wheels%20easy%20instructions%20park%20LED%20STICKER%20profile%20catalog%20topps%20topp%20yamaha%20suzuki%20honda%20xenon%20zoids%20die%20cast%20diecast%20digital%20camera%20page%20souvenir%20gia%20diamond%20dvd%20boxset%20set%20notebook%20laptop%20valor%20bmw%20cards%20chevy%20bandai%20macross%20decor%20swag&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_okw=1%2F72&_oexkw=corgi%20wheels%20easy%20instructions%20park%20LED%20STICKER%20profile%20catalog%20topps%20topp%20yamaha%20suzuki%20honda%20xenon%20zoids%20die%20cast%20diecast%20digital%20camera%20page%20souvenir%20gia%20diamond%20dvd%20boxset%20set%20notebook%20laptop%20valor%20bmw%20cards%20chevy%20bandai%20macross%20decor%20swag&_adv=1&LH_TitleDesc=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_ftrt=901&_ftrv=1&_sabdlo=&_sabdhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=200&_fpos=Zip%20code&_fsct=&LH_SubLocation=1&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D0&_fsradio2=%26LH_LocatedIn%3D1&_salic=1&_saact=1&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=1&_sop=1&_dmd=1&_ipg=200&_rdc=1&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH

This will cut away a LOT of the chaff, but you'll still want to modify it more.  I only look 24 hours in advance and not on weekends.  I've seen the HU-16 Albatross, the SB-17 and the C-46 show up at least once a day for the past several weeks.  None has been above $20[USD[ excluding shipping.  For the C-4 that means a helluva deal!  I paid $40 fo mine when I could get it.  I've got a second at home that i bought later for only $18[USD.]

Best of luck dude!

Doc Win ;

Tower Hobbies in the U.S have the 1/72 Monogram HU-16B Albatross in stock for $19.99

I recently picked up three of them and I posted an inbox pic a few pages back .

Speaking of the HU-16B , does anyone know what the inside fuselage color should be ?

                                  John .

The interior color depends on the country using it, I've seen interior pictures of a Spanish airplane with a lot of green.  Here's a link to a USCG airplane I took pictures of a few years back.  Interior photos are to the bottom.

http://www.yolo.net/~jeaton/Propplanes/sa16/sa16.htm

Helo H-34

Speaking of the HU-16B , does anyone know what the inside fuselage color should be ?                                 

Hiya John:

At USCGAS San Diego (back in the day), the birds there had green zinc chromate interiors ... the station commander was a close personal family friend and I spent many happy moments 'hanging out' there ... I don't know if the interior color was standard or particular to San Diego ...

 pepper

PS  Still pluggin' away at the Sabre Jet canopy ... almost finished with getting tape resideue off ...

I guess maybe it's lucky the windows are small then, who knows what the colors are supposed to be.  It doesn't look like the interior has been refinished on the McClellan airplane.  I know nothing was done inside when it was last refinished.

McClellan Albatrossies!!! I remember them well!! I loved it when the USCG unit moved there in the late 70's!!! I used to be at school and see them flying over!! Wasn't happy when they retired them!!! Wasn't the USCG the last US operator of the type?

simpilot34

Wasn't the USCG the last US operator of the type?

ISTR, the Hellenic Air Force and Portugal were the last two, but Mexico also operated them into the '80's.  I've seen the decals somewhere, 'last Albatross Users", but can't recall when or who made them.

the_draken

simpilot34:

Wasn't the USCG the last US operator of the type?

 

ISTR, the Hellenic Air Force and Portugal were the last two, but Mexico also operated them into the '80's.  I've seen the decals somewhere, 'last Albatross Users", but can't recall when or who made them.

 

Thanks draken, but was really asking about "US".

simpilot34

Wasn't the USCG the last US operator of the type?

I believe so. I vaguely recall seeing an operational USCG Albatross on the tarmac on the back side of LAX where the Coast Guard kept their air assets back in the mid 70s or so...

Dr Win, your Auster has been added to the front page completed line up! I am looking forward to your next project!

Finished with the Tu-2!  WOOHOO!  Of all the things that really made me want to throw this kit against the wall and see what number of parts it could generate (poor fit, warpage, evil mold release goo, non-clear clear parts, un-informative instruction), I was able to enjoy one shining moment of joy with it.  The decals went on nearly flawlessly!  My only issue was one of the national insignia broke.  That's it, but it was in a single clear break and went together just fine!  So, here it is in all of its inglory...

I used Tamiya bottle Sky Grey for the undersides, Academy Dark Ghost Grey for the gear and insides, and Model Master Vietnam edium Green for the upper side with a gloss coat of Tamiya TS-13 Clear.  I used a bit of Micro Sol on the decals to have them snuggle up that little bit more, but I really don't think it was necessary.  Overall, I'm not horribly disappointed with the kit.  If I were doing it over I'd have a few tricks up my sleeve and know more about the fit and the build order that would make it easy.  If anyone out there does attempt this kit any time soon, please contact me!  I've got a few tricks for you on assembly.