US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

That's some real nice scratch work, Marty.    You might call yourself a noob, but that work looks great.

Dre:  your wheel wells are amazing!  what did you use for the tubes/hoses?  fine solder, wire wrap wire?

Marty:  that interior is way cool,  will you be able to see it once it's finished up?  should use one of those small fiber optic automotive scopes inserted into it to see the glowing crt's,  that would make a cool dio.

John

Falconmod- that's all Aires resin.   The only thing I've done is to add paint.

Dre, that's some impressive detail painting in the gear bays. Inspiring, and I like the colors you chose. Wheels/tires look good, too.

MA, your scratch building is also inspiring. Looking good!

I have a question to you guys:

I am thinking of buying me Tamiya's Skyraider kit. What do I have to change so I can paint it up in blue?

Cheers, Clemens

I finally gave up on the desk and took over the dining room table as a temporary workspace.

I started with the Eduard Photoetch IP.  For less then ten parts, it has to be the most complicated and fiddly bit of modeling I have ever done.

Looks great, Ghosstrider! Those Eduard IPs are fiddly as hell, but really worth the effort (well, most of them at least)

Clemens,

I've got some stuff at home that will help you.  First make sure you get the Naval version (box art with the Bumblebee on the tail) not the AF Vietnam Camo. (I have both, and while the parts are probably in the AF box, you'll at least end up with some decals you can use).

You will need to back date a bit, not sure exactly what needs to be done, but my sources should have some details.

Go get 'em!

Thank you, Marty! I ordered the Navy Skyraider at Hannants a few seconds ago and it should arrive untill the end of this month. I hope it isn't too difficult to backdate this bird, because I like them best in overall dark blue...

Cheers, Clemens

Hey guys, thanks for the encouragement. One technique that I've used to my benefit involves nothing but time. I need to think about a problem for a while to get a good solution. My drawing skills are poor, but I just sketch a simple representation of my issue and then think about it. I've only identified the issue with the crew door and the EW compartment bulkhead a couple of days ago, and have been noodling it since.

The other thing is that I have bought a number of packs of Evergreen and Plastruct styrene ver the years. As you might guess, I buy a lot of stuff long before I need it. E.g. I bought an aires 1/48 F-4C resin pit 2 months ago, even tho I don't have a kit yet. Just know I want to do a SEA bird at some point.  

John, re: visible.

I have made the decision to open the EW crew door, but it is under the wing so it won't be highly visible. There will be windows into the compartment,  so a bit might be visible through those. The aircrew hatch may be much more visible, as the flor of the cockpit is actually the top of the egress slide. The whole idea is that it is just a slide down and out.  

I've been behind in checking in, but the progress and artistry of the builds are very impressive.

Eric:  that's great looking weathering on your Wildcat.

SSpartan:  your Wildcat is building up nicely; I like the black and white touch on the landing gear.  Looks sharp.

John:  the S-3 is looking good; looking forward to seeing the paint go on after the sanding

Dre:  that is excellent detail and painting in the bays; very sharp!

MA:  what you're doing with the interior is outstanding; well-done!

Ghostrider:  haven't worked much with PE but what I have done makes me sympathize!  Fiddly is the right word for it

I enjoy seeing everyone's progress.

Now for some of my progress:

here are my Wildcats, with the canopies masked.  I settled on doing 12 of them.

Here's a close up.  I cut very thin pieces of common, painter-variety, low tack masking tape and outlined the canopy, then filled in with MicroMask.

The first coat of paint is WEM's Bronze Green, used by Grumman for the cockpit.  Even in such a small scale as 1/700, it is possible to see the interior color through the canopy.

 After this dries, I'll start with the exterior colors.  Thanks for looking.

Checkmateking02- the very idea of masking a 1/700 canopy gives me fits.    Can't wait to see the squadron all finished.

Nice work on the masking, Checkmate! I simply wouldn't be able to build and paint planes in such a small scale...

Ghost, that panel looks vaguely familiar (I am building the same kit for the GB) :) Looking good!

This kit represents my first adventure with PE, how about you? How many parts have you lost so far? I think about 4 for me. Brain grinding away at ideas for a PE part loss-resistant work cage of some sort, doubt I'll ever go anywhere with it, though. :)

Checkmate, almost fell off my recliner when I saw your progress pics. Head started spinning a bit considering masking a 1/700th canopy. Built, or shall I say 'worked on' a carrier as a kid, surely don't recall the airplanes having been molded in clear. Reckon Trumpeter has done that to accommodate what you are doing, then? Looking good!

Greg- get a large enough plastic zip-lock type bag to hold the PE fret and cut the parts inside the bag so that if they go flying then they'll be somewhere inside the bag.   That should cut down on missing parts.

update time:

the wheel bays have been washed with a mixture of Future and Tamiya Clear Smoke to simulate oily buildup and residue.   I may go back in and swab some windex-soaked ear buds around to show "cleaning".

After all the years of looking for a good, easy to use wash I have to say that Future mixed with clear Smoke is the best solution to recreate oily aircraft interiors.   It has a slight warm tone when dried that looks a lot like petroleum by-products.

I couldn't imagine those wheel bays to look even better, but with the washing on, they do! I love your work, mate!

Thanks, this is the easy stuff...     I may yet add another, different colored wash to these.  

Dre, thanks for the PE cutting tip, cool idea!

Have yet to lose one removing from fret, though. The seem to go flying into never land from my tweezers occasionally is my problem. And yes, I have very good tweezers but starting to think maybe not good enough. Been hesitant to spend upwards of $50 US on a tweezer, but might give it a go. Also rethinking the blu-tac/toothpic applicator idea. Haven't had much luck with it but was probably dabbing on too much adhesive. I'm finding that my definition of a small spot of glue is changing radically regarding PE. :)

Ah, well...   the dread tweezerpult has no known adversary, only victims.   I've been lucky a few times to find the PE part that goes 'ping' into the air, but more often than not it is listed MIA.

Sharpened toothpicks make great CA applicators.

Dre: Smoke and Future- brilliant!.  And nice work on the wells. I'm definitely going to need to go to school on you.

I had success combining future and acrylic dull coat to cut the shine; I may use your recipe for cockpit wash.  Easier than spraying the whole shooting match with future just for an oil wash.

CA applicators: I saw a tip somewhere and grabbed a sewing needle from my wife's kit and used my dremel to cut off HALF of the eyelet (horizontally).  Picture the shaft of the needle widening into the eyelet, which is now cut off.  You have a tiny 'fork' that is perfect for picking up a wee bit of CA.

I shoved the sharp end into an old paintbrush handle that had lost it's bristles, and now I have another tool that is big enough it doesn't get lost!

The Future/smoke mix should be dullcoated for some uses and applications, but it's a great sealer/wash combo that cuts time and effort.

With already 23 participants and 28 projects announced (a lot) after only 4 weeks, I decided that I'll probably make this GB annual. I thought about making the following parts of it without a nation restriction, but I leave both decisions to you (annual GB?, all nations or just US?)

Cheers, Clemens

So is participation a lot, or not enough?

Well, this year is USN/USMC-only, so maybe next year's version could be open to all other nationalities?   I could do up an Italian Harrier for that...

Marty: This GB is much more popular than I expected it to be, so the participation is a lot! That's why I am thinking of making this an annual GB! I'm sorry that this wasn't clear from my initial post (I corrected it already)

A big "thank you" to all of you for participating and making this GB as nice as it is! You guys are awesome!

Ooooo, a YAK-38 or a YAK-141  Vtol.

I managed to finish off the Hellcat last night.  Longest delay was getting the fuel tank right.  I sprayed it white, then salted and sprayed with a mix of smoke and heavily diluted burnt umber to give the impression of a dirty fuel tank.  Didn't look as sharp on white as it does when I use the technique on gray tanks, but it's passable.  I'll post some pics this evening.  I've started work on the F-14.  Mainly with the cockpit.  I have built one of the Hobbyboss F-14s before so I know the gotchas and have been reluctant to dive in just yet.  But now that the Hellcat is off the bench I can begin work in full.

I can't wait to see pictures of it!

Dre, very glad to hear I'm not the only one who has the flying parts/tweezer dilemna, thanks for that. Hadn't thought of sharpening a toothpick, thanks, I'll try it.

Also, can you further define the 'smoke' part of smoke + Future? Results look great, would like to try but don't know what "clear smoke" is. TIA

Marty, thanks for the tip. Is my understanding that the commercially available CA applicator is actually just as you describe. (mfg name escapes me right now). It's just to big a glob of glue for many PE apps, but then again it's likely my technique at this stage of the game. :) Appreciate your input.

Greg, the 'smoke' is Tamiya's Clear Smoke X-19. 

Toothpicks, wire, cut up sewing needles..   whatever it takes to get that tiny glob of CA put in the right place.