Thanks Cliff it kinda was ,for a while that is

B17 pilot thanks ,your panel varition looks great! Mine not so much!

Had an EPIC fail on the NMF. Masked up some panels to spray some different shades of aluminum and the clear pulled away from the base. So I grabbed some really strong tape and started using it to 'pull' the remainder of the clear away.

then wet sanded everything with 1000 grit,loosing a little detail but its better than binning it at this point.

Then sprayed it semi gloss black to check for flaws . I'm going to try Tamiya ts-30 silver leaf as I've had good results in the past with it.

If that does'nt work I'm returning it to kit form. Gee I'm so glad I got back into this hobby to relax.

Good work, guys. B17, that's a beaut. You're headed for the finish line. Trey: Looks like a save. Hang in there.

I had hoped to finish my Gabreski jug by Christmas in honor of my mom, but I'm not quite gonna make it with everything else going on today and tomorrow. As you can see, it's all fiddly bits (including some eyeballs for Mr. Gabreski ) and I probably only need a couple of hours to make it whole, but it's just not gonna happen unless I can find those couple of hours tonight. I will make the end-of-year deadline, though, which I wasn't sure I'd make when I started. Anyway, I'll post wrap-up pics when I'm done.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

B-17: She's coming together great there! Nice work!

Trey: OUCH! That's one of the main reasons I stopped using Testor's Metalizer, great stuff, looks more like aluminum to me than Alclad or anything else- but it peels up at the slightest provocation, I swear even a dirty look. Best of luck with the Tamiya, looks like you've got a perfect undercoat there with the black.

SF: Ohhh, yes! The only thing better than a Gabby P-47 is two Gabby P-47s! Great work there on the fighter and Mister Gabreski.

BTW: Gabby wants a pair of eyeballs for Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas folks!

SF the Gabby 47 is looking really sharp,love the way you did the cammo,soft edge on the green looks outstanding

Cliff that was strait up testors flat aluminum not metalizer,the clear I put down over it to protect did'nt bond for some reason!

Well I have made a partial recovery to were I wanted to be. I shot tamiya ts-30 first followed by Model Master aluminum plate metalizer. Then I buffed everything out by hand and shot automotive 2part urethane clear thinned about 30% over the whole thing. I'm not going to attempt to mask and spray the invasion stripes,just too worried everything will pull up again! I tried using the kit supplied ones but ruined them putting them on,totally my fault. So 'elsie ' will have to live without her belly stripes,oh well.

Decals are Aero Master and are working great

Monster Prop is ready to hang

I'm calling it done

Added some gunsight details

I used watercolor mixed with Formula'560' canopy glue for the id lights after drilling them slightly

also used the same canopy glue for the clear position lights

I used aluminum tubing for the exhaust and punched out disc for the pressure valve that goes in the outlet

cheers Trey

She looks fantastic Trey!

Kudos sir!!!

Absolutely Outstanding Jug Trey. You should truely be proud of the work you've done there.

Cliff,Joe thank you both

and a big thanks to Bigfoot01 who took the time to point out that the gear angle needed a tweak!

the fix,looks a lot better thanks John

Trey, that's a great recovery. Looks terrific. Congrats!

I'm pretty much done with my Gabreski Jug and will have pics to prove it tomorrow or Sunday.

Stoutfella thanks! I'm eagerly awaiting the finished Gabby, pics do'nt make us wait til suday!!

Here's a shot of my Jug, almost done.  So far, only one decal has been sacrificed; I'm a little upset about it, but this is the first model back after a 30 year hiatus.

When I'm done I'll post lessons learned - there have been many.

Trey: Sorry to make you wait, but here are some finished pics. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I built this in honor of my late mom, who worked at the Republic factory in Evansville, Ind., during the war. Gabby was her favorite pilot and I dimly recall her saying back in my younger modeling days that I should build his plane. So here ya' go, Mom, albeit a tad late.

I had a few issues with the kit, as previously described, enough to make me leery of future Academy kits. I've committed to building my Revellogram P-38 next, but after that I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to my Tamiya stash.

And this was absolutely, positively my last attempt at invasion stripe decals. I painted the ones on the wings, but used the decals for the fuselage stripes. I think they mostly look OK, but there are plenty of flaws. In fact, I think that pretty much sums up this build. Looks mostly OK, but lots and lots of flaws on close inspection, including some decal silvering that, I'm sure, stems from a less than perfect surface after multiple wrestling matches with the airbrush. When I was done, I actually laid down a couple of fairly thick coats of rattle-can Dullcoat rather than airbrushing, in an attempt to smooth out the final surface, which worked pretty darn well but couldn't hide the shortcomings in my decal work.

So there ya go, my final build of 2012. Happy New Year to all!

Stoutfella and Trey: Great looking Jugs!

As for me, I got the landing gear on to help protect the decals later. I improved the kit supplied actuators for the rear doors with plastic rods

And here she is up on her gear:

Oh and speaking of decals, here they are:

Well as you can see I didn't use the kit supplied decals. I did use the serial number, since I used bits of a Aeromaster decal sheet to mark it as a P-47 with the 9th AF. The instructions did help in providing placement for the stencil markings. Overcoat and a little weathering and she'll be done, perhaps on New's Day, minus the weapon plyons and fuel tank, which I forgot to paint with the aircraft

G-J: She looks pretty good to me in the photo from what I can see, good luck!

SF: Wow, great work! The first white stripe on the fuselage does look a little crooked but otherwise they all look good to me. Personally I think she looks fantastic, you should be proud of her. And the Gabby figure looks great too!

B-17pilot thanks!

Stoutfella WOW! Well worth the wait Sir! I think you're being over critical of your work,as we all do. The flaws are nothing that jumps out and the great results everywhere else more than make up for any minor blems. A fitting tribute build for sure and a fine looking Gabby Jug,very nicely done Sir!

Boys, you have been getting after it! Been off the radar for a bit with the holidays!

Trey! Nice save and great looking jug! I need to build me a picture box setup. Very nice!

SF! Also great save on those dry rub decals! Turned out great! Very well done.

B-17... Looks great so far. Can't wait to see it finished!

Great work from everyone else too. Winding up to be a great year!

ACK! For some reason I was thinking this GB started back in the summer, it's already been over a year!

The Promodeler P-47N (which I have renamed 'Jinx') is almost done and the decals are on the Tamiya P-47D.

Doogs: may I go ahead and post photos even though I'm over the deadline? I won't be taking a badge since I'm so way over here.

Hi Doogs,

I haven't got very far with mine. Happy to go ahead and complete, or defer it if you want to finish this GB off.

Cheers

Tony

I put a lot of work in yesterday and this morning to finish this up and want to call this done.  I still have to wash it, then add the flat coat.  And I'd like to make a base for it, but that will be a while.  But, I wanted to get this up so that Doogs can close it off.

Thanks Doogs for letting me in this one.  This was my first model after about a 30-year hiatus.

I learned so much, a lot from this thread alone.

There's a ton of warts on this, fortunately, I'm not the best of photographers.  But I'm trying to improve that as well.

The Jug is 100% OOB, I really didn't know about aftermarket parts until I got into it.  And, it is 100% hand brushed.  At some point I'll get an airbrush.

I learned that directions are a good starting point, but they seem to be more of a suggestion. I learned that acrylic paints become unstable (and lose a lot) when the house temperature drops to about 45.  (Thanks Sandy.)  Decaling used to be my worst skill, but this site has taught me to be a much better decaler - even though one decal did get sacrificed in the building of this plane.  I've learned that masking canopies is very, very tedious when I'm cutting tiny strips of masking tape.

Here are some final pictures.

Geof thanks!

G-J Great looking Bug Jug!

Its probably too late, but my P-47D is done! Well sort of, for some reason I didn't paint the pylons and drop tank with the aircraft, so they are getting painted now (primer is drying). This is a Hasegawa 1/48 P-47D with Eagle Strike decals to mark it in the 9th AF.

 Bottom:

 As you can see from the holes, the pylons and drop tank are missing.

Better late then never, right?

Gorgeous Jug there B17.  You did a superb job on the overall finish.

Awesome Jug B17 well worth the wait to see it finished! Very nicely done Sir!

G-J: Wow that's cool!

B-17: Beautiful work! I love how she came out!

BTW: My P-47N is almost done, guess I'll post her here even though she's way over the deadline too.  

I was trying for the end of the year, but we had a winter storm come through and drop several inches of snow on us between Christmas and New Year's, so I was kind of in a bind and couldn't finish up till now.

I'll get some pics when the tank and pylons are done

I'm building a P 47, it's not the official Gabby P47. But I am going to make it Gabby's plane. Would anyone know where I can find a Gabby figure in 1 48 scale for it? or have one laying around they aren't going to use?

Th reasons for this is He is from from Oil City, PA and thats where I've lived most of my life.

Everyones Jugs turned out really nice. congrats to all.

I signd up for this GB, but couldn't get my P-47 last year due to financial problems, I'm getting it Friday. I IMed Doogs, but he hasn't answred yet. Would there be any talk of extending the GB? Hope so.

Ok way over the deadline but here's my P-47N.

PS: My advice? I've heard this Revell Promodeler kit is more accurate than the Academy version but it's a pain in a lot of ways- if you want an N I'd go with the Academy model.

Gamera, That is an absolutely masterful Jug! Exquisite paint job, weathering and detail. It really has  been a pleasure watching you build and demonstrate your skills. They certainly are first rate. I also want to thank you for the encouragement you gave me during this build, especially when my paint job when it went south on me. The weather here is beginning to warm up and I can soon get outdoors where I can start stripping the old Alclad off with ELO and then finish it off. By the way, I love your airstrip matt there. Did you make it?If not where did you get it? I look forward to more modeling with you Gamera. You Rock!  

Joe - I found this site this morning. I bought the pillbox, and am thinking about the taxi way. You buy it, then save it and print it. their pics make it look good. So we'll see. It's not expensive.

www.scalemodelscenery.com

Ken

Wow thanks Joe, you're too kind I'm mostly happy with her though if you were looking at the model in person you'd see quite a few rough spots. I'm looking forward to seeing you get your P-47 done, trust me I had enough problems with this one though obviously not as bad the situation you got hit with.

My airstrip tarmac is just a pre-printed piece of cardboard by Velinden. I have both the large single piece I've used here, and the four smaller piece set.   I don't see the single piece in 1/48th on the site now, it may be out of print- there seem to be a bunch of others to choose from though.

GT98: I've seen a few 1/32 figures of Gabby and I Academy made a special edition P-47 with a figure in 1/48th but at that scale I'd think you could probably use about any USAAF figure and no one could tell the difference.