Mighty 8th GB 1-Nov-2010 - 31-Oct-2011

I have completed my build for this group build.  I have been away from this site for a while with work, holiday and family stuff, football ... coming back I find that this site does not seem to work very well any more.  I click on a thread and it never comes up - I get the green bar saying it's loading but nothing ever comes up.  This is incredibly frustrating!  So I'm unable to scan back through the posts to see if I ever got around to posting progress pictures (the few that I actually managed to take).

It's the old Monogram P-51B Mustang done up as Don Gentile's Shangri-La.  Thanks to Doogs for his suggestion about matching up the red nose paint to the point where the checkerboard decal starts.  No issues with this build - good kit for its age.  Almost totally OOB except for the Kits-World decal set.

This is the kit:

Cockpit construction and painting (completed back in early November)

Completed build:

Aggieman: Very nice... How did you get the soft edge between the upper and lower camoflage?

jbrady

Aggieman: Very nice... How did you get the soft edge between the upper and lower camoflage?

I'll be curious to find out, too! When I built Shangri-La, I cut an index card to the right shape, and held it slightly over the surface when I sprayed. Worked well when it worked, but I wasn't entirely happy with it.

How did you get the soft edge between the upper and lower camoflage?

Believe it or not, it's total free-hand with the airbrush.  I typically start with the lighter underside color and spray without concern where the paint goes, then once I start the top-side painting, it's a matter of how I hold the aircraft and direct the paint spray.  I typically will try to direct the paint where it will only land on the areas where the demarcation is and not get around to the underside (meaning I hold the subject at, say, a 45degree angle away from the airbrush and let the paint settle naturally along the fuselage - overspray hits the newspaper beneath). Some times for the tighter areas, such as near the leading edge of the wing where it meets with the fuselage, I'll actually crank back the air pressure to 10psi and get real close to paint a fine line then pull back from the subject a bit to spray.  I've always had good success with this and have always favored the soft edges over the hard edges in camoflage.

Aggieman

 

Believe it or not, it's total free-hand with the airbrush. 

I tend to have better luck with soft-edge camo when I go freehand, too. Got a better top/bottom demarkation on my Dauntless than on the P-51B that way, and I'm planning to freehand most of this attempt at "Hairless Joe", with the exception of the red cowl, the bare metal underside of the port wing, and the undersides of the stabs.

Made a fair bit of progress on the Jug last night.

1 - Managed to get the fuselage halves separated again and install the exhaust fan thingy.

2 - Detailed and assembled the engine (and started playing with the intake assembly).

Apologies for the crap picture quality. It was getting pretty cold in the garage toward the end there, and I didn't have it in me to go grab the real camera, so I just pulled out the phone. The LED flash kind of washed out the black oil wash. Only thing I'm not happy with is the P&W logo, which went cockeyed when I put it on, and since it was CA'd, I couldn't adjust it. I also lost the poly cap, but oh well, it's a tailsitter so it's not like I have to worry about the prop falling off...

3 - Got the fuselage and dorsal spine installed. That spine is a minor PITA, by the way. I know it's there so they can re-use the fuselage for the P-47M, but I'd have rather seen the Hasegawa approach of a separate tail section. Alas. Hoping to do the wings and stabilizers tonight. It's funny, this thing probably has 5 times the parts of the Monogram, but builds just about as fast. The engine/cowl assembly and how it mates to the fuselage is a lot better, too, with that plug assembly vs. just the outer cowl ring.

Hoping to tackle the wings and stabilizers tonight, and finish off main assembly. After that, the drudgery of sanding and (what looks to be minimal) filling...

DoogsATX: You might want to check the fit of the navigation lights before you start to paint. I had a problem with the fit. I had to fair them in to get a good join. That involved repainting both wing tips... might  be easier to fit and mask them before paint.

Wow, nice job on the stang.

Im getting to mine, im a bit swamped with GB's ATM. Just about to finish my ME-163. Ive got 2 weeks to finish my skyhawk (Christmas present for my partners dad) Then ive got my racing bearcat to do. Yeah i might be a little late lol.

Aggieman  Not sure what you problem is with connection, i was woundering where you had vanished to. But as the build as only been running for a month, i wasn't to worried. Unless i missed them, you hadn't posted any pics till these ones, but life has a habit of getting in the way of things. Great looking build, and i have to agree about the demarcation, looks like you got that spot on.

And somthing else i like, that the box top.  I live about halfway between the two towns you see on there.

Guys, don't forget the other little task i ask you to do if you get the chance. A little bit of back ground on the unit and the base it flew from of the kits you are building.

jbrady

DoogsATX: You might want to check the fit of the navigation lights before you start to paint. I had a problem with the fit. I had to fair them in to get a good join. That involved repainting both wing tips... might  be easier to fit and mask them before paint.

Good call! Ran into some headaches with my Tamiya P-51B (and AM Dauntless, for that matter) when it came to the fiddly clear bits on the wings. I'll test fit once I get the wings welded together.

Hey everyone is doing amazing work! I'm thinking of getting some AM parts for my P38 this coming weekend. I still have to do my Korean War GB before I start this one.

ww2psycho  No rush, we still got 11 months to run on this. Thanks for checking in.

Scorpiomikey  Likewise, no rush. I take it the Me 163 is for the Rocket Power GB, gonna have to have a look.

Bish

ww2psycho  No rush, we still got 11 months to run on this. Thanks for checking in.

Scorpiomikey  Likewise, no rush. I take it the Me 163 is for the Rocket Power GB, gonna have to have a look.

Yeah sort of, im not really doing any progress photos though. It was more so i could get the hang of PE since my bearcat has about a million PE parts

Got my Ultracast seats today and they are definitely better than the True Details one I bought previously.  I got the rest of this week for classes and then next next week I got finals til wednesday so I'll be able to get going on my builds next week sometime. 

I'm also gonna wait on the B-24 for the time being.  I picked up some more stuff for my B-17 so I can get that project going again and I dont think I can handle two heavy bombers at once, so I'm gonna work on the P-47 as I work on the B-17 diorama.

How's this for a score... My sister paid $2 for a monogram 1/48 B-17 G at a flea market. When I opened the box I found the Verlinden resin sets for the cockpit, the nose, the radio room, and the waist. Might have to think about a large project.

jbrady - that's a heck of a score! Some people just don't know the value of things...

Got a bunch of goodies today, including my Aeromaster "Hairless Joe" and Tally Ho! "Hun Hunter" sheets!

Also, riddle me this...

I ordered the "Hairless Joe" sheet and a bunch of Eduard masks from Squadron on Nov. 28th. Squadron is based around Dallas, TX. About 3.5 hours from me.

I ordered the Tally Ho sheet from Hannants (only place I could find it, and they only had one left...) on Nov. 29th. Hannants is based in the UK, about half the United States and an entire ocean away from me.

Both arrived today.

What the...?

I deal almost exclusively with hannants these days, ordering anything out of the US is murder on the postage for me (living in NZ) So sprue brothers is basicly out (ill still order from them if i cant find it anywhere else) but thats about it.

No problem, I look at the form atleast 3 times a day so I'm keeping up with things on here. I just dont post a lot.

Work interferes with my building. Its shift work so finding time/motivation after/before work can be hard to do.

Thats a pretty good score, although I think the resin for the different compartments would be true details

DoogsATX

Got a bunch of goodies today, including my Aeromaster "Hairless Joe" and Tally Ho! "Hun Hunter" sheets!

Also, riddle me this...

I ordered the "Hairless Joe" sheet and a bunch of Eduard masks from Squadron on Nov. 28th. Squadron is based around Dallas, TX. About 3.5 hours from me.

I ordered the Tally Ho sheet from Hannants (only place I could find it, and they only had one left...) on Nov. 29th. Hannants is based in the UK, about half the United States and an entire ocean away from me.

Both arrived today.

What the...?

 

Doogs, I don't understand Squadron either.  I live in Arlington Tx (about 45 min away from Squadron) and work in Carrollton Tx, literally a 15 min drive from my job to Squadron's front door.  I placed an order with them on a Wednesday before noon, told them to send it to me regular mail (no, they wouldn't let me drop by after work to pick it up).  I figure it would be sent out that day and I should have that Thursday, Friday at the latest.  My order took SIX DAYS to travel less than 5 miles.  If you can make it to Scalefest next year, Squadron holds an open house in conjunction with the contest.

lewbud

 If you can make it to Scalefest next year, Squadron holds an open house in conjunction with the contest.

Good to know I'm not the only one with Squadron difficulties. Between their site design and weird shipping issues, they're usually my source of last resort. But $2 for a decal sheet was way too good to pass up!

Chances of my making Scalefest are pretty slim. I'm hoping to make it down to San Antonio for the show in February, but even that's an iffy proposition between the mrs. and two kids...

In Jugland, more progress tonight. Wings and stabilizers are on, and the inside of the cowl and all the internal bits are painted up.

Overall, the fit has prove to be pretty fantastic. The wings weren't so good that I didn't have to run the Touch-n-Flow along the wing/fuselage seam, but they were close. 

Also, a decent shot of the big double wasp:

After Consideration of what I posted about time/motivation in my weird work schedual, I May be changing to a P-51 to make it easier on me.

You're right. I just found the instruction that came with one of the resin sets.

jbrady

How's this for a score... My sister paid $2 for a monogram 1/48 B-17 G at a flea market. When I opened the box I found the Verlinden resin sets for the cockpit, the nose, the radio room, and the waist. Might have to think about a large project.

Nice find. Either the seller didn't know what he had or he will be kicking his self.

red, know what you mean, one 4 engine heavy was enough for me. Look forward to seeing the Dio.

The B-17 has been well under way for awhile and the project doesnt quailfy for this build, but i will definitely post some pics here since its in the 8th

If it from the 8th, its welcome to show its face. I did post pics of my B-24, so i can hardly object.

Well in that case I guess I can post some pics of it when I get going again.  It's assembled (kinda) and waiting for some paint.  I messed up the OD and had to strip it and am now about ready to paint the sucker.  It's a project 3 years in the making and I started over with a whole new plane in the summer.  I have a thread going in the diorama forum I think....its somewhere around here anyways.

And if you're wondering, it's a 91st bird out of Bassingbourn

This is about how it sits right now...

And the in progress figures posted before...

Anyone have a spare razorback canopy in 1/48?  I glued the fuselage halves together tonight and went to test fit the canopy and it was missing.  It's an old Arii kit so I can't write the manufacturer.  I guess I'll have to do the squadron canopy even though I really don't like those.

Satch