Thanks Mucho Fellas. I am glad to hear that my plan of action seems viable as I was holding up until I got some feedback.

                                            Joe

Excellent work Joe! it is coming along very nicely!

Joe: Beyond Tom's good advice I'm not sure what to tell you. I've had excellent luck with Alclad but once in awhile it does peel up, not sure what I did wrong, maybe I didn't clean it enough.

I've tried masking the Alclad first and after and I've had better luck overall doing the Alclad first and then doing the trim and anti-glare panels afterward.

Looks great Joe! Mighty shiny.

I had the same issues with alclad on my build. For me, the saving grace was it went back on smoothly with no issues (couldn't tell any of it had ever "flaked" off). Also, when handling, along the leading/trailing edge, it would come off.  I think it just goes on so thinly, that it is more prone to flaking?

Sealing works well (alclad clear). I learned that later in the build. Next time, I will do that before going with any conventional paints or other masking for further alclad shades. I didn't want to try Future over the alclad, thinking it may take some of the sheen away? Also, the areas where I had sanded the primer more, with 3200, did not flake. Just some ideas...

 Alrighty, I've got the Aclad Aircraft Aluminum on. Rather pleased with how my first go with Alclad turned out, although there is more to learn using this stuff. I've encountered a couple of things that maybe some of you "Clad Masters might have suggestions for. During testing on my stunt model I masked and sprayed a patch of Humbrol enamel French Blue to see how masking and painting on Alclad would be. When I removed the mask a bit of the aluminum "particles" came off with it leaving a distinct mark where the tape had been. I'm using Tamiya tape. The next thing I discovered is I taped over the blue patch I had painted on and when I lifted the tape off off came the blue slick as can be. So, I'm figuring progressive coats of Alclad gloss over the initial aluminum then again when i paint the blue cowling, anti glare panel and other select panels for contrast. If you all have some alternative thoughts or suggestions please share them as I certainly would be interested in any alternative methods. Maybe I should have painted the cowling and anti glare first and then masked them of prior to the Alclad coat. Here is a few pics of my current status,

                                                                      Joe

Tom- No assembly line here sir, just yours truly and my Lab Sierra scanning the floor for flying pieces! I have a 109 to do for that GB as well, but I have that on the back burner while I work on the bomber for your GB as well as projects for the Grumman Iron Works and Special Wing Dings GBs. I've got too much to do! I know you will knock out another great P-47 if you choose to do so!

Von Sisco

Thanks for all the great comments guys, I truly appreciate it! These four builds have been fantastic, they have really taught me alot about technique and processes. And hey, hanging out with this crew doesn't hurt either! Thanks again!

Well, Ed. All 4 of them look very nice. Sure you don't have an assembly line going there? Who else is in on it? You're pretty much inspiring me to temporarily abandon my 109 build and get back into the P-47 fold!

Thanks for all the great comments guys, I truly appreciate it! These four builds have been fantastic, they have really taught me alot about technique and processes. And hey, hanging out with this crew doesn't hurt either! Thanks again!

ruddratt

Doogs, if it's cool with you, I need to put my 1/72 Jug on hold. The reason is simple.........my 1/48 Tamiya Razorback Jug is here! Man, what a kit! You sure weren't kiddin' about this guy. This is going to be a fun build. Got the Eduard PE set as well (it's for the Has. kit, but I'll make it work here), and on the way but yet to arrive are some AM decals and those PE blast tubes from the Ultracast site. Definitely looking forward to having a good time with this one!

Told ya! One of the best kits to ever find its way into a box, especially in 1/48 scale. Once you've built a Tamiya Jug, it's hard to go for another, unless it's a radical swing back to the simplicity of the Revellogram.

I'm honestly worried I'll be let down by the Hasegawa if I decide to swing at it next...

Brian - good to hear your son is home with the family.........now, get crackin' on that Jug!

Ed - very nice work there. I love these Jugs when they're armed to the hilt. Awesome!

Doogs, if it's cool with you, I need to put my 1/72 Jug on hold. The reason is simple.........my 1/48 Tamiya Razorback Jug is here! Man, what a kit! You sure weren't kiddin' about this guy. This is going to be a fun build. Got the Eduard PE set as well (it's for the Has. kit, but I'll make it work here), and on the way but yet to arrive are some AM decals and those PE blast tubes from the Ultracast site. Definitely looking forward to having a good time with this one!

Ed: really great build!  I think the cowl looks terrific.  Nice to see some colour on the standard OD over NG scheme.

DoogsATX: go on!  I bet you could churn out another before the B-25 arrives!

Baron - got you added to the roster! Looking forward to another Revellogram Razorback! 

Ed - lovely work on the Revellogram! That's FOUR for this GB now - man you're on fire!

Looks like I've got a bit longer to wait on the HK B-25 (PCM just got back saying looks like their shipment will come in around the end of the month...so I've got at least two weeks. Seriously pondering getting another Jug off the ground since the PV-1 is about to go into paint and I'm still waiting on stuff for both my Bishop and USS Laffey.

Ed - Superb work there indeed. Thanks for sharing your skills.

                     Joe

Gamera

Ace & Baron: Welcome, looking forward to more photos guys!

Ed: Wow, great job there! Nice job overall and love the spiffy nose art

Looks really nice! Well done.

Ace & Baron: Welcome, looking forward to more photos guys!

Ed: Wow, great job there! Nice job overall and love the spiffy nose art

Hello gents, a final update on Ms. Second Front. She has been done for a week now, but I had the flu and didn't feel like doing anything but sleeping. I used Tamiya paints and Zotz decals on this build. I hope you like it!

I really enjoyed building this one with all of the unusual theater markings and such. It's no Tamiya, but it builds up really nice and you can't beat the price. I think I paid under $10 after my coupon at Michael's. Thanks for checking it out! I think I have one more Jug I would like to do before this GB ends, I will let you know.

AceHawkDriver- Glad to hear your son is home with you now. Good luck with your build.

Hey guys!  Haven't posted yet on this GB due to finishing the PzIII GB.  But since that's now complete, I'll have a chance to get started on this one. 

Haven't made much progress as of yet since our second son was born on March 9th and spent 18 days in the NICU due to breathing issues.  He finally came home on the 28th and I may get some build time in.

All I've accomplished so far is assembling the wings, horizontal stabilizers, and have cleaned up the engine.  I have one sidewall of the cockpit installed as well as the rear bulkhead.  I will add some detail to it, but won't go overboard.

Here's the progress so far

Not much done yet but will try and keep plugging away slowly at it.

Comments and criticisms are always welcome!

Can you put me down for a Revellogram 1:48 P-47D razorback.

RAF markings...I like. got the finishing bits for my tam 47m. will start working on it either tonight or tomorrow. pics as always. 

Gamera

...

Doogs: Measured her last night- wingspan 21.5 inches / 54cm and length from cowl to tail not including the prop and spinner 17 inches / 43cm.

Models like that should be sold with extra shelf space - i literally would have not shelf big enough to store that thing!

I know what you mean about building up skills - i've got a bunch of "nice models" i'm deliberately not building anytime soon, until i feel like i can do them justice.

cml

Whoa!  What is that, DDD?

That is one huge model!  When did you acquire it?  I can't even imagine tackling something that big, i still get nervous buying 1/48 (though i do have my eye on a few 1/32s).

Hope you post some pics and a WIP log when you finally get stuck into it.

DDD, Lol! Picked it up about a month or so ago but just recently got my camera back though. I want to make sure everything is perfect when I build her so I'll be practicing on my smaller jugs. Not sure when I'll start the 1/24th kit but not soon though.

Doogs: Measured her last night- wingspan 21.5 inches / 54cm and length from cowl to tail not including the prop and spinner 17 inches / 43cm.

Whoa!  What is that, DDD?

That is one huge model!  When did you acquire it?  I can't even imagine tackling something that big, i still get nervous buying 1/48 (though i do have my eye on a few 1/32s).

Hope you post some pics and a WIP log when you finally get stuck into it.

Well, as I think it was Mae West said- 'Too much of a good thing is... delightful!'

I'm thinking I may have to build a hanger for it when I do start the build... I have no idea where I'd put the finished model, it's just the whole ideal of a 1/24 Jug is so bat-guano, over-the-top, crazy I couldn't resist.

Dang, Cliff - that Jug is a monster!!

Holy Shmanoly Gamera, that critter's awesome! Umm... Are your neighbors aware that you may be taking up part of their driveway with that.

Making  a bit of progress on my part as I got tamiya gray primer on "Nifty" yesterday.

                                                                     Joe

Ed,

No flash, and I haven't looked at all the parts carefully yet but so far I haven't seen any sink marks, just the usual injection marks placed where they aren't visible. Very happy with the kit, Vintage put a lot of work into getting it right. Only thing here is if you want one get it, I don't think Vintage Fighter Series is still in business. Dang shame, hopefully someone will pick up the molds and put them back in production.

Afraid I don't know when I'll start this kit, not anytime soon though. It's one of those 'it's special so I want to build up my skills so I can get it as close to perfect as possible' kits.

Cliff

Gamera- Wow, what a kit! That is the biggest Jug ever! Can't wait to see this one come together. How do the parts look as far as sink marks and flash, etc?

Ok, here's a few photos of the Vintage Fighter Series 1/24th scale P-47D:

Size comparison with the 1/48th Tamiya kit box.

Size comparison with 1/48th Tamiya kit

Wing gun covers are removable with detailed parts for the eight .50s and ammo belts

Cockpit parts and pilot

Engine details

Ordinance: metal and paper drop tanks, bombs, and triple bazookas

Instructions and transparent parts

Decals, nice but I'll probably order the Zotz set with the nice cheesecake nose art

Leaning toward either Virginia or doing Passionate Patty too