Way Too Many Props GB April 18, 2011 - Extended to July 28, 2012

B17Pilot

 

daddy1:

 

  One question though, what did they do with the paratroop door on airborne drop missions?  Was it left in place till the drop zone?, or left at the home base?, strapped to the rear bulkhead, or what?

 

 

I believe they just left it at home base since it was removable.  Plus after the drop they would have the static lines from the parachutes hanging out the door that can be reused upon the bird's return.

 That's what I thought , but wasn't sure. Hadn't seen it strapped inside in any ref. pics. I don't think I'll bother with more detailing of that particular door since it really won't be part of my display anyway.

 I'll still tack it in place for painting though.  What else to plug that hole for painting but the part that fits there,right.

  A thought I have about invasion stripes. We see many different articles about painting nice and neat invasion stripes, and on models, nicely weathered ,etc. Many pics I've seen of the stripes being applied in real life show them being hastily applied with large brushes and more of a rush to get them on the vast numbers of aircraft being used .

 Thus, the edges often weren't always crisp. There were probably drips of both black and white paint around where the stripes were and probably a fair amount of the color underneath showing through. Also , they would look fresher than the surrounding finish due to their newer and temporary application.  

 Not that I'm going to be sloppy when applying the invasion stripes on this C-47. I will, although, keep this in mind and more than likely , hand brush them on at such a time in the finishing/weathering process to capture a bit more realism. Just my .

 Howard

daddy1

  One question though, what did they do with the paratroop door on airborne drop missions?  Was it left in place till the drop zone?, or left at the home base?, strapped to the rear bulkhead, or what?

I believe they just left it at home base since it was removable.  Plus after the drop they would have the static lines from the parachutes hanging out the door that can be reused upon the bird's return.

 B-17 Pilot- That flight deck looks good . Definitely have to add one of those to my stash.

 Reasoned- I'm also glad for the extension. Now, I can relax and detail up the engines, gear wells, etc. on my Goon' without having to rush it a bit. Looking forward to seeing the Peacemaker go together.

 I built the first release of that kit years ago . I added some detail to the flight deck and nose area but really couldn't see much because of the small 1/72 scale windows. As I recall, it went together fairly easy and made for an impressive model due to its size. The only difficulties were the typical Monogram issues and easily overcome. Actually, the most difficult part was handling it while painting because of its size. The Aluminium Overcast was a huge airplane!

 Been making forward progress on the Goony . Started work on removing the molded ignition wires and cleaning up the cylinder banks. Tedious work, but will make a big difference in the finished product.  

First step , shave off the molded detail and clean up the cylinder.

Rescribe cooling fins with sharp #11 blade.

drill plug holes front 

and back. 

While I'm at it, I'm drilling mount holes for oil returns, etc. 

The holes look large when the pic is this close and magnified to see the details, but they are an appropriate size.  After all this shaving and such , a final clean up with 800 grit sandpaper to remove the plastic fuzzies and remaining mold lines.

The interior of the doors, in progress. Need to smooth the insides of the cargo doors and add various handles,etc. to all three.

 One question though, what did they do with the paratroop door on airborne drop missions?  Was it left in place till the drop zone?, or left at the home base?, strapped to the rear bulkhead, or what?

 The reshaped kit cowls. Notice a more tapered, rounded profile. 

 There's my update , keep up the good work everyone.

 Howard

Sure am glad this thing was extended, as soon as the Val is finished I'm cracking the B-36 open.... but given the size it may be July of 2013 before it's completed!  Although I'm not going to sweat it all that much detail wise, it'll just be hanging in my 7-yr old's room.

Kevin thank you very much!

B17Pilot office looks superb,nicely done Sir!

Trey, That is a work of art! 

B17Pilot, Looks great!  You're off to a good start.

Interior is complete.  Now its time to future coat the clear pieces and get them and the cockpit installed.  Though I noticed that an extra chair is provided but not used in any where, so I'm thinking another version is in the works, PV-2 perhaps?

Anyway here's the cockpit:

All together:

 I do have some pretty thin sheet from an auto dealer tag, also a for rent sign that's pretty thin . I used it to make the cowl flaps on my Revelogram 1/48 B-24 a couple years ago and it looked pretty good . It's a softer grade of styrene and cuts fairly easy with light pressure. I'm also giving the aluminum can way serious thought. It would even have a degree of curve to it already. 

 The fuselage halves have a fair amount of concave at the join edges. Had to put a shim between the underside of the floor and bottom of the fuselage to bring it even with wing trailing edge. Still needed several layers of putty/file/sand to smooth it out, top and bottom. 

 Howard  

daddy1

  In addition to reshaping the kit cowls, I'm also going to make open cowl flaps with thin sheet stock. That should give a decent view of the backside of the engines , exhaust manifolds, etc.

Having just scratchbuilt flaps for another GB, I'd suggest finding something other than styrene sheet. It doesn't really go all that thin, and when it does it's a paint to cut without messing it up. 

Cutting up and aluminum can would give some awesome material for cowl flaps. Or you could use stencil paper...nice and thin, very workable. Used it for the bracing for my flaps and yeah, it sold me on thin but workable...

[/quote] To be honest , do to the cost ( got mine with a 50% off sale through Dragon) of the Trumpeter kit and the amount of work to correct the little flaws , one might be better off going with the Revellogram C-47 kit. Don't get me wrong , this kit is great and would build OOB into a beautiful replica. But, for the money , it should be more like a Tamiya . 

[/quote]

That's my problem with most Trumpy kits to be honest. 

 Just wanted to clarify. The image comparing the Quickboost cowl I found on the web and using as reference only.  They do look very nice, however , I'm having to reshape the kit cowls to the correct profile. The images of the Quickboost cowl will be very handy as reference.

  Wish I could afford many of the aftermarket items out there, but with my modeling budget being snug , it's better for my funds to go into kits, tools, and supplies. That's why so much of my detailing is scratched. Actually forces me to be more creative sometimes in figuring out how to make what I'm looking for.

  In addition to reshaping the kit cowls, I'm also going to make open cowl flaps with thin sheet stock. That should give a decent view of the backside of the engines , exhaust manifolds, etc. 

 The kit engines are well detailed, but I may shave off the molded on ignition wires and go with my tried and true black polyester thread. The molded wires are just too straight.

 To be honest , do to the cost ( got mine with a 50% off sale through Dragon) of the Trumpeter kit and the amount of work to correct the little flaws , one might be better off going with the Revellogram C-47 kit. Don't get me wrong , this kit is great and would build OOB into a beautiful replica. But, for the money , it should be more like a Tamiya . 

Doogs -  Glad to hear the good news about the Ventura. Definitely sways me to have to have one side of things. 

Howard

Trey - great job on that 188! 

Zogg - Love me some Lanc! I've got a weak spot for British engineering, especially the "so ugly it's beautiful" school...

Howard - those Quickboost cowls look quite nice!

Didn't get to do much with the Ventura tonight, but I did manage to get an initial test assembly done. First impressions? One of the cleanest and best-fitting kits I've ever encountered. Up there with the Tamiya Jug and big Spitfire. Seriously. No slop, no flash, and while the wings could probably benefit from a longer spar, I think they're the first wings I'll be able to install AFTER I paint the bloody thing. Just have to be sure to sit the thing by the wings while they dry to ensure proper dihedral, but the wiggle is very minimal and the wings literally click into place.

Here it is propped up ever so slightly. Perfect join.

This one's going to be fun!

B17Pilot thank you Sir!

Jeff thanks ,nice start on the Lanc!

Vance thanks looking forward to seeing the Henschel!

Howard thank you! That resin cowl looks nicely molded. Great progress so far looking forward to more!

 Trey - I think the Ju-188 turned out great.  Dang !, those Germans sure know their  toy making don't they. I bet that cockpit got pretty warm om a sunny day under that greenhouse nose though. One wonderfully wicked looking warbird.

 Zogg- Another good looking bird, with the sound of four Merlins too. One  of these days I'll build up the 1/48 scale kit to go alongside my B-24 Witchcraft and B-17 Texas Raiders.

 I'll be watching with interest, the Ventura builds . I've also been  thinking of adding the kit to my stash. 

 Whew, glad to hear of the extension. Gives me time to correct the cowls on the C-47 and jazz up the engines a little. 

 As you can see , the Goon' is getting into full swing and occupying most of my ramp space. The wings on the C-47 were long affairs with some very impressive ailerons. 

Here's the progress on the cowls. The kit cowls seemed like they'd be too thin to do much filing and sand the correct contours and the reference I found on the web looks like the correct profile is a little heavier in out side diameter . I laminated a strip of plastic around the cowls for some "meat" to sand and carve on .    

Howard

Trey - NiiiiCE!
DoogsATX - you can't go wrong with the flying octopus!
Zogg - Looking forward to seeing your Lanc getting built up. I got to see the "Mynarski" Lancaster in the air in Saint John when I was still in school. My photos were mysteriously lost between the developer & me.

Think I'm nearing completion on the Henschel, should be popping in here with my contribution shortly. Keep up the great work gang!

Trey, that JU-188 is like the Honeybadger.  Its pretty badass. 

I finally got started on the Lancaster last weekend, busted open the giant box and started cutting and organizing some pieces and subassemblies. 

Lots of clear parts needing masking! :

Finished an Easter Basket for Herr Goering a few weeks early:

Got some interior subassemblies done and primed, and test fitting the fuselage:

Cockpit floor is going to need some filler: 

I'm not going to get much done for the next week or two, since I'm heading out of town for a while.  Glad the deadline has been extended a bit!   More progress shots later...

Jeff

So far I like the kit! Got the cockpit painted and gave it a wash today.  Need to spray on a flat coat over it and then I can put it together.  So far its a really nice kit!  I'm doing mine in VP-135 based at Attu, AK; the one provided in the kit.

Better late than never, I'm finally ready to get rolling on this one with Revell's new PV-1 Ventura. I'll be building it as "Sea Deuce 2" of VPB-133. One of them Octopus-wearing PVs with the chin-mounted .50s. Should be taking the first steps tonight!

Trey - Man that thing looks great!! Front page updated.

Macattack - Can't wait for those pics!

OK, I got a couple of requests to extend the date. I kind of agree don't think I'll finish next month either, so the dateline is now extended to July 28 (First flight of B-17).  Hopefully that will give everyone a little more time to finish up.

Thanks Kevin

I wet sanded the bad join areas on the canopy and fuse and reshot them. I think its a lot better now,at least I can live with it. The finished shots,thanks again for all the positive comments and support.

.

troublemaker66

Trey- You`re kidding, right?  That looks awesome to me, can`t really see the canopy issue. I know pictures tend to hide some imperfections but that 188 is spectacular.

  Looks good from here! 

I hope to get crackin' at the engine/gear bays this week.  I will post some pics soon. 

Len thanks,yea the camera is being real kind. The frame to fuse areas are not great, I'm in the process of wet sanding and re shooting those areas. I did the rlm75 with a poster putty mask and the rlm 82 is free hand brush

Trey- You`re kidding, right?  That looks awesome to me, can`t really see the canopy issue. I know pictures tend to hide some imperfections but that 188 is spectacular. How `d you do the mottle...mask or freehand?

Len

Howard ,brilliant detailing on the interior!

Kevin thank you!

B17Pilot diving right into the Ventura,awesome! Looking forward to seeing this build up.

I've done the wash,a mix of my own on the top and Pro Modeller light dirt on the bottom. I'm totally disgusted with the canopy fit,really shows up ugly now in the pics. I'll be wrapping up all the fiddly bits antenaes,gun sights ect. and putting this build behind me.

We'll give you two big for trying.   Looking forward to seeing your Ventura take shape.  I still gotta order one of those.

Resistence is futile! - To quote a famous line.  In other words work on the Revell Ventura as began.  Didn't hold out very long did I?

Interior shot with with interior green and some detail paint added.

More to come.

Howard - Awesome work on the C-47! I'm going to send you my Monogram one to get the same treatment!

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

Trey, awesome work with the painting!  That looks great. 

Howard, very impressive work on the interior of your C-47. 

that is some wonderful, wonderful detail in that C-47 Daddy1!! Fantastic!

Thanks Rich. The inside lining in the forward cabin/flight deck is kitchen foil pressed down over window screen , then trimmed om the diagonal. You can find pics of he process on page 33 of this GB. Page 36 shows where I cut narrow strips of plastic for the ribs and stringers in the aft cabin. Other details made with little bits of sprue, sheet plastic, and thread. I used monofiliment  nylon thread colored silver with a sharpie marker for the static jump line. 

 The kit has a printed film with the gauge faces to affix to the backside of a clear IP. I used a drop of white glue to mask the gauge faces on the clear part , painted black.then popped off the spots of dried glue. A very light drybrush of aluminum, and tiny dot of the appropriate colors applied very carefully with a 10 0 spotting brush. Another method is ,sharpen the tip of a toothpick to a fine point. Dip only the sharpened tip into the paint of your choosing , blot of any excess. Then use the tooth pick as a very fine tip pen. I also will put a few random dots of red , green or yellow here and there to give the impression of different switches and lights . Makes for some nice contrast with all the OD, int. green, and black. Most of all just have to be patient  and keep a steady hand. 

That is some awesome interior detail on the C47!  Absolutely beautiful..  What did you use for the inside lining in the cockpit ad tail compartments?  I can never get the instrument panels to be that neat and sharp.  What method did you use to detail them?

Keep up the great work.  I can hardly wait to se this baby completed.

Rich