ANZAC GB Sept 2012 to Sept 2013

Yeh I don't do 1/72 anymore, except for subjects that are too big to be practical at 1/48 or above.  I just don't have the dexterity anymore.

Sparrow' , your Corsair came out great ;

Well done .

Looking forward to seeing the F/A-18D come together too .

Blitzwing , I also bought the 1/72 scale Hobby Boss Hornet and was extremely disappointed with what was in the box . I never built mine , instead I put it in a pile with other stuff and gave it to the Salvation Army Thrift shop .

Anyway nothing started from me yet , I still have a back-log of other project piled up on the bench and in the sprayboth . Hopfully I can start something soon .

John .

That Hornet looks like a pretty nice kit. Nothing like the 1/72 scale ones.

Looking good dude. Its a shame you couldnt find the single seater. But it should look wicked when its done.

I was watching the great race yesterday (Bathurst 1000) and they had some amazing shots of the RAAF F/A-18 doing an aerobatic display. Wish i could find it on youtube. Ill just post some footage of the race instead lol.

Lap 161, last lap. Both cars are running on fumes and their tires are stuffed.

Well.  I got a little start last night.  Here are the Startup images..

First the obligatory box images...

And now for some sprue shots...

And finally.  the little bit I got done last night.

As you can tell by the sprues, this is going to be a pretty involved build, lol.  The fit is pretty good so far, on the few pieces I have assembled.  I am definitely not looking forward to painting all that cockpit detail.  It's a bit soft in places, but nothing a good Xacto knife can't fix.

More images as work progresses

Rich

Yeh, I was thinking along those same lines.

My F/A-18 Hobby Boss kit arrived.  Now I am working up the nerve to open the box.  I still can't believe I got the thing for $20, still in shrinkwrap...   I'll probably start on her later today.  I had to order some more Blue Angel Blue and Light Ghost Gray.  Why is it you always run out of the paint you need when you start a kit.  Never something for any other kit, just paints particular to the kit you are starting...?  lol

Anyways, I will try and get some box and sprue shots later today.

Rich

checkmateking02

"Now I need to find a nice cat proof place to put her."

Plastic storage boxes with the snap-on lids--when your models are not out on display.  Even sitting on top of them, the cat is powerless to destroy.

"Now I need to find a nice cat proof place to put her."

Plastic storage boxes with the snap-on lids--when your models are not out on display.  Even sitting on top of them, the cat is powerless to destroy.

Yeh, there is that.  I just fixed the cowling and put in the missing pitot tube.  Now, one of the stupid little tiny exhaust stack pieces fell off somewhere. lmao.  Not worth bothering with.  I got the last coat of gloss on and she's a beauty.  Now I need to find a nice cat proof place to put her.

Scorpiomikey

That sucks dude, at least you can replicate them now though.

That sucks dude, at least you can replicate them now though.

Yeh I noticed that this morning too..  I'll have to go through the sprues again to find the Pitot tube.  I want to wait until everything has a day or so to set and properly cure before I mess with the cowling.  It must have slipped while it was sitting on the shelf drying.  I ended up using the original decals you sent, not the redone ones except for the numbers.  When I tried to use the ones I made, I discovered the decal sheets I got were the transparent kind, not the white backed kind, so they weren't usable.  The package was mislabeled.  I need to get some more sheets now before I can print anymore decals.   The Blue isn't really as dark as it looks.  It's just my cheapo camera. lol

Rich

Good looking, Corsair, Rich.  Something I've never built.  I know what you mean about weathering.  I'm always leary of it, too.  Don't do much with beyond a pin wash.

My resin cockpit has arrived and my armoured car is complete so work on my Tomahawk can begin. Looking at the resin cockpit I'm glad I've decided to replace the kit one. 

Here are the two sidewalls, next to each other and the height difference of the walls is quite apparent. 

The two seats next to each other and again the height difference is very apparent, with the kit seat almost looking like a low backed chair. 

Here are the two instrument panels. Oddly Trumpeter don't even provide a decal for the instruments and the clear part has holes drilled out where the glass should actually be which actually makes the clear part unnecessary if you think about it. You can also see the Aires gunsight under the instrument panel which makes Trumpeters etched metal one look ham fisted in comparison. 

It's a shame Trumpeter got the dimensions so wrong in the cockpit because I think the mouldings look alright and would have been quite useable, but this would have just been too weird .

Anyway I'm excited to get the build started.

updated!

Couple things though. Cowl looks like its not seated properly? And pitot tube missing from port (left) wing.

Looks awesome man. Im glad those decals got used.

OWL should update the front page shortly. That blue is alot darker than i was expecting. But i like it, really makes the yellow pop.

Okay.. She's done.  I decided to go with the just off the assembly line approach.  I didn't want to have my crappy attempt to weather her kill the look.  Here is the finished product.

First Side View

Second Side View

And Front View

She's probably one of the best Corsairs I have done.  Hopefully the F/A-18D will get here soon, and I can get that one started.

So if there are no objections, I'll grab the Badge now. 

Rich

In a few thousand years time. Archaeologists are going to dig up that site and wonder what in hell was going on.

Although i feel sorry for whoever recovers the facebook archives.

My Bad.  I don't know why I always think Texas.  I was actually referring to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson Arizona.  Ever since my Aneurysm, I tend to get things mixed up sometimes.  It drives my Wife nuts, but there's not much I can do about it. Sorry.

Rich

Rattler

I was curious, what boneyard to we have here in TX  an where Sir ?

I was curious, what boneyard to we have here in TX  an where Sir ?

Just standard Testors Model Master Dark Sea Blue.  I use that for most WWII USN and USMC aircraft like the Corsair, Wildcat, Hellcat, etc...  When it dries it has that kind of dark slate hue I like from that era.

Rich

Blitzwing

Very nice looking finish Sparrow. What blue did you use for it?

Very nice looking finish Sparrow. What blue did you use for it?

Yeh, it was a fun kit, and a lot less frustrating than some of the other brands like the Revell/Monogram kits in that scale.  I agree about the flaps.  It would have been nice if they had given at least the option of retracted flaps.  I wouldn't recommend this kit fo an inflight build for that one reason, but for an on the flightline build, it's perfect.

Scorpiomikey

Ah, in that case, fantastic job. That kits a nice kit to build isnt it? Although i found the flaps infinitely frustrating.

Ah, in that case, fantastic job. That kits a nice kit to build isnt it? Although i found the flaps infinitely frustrating.

I know about the hole.  I'll cut it when I do the small details.

You forgot to cut a hole for the aerial mast behind the cockpit.

Otherwise looks really good. Easier paint job than i had.

I got some work done today.  The Blue Paint is done, now just decaling to do.  The landing gear and engine/cowling/prop are also attached and the glue is drying as we speak.  The masking on the canopy came out perfect, which is a major event for me.. lol  I'm not sure on weathering yet.  I am not very good at it, which is why I usually do pristine (Off the Line) builds.  I'll see how it works out once the decals are on and I top coat it.  Here are the images from prep to completed..

Top view before pre paint finishing.

Bottom View prefinish. (Yes I know  still have the antenna masts and other tiny detail parts to put on.) lol

Canopy segments drying after a coat of Future.  Yeh, I finally got some.

Front Left view, prefinishing.  The Canopies are temporarily taped down tight to dry once glued on.  You can also see the masking.

Right View of the same.

Okay now for the big reveal.  Front Right View after paint and final assembly.

Front Left After final assembly

And finally, I tried to get a closer in shot from the back to see the cockpit a bit better and this is the best I could get with my el-cheapo camera.

Still a bit to go, but she's in the home stretch.

Rich

www.couriermail.com.au/.../story-fn8m0yo2-1226204896564

The story.

Yeh, we have the same pinheads up here.  And they are just as moronic.  If you want to see something that would make you cry, look at the boneyard in Texas.

Scorpiomikey

And dont talk to me about government pinheads scrapping aircraft. Im still simmering over our strike wing being dissolved by uncle helen.

But, the local museums got as many skyhawks as they could for the cost of transport and refurb (about $30k, included removal of the cocoon, reassembly, and staff to transport and reassemble aircraft) The one down the road from me was hoping to get a single seater and a T-bird, they have the Tbird and the single seater on permanent load from the USN (i think) but they wanted a genuine RNZAF single seater. Theyre also (hopefully) getting one of the machis from 14sqn.

It would have been a nice addition next to the Lancaster in the Australian War Memorial as a sort of then and now exhibition.

Surely one or two must have gone to museums....