Monogram Mafia Group Build

Thanks for your kind comments, guys.  The Cat turned out ok - better than I expected while in the process.

Also, thanks Hammer for the great story about Gen. Foss.  I suspect that most of the guys here know about Joe Foss and his war record in the Pacific.  There's a lot more great stuff in his life, tho.  Col. Foss organized the S. Dak. ANG in 1946 with P-51s, C-47s, A-26s, AT-6s, and L5s.  After Korea, Joe became General Foss and was Chief of Staff for the S. Dak. ANG.  That was about the time I joined the unit.  He later served as Governor of S. Dak. and Commissioner of the NFL.  While with the Guard, he formed an acrobatic demo team with P-51s painted red called the "Red Devils."  When he was Governor, I recall hearing him tell tales in our ops center, and specifically one particular comment that kinda personifies his character, "I calls 'em as I sees 'em."  He was a heckuva guy!

Ken

Nice Wildcat kbuzz! That scratch cockpit is very impressive!

Well here is my take on the Wildcat's younger sibling, the Panther, so far... Lower surface paint corrected...

Swingr,

My best guess would be to cut the offended part square so the bent molten part is gone. Then cut a piece of styrene sheet to its proper size. Glue that in and add Filler as needed...

Richard

Power has finally been restored to Casa Donnarumma!  Woohoo!  Kbuzz, the 'cat looks great.  As for me, I've been plodding away slowly at the B-25 and P-40.  

First the P-40.  I decided to add some wire to make the pit look busy.  

Still some painting to do there.

Next, I took a look at the IP and decided that it needed something.  Oh yeah, .50s!  The panel on this kit doesn't have the nose guns sticking out.  Obviously that needed to be changed.  

Not great, but hey, it's the first time i tried it..  

Finally, I looked at the bucket of a seat and knew it had to be reworked.  I filled the nasty hole where the pilot's back is supposed to go.  Then I reshaped the curve of the inside, which now is unseen.  Finally I added a harness made from Tamiya tape and wire.  Not great, but not bad for a first time.

Then it was on to the B-25.  I've been working a bit slow on it as it's the summer and that means it's fishing season for me.  And shooting season.  That and SWMBO and I got a puppy, so my free time has been non-existent.  I don't know how some of you guys do it.  Anyway, the engines got a little wire treatment although I think next time I should step it up a guage or two in thickness.  

The IP and pit was painted up and put on display before it gets placed in the tomb that is the fuselage and is lost forever..

And before closing up everything.  I know it's not perfect, but you can't see most of it anyway..

Finally, how the heck should I deal with this?

Looks like part of the fuse melted at some point, and I'm not too thrilled.  I know it wasn't my fault, but I'll deal with it.  Just trying to figure out how.  Any and all ideas are welcome.

So, that's pretty much it for me now.  After a week that saw the rumblings of an earthquake, rain from a hurricane, and questionable tornadic activity close by, I'm ready for a nice, relaxing week of sunshine.  See ya guys.

Mike

Wow, Ken, from me, too--excellent job on the Wildcat!  Who says you can't make a good model from a Monogram kit!  Really nice, well done!

Great job on the Wildcat. It can be a bear to finish. You have hit the nail right on the head.

Love that cat, Ken!  Great interior work!

Nice Kitty !!

know the boss met General Foss - hope he'll find this acceptable for the GB.

Yupper, I did.. General Foss and I even had a beer or two together at the O'Club... He got dinged for wearing his hat in there too. (There's a rule that all headgear MUST be removed in the O'Club. If you don't and someone see you wearing your cap, hat, whatever, he'll walk over to the bar and ring the bell there... Then the "offender" has to remove his head-gear, and buy the house a round...) Then that guy that dinged him saw the Medal and called the house to Attention and commanded, "Present ARMS"...  The General's money was no good there...

He was a fireball, lol.. And boy, did he hate President Clinton, lol...

I think he'd be proud of your 'Cat... I know I am...

Salutiamo..

Great looking Wildcat Glen!   I really like the pit details and finish.

Ken,

Super job on the Wildcat!

Glenn

bondoman

Glenn, you might know that I had family in Columbus for years. My first cousin Christopher was an active native of your state. Unfortunately he passed away last week at the age of 47. Chris was a really kind and gentle guy.

http://webster-assoc.com/3.html

No ones there anymore. My aunt died quite a few years ago, and Chris's brother moved north to Nantucket, where their father came from.

I last saw him exactly five years ago out here in the West. Don't know if I'll ever visit the Magnolia State.

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Please accept my deepest sympathies.

Glenn

She is a real beauty...I like the blue...very realistic.

Here's my version of Captain Joe Foss' Wildcat.  Additions to the box include Eduard PE cockpit, vacuform canopy, True Details seat, Super Scale/homemade decals.  Also, added brass tubing for wing armament and underwing oil coolers from some old EA6B fuel tanks.  Gotta admit - this was my toughest build to date.  I know I didn't get it all right (e.g., no belly windows).  Finished with primer, Krylon and Tamiya colors, Future, and Testor's dullcoat.  My weathering attempt was with diluted tempera poster paint lights and darks dabbed on and wiped.

I know the boss met General Foss - hope he'll find this acceptable for the GB.

Here's a rerun of the pit -

Upper views -

And the belly-

Thanks for looking,

Ken

Well I took two steps forward and one step back today. Removed the offending Sea Blue with some Polly Scale ELO (Easy Lift Off). Unfortuantely some ELO also got where I did not want it on the canopy framing inner color so I will have to touch up that area before I proceed to a top coat there.

troublemaker66

Thanks for everyones concern, we came through with very minimal damage and no flooding. Irene made landfall in Little Egg Harbor Inlet, only a few miles from home. My brother, who lives in Holland PA got more damage then we did when his electric went out and his sump flooded his totally and recently renovated basement....go figure....

Len, glad that you guys are OK down there.  Unfortunately things haven't been the same for us.  As you know, I'm not too far from your brother's place and we got a good amount of rain.  Power has been out since Saturday night.  I tell ya, it's not too fun modelling by candlelight.  When power is restored I'll get some pics up of the -25 and the -40.  

Mike

Glenn, you might know that I had family in Columbus for years. My first cousin Christopher was an active native of your state. Unfortunately he passed away last week at the age of 47. Chris was a really kind and gentle guy.

http://webster-assoc.com/3.html

No ones there anymore. My aunt died quite a few years ago, and Chris's brother moved north to Nantucket, where their father came from.

I last saw him exactly five years ago out here in the West. Don't know if I'll ever visit the Magnolia State.

Hi y'all,

First time in nearly a month that I've worked on the B-36. I laid on some Testor's silver and will try to hit it with the magnesium color before the humidity/heat hits again. After that, I'm laying the gear in so I can decal her on the kitchen table. Hope to have some pics available after the second color lay down.

Glenn

Thanks for everyones concern, we came through with very minimal damage and no flooding. Irene made landfall in Little Egg Harbor Inlet, only a few miles from home. My brother, who lives in Holland PA got more damage then we did when his electric went out and his sump flooded his totally and recently renovated basement....go figure....

Hope that you weathered the storm okay, Troublemaker!  A very tense time, indeed.  Luckily things weren't too bad here in Virginia and elsewhere.....looks like we dodged a big one.

Hey Stickpusher, sorry to hear about the painting ordeal.  Struggling myself with a metalizer issue on my P-51.  Not helped much by that port wing gun bay..... Totally hating on that thing......seems like it went together a heck of a lot easier when I was a teenager!  Oh well, we'll see........

My Airacobra is looking pretty good.  My best pilot figure in years will be manning the controls.  Now working on the canopy, then the decals........looking forward to finishing my first model in several years.

Love everyone's work; good seeing some of the classic kits from my (our?) youth turning into real show stoppers!!

Hope that you weathered the storm okay, Troublemaker!  A very tense time, indeed.  Luckily things weren't too bad here in Virginia and elsewhere.....looks like we dodged a big one.

Hey Stickpusher, sorry to hear about the painting ordeal.  Struggling myself with a metalizer issue on my P-51.  Not helped much by that port wing gun bay..... Totally hating on that thing......seems like it went together a heck of a lot easier when I was a teenager!  Oh well, we'll see........

My Airacobra is looking pretty good.  My best pilot figure in years will be manning the controls.  Now working on the canopy, then the decals........looking forward to finishing my first model in several years.

Love everyone's work; good seeing some of the classic kits from my (our?) youth turning into real show stoppers!!

Nice Tweety TM! At least most of you guys are tooling along well!

 I swear that the modeing gods are against me on this GB at this point. A few weeks ago I started putting downa  coat of Xtra Colour Duraluminum on my Saber for a two tone effect and the  stuff just refused to thin properly. It spit out tiny solidified chunks all over the beast so I put that one aside. I thinned the paint as I always do, with Testors MM Airbrush thinner and never had previous problems with that brand. So i sidelined the F-86. Today I attempted to start the painting on my F9F. Using Promodeler Gloss Sea Blue and thinned with Gunze Thinner, again a combo I have used with no issues in the past. Today it came out looking like a flat with specks all over looking like dust was in the paint mix (it was not). right now both builds are sidelined out of frustration, in lieu of flying into the garage floor, driveway,or other solid non yielding surface... I should have picked two armor builds... they would be done by now... This is really starting to chap my hide...

Thanks Bondo and Hans. That makes me twice made. Now, I gotta run, got the word to evacuate and heading for high ground. Irene is really starting to blow....

Sweet little Tweet, TM... Bravisimo!

STFD637

Hammer,

The Thud (WW version) has been done for a few months. I ran into some serious problems with the F-4. Major warping to the fusilage and wing. I am still working on how best to deal with it. Hence the Pintch hitting AH-1G Cobra kit from Monogram. I didn't think I was going to be able to get the build done in time.

 

Gotcha.. I'll update accordingly... Wear the badge proud..

TM- WOW

Ok Fella`s...here`s # 4, A-37 Dragonfly. All OOB including decals...nice little kit!

Hammer,

The Thud (WW version) has been done for a few months. I ran into some serious problems with the F-4. Major warping to the fusilage and wing. I am still working on how best to deal with it. Hence the Pintch hitting AH-1G Cobra kit from Monogram. I didn't think I was going to be able to get the build done in time.

the Baron

I finally got my meatball and tail code decals from my vendor, so I am wrapping up the Zero, goal is to finish it this weekend.  Then I can focus all effort on the A-24.

Got the decals on my Zeke finally too... Just starting the weathering...

Where you at with the Thud and Phantom, Trav?