MONOGRAM MAFIA II GB

So, did it have a red spinner or white?  Or was it swapped out partway through?  I just got white to look good, but I like red better.

Lot of good builds going on here; I especially like Stick's Devastator and Ms. Owl's Thunderbolt. Nice work all the way around!!

Thanks Don Hammer for sharing the history of the Cactus Air Force and your uncle's story.  So important to get those first hand narratives while we can...

I'm not sure where I found this link, (hopefully not in this thread!) but it would be of interest to anyone planning to build any South Vietnamese Air Force planes.  Some great first hand narratives from RVN pilots flying various aircraft:  Also includes a printable page of decals.

vnafmamn.com/vnaf_decals.html

Hope to get some pictures up of my proposed builds soon.......house remodeling efforts and back surgery have really put a kink in my build time.....So looking forward to building again!

TAD

Hans thanks for sharing that bit of history, its sad how much history is lost over time that we don't even get to read about. Having done some research on the Cactus Air Force in the past my self, I never saw this story. Thank your Uncle for both his service and for sharing the stories with you. I had 2 uncles who have passed that never spoke of what happened to them during their time of service during WWII. I only know one was in the first wave to land at Normandy, he was one of just a few to survive from his landing craft, and the other served on a P-61 off of Siapan.

Cdn Colin

So, did it have a red spinner or white?  Or was it swapped out partway through?  I just got white to look good, but I like red better.

He said he didn't remember..  (I've always done white though, 'cept for that one, lol)

The 67th Fighter Squadron had a different color for each flight (Red, White, and Blue), but they lost so many of the Airacobras that that stuff went out the window and you flew what was ready that day. Parts got swapped, and the Airacobra with a red spinner you flew yesterday might have a white spiner on it the next day...

That is some cool stuff about your uncle Hans. I also have a P-400 I am working on for this build, I think the pics I posted of it are like 10 pages back by now though.. If I can get the exhaust where I am happy with them the fuse might get buttoned up tonight. I am putting the finishing little touches on the P-40 right now. It is time to bite the bullet and do the exterior gun-sights. I don't want to have to do any touch up after the gloss goes on. I was trying to add these in as late as possible since they break so easily. Heck I have already broke and lost the pitot tube so I have had to scratch up a replacement. I think I will finish up the P-400 before I put the P-40 on its dio base as I will probably have enough stuff left over or not used from the dio scene kit I snagged for the P-40 scene. I figure there is no real rush anymore on the P-40 since it has already gone over on time.

It'll be a last minute decision on red or white then.  It's already white, but I really like red.

My grandfather didn't talk about his experiences until about a year before he died.  One night over coffe he just suddenly opened up about a lot of stuff.

He drove the maps onto Juno beach.  They told him "We don't care what happens to you, make sure that truck gets accross the beach in one piece!"

Dont sweat going over time, Big Dog.. I ain't really gonnna have anyone whacked if they do that..

Thank y'all for the stuff you said about Uncle John, BTW... I don't have a scanner anymore, but I'll try to get some of the pics he left me scanned and put up in here, somewhere...  Couple of them are really good P-39-engine refs..

Stik, you're making that TBD look B-E-A-YOO-TEE-FULL...

I am so mad right now I could chew barbed wire and spit nails. I tried out a new "Gloss" coat that is acrylic in the hopes of being able to weather the P-40 with enamels. What I ended up with is some hazy looking more or less flat garbage, I might even be generous and give it a satin rating instead of dead flat but it sure aint gloss and it looks like I sprayed it in the rain it has hazed so bad. Weird because the humidity isn't that high here at the moment. I am hopping I can go over this with some Testor's and bring it back to a salvageable state. Some pics of the disaster.

Since it is so far back here is a pic of my P-400. I found an unrestored example in a Finnish museum to work form, actually that one is a P-39Q but the mix of various interior colors was too good not to use. It does not show real well in this pic but I dry-brushed brown over a tan to get the look of the resin seat. Any pics of your uncle's plane you do manage to get scanned would be most welcome by me, maybe it is the old model railroader in me but I really like to work from prototype pics. You just see so many details that get left out of most artist's profile drawings.

The P-40 may have gone over and it is cool that it still counts, but I knocked out a Me109G10 as an Me109K before the original 6 month deadline went by. I had to be sure and make my bones since this GB is why I joined here at FSM in the first place!

Might be able to save that P-40..  Yeah, Testor's Glosscoat should work, test it on a stabilizer first.. Then you can do you enamel washes..  Work gently, but it's quite odable, since Glosscoat is laquer, and enamel-thinner can't really attack it quick, if at all..

If the glosscoat works, then do a Dullcoat, and drybrush over that.. Again, at's laquer, and be gentle..  Don't scrub too hard..

You might take advantage of the "fading"

 AVG P-4s were grimy and dusty.. Might be able to use that..

Think you could use some soot from  candle or burning styrene (AKA "Lampblack") to get the dark areas to look right.. Wear surgical gloves though.. Candle soot make fingerprints really "pop"..

Hans von Hammer

Think you could use some soot from  candle or burning styrene (AKA "Lampblack") to get the dark areas to look right.. Wear surgical gloves though.. Candle soot make fingerprints really "pop"..

Thanks for the suggestion, I think I will try that. I am really unhappy with how the hazing has lightened up the Dark Green. Unfortunately for me the plane I am modeling bellied in after engine failure on take-off in February so it is nowhere near as dirty as the pics you posted which were shot in May. It is okay in a way though, since this is sort of a "practice run" model for what I eventually want to do. What I eventually want to recreate is this scene here.

Doing that will require scratch-building the gun bay and engine that are visible, never mind trying to track down a 1/48th truck, there is also a jeep to the left that is out of this picture, although one of those might be a bit easier to find in 1/48th.

For this one I intend to just have the plane on the ground with no figures or vehicles before the work started on stripping the guns. I am still in the crawl-before-you-walk stage with my modeling skills. I haven't built any airplanes in about 30 years or any models in about 20. Although that railroad stuff does translate over. I am more or less trying to regain and expand my skills at the moment. When this one is completed it will only be my 5th model completed since I started back modeling last November. One of these days I might even have to see if I can force myself to pay the outrageous amount they want for one of those Tamegawa kits and see what all the fuss is about.

Good dio idea.. Although I disagree about not trying figures... One or two is more than enough..  They aren't as tough to tackle as everyone thinks, in fact, doing the uniforms is about the same as doing fabric control-surfaces, ie. color-coat, wash, drybrush, clear flat..  I maintain that if one can detail-paint a cockpit, one can figure-paint.

Faces don't need to look "life-like" and painted with 4 different shades of oils from normal viewing distances, they only need to have the amount of shading and highlight visible on a real person from about 20 feet away.  Now, if you plan to do a 2 &1/2-inch tall figure, and photograph him to appear 12" tall in the photo, then you gotta do that kinda stuff, but not on a 1/32 guy that's a foot or more away from your viewer... You can't tell what coor eyes someone has from 10 feet away.. Can't even see the whites.. don't wanna even try the eyes? Fine.. Bend some fine copper wire in aviator sunglass-frames and fill the frames with a drop of white glue....

Washes into shadows and drybrushing high-lights is enough, and is the "crawl"-stage of figure-painting, lol.. Plus, using some charcoal on the beard-area for a "5 o'clock-shadow" will cover up most of the face, at least the major areas that require detail-shading and high-lighting...

Later, as you walk, then run, you can sweat the oils...

good advice from the Don....

Ps.. things are slowing down for me,, Life wise.. Model stuff.. picking up.. I hope to start on my contributions soon..!

The no figures bit is not because I can't or don't paint figures. I already have the crawl stage of figure painting down. That decision is because I do not have any figures that I think would fit into the scene.

Time to become Dr. Frankenstein then, muuuhhaaaaaa......

Converting figures for everything is a stage you'll want to get to, but it's fairly basic modeling.. You can start simple by turning heads and raising/lowering arms, then get to mixing up legs, arms, and heads with various torsos...  The key is to cut them at their natural joints and use a wire inserted into rilled holes to keep them in the positions you want.. then simply fill with putty and sand..

In Shep Paine's book, How to Build Dioramas, there's an excellent chapter on converting/painting figures and it's must-have for the modeling/diorama builder's library.. Frankly, if you only ever buy one modeling book, this one's the bible.. Must have..

I don't leave the hobby shop without at least a figure set or two.. Currently, I have about 300 figures (and some 50 or 60 figure sets I've not gotten into yet) on-hand.. Some sets I have multiple copies of, just because there's ONE figure i gotta have.. 

I keep them sorted by country, era, and scale,  and also by legs, arms, heads, torsos...  Nobody will say to me at a contest, "Oh, I see you used the Tamiya US Infantry set for the Sherman diorama.", lol...   'Course, some figures, like the 1/48 TBD pilot I used for "Uncle John" is a stock figure, but even 1/48 figures can be converted/mixed up...  You also can cast copies, when you think you're ready..

I can't remember if I cast that TBD pilot, or he's an original, but he's likely a copy.. I think I cast about 12 of him, as well as copies of the Monogram F-86 pilot, the Me 262 pilot, and gobs of the paratroopers from the C-47 kit..

I'll write a primer one day on "casting/converting figures made easy", I think..  Be a big time-saver for sombody who doesn't want to follow my learning curve, lol.. I spent a lot of time (and money) learning how to do it cheap...

Man... should have added my AH-1S kit for this GB.

Dog, that hazing from the Flat coat really sucks bigtime. Might I ask if that was Micro Flat that you used? I tried that stuff once, got the same result and threw away the bottle after that. But I did salvage the build. I think that I stripped it off with hot water and a soft tooth brush. That one I did roughly 15 years ago and can not remember all the details now. But trashing the kit was not an option as it was a one shot deal- I could not afford to buy a replacement.

Boss, I am glad you like my TBD. I just really love this plane and want to do it right. The aircraft itself was mediocre at best when the war started for them, but the guts and determination of those crews, that is where the love for it comes from. And until the morning of June 4th 1942, it did have a pretty good combat record.

Here are some progress photos of work up to now:

The corrugations removed from the wing bomb rack panels (see the Life Magazine photo that I posted last week for a good reference)

Seams and sink marks filled with gel super glue and sanded smooth on the lower wig join

and some strip styrene shims over the flap wells of the wing fold area

More to follow soon...

The problem is that figure sets are very scarce around here. The local Hobby Lobby has all of Zero 1/48 figure sets, heck their 1/35 aint much above that. The other LHS is a Hobbytown that has the RoG Pilots and ground crew sets. That is it. I may need to ride back over to Columbus, Ga. and see if they have anything. I also need to see if some of the railroad oriented hobby stores are still in Montgomery since I could modify some O scale figures if they are close enough for what I want.  I do have the RoG British pilots and ground crew, plus a few figures from some of the Monogram kits I have. None of these are really close to what I want without some major modifications not just repositioning but uniforms and such.

I think I will order the Shep Paine book. I know everyone here raves about it and I have dismissed it in that I have quite a few Model Railroad scenery and such reference books, and figured most of the stuff is covered in those. I should know better as there is always an opportunity to learn new skills.

I would welcome a write up on casting figures and such as this is something I do want to start doing in the near future. I know there are several of the figures that come with some of the Monogram kits that I would like more copies of.

Stik, that work looks like its gonna pay off big time

@Stik This stuff was Tree House Studios Clear Acrylic High Gloss Coating, in a rattle can from Hobby Lobby. I tested it on the bottom since that will not be that visible and I think with the light gray color the Hazing was not apparent. The wind has finally died down so I have hit things with a coat of Testor's Glosscoat in the hopes that will fix things. I may just have to do a repaint.

I just finished siding the west side of my house.  Since I used vinyl siding does that count as a finished 1/1 scale model.  Hurricane is still upside down on the paint rack and the FW-190 in pieces on the bench. Since it's getting dark earlier, maybe.................

Stik the TBD is looking good.  I did a couple years ago one blue and one yellow wing. How about resin casting full figures or a variety of body parts?  If they were somewhat generic you could sculpt with epoxy to make any one from a pioneer flyer to an astronaut.

Thanks guys. This one is getting me tempted to start the other TBD that I have in my stash and really go to town on it. I came up with some great ideas to improve this kit even more during this build. But it will be next year at the soonest before that one comes along on the batting order. My next TBD build will be a Midway bird, those doomed gallant heroes.

Almost embarrassed to show my small amount of progress with that TBD and the Cobra goin, nice work guys . And Hans von Hammer errrr Don Hammer please do that toot on figures man ! You have a way of making what seems complicated very simple.

Ok I made as I said a small amount of progress on the Stuka, hate the way the canopy fits so I decided to fight with it a bit. You know the drill, sand, fit, sand, fit, on and on for oh 4 maybe 5 hours. I still have a bit more to do in the way of sanding but the worst is done.

Should be able to finish blending in the rear of the canopy tomorrow and get wings on her.

Don't feel bad, Vetteman; my progress has consisted of taking the plastic wrap off the boxes!! LOL

Hey Stick, great Devastator.....I have one that I attempted a pre-war scheme on that went "horribly wrong" hidden deep within the stash, somewhere.......I may summons the courage to try again, and will most likely use your updates to shamelessly accurize mine.......Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks Dave. The kit itself is fairly accurate and just needs a little help. And I am more than happy to bring those improving tweaks to light for all TBD fans.

and now back to the bench on this build....

Well here are today's work updates:

the kit comes with positionable flaps, up or down. But since every photo of TBDs with wings folded shows them with flaps up, I went that route. So flaps up it is...

and some cleanup work on the shims at the trailing edge of the wingfolds...

Then I added the horizontal stabilizers and tacked the engine cowling in place for painting... it now looks like a TBD

and my last bit of work for the morning was on the gunner's flex mount .30 cal. First up, I cut it off of the kit pintle mount as it is molded in firing position and I planning on mounting mine as stowed. Then using needle files I cleaned up mold seam lines, an ejector mark on the ammo box, and added a grove to give more definition and somewhat separate the spade grips. And finally  using the generic Tom's Modelworks USN Aircraft PE set, I added sights to the flex mount .30 cal.

A bit more progress tonite before calling it quittin' time at the bench. I glued on the landing gear struts, and I hollowed out the lightening holes on the wing fold armatures with a pin vise and various size drill bits. Plus a bunch of mold seam line clean up on fiddly bit parts that need to be painted and then mounted in final construction. It is not pretty much ready for the beginning of painting. That and getting the canopy dipped in Future.

That front sight is a whopper.