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

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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...

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

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...

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!

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

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

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

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

Lead. Any kind you can manage. 50g is actually quite a bit of weight and you're going to need it everywhere you can get it forward of the main gear struts. I'd look at fishing weights (large, small, they even have cone-shaped ones you can more-or-less cram into the nose). 

Also, I believe it's called plumbers tape, but it's a malleable metal strip with holes drilled throughout. I don't think it's lead, but it's extremely dense and heavy. You could use it to line fuselage walls, fold it over on itself, whatever works.

Also...DO NOT secure weights with putty! It'll eat the plastic. I usually secure bits with CA, then hit it with larger amounts of white glue. Takes awhile to cure, but it holds fine.

Good luck...I'm about to head back to the weighting game when I start the PBJ in April...

Can I get a little help from some of the fine aircraft builders in this GB. I have zero experence with building aircrafts. I started a 1/48 scale Tamiya A10A Thunderbolt.

My question, in step one and two it calls out for a 45-50g weight. Please tell me what you guys use for the nose weight. How are they installed.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

Bob

It looks like a Hellcat. Wings and empenage are on. the engine is done. I thought about the resin engine... even worked on it for a while. I just don't have that skill set yet. Maybe the next build... maybe build one of the Verlinden Cyclones I have as a separate project. Food for thought.

I think it's time for a beer and maybe break out the airbrush or maybe not.

Fits together quite nicely, a couple of problems re the fit but generally good. The resin in this kit is extremely brittle so there have been a few tears and snaps. One thing I have noticed by looking at ref photos is that weld joins can look like CA glue painted over or the other way around.

My plan is to prime this with a mix of steel and RLM66, then using a foam brush I am going to fleck on RLM02 in patches where the device has been handled the least. I am hoping it has the look of a once RLM02 paint scheme that has almost flaked off with excess use.

Cheers

As the increasing list of AM grows for my Bf 109 it is going to be a few weeks until I get it all in the post. I've added the external bomb pack from Eduard, the Eduard PE exterior/interior set, the metal wheels, Aires radio set, Brassin wheels. I now have the Master gun barrels, Verlinden maps and the resin ammunition case.

So in the meantime I thought I would build a couple of the smaller diorama elements while I wait for the postman.

I got this last year, a Luftwaffe bomb trolley;

Really nice quality and fine detail. This should paint up nicely and can't wait to give it bumps and scratches etc.

Cheers

Great job on the Guadalcanal bird, jbrady! I've added it to the build roster...and I'd love to see you follow it up with another from late October!

ruddratt

...and now you're at work on a third 'cat?! Man, I need to get crackin'!

Ya