Doogs,

For all that it's worth: Do NOT use them academy decals m8.... Use the stencils, use the noseart but nothing bigger like roundels and fuselage stripes. You will most certainly regret that decision.

Just my 50 eurocents...

Richard

Hey Richard - just curious...I know Academy has a bad reputation with decals, but what exactly do they do? Rip? Shatter? Too thick? Yellow? 

I'm planning to take precautions anyway. Scanning the sheet ahead of time in case I need to recreate. Aftermarket national insignia. Aftermarket stencils (have some dry transfers I'm going to try, actually). I'll be masking and painting the wing stripes and the triangles on the tail. So literally just the nose art and squadron markings.

And I know I was going to replace the kit blast tubes with spares off a Tamiya, but I think I may be leaning toward a set of Master brass tubes. They just look too good. One of the few AM parts I've ever used where, even after painting, it's awesomeness is apparent.

Either way, I need to drill out the holes in the fairings a smidge to fit either. I can can literally waffle until the end of the build on those!

Waiting until I get some AM bits (such as, oh, a COCKPIT) to really get started, but I did a quick test fit last night.

Overall fit is actually really good. Sloppy back at the stabilizers, but no major seams. Fuselage and cowl are good. Wings are good...and I like that I can probably use the gun panels (which will be closed...the "detail" within is pretty sad) to add some backstops for the blast tubes. 

One thing I'm pondering with this build is attaching the wings before closing the fuselage (so I can work with the tabs from the inside). We'll see.

Doogs your Thunderbolt is in And I see you have a good start going on her already

Doogs,

I have built academy's P47D myself (same kit basically) and must agree with you on all counts. The gun hatches actually fit very nice and tight as well. Dont you worry about that.

But the decals... Let me just say that i have built a few academy kits and never encountered one where the decals would perform as you would want them to. They are thick as normal writing paper and do NOT listen to your gentle persuation using set and sol. Period.... Using a colored plastic bag with your decal cut out works just as good IMHO...

But on account of fit and overall shapes/ dimensions the academy kits usually are very much to my liking. That is why i keep buying them. In your case, if you are used to aftermarket pits and such i can very well imagine you would want to upgrade a few items here and there but the base kits are usually very nice at low cost. Painting instructions are usually spartan but easily overcome with a bit of research and a few real life photo examples

Richard

Well. Focusing mostly on the Panzer III while I await P-51 masks and P-47 parts. But I did get a bit done last night on the blast tube fairings for the P-47N. Three of the holes in each fairing just had to be enlarged. The fourth had to be drilled out. Somehow, the port one came out higher than the starboard, despite both being centered. 

I'd been planning to use some spare Tamiya tubes left over from my failed Monogram P-47 build, but I couldn't help slide a few Master tubes in, just for comparison. They're just soooo pretty.

Either way...HUGE improvement over the kit bits!

Depending on how the weather goes the rest of the day (there are these weird, dark, gray masses in the sky. I don't know if the world's ending or something), I'm planning to throw some paint at the Panzer tonight, but I may start in on some of the N-Bolt's subassemblies while I'm at it.

Richard - between the dry transfer stencils and some P-47 insignia I ordered, I think the ONLY decals I'll need to depend on are probably the nose art, various ID numbers, squadron badge and the like. I'm planning to scan the sheet just in case I need to recreate them, but hope I'll be able to sneak by with the kit's sheet for those.

Those Master barrels look great.  I just picked them up (with an Ultracast seat and wheels) for my P-47N. They're going to be a big improvement. Finishing up a 1/350 Enterprise CVN-65 for a friend and then its time to start the P-47 (just have to paint those dang small airplanes).

B17Pilot

Those Master barrels look great.  I just picked them up (with an Ultracast seat and wheels) for my P-47N. They're going to be a big improvement. Finishing up a 1/350 Enterprise CVN-65 for a friend and then its time to start the P-47 (just have to paint those dang small airplanes).

Ultracast makes -N wheels? I ended up ordering an Aires cockpit from Hannants (cheaper and in-stock than the domestics) and had to settle for some True Details wheels. 

This'll be the third time I've placed an order with Squadron on a Friday and Hannants on a Monday. It'll be fun to see if Hannants goes 3 for 3 in getting my stuff to me faster, despite being an ocean away (whereas Squadron - 3 hours...).

Is that Enterprise the Tamiya kit? Built one of those when I was growing up. Painting that deck was a time. And ugh...all those planes. I took the easy route and did them all in low-vis gray.

Amazingly enough, it's one of the dozen or so models that survived and now lives at my parents' house.

DoogsATX

Is that Enterprise the Tamiya kit? Built one of those when I was growing up. Painting that deck was a time. And ugh...all those planes. I took the easy route and did them all in low-vis gray.

Amazingly enough, it's one of the dozen or so models that survived and now lives at my parents' house.

Yep its the Tamiya kit, threw in a scratch built hanger bay and GMM Photoetch.  She's ready to be delivered expect for the planes for the flight deck.  The picture is before I put on the decals and  weathered the flight deck, where i give the landing area some tire marks and darkened the steam catapults with some black and then gave the whole thing coat of oils.

And like you I gave the planes the low vis gray scheme:

DoogsATX

 

 

Ultracast makes -N wheels? I ended up ordering an Aires cockpit from Hannants (cheaper and in-stock than the domestics) and had to settle for some True Details wheels. 

As far as the -N wheels, I checked the wheels provided and matched the tred pattern to the kits which was the diamond pattern.  Is there something else about the wheels that I missed? Ultracast just has P-47 wheels as the title, so I'm assuming they will work on all versions.

-N wheels have 8 spokes versus 6 on the -D (and I believe the -M) variants. 

I believe Ultracast makes some, but fortunately they're also a case where True Details did a pretty solid job (unlike some others I've seen that are just painful to behold)

Well I just check the Ultracast wheel set and low and behold it actually says P47N Wheels on it.  Don't think i ever noticed it when I was buying them, or at least I don't remember. I'm all set!  I'm thinking by Labor day weekend the P-47 will have some paint on her.

Sharp job on the Big-E Doogs! And the P-47 is zipping right along.

My P-47D is together, am ready to spray the anti-glare panels on the nose and spine, then the red trim, and finally I'll get to the NM finish.

Well, not much to report on my end. I've been slamming on the Panzer III for the past few days while waiting on stuff to come in for the P-51 and P-47. And fussing with the friuls has eaten up the usual downtime.

BUT - decals are on, it's moving, and hopefully today or tomorrow I should have some materials to play with.

The thing I'm really waiting on right now would be the vinyl nose mask for the P-51. Also trying to work out in my head how I want to mask the vent plate, since it stands out NMF against the blue nose on Petie 2nd. Been considering placing some tape over it, doing a rubbing with a pencil or crayon or something, then cutting that out and using it.

On the P-47, I almost glued the wings together last night, but realized they want me to put the wing light clear bits in BEFORE they're sealed up, so I need to Future and paint those ahead of time. Anybody got any recommends for masking on the other side? I'm thinking of punching some small circles of Tamiya tape at the moment. I'd consider liquid mask, but that stuff can be a PITA to get off.

Doogs, the small circles of Tamiya tape is how I'd do it

Cheers

Good news - my masks finally came today!

Bad news - somehow the 1/48 P-51 cowl masks fell through the cracks...

Well, I was determined to mask and paint this friggin' thing. The 352nd blue nose has been a big mental hurdle for me, but I figured heck, I've rigged a friggin' biplane, what's a little cowl curve?

I got things rolling by superimposing a scan of Tamiya's Petie 2nd profile over a scan of Mushroom Media's 1/48 P-51 plans (that come with their excellent reference book). Printed out the nose.

Next I stuck some sheets of 40mm Tamiya tape to some wax paper, and taped the printouts over those.

And cut them out very carefully with a pair of scissors.

Applying these to the Mustang itself is a PITA, but I got them in place. Masked off the rest of the plane just in case.

A few weeks ago I came across Vallejo Prussian Blue at the LHS and thought it looked perfect for the mid/late 1944 blue nose (before they went dark navy). Thinned it with a mix of Future and Testors acrylic thinner, and sprayed it down. 

Here's the result:

Tomorrow...glossing the plane with Alclad's clear gloss ahead of decal-fun-time!

Doogs - nice idea on the mask for the curve, need to remember about that.  When I did my Petie 2nd I just eyeballed the curve

Looks fantastic Doogs! I've stuck tape to glass and then used a french curve to get the angle right, but I think you idea worked much better.

Doogs those Master guns look much much better than the kit offering. I have seen them on ebay but will now give serious thought to getting a set of them. Your masking trick worked out fantastic ! I can find no imperfection at all not even the slightest bleeding. Cant wait to see your Mustang with decals on her now.

vetteman42

Doogs those Master guns look much much better than the kit offering. I have seen them on ebay but will now give serious thought to getting a set of them. Your masking trick worked out fantastic ! I can find no imperfection at all not even the slightest bleeding. Cant wait to see your Mustang with decals on her now.

vetteman - the Master blast tubes look even better on a finished kit!

Honestly I love the things so much I can't imagine building a P-47 without them now. They're a bit spendy, yeah, but a big upgrade to a very prominent feature.

And speaking of decals...they got laid down tonight. The Petie 2nd-specific markings (nose art, data badge, HO-M, serial # and squadron art) were taken from the Tamiya sheet. I was worried about using the Tamiya stencils and insignia since those always give me headaches, then I remembered I have a P-51 9th Air Force in the stash. Same exact kit, but Tamiya tossed in a new decal sheet - PRINTED BY CARTOGRAF! I'm planning AM markings for that kit anyway, so I ganked the insignia, prop logos and stencils. Everything went down rather well, and the Cartograf decals in particularly snuggled right down.

I'm also thrilled with how well the Alclad Klear Kote did. 

Tomorrow I'll be sealing the decals and then working a bit on the Pz.III.

Oh...and one last thing! Since I managed to ruin the teardrop tanks early on, I've been trying to figure out how to tackle the hardpoints, since the Tamiya ones are kind of basic. If anybody knows of any fantastic aftermarket mounting pins to attach, let me know! If not, I actually found some PE ones - in the spare PE fret I have left over from my ruined Monogram P-47! They've got nothing on the detail of the parts included in the Tamiya P-47, but they're better than nothing.

Doogs I will be placing those blast tubes on my list of gotta haves. Pete is looking like a show stopper man !

Doogs, I agree she looks sharp! I'm going to 'borrow' you pre-shading with NM style for my P-47.

Gamera

Doogs, I agree she looks sharp! I'm going to 'borrow' you pre-shading with NM style for my P-47.

Heh! Me too! 

Just got my P-47N goodies today, too! Aires cockpit looks super-sweet. The True Details wheels aren't Ultracast, but they should do the job.

I'm also leaning toward plugging the underwing lights with some sheet styrene from within, then using MV lenses when the painting's done. Installing the clear parts before joining the wing, then masking, then removing said masking without accidentally knocking the clear parts loose in the wing...just seems silly. I've wanted to get some experience with MV lenses anyway, so may as well, right?

Very cool Doogs! I wasn't sure which light you meant, I masked the round landing light on mine with a blob of Elmer's glue, should pop off when I'm done with no residue. The wing tip lights I masked with a little Tamiya tape, the wing tips get painted red so they only have to last long enough for me to get the red on and then I'll mask the whole wing tip.

Gamera

Very cool Doogs! I wasn't sure which light you meant, I masked the round landing light on mine with a blob of Elmer's glue, should pop off when I'm done with no residue. The wing tip lights I masked with a little Tamiya tape, the wing tips get painted red so they only have to last long enough for me to get the red on and then I'll mask the whole wing tip.

These:

The actual wingtip lights on the Academy parts are separate clear parts. We'll see how well they fit...

And...it looks like the -N may be getting more attention very soon. I applied ProModeler Dark Dirt wash to the Mustang last night and it looks great, except on the cowl, where the very dark brown shows up more as just brown on the blue cowl. Since the stuff's already down in the panel lines, I'm hesitant to take an oil wash to it or anything, so I've ordered a bottle of Promodeler (or Flory or whatever they're going by) black wash. But with Labor Day, even Sprue Bros. speed won't get it here until Tuesday at the earliest...

Doog! Did you mean to post your Panzer III? I not sure she has landing or wing tip lights

In any case sharp looking Panzer!

Anyway good lock with fixing the wash, I just had one go bad on another model and I'm hoping I don't have to repaint the whole friggin' thing.

Gamera

Doog! Did you mean to post your Panzer III? I not sure she has landing or wing tip lights

Grr....so used to Photobucket automagically copying URLs that I forget it doesn't do it when you're looking at someone else's photos...

Ahhhh, ok! I was planning on just leaving them as they were, putting a drop of silver paint in mine when done, then a drop of Tamiya clear in whatever colour, and then either the kit part or a blob of Microscale Crystal Clear. The MV lenses will look a lot nicer though.

I started on my P-47 this weekend.  Still need to weather the cockpit, but its been painted.  Still working on the Ultracast seat, broke off a piece getting it off the pour stub, but its repairable.

Cockpit:

Hate to do this guys, but I need to put the P-47N on hold. 

Found out today that the projected closing date on our new house has been moved up to Oct. 13. That's up from early November, which is up from February 2012. We'd been planning to have this house packed up by October 15, so obviously , this changes things, and throws any chance of one more quick build out the window.

I'll still be finishing up the Mustang, but once that's gone, I'll be packing up the bench save for a few essentials, then cranking on some armor builds. Figure I can slap together 3-4 tanks with nothing but sprue cutters, tweezers, sanding sticks, xactos and glue while all the paint and pigments and masking materials are in boxes...

Heck. Maybe I'll start on that NMF M4A4 I'm planning!

Doogs - that's good and bad news.  Good that the new house is that much closer, bad in that the P-47 has to be packed up, along with other models (except for those armor ones).  Now how am I suppose to steal your tips for my own P-47 if you're not working on yours? (guess I'll have to pull my P-47 out has well ,...jk).

It'll still be fun to see that shiny M4A4!