jimbot58

Bockscar

Hey Jim:

What's with the asymmetrical wing notch, the port wing has some kind of additional

'clip'

the starboard wing just has the regular notch?:

Dom

Oops, ya caught me! There is an additional part there that  will correct the wing notch for thr Growler. I did one side and everytime I sit down to do the other, I seem to get distracted. Last night I was painting the fuel tanks. I guess I'll get busy and finish the other wing!

Ken, have you ever tried annealing PE parts to make them more ductile? Heat it up until it glows and then allow it to cool-makes the metal softer and easier to shape. I did that with my burner cans before I curled then, then I rolled them up with a metal knife handle on top of a piece of soft leather-like a rolling pin.

I like that you got my reference to the bell and Clarence, the angel second class! I love some of those old classic movies-kids don't know what they are missing today with transformer movies and what-not.

was wondering if what I was seeing there..was.....for real.............

ZZhhheeeHHHHOOOOZZZZZ... nice build.....

I am  Mega -forged -over  for sleep.......nauseated, lost 80 hours for April,

I went from 219, all just adipose fat, to 180,

yes 180,

yes 180,

in  a few weeks,

What does that mean?

here is what it means, friends:

Remember the "CHAIN SAW" movies.........

eeerrrrrr, waitin' for you pals............

jess knock on the front doooooooor..........

Dom

Hey Gamera, this was the Tamiya kit; old but adequate. If you were doing a real accurate build I'm sure you would need to do upgrades and mods but for my purposes it was a nice easy kit.

Hi Everyone,

I painted all of the engine exhaust parts tonight.  Now I just need to wait for them to dry.  Here is one of the exhaust turbines (it is painted with Model Master buffing Metalizer, so it still needs to be buffed):

 Next is one of the exhaust nozzles, also painted with Model Master buffing Metalizer, so it too still needs to be buffed:

And finally one of the jet pipes with its high temperature green paint coating on the insider liner:

I will have to wait for this to dry 3 days since it is enamel before I can add the wash to it.  I will be polishing the Metalizer the next couple of days while I am waiting.

Ken 

Ken: despite your problems with the PE what you've got looks good! Funny, I had no idea to paint 'em green till Berny told us that's the way they are!

Dom: Gee friggin' whiz- now that's a crash diet. I hope you're ok.

Mike: Ah cool! Built one years back as teen, looked like krap warmed over. Think I still have it somewhere in the spare parts box. Still using the figures on it for spare arms, etc.

Btw: Vacation went pretty well. The Mystery Hole was closed.   Cass Scenic Railroad doesn't open for a month or so. Still I got to see the Mothman museum, the Congressional Bunker, The Green Bank Radio Observatory and a bunch of other stuff. Nice scenery, great weather, and nice people, WV is a great state to visit, wonder why it toke me so long.

Didn't see old Mothman but did visit his statue in Point Pleasant, scene of most of the sightings:

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

I painted all of the engine exhaust parts tonight.  Now I just need to wait for them to dry.  Here is one of the exhaust turbines (it is painted with Model Master buffing Metalizer, so it still needs to be buffed):

 Next is one of the exhaust nozzles, also painted with Model Master buffing Metalizer, so it too still needs to be buffed:

 

And finally one of the jet pipes with its high temperature green paint coating on the insider liner:

I will have to wait for this to dry 3 days since it is enamel before I can add the wash to it.  I will be polishing the Metalizer the next couple of days while I am waiting.

Ken 

Ken,

With your work hours, I'm surprised you had time to do this much. But it's looking good, man! Can't wait to see everything assembled!

Russ

Gamera

Btw: Vacation went pretty well. The Mystery Hole was closed.   Cass Scenic Railroad doesn't open for a month or so. Still I got to see the Mothman museum, the Congressional Bunker, The Green Bank Radio Observatory and a bunch of other stuff. Nice scenery, great weather, and nice people, WV is a great state to visit, wonder why it toke me so long.

Didn't see old Mothman but did visit his statue in Point Pleasant, scene of most of the sightings:

 

Hey, Cliff,

Welcome back! Glad you had a fun trip. You picked the right time of the year to visit WV I'll bet. Shame you missed the Cass railroad tour. Those narrow gauge Shay locomotives are really interesting and unique. Makes me yearn for my HO modeling days .

Cheers,

Russ

Thanks Russ, actually Cass is right on the border, maybe about a two hour drive. I'm thinking about just driving up some weekend for a one- two day trip.

Gamera

Ken: despite your problems with the PE what you've got looks good! Funny, I had no idea to paint 'em green till Berny told us that's the way they are!

Dom: Gee friggin' whiz- now that's a crash diet. I hope you're ok.

Mike: Ah cool! Built one years back as teen, looked like krap warmed over. Think I still have it somewhere in the spare parts box. Still using the figures on it for spare arms, etc.

Btw: Vacation went pretty well. The Mystery Hole was closed.   Cass Scenic Railroad doesn't open for a month or so. Still I got to see the Mothman museum, the Congressional Bunker, The Green Bank Radio Observatory and a bunch of other stuff. Nice scenery, great weather, and nice people, WV is a great state to visit, wonder why it toke me so long.

Didn't see old Mothman but did visit his statue in Point Pleasant, scene of most of the sightings:

 

The only thing crash about my diet is the lack of french fries and pasta.

Still eating lots of good stuff; steak, chicken, bacon, steak, bacon.....lol

Just no fries with that.when I get down to 175 I can have fires again. I'm about 5-7 pounds away,

but honestly, you get used to not having them.

30 years ago a mystical creature showed up to terrorize my studio:

Anyway, he hasn't shown up since, but there is an old relic he left behind,

and we had it nailed to barn wall......lol.......

".......you best not touch that son......."....lol

Dom

That's pretty cool Dom, is it a dagger? Looks to me like the legs go down into a point.

Gamera

Ken: despite your problems with the PE what you've got looks good! Funny, I had no idea to paint 'em green till Berny told us that's the way they are!

Dom: Gee friggin' whiz- now that's a crash diet. I hope you're ok.

Mike: Ah cool! Built one years back as teen, looked like krap warmed over. Think I still have it somewhere in the spare parts box. Still using the figures on it for spare arms, etc.

Btw: Vacation went pretty well. The Mystery Hole was closed.   Cass Scenic Railroad doesn't open for a month or so. Still I got to see the Mothman museum, the Congressional Bunker, The Green Bank Radio Observatory and a bunch of other stuff. Nice scenery, great weather, and nice people, WV is a great state to visit, wonder why it toke me so long.

Didn't see old Mothman but did visit his statue in Point Pleasant, scene of most of the sightings:

 

Hi Cliff,

Very glad to hear you had a fun vacation!  That Mothman statue looks really cool!  Did they just shine it up or is it always that shiny?

Speaking of the green liner inside the jet pipes, I found another video that has a really good shot of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5ccK94IvsA 

Ken

Striker8241

Ken,

With your work hours, I'm surprised you had time to do this much. But it's looking good, man! Can't wait to see everything assembled!

Russ

Thank you Russ!  It is getting there.  Like a freight train running up hill.  Slow and steady.

Ken

Bockscar

Thanks Cliff:

The only thing crash about my diet is the lack of french fries and pasta.

Still eating lots of good stuff; steak, chicken, bacon, steak, bacon.....lol

Just no fries with that.when I get down to 175 I can have fires again. I'm about 5-7 pounds away,

but honestly, you get used to not having them.

30 years ago a mystical creature showed up to terrorize my studio:

Anyway, he hasn't shown up since, but there is an old relic he left behind,

and we had it nailed to barn wall......lol.......

".......you best not touch that son......."....lol

Dom

Pretty cool looking art Dom!  I like your style!

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I am still a little wore out from working all day on the servers Saturday and then going back to work for a full day today.  (In fact I had to be into work early to make sure the changes I made on Saturday didn't cause any problems!)  So I did some work at the bench tonight but it is not the kind that I find enjoyable.

Polishing is hard work, especially at 1/48 scale!!  I worked on one of the exhaust nozzles exterior tonight.  Here is a side by side comparison of one not polished and the one I did tonight.  The one on the left is not polished, the one on the right is polished:

The flash from the camera makes the non polished piece more reflective than it really is, but I think you can tell the smoothness of the polished piece.

Ken 

Ken,

The polished one looks more like metal than the unpolished one, which I presume is the intent, even though the unpolished one looks brighter. Looks good! .

Russ

Striker8241

Ken,

The polished one looks more like metal than the unpolished one, which I presume is the intent, even though the unpolished one looks brighter. Looks good! .

Russ

Thank you Russ!  It is a lot of hard work.

Ken

I ended up messing with my little distraction tank tonight. I assembled the body? hull? (I don't know what to call it!) assembled and painted the breach. I used the color the kit instructions gave me for it, and I will assume the rest of the interior is to be the same. I don't plan on going into any heavy references on it as this is just a quick, fun thing I started to break up the monotony of non-stop aircraft for the last several years. I also painted the engine compartment with titanium metalizer and buffed it with a cheap, stiff paint brush. Shame that most of it will not be visible at all. There is another piece that supports the other side of the breach, but this is just a dry fitting for now.

This is the top of the turret. Dragon uses a sliding mold (whatever that is!) which gives a nice 3-D, 1-piece part. Lots of detail molded in there.

The pins sticking out are for holding spare track links-as an option. I also repainted the engine nozzles at the pack of the Hornet, but sorry. didn't get a snapshot of them

Jim

jimbot58

I ended up messing with my little distraction tank tonight. I assembled the body? hull? (I don't know what to call it!) assembled and painted the breach. I used the color the kit instructions gave me for it, and I will assume the rest of the interior is to be the same. I don't plan on going into any heavy references on it as this is just a quick, fun thing I started to break up the monotony of non-stop aircraft for the last several years. I also painted the engine compartment with titanium metalizer and buffed it with a cheap, stiff paint brush. Shame that most of it will not be visible at all. There is another piece that supports the other side of the breach, but this is just a dry fitting for now.

This is the top of the turret. Dragon uses a sliding mold (whatever that is!) which gives a nice 3-D, 1-piece part. Lots of detail molded in there.

The pins sticking out are for holding spare track links-as an option. I also repainted the engine nozzles at the pack of the Hornet, but sorry. didn't get a snapshot of them

Jim

Nice work Jim!  I imagine it is also nice not fighting with making photo etch pieces fit where they should!  That is going to be a nice looking tank when you are done!

Ken

Ken: Thanks! Not sure, looks to me like the statue is chromed or maybe stainless steel. I think it's only about ten or so years old so it's hasn't had time to wear much. Seems like one of the original plans was to light up the eyes but it was deemed 'too much'. 

Speaking of shiny metal nice work polishing out the afterburner can there.  

Jim: Nice work there on the Tiger II. Yes hull is the right term. And the interior should be a light buff or cream colour, white with a smidgen of tan added to it. Of course if you're going with hatches all closed there's no reason to paint the interior at all! 

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

I am still a little wore out from working all day on the servers Saturday and then going back to work for a full day today.  (In fact I had to be into work early to make sure the changes I made on Saturday didn't cause any problems!)  So I did some work at the bench tonight but it is not the kind that I find enjoyable.

Polishing is hard work, especially at 1/48 scale!!  I worked on one of the exhaust nozzles exterior tonight.  Here is a side by side comparison of one not polished and the one I did tonight.  The one on the left is not polished, the one on the right is polished:

The flash from the camera makes the non polished piece more reflective than it really is, but I think you can tell the smoothness of the polished piece.

Ken 

Dom

Bockscar

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

I am still a little wore out from working all day on the servers Saturday and then going back to work for a full day today.  (In fact I had to be into work early to make sure the changes I made on Saturday didn't cause any problems!)  So I did some work at the bench tonight but it is not the kind that I find enjoyable.

Polishing is hard work, especially at 1/48 scale!!  I worked on one of the exhaust nozzles exterior tonight.  Here is a side by side comparison of one not polished and the one I did tonight.  The one on the left is not polished, the one on the right is polished:

The flash from the camera makes the non polished piece more reflective than it really is, but I think you can tell the smoothness of the polished piece.

Ken 

The one on the right looks like the polished piece alright, Titanium tends to luck rather dull compared to aluminum, even when polished as it has that 'graphite' color. Looks good from here Ken

Dom

Thank you Dom!  I appreciate the compliment!

Ken

Hi Everyone,

Tonight I managed to get the inside of the same exhaust nozzle polished, so it is finished.  Here it is with another side by side comparison, the unpolished nozzle on the left, the polished nozzle on the right:

Ken 

Gamera

Jim: Nice work there on the Tiger II. Yes hull is the right term. And the interior should be a light buff or cream colour, white with a smidgen of tan added to it. Of course if you're going with hatches all closed there's no reason to paint the interior at all! 

Based on your input, I switched over to Testors "Panzer Interior Buff" sitting on the shelf in front of me. I think it looks like just what you described. Keep in mind, the camera makes it look more yellow here than it really is.

Showing off our cans, are we? Here are my cans installed, but with out the outer cones put in place.

Not perfectly round, but those edges won't be seen once the outer parts are cemented in place.

Nice smooth finish on your tank Jim!  Looks really nice!  And great job on those cans!      Getting those photo etch pieces centered and straight I am sure took some patience! 

Ken

Jim: The Tiger is looking good!

Jim & Ken: Yeah, I'll agree- nice cans gentlemen!

Jim I'm loving the Tiger. The MM Panzer Buff is what I used for the inside of my half track. My research suggested that the Germans stopped painting open topped vehicles like that because it made it more conspicuous from enemy aircraft. I didn't find that out till after the paint was dry but I liked the look so much I kept it.

Agh! My poor Growler didn't get any attention as I am realizing how tedious a tank build can be, even a small 1:72 scale one!

Twenty-two wheels, some of which are made up from 3 peices, had to be cut from the sprue, cleaned and sanded, assembled, and mounted on tooth picks for painting! The little parts are hubs for the inboard wheels. I count something like 56 peices all together! My poor Growler missed me tonight!

Since I had already spent the better part of the evening on the Tiger, I did a couple of other things on it before turning off the lights, and closing down the work room:

Closed up the turret, plus fixed a nasty divot in the back where it had torn loose from the sprue before I got the kit: (I quit ripping parts from sprues when I was a kid!)

Also had to persuade a pesky seam in the front of the hull that didn't want to close:

It just couldn't resist the awesome power of three yellow rubber bands!

Hi Jim,

Great work putting that tank together.  There is a member in our IPMS club that builds armor.  His biggest complaint is the track.  Hundreds of pieces to put together there!

Ken

Jim: She's coming right along! I know what you mean about all the bleeping road wheels on armour kits- at least these are the all steel wheels so you don't have any rubber tires/tyres to paint.

I hate to suggest this but if you're really lazy and shameless you can just paint the wheels, treads, and the whole dang underside of the tank a mud colour brown........

Mike: Yeah someone told me a few years back that any open topped vehicle should be painted the exterior colour on the inside too. The hatches should also be painted on their insides exterior colour - since if they were painted white/buff it makes them stick out like a sore thumb - an excellent target for snipers.

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Jim,

Great work putting that tank together.  There is a member in our IPMS club that builds armor.  His biggest complaint is the track.  Hundreds of pieces to put together there!

Ken

Fortunately, these tanks come with 1-peice vinyl tracks. The link tracks on the 1:35 scale tank I tried to build were the reason I set it aside. It was too much for me.

Hi Everyone,

Stress level is beyond belief at work right now.  I don't know how much more I can take.

The photo etch replacement from Aires showed up in the mail yesterday.  Pretty quick for coming all the way from the Czech Republic!

I worked on polishing the second exhaust nozzle tonight.  I have it most of the way finished.  No pictures, just don't have the energy to take any tonight.

Ken