I have completed my Panther.  Here she is all dolled up and ready to go.  Paint is model master acrylic dark sea blue, with Alclad white aluminum and Tamiya flat white on the canopy.  I used a sanding pad to rub away some of the dark sea blue to reveal the undercoat of white aluminum to represent weathering (I saw a photo of an aircraft with this type of weathering on the wings and I think I did a decent job of replicating the photo - although the aircraft in the photo was even more weathered that what I did here).

Hey Gamera-  It was part my fault for leaving it unattended in the wrong place.  Life is not easy these days if you are without your technology for any reason!

Anyway, I was able to replace it for about the same price that it would have cost me to get the USB ports on it fixed and that includes a 1TB USB hard drive.

Thanks guys, you're making me blush, hopefully I won't mess something up before she's finished.

Jeremy: sorry to hear about your paint issues, funny I've never had much of a problem with NM paint itself, it's the blasted undercoat that always gives me fits.

Mac: ok I'll stop whining about my computer problems. At least mine wasn't stolen! Crossing my fingers you can recover your laptop.

Long story short, training and a stolen laptop have put a real damper on my bench time.  Kikka looks fantastic!  I am looking to get a little bench time this week but it is looking like the Sea Venom might not get finished until after I come back from the sand box.  I will be sure to post anything I get done before then though.

Gamera, very nice finish on the Kikka. Ditto to what everyone else said on the pre-shading. It seems Janpanese aircraft were much more severely weathered than other combatants in WWII.

Jeremy, sorry to hear about the troubles with the base coat of black. What specifically is the problem, orange peel? What type of paint did you use? The only experience I've had with NMF is Alclad products and I found thier black primer to be subperb. Nice and glossly and smooth providing you start with a smooth surface (I'm probably stating the obvious here).

Gamera, i agree with the other guys, your paintwork is splendid and i personally don't think the preshade on the other is overdone at all, it looks very cool...Well done

Jeremy, if you can't get it smooth without removing too much black maybe a coat of future or two will help....

Paint work looks great on the Kikka! Been waiting (patiently ) for pictures and they don't disappoint! Nice work so far!

I'm not too pleased with the way my black finish came out on the Airacomet. I was going to leave it alone but since I put in the resin cockpit, I'll try to fix it. I'm going to wait until this weekend for the paint to fully cure and then try to sand it down. Hopefully I can smooth it out without taking off too much black because I'm out of black paint.

Mike, Sim- thanks guys!

Yeah, it's always seemed funny to me when people call the Kikka a copy of the Me-262. I'd say it was more 'inspired' than a copy. The Japanese engineers didn't think one engine would be powerful enough so they went with two. And they wanted to experiment with different engine designs. Since different size engines would cause a lot of work redesigning a plane with an internal engine they went with hanging an engine off each wing. So by convergent evolution the thing ended up looking a lot like a 262. They did build an experimental rocket plane that was a exact copy of the Me-163 though.

On the other hand it was bizarre that the Japanese Navy designed the thing as a bomber same as Hitler wanted the 262. It was classified as a 'special attacker' -ie suicide aircraft. Seems to me it would have made a little more sense to use the Kikkas to punch a hole though allied fighter cover to allow obsolete aircraft like the Ki-43 and A6M to make kamikaze attacks. Still by the time the Kikka entered mass production by '46 or '47 American Lockheed P-80s, RAF and RAAF de Havilland Vampires, and early Soviet jets would be coming into use as well so I doubt it would have even been as effective as the 262.

Anyway, I've always thought it was a cool looking plane and it's nice to fill another gap in my IJN collection.

Gamera the Kikka looks awesome!! Love the varied paint for the otherwise monochromatic green. The Oscar is top notch as well. Looking good mate!!!

Gamera -- looking very good! For an aircraft derived from the same basic propulsion and research data you can appreciate just from the sight of it what a different design "take" the Japanese applied to the Me 262 research. A smaller, more compact aircraft altogether. If it had reached service they would have had a type that could climb as high as the B-29s, but it's doubtful it would have made any more difference than the 262 made in the west -- a perfect example of too little, too late.

The preshading on your other model looks fantastic -- I would say there are grounds for it being pretty right, given that the Japanese paints weathered faster than maintenance crews could keep up with it, indeed in some places and times only the hinomarus were touched up, the rest was allowed to wear off until the next scheduled service round. So you've acheived that battered" look that goes with the era.

Cheers, can't wait to see her finished (think badges!)

Mike/TB379

Ok, here we go.....

PHOTODUMP!!!!!

I don't think the blue aotake is correct. The wheel wells were probaby either natural metal or the same as the under surface. Still I like the contrast better with the aotake.

Decals added, nothing but the hinomaru and warning area to the ground crew around the flaps.

I always thought the Me-262 was huge, the Kikka though was tiny. Here she is sitting beside a Ki-43 which was a pretty small aircraft herself. Incidently it also shows how my old pre-shading is really overdone. I tried to restrain myself on the Kikka.

There are still a few snafus in the paint I need to clean up.

Fantastic work guys!!!

Kikka is about 90% done, I'll try to get some photos posted from my boss's work computer either Thu or Fri.

As to the computer the shop told me it was the video card. I'd advise anyone looking for a new one not to order anything from HIS Digital. I've been calling, emailing, and faxing them for two weeks now and no one ever picks up the phone or returns my calls and emails. I've been without a home computer for over a month and a half now because of their shoddy video card and I'm getting really ticked off.

Tom, Aggie, Jeremy.. Looking really good guys, great work

Gamera, lets see this Kikka buddy

Looking good Jeremy!! Can't wait to see her slivver and shiny!!

Gamera - Come on man... we're jonesin' for some pics!!!    PC still in the shop?

Tom - The Fury is coming together nicely! Look forward to seeing some paint.

Steven - The Panther is looking awesome!   I love those dark blue birds!

Not much in the way of progress but just to show that I'm moving along, here she is with the black undercoat. Only a couple of dog hairs to pick out of it.

model geek

Aggieman,

Panther looks great

Looking awesome!!!

Aggieman,

Panther looks great

Nice work everyone.  I am drawing closer to completing my build, the F9F-5P Panther.  I have completed the painting and put on the decals.  Some touch-up on the paint is needed, then weathering, finish attaching all the fragile parts and I'll be done.

Here she is drying under the lights:

Excellent work gents!!!! Looking forward to seeing paint on them soon!!!

Hi Guys, Sorry I've haven't posted in awhile. However I have been following all the builds.

Hawkeye - Well done on the Mig 9 and your collecetion of Migs is impressive.

Jeremy - The P-59 is lookin great! Looks like you have very few issues with the fit. Can't wait to see some paint on her.

Julez - The Arado is coming along nicely. That's an aircraft I've always wanted to build. Looking forward to seeing more updates.

Gamera - Glad to hear the Kikka nearly complete. Hope to see the pictures soon.

I actally have been working on my Fury. I've assembled all the major componets. There are a couple of fit issues that have been well documented by others who've built this kit. These include P/N A24, the nose intake. There is a significant step that requires some putty. The biggest issue is the gap between the fuselage and the wing. I install a couple of spreader bars made from spure in the fuselage to reduce the gap. But it still requires some putty. The other seams are typical requiring a little CA and sanding.

Here's a picture of the progress to date.

Next I need to rescribe a few panel lines. Then it's on to prime and paint.

Jeremy, Julez- great work guys!

Well decals are on the Kikka, there were only six hinomaru and no other markings.  I need a wash in the panel lines, then do the canopy and attach the landing gear and she should be finished if nothing goes wrong. Guess I'll have to do a big photo dump when she's done. Today since I'm here by myself at work I'd thought I'd sneak in and use my boss's much faster computer to post some photos but after telling myself about 50 times to remember it I left the cable to connect the camera (which I remembered) to a USB port at home.......

Julez72

...looks like one of those builds where everything goes right...

Haha... so far so good but I'm not out of the woods yet! Could be a trap!

Jeremy, yeah the weather has been weird, hot then cold wet then dry, plus my compressor doesn't have a water trap....The Airacomet is looking really nice, looks like one of those builds where everything goes right...Looking forward to seeing it all finished

Been humid there lately Julez? My airbrush used to spit when it got really humid out. I replaced the moisture trap that came with my compressor for an overly large craftsman moisture trap and no problems since.

Well, the canopy is attached on the Airacomet and the interior color sprayed over it. This weekend I will spray some gloss black on her to prepare for the metal finish.

Jeremy, Mate it's a typical Hasegawa kit, no gaps just seams...The only part i didn't like was assembling all that glass, very touchy but all fits well...Now i just have to accomplish the freehand uppersurface, my airbrush has been spitting lately but i'm blaming it on the unpredictable weather we have been having lately...

Thanks Julez!

How is the fit of the Arado? I have a couple in the stash and they look like really nice kits. Looking forward to seeing more with it!

Jeremy, outstanding work, that Hobbycraft looks like a Tamiya in your hands...well done

WIP from my end of the globe....

She's coming together now! I need to do some touch-up sanding and the canopy is drying from a Future bath. Once I get the canopy attached and masked, I can lay a base coat on her.

The wings on this thing seem huge to me. If I hold it next to my Ju-88 in the same scale, the wings are almost as wide front to back.

Hopefully they can sort out your computer Gamera. PC issues suck!

Jeremy- great work man- she's really coming together.

Sorry to say my computer is down again, as I reported on the natural metal finish II GB the 'professionals' at the computer shop took out my 500 watt power supply and replaced it with a 450 even though the video card said in big letters 500 WATT POWER SUPPLY OR LARGER ONLY. Sssssshhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssshhhhhhhhh........ They put the right one in later but still the thing has been acting strange. Am taking it to a different shop tomorrow and hopefully they can clean up the mess made by the first guys.

On the brighter note the upper surface of the Kikka is done. I've only to clean up the overspray I always get. The camera still works so I'll snap a few shots to post when I can.