Weathering GB - 2/1/2011 - 1/31/2012

Doogs,

As i said i wanted to do another large scale Uboat but as i am searching for it i couldn't help myself and plan in a smaller one: the RoG type XXI "Wilhelm Bauer" in 1/144 scale. Could i join the group with that one?

Also your suggestion of the new Arado from RoG was very tempting....maybe in the future. It does look stunning!

Richard

Robert92562

. Please tell me what you guys use for the nose weight.

Hey Bob:

You've gotten some good suggestions from the group ... I also use BB's - get 'em at WalMart or a sporting good store ... pour them in all around the nose of the fuselage, add a dab or two of Super Glue (CA) and a lot of white glue to seal them in ... ...

To answer one of your questions, you add weight up front so that the model will sit on all its' wheels and not have the tail drag on the ground ...

pepper

Thanks doogs and pepper, I picked up some lead tape from a plumber on my job and i have some BB's. Never thought of the BB's, This is why I love this fourm. Nothing to show on this build yet but I'm working on it.

Bob

Finished painitng the bomb tolley;

Think it turned out pretty well. The paint faking techniques worked really well. A good prime of RLM66 + steel and then daubed on the RLM02 with a small sponge brush. A bit of silver dry-brush highlighting on the heavy use areas and the lugs and then a very generous wash of a rusty brown oil with a touch of black to help pick out the details.

Next up is the Luftwaffe Oil cart, a little more complicated this kit. I read somewhere the 109s often leaked a lot of oil and these carts were used all the time to keep them topped up.

Cheers

kermit - gotcha added! Sad it won't be the Arado, but looking forward to a sub nonetheless!

Casper  - that bomb cart's looking slick!

Anybody see this month's FSM? Some really great tips for weathering older raised-line kits!

Richard, looking forward to seeing that sub come together, i'll be starting my verlinden biber soon, thinking about a little display with that one

Casper, i agree with Doogs, very nice looking bomb cart

Progress report..... I've put the wash on and have the first coat of flat clear on, after the kids go to bed i'll add the staining around the exausts and guns with pastels and hopefully have finished pics up by tomorrow...

Julez72

Casper, i agree with Doogs, very nice looking bomb cart

Thanks! As in nice and dirty! Just wait for the Oil cart, that's going to have leaks an'all!

Cheers

Yeah i like the oil cart it would look good on a base with a figure or two...i have a fair amount of 1/48 tamiya airfeid accesories that i will oneday turn into little displays for my builds...

Got all the little bits on last night... suddenly I'm at the point where I have to decide how to paint this thing.

This aircraft was a field repaint so I'm thinking I should paint the thing in intermediate blue over gull grey with the national markings then paint the three-tone scheme over that. Never done a three-tone scheme before so it should be a challenge.

jbrady

This aircraft was a field repaint so I'm thinking I should paint the thing in intermediate blue over gull grey with the national markings then paint the three-tone scheme over that. Never done a three-tone scheme before so it should be a challenge.

Why not do the three-tone scheme from the beginning with each of the color coats lightened up considerably ... then, add even more white to the 3 colors and go back over, spraying each of the large panels with the lighter - lightened colors and then shoot the thing with a very thin white 'haze', maybe 10% paint - 90% thinner ...

Just a thought ...

pepper

Pepper: That's one way to go. If you look at the picture on the deck you'll notice that the underside of the wing shows the gull grey on the leading edge. It'll be easier if I just paint the underside grey to begin with. I'm going to have trouble with insignia white and the grey will act as a primer. It almost looks like the side national markings were oversprayed with a very light blue before the stars with a bar were put on. Thing that amazes me is how beat up this airplane is considering it's the commander's personal airplane.

jbrady - I like your plan. I agree it looks like the fuselage insignia was overpainted, and it'd be cool to represent that in the build.

Also, instead of straight Insignia White, you may want to consider a VERY light gray (something like Model Master Camoflage Gray), or put a few drops of gray into the white. Should help with coverage, but also keep the white from looking too clean.

jbrady

More puzzlers here ... what carrier was this photo shot on ? ... if an Atlantic fleet airplane, the color scheme would be gray and white ... and their paint was beaten up even more than the Pacific aircraft ...

The star/bar looks to be an overpaint of a RNAF roundel ... look at the circular 'lines' underneath and over the top of the star/bar ... the Brits used Hellcats as well in the Atlantic and p'haps this was some sort of exchange-program bird ? ...

'Tis a head-scratcher for sure though ...

pepper

Pepper: It's VF 5 on the Yorktown August 1943. Check out the green prop spinner. The great thing about this photo is the documentation that goes with it.

jbrady

Pepper: It's VF 5 on the Yorktown August 1943. Check out the green prop spinner. The great thing about this photo is the documentation that goes with it.

OK, I've found this photo ... check this link:  http://www.markstyling.com/F6F.01.htm

On the first page, there are several VF-5, Yorktown 1943 Hellcats - on the 2nd page, I believe there's one more ...

Take a look because each carries a different paint scheme :-) ...

pepper

Thanks pepper, I've seen those plates. i'll be workign form the May 1943 image for the original paint. I know, though, that the August 1943 image is wrong in that Flatley's plane carried the blue rectangle and star not the red surround. The proof is the photo that we're discussing. Also VF 5 had the prop bosses painted green not intermediate blue. I love working from actual photo's of the planes I'm modeling.

jbrady

 i'll be workign form the May 1943 image for the original paint. I know, though, that the August 1943 image is wrong in that Flatley's plane carried the blue rectangle and star not the red surround. The proof is the photo that we're discussing.

I always thought the red surround was on all the a/c early in the war, then taken off ... if that be the case, then perhaps the captions on the photos (showing the dates) are incorrect  ? ...

pepper

The red and white stripes and the red ball in the center of the star were early war and removed in May 1942. The red surround was mandated in early 1943 and removed a month later. Some groups never had time to put them on at all. Some groups carried them for a month or two. Must have driven ground crews crazy keeping up with all the marking changes.

Now I've gone and screwed up again ?? ... confusion reigns today ...

I just checked Wikipedia and here's their write-up on Flatley:

After Coral Sea, he returned to the states to form VF-10, flying F4F Wildcats. Named the Grim Reapers, as Commanding Officer (CO), Flatley became "Reaper Leader." There were successes at Guadalcanal, but several losses which left him frustrated. Following his tour as Commander Air Group Five (CAG-5) on board USS Yorktown (CV 10), during which he helped introduce Grumman’s F6F Hellcat to combat in August 1943, Flatley at the age of 36 never flew combat again.^[1]

Lt. Commander Flatley as Commander Air Group 5 (CAG-5) in his F6F-3 Hellcat on the flight deck off USS Yorktown before takeoff during the Marcus Island raid on 31 August 1943. This raid was featured in 1944 film The Fighting Lady.

So the caption for this picture - same as your picture - would indicate the color scheme as being August 1943 ...

pepper

Pepper: That's the same photo. I just used photo shop to crop and enhance so that I could use it for reference.

Okay so now I've had a serious senior moment... I forgot to get decals for this particular build. I have the national markings but no lettering that's appropriate. Does anyone know if there are decals sheets with generic US Navy marking from WWII?

There's some really great work going on here!

jbrady - your Wildcat looks really nice - your weathering job is excellent!  I can't wait to see your paint work on the Hellcat. 

I've done a bit of work on my Hellcat during the week.  Instead of breaking out the AB, I drybrushed a few lighter shades of the Sea Blue and Intermediate Blue trying to replicate the fading seen in the Pacific.  After the lightening drybrush, I used a filter of burnt umber to tone down the lightening and give a bit of a dirty look.  Here are some pics:

Before:

After:

I'm happy with the overall look - it's very close to what I was trying to achieve.  I stil have to finish up the landing gear and apply a filter to the undersides.  Let me know what you guys think.  Thanks!

Steve

I've gotta say that I'm not thrilled with my pics!  I'll have to see if I can get some better shots.

Steve thats looking great. From what I understand drybrushing was all the rage in an earlier age of modeling. Seeing what you've done with the Hellcat I can see why. Shows that there is more than one way to do things right. Great work.

Steve, the Hellcat is both beautiful and stunning, as I look at the aircraft in this GB I feel jealous of all the talent.

J.Brady where on this earth do you get all the time to produce all this wonderful work.

Doogs, the bomb trolley is  a little beauty, the trailer looks like it has potential.

Personally I have got more work done but l am not happy with my own results to date and I am re-examining my efforts to date and trying to see if I can get the results I desired from the outset of the build.

I hope to get posting again soon.

Terry.

terry35

J.Brady where on this earth do you get all the time to produce all this wonderful work.

Personally I have got more work done but l am not happy with my own results to date and I am re-examining my efforts to date and trying to see if I can get the results I desired from the outset of the build.

I hope to get posting again soon.

Terry.

Sleep is over rated... coffee and cigarettes.

Looking good, fellas! Nice to see this GB moving right along! This has been an awesome place to hang out!

Rich, welcome aboard!! Looking forward to seeing that sub!

Casper, that bomb cart is aces! I'm sure the oil cart will be just as awesome-looking!

Jules, can't wait to see more pics of your 190. Sounds like you're making excellent progress!

jb, your 'cat is progressing nicely. Sure to be another stunner!

Steve, that 'cat of yours is simply superb! I love all of different weathering techniques you incorporated into the build. Really top-notch work!

I'm happy to report major progress on the Pfalz. All that remains is the prop/spinner, the windscreen, the guns, the upper wing decaling, and of course the rigging and all those turnbuckles. The method I used for weathering the lozenge worked out fine - I'm quite pleased with the result. Anyway, this is where she stands so far, but there's still a ways to go.

Ruddrat, wow thats awesome man, i like the way the rib tape just shows through the red paint...very nice I'll be watching very closely how you guys work the turnbuckles for future reference, i'm doing an Eduard 1/48 Dr1 shortly as an introduction into WW1 aircraft because of it's lack of rigging...I'm hopeing Wingnut Wings will eventually release a 1/32 Sopwith Camel as i'd like to do R A Little's mount from 201sqd, provided i can find a photo or something....ANYTHING to give me a clue what it looked like, there are plenty of references for his Triplane but nothing on the Camel yet............

I Should have some finished 190 pics up within the next 24 or so

jbrady

. Does anyone know if there are decals sheets with generic US Navy marking from WWII?

Yes, there are and at my LHS  besides ... I've got to run by there tomorrow and will look to see that  they still have them ... you're interested in the letters and numbers ? ... and your scale is 1/48 ? ...

If I see them and they're  not been sold, which I doubt - I'll grab 'em and mail them off right away ...

The stripes and triangles/diamonds/etc. can all be cut from a white decal sheet ... Microsoft makes that too ...

pepper

ruddratt - WOW! I need to go back and re-read your weathering plan for the ribs, that looks fantastic! 

I cannot wait to get cracking on my Sopwith Pup...I'm intimidated by it, but think it'll be a great challenge/learning experience! Now if they'd just make a Camel and a Spad XIII. I'd love to do the latter up in Rickenbacker's markings: