BTW my experience with putting some "glass" in the view ports was marginally successful. No good shots in the photos but I need to adjust the amount of green next maybe even mixing in a little clear blue as well. Oh well…..next time.

mikeymize

Punch and die set looks cool; I'm sure it'll go according to plan. Dittos on the photo bucket staying free. Speaking of which: attached some final pics of the Lee. Not the best admittedly but it was a good diversion. M

Great job Mike, it looks really nice!      Do you have a picture you want to post on the front page?

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

mikeymize

Punch and die set looks cool; I'm sure it'll go according to plan. Dittos on the photo bucket staying free. Speaking of which: attached some final pics of the Lee. Not the best admittedly but it was a good diversion. M

Great job Mike, it looks really nice!      Do you have a picture you want to post on the front page?

Ken

Very nice Mike.

Today was a Saturday work day, so it was just sort of messed up! I got out around 3 P.M. and since I was already halfway to Colpar Hobby's, I decided pay them a visit. I guess I liked Mikey's Lee so much, when I saw this, I decided to get it. It was about $20.

However, when I got it home and opened it, I discovered....

It's like the plastic was too cold when it was injected and when it squeezed into this section of this mold, they just didn't join completely. I'm not sure what to do as it is almost a 45 minute drive to get back there, and all the gas, etc. Plus, I don't know what their policies might be, and they didn't have another one anyway. The kit is made in Poland and of coarse their website is all in Polish.

I also scored this from a big table marked "CLEARANCE" for $10: All 1/72 scale armor.

They had all kinds of stuff on the table including Shermans, T-34's and a bunch of other kits in many brands. I couldn't buy everything, as there is still rent, power, food, etc. that has to be paid for. Kind of wished I had at least went for one of those Ruskie tanks.

They even had a couple of those KV-1's with the big turret.

**SIGH**

Jim

Ken: Looks good, I've got a cheapie punch set, I should probably splurge on a good one like the one you have there.

Mike: Looks good! Only thing I'd question is the cable on the rear deck painted light tan like a rope? The actually item was a steel cable so I was told to paint it black or dark grey and then take some pencil lead rubbed on a piece of paper and then apply that to the high points to add a metallic sheen.

Jim: Those look pretty cool, I've never dabbled much with 1/72nd armour but Trumpeteer has a pretty good reputation there so the Stug should be a pretty good kit. On the Lee if the hobby shop owner won't exchange it you might try tossing a tarp or some storage over the damaged area. Or you can always sand it down, putty, and then shave the rivets off a scrap kit to replace.  

Hi Guys.

Well, further examination of the Lee has shown that the upper hull is even worse than I thought!

The space where the turret would be mounted is also mis-formed, warped, and incompletely molded. I don't think it's worth trying to fix it. In fact, I am calling this one a total loss!

Why? Because the hobby shop is all the way across town and is a 60 mile round trip! This is why I only make trips there about once a month or so! If that! I did a little calculating and figured the trip would cost nearly as much as the kit! Conclusion: forget about it! Not worth it! Besides with Sunday being my only day off, I need to catch up on things around home. Que sera sera!

I did manage to work on the Growler and finished trimming away my replacement missile mount:

A few dabs of paint and some carefully applied cement: and viola!

Also started working up front: Here you can see the PE gear door that will be applied when I get it painted:

The big hole in the belly is where the centerline pylon is to be mounted.

Jim

jimbot58

Very nice Mike.

Today was a Saturday work day, so it was just sort of messed up! I got out around 3 P.M. and since I was already halfway to Colpar Hobby's, I decided pay them a visit. I guess I liked Mikey's Lee so much, when I saw this, I decided to get it. It was about $20.

However, when I got it home and opened it, I discovered....

It's like the plastic was too cold when it was injected and when it squeezed into this section of this mold, they just didn't join completely. I'm not sure what to do as it is almost a 45 minute drive to get back there, and all the gas, etc. Plus, I don't know what their policies might be, and they didn't have another one anyway. The kit is made in Poland and of coarse their website is all in Polish.

I also scored this from a big table marked "CLEARANCE" for $10: All 1/72 scale armor.

They had all kinds of stuff on the table including Shermans, T-34's and a bunch of other kits in many brands. I couldn't buy everything, as there is still rent, power, food, etc. that has to be paid for. Kind of wished I had at least went for one of those Ruskie tanks.

They even had a couple of those KV-1's with the big turret.

**SIGH**

Jim

Hi Jim,

I understand about how it would be a wash on the cash and time it would take to return the kit to the hobby shop.  You may want to give them a call and explain all of that and ask if they could make a note of it so that the next time you do make a trip there, you could return it then.  That way if it is passed 30 days, they will still have a record of it.  I would think they would be willing to do that if they want your repeat business.

Nice score on the German Surmgeschutz III Ausf. G!  Very low profile tank, that looks very interesting.  Is that considered a "tank destroyer"?

Ken

Gamera

Ken: Looks good, I've got a cheapie punch set, I should probably splurge on a good one like the one you have there.

Mike: Looks good! Only thing I'd question is the cable on the rear deck painted light tan like a rope? The actually item was a steel cable so I was told to paint it black or dark grey and then take some pencil lead rubbed on a piece of paper and then apply that to the high points to add a metallic sheen.

Jim: Those look pretty cool, I've never dabbled much with 1/72nd armour but Trumpeteer has a pretty good reputation there so the Stug should be a pretty good kit. On the Lee if the hobby shop owner won't exchange it you might try tossing a tarp or some storage over the damaged area. Or you can always sand it down, putty, and then shave the rivets off a scrap kit to replace.  

I will let you know Cliff on how well it works once it arrives.  Since it is coming from Hungary, it is hard telling how long that will take.

Ken

jimbot58

Hi Guys.

Well, further examination of the Lee has shown that the upper hull is even worse than I thought!

The space where the turret would be mounted is also mis-formed, warped, and incompletely molded. I don't think it's worth trying to fix it. In fact, I am calling this one a total loss!

Why? Because the hobby shop is all the way across town and is a 60 mile round trip! This is why I only make trips there about once a month or so! If that! I did a little calculating and figured the trip would cost nearly as much as the kit! Conclusion: forget about it! Not worth it! Besides with Sunday being my only day off, I need to catch up on things around home. Que sera sera!

I did manage to work on the Growler and finished trimming away my replacement missile mount:

A few dabs of paint and some carefully applied cement: and viola!

Also started working up front: Here you can see the PE gear door that will be applied when I get it painted:

The big hole in the belly is where the centerline pylon is to be mounted.

Jim

Your Growler is coming along very nicely Jim!      Great job on repairing that missile mount!  You are a true artist!

Ken

Hi Gang!

Lots of celebrating here in Denver today as the Broncos won out over the Patriots, and are now on the way to meet the Seahawks in the Superbowl!

I'm not a big sports fan myself, but I cheer them on and hope win the big one! Denver is a huge sports town and I remember when they won the championship some 15 years ago! The city went crazy with a parade and everything! This could even be bigger this time!

I've been working on more of the underside stuff-pylons and the PE door for the underside of the front landing gear strut. The last is a bit hard to see against the tape it is adhered to.

(I hate to say so myself, but dang that missile looks good!)

I find all this detail stuff to be so tedious, but I'm thinking I might come very close to the closing date of the build! Wouldn't that be nice? Haven't really really thought about what I want to do next. As it was, I wandered around a bit with a couple of tanks there for a while, but I needed the diversion I guess.

I would like to perhaps work on some of those 'in-progress' builds I have and maybe clean them up. We shall see!

Jim

P.S. GO BRONCOS!

Ken: Yeah, please let me know how it goes. I think my cheap set of punches are from Pakistan, though they do seem to work pretty well.

Jim: Those missiles do look great, nice work all around!

jimbot58

Hi Gang!

Lots of celebrating here in Denver today as the Broncos won out over the Patriots, and are now on the way to meet the Seahawks in the Superbowl!

I'm not a big sports fan myself, but I cheer them on and hope win the big one! Denver is a huge sports town and I remember when they won the championship some 15 years ago! The city went crazy with a parade and everything! This could even be bigger this time!

I've been working on more of the underside stuff-pylons and the PE door for the underside of the front landing gear strut. The last is a bit hard to see against the tape it is adhered to.

(I hate to say so myself, but dang that missile looks good!)

I find all this detail stuff to be so tedious, but I'm thinking I might come very close to the closing date of the build! Wouldn't that be nice? Haven't really really thought about what I want to do next. As it was, I wandered around a bit with a couple of tanks there for a while, but I needed the diversion I guess.

I would like to perhaps work on some of those 'in-progress' builds I have and maybe clean them up. We shall see!

Jim

P.S. GO BRONCOS!

Hi Jim,

I would have to say that I am glad that the Broncos are going to the Super Bowl.  Peyton Manning was the quarter back for the Indianapolis Colts.  I thought it was a nasty thing to do to him by trading him after he had to have neck surgery.  Especially when he took the Colts to the Super Bowl and won!

I have to agree that your missiles do look good!      The whole Growler is looking excellent!  You are doing a fantastic job on it.

Yes, I am hoping I too can get this Hoosier Hotshot done by the end of this group build.  It would be nice!

Ken

Hi Everyone,

A little more progress on the Hoosier Hotshot.  I painted the grip on the control stick and also sprayed the gloss acrylic clear coat on the ejection seat to facilitate applying a wash.

Ken 

Hi Everyone,

I have posted the "Third Annual Berny Memorial Group Build".  Here is the link:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/158130.aspx 

Everyone can start signing up now.  You can carry over your current build if you like or start a new one.  If you would like your current build to be posted on the front page of this build you can still carry it over and just let me know.

I spent the entire evening working on the badge.  Like I have stated before, I am not an artist nor do I have any skills with Photoshop.  But I think it will do.

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

I have posted the "Third Annual Berny Memorial Group Build".  Here is the link:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/158130.aspx 

Everyone can start signing up now.  You can carry over your current build if you like or start a new one.  If you would like your current build to be posted on the front page of this build you can still carry it over and just let me know.

I spent the entire evening working on the badge.  Like I have stated before, I am not an artist nor do I have any skills with Photoshop.  But I think it will do.

Ken

I went ahead and signed although I listed myself as TBA for now. I also need to update my badges as I still haven't added the one for this build yet...

Hi Everyone,

I added the wash to the ejection seat tonight.  I wish now that I had used a darker color.  Oh well, live and learn!

I also added some aluminum to the control stick.  It still needs some touch up and the red buttons painted:

Ken 

Hey Ken, looks good! You can always add another darker wash can't you? I mean if you go too dark it's a mess but if too light I'll just toss a second darker one on too.

Super busy work week but glad I could influence you to get that Lee Jim. It'll be a labor of love. (I hope).

BTW  Cliff, I painted the cable on the rear testor's steel and then weathered it a smidgen. Evidently I goofed if it looks like a rope…LOL

Just one more thing…I keep remembering stuff that I forgot; Ken, I'm going to get some better pics of the Lee with one for the "front page" as you say. Also, I will be doing another aircraft for the next Berny build. As an Air Force weenie myself I'm leaning toward an A-10 perhaps as a proper salute to a guy who obviously was inspiring to a lot of folks on the forums. At the risk of being too maudlin, I'm sure he would be grateful for what you've done in his name. You're a good man Ken!

Gamera

Hey Ken, looks good! You can always add another darker wash can't you? I mean if you go too dark it's a mess but if too light I'll just toss a second darker one on too.

Okay Cliff, you talked me into it.  I am just in a rush, but you are right, why blow something off that could make some difference in the end. 

Ken

mikeymize

Just one more thing…I keep remembering stuff that I forgot; Ken, I'm going to get some better pics of the Lee with one for the "front page" as you say. Also, I will be doing another aircraft for the next Berny build. As an Air Force weenie myself I'm leaning toward an A-10 perhaps as a proper salute to a guy who obviously was inspiring to a lot of folks on the forums. At the risk of being too maudlin, I'm sure he would be grateful for what you've done in his name. You're a good man Ken!

Thank you for saying that Mike!  I appreciate it.  It is the least I could do.

I am very thankful for each person who joins this group build, which is a great thing too!  For a group build would not be a group build if not for the group!  And I think of each person on this group build as a friend as well as a fellow model builder.

So kudos to each and every person here!  You are what would make Berny proud!

Ken

Hi Everyone,

Well it has been a long day for me.  I worked 12 straight hours today, with only a small break long enough to woof down my lunch.  Yesterday was brutal too.  I hope tomorrow is better, at least it will be Friday!

We have been suffering here in Lafayette Indiana as far as the weather goes.  It seems like it snows almost every day.  And the temperatures have been brutal too!  Right now it is zero degrees outside and the predicted low for tonight is seven degrees below zero.  And they are (of course!) predicting more snow for tomorrow!

Ken

mikeymize

Super busy work week but glad I could influence you to get that Lee Jim. It'll be a labor of love. (I hope).

Hi Mikey.

You probably missed it, but the Lee turned out to be a bust-the main hull part has very serious mold issues, and I decided it was too far across town to try and return it. Gas would have cost me nearly as much as the kit.

I know all too well the busy part of work- most days are 10 hours and I worked an extra day last week. I guess it's better than the alternative!

Jim

Ken, sorry to hear of all the bad weather! We have been fortunate that we have only been catching the edges of these storms. Something about the jet stream is tracking the bad stuff to the east of us. We did have a small storm yesterday, that first froze a nice layer of ice over everything then covered it all with a couple of inches of snow. Made for a very interesting commute to work!

In spite of money work, Growler work advanced some;

Pylons:

A quick test fit to see what the missiles will look like: no cement yet!

Landing gear cemented  in place: note all the photo-etched brake lines and other details! And a few decals as well! (Am I crazy?)

Front gear-PE parts on the inside of the door, including hinges and PE lines on the front gear: I still like how much better those grills turn out with paint instead of decals.

Another view with more of the PE parts showing: The door under the long strut is painted PE part (carefully curved!) Inside the bay is another PE part and various lines and tie-downs are PE!

A view from the front: My Microscale Krystal-Klear lens didn't turn out the way I had hoped! I had to re-apply it many times as it shrinks as it dries and it turned out sort of milky- guess it's still better than just painting the lens silver!

There are 2 more doors to be added, a smaller one to be added to the left side of the bay on the photo and a longer one attaches alonside the gear to the phot right side.

They are here: I had painted them already as I wasn't going to add the PE hinges at first, then changed my mind. The plastic ones were just sort of a block and had to be cut away. There is one more smaller one that gets added in the empty spot. Unfortunately, it flew out of the tweezers into the 4th dimension! The good thing is that spares are provided! I gave up for the night!

There is still some decals to go on the outside of the larger door, and of course these need a bit of a wash as well. Once this is all done, I can move on to the rear bays! Only 6 doors to do back there!

Better be off to bed! I already turned down the heat and I am starting to chill! TGIF!

Jim

jimbot58

Ken, sorry to hear of all the bad weather! We have been fortunate that we have only been catching the edges of these storms. Something about the jet stream is tracking the bad stuff to the east of us. We did have a small storm yesterday, that first froze a nice layer of ice over everything then covered it all with a couple of inches of snow. Made for a very interesting commute to work!

In spite of money work, Growler work advanced some;

Pylons:

A quick test fit to see what the missiles will look like: no cement yet!

Landing gear cemented  in place: note all the photo-etched brake lines and other details! And a few decals as well! (Am I crazy?)

Front gear-PE parts on the inside of the door, including hinges and PE lines on the front gear: I still like how much better those grills turn out with paint instead of decals.

Another view with more of the PE parts showing: The door under the long strut is painted PE part (carefully curved!) Inside the bay is another PE part and various lines and tie-downs are PE!

A view from the front: My Microscale Krystal-Klear lens didn't turn out the way I had hoped! I had to re-apply it many times as it shrinks as it dries and it turned out sort of milky- guess it's still better than just painting the lens silver!

There are 2 more doors to be added, a smaller one to be added to the left side of the bay on the photo and a longer one attaches alonside the gear to the phot right side.

They are here: I had painted them already as I wasn't going to add the PE hinges at first, then changed my mind. The plastic ones were just sort of a block and had to be cut away. There is one more smaller one that gets added in the empty spot. Unfortunately, it flew out of the tweezers into the 4th dimension! The good thing is that spares are provided! I gave up for the night!

There is still some decals to go on the outside of the larger door, and of course these need a bit of a wash as well. Once this is all done, I can move on to the rear bays! Only 6 doors to do back there!

Better be off to bed! I already turned down the heat and I am starting to chill! TGIF!

Jim

Once again Jim I have to say what amazing work you do!      Especially working in 1/72 scale!  Looks fantastic!

Ken

Jim, I guess I have been out of the loop on your Lee. Disappointing to say the least. There'll be others……

At least the "fast mover" is coming along; hard points and weapons have it looking more realistic all the time. I always marvel at how robust the landing gear on those Navy planes are. The stress, both normal and shear must be tremendous.

mikeymize

Jim, I guess I have been out of the loop on your Lee. Disappointing to say the least. There'll be others……

At least the "fast mover" is coming along; hard points and weapons have it looking more realistic all the time. I always marvel at how robust the landing gear on those Navy planes are. The stress, both normal and shear must be tremendous.

No worries! Sometimes the posts get ahead of me and I fall several days behind!

I agree about how robust the gear is on these aircraft. I watched a program sometime back and during the the development and testing of the 18, they were dropping the plane from different heights to test out the gear! It was amazing to watch in slow motion and just how much abuse the gear can take! I don't know if they did the same tests with the E/F or G versions as they weigh something like 10 G more than the earlier versions. I would think they would, though!

I think it amazing that you take these aircraft, grab them by the nose gear, and fling them off an aircraft carrier at something like 160 MPH! Seems like the gear would rip right off!

I know some aircraft, like the Phantom and the A-4 used a bridle instead on the catapult. Was it that their gear was not sturdy enough for that abuse?

Jim

Here's some footage of the Growlers doing some take off and landings-note the main gear sticking straight down, instead of bent and kneeling, like when it's on the ground!

Drop test:

And one more:

Jim: Again I have to say I hope you're putting a mirror under the model so people can see all that fantastic detail you're adding!!!

And those are great videos- thanks for posting them.

Yes Jim, I agree with Cliff, those are some great videos.  Thank you for posting them!   

Ken