Nice work on everything esp the mill - wow that's some beautiful work there on the engine!

Can we get a closer look at the R-2800 ? Looks stunning.

cheers

Tony

Well done, Theuns! I'll get that beauty up on the front page presently!

Greg - you're more than welcome to sign on! I'll get you added. 

Brian - that R-2800 looks nice! Digging the cowl, too!

Hey all!  It's been a long time since I posted anything on here (new baby, the heat, work, etc.).  I have been plugging away at the Academy Gabreski kit steadily though.  It's been in half hour intervals so nothing has really been worth posting.  I've been watching the work here and some good stuff going on.  I'd mention eveyone by name but that would take forever so he's a collective Nice Work!  A few pics are below with where I'm at now.

The engine has been wired and detailed.  This was the first time using Alcad and have to say I really like it.

Cockpit has been painted, well almost.  I still have some detail painting left to do.  Added some scratchbuilt items.  Will also start adding placards.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo but the IP is complete.  Painted and the details picked out using a toothpick and light drybrushing.

Added some bits and some wiring to the wheel wells.  The gear doors are waiting for a coat of future and some weathering.  The prop and spinner, will be touched up but the prop hub was painted with Alcad.

Cowling is complete just needs future and some weathering.

As always comments and criticisms are always welcome!  I'll try and post as soon as possible.

Is it too late to join?

If not, I'm just starting Revell's 1/48 P-47D....I'll probably attempt "The Bug".

(It will be the first model in a long long time.

Greg

Thanx Joe.

I used some powdered pastels mixed with water for the pannel line wash and touched them up in a few places with a pencill of all things!

You can't quite see it in the pix but I have a bit of an "oil streak" coming from the bottom of the cowl rinning back tothe mid fuselarge and "pooling" as they usually do when it runs over a pannel joint :-)

The gun access pannels were painted a light grey to contrast the Alclad.

Theuns

Oh, Whoa, Theuns, You are the MAN!! That is absolutely Outstanding. Especially given what you had to repair. You did an awesome job with your Alclad and the ID markings. Weathering is very nicely done. What did you use to wash/highlight the panel lines. I stand duely impressed.

                                                     Joe

Completed atlast!

Theuns

Sorry Theuns as I was not thorough in explaining my process. Indeed the clear base does alter the Alclad sheen. Thus, after applying the clear base I carefully masked and repainted everything including a new coat of alclad. (Note, all this work I did on the cowling). In the process of repainting the Alclad coat I had to mask off the blue ID band. When I removed the Tamiya tape (which I HIGHLY recommend for this) the blue paint remained intact having adhered to the clear base undercoat.

                                          Joe

Yes it is the same plane. Just used boiling water and brute force LOL!

I didn't put anything over the Alclad as I read it would affect the look of it.

Theuns

Ditto to that man.....that thing looks fabulous! Good job on the recovery, Joe

Theuns - OK, First off, is this the same plane with the warped wing? If so, magnificant job in straightening it out. From your pic angles I can't tell it was ever warped. How exactly did you do it. I mean, Dang, you're my hero!

 Secondly, I encountered the exact same issue when painting my cowling. Did you paint straight over the Alclad? I did and the paint would peel right off. I seemed to have fixed it by buying some Alclad Clear Base and spraying that on over the Alclad and then spraying on the Blue ID band. Worked wonderfully.

 Oh, and by the way, concerning your paint job: SWEET!

                                             Joe

Guys here is my "attempt" as you can see the masking let me down. I will have to fix it later.

Theuns

Great job on the repair Joe, I can't tell.

Cheers

Tony

Joe: Good to see you've got the ripped decal fixed.

Knowing Manny though he'd probably want to marry all four of them- at once...

Ah, The recovery is complete. Moving on now.

Taxtp - Indeed? Something about women packing hardware? I guess I should have expected this and I suppose it will only be a matter of time before Manny catches eye of this and wants to marry it.

I think I know her !

Yikes!! No I didn't see that! I'd be having a cow too. No doubt you're gonna recover that though........somehow I just know......

Taxtp - Per your request:

Gentlemen, I do Thank You kindly.

Mustang - Thanks, but I haven't recovered just yet, Here's a closer look of what I need to remedy. I hope to pull that off tonight

Joe...very nice job on a cool scheme

Joe: Great job and almost done!

Lookin good Joe. Man that alclad looks good. Nice recovery on the decals!!!!

Nice work Joe, I like it a lot.

Can we get a close up of the nose art :)

Cheers

Tony

Joy of Joys I finally got all the decals on. Well kinda. The decals are a mix of the AM Kit World set and the Tamiya set.You will note the torn out pieces of the insignia on the left fuselage. This was the result of a ridiculous miscalculation on my part. I use a jig i made up of a block of floral arrangement  foam and some wood dowels to set and steady my plane on its side in order to decal with both hands. I used a short dowel with some paint covered blue-tack to balance the model with some cushion. This was all well and good until I flipped the model over to decal the right side and i picked it up once only to find a chunk of the left insignia stuck to the blue-tack which had lost some of the paint thus exposing some sticky part of it. Ordinarily the would be cause for consternation until I quickly thought of my Tamiya P-47M kit that I have in my stash and lo and behold there was an exact replacement for the damaged decal. I will simply apply a gloss coat and then overlay the new decal over the damaged one. I do not wish to risk damaging the alclad underneath by stripping the old decal off with blue masking tape. So, with that said here's a few pics:

Thanks for having a look, Joe

Thanx Joe. I will go have a look there.

Doogs, do you mean the guns stagger angle? You might be correct mate, they are moulded into the LE that way. I don't know enough abiut the Jug to be able to comment .

It is hugely cold here (by African standards LOL!) so no painting on any of the models totay :-(

Theuns

By the way Theuns I addressed some of my insignia issues in your thread concerning P-47 wing insignia.

Looks like you're making great progress with that one, Theuns! Is it just me, or do the blast tubes look a little bit to "flat"? Pretty sure the protrusion from one to the next was more pronounced as they moved inboard.

I've actually been considering picking up a 1/72 P-47 of late - something to use for some forced-perspective photography. Not sure what brand I'd go with, but I've heard really good things about the RoG kit.

Darn good progress Theuns. As of this morning I got all the left side fuselage decals on, leaving only the right side to go and then I will be done with the decals. I'll be glad when I'm done because I'm having stencil dreams. I'll have some pics as soon as I'm done and also address some issues with the accuracy of the Kit World decals I'm using.

                                     Joe

AIrframe basically done

Theuns