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

Doogs - Man you've gotten ahead of me on the Ventura!  I've been side tracked with other non modeling projects and a getting a P-47 done for the NMF GB.  Need to return to putty my Ventura

Trey - Dude those hollowed out parts look sweet!

Doogs and Trey.. looking sweet !!

And the painting begins! Got the undersides covered in Gunze Offwhite last night. Hands down my favorite white paint. 

Now that I've got a good base, I'll be shading and overcoating tonight. Then it'll be on to the blues. 

Wow now thats a big flying wing, nice work!

Good thing you extende he GB I haven't work on my FW 189 yet, but I am one with my OT-26, so I should work on it now.

Jeff thanks,its all oob stock. Looking forward to seeing the Lanc progress.

Doogs looking good,I like that method for filling seams as well and will be using it a lot on this wing the joins on the leading edges are terrible!

I opened up the leading edges and hollowed the wing ,more tedious filling ahead!

DoogsATX

Len - Swanny's tip is basically to "gate" the seam with tape close on either side, apply putty, smooth it out/down with acetone, then pull the tape up. This way you don't make a giant putty mess. Use it all the time myself and swear by it for fuselage seams.

Lately, I`ve been doing my seams with CA and accelerator...no mess and you don`t have to wait for putty to dry...

Len

DoogsATX

I wouldn't say I have it down pat, but I've got it down to a minimum of expletives.

First, I use 3M Acryl Red putty, thinned down with either nail polish acetone or with lacquer thinner. Depends on my mood. I mix it up to where it's more of a sloppy paste - a bit thicker than white glue - then slather that into the seam.

I also work in short lengths...I'll tape off the entire seam at maybe 3" intervals, so I only have to deal with that much at a time.

After the putty's had a minute or so to set up (enough that it can "grab"), I swipe it with either a q-tip damp with NPR acetone, or with a finger (in a glove, of course, that stuff's nasty). As soon as I  do a run to a break (say, cowl to canopy), I bust out the sanding tools to knock down the tape ridge. Then as it sets up even more I'll come back with fine and ultra-fine grits to really smooth the seam out.

Great idea on the paste, I half thought about that and it would make it much easier to work with.

Well, 3" sections are just fine on a 1/48 109 or P-47, on a 1/72 B-36 that's about 2 weeks of work!   Just kidding, that seems like about what I was trying to work with but again, that stuff dries really quick. 

Reasoned

Not to be a smart guy but in looking over the roster (25+ including multiple builds for some), the first page shows only 6 completed, is this correct (not having looked through all the pages)?  I know I committed w/B-36 (what an idiot) and I promise to have some WIP and this finished before the 7/28/12 date........ (or I will quit this hobby......... which is still possible).

Life gets in the way, I reckon!  Or in my case, my second one, the Ventura, didn't even hit the market till earlier this year.

That's pretty much how I do it too!  Key thing is to do small sections at a time.

I wouldn't say I have it down pat, but I've got it down to a minimum of expletives.

First, I use 3M Acryl Red putty, thinned down with either nail polish acetone or with lacquer thinner. Depends on my mood. I mix it up to where it's more of a sloppy paste - a bit thicker than white glue - then slather that into the seam.

I also work in short lengths...I'll tape off the entire seam at maybe 3" intervals, so I only have to deal with that much at a time.

After the putty's had a minute or so to set up (enough that it can "grab"), I swipe it with either a q-tip damp with NPR acetone, or with a finger (in a glove, of course, that stuff's nasty). As soon as I  do a run to a break (say, cowl to canopy), I bust out the sanding tools to knock down the tape ridge. Then as it sets up even more I'll come back with fine and ultra-fine grits to really smooth the seam out.

Bish

I have read that tip on Swannys site. Do you use neat acetone, i have read it can damage the plastic. Or do you use nail polish with acetone in it. I am haveing trouble finding the latter.

Doogs is correct in his description of the process, apparently you have it down pat Doogs, any pointers?

I used "Wally World" nail polish remover (I'm cheap).  I will say a couple of things having tried this 1) I am glad I went back out and bought the Squadron "white" putty, instead of trying this with the green stuff 2) As I have never used this type of putty before BOY does it dry FAST! 3) Because it dries so fast, going back over with the acetone on Q-tip gave me mixed results in that it didn't seem to smooth out the way I'd like (i.e., I had a TON of sanding to do, to get it smooth....er).  and 4) I was more messy than I should have been (see above photos) and got putty outside the gate, which had to be sanded.  Now I'm going to have to go back over the whole model, probably an inch on either side of the seam with 1000 grit sandpaper and wet sand to get all the flipp[ing scratches out!

Doogs, that PV-1 is looking really nice.  For some reason it makes me hungry for BBQ every time I see it though...

Trey, that flying wing is really cool, is that a stock cockpit, or did you add AM details?  Yer gonna need a big shelf for that one! 

I'm making very slow progress on the Lanc, been working for the last several weekends, so haven't had much time at all.   I've started filling/sanding some of the fuselage windows that were faired over on the real ones.  Been having a tough time figuring out which ones were covered on the later versions.

Jeff

Doogs, thats looking good.

I have read that tip on Swannys site. Do you use neat acetone, i have read it can damage the plastic. Or do you use nail polish with acetone in it. I am haveing trouble finding the latter.

Len - Swanny's tip is basically to "gate" the seam with tape close on either side, apply putty, smooth it out/down with acetone, then pull the tape up. This way you don't make a giant putty mess. Use it all the time myself and swear by it for fuselage seams.

Speaking of...went back with some Mr. Surfacer 500 last night and cleaned up a few areas. Reprimed them.

The white base goes down tonight. I'm planning to lay down white, then preshade, then lay down white again to make sure I get  the coverage I'm looking for.

Reasoned-

Could you explain or post a link to Swanny`s tip? When you say "uneven" do you mean one side of the fuse` is sticking up higher than the other where you glued it? That`s a looong seam and I`ve had the problems you described with a B-29 in the past.

Len

Yeah, if you saw the wing you'd know why.  I may end up taking this thing into a bodyshop to get the wings TIG welded on!

At least it's a very straight seam?

Also, HOLY WING SPAR!

This is why I'm still stuck on this beast, what a PIA, never have I seen such difficult seams.  My first attempt at a Swanny seam trick, not sure it will work for me but here it goes.....

troublemaker66

TREYZX10R:

Bish:

 Yes NMF is the order of the day on this one and frankly I'm a bit unnerved by so much surface area going that route!

 

Fear not my friend...if anyone could do it, you can. That`s gonna be one bad a$$ looking flying wing...

I've seen your builds. I have every confidance. So no pressure.

TREYZX10R

Bish:

 Yes NMF is the order of the day on this one and frankly I'm a bit unnerved by so much surface area going that route!

Bish

Right, i thought that looked like some sort of periscope. But i never thought of it being a remote gun station. To be honest, i wouldn't have thought it would have carried guns, seeing it more like a modern bomber, such as the B-2, than a WW2 bomber bristling with guns. But of course, that ignores aircraft like the B-52.

In fact that seat looks like a capt's chair with a periscope to give him a better view.

Its looking good. Would i be right in assuming its going to have an NMF.

Bish thanks and totally agree the guns were a cary over and I'm geussing had it really went into service its likely they would've been deleted. The prototype just had the blisters sans guns, in fact the 'tail' gunner bubble is painted over so I wasted time building that station. Yes NMF is the order of the day on this one and frankly I'm a bit unnerved by so much surface area going that route!

Right, i thought that looked like some sort of periscope. But i never thought of it being a remote gun station. To be honest, i wouldn't have thought it would have carried guns, seeing it more like a modern bomber, such as the B-2, than a WW2 bomber bristling with guns. But of course, that ignores aircraft like the B-52.

In fact that seat looks like a capt's chair with a periscope to give him a better view.

Its looking good. Would i be right in assuming its going to have an NMF.

Doogs very clean looking primer job,excellent!

Len looking forward to seeing them

Bish If I got your question right the pedestal is the gunners position and the pole in front is the priscope sighting system

I'm plugging along with the sub assemblies and started filling seams,tedious work

Reasoned

Not to be a smart guy but in looking over the roster (25+ including multiple builds for some), the first page shows only 6 completed, is this correct (not having looked through all the pages)?  I know I committed w/B-36 (what an idiot) and I promise to have some WIP and this finished before the 7/28/12 date........ (or I will quit this hobby......... which is still possible).

Reasoned

Not to be a smart guy but in looking over the roster (25+ including multiple builds for some), the first page shows only 6 completed, is this correct (not having looked through all the pages)?  I know I committed w/B-36 (what an idiot) and I promise to have some WIP and this finished before the 7/28/12 date........ (or I will quit this hobby......... which is still possible).

Just six, really? Yikes...and just as I'm getting on a big bomber kick. PV-1. B-25's up next. Just picked up Revell's Ju 88A-1 and Monogram's B-24J (oh and god how I LOVE that the reissue is in Monogram packaging!). And a 1/48 Black Cat PBY. 

Too many builds, and too many other responsibilities...

Not to be a smart guy but in looking over the roster (25+ including multiple builds for some), the first page shows only 6 completed, is this correct (not having looked through all the pages)?  I know I committed w/B-36 (what an idiot) and I promise to have some WIP and this finished before the 7/28/12 date........ (or I will quit this hobby......... which is still possible).

Hi all, I have lost interest in my ill-fltting and problematic Italeri Lockheed Hudson and was allowed to change to something with a better chance of completion.

I will be doing a 1/72 Italeri (hope this one is better!) C-47 Dakota in S.A. Air Force colours.

Pix to follow.

Theuns

Primer is down. Still have some areas I need to hit with putty and/or Mr Surfacer...that nose join in particular is a lot more prominent than it looks without paint, and there's a bit of work to be done on the fuselage and wing seams. 

Also got word that the paint mask for the octopus should be shipping out in the next few days. Since it's coming from the UK, it'll probably take 7-10 days, so no rush for me to get the rest of the painting done at light speed or anything.

Trey - the wing's coming together fast! Shame to see "the bridge" all covered up. 

Got some solid work in on the PV-1 last night. Note to anyone building it, the DMold bay doors have a corrected chin piece that also has to be installed by cutting up the kit. Yeah no. 

That fiasco stole more time than I'd figured, so I only got to spray the interior green for the greenhouse and inside the cowls. Primer tonight unless it's downpouring. 

Len  looks like it will be okay,the finish looks tight and a little repair just lends some authenticity!

Doogs the mask looks great,looking forward to seeing some paint go down

Drilled out the exhaust ports and I'm ready to join up the wings on the beast

Thanks for all the support and kind words and totally agree with the Star trek reference the office is screaming beam me up Scotty!!!