Official Ground Attack Group Build

Hey Wildchild, I was thinking my replacement for my botched Dragonfly would be the Trumpeter 1/32 F-117A Nighthawk which I'm crossing over from some other GBs. Sound good??

Cheers

Looks good Dre.  

I need to get back to my IL-2 as well. Been quite a few weeks since I've seen any bench time at all, but now that winter is unofficially upon us up here after our latest snowfalls, that will change real soon. Not much yardwork left to do outdoors.

The long-neglected Frogfoot is back on the bench and awaiting final touches before paint begins...

Try LA's totally awesome cleaner... Works wonders on testors paints on fingers... May work on this primer too, although I can't promise you.

Ah heck, that just blows.    Sorry to hear that, Casper.  

I'm sure with a lot of hard work I might be able to and repaint but the canopy also got covered and the decals are history on any of the small bits I first got uncovered. If it was only as simple as re-painting...

Cheers

It is with sad regret that I have to withdraw my Dragonfly from this GB. You see, this morning she was done and all I had to do was apply another coat of semi-gloss to seal everything in. I inadvertently grabbed the rattle-can of Tamiya grey primer instead of what I thought was the Tamiya semi-gloss. And yes i do totally realise that they are in different sized cans!!

So I gave to model a good burst from the correct angle and distance and then realised it was too late..... I tried desperately to use paint thinner to remove the primer but this stuff must be slightly different from the paint and refused to cooperate.

Cheers

Vetteman your AC-130 would certainly be welcome! Everything is looking great guys!

Heck, I'd be as happy as a clam in mud to complete a kit in 3 weeks... even 3 months.

professordeath

Casper, you sure do work fast. Looking really good!

I was thinking myself that this build was going quite slowly. I don't usually spend so much time on a little 1/72 ten dollar job. It's been 3 weeks now. Nearly done....

Cheers

Lookin' good Casper

Dragonfly painted and ready for some decaling!!

Cheers

Cute little thing...   looks like it'd be a hoot to fly.

I'm slowly getting the Frogfoot ready for paint- added a lot of breakables to it last night, sorry no pics as of now.

Some more progress o the Dragonfly. I have finished with the wings and fuselage and puttied where needed. Terrible fit on the canopy though. I had to use very thick amounts of canopy glue to fill in the gaps. I'll check when dried.

Cheers

There are a few AC-130s out there.  Italeri has two 1/72 models. Hasegawa has a 1/200 model.  Minicraft has one in 1/144

A-10's and now a possible AC-130U?   Oh, this is getting better!

If I can get my B-29 done in time I have an AC-130U Gunship that would fit in here I think.

I too usually go for the IP's and some placards unless the kit parts are really crisp.   I'm not too bad at detail painting, but there's no way I can replicate the instrument faces as well as Eduard.   Scroll back some pages to see what I had to do for the Frogfoot's IP...  

Good call on the string Prof

Dre

Nice work Professor.   I like that sprue tip...  that gets a Homer "D'oh!"

Eduard preprinted PE looks good but has no real depth to it.  Sometimes it looks better than kit parts, sometimes not.  If it has separate bezels then that helps tremendously.   I add a drop of Future to the Eduard instrument faces for a bit of shine where appropriate.   Color matching to their preprinted stuff can be a real treat...

I tend to buy the Eduard coloured PE for the IP and little else. Often the sets contain nice details for the canopy and such but I usually will not sand down details and the like and replace with the flat PE.

Cheers

Nice work Professor.   I like that sprue tip...  that gets a Homer "D'oh!"

Eduard preprinted PE looks good but has no real depth to it.  Sometimes it looks better than kit parts, sometimes not.  If it has separate bezels then that helps tremendously.   I add a drop of Future to the Eduard instrument faces for a bit of shine where appropriate.   Color matching to their preprinted stuff can be a real treat...

Try one of those extendable wood clamps, that might work nicely.

Ok sorry for the bad pics they are from my phone.

i221.photobucket.com/.../IMG_20120930_165335.jpg

i221.photobucket.com/.../IMG_20120930_165320.jpg

I have to say bigger workbench or bigger stash area?  Man don't get stuck with mediocrity, you have to start going for bigger things.  How about a bigger workbench AND a bigger stash area?  LOL   That's ALWAYS a good thing.  This is America, you CAN have both.  Strangely seems the older I get the less I make.  I have 2 degree's, and a bunch of good awards and the like, but I'm taking phone calls for a cellphone carrier.

Ok, got the Dragonfly together, I have done some puttying and will sand it down when it's dry.

Cheers

Sorry I don't have any pics, but the only camera I have anymore is my DSLR (my PnS died on me) and I lost my charger for it and I have to conserve battery power.  I may try to get some pics with my phone.  Anyhow since this was about the only thing I could do when recovering from my surgery and since it's an easy build needless to say mostof it got done pretty dang fast.

So the "ground attack" load that was supposed to be in the box didn't exist.  So I had a 72nd scale A10 that was missing a few parts(don't ask) so I decided to use the air to ground missilves and some of the bombs from it.  

The main plane is in paint right now.  I had brush painted it since I couldn't find thehose for my airbrush, then I found my spare house, but it didn't cover up the streaks, but it did makeit nice and uneven, so with a bit of weathering it should look nice and used.  

I still need to finish painting the landing gear, adding decals, painting the bay doors, painting and adding the weapons and finishup the vertical stabilizers.  

The problem is the decals on this thing SUCK.  They don't respond to setting solution, even solvaset, and the adhesive doesn't appear to work either.  gonna have to start trying Karl's tricks and float them in some future I think to get them to settle down.

I still have to finish up assembling and painting the seats, canopy and canopy frame, may add some seatbelts(no hardware though, not gonna dump the $$ into that, but I may if I grab another one of these kits, as they look good and build fast).

Never done weathering on a modern jet before especially Navy jet, so gonna have to get some idea's on that.  I had plenty of mig and vallejo pigments.  Got some oils too.  My choices are slim as I don't have the dough to go pick anything up.  

I may make a carrier deck base and scratchbuild a little tug to attach to it if I leave the canopy up, which I think I may do.

Ruddratt, nice!!!  Clean and subtle, that's the way to go.

ProfessorD- you understood that just right!

There's some great stuff on display here fellas! The completed builds, the wip's, and the ones just getting started - man, I'm happy to see this GB is still running along!

I've finally been able to make some progress on the IL-2. The weather's been so nice up here that it's been difficult to justify working on anything but the yard. The daylight hours are getting shorter though, and it's provided me with some still much-needed time in the workroom. This is a great kit! The fit is typical Tamiya and the detail is outstanding - I'd say it measures right up there with their P-47's. Both 'pits are nearing completion. A base coat of flat black was followed up with a lighter coat of MM RLM02. To add further depth, I went with Tamiya pastels applied carefully and sparingly with a fine brush in place of the standard wash to further accentuate the recesses and add a bit more shadow. The only AM added so far has been Verlinden lead foil for the belts, harnesses, and rudder straps, along with some PE buckles I swiped from a generic set that was kicking around. Here's where it stands so far.....

Lol, well, I'm not going to complain about the pay. Most kids my age are making minimum wage, I started at 13.55 an hour, so I'm pretty happy! Although.... I may need a bigger work bench... Or a bigger stash area lol.