US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

Well the Eduard Hellcat fell together nicely.  As close to a shake-and-bake kit as you can get.  I painted it in overall gloss sea blue and was able to get the few decals applied.  Here's where things got interesting.  As the decals were drying I was re-reading the Info on the particular aircraft I was doing.  I had mentioned I was doing an aircraft from the USS Block Island.........Unfortunately in an effort to get the marking to match the gun setup (I wanted to use my Quickboost 2X 20mm/ 4X .50) I got the descriptions mixed up and ended up building a night fighter that operated off of Okinawa, not a carrier.  So shame on me for not paying closer attention.  So this one is technically disqualified as it was not a carrier bird.  Good news is I'm 100% sure my Tomcat was a carrier plane.......

That with the markings is a pity Stu, but why should your bird be disqualified? Read through the rules again

Clemens

Still haven't started yet, I need to order a desk from Ikea so I have somewhere to work.

That Cutlass is a neat looking aircraft, looking forward to this.

Joe, the pit is looking good.

I was going through my E-2 yesterday, I just wanted to make sure I had all the markings as I am using some AM ones. I have also decided to get some PE and other bits, they are meant for the Hase kit, but I am sure they will fit ok. But the discussion on cockpit colours got me thinking. One of the Goffy models resin sets I have includes the compartment behind the cockpit with and open entry hatch. Would all this be painted the same colour as the cockpit.

And secondly, I remember building a few modern USN aircraft many moons ago and the instructions all called out for gloss white underneath. Would this be right, or would you go for a more semi gloss finish.

I won't be starting for a while, my current estimate is Sept, just trying to get everything ready.

Shivinigh- that looks like a fun kit.    an experimental scheme sounds interesting, very interesting.

Mustang1989- great work in there!   I like that weathering idea and have been wondering how well it works out.   Could you share a little more about that process?

Dre

Mustang1989- great work in there!   I like that weathering idea and have been wondering how well it works out.   Could you share a little more about that process?

Good to see you in here.

That sounds a lot like the salt/hairspray methods..   I guess that it is more important to have the base color fully cured rather than the top color?   I see that you used dissimilar paints, I imagine that helps with removing the top color as it hasn't bonded to the underlying paint.

Bish, that E-2 interior is a can of worms

There was an entire separate set of documents that spelled out the interiors and colors for multi-place aircraft,,,,,,,,,,right down to the color of the seat cushions and even that varied depending on if they were removable floatation devices or not

A very high percentage of Naval modelers use the variations of Dk Gull and Black, with or without some Green or Yellow Zinc Chromate for their S-2, E-2 and S-3 interiors

even the Fujimi and Hasegawa kit instructions differ on what color to paint their model interiors (Fujimi even says to use Tan and Field Grey,,,,,,ack)

Rex

Dre

That sounds a lot like the salt/hairspray methods..   I guess that it is more important to have the base color fully cured rather than the top color?   I see that you used dissimilar paints, I imagine that helps with removing the top color as it hasn't bonded to the underlying paint.

Impressive cockpits, Mustang.  Excellent detail.

Thanks Bish and Checkmateking. I'm moving on to the instrument panel. Got alot of trimming and fitting there. Pretty much a kit bash/scratch project. DEFINETELY not a decal.

its tedious, but would placing the decals on plain, thin plastic stock and then cutting them out individually and placing them into their respective positions from the backside be doable here?

I had to do that in order to get a kit IP decal to fit an aftermarket PE IP...  

I actually gave that some thought but I ended up cutting the IP from the Hasegawa kit and it fits almost perfectly in place of the decal.....and even has the back side of the .50 cals protruding out. Will post pics later.

Last night's work consisted of doing some simple seam work on all the wing assemblies that I built up last week.

Since the fit of the parts is so good and clean, there's actually very little clean-up to be done, but I do like to be thorough...   A mix of white and green putties thinned with MEK was lightly brushed onto all the seams and join lines that needed it.  Once fully cured (say about 2 days, given the humidity) I can go back and begin wet sanding and polishing these areas.

this shows the seam filling on the leading edge of the wings- this will be hidden by the flaps but I thought the area needed that extra effort.   I used strips of masking tape to mark off the area I wanted to fill and then added the putty mix.

I also began a rough seam sanding and putty spotting on the 2 drop tanks as well as some putty work on 2 AIM-54's.   I chose the two missiles  (out of 6 total) that had the cleanest join seams to be used on the model..   A little wet sanding and polishing and these will be ready to paint and use.

Slow and thorough is the way to go...

That MEK is some good stuff to mix with putties and sealers. Evaporates right out of the mix when cured. Will look at the pics when I get home. Cant view them here at work.

Fast forward about half an hour or so here. I'm now at home. That seam filling and body work looks great Dre!

I barely remembered to tape the leading edge seams before laying on the putty- that would have been a mess.     I need to get that edge area good and clean so I drop some large PE pieces in there to add some detail behind the flaps (once they're installed).

I can't decide what to do with the wing spoilers- they're all positionable but lack any actuator details (but scratching those should be easy-ish)...  Gotta look at a bunch of photos...

Hey guys lots of good work going on here.  Great cockpit work one and all.  I will definitely be learning a bunch and have to up my game.

Dre: Why do you mix white and green?  Only for color?  I've pretty much stuck to Mr Surfacer for my filling needs unless it is bigger and badder and then I just use whichever Squadron I have available.

Here is my work to date, meager tho it may be. I decided that I might have another one or two A-3's in my future, and also decided that there is no time like the present to learn a new technique. I decided to duplicate a couple of key components by making some copies.

Here are the one piece nacelles and some seats from the office for the EW station in a dam constructed of legos:

I am really interested in the pictures you promised us, Marty!

I found my brush set eventually! It was burried under a bunch of spres inside the box of the Thunderbolt I'm building for the Reich defenders GB! How did that one end up in there anyway? I guess I have to keep track of my tools more!

Cheers, Clemens

I mix the putties because..  I can't really remember the original reason.   I keep a small jar of putty 'ready mix' on hand- whenever the mix gets out of whack (mostly from evaporation) I add more MEK or putty.  Whichever tube I grab first goes in the pot.. even styrene shavings and clippings to help goop up the goo.   I've used this stuff as a primary cement when there's going to be a bad seam to start with.   It's vile stuff, really.

I know nothing about resin casting, but I can see the need for it from time to time.   Good luck with it- I'd get distracted by the LEGO's and start playing.

haha,,,,I bought a Blue Angels Hornet lego set for my casting layout work,,,,,,,,,,it is a bit tempting to build the thing

Going to do this as a crossover with the Vietnam Air War GB.   I have a 1/72 Fujimi F-4B that I'm going to build as the short lived green Navy F-4Gs of the VF-213 Black Lions.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-4G_VF-213_camouflaged_Vietnam_1966.jpg

Yo, Rex...  Whatcha got for colors on the crew station in an EA-3B?  I have a couple of pictures (2) one contemporaneous and one on a refurb.  I'm thinking Dk Ghost is a good choice, here is my best pic.

Don't think my link will take you to the image so P5, Image 22 (Row 5, pic 2)

www.a3skywarrior.com/.../photos-pg-5.html

RE: Legos:

Rex/Dre: You have no idea on playing. I started getting Legos in the late 60's, and then my younger brother (-5) continued.  When my parents moved, I inherited the laundry tub of bricks. It was almost blasphemy for me to 'soil' them with RTV.  Thankfully, if properly cured, it peels right off.

I'm keeping a stash of a couple of bases and multiple bricks as my molding supplies, and the tub will go back to the crawl space for posterity.  And yes, that is vintage dirt on the gray base.

RE: Resin Casting:

This is my very first attempt at casting.  I've had it on the list (and been fully supplied) for a dozen years or more. Unlike many here, I'm a slow builder, my Vigi shown (first model ever posted to anywhere) earlier in this thread took me 3+ years to build out.

My experience thus far has been pretty straight forward.  I'm using some RTV  & resin from Bare Metal Foil, but I have NO idea if it is still available, as I bought the supplies 12 or more years ago.

Here is another image of the RTV after just being poured.  I had some extra and so quickly built up another receptical for a ventral ECM canoe.  

I travel a fair bit for my job, and so I"m out for most of this week again.  I will try to get some 'real' plastic work done upon my arrival back Twin Cities.  

68,

I'm assuming Ford, but????  And that green is going to be hot.  I didn't even know that existed.

Welcome to this GB, 68GT!

I put ya on the list.

Clemens

Thanks!

MAgather

68,

I'm assuming Ford, but????  And that green is going to be hot.  I didn't even know that existed.

Ford Mustang is what it's for.  The Navy F-4G actually was gray and green and was for an auto landing electronics equipment trial.  If you click on the link I inserted to Wiki there is a caption below the picture.  The green was just an experiment on whether or not the jets would have an advantage in Vietnam.

I'm a little bit confused right now, 68.

Are you building a B- or a G model Phantom?

Clemens

Nevermind. I figured it out myself.