French a/c group build 2012-13

Looks like good work all around, everybody! That Bugati sure is a piece of work. Is that photo of a real one? Where is it?

Vance that camo looks really good. Glad to see you have the cat's approval too...

Tax, your attention to detail on that build is inspiring!

Falcon, that's going to be a nice one, small progress is still progress, right?

Here's where I'm at:

Surprisingly, the old decals worked very well, all things considered. Only real trouble was the tail decals started to fall apart when I trimmed them. So I had to touch up by hand with paint. Color match wasn't exact, but I think with some weathering will help cover that.

Now I have to leave for a few weeks. Progress will have to wait until then.

Thanks, Budd

falconmod - shaping up nicely, can't wait to see some paint!  Nope, no Mirage III in my stash, yet. A little MS.406 is on the bench right now.

Scorpiomikey - Bugatti work!!!

taxtp  - ahhh, looking at a weathered machine! I love seeing a Corsair with some miles on her, just looks right.

sub revolution - looking good Budd. Funny, my comments about decals are exactly the same as yours. Everything went on fine, the only trouble I had was ALSO when trimming the back-to-back rudder stripes. NEXT TIME I'm pretty sure - even at 1/72 scale - I'll be removing the control surface before decaling. It's gotta be an easier option>..

Getting there! Decals MOSTLY on, still a couple of "mystery markings" that I have no idea what to do with. I'll scan & post tomorrow to see if anyone knows something I don't.

Crazy French landing gear started. This one has a peg to add with the "melt at one end to allow for rolling wheels" instruction. Uhhh, no rolling required here thanks. That being said, the wheels are really baloon-ish, not much definition between the hub & the rubber, sooooo I'm free-styling again & adding wheel hub covers. No punch & die in my arsenal yet, so I used....

Le Mue...

I have some aftermarket decals for the MS 406 Vance, so maybe the instructions for those can answer your questions re decal placement. Ask away...

Pretty good job on cutting out the wheel discs too. I've always cut them as close as I can to shape, then tries to sand them to an exact circle. Your method is better.

Thanks for the comments on my Corsair.

Here is the next instalment. A little bit of masking and we're ready for primer.

I've also skinned the tail wheel well with ultra thin plastic card to hide the seam.

You'll note that I finally broke off the pitot

Cheers

Tony

Hi Vance,

I might drop the Mirage I was going to build and complete this Corsair only for this GB. I'm not gonna find the time to get it done.

Too many promises, too little plastic I'm afraid.

Cheers

Tony

Hey Tony, not a problem if this only turns into the Corsair, I know what you mean about too little time!!

Here are my "mystery decals" - anything comparable on your AM sheets??

Thanks Vance.

The circular logo is shown close to the nose. Look very carefully at the Hasegawa box top here, there is a red logo that is faintly visible just aft of the spinner.

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=135145

There is comment that the circular logo was quickly overpainted in service.

My decals (Carpena 72.34) have the Morane Saulnier inscription in red too, but they are not shown on any of the placement diagrams.

Cheers

Tony

Ahhhh - good eye Tony!! I'll have to take a look, see if using that logo will really add anything considering the colours used in that area on my kit.

I actually have the Hasegawa kit, err, well two of them, the French and the Finnish versions. I got it down from the stash to see if it would shed any light after the Carpena decal instructions didn't answer the questions. I can check some reference too if required, but it was 1am by then and I decided to call it a day.

Cheers

Tony

Vance and Taxtp get confusing, their avatars are real similar if you're just skimming the posts.

Scorpiomikey

Vance and Taxtp get confusing, their avatars are real similar if you're just skimming the posts.

Indeed............the legacy of a former world wide empire 

I could make it worse by changing mine to the RNZAF one lol.

Sprue-ce Goose

Scorpiomikey

Vance and Taxtp get confusing, their avatars are real similar if you're just skimming the posts.

Indeed............the legacy of a former world wide empire 

I bet our accents are slightly different!

Had the MS.406 out for a few minutes last night, did some drybrushing. Needs a quick panel wash now. The circular MS logo looks too large to fit in that front-cowling position so I'll not bother with them.

...and as most of my education has come from 'The Simpsons', I believe that our toilets flush in opposite directions.

I've primed the Corsair, using Tamiya acrylic XF-16 Flat Aluminium. I've seen some great finished achieved with this paint, but for me it seems the metallic particle size is a little large for a really grain less finish. It's perfectly OK as a primer for this job though.

There are just a couple of minor fixes to be made before I prime again.

I have also futured the prop in preparation for decals, and sprayed the drop tanks, undercarriage and undercarriage bay doors.

Finally got rid of the dark blue plastic :) That's been a long time coming.

Cheers

Tony

If you wanna try the accent, say "Rise up lights" in your normal accent. You just said "Razor Blades" in an aussie accent. (Kiwi accent isnt a strong normally)

I think I need the audio. Maybe the next version of the forums will gives us that :)

Cheers

Tony

I don't know, I just read that, as you, and it still sounded like me. Maybe we sound alike after all.?

Always nice to start laying paint - doing the salt-chipping thing on the Corsair??

Well, i sprayed a dullcoat on the MS.406 last night, didn't think that was worthy of a progress photo though, sooooo look at my previous picture, and imagine it less shiny...

Might do the salt chipping Vance, good idea. I hadn't decided how I was going to get the effect, but that's one I haven't tried, so  I don't think I can resist it.

Did the 2nd prime on the Corsair,.

It looks the same as the last photo, I wonder if anyone would notice if I posted the same one ?

All good to go with Gloss Sea Blue now. I didn't attempt it tlast nightt, as it was 42 degrees celsius here yesterday, far too hot in the garage to spray gloss paint.

Cheers

Tony

42 C....  I'm expecting -12C overnight tonight... :(

I have never experienced cold like that. I think I would seize up, as it is, it all creaks and aches once it gets below about 15 deg C.

I'm actually not going to spray Gloss Sea Blue (GSB) tonight, have to do the Suez stripes first of course. So yellow first, then black.

What tips do you have for making sure the stripes are all of the correct and equal widths ?

Short of the old carpenter's rule "Measure twice and spray once", I don't have any. Was thinking of using the decals as a guide to width.

I was also thinking that the yellow will show pre-shading, but the GSB and black stripes won't, as they are so dark,  and that the stripes won't show obvious weathering as they would have been a recent paint application.

Cheers

Tony

taxtp

I have never experienced cold like that. I think I would seize up, as it is, it all creaks and aches once it gets below about 15 deg C.

I'm actually not going to spray Gloss Sea Blue (GSB) tonight, have to do the Suez stripes first of course. So yellow first, then black.

What tips do you have for making sure the stripes are all of the correct and equal widths ?

Short of the old carpenter's rule "Measure twice and spray once", I don't have any. Was thinking of using the decals as a guide to width.

I was also thinking that the yellow will show pre-shading, but the GSB and black stripes won't, as they are so dark,  and that the stripes won't show obvious weathering as they would have been a recent paint application.

Cheers

Tony

lol, well, I hesitate to say I enjoy the temps, but you get used to them. I've also decided that these temps guarantee we don't have to worry so  much about snakes, alligators, poisonous insects etc etc.  Still, makes it difficult for me to play softball in December! ;)

For the stripes, well, you're already aware of the measure-measure-measure method! I'd make spacer out of cardstock or something similar to make sure that the spacing is right, and to make sure the stripes stay parallel to each other as you lay the masking tape down.

I agree with your thinking on the weathering on the Suez stripes, unless you can find period pictures that shows the paint flaking off. Just keep in mind how heavy your salt-weathering showing metal is, compared to paint weathering. (You don't want a bare path of metal on the pilots wing-walk area, if there is no weathering to be seen otherwise.)

Thanks Vance.

In researching the stripes, I've come across this photo of an F4U-7 at Bata Airfield in Equatorial Guinea in 1952.

It's a bit late for a change in plans but I'm gonna do it. The weathering is not that heavy, there are no Suez markings, which doesn't hurt my chances of finishing an extra GB before year's end.

There are no real complications, I can cobble the necessary codes from the kit decal sheet, and end up with a model of an aircraft which is not on the decal sheet, which I like to do. It's a really nice photo for the period and I'm glad I bumped into it. I've consumed the evening with research, so spray tomorrow I guess.

Cheers

Tony

I downloaded some free photo zooming software so that I could get a good look at the serial number, and found that I couldn't patch it together from the kit decals, nor any others in the stash, so I've made the assumption that other aircraft from 15 Flotille was also located at the same place in 1952, at least for a while. 15 Flotille was also located in Algeria later in the 1950s.

I got the paint on, looks a bit grainy under photography but it feels smooth enough so I think it'll be fine under a coat of flat. Also got the decals down and positioned the prop for this photo.

Cheers

Tony

Nice looking finish on that one taxtp!

Alright, (most) fiddlybits in place. Just need to add the landing gear bay doors, paint the exhaust stubs, final touchups & weathering...

Would be good to see how the entire camo scheme / decals looks from above Vance. It's an interesting scheme. Looking forward to see it done, so I can see how mine should look when I get to it.

I am so taken with my Corsair, that I've been thinking of Hellcat, Bearcat and Helldiver in the same scheme. Absolutely no chance this year though.

Cheers

Tony

Oh there will be more pics, I just snapped that on the way out of the house as a quick update. HOPING to finish the paintwork tonight.

I'll race you to the finish line Vance. The only thing I've done since my last update is touch up the tricolor around the edge of the rudder. Oh, and  forget to clean out my airbrush after spraying the blue, that got a bit messy.

Cheers

Tony

It seems like I've been building this thing forever, anyways, spent some time on it over the weekend, and it's edging closer to completion. The prop is just positioned for the photo, it's not attached yet. I need to add the undercarriage bay doors (again), do the exhaust stain, some wireless rigging, detail the guns and some other minor things, and attach the ordnance.

The weathered appearance is created by scratching the paint to reveal the bare metal finish underneath, and use of chalk pastels for panel shading, although it hasn't shown up well in the photos.

Cheers

Tony

Looking good Tony, nothing like some paint chipping to help out a 1-colour paint job! Almost to the finish line huh?!? .....

I'm calling mine done! (y'know, until somebody spots something for me that needs another little dot of paint....)

1/72 Heller kit built oob, including decals. Raised panel lines all around but very nicely detailed. The supplied cockpit was basically a lumpy seat, so the interior framework, floorboard, seat, harness etc was all scratch-built. Not award-winning by any means, but much better than what it replaced. Had quite a bit of putty-work at the wing-to-fuselage join & had to replace the most inboard of the wing ribs due to the sanding. Tamiya light gray primer provided a base for hand-brushed Tamiya acrylics (custom mixes all around. Took several thin applications, and I lightened and streaked the colours as I went. Some paint chipping was done with aluminum enamels and a sponge, followed by a few small pinwashes and some attention from a Tamiya weathering pastels set. Still a few things I would have done differently, but happy with the odd little French plane. Comments & questions encouraged!

(Don't mind my little buddy Fuji, he always shows up for pictures, weather it's a Japanese subject or not!)




A little trouble on the striped tail - next time I'd cut it free & apply decals as needed.


The angles of the wheels didn't quite match up, but if I take a pic from an angle, nobody will know. Unless I tell the. Oh, wait....


A little something for scale, for those familiar with French coinage!




From above - can't get the camera zoomed in so well, but a fair amount of the cockpit is visible.