Oooh, nice trick Kermit! Im gonna have to try that next time!

Here are the finished pics of the B-25 Mitchell. The NMF came out much better than the last time I tried paint, but I still prefer Foil because I feel like I have much more control over the finish. I'm also quite happy that I had more than enough spare decals to be able to mark up this plane. Some decals (such as the tail stripes and shark-mouth) required careful trimming to fit on the B-25, and not a P-51!

Without further ado, I present  Hot Stuff/Leaky II.

OWL,

Thank god for the spares box!. Looks like you showed that Mitchell who's the boss Can't wait to see the pics!

Well,... I fired up the new airbrush with the Talon Acrylics and i must say i am extremely pleased with the performance of both:

Thinking through the painting process beforehand, knowing that i have a healthy load of masking ahead of me with all the colors on my model i came up with this idea..... Instead of masking single panels randomly and painting them with a different shade of NMF i colored them in after several mistings with a permanent black marker. A few coats after that gave me this finish:

Minimum of masking, maximum effect

Hoping to get round to the OD part tonight....

Richard

Perfect excuse to try making custom decals for the first time

thanks for the suggestions, Scorpiomikey and Doogs. After sorting through me decals, I've decided that there is enough there to fully mark up the B-25, even if the stars-and-bars are a little too small (they did come form a spare P-51 sheet!).  I did throw a round doing a OD/NG scheme, but since I was building this for the NMF GB, I figured I should keep in it the shiny metal.

I've started applying the spare decals and its looking pretty darn good so far! I even sourced a shark-mouth from another P51 sheet.

OWL

Owl - SUCKS to hear about the decals shattering like that. 

It'd mean remasking the clear bits, but you could always paint it tri-color and turn it into a PBJ-1J. Pretty much the easiest markings ever.

Ouch, sorry to hear about the decals owl, Ive got some lettering left over from my F4U and some basic shark mouth designs if you want, ill post some photos tommorow if your interested. Could be interesting to do your own design.

thanks guys! I've had a bit of a setback though, due to the kit decals shattering on me. 

I'm rooting through my spare decals now, trying to decide what to do. Here is where the B25 sits now, only with the nose repainted NMF. I cant use the eagle head, so there's no point in leaving the yellow there. 

OWL

Doogs,

Lovely scratchwork there and a definate improvement over the original parts. And now that i am looking at your pictures they might help with scratching a radio set for my own 1/72 mustang of horror i am doing for the 8th AF GB

I have used the Talon paints before and i love the way it looks. Vetteman (are you ok buddy..??) was so kind to ship me a bottle of the paint and powder a while ago. Most peculiar smell......

OWL,

Excellent and very shiny finish on the B25! The big guy up above knows the stuff i have used to wrap up/ mask a plane... Used to get overspray nomatter what i tried (usuall due to a overkill pressure setting on my compressor so my way too thick paint would flow).... Excellent progress ma'am

As for me,.... The fortress is ready to receive some wheel well and engine nacelle masks and then it is off to the paint booth! (yayyy)

Another bit of news is the fact that i scored this beauty 25% off today:

It is a revell masterclass "professional" which might raise some eyebrows but in reality it is a license produced Thayer and Chandler (by Badger) Vega airbrush. Not much difference with the revell vario i had before, apart from the fact that it was siphon fed as opposed to this one. A real workhorse and i expect to have many years of fun with it.

Richard

Vetteman - yikes! Hope you're feeling better soon!

Owl - I LOVE that Krylon finish! Looks fantastic!

Richard - that Fort is looking epic! Can't wait to see how you like the Talon stuff.

jbrady - I'm kinda surprised to hear the Italeri is the worse of the two, but kinda not. It's the Accurate Miniatures kit basically, right? If it's anything like the Dauntless, it's a great fit in some places, and awful in others. Still can't believe you're taking both on at the same time!

casper - that Lighting looks awesome! Nice to see a resin pit that actually fits, too!

Well - I ultimately decided to save the resin pit for the next Tamiya P-51 I do, and stole its IP to dress up for this build. Not too shabby, and Airscale's gauge decals really do the trick. They're individuals, so you don't have to punch them out the way you do Mike Grant's IP decals.

Had a mondo productive night tonight. Got the fuselage together, got the wings together, and did a little kit surgery!

Seems to me the one weakness that all 1/48 P-51D's seem to share is a really poor rendering of the .50 cal blast tubes. Tamiya's no exception.

So I drilled them out.

And cut some Albion Alloy 1.0mm OD/0.8mm ID brass tubing, and shoved it into the holes.

Finally, I removed the 1.0mm tubing, slid in some 0.8mm/0.6mm tubing (Albion's stuff is made to slide fit, which is awesome) to the four outer blast tubes, then slid the assemblies back in, with a touch of Gators Grip glue to hold them in place.

The only downside? I'll never be able to build another Mustang and not do this again. Well, the D's at least.

After about 2 hours of cutting the resin tub away from its casting block, I gotta say this Aires set actually fits rather well. The F16 I just did needed extensive surgery on both the resin cockpit and parts of the styrene and there still was a slight bulge to where the sides contacted the inner fuselage.

This set works rather nicely and even with some masking tape holding all the bits together it fits together perfectly, sidewalls included. There has been no surgery on the styrene at all!

Here's to a smooth build...

Cheers

Well I must say it's nice to be back to another NMF build! And especially with such a large special bird like the Lightning.

All sprues and resin has been lovingly washed and dried. Some really nice details on the Aires cockpit tub. Unfortunately some extraneous greeblies broke off in the box, joysticks etc.

I'm building this as the F.3 variant, interestingly enough the Aires box says F.3 only whereas the Trumpter box is both F.1 and F.3. However they only supply kit parts for what I am guessing is an F.1 IP.

On closer inspection there is a marked difference in the F.3 IP (Aires on the left) and the kits IP.

Also got some Eduard PE for some nice exterior detail plus the ladder. Some fantastic details in this set!

Last;y the Trumpeter instructions are surprisingly poor for such a large, expensive kit. There is almost no information for painting of parts apart from the final colour scheme. None of the details in the cockpit have a colour chart. BTW anyone know what colours the RAF may have used on interiors during the 50's/60s?

Cheers

Vetteman: Sorry for your troubles man hope you feel better soon.

Just got back from an 11 day tour of National League ballparks... Pittsburgh, Philly, and Houston... could have been worse RedSox went 5-4 on the trip. No more trips until September so I can get back to building.

The cowl flaps were much too thick... way out of scale. I ground them down on the inside and out then rescribed the cowlflaps with a razor saw. I managed to get a good fit without a step between the cowlflaps and the nacelle. Just a little more putty and sanding then it's time for primer.

kermit

Owl,

Hope the humidity passes your area soon A day without modelling is like a day without......well....you know.....modelling!

heh, its Nebraska in July...our summers are known for their high temps doubled with high humidity. And summer is now in full swing, so that humidity aint goin' nowhere!!!  I did bring a large fan into the garage and set it on low, and that helped a lot.

Here is a shiny B-25! This is just the base Krylon matt aluminum overcoat:

and this is how you mask an aircraft! LOL

and finished painting. Some of the color difference is subtle and hard to get with a camera.

I'll have to put a thin coat of Future over this to protect the NMF. I might not be leaving fingerprints per se, but if I hold the plane long enough my hand tacks on it and a bit of silvery dust comes up. The future should give me a nice little barrier for the NMF while I handle it for Decaling.

OWL

Owl,

Hope the humidity passes your area soon A day without modelling is like a day without......well....you know.....modelling!

Well guys and gals... I am nearing the paint booth stage... Seams taken care of....glasswork installed and masked....engines done....

Just needs the bomb bay doors and some small fiddly stuff before i will take out the Talon paints

Richard

Sorry to hear about your medical problems vetteman. I'm sure glad to hear your feeling better though!  My eyes have recovered from my little wiring escapade, but I might just have to do it again. That little bit of extra detail really makes them engines pop!!

I waited for the extra humid days to pass before I tried spraying, but the air has still been damp for the most part. The paint has gone on well, but I've been allowing a longer cure time on the paint. I've picked out different colors for some panels and its a really nice effect so far. That Krylon paint is really hardy and withstands all that masking! Pics should be up soon!

OWL

Oh Dear Randy.... Sure hope youre ok buddy...you need that old diesel engine for a few years more..... My sympathies and thoughts are with you man! Hope to see you nagging us again soon

OWL, Hope to see your paint booth efforts soon. Looking forward to the pics

Eatthis,

Sorry i did not respond earlier. I saw the pictures of your mirror shiny finish and man,... you pulled that one off

Haven't done tons of work this week with the heat being a problem here in the mancave But stuff cooled down again and i did some work this weekend, namely the engines and wing assembly:

Soon i can glue the wings on and start some seamwork. Starting to get somewhere! (yayyy)

Richard

CallSignOwl and Kermit sweet work both of you !!!

Owl that little extra bit really makes the engines pop, and now I gotta ask how your eyes are feelin

Kermit your B-17 is really becoming a work of art, those turrets are outta sight man. Beautiful work. PS. nice Mancave you have there BTW.

Sorry I havent been around in a while, I know why I have been feeling so badly these last few months too. Last Sunday night I had a heart attack just got out of the hospital today. It wasn't a really bad one but bad enough. I am hoping to be back to my old self in a week or so.

I won't paint when there's high humidty.  The paint won't stick and runs like crazy.

THe B-25 is all constructed. Now its off to the paint booth (aka cardboard box!). Its been humid the past couple days though. Is there anything I need to watch out for in the higher humidity when spraying paint? I'll be in the garage, but with the door open.

Vetteman- I'm gonna have to drop the B-26 from this build.  I've been committing to too many group builds lately and keep getting behind on projects, so no more Marauder

Keep up the great work everyone

ive never tried a NMF but ill most likely join: The Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build IIII

any chance of a link mate?

CallSignOWL

Thanks for the vote of confidence kermit!

I am loving the detail of the B-17. But just like my B25, most of that lovely detail will be hidden once the fuselage is closed up. Do you have a paint scheme picked out for the 'fort yet?

Yes i have If you scroll/ browse back to my first post you will see that i have chosen the boxart version: "Little Miss Mischief". It looks very much fun to paint being half OD/ camo and half NMF.

Doogs,

Thanks my friend. Hope the Resin order will be what you hoped for. I am in a simil;ar situation as you are right now... Wife visiting a sister in Az..... lots of Mancave time..... no bickering....no supervision.....

Sounds like heaven but you will find you kinda feel out of place for a day or two with the familiarity gone... At least thats how i felt

Richard

kermit - that's one pretty lookin' fort! I'd call that an excellent effort in 1/48, much less 1/72!

My P-51's unfortunately on hiatus for a few days. The Eduard PE set just didn't wow me at all...and once it was on, the instrument panel in particular just looked flat and lifeless:

Rather than cannibalizing from another kit, I went ahead and ordered the True Details resin pit. Not sure how much of it I'll be using yet. There's precious little in the way of detailed info on the intertubes about it, save it being a third the price of the Aires set.

But the Mustang's chilling for now. Hopefully the pit comes before this weekend. The wife and kids are going out of town for five whole days, so I'm really hoping to crank like nobody's business!

Thanks for the vote of confidence kermit!

I am loving the detail of the B-17. But just like my B25, most of that lovely detail will be hidden once the fuselage is closed up. Do you have a paint scheme picked out for the 'fort yet?

kermit

 

 

 

 

First Marc has the "Giant Penny", now you have the "Giant Q-Tip".

Eatthis,

In one word... Yes you can. Try one of their high shine finishes like Chrome or Polished aluminum. Needs a black gloss basecoat first though. The Swanny's models website has a good tutorial on it.

Gamera,

Thank you my friend. You will not be dissapointed by the B17!

Well people,... showing my activities from the last few days:

Cleaned the mancave and reorganized a bit:

Worked on the top, sphere and rear turrets:

Installed the ammo for the waist guns. Tried to implement Hans von Hammer's tip about using tie wraps for ammo belts but couldn't find one in the proper scale.... It is the least detailed part of this kit and begs for replacement... Next time i guess....

After all this was done the big "gluing the fuselage together" stage was reached:

Great fit even though tight at places. There was one spot that will need some attention:

Probably made a boo boo myself as everything fits like a glove.. Maybe a bulkhead too far to the front or rear.... Nothing that can't be solved though

More WIPS soon my friends. I can certainly reccomend this kit to anyone interested in building a 1/72 scale B17. I also have the Academy  version that is similarly priced but miles behind in detail OOB.

Richard

can you get a proper mirror polish finish with alclad?

Great work all around folks but esp love how you're wiring your engines Owl and all the cool detail in your B-17 Kermit. I have to pick up one of those new B-17s myself.

Owl,

Looking absolutely great sofar! Wiring the engines, even with less wires is always a interesting thing to see that will draw attention away from the boo boo's

My first painted NMF was done with a DIY market all purpose rattlecan. Lemme tell you that you will want to watch out with it as it is very very easy to spray too much, causing runny paint. It's more or less shooting at a fly with a shotgun

Step away a foot and try misting it on. Thats the best tip i can give you. But i am absolutely sure a lady with your skill set can tackle a spraycan finish

Richard