Pepper, Squiddy -- that's correct, anyone who started before the end of the year is welcome to complete in "extra time."

Dang, Squiddy -- I envy your metalworking skills. Were you a machinist when you were in the military, by any chance? My bro in law did a highschool course in small-scale metalworking, lo these decades ago, and my dad was an engineer, but I never really crossed the line to working in metal.

Amazingf stuff!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

^^^

Thank you TB but no formal "shop" training although I did restore classic cars for some 30 plus years and that included fabrication. Mainly though I guess it comes from some forty plus years now of tinkering with models and sometimes feeling the need to improve what came in the box? If my eyes are good enough to see it- I'll give it a go.

While researching this plane on the Net I came across several buildups of this same kit. In looking at them I was struck by a few features which really gave away the scale and lack of refinement in the plastic parts. To that end I made note of what I would change. One item was the front gear well doors. So I made new ones from two layers of brass to represent what I assume should have been reinforced stampings of some sort. I also busied up the bay with some "conduits".

Superlatives fail me! And no formal training in metalwork? Double impressive! It's always wonderful to see this much work invested in a basic kit, I used to call it "Maximising Minimalism," take an extremely basic kit and shoot the works to bring it up to speed. I'm delighted to be hosting such a project!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Oh? We just call it polishing a tur.....um,,,,,thanks!

I appreciate the kind words Sir.

MrSquid2U

 

 Now if you has said it was warm and balmy there in Texas I think all of my Elves would have abandoned me. Too late, I'm keeping an eye on them now!

Don't I wish that it were warm OR balmy here ... I did get some paint down yesterday but the cold has started ... next week we're to have highs in the mid- 20's with lows in the low teens, dipping into single digits a few times ... even some snow to completely put the kibosh on things ...

Fortunately, I've more than enough to do sans painting, so hope to keep busy ... and fortunately, I don't live in the Northeast either ...

I've nothing to offer your elves, here from Texas ... however, were i still living in my hometown of San Diego, I could tempt they and you with some warmer weather, beaches and the Pacific Ocean, mountains and great food (none of which we have in the Dallas Metroplex area :-) ...

Ah, such is life !! ...

pepper

PepperKay,

 San Diego would have at least gotten my elves attention however "we" all hail from the SF Bay Area and now being in Georgia we also miss the food, the weather and the Pacific ourselves.

 We've got snow forecast over the weekend and any stint in the spray room will be really short. Most folks call it a garage?

Mr Squid: Very impressive work there. I've always thought it was cool how modelers with more ambition than I have can take a 'basic-shape' sorta kit and bring it up to a finely detailed replica.

Here's the Vampy as she stood this morning. I've since finished the panel lines on her underside and am going to let her dry over-night and do the top surfaces tomorrow.

First things first there is some great work going on in this build I have enjoyed following. Now I finaly got some work done today on my 1/72 Me 262 and hope I can do as good of a job as you all have. cockpit done and almost ready to primer

Damon

I was in paint mode today got the 262 primed, preshaded and painted. I have never preshaded before only post shaded and I am very happy with the look I got. I am sold on preshading. Hope you like the Nowotny 262.

Damon

Gamera -- the Vampire is looking super! Not far to go on this one. That's a sweet build with lots of good technique brought to bear!

Damon -- great going! I too preshaded for the first time just recently and am also sold on it, I also used clear topcoating for the fierst time on the same build and now I've found a technique that works I'll be doing it often! Your paintwork looks top notch, she'll be a beauty!

Thanks for hanging in there, guys!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks Mike!

Damon: The 262 is looking good! The shading looks great and I like the nice subtle faded look of the camo.

Hi Guys:

After much hard work, this is the seat from the resin parts I bought ... of all the parts in the mini-kit, the seat was the only thing I can use ... the seat back is from the kit ...

For some reason, my camera was shooting everything with a blue cast to it ... that's now fixed ...

Progress now will be rapid and I should have the Sabre Jet ready for paint by tonight ... then, I'll have to wait a bit until it warms up ...

pepper

Pepper -- is that pack ice I see in your pool? BRRRRRRR!

Well, I'm finally back on the Meteor. I had been about to mask up and preshade for the camo when, under a magnifyuing glass, I notice the leading edges needed filling and sanding again. That's the one problem I have with Tamiya kits, the leading edge of the wing. So, sand down the yellow, thin up some white putty with liquid glue, apply, wait... Rub it down, wash and air dry, mix and respray the yellow. Back where I was, but now clear to mask up and preshade. I'll respray the Sky band over the preshading, I learned that trick since I put that band on!

In the meantime I've been working piecemeal on builds for the three new GBs I'm hosting, which are all moving along, and am knocking out a quick Hasegawa Kyofu Rex seaplane to test the Microscale Satin topcoat in action again.

Hoping to post preshade pics soon, it's a bit nerve-racking when your build looks like a zebra-skin rug...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thunderbolt379

Pepper -- is that pack ice I see in your pool? BRRRRRRR!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hiya Mike:

You betcha that's ice in the pool ... 18 degrees as I type right now at 8:30 in the AM ... you guys can see why I can't paint ... too cold :-) ...

pepper

pepper kay

 

Thunderbolt379:

 

Pepper -- is that pack ice I see in your pool? BRRRRRRR!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

 

 

Hiya Mike:

You betcha that's ice in the pool ... 18 degrees as I type right now at 8:30 in the AM ... you guys can see why I can't paint ... too cold :-) ...

pepper

Um yeah. We've been around the 20s and "snowed in" for the last few days here in what used to be called "HotLanta"? But it's warming up and I might hit the bench soon to revive the HE-280!

Great stuff to those who have posted their progress lately! You all are motivating me to get back to work.

MrSquid2U

 

 

Um yeah. We've been around the 20s and "snowed in" for the last few days here in what used to be called "HotLanta"? But it's warming up and I might hit the bench soon to revive the HE-280!

Hey Squid - what counts as "snowed in" down there? Sounds like it was a bugger of a storm before it ever got up my way - it's warmer in NB right now!

VanceCrozier

 

MrSquid2U:

 

 

 

Um yeah. We've been around the 20s and "snowed in" for the last few days here in what used to be called "HotLanta"? But it's warming up and I might hit the bench soon to revive the HE-280!

 

 

Hey Squid - what counts as "snowed in" down there? Sounds like it was a bugger of a storm before it ever got up my way - it's warmer in NB right now!

Well honestly to me it's a joke what they call a "state of emergency" here. I'm originally from California and the amount of snow and ice around here didn't even count back in Ca. But we have had power outages and they can't keep up with repairs so some folks are truly hurting.

We received something like 6-8 inches over one day/night in particular with days of temps below freezing. Combine that with ZERO snow plows and everything simply shuts down until it melts. That's just now getting better.

MrSquid2U

  

We received something like 6-8 inches over one day/night in particular with days of temps below freezing. Combine that with ZERO snow plows and everything simply shuts down until it melts. That's just now getting better.

Same here guys ... the best we have are dump trucks full of sand that are used to sand the bridges and overpasses ... we had snow last Sunday which still hasn't melted and it's still a hazard getting out and about ... no one here knows how to drive in it and that makes going anywhere an adventure ...

I'm glad I have a 4 x 4 cuz it sure comes in handy, even getting out of my driveway :-) ...

At least we haven't had any power outages, though just a wee bit to the east of us, some of the small towns are still without power ... I guess you could empty your refrig and freezer and just put everything on the back porch ...

pepper

Progress at last! Today I got the Tamiya Meteor preshaded, after masking the yellow leading edge strips. I sprayed over the sky band and will redo the sky with the preshade showing through. Here she is at the zebra skin rug stage, she almost looks like planes did 'in mothballs.'

I'll be changing gas cylinders on the AB tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do the sky band and mask it up, then I'm clear to apply the camo, probably one shade per day. The topcoats will be acrylic, so they'll go much quicker, or should if experiences to date are repeatable.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Mike looking good I love preshading wish I would have started doing it a long time ago. This 262 is my first preshade and I love it. Got some stickers on today. Hate those stencels but they add lots of detail and interest to models I think. I wonder what the poor guy that painted stencels on at the assembly plant felt about them? 

Damon

Damon -- thanks! Excellent work! Preshading, clearcoats and decals, what more could you ask for? She's going to look great up on her feet and with a touch of weathering. I have Heinz Barr's Red 13 on the bench, it's been there since RD II... It would be great to finish her! I might preshade her in the same round as one or two others coming along...

I'm optimistic about getting the Meteor into colour before long, maybe this weekend.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

I've always loved the shape of the ME 262. So "predator like" and almost shaped like a Great White Shark? I'd had soiled myself as a pilot just to see one screaming my way! Great to see some excellent examples on this thread Gents.

Well, it's warming up again so I actually crawled back to the bench.

I added a landing light to the wing. The usual way of filing a notch, painting the surround in silver and drilling lil dimples in the back of clear sprue to represent the bulbs and finally shaping the clear lens to the wing then buffing until clear again. I'll just mask this off while painting and voila- landing lights!

Squidy -- more amazing scratch techniques! I learn heaps just by watching!

A bit of progress today, I masked the sky band. She really is ready for camo now, but it was a bit windy today, as well as quite hot.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Bit more today, I blew the undersides into Humbrol 165. Tamiya X-20 is powerful stuff, stronger than MM thinner for sure. I'm not super-happy with the finish but this is the first time I've used enamel in ages, and it'll suffice. The preshading doesn't show through in the photo but it's there is real life. Masking underway, topside gray coming in a day or two...

M/TB379

Mike: Sorry to hear about your problems with the Meteor but she looks like she's coming along great now, looking forward to how she turns out.

Nomad & MrSquid: Great stuff guys, keep it coming!

Finished the Vampire this weekend. When I peeled the masking off the canopy it was a bit of a mess and spent Sunday cleaning it up. I'll try to get some photos up soon but it's dark and overcast here and I'm not sure how the photos will turn out without some good old sunlight. The weather forecast is calling for sunny skies Wed so hopefully I'll have them up before the end of the week.

PS The more I think about it the more I'm afriad that taking photos in sunlight might not be the best idea... Don't most 'vampires' catch on fire and explode when exposed to it???

Well I went ahead and took some photos outside this evening. Some are somewhat fuzzy and out of focus. Thinking of going back and re-shooting some of them. Anyway, here she is.

De Havilland Sea Vampire T.22 Flag Officer Flying Training, Royal Navy Air Station Yeovilton, August 1963

Classic Airframes kit - 1/48th scale

Beautiful job, Gamera! What day did you actually finish it? I put the completion dates on the wall of honour...

Just processing a pic for page 1...

Cheers, M/TB379

Mike: Thanks!

Well, I finished cleaning up the canopy (though there are still a few small places on it in the photos) Sunday so I'll go with January 16, 2011.

And again- thanks for an awesome GB Mike!

Gamera -- page 1 updated, congrats on two completed projects!

Cheers, M/TB379