Official Alley Cat GB Sept2010-Sept2011

There is some great work going on here everyone!  I am itching to start this GB but I got to finish up the Lancer and the HRS-2.  Both of which are close to being completed. 

Howard, how do you do your exhaust stubs? Im trying to put some on my bearcat (8 each side if i remember correctly) But im having trouble cutting the brass tube and the tube walls seem too thick.

Cheers guys. Thats a cool tip on the scribing Howard. I try to avoid rescribing where i can.

I got the fuselage and wings buttoned up today as seperate assemblies. A few more PE parts to go in before i can put them together.

A few more wires on the engine and that will be ready to install. I used the kit engine.

Still no idea what im doing with the paintwork. I want to use black and lime green. origianlly i was thinking chevrons. but now im thinking over exadurated  camouflage. But the more i think of that i dont really like the idea.

Any suggestions?

Mikey,

Very nice looking pit.

Dean

Very nice work in the office there, Mikey.

I have an interesting scribing technique to share. Don't know if anyone has ever approached it this way, but is very effective.

Where you have an aileron, flap, cowling , or any part of the skin on an aircraft that overlaps another , I like to make a bit of an undercut along that panel.

 My example is where the cowling on my 'Cat overlaps the nose of the fuselage.

The portion above the exhaust has been undercut. You can see the visual depth it creates even before paint and washes. The section along the cowl flaps received a slightly deeper undercut to give more of an opening panel. 

 My basic scribing tools.

 Howard

Just an update. I'm planning to get the aftermarket stuff that I need for my Tomcat so I hope to start at the begining of the year. I'm itching to get it going.

Very tasty, scorpionmikey ...

pepper

Nice pit Mike.

Cheers,

Greg

ps- got your nighthawk down

Ok, pits done.

lol, fair enough greg. oh yeah check your hunting after dark GB. i added a new build for me.

Post photos when you can, nice to see this one taking off again. Ill try get some photos up this weekend of the bearcat. The pits coming along nice. I decided to do as much of the PE as i can before i start major assembly since most of the PE is pre-painted.

Dean, sweet Panther!  If I can get mine to look half that good, I will be thrilled.

Howard, great scratchwork.  Very inspiring.

Mike, I started plugging away on my Panther again.  I am going to try to get it done by the New Year.  Operative word is TRY.  This build started off quick, but I just can't seem to get it painted (right).

Cheers,

Greg 

No worries, ill add you to the list with a TBA

Hi All:

I'd like to jump in if not too late ...

Don't have a kit in mind, but want to build a Tigercat in CDF colors ...

pepper

(center)

(/center)

Wow howard, thats a mighty high bar for me to aim for with my bearcat. im working similar detail in, but most of mines after market PE lol. I hadnt even thought about brass rod for exhaust stacks. thanks for that.

I seriously cannot wait to se more. this looks like its going to be an epic build. 

Great looking work on the nose Howard.  I've got a soft spot for those wired up radials.  Super detail on the intakes and exhaust stacks.  Looks like a great build off to a solid start.  Rick.

 Your Panther is looking great, Dean. Fine looking aircraft.

 Due to computer glitches and other assorted snafus around here, it's been tough to get on the web or find a lot of modeling time. The Christmas season seems to grab a fair amount of spare time too.

 I have made forward progress though. 

 Detailed up the engine , built up the oil cooler/inter cooler duct work behind the 'grin'. 

 Here are the pics.

Decided to do a bit more than add ignition wires . The kit engine would make a good basic form, just needs a bit of reworking.

First, I stripped off the paint to start fresh, then cut off and carved out the molded on magnetos. Then lightly scribed cooling fins in the affected areas. 

Working from back to front ,first a fresh coat of paint , flat black with steel dry brushed on the cylinders. 

Scratch built ignition harness, reverse side. Just thin sheet styrene, cut to shape , mark off where the wires go , glue black thread for wires.  

Completed harness.

Have painted push rod tubes gloss black and picked out cylinder detail with aluminum. 

Built new mags and other detail from bits of sprue and sheet plastic. 

Completed engine. Added a little more plumbing with thread and stretched sprue.

Spruced up fuse. halves by cleaning up the exhaust openings in prep for the stacks and a little detail ribs in the nose.

I like to vary the interior colors for visual interest. Here , mixing a few drops of interior green in to chromate yellow.

Sections of 1/16th brass tube made nice exhaust stacks. There were none in this kit.

On to the chin ductwork .

First ,I made a 'floor' of sheet material to build up from. Next, came the screen using a portion of mesh ribbon, then built up the various vanes and enclosed the ducts with sheet stock .

 Next step was to give finish of the interior with some detailing , paint and wash. Finally gluing on the nose .

 Now I'm going to move on to the wings. 

The gear bays have some detail , looks nice , but not close to accurate. With the work I've put into the fuselage , might as well do up them as well. 

 Howard

Thanks Mikey.  Trumpeter made this a nice build.

Very nice, shes lookin a real beauty Dean. I like how the wash has picked out the details. Looks really good. Well done so far. 

Hey Guys,

I have the decals done on my Panther.

I used a medium grey wash so the rivets and panel lines stand out. It's subtle and not over done at least that was my intention.

This is a good look at the Panther face.

Dean

Nice, thanks for the Howard, Ever thought of submitting it as a tip for FSM?

Scorpiomikey

Wow, its gorgeous. Ive got a whole crudload of prepainted PE for my bearcat but i dont think its gonna look anywhere near as cool as that.

I found a good image of an Eduard PE set for a Hellcat Mk I on the web, saved the image ,rescaled to the size I needed. I then cut out and trimmed close some of the panels on the side consoles and IP .Then laminated to thin plastic sheet with superglue. That served as a great pattern to build up the throttle controls, instruments, other various switches and knobs. So this pit does have an indirect PE use. Still spent some time cutting and gluing some very minute pieces of plastic and sprue. A steady hand, a nice pair of sharp Fiskars craft scissors, and jewelers magnifying visor really come in handy.  

 The belts were also printed images ,reduced to scale , then used as patterns. I doubled up the paper strips in key spots where the belts might overlap and for the buckles to add a little more visual depth. Then painted with a mix of MM light sand and dark tan, a mix of MM aluminum and chrome silver on the buckles. Stitching on the belts and detail on the buckles was drawn on with a black Prismacolor pencil. Interestingly , the pencil point seemed to scribe the soft metallic paint on the buckles and give them a bit more of a 3D look rather than flat paper.

 Using the printed images off the web might be kind of cheating , but not unlike copying a picture from a book or magazine to use as a pattern. I just brought the internet age to old school scratch building.

 BTW the scissors I use , I found in Walmart's craft/ sewing section. They're made for scrap bookers and are sharpened to cut all the way to the tip ,blades about 2 inches long. I bought another pair just for decals. They're great for trimming into tight corners and up close. I think I paid around 6 or 7 bucks each for mine , if I recall correctly.Highly recommended , inexpensive tool .  

 Howard

Darwin,

That sounds like a good plan. I will give it a shot if the wash doesn't work out. Thanks

Dean

Since the basic plastic is gray, you might take a scriber of some sort and "lightly" scribe the panel lines.  Just enough to break through the paint.  This will allow the gray to show through against the dark blue.  You might want to try it in an inconspicuous place at first to see how you like it.

Darwin, O.F. 

Darwin,

I'm thinking maybe a medium gray wash. I don't think anything lighter would look right. Any thoughts?

Dean

f-4phantom

Howard,

Beautiful cockpit.

Now to get the nice panel lines to stand out. That's this coming weeks mission.  Dean

How are you planning to do the panel lines on that dark background?

Darwin, O.F. 

very nice, cant wait to see more.

Mikey,

That's for the VMF-311 Marines in Korea circa 1953.

Dean

I like the blue tail tip

Howard,

Beautiful cockpit.

I blew some paint on the -2 Panther this weekend.

Now to get the nice panel lines to stand out. That's this coming weeks mission.

Dean

Wow, its gorgeous. Ive got a whole crudload of prepainted PE for my bearcat but i dont think its gonna look anywhere near as cool as that.