Randy, just an FYI: On the front page, you list my completed build photos starting on Page 2. It's actually Page 8.

Doogs: Really looking forward to seeing that Mustang. Nice work on the cockpit so far.

Jolley Roger: Good progress on the Sabre. I'm interested in following your work with the foil.

vetteman42

Ok guys and lady I have come up with an idea for group badges that I haven't seen done before. I will be keeping the two that I posted on the front page for the group. However I will also be offering others that I think are really cool but I will ask if you want these, please can you host them so I dont clog up my photobucket.

The new ones will be up in a few minutes, Stoutfella and Ruddratt  I hope you like these and claim them.

I'm honored, sir

I have indeed grabbed a new badge and put it up in my own 'bucket. I'm switching from SlickPic to Photobucket, as that seems to be the service of choice among this bunch.

Thanks!

Vetteman42 those group badges look good, especially the Sabre

Doogs I'm following your build with interset, learning a lot. Thanks

Rudratt After I saw your finished build a had to go for a ride, jumped on my little scrambler and went for a spin in the bush. That bike looks like the real thing!

Anyway, here is some progress on my Sabre:

The panel on the righthand side is freshly applied foil, it looks a bit like chrome to me so I sand it down with 1200 grit paper, which results in the panel in the middle(careful, you will be suprised how quickly you can sand through the foil!) The sanding takes care of any of the irregularities caused by the adhesive or other 'unwanted' objects(up to a point)

I then polish with 2000 grit paper and results in the panel on the left, which to me looks more like the real thing. I just received some sanding pads that go from 3600 to 12000, I will polish some more with these pads to see the effect.

Whoa Randy!!! That is very cool. You rock, buddy!!

Redraider no worries man, its a modelers prerogative to change his or her mind dontcha know 

Ruddratt Ok I am grabbin my brain bucket and takin her for a ride !!!!!!!!!!!! That my friend looks real The addition of cables and the gold anodized rims and engine cases really makes it stand out. I did a chopper for my lil buddy and let me tell ya they are a challange and not as easy as you might think.

Doogs Looking like the master is at work again I take it the new AC unit is working ?

Ok guys and lady I have come up with an idea for group badges that I haven't seen done before. I will be keeping the two that I posted on the front page for the group. However I will also be offering others that I think are really cool but I will ask if you want these, please can you host them so I dont clog up my photobucket.

The new ones will be up in a few minutes, Stoutfella and Ruddratt  I hope you like these and claim them.

Gentlemen (and lady ), thank you so much for all your comments. Seeing the high caliber of work you all produce on a regular basis makes me appreciate your words even more.

talentless - believe me, you are anything but that. Took a look at that Tessi 1D you built - that is a real work of art, and gives me something to shoot for with my next bike build (yes, there will be another).

Doogs, I'm flattered that seeing my build would even have you consider building one yourself. Gonna have to do a search and see what's available with a Triumph logo.

......... and those offices! Man, you are becoming the cockpit master! Stunning work!

Making some solid progress on the B-25 and P-51B...probably going to have to slow up a bit though while I wait for a Sprue Bros. delivery. 

Here's the P-51 cockpit so far:

And the B-25:

Mike - you almost make me want to try my hand at a big bike. Don't suppose anybody makes a good Triumph Bonneville?

Mike: You're not an auto modeler!?! Wow! That makes her even more impressive. That's some beautiful work my friend! I'm not joking when i say she could if photographed right be taken for the real thing!

Hi lads. Please sign me up for a project or two aswell. I just managed to get hold of some Alclad Pollished Allu paint and I'mm planing to try it out on a few things.

I will do a Hobbyboss 1/48 Mirage IIICZ in SAAF delivirey sceeme, I also have a semi-built 1/48 ME 262 that I think will look cool in NMF.

Thanx

Theuns

Wonderful work!

freaking amazing! Great job

beautiful finish, puts my one to shame

OK fellas, I'm calling this guy done. This was a fun change-of-pace build for me, and I enjoyed every minute, along with the different challenges it presented - can definitely see myself building another one somewhere down the road, perhaps one of the 1/6 scale kits. Randy, thanks for providing a great venue to share it in - this is a great GB, and it's got me checking the stash for another entry - one with wings this time though. Got it narrowed down to 3 entries - I'll let ya know soon. Hope you guys enjoy the pics!

As far as painting goes, It was neat to try some of the Alclad's I'd never used before, like the chrome, and use it along with my usual standbys (aluminum and duraluminum). For the maroon color, I went with a base coat of black and sprayed multiple light coats of Testors red #1104. MM Acryl semigloss black was used for the seats and frame, and Tamiya clears were used for the lights and gold anodizing.

Thanks fellas! Glad you're likin' it so far. Went at it some more last night and will continue today - looking to have it finished soon, and with tomorrow a holiday up here, that should give me enough time.

Doogs, I'm liking that painting technique. I remember a bit I think was in one of Shep Paine's books where a guy painted a KV1 in a similar fashion. I'd totally forgotten about that method until I read your post. Thanks for the reminder! .....and that bomber is looking awesome! Top notch work on the 'pit!

Cliff, I've never built a bike kit, and the last cars I did were more almost 4 decades ago (remember those drag racing cars from MPC and Johan?). Just felt the need to try something different and still keep within the theme of the GB. Looking forward to that T-bolt!

Matt, sorry to hear about the curve that Ma Nature threw your way. Glad nobody was hurt and you're back to modeling.

taxtp - welcome aboard! Can't wait to see some work on that 'stang!

Budd, good to hear you're still in on the build!

Mike: That looks spectacular!!! I'm not much of a bike and car modeler but gee whiz that looks good!

Doogs: Nice work there on the P-51B and interesting idea on the B-25 - interested in seeing how she comes out.

Matt: A tornado??? And three cars wrecked? Ack, hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

Guys, the cockpit on the P-47D is slowly moving to completion. Hopefully something soon.

Vetteman: I settled on different markings for my B, ones that are more appropriate for this build.  And I swear these are FINAL! (just put the order in  lol).

A tornado came through a couple weeks ago and threw our pole shed into our house and wrecked 3 cars, so Ive put modeling on hold recently.  But everything is cleaned up now and I'm back in the mood to model.  I would have started the B already, but I plan to start it this week as I finish up a P-40 for another group build.  The D will be on hold for now as I think I'm gonna tear into my Helldiver soon too.

I've been out of the loop on this group for a little bit... Lots of great work so far though!

Stout- Awesome work! I admit, I am sometimes still intimidated by decals, but not nearly as much as I used to be. With a little work and lots of solvent, they can be made to look just fine. Good to see you pulled those off. Well done!

Ruddratt- That bike is looking sweet! As Doog said, it looks like the real thing sitting there!

As for me, since this group goes for a year, mine has been pushed back a couple slots to make room for builds that are ending sooner. But don't worry, it's still on the radar!

Thanks, -Budd

Taxtp welcome to the group Your build is in and listed on the roster.

hi Vetteman,

I've got an Academy P-51D that's looking for a good home. Can I join in here please. It's unstarted.

Cheers

Tony

Stoutfella Thanks for the reminder man ! To be honest with life's trials I had completely forgotten them.

The group badges are up on the front page.

Ruddratt Like Doogs said above that does look real ! I for one have always liked painted fenders on most bikes, I think they are an improvement to your build over the chromed fenders IMHO.

Doogs oh I like how your interior turned out !! I have my B-29 waiting for interior paint and think I will be giving your idea a go. If I can ever get out there and paint it that is.

I liked that!.  Black first then light coats of interior green, nice idea!!

Had some fun with the airbrush last night.

On a few recent builds, I've been less than happy with my cockpits. Interior green over primer just looks way too clean and uniform, even with heavy-handed weathering.

So this time around I'm trying something I've used to good effect on armor builds. 

Started out painting all the interior pieces with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black. I'd have used flat, but need to Alclad a few areas, so hey, X-1 for everything!

Next, thin MM Interior Green, building up haphazardly and in light coats.

Here's a few bits of the B-25 interior:

And the P-51:

ruddratt - holy crap man, that thing's ridiculous! When I saw it on my phone earlier, I thought it was a reference of the real bike you're building!

Ruddratt: Comfort or no, that's beautiful!

OK fellas, finally got some pics taken and uploaded. Gotta say, in spite of how far out of my comfort zone this kit is, I'm havin' a ball building it. Man though, that Alclad II chrome is some tricky stuff! Very easy to get heavy handed with it, and if that happens it kills the effect completely, looking more like aluminum. Too little, and it's way too dark. It relies heavily on that uber-glossy black base coat. After a lot of trial and error, I found that 2-3 very light coats of the Alclad at about 12psi worked best, but it was tough maintaining that consistancy, and I still had some pieces that ended up with a better finish than others. Overall though, I'm quite pleased with the reults so far. Used a little creative license and went with colors on the fenders to match the tank and battery covers instead of chrome.

Anyway, here's where it stands so far.

Mike_espo I would call that a very good start man ! That pit is gonna be a nice one, love the detail work and the IP is really well done. You gonna dirty up the burner can with pastels maybe ? If I recall correctly those engines produced a lot of soot, just a suggestion of course.

Doogs I to am sorry to hear the BIG 25 is on the back burner but I can sympathize with you having lived in Boyd for a while. In the spring we were invaded by fire ants, swear there was a hill every 10 feet of a 2 acre yard. Finally got them under control as it went into summer, then after a rain in the early fall it was water beetles !

I have that same Tamiya P-51B in the stash too sure looks like a pleasure to build. I will get you 2 new builds on the list today.

CaptBigMoney yup that kit is a definite challenge to be sure, but it looks like you have that P-38 headed in the right direction.

Stoutfella CONGRATULATIONS !!!!! yours is the first completion for the group. As has been said above, you have done the model justice, very well done Sir. You I believe said this was your first attempt doing NMF ? It looks like you have done many of them in the past and knowing how fragile the Metalizers are, you handled it like a pro.  Your build is posted on the front page. Cant wait to see your next one.

Talentless man that Aries does look a bit taller then the CMK version. I for one have never had much luck with resin addons other than wheels and props, course that could be that I am a bit hamfisted. I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out for you.

Richard WOW nice !!!!!!!!!!! Been wanting to see these pictures of the Kermi-cat I've heard horror stories of the Academy decals and must say you got them to lay down and behave very well. I really like the markings you have chosen too,  keep the pictures coming buddy.

Got some first-look test-fit goodness with the P-51B...

Test-fitting this one reminded me why I keep saying it's possibly the best-building kit in the scale. This thing is literally held together with three pieces of tape. One on the fuselage, one on the tail, and one under the chin. 

A closeup of the canopy and the wing root. The fit on these two critical areas is just phenomenal. Last time I built one of these, I didn't even have to glue the upper wing root. Don't think I'll need to this time around, either...

Richard: The NM looks perfect The decals do look a little thick but not too bad!

Strider: Good luck with your airbrush, gosh I know how annoying the things can be.

Ruddratt and Jolley Roger: Thanks again for the good words. I think it would be near impossible to end up with a bad result from that kit. I'll look forward to seeing the 1/32. Furyan did a super job on one of those in the last NMF group build. Check page 51 of NMF GB III.