Official Ground Attack Group Build

Casper and taxtp, i will update the roster momentarily.

i havent gotten anything done recently, it has been far too hat to even sit outside, let alone in a non-air condirioned garage working on kits. Lookin good fellas!

Hi Everyone,

Can I dive in with an Academy 1/72 Hawker Typhoon please ?

Cheers

Tony

Made a little more progress on the F/A-18E.  This thing is moving along at a snail's pace.  The job and the new wife sure are cutting into my free time...but I'm thankful for both of them so that's ok.

I painted the vertical stabs in the Royal Maces black and yellow:

Here's the ejection seat.  I went with the resin one.  The flash really brings out the wash.  It isn't nearly as "dirty" with the naked eye:

Here's the photo etch HUD.  I cut out the glass from some thin clear plastic:

I've decided to put 2 GBU-24s, 2 GBU-38s, and AGM-65 and the "funny gas" (asymmetrical tanks) on it.  Since the Navy has the fireproof ablative coating on their bombs I thought I'd try to recreate that on mine.  I just stippled Mr. Surfacer 500 on with a cut down paint brush. Again, the flash makes them look way more rough than they appear to the naked eye:

Here she is primed.  I painted the exhaust shrouds Alclad II steel and masked them off:

Most of the tedious stuff is out of the way (I think) so hopefully things will move along more quickly.

Well I got the Hs129 primed this morning before it got too hot. Only a few places to fix.

I haven't gotten much done on the He129 due to the extreme heat here. I need to prime things but it's just soooo hot out. Hopefully I can try tonight or first thing in the morning.

Spent the majority of yesterday working on weapons for the Frogfoot...  16 rocket tubes on 2 racks, 8 100Kg. bombs on 2 MERs, 2 500Kg. bombs, and 2 large droptanks for extra loitering time.  

8 underwing stations=lots of options.

I made a little bit of progress and it is almost starting to look like a Mil now.

Theuns

Here's my entry for this GB. The Hobbyboss TA-7C in 1/48. Lots of lovely detail on the sprue with this kit;

...except the seats, that is! Hmm......sometimes I wonder why they don't take more time to give the seats a little detail. Just a slab of plastic. The Tamiya 1/32 Phantom II F-4D I have just built was the same.

I've got a couple of resin seats leftover in 1/48 and they will stand in perfectly, apart from these the kit will be pretty much OOB.

Ok, so sprues are now having a bath while I finish weathering this giant Phantom....

Cheers

PaperPanzer

Some more progress today, I am hoping to finish this build and tackle something else for another GB I am in... hopefully I don't get impatient and try to tackle three projects again!

...

HEY!! What's going on over here?!?! (I wish I could stop at three projects...  )

Can you flip the rotor hub to make them go the right way 'round?

I think you are right, it does seem to low for scale, the pix I have show it higher. Or maybe they are just short blokes LOL!

I am now actually dissapointed with these hobbyboss kits. it also seems the H-34  Chocktaw has the rotors turning in the wrong direction! what a pitty for an otherwize OK looking kit :-(

Theuns

PS. I think I will close the doors on the MiL!

Why do I imagine that those Speznats lads will also have stiff, sore necks after being cooped up in that rather low-clearance compartment? It just looks uncomfortable.

I managed to do a little work on my 1/72 MiL 24. The innerds are in and the fuselarge is joined.

The undercart bay needed a bit of cutting to make it fi in behind the read cabin bulkhead

Yes, for the sharp eyed guys, I did forget to put in any lapstraps in the rear seats, but those Speznats lads are tough enought not to need it LOL!

Theuns

Some more progress today, I am hoping to finish this build and tackle something else for another GB I am in... hopefully I don't get impatient and try to tackle three projects again!

Bombs lined up for painting.-

The first of the huge amount of clear parts installed!-

Bomb racks glued up.-

Ends have been painted as well, I have decided to build the closed- up version.

More coming!

TheWildChild

 

PaperPanzer:

 

Previous experience  helps, especially with Italiari kits, delicate, small parts on thick, clustered sprue.-

 

 

 

looks like that wing-to-engine nacelle should make for an interesting endevour

those sprues remind me of the old AMT car kits.... just as much (if not MORE) plastic in the box in the form of sprues than in parts lol

PaperPanzer

Previous experience  helps, especially with Italiari kits, delicate, small parts on thick, clustered sprue.-

looks like that wing-to-engine nacelle should make for an interesting endevour

those sprues remind me of the old AMT car kits.... just as much (if not MORE) plastic in the box in the form of sprues than in parts lol

Good luck! Making a Photobucket account is easy, and since it's free, unlimited!

Well, with my Do. 335 almost finished for another GB, I started work on the Caprioni today.

The box+ contents-

First thing built was the cockpit, low on detail, so it can stand some bolstering later on (especially with all that glass!)-

Now the bomb racks, since this was going to be a ground attack plane, it has to have bombs!-

Previous experience  helps, especially with Italiari kits, delicate, small parts on thick, clustered sprue.-

While the bomb assembles dried, I tackled the rack tops, which need filler due to mold shrinkage.-

Well, so far so good, lets see what tomorrow brings!

More on the way!

Well Gents, i am not out of my cast yet, but, after about an hour and a half of grinding with the motor tool and pulling and prying with a pair of needlenose, my fingers are mostly free, so im going to try to get some building done (i may regret it later, but oh well, it is what it is) i dont think im going to start my A-10 right now though... too many un-finished projects floating around. Soooooooo..... i bave a Revellogram B-25J Hard Nose thats about 90% done that i think im going to finish up for this build instead...finishing touches would probably be batter on my hand at this point than a full-on assault on another kit. going to give it a shot when im done with this. i will post pics as soon as i make a photobucket account. Wish me luck, and keep up the great work guys!

Regards, Logan

Hi guys.  Here's an update on my Hase F/A-18E.  Progress is coming along but slowly.  

I've managed to get the landing gear painted and decaled.  Still have to detail them and give them a wash but I think they look good so far:

This will be the 2008 version of the VFA-27 Royal Maces CAG jet.  Here's the first step in painting the vertical stabs.  I primed them white so the yellow would stand out, painted the yellow and then masked it off.  Next will be the gloss black:

I've also masked the canopy and windscreen.  I tried something new this time.  I cut thin strips of Tamiya masking tape, masked around the framing and filled in the open area with Micro Mask.  I also applied Micro Mask to the inside of the parts, too:

That's it.  Sorry for the not very exciting update.

Disco Stu: That's one nicely done cockpit my friend!

-I haven't done anything with the Caprioni yet, trying to finish another project for a different GB..., but I'll get to it soon!

Finally able to post pics of the A-37.  Seats and pit are done.  It may look a bit too-heavily weathered but pics of the real thing show it to be pretty beat up by the end of it's service.

WildChild, that's all kit parts. 

Dre

and now the finished engines and intake trunks inside the nacelles.  The intakes had the required nasty seams running the length of them and rather than trying to fill them with putty or lose the rivet detail to heavy latex, I used very thin round plastic stock to fill them in.  They aren't accurate, but they are cleanly done and otherwise look better than the ditches.

how they look closed up- not a lot left to look at.

that kit come with the engines or are they aftermarket? ine could think of a way to show off one engine.... a scale 40mm AA gun could be vary sersuasive to body panels then again that would be quite a bear in itself, adding the ribs, wires and what not.

Tulkas, I forgot to add some itty-bitty details about that clear smoke wash.....  

In my experience it's been safe thus far over acrylics, but I let any fresh acrylic paint dry and cure at least two days before using this on it.  I've had no issues with it over enamels (yet).  Let gravity do the work and be prepared to wick away a lot of run-off and pooling liquid.  Big dried pools look like someone spilled a gallon or two of used motor oil, so beware.  

Thinning it with Future is better than straight from the jar IMO because it flows around details better,  dries without bubbles, and isn't as strong an effect otherwise.  I haven't yet washed an entire, finished model with this stuff, so I don't know how well it will do for that.  But for smaller interior areas that get oily/dirty it is great.   Thinned or not, it dries to a clear, slightly warm tone with a high shine.

hope that helps!

Theuns

Hi all, I was given a "box of bits" that turned out to be a very old Revell 1/40 (odd scale) AD1 Skyrader by the looks of it.

The first owner thought it a "fun" idea to cut off every piece from the sprues and chuck them loose into a box!

Can I join?

 

Theuns

PS, there will be no "sprue shots, only a box of bits shot LOL!

LMAO!

Thanks Dre. I think I'll pick up a bottle of it when I order the bombs for the kit.

Tulkas, looking good!  Tamiya's Clear Smoke (X-19?) does a fantastic job of giving that dirty/oily look in well wheels.   It's easier to use than a traditional oil-based wash and won't attack the underlying paints.  I either mix it with Future (reduces the bubbles and runs better) , or use it straight from the bottle.  Just slather it all over everything and let it settle and dry.  

Looking pretty darn snazzy so far, guys!

After painting the panels for the nose landing gear wells they just seemed too white, especially after looking at some pictures of the real thing.  So I decided to try my hand at dirtying them up.  I figured this would be a good spot to try since if I really butchered it no one would ever see lol.  Anyway here's how it came out:

Also finished painting the seats:

Sorry for the lighting in all my pics.  If I used the flash it kind of washes out everything, and without it seems to be a bit dark.  The bit of dry brushing I tried my hand at on the seats doesn't want to show well with or without the flash.

Cockpit of the MiL 24. Cabin not done yet.

Note the red and green toggle switch guards in the WSO station :-) (I was lucky to have a nice pix of the real one to model)

The cabin is painted in the light blue ,same as helo's underside.

Theuns