Gamera

Ack, that sucks about the girl losing her life...

Douglas: Welcome, this is a great bunch of guys!!!

I dunno about the matte varnish. I sprayed it at pretty low pressure and we've had a wood stove going in the basement where I paint so the humidity is super low. Wonder if the low humidity is causing the paint to dry before it hits the model!?!

Hi Cliff,

From what I have read, everybody points to high humidity or water getting trapped in the paint.  There were suggestions to making sure the base coat was completely dry before applying the clear coat.  Another suggestion was to paint the clear in thin coats, too thick may help to trap the moisture.  Another suggestion was to use an oven at the lowest setting or heat lamps to help dry it out.

Ken

jimbot58

Hi Douglas! Welcome aboard!

Well, today makes my 'official' start of my vacation! I got up late, played on the computer, ate breakfast, napped, worked on the model, napped, had lunch, watched TV, worked on the model, took another nap,  then had dinner, went for a walk and worked on the model!

How does that sound so far?

I finally Dullcoated much of the upper surface of the Growler as I want to get started on the canopy PE parts.

The glass sees light at long last:

Of coarse it doesn't fit snug because of the PE parts underneath. I would have had to trim and sand to make it all fit, if I was to keep it closed!

Let's see how it might look open....darn fat fingers!

Looking forward into the 'office'

Looking down...

Next is all this fun!

Of course trying the primer here as well!

Jim

WOW!!  That Growler is looking better and better!      Great job Jim!

Ken

BRRRRRRRRRR!  It is way too cold here this morning!!  It is only 2 degrees outside!

Ken

Hey Jim, she looks great! Even the canopy came out perfect!

Ken: Hmmmm, I don't think I sprayed it on very heavy. I'm just puzzled at the whole thing. And irritated- this doing all the work on the model and then having the clear coat ruin it is really putting a damper on things...

On a happier note may I wish a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my good friends here!!!

Son Of Medicine Man

BRRRRRRRRRR!  It is way too cold here this morning!!  It is only 2 degrees outside!

 

Ken

What a difference a few hundred miles can make! It's 48 degrees here with a high of 51 predicted!

Son Of Medicine Man

roger_wilco

Hi Ken,

I'd like to join the build.Not sure what I'll be building but will let you know in a day or two once I sort through my stash.Thanks!

Douglas

Hi Douglas,

Welcome aboard!!    So you have a stash?  So obviously you are not new to this hobby.  Do you have a favorite area of interest?  What ever you decide, it will be fine here.  Just let us know when you have one picked out and I will update the front page.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the welcome everyone!I've been involved in the hobby since age 5 (1967.) Since I tend to model mostly small scale aircraft,I'd like to add the following to the group build:

It's the 1/100 scale Ben Hobby Saab Draken kit.It's a repop of the old Tamiya kit from the 70s.I'll be building it in Finnish Air Force markings.Question,how does one add multipile badges to their signature? I'm getting an error message saying too many characters.Thanks!

roger_wilco

Son Of Medicine Man

roger_wilco

Hi Ken,

I'd like to join the build.Not sure what I'll be building but will let you know in a day or two once I sort through my stash.Thanks!

Douglas

Hi Douglas,

Welcome aboard!!    So you have a stash?  So obviously you are not new to this hobby.  Do you have a favorite area of interest?  What ever you decide, it will be fine here.  Just let us know when you have one picked out and I will update the front page.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the welcome everyone!I've been involved in the hobby since age 5 (1967.) Since I tend to model mostly small scale aircraft,I'd like to add the following to the group build:

It's the 1/100 scale Ben Hobby Saab Draken kit.It's a repop of the old Tamiya kit from the 70s.I'll be building it in Finnish Air Force markings.Question,how does one add multipile badges to their signature? I'm getting an error message saying too many characters.Thanks!

One way is to create a GIF file which rotates like mine through the different pictures. I did that here:

http://picasion.com/

The other way would be to open a paint document, copy and paste your pictures onto it, crop it to the size you want and then save it as a .jpg file. Then you have one file and stay under the maximum number of characters.

If you need assistance, I can help!

Jim

EEEEEOOOOOWWW!

Thought I would pop out to pick up a few things at the grocers... What a zoo it is out there! I thought about going down to the LHS, as they were open until 3 (I think) but not the way the traffic is today! You would think there was a holiday going on or something!

Checked the tracking on my present...just left Kansas City, KS USPS sorting facility early this morning so I won't see it until Friday at best! For now, all I can do is look at these:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10165763

http://www.eduard.com

I am supposed to go across state tomorrow for Christmas at my friend's (adoptive family). I'll be around this evening but for now, I want to say:

And this is for those who would wish we keep the "C" word out of the holiday so we don't offend anyone...

jimbot58

roger_wilco

Son Of Medicine Man

roger_wilco

Hi Ken,

I'd like to join the build.Not sure what I'll be building but will let you know in a day or two once I sort through my stash.Thanks!

Douglas

Hi Douglas,

Welcome aboard!!    So you have a stash?  So obviously you are not new to this hobby.  Do you have a favorite area of interest?  What ever you decide, it will be fine here.  Just let us know when you have one picked out and I will update the front page.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the welcome everyone!I've been involved in the hobby since age 5 (1967.) Since I tend to model mostly small scale aircraft,I'd like to add the following to the group build:

It's the 1/100 scale Ben Hobby Saab Draken kit.It's a repop of the old Tamiya kit from the 70s.I'll be building it in Finnish Air Force markings.Question,how does one add multipile badges to their signature? I'm getting an error message saying too many characters.Thanks!

One way is to create a GIF file which rotates like mine through the different pictures. I did that here:

http://picasion.com/

The other way would be to open a paint document, copy and paste your pictures onto it, crop it to the size you want and then save it as a .jpg file. Then you have one file and stay under the maximum number of characters.

If you need assistance, I can help!

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the suggestions,now I got it fixed!

Cheers,Douglas

Hi gang, hope your holiday is going well!

Did all kinds of work today, not only around the house, but at the bench as well!

Painting wheels:

This is how I paint the hubs: they get taped to the back of my circle template. Would you believe I have had this thing since 10th grade drafting class? The toothpick keeps the paint out of the axle hole.

After this I will apply some Parafilm to the hubs and then paint the tires.

A wash on the rear gear..

Painted nozzles:

AND....assembled the PE parts to the canopy! glued everything (except the plastic pieces) with white glue. Still have some mirrors to place inside. As far as the primer? It didn't create any magic bond to the PE metal. I need to touch up several spots where I handled it.

As far as the Micro Krystal Klear for that lens? Jury is still out here! I had to re-apply it about 10 times as it shrinks as it dries! Here you see what I got so far:

And another drop applied over that! Which will shrink as well! Hopefully it will eventually become a more rounded lens shape!

Hopefully it will dry clear as well!

Jim

Jim: Looks good, you're making some serous progress there.

Down to 20 degrees over night here, and it's pretty friggin' cold this morning...

Gamera

Hey Jim, she looks great! Even the canopy came out perfect!

Ken: Hmmmm, I don't think I sprayed it on very heavy. I'm just puzzled at the whole thing. And irritated- this doing all the work on the model and then having the clear coat ruin it is really putting a damper on things...

On a happier note may I wish a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my good friends here!!!

That would be quite upsetting Cliff.  I hope you find the answer.  The only other thing I can think of is do you have an in-line filter on your air hose?  I actually use two.  One right after the pressure regulator and one that fits right into airbrush.

Ken

roger_wilco

Son Of Medicine Man

roger_wilco

Hi Ken,

I'd like to join the build.Not sure what I'll be building but will let you know in a day or two once I sort through my stash.Thanks!

Douglas

Hi Douglas,

Welcome aboard!!    So you have a stash?  So obviously you are not new to this hobby.  Do you have a favorite area of interest?  What ever you decide, it will be fine here.  Just let us know when you have one picked out and I will update the front page.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the welcome everyone!I've been involved in the hobby since age 5 (1967.) Since I tend to model mostly small scale aircraft,I'd like to add the following to the group build:

It's the 1/100 scale Ben Hobby Saab Draken kit.It's a repop of the old Tamiya kit from the 70s.I'll be building it in Finnish Air Force markings.Question,how does one add multipile badges to their signature? I'm getting an error message saying too many characters.Thanks!

Hi Douglas,

The front page has been updated.  Again, welcome aboard!

Ken

jimbot58

EEEEEOOOOOWWW!

Thought I would pop out to pick up a few things at the grocers... What a zoo it is out there! I thought about going down to the LHS, as they were open until 3 (I think) but not the way the traffic is today! You would think there was a holiday going on or something!

Checked the tracking on my present...just left Kansas City, KS USPS sorting facility early this morning so I won't see it until Friday at best! For now, all I can do is look at these:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10165763

http://www.eduard.com

I am supposed to go across state tomorrow for Christmas at my friend's (adoptive family). I'll be around this evening but for now, I want to say:

And this is for those who would wish we keep the "C" word out of the holiday so we don't offend anyone...

Hi Jim,

Yes, I try to stay away from holiday traffic if at all possible.  Not only is it crowded, but it really seems to bring out the worst in people.  They drive like insane idiots, cutting you off, pulling out in front of you.  Where is the Christmas spirit?

Very cool looking Christmas present coming your way!  I look forward to watching you build it.

Merry Christmas to you too Jim!  I hope you have a great day at your friend's house!

Ken

jimbot58

Hi gang, hope your holiday is going well!

Did all kinds of work today, not only around the house, but at the bench as well!

Painting wheels:

This is how I paint the hubs: they get taped to the back of my circle template. Would you believe I have had this thing since 10th grade drafting class? The toothpick keeps the paint out of the axle hole.

After this I will apply some Parafilm to the hubs and then paint the tires.

A wash on the rear gear..

Painted nozzles:

AND....assembled the PE parts to the canopy! glued everything (except the plastic pieces) with white glue. Still have some mirrors to place inside. As far as the primer? It didn't create any magic bond to the PE metal. I need to touch up several spots where I handled it.

As far as the Micro Krystal Klear for that lens? Jury is still out here! I had to re-apply it about 10 times as it shrinks as it dries! Here you see what I got so far:

And another drop applied over that! Which will shrink as well! Hopefully it will eventually become a more rounded lens shape!

Hopefully it will dry clear as well!

Jim

Great work once again Jim!      And thank you once again for those great painting tips!  Those wheels look fantastic.  And your wash (as always) looks awesome!  The landing light looks like it is going to look pretty good when you are done!

Ken

Hi Everyone!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!  It has warmed up a little here.  It is now 23 degrees and we had a little snow action going.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Ken

Ya know Ken, you might have hit the nail on the head there. Since I normally spray water based paints I've never used a moisture trap in the air line. I mean what's a little more water when I thin the paint with water eh? I think I should look into this.

At least you have pretty snow, cold here and everything but the pines is all brown, ugly, and dead...

Merry Christmas to all. Just got done sifting thru the pics of the Growler and was duly impressed; the step-by-step approach is appreciated as I'm learning more every time. Thanks Jim.

Hi Douglas, glad to hear you're joining our group. The small scale stuff will be great especially for me as I've very limited experience in that area. Look forward to your build!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. I made the best of the time even though I'm still fighting this bone infection at least the pain is less severe. Shouldn't be too much longer…..

Hey all!

Hope Christmas went well for everyone.

I went ahead and made my trip to my friend's to spend the day with my friend and his family. It was an interesting day as there were, by my count, 15 people and 4 dogs! We all ate and then after cleaning up, they opened presents (Awkward...) Afterwards, several people left as they had a ways to travel home. (My round trip was 255 miles total). The remaining people played a round of Trivial Pursuit in teams, boys vs. girls. The girls nearly had us in a sweep, when the boys rallied in a come from behind charge with you-know-who having the game wining answer!

In all it was an enjoyable day, and it beat the hell out of sitting home alone, eating a frozen dinner. Still, it's a little more than uncomfortable for me as I am still an outsider, though I have known most of them over 30 years. (I was a lad of 19 at the time I first met George!)  I also feel resentful, because I see what a real family can be like, not the dysfunctional nightmare I had! Love Mom and miss her, but she was a miserable person and did her best to always drag everything down on Holidays. I always hoped and prayed to be sick when the next holiday came around, though I found that was no excuse to be absent. The other alternative was to hope for a lighting bolt or a meteor....

In other news, tracking shows my 'present' to have been processed through the sorting facility here in Denver at 6:20 PM. Don't know if it will be "Out for delivery" tomorrow or Friday.... I'm going to go out and sit by the mailbox.....

Jim

mikeymize

Merry Christmas to all. Just got done sifting thru the pics of the Growler and was duly impressed; the step-by-step approach is appreciated as I'm learning more every time. Thanks Jim.

Hi Douglas, glad to hear you're joining our group. The small scale stuff will be great especially for me as I've very limited experience in that area. Look forward to your build!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. I made the best of the time even though I'm still fighting this bone infection at least the pain is less severe. Shouldn't be too much longer…..

Hi Mike,

Glad to hear that you are improving, much better than the alternative!  And at least you are back home.  So what did Santa Claus bring you for Christmas?

Ken

jimbot58

Hey all!

Hope Christmas went well for everyone.

I went ahead and made my trip to my friend's to spend the day with my friend and his family. It was an interesting day as there were, by my count, 15 people and 4 dogs! We all ate and then after cleaning up, they opened presents (Awkward...) Afterwards, several people left as they had a ways to travel home. (My round trip was 255 miles total). The remaining people played a round of Trivial Pursuit in teams, boys vs. girls. The girls nearly had us in a sweep, when the boys rallied in a come from behind charge with you-know-who having the game wining answer!

In all it was an enjoyable day, and it beat the hell out of sitting home alone, eating a frozen dinner. Still, it's a little more than uncomfortable for me as I am still an outsider, though I have known most of them over 30 years. (I was a lad of 19 at the time I first met George!)  I also feel resentful, because I see what a real family can be like, not the dysfunctional nightmare I had! Love Mom and miss her, but she was a miserable person and did her best to always drag everything down on Holidays. I always hoped and prayed to be sick when the next holiday came around, though I found that was no excuse to be absent. The other alternative was to hope for a lighting bolt or a meteor....

In other news, tracking shows my 'present' to have been processed through the sorting facility here in Denver at 6:20 PM. Don't know if it will be "Out for delivery" tomorrow or Friday.... I'm going to go out and sit by the mailbox.....

Jim

Hi Jim,

That is great that you had a good Christmas!  You have a good friend and his family.

I also have a few "presents" on order and waiting for them to show up.

First off, I ordered the 1/32 Hasegawa F-104G/S Starfighter:

It has not been shipped yet, so I have a while to wait for it to show up.  Along with that I ordered a conversion kit from C&H Aero Miniatures.  I will use it to convert the kit to a F-104D Starfighter:

And for stencils I will be using these from DACO Products:

I also ordered the Czech Model 1/32 F-80C:

I will be converting this to a RF-80A using the conversion kit from True Details:

Along with the decals from Super Scale International:

Ken 

Hey guys, good to hear everyone had a pretty good Christmas. By the time I got home from work everyone had already eaten and opened gifts but still got to spend a little time with the relatives. I got my three nephews a couple of little Italeri 1/72nd quick build Shermans and put them together at the dinner table. With some trepidation I gave them a spray can of olive drab to go paint them outside - thankfully they didn't make a big mess! Not a big celebration but I think it went pretty well.

Nice haul there Ken, good to see Santa's been good to you this year- you must have been really good! I wish Czech Model would come out with a new F-80 in 1/48th too, I may have said I've been on a bit of a Korean War kick lately and would love to see one.  

BTW: Anyone heard anything from ScorpionMikey? Seems he just dropped off the forum- haven't seen hide or hair of him.

Gamera

Hey guys, good to hear everyone had a pretty good Christmas. By the time I got home from work everyone had already eaten and opened gifts but still got to spend a little time with the relatives. I got my three nephews a couple of little Italeri 1/72nd quick build Shermans and put them together at the dinner table. With some trepidation I gave them a spray can of olive drab to go paint them outside - thankfully they didn't make a big mess! Not a big celebration but I think it went pretty well.

Nice haul there Ken, good to see Santa's been good to you this year- you must have been really good! I wish Czech Model would come out with a new F-80 in 1/48th too, I may have said I've been on a bit of a Korean War kick lately and would love to see one.  

BTW: Anyone heard anything from ScorpionMikey? Seems he just dropped off the forum- haven't seen hide or hair of him.

Hi Cliff,

I am assuming that you do know about the new 1/48 Hobby Boss F-80A?  But of coarse the F-80C was the aircraft to see service in the Korean War.  Hobby Boss is supposed to be coming out with that version sometime soon.

As far as ScorpionMikey, I just assumed that since he had his own Group Build going, he was too busy with that to visit ours.  But you are right, he has not been on this forum since March, 9 months ago.

Ken

Hey gang!

I did some Google searching for ScorpioMikey, and he's all over the net as a modeler and a gamer. He is also active at britmodeler and largescalemodeler,  Also see him in several other modelling forums. Maybe he just didn't care for FSM forum?

Arrival!

All this fun!

Thank goodness they included this handy guide! I was at a bit of a loss!

Can't say when this will be built. I keep telling myself that I should try to finish at least one of the other "in progress" builds looking down at me!

In the meantime, I'm off to reboot this thing! I "sees" my camera, but doesn't see the files on it. Plus it's telling me the camera is hooked up whether it is or isn't. Had to plug the card into a reader to get these pictures uploaded! Technology! Sheesh!

Jim

**Post note** Reboot did the trick! All seems normal now!

Jim: Looks like a really nice kit there. And nice for them to explain to you how to cut the parts off the sprues!

Ken: Ahhh, no I hadn't heard about the new Hobby Boss kit- I'll be looking for the C when it comes out.

Thanks, I hadn't checked around the internet, guess Mike was one of the guys who left for the other forums in the great shakeup. I don't remember him mentioning being upset about anything here though.

Gamera

Jim: Looks like a really nice kit there. And nice for them to explain to you how to cut the parts off the sprues!

Not only that, it tells me to use scissors to open the bags! I wondered how I was going to get those darned sprues out!

jimbot58

Gamera

Jim: Looks like a really nice kit there. And nice for them to explain to you how to cut the parts off the sprues!

Not only that, it tells me to use scissors to open the bags! I wondered how I was going to get those darned sprues out!

  Too funny!   

Ken

Hey Ken, I got a Tamiya M3 Lee Med. Tank along with other assorted modeling goodies. I've already started doing my research on this one as I really like the odd ball design of this tank. I'm examining Squadron's Lee/Grant walk around that was part of my goodie bag. The German half track is currently stalled as I'm waiting for some back ordered AM stuff. May put it on the back burner and start the Lee if my patience runs out. I'll post some views of the half track thus far in a few days.

mikeymize

Hey Ken, I got a Tamiya M3 Lee Med. Tank along with other assorted modeling goodies. I've already started doing my research on this one as I really like the odd ball design of this tank. I'm examining Squadron's Lee/Grant walk around that was part of my goodie bag. The German half track is currently stalled as I'm waiting for some back ordered AM stuff. May put it on the back burner and start the Lee if my patience runs out. I'll post some views of the half track thus far in a few days.

The Lee? Seems I remember reading about oddball tanks. Didn't it have two turrets, or a side turret or something?

Yesterday was all about tedious! I worked on the jammer pods that hang under the Growler. Each one takes 10 decals and 4 photo-etch parts! Not to mention painting in the exhaust port in the back and an air inlet in the front. The PE set provides 4 different options for the metal grills that represent the xmitter area on the pods and only says"See your references!" I didn't really find a whole lot in the way of references concerning the ALQ-99 pod, so my references say, "pick whichever set you want!"

I made a photo with the center pod (complete) on the bottom and the two outer pods with just the decals done on the left side for the other two. You really can't see the decals too well, because they are low-viz markings..... guess that's why they call them low-visibility!

Also found another picture for Ken during my search, of the EF-111A Raven, which carries the ALQ-99 in a canoe faring underneath the fuselage in the bomb bay. Another look at that open rear gear door: You can also see that there is a gap at the back of the rear gear bay door that was necessary because of clearance issues when the gear would extend and the door opens backwards. Kind oddball engineering: if it don't fit, cut it away! This could of been another one of Berny's criticisms of the 111's landing gear.

By the way, am I looking like a 'Vark head again?

Well sadly, I had to relegate the Crusader to the stash dept. as I don't want to start any new projects until I can call the Growler done. It's just amazing all the tedious little things that need to be done when you think you're in the home stretch!

Yeah the M3 Lee/Grant was a big boxy vehicle with a small turret on top with a 37mm gun and a 75 mounted in the lower right hull fixed to fire forward only. Pretty effective in open areas in the desert but not in Europe.

Mike: Tigerman is starting a North Africa GB first of the year- your M3 would fit right in you want to cross-post her.

Jim: I've been tempted to leave off the stencils you can hardly see so many times. Somehow I always end up putting them on though.