Nice to see this one back Gary, I was beginning to think you had forgotten about us.

68, that's looking very nice.

Cockpit blues have hit me more than once. And I look forward to mastering the canopy - that makes sense because it's so visible. But matters like this show different approaches to the hobby. Unless you're taking a model to a show or a club, it's pretty unlikely that matters of detail are noticed by anyone except yourself - and the people on the boards who see photos. I admit that I don't spent extra time on cockpits and wouldn't consider buying after market parts for one because nobody is going to see it - including myself after it's put on a shelf. Other model genres have different places to show dedication to detail. Both tank and ship modelers will go to remarkable extents to - almost literally - create the correct rivets. A real tank fanatic might well spend $50 on metal tracks. (I've got to try that just to try it - probably on some German thing with lots of sag.) Ship modelers often get two sets of PE, do a lot of scratch building (even I scratch brass masts) and track down fly tying line that's almost impossible to see and requires a lot of time to rig a ship with. (And if you build waterline, some kind of base is almost essential.) Actually I'm glad that people will do the research and show respect for technical fidelity of the subjects they model. It's those modelers that set a high standard for the hobby and create a market for better kits, better paints etc. But I'll never be one of them.

Eric

That looks sharp 68!

Here is my fix. It could be better but it works.

Thanks!  I'll try to remember about the cockpit...  which part what was that again?? 

Really, if I forgot to put the cockpit in no one would notice.  It's just not easy to see anything inside, and I'm building it with the cargo doors closed anyway.

I'm actually concerned about the windshield.  It's a single part and you have to mate it in both sides.  Sounds like a recipe for screw-up.  I'm thinking about cutting it in two and gluing the halves separately.  The center frame after it is painted should cover the cut... if they match up okay.

Does anyone have some experience with gluing windshields like that?  I can't see any way of placing it after the fuselage halves are glued together.

Gary

Nice work, Gary!

Cliff: Something similar happened to me when building Tamiya's P-47 Razorback. I noticed that I forgot to put in the IP after glueing the fuselage together and sanding all the seam lines smooth. Luckily Tamiya kits are very forgiving and I managed to squeeze it in after shortening the mounting pins...

Hey Gary, looks good! I hope you're going to put the interior in there before you start gluing- I've started cementing the fusilege together and then looked down 'um, there's a cockpit sitting there on the bench.... DUH!!!'

Time for another quick update.  The 1/72nd Italeri C-47 is back on the workbench and is starting to progress.  My last update was in June, 2013, so it's about time to finish this up!

I've managed to clean up the parts and have given the interior a "basic" paint job.  Still need to finish it up, but I'm not worried that much about the insides.  Once this thing is closed up, unless you run a fiber-scope inside, you won't see much.

Test fitting some parts.

I'm off tomorrow for Good Friday, so I might be able to get some work done on this thing.  The weather and God willing!

Gary

stikpusher

SchattenSpartan

That's some mighty fine decal work, Stik! Damn that stuff is small...

Thank you... you're telling me about small... in the middle of the process was one of those "what was I thinking?" moments... but it all worked out with no cursing or flying schnellboots...

That's why I prefer building aircraft. There is at least some chance of them simply gliding across the room if I send them flying...

I think I'll get it done. I've never done a "state of the art" ship model, but the DML DDs are very highly thought. The paint job is measure 21 which is relatively simple and I'll stick with the kit's PE so I won't have PE depth charges. We'll live with it. I'm hoping it will be pretty straight forward and the part count isn't in the stratosphere. If I'm wrong, it'll go to the 1944 GB. But we need a ship in this build - allied gunfire (not to mention supply and communications) was vital to victory in Normandy.

Eric

SchattenSpartan

That's some mighty fine decal work, Stik! Damn that stuff is small...

Thank you... you're telling me about small... in the middle of the process was one of those "what was I thinking?" moments... but it all worked out with no cursing or flying schnellboots...

That's some mighty fine decal work, Stik! Damn that stuff is small...

yeah, but I need a third or fourth hand in this hobby sometimes...

Bish

silentbob33

I knew that boat was small but holy cow!  I would have gone blind trying to do what you did.  I'm with Bish, I'll stick to larger scales.

Its not often 72nd gets referred to as a larger scale

Very true! You have steadier hands than I SP. 

I look forward to seeing your DD here. Can you really complete it before the end of this GB?

According to a USN DD guru on Model Warship, the late war Buchanan should be almost an exact match for Forster, Cory or Hobson. Desron 18 which proved vital at Omaha had Gleaves class also, but that variant had a rather different bridge - some others had major deck fixtures in different positions. But I don't think there will any heroic modeling required if I stay to these three ships which is good news. DDs all allow the addition of just a lot of junk - they were small ships relative to their crew and had this or that thrown about - a little like tanks loaded with stuff for the infantry. I'll never be a hard core rivet counter or after market detail fan, but learning to scratch junk might be fun. After all I just spent two weeks making trees. (One thing on the docket for a future armor build - maybe a Priest or half track - are US Army ETO necessities - scale cigarette cartons and wine bottles. There must be a way to scratch them.)

And yea, that's one bitty boat. I did a 350 U-boat IX and was startled how small it was. Ditto with a pair of 1/700 DDs. Course some of the wizards on Model Warship scratch build microscopic small craft and pier fittings for some of the amazing mega dioramas some do. I admire them, but don't see going there.

Yeah, I kind of had an "oh hell" moment when I realized I had to do some more decal cutting after they had been dipped and soaked to seperate the top and bottom letters...Thank goodness for a sharp xacto blade. With the Mk.I eyeball, I wasthinking these things are so tiny, but the camera makes it look good.

Bish, yes, almost there. I need to do washes now, and final topcoat. Sometime in the next week I will call this one done. I lost a lot of modeling time on my days off this week so not as much progress as I had hoped. But getting those markings on was a huge step forward.

That's true, especially since I usually do aircraft in 1/48 or 1/32.

silentbob33

I knew that boat was small but holy cow!  I would have gone blind trying to do what you did.  I'm with Bish, I'll stick to larger scales.

Its not often 72nd gets referred to as a larger scale

I knew that boat was small but holy cow!  I would have gone blind trying to do what you did.  I'm with Bish, I'll stick to larger scales.

Nice work, but I will stick to 72nd thank you very much. She must be nearly there.

Decals applied... in case you are wondering, the Flotilla Panther is from the kit decals, but the commanders initials are cut apart, letter by letter, from 1/35 ammunition stencils from a Dragon figure set 

to get an idea how small this stuff is, here is a US Nickle for comparison

GAF

Stik>  And the Schnellboat is looking great!  What sort of decals does a boat have anyway? 

It's gonna look like this with the Flotilla badge on the side of the hull under the cabin and the commander's initials in the cabin sides.

EB, the DD's are good for screening, but it took a major daylight raid by the RAF on LeHavre, led by 67 Squadron to finally take care of the Kriegsmarine surface raiders problem

Never mind, its already on the roster.

Nice addition Eric, will add that to the roster. Will it take much to change it to the ship you want to do.

Gamera, thanks.

We have a Schnellboat problem? Barring the "big one" or WWIII in a few weeks the USN will have a Gleaves class DD to swat it away. I'll be turning the  DML 1/350 USS Buchanan into either Forster or Hobson - haven't quite made up my mind. But it will be bigger than a Schnellboat.This is a ship model, so you'll be safe enough for several weeks.

Eric

SP & Bish: Those look better and better guys!

Thanks bob.

Thanks GAF, and ye, that's the plan. I already have 5 armour kits that are built and awaiting dio's because I didn't have the time to complete the full thing. I don't want to add another, but of course, time is tight what with all these great GB's.

Eric> Superb looking Cromwell. I just finished reading an article in "Military Heritage" magazine about the British attacks at Caen which contains an image of a column of Cromwells on the road.  Yours is spot on.

Bish>  Lovely paint scheme.  Are you going to do a diorama since you're working on the figures?

Stik>  And the Schnellboat is looking great!  What sort of decals does a boat have anyway? 

My C-47 is on the work table now and I hope to have pictures soon.  Not much longer till D-Day. 

Gary