Gift GB

More progress on my Gundam, though it's still slow going. Why does life get in the way of my modeling? I finished the head and part of the torso, as well as painting some of the bits that go in the arms and legs.

Sorry for the pic quality, I think I need another camera and/or photography skills.

Nice work so far on your Gundam figure , Badlanguage

I decided to hold off on masking the Hasegawa GR-1 Jaguar as I rememberd about ordering the Flightpath RAF Jaguar GR-1 detail and weapons set from Hannants . The set arrived today and it's chock full of lot's of white metal , resin and PE for the Hasegawa kit , I also picked up two of the Italeri kits .

The two page instruction sheets are quite good in explaining where different parts fit

I also picked up the Pavla Martin Baker Mk.9B resin seat

I did go ahead and removed the wing fences from the top of the wings on my Hasegawa Jaguar

The metal over the wing missile pylons are quite nice

And they fit without any issue's straight on top of the wing

So lot's of goodies to add to the aircraft , the italeri kits have a nice set of weapons on their sprue and I can borrow one of the underwing fuel tanks for my Hasegawa build .

John .

badlanguage, thats looking good. Taking photo's isn't my strong point, but i have learned a bit on here latley. I think lighting is one of the most important things. But you can see the detail and colours on yours, so thats the main thing.

Helo, thats some collection of Jag's your building up there. I think between you and me alone we could have a Jag GB. I have quite a few Flightpath ground equipment sets. I haven't used any yet, but the intructions do look good. Look forward to seeing how yours come together.

Great looking progress going on BL and others...

Here's an update w/WIP on the 29 build...

Looks like the images/camera flash causes some distortion and paint blotchiness...even though it is all hand painted, it really doesnt look as rough as it looks in these images as it does in person. LOL

Thats some nice looking pit Z. I know what you mean about photo's. The ones i took of my recent 72nd build, the cockpit looked awful, but i know it wasn't nearly that bad. It is hard to get decent close up's of stuff this small.

Atre those bunk beds at the back.

Yes they are...even though they were not part of the Z-8 of my wife's uncle, I thought I'd include them since the lower bunks were molded into the deck.

If you look close at one of the prop blades, you'll notice the yellow writing decal up close to the blade hub. I haven't done the other blades yet on the other props but will get to it tomorrow most likely. It was a test decaling at the time just before I took the image. The manufacturer of the blades decals are all in place. This kit has some very good detail which I'm enjoying the challenge of working on by instruction and by some adlibing on my part based off of old images I have. I dry brushed the center console knobs/levers and adding the yellow trim to the flight deck entry panel (top and bottom) just to mention a couple.

It's a little difficult with glasses and a 3x magnifying glass to do such intriciate work/paint by hand! the other night my wife came down to let me know she was going to bed and saw me with my face nearly up against the glass painting the silver ladder leading up to the crew transfer tube.

Her words: "Oh my, have fun"

I'm no where near the skill level of the folks here and no air brush, but I'm glad to be able to read and see how/what others are doing and how they are going about it!

From the roster of the build, where is everbody from? Most in UK? Any others stateside?

I knew post war bombers like the B-52 carried bunks, but didn't realise the B-29 did. But guess it makes sense. And don't put yourself down, your doing great.

Most people on here are from the States. We have one or two from down under and then i am from the UK. Well, someone has to keep you colonials in order, right.

Colonials...outstanding! LOL

Most of the 29's in WWII did not have those as part of the pkg. It was later production that they were included. I suspect they were molded into the deck since the kit can be built from two different era's (WWII and Korean/Viet Nam era before the 29 was retired from service). The area where the bunks are now was the normal position of the radar operator...he was aft of the CFC gunner.

Z-8's crew positioning below:

From Saipan to Japan and back entailed 13-17.5 hr mission times...

I guess the crews going from Saipan to Japan would have wishe dthey had bunks on board with a flight that long. And i didn't kow the 29 was in service that long. Was it still being used as a bomber, or for other roles.

ZS8: your B-29 is looking good.

Nice work so far on the B-29, Z. I always loved the crew compartments of WWII bombers! Looking good!

I don't know if I will get to all my Gift building, but I got a massive surprize when another Birthday gift arrived in the post. This time a 1/32 Tamiya P-51D with all the extra bells and whistles there is!

This will be the crown jewel in my collection and I will be going all out with this one !

Theuns

Now that will be sweet. You want me to add it to the roster.

Great work so far fellas! The Gundam, Jag, and B-29 are all looking absolutely superb!

Been steadily plugging away at the D.VII and finally have some photo-worthy progress. The engine is complete and installed into the framework. For the ignition wiring, I twisted some ultra-fine wire tightly around a  #70 drill bit - the loop made it a breeze to slip over the terminals on the magnitos and the twisting went a long way towards simulating the wrapped insulation on the actual wires....

Got the engine all painted up using Alclad II aluminum and Tamiya flat black, applied the 16 decals to the block and cylinder heads and weathered 'er up with Tamiya pastels and Citadel washes...

Finally, it was time to install it into the framework, and it fit like a glove.....

Next is the radiator assembly. When that's complete, it'll be time to button up the fuselage halves and have a go at the bigger parts like the wings, struts, and access panels.

Mike, lovely work on this. That engine is stunning. I like the slightly oiled look on the bottom half. Is that the Citadel wash.

That it is, Bish. A buddy of mine at work uses them on his Warhammer figures and suggested I give 'em a try. The one I used is referred to as Devlan Mud, and I was blown away by it's resemblance to the grime that builds up on an engine block.

Ye, thats what i thought, it really looks like the sort of oil stains you get on engines. I think i will have to get some of this, got quite a few builds planned with engine covers of. Is it an enamel wash?

cancell my last. I just found a review which says they are water based. Thats perfect as they will go onto my enamel painted areas without having to protect it.

I think you'll like 'em Bish. They are actually an acrylic wash, but when I took a whiff of them, the smell was like nothing I'd experienced with any previous washes - kinda funky, but they did the job.

Thanks for the heads up Mike and makeing me aware of this. Will deffinatly give it a try.

Yea why not. please add it, I hope 10 months will be enough to build the mustprang.

Theuns

Looking forward to seeing that P51...one of my fav aircraft. Enjoy the F4U corsair and may be my next build if I have trouble finding a Japanese "Tony" fighter.

Here is a complete look at my work space and added progress...spent several hours Saturday working on assemblies, painting, and finishing the prop decals. In first photo, you can see the stabilizers are assembled and the wing halves are in the dry set mode.

Dang that is a good looking 29 you have there.....almost a pitty to close her up and not see all that lovely detail.

Theuns

I agree on the amazing B-29 build . The interior detail is awesome , particulary all the brush painted detail .

Very inspiring ...

I've been building a few kits over the past two and a half years for the Korean War GB and I was scrolling through some of the pages from 2010 and found a photo I posted of some kits I got for my birthday back then and one of them was the 1/72 Academy B-29 . http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/129001.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=21

 After looking at the incredible work Z square 8 is doing , I'm mighty tempted to have a go at my academy kit once the Jaguar is done .

And Ruddratt the detail and workmanship on the D.VII engine is supurb ...

Great WIP pic's guy's .

BTW  Bish , I must say I'm really starting to appreciate the  simple but attractive lines of the GR-1 Jaguar .

One of my general aircraft reference books has it listed as one of the most cost effective attack aircraft of modern times . The hasegawa kit went together reasonably well and the Italeri kits look to be similar in their build instruction sheets . I do like how the wing sits right over the top of the fuselage , italeri took the same approach with their kit as did hasegawa ; No messy wing to fuselage join to sand and putty !

I wonder what Hannants have in the way of after market decals for other non Gulf War Jaguars , I'll have to have a browse and see .

John

Z, agree with the other guys. The B-29 is looking great.

Helo, i agree, i do like the lines of the jag and it was a perfect aircraft for the task. Not sure about the cost, but i think they deffinatly proved there worth. Hannants have quite a few 72nd Jag decal sets, a lot of them are none RAF. The one si have for my 3 are the Xtradecal anneversary set, 72026, maiunly because it has 3 Coltishal Jag's from the same period. But there a couple of nice looking Model Alliance Ltd Edt sets there.

As for the 72nd B-29, you should never resist that sort of temptation to much.

All-

the co-author of our website is in town this week and I was showing him the forum. I must correct an earlier statement on the bunk pkg on the 29 I posted earlier...the early production models had the bunks and after training missions, it was discovered that the bunks were not very practical as they needed more room. Possibly only 50 aircraft were initially equipped with them. The bunk area was then utilized for the radar operator position on the ship.

By 1952-53, the 29 was being phased out for the B-47 and then the 52. They were still being utilized thru the Korean conflict but were easy targets for the MIGs. The 29 was then used for other roles in research like the X-1 project as a mother ship, along with other support roles.

Z Square 8

From the roster of the build, where is everbody from? Most in UK? Any others stateside?

Z - sorry, I missed your question earlier. I'm originally from the states (NY to be precise), but my wife and I have resided the past 8 years in the country and province of her birth, British Columbia, Canada.

Morn'n Lads.

I was a little dissapointed this morning apon seeing that the primer I sprayed on the Jug has nearly filed the pannel detail. The scribed pannels on this Otaki kit is really fine! The paint wasn't to thick , maybe I just laid it on to much (1 light and 1 med coat)

Anyhow, I will mask off a few pannels in the grey of the primer and paint the rest black ready for the alclad to go on.

Pix to follow.

Theuns

OK, so it seems I have been snifing to much paint fumes , hence the posting in the wrong thread! It was meant for the NMF thread, but as it was also a gift , maybe I am not all that far off LOL!

Theuns

Hey, folks! Been pretty busy with work and other things, but I have some updates on the Skyray.

I completed the cockpit, and I used the Eduards cockpit detail set. I didn't use the entire things simply because I do not have the skills to fold and attach the tiny bits the require a scanning electron microscope to attach. I'm addressing my limitations!

I didn't spray the cockpit a semi-gloss black. Instead I used a dark gull gray, overall, with Testors Interior Black for the side instrument panels. I then dry brushed with flat white, then did a wash with black oils to pop out details, and tone down any slightly overdone white drybrushing. I then added a few details with red, yellow and silver to make the swtiches and dials pop.

For the ejection seat, I used most of the Eduards details, but I also drilled holes into the ejection seat's launch rails. I painted the launch rails gunmetal gray, and drybrushed silver highlights. The seat was light gray and drybrushed with light grey and Mig's pigments to give it a little wear and tear. I pre-conformed the belts to the seat, then airbrushed olive green, and drybrushed highlights. I scraped off paint around the buckles so they were nice and shiny! I used a different technique to paint the stripes on the overhead ejection handles. I airbrushed the handles insignia yellow, and when the were dry, I cut very skinny strips of Tamiya masking tape. I taped the handles to a piece of paper with the skinny strips evenly spaced. I then drybrushed black on to the exposed areas. Other methods tend to be uneven and sketchy. This way I had perfect contol over how much paint I wanted to apply, and it ensured no leakage underneath the paint.

I then proceeded with the build, put it all together, except the engine exhaust, gear doors, and other assemblies. I added Tamiya putty around the nose area, intakes, leading wing edges, and vertical stabilizer. I sanded with Squadron sticks until I was satisfied with the finish.

Next up: Priming, painting inside the slats Tamiya Flat Red and the exhaust. This is where I am stuck! What color is the inside of the exhaust can? I've been all over the internet, and I 've not had any luck. Suggestions?