Monogram Mafia Group Build

P38, I suspected that might be your inspiration. I have seen the P-51 before. Have you seen any of the Heater Ferris camo on F-14s and F-15s? Similar patterns, but not so loud.

Dos, at least we now know you were not PWI

ah, thanks for clearing that up dostacos. For a while there I thought you went off the deep end!

CallSignOWL

ah, thanks for clearing that up dostacos. For a while there I thought you went off the deep end!

I was thinkin maybe he had a bit too much of that hot sauce

Stik, nice save on the PCF.  Looks good with the wash.  Not being familiar with the kit, was there any glass to protect the guys driving the boat?  I looked up a couple of PCF pics and they all had glass enclosing the bridge.

P38, nice work on the dazzle scheme.

Taco, thanks for clearing that up.  If memory serves, Billy Bondo was using the Tabasco for his bloody mary's.

Now for an update on my two F8F's flying in really close formation, aka the Tigercat.  Having just done a Glossy Sea Blue scheme, I decided to go a different route with the Tigercat.  I was inspired by one of my favorite movies Always, and will do her as a fire bomber.  I'm thinking International Orange over a Silver Laquer fuselage and wings.  IO on the wing tips and tail as well, or I may copy the scheme of Richard Dreyfus' plane in Always.  Here's some pics

I don't have a proper slurry tank, and can't get one in time.  Weapons hardpoints have been removed from the wings and the gun ports and shell ejection ports have been filled.  There is no cockpit included for this kit, so I'll probably paint the inside of the canopy black or silver. Hopefully that's enough weight, if not I'll add it to the nacelles.

Thanks Lew. yes there are a full set of glass (plastic) windows for the cabin. I still need to paint the frames. i will attach them after I get the flat coat applied. That way I do not have to worry about masking those buggers....

bondoman

 

troublemaker66:

 

All comments are welcome...especially since I`m just getting serious about scratchbuilding and gizmology and any suggestions and/or ideas would be helpful!

Thanks for looking,

Len

 

Way to go. Get a set of reamers. They're real useful because you can drill the holes per a layout, then go back and make them all just right size. I think yours are a tad small.

 

I have a spool of motor armature wire. It's like 32 guage,  cost me $ 5 and is nice and fine and has lasted for years.

If you DO decide to sling a fish under the Dauntless, a bic pen makes a good 'un.

Here's today's progress. It is 70 and beautiful, the hunnydo list is sporadic, and in between there's lots of I'm balancing modeling with other stuff like sitting in the sun and reading.

First, the three amigos went to paint last night and today. Left to right the P-6E, the F11C-2 and the F4B-4.

Yellow Wings Yellow works out to be a little pool of Testors Yellow with a look at the black bottle nearby, just a dauber on a toothpick really.

Otherwise all old school, except I am using a $ 9 paint brush instead of the little giveaway we all started with.

Any ideas about how to make Army Air Corps OD? I figure 3 yellow, 1 blue and a drop of red.

Next is the cockpits. Monogram has a pilot who has pins in his knees and fills the hole. I am going to make little chair/ floor girder and stick sets. Grey in the Boeing, silver in the Goshawk which has a fabric fusie, and black in the army bird.

I also ran up a bunch of hours on the 'rod.

 

Don Hammer, I am having so much fun that I am going to have to go to confession....

 

Don Hammerloni it was BONDOMAN with the tabasco sauce, as you can see I may be a little bit crazy BUT I have not gone around the riverbed just yet..this thread has caused me to go a tad crazy on ebay and I will be ready to become a made man at the next mafia group build

Gotcha Stik, makes sense to me.

Now for a couple of pics of the Tigercat before I hit the rack.  I think I've got the cg problem figured out, but I may shove another sinker in the pit before I put the canopy on.  Just some final sanding and she'll be ready for primer.  See ya'll manana.

That Tigercat is coming along very nice Lew I am looking forward to seeing some paint on it!

Well I now have the flat coat applied to my PCF. I should be all completed in the next couple of days. Just need to do a bit of detail painting, add the windows and screws, and some thread for the upper railing on the stern area.

Hey all-great work being displayed here.  You all have done a fantastic job with the old classics.  I especially like the Swift Boat Stik.  Makes me want to go pickup one of the old PT-109 kits....hmmmm

I'm going to be out of town for a few days so I'm posting what I have done now.  The Mustang is 99%done-needs the wing lights painted along with the gun barrels.

The Cobra is about the same-needs the exhaust pipes, roll bar, bumpers/jack point attached, along with parking lights and windscreen.....but not tonight!

I will probably take a few minutes this weekend and finish them up but in the meantime I'll be looking for a good witness protection program since I've managed to miss another deadline....

On a serious note, Hans, thanks for creating and hosting a great theme GB...I had a good time just watching the quality builds and even more fun with a couple of old kits.  Looking forward to Round 2.

Bob, after building the Swift, the 109 does sure sound attractive. Something about patrol craft that I really like. I like your Mustang and Cobra there too!

As of early this afternoon I am calling the PCF done. I will get pics done and posted tomorrow. I have to head on in to work here now.

thanks Stik.  both were fun builds and there was a lot of room for additional detailing....that I didn't take advantage of...this time.

bob, nice work on the Stang and the Cobra.  Hope you'll post pics from the witness protection program after they're done.

Stik, looking forward to seeing the Swift Boat pics.

Here's some pics of the Tigercat.  Had a problem with one of the cowlings.  Had a swirl in the plastic which showed through the primer and the initial coat of semigloss black.  Have to steal one from another kit (I have two more in the stash).  Will try to finish her by the deadline, but may be joining bob in the WPP.

Ouuuuuuuuuu... a silver shiny thing!

Yes you are cutting it close deadline wise...

Well without any further ado here is PCF-10, a US Navy "Swift Boat" of the Vietnam War...

And posed with my other Familia submission, another USN subject, but from the prior war in Asia the decade before... Both are 1/48

Hey guys, things are looking good all around!!

Stickpusher- Loving the Navy duo!

Bob, your P51 and Cobra are nice little gems as well.

Lewbud- haven't seen a Tigercat in awhile; cool take on the alternate paint scheme; will be watching closely!

beautiful build of the US Navy "Swift Boat" of the Vietnam War..., the ONLY thing I can suggest is getting a piece of bees wax [From Tandy's leather or maybe a little surfboard wax] and run the "rope" through the wax so little fuzzies don't pop up. It will not make the rope stiff, but will keep all the threads laying down. just a thought.

dan

Stik, nice work on the PCF.  Never seen one of those built before.  Looks like I'll have to suffer the wrath of Don Hammerloni as the Firecat won't be finished in time.  Thanks Dave, and thanks for your service.  Thanks to all the Veterans in this build, no matter whose flag you served under.

Beautiful job on both, Stik!!  Hope you had a great Veterans Day.

Ken

lewbud

Ok youngster, your homework in American Film Classics is to spend two hours watching this hilarious movie (be warned, it is a "guy" movie).  The Senator in question is a character played by John Belushi.  His character is the wild man of the fraternity who graduates college (eventually) and becomes a US Senator. 

Ok, I just stumbled across this beauty and thought it would go perfect here based upon our earlier discussions...

Bobbaily sweet looking P-51 and Cobra man, will love to see the finished pictures

Lewbud wayyyyyyyyy cool lookin shiny Tigercat !!!!!

Stik WOW you sure took a so so kit and made a beautiful Swift Boat out of it, Great detail and the washes really paid off big. I particularly like the coiled deck lines you have added, a very very nice touch sir.

All in all it just goes to show what can be done with these great old kits in the hands of skilled modelers. This group rocks !! Cant wait for round 2 to get up and running errrrrrr building.

Great Idea and hosting Don von Hammer

Ken, I actually had a wonderful Veterans Day with my family. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, and had a splendid meal there ( I can thank Uncle Sam for sending me to the land of the Rising Sun years ago where I accquired the taste for Sake, Asahi, Sushi and proper Japanese cuisine). I hope that you and your loved ones had a great Veterans Day as well.

Thanks everybody for the kind words on the Swift Boat. I am mostly pleased in the finished results. I wanted to do quite a bit more add ons, but the time limts here did not allow for that due to my late start on it. Vette, the coiled anchor lines are actually molded into the deck on the original kit. That is nothing more than paint and washes. There are a LOT of possibilities in this old kit and researching it also sparked an interest in Vietnam Brown Water Navy kits for me.

 There are a LOT of possibilities in this old kit and researching it also sparked an interest in Vietnam Brown Water Navy kits for me.

[/quote]I was in a HS this weekend and had a Tamiya "Pibber" kit in my hand...1:35 with lots of detail. I almost bought it but I heard my wife`s voice ringing in my ears..." ANOTHER MODEL?!?!?!?" So I bought some rubber cemant and a magazine...

She has you well trained

stikpusher

She has you well trained

I agree 110% I have one in my stash it's all right, I'm in the same boat. She sent me off to AMPS Chapter with the admonishment, "Dont bring anything home"...

Just to let everyone know that I'm still alive, and not in the Tamigawa Witness Protection Plan, here is an update on the Zero.

As some of you may remember, I am a complete novice when it comes to using an airbrush.  I bought a Paasche VL second-hand, years ago, with the intention of teaching myself to use an airbrush.  A compressor followed years after that, and in 2009, I even made a New Year's modeling resolution to start using the brush.  Well, it's November 2011, and I finally used the brush to put paint on a model.

After reading about it, discussing it with so many of you who use an airbrush, and having so many ideas and questions, I used the brush to do the yellow ID markings.  I used craft store acrylic, thinned with water in one pass, and with isopropyl in anoter.  The results weren't too bad, overall:

There was seepage on the upper surfaces, but not because of a problem with the brush as such, but because I didn't burnish the tape down well enough, in my eagerness to shoot.

Here's a view from the other angle:

There was some overspray, too, but I was able to clean up some of it with a cotton swab dipped in isopropyl.  But I need to touch up a lot, before I do the next airbrush exercise--airbrushing the gloss coat for decals.

And the most important lesson I learned in this pass was:  TAKE THE CAP OFF THE NOZZLE!

The A-24 is coming along, too, just about ready to assemble the subassemblies and apply the OD and gray.

Oh, and I will touch up some other spots, too.  Along the leading edge of the starboard wing, for example, the dark green needs to wrap around a little further.  But SOON I will have this finished

BARON-

You say you used craft paint? How did it work for you?  I`m about to start experimenting with them to try and find a usable alternative to model paint, which is getting a bit pricey in my opinion.

Len

This thread is not about craft paints! It is about paying tribute to the family of original Monogram kits... take posts like this to where they  belong,,, spamming some new guys mail box in the "I cant get Tamiya  paints whining thread"...

Just kidding... I swear that some lines of paints such as Citadel and others for Gaming subjects are the same thing as craft paints, just in a different label/container.

stikpusher

This thread is not about craft paints! It is about paying tribute to the family of original Monogram kits... take posts like this to where they  belong,,, spamming some new guys mail box in the "I cant get Tamiya  paints whining thread"...

Just kidding... I swear that some lines of paints such as Citadel and others for Gaming subjects are the same thing as craft paints, just in a different label/container.

Been trying to update the front page, but I'm having issues with my computer when I open the multiple windows I need to do it with... So..

Need y'all to check the front page and see if I got your stuff right.  If NOT, then PM ME with what it should read...

Thanks again to all for making this GB a sucessful one!  With it, it's been shown to the nay-sayers that Monogram kits are still among the best, and they CAN be built into fabulous replicas of some of our favorite things... Also, you have shown that, with a little "imagineering", some scrap parts, and some sheet styrene, these gems can hold their places and even WIN against ANY "high-end" kit, even under the pressure of dual-kit build and a tough time-limit!

Wear your badges with pride and don't hesitate to whack those clowns out there that say "Monogram kits are dogs".. Well, these dogs bite, and those that can't build 'em up are just pups on the porch wishing they could run with the big dogs!

 I'm proud of each of you and it has been an honor to build with you all!