US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

Clemens,

Having seen both the Blue and the Birds for many years, I can honestly say the Blue Angels are the better team.  If you can arrange it, try to see them at Blue Angels Week in Pensacola.  You can take in the unbelievable Naval Aviation Museum while you are there.

Flying that close, you wonder!

Yep, those guys are just extremely badass:

They can't be human...

You're right about the Thunderbirds, Clemens.  Saw them at Truax Field in Madison, Wisconsin a few years ago.  Mighty impressive!

That's really some fiddly PE stuff, Checkmate! Kudos to you for using such tiny parts!

I went to an airshow today (Airpower '13) and it was a stunning experience:

It isn't as big of an airshow as you guys in the states are used to, but it was still very nice. Here's a link to the official page of the show (too much stuff to list it all)

Good stuff:

• B-25
• The aerobatic-teams were awesome
• 2 F-16s literally drifting around in the sky (those things are bloody loud!)
• A Corsair
• Some helo-action (a Cobra, a Hind and lots of other awesome stuff)
• Really nice weather
• I got a poster of each F-16 (1 Belgian and 1 from the Netherlands) signed by their pilots!
• heaps of other good stuff

Bad stuff:

• The Lightning wasn't there because of technical problems
• I missed a good third of the show because me and my friend (Florian) weren't able to use the official train for the show, so we were arriving 2 hours after the show started
• we missed the Mustang and Spitfire (we saw the Mustang taking off when it flew home though)
• I got toasted (forgot to take my sun-block with me ) and I look like a tomato now

It was still a very nice experience and I have to go there next year as well!

Taking pictures was impossible mor me though, as my camera is not suited for this task, but Florian took some really nice ones (i hope to get them from him soon) and I willl upload those for you (in a separate thread). Just a little warning: We were only able to take pictures untill 2/3rd of the show, because we ran out of batteries .

I'd love to visit one of the airshows in the states as well, but travelleng there is bloody expensive, so it'll be a challenge to do this. I'd like to see the Thunderbirds in action at some point (a really awesome aerobatic-team!).

Cheers, Clemens

Well, thanks, TarnShip!  Why didn't that come up when I did a search?  It looks more useful to me than the GMM one.

there are eight sets of Wildcat main gear along the top right edge of this fret

www.tomsmodelworks.com/.../product_info.php

Just checked--unfortunately Tom's website only shows F4F parts in 1:350; nothing in 1:700.

"Why did you do all that work if you can't see it anyway?".

It's a question we could all ask ourselves!! 

TarnShip:  thanks for that information.  There's a lot on the Gold Medal fret I will probably never use.  Another option is good.

Checkmate, my head is spinning a little from looking at and thinking about those tiny parts! Looking good. Looking fwd to seeing the squadron when done.

I have a build in progress story to share. Bear in mind, being my first build since back, I've been toiling away at the TMB interior for months. From time to time, my significant other has wandered down to see what I am doing. She is of far Eastern descent, and was raised in a poor family, so she had never known the concept of building a scale model kit. In fact, the concept of hobbies are a bit difficult for her to grasp.

So recently, I've joined the fuselage halves, and have been masking so right now it's a bare gray styrene shell with masking tape all over the place.

She dropped down a bit ago. I held up the WIP and she said "What happened to the colors? It was green!". I replied, that was the inside. She, with a confounded look on her face said "Why did you do all that work if you can't see it anyway?".

I thought it was kind of funny. Not sure if WIP anecdotes are appropriate, so sorry if not.

Check, there is a lower priced set that includes F4F parts,,,,,,,you can still get Tom's Modelworks PE, I believe it is now his brother selling the products since Tom's passing

Dre:  yup, tailhooks; but the Wildcat's tailhook was not visible when retracted, so I'll have to save them for another project.

I do have a box of Dauntlesses, I haven't opened yet.

Dre, here are the two that stick out the most to me

in the third set in your boxtop photo, we don't have the long Bunker Buster LGBs in the middle of the top row,,,,,we do have the "large wing Cruciforms" in the top row, but, not the cut down winged version,,,,,we have to combine our GBU-8 parts with the GBU-15 bodies to try and make them

it is not a major inconvenience, with the 15 different sets I have (33 total), I can do most things I want,,,,,,there are 3 old OOP sets I would like to get yet, but, it is not as if I can't build until I search them out, lol,,,,,,,,,and some of our sets have a lot of Foreign and USAF-only weapons types

Checkmateking02- that's impressively tiny PE you have there, and there's tailhooks too.  

I can't wait to see this squadron finished!

I've fallen behind in posting progress photos.  Here are the little gems all painted up.  When I took the picture, they didn't have their decal markings on yet.  I've finished that, but it took about a full day for each individual decal.  The planes are so small, there's no place to hold them, and I didn't want to mess up one decal by accidentally touching it while putting on a second decal. 

Next is the landing gear.  I painted these on the sprue, then cut 'em off and painted the wheels with acrylic paint, using a brush.  They will still need some touch up.

I've completed the installation of the landing gear, and am not all that thrilled with Trumpeter's interpretation of the Wildcat gear, but I'll return to that when I post finished pictures.  One problem, as you can see, is that Trumpeter put the landing gear under the wing instead of under the fuselage.

I had no luck with the kit-supplied propellers, even trying to hold them with my new locking tweezers.  So I picked up this PE set.  It has props and gear for a lot of different USN and Japanese planes.  Problem is, they only provide nine Wildcat sets, and I have 12 planes, so I'll have to rob the Japanese. 

So the next and hopefully final step will be painting and installing the props.

Thanks for looking.

Tarn and Stik- there is a 1/32 AAM weapons set: http://www.squadron.com/.../tr03303.htm

"Set includes AIM-54 (x6), AIM-7 (x6), AIM-9X (x6), AIM-9 (x6), AIM-120 (x6), LGTR (x2), AN/ASQ-228-DCH, ALQ-131 and LANTIRN pod. Includes decals and color painting guide - color bands, stencil data and placards."

there's also this missile set for ground targets: http://www.squadron.com/product-p/tr03306.htm

"Set includes 5 types (2 each) of modern air-to-surface missiles: AGM-142 Raptor/Popeye (x2 - buildable as -1 with TV seeker or -2 with IIR nose), AGM-84A Harpoon (x2), AGM84E Harpoon SLAM (x2), and AGM84H SLAM-ER (x2). Includes clear-molded nose lenses, color painting guide and decals for stencil data and weapons markings."

hope this helps y'all.

Stik- I think that all 3 + shipping was around $107.00.   Thanks for the tip on JDAMs and LGBU's- precisely what I was hoping to hear!  

Tarn- I think that they make an air to air set- there's a couple of sets I didn't buy.   While 1/32 scale doesn't seem to get as many new releases as the other scales, what we do get is getting better.

What do these have that you can't get in 1/72?   All I'm missing here is a TARPS pod...

Great assortment

I don't get to say this very often, but, there are a couple of items in those 1/32 sets that we don't have in 1/72 scale.

Glad to see your scale caught up with us,,,,,,,,,and then passed us. Is there a Trumpeter Air to Air set available?

What an arsenal!!

The JDAMs and LGBs were used by F-14Ds in OEF...

BTW, very nice haul! How much did those three sets run you total?

gotta love a sale...

 surely there ought to be something I can use on an F-14D in these boxes.

John, thanks for explaining your masking procedure. I keep listening, hopefully am learning some stuff.

I appreciate the tip on the yellow frog tape, I shall try some for sure.

Great results, John.  Looks sharp with all those markings.  Nice job!

or an A-7 ;-) I am thinking about one of those for the same reason... plus they dont take up too much shelf space with the wings folded...

Lol, I now have more aircraft ordnance than I have models to carry them...  maybe time to get that A-10 going.

Dre

Stik- yes, most of those sets are part of the current sale so hurry if you need more.  

I just checked my tracking notice and they ought to be on my porch when I get home tonight- so much for staying up-to-date with yesterday's tracking info.

Well I do not need it anytime soon, but I could use the AAM set for some later builds... But it looks like they put them on sale every so often... good! I will check back on that once my finances are better off later this summer...

Greg,

 As far as the engine covers go, I just forgot to put them on for the pictures,  I also need to add the VS-31 squadron markings on them along with the small bungee cords that go towards the rear to keep them on the real thing.

John

Greg,

 the white I actually painted first then I used yellow frog tape from Wal-Mart to tape over it and then trim with a new xacto blade everything I wanted to stay white then sprayed  the gray,  I like the yellow frog tape cuz I think its almost exactly the same as the tamiya tape but I get a 3/4 wide roll that's about 30 feet long for $5 and I can see through it as to where I need to trim for the separate surfaces.  

  I've had the solveset do the same wrinkling but not to this degree.  just have to resist the urge to try to flatten it out and let that happen on it own, because for one thing the decals is extremely soft and will just melt all over if you touch it to much.

John

Really? I sort of enjoy having something to look forward to re deliveries. OTOH, waiting for something holding up a build, as in your case, Clemens, might be a different story. :)

John, I think your aircraft is looking great! And I have a couple questions....

Regarding the white (on the tail control surfaces, wing tops, etc) and the dark gray in places, did you mask and paint those? They look excellent and if you read the rest of my post you will understand why I am asking. Also, what happened to those neat red vacuum formed red parts on the engine nacelles?

BTW, you sparked a distant memory. I recall similar experiences using Walther's Solvaset, seeing wrinkles, having an 'oh no!' moment, and then waking up to a pleasant surprise next day. I've read here and elsewhere recently lots of folks use it as a last resort. Glad your experience had a happy ending!

To muse on my build for a moment, if I may.....

I've come to a point where things are going together, and am finding things I wish I'd done differently, thought ahead better to save headaches. I am finding that unlike raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, masking is not amongst my favorite things. :) And all the fuselage portals/windows on the TBM have me confounded, at the moment. I don't reckon I chose the easiest kit for my welcome back kit. :) The odd canopy configuration (open at the rear), etc, is challenging.

This is all part of the learning curve, though, and I understand that and am prodding on. Do find that I need to walk away from the masking regularly, though. And I'm apprehensive about how it's all going to work out. I'm sure you've all been there, done that.

Stik- yes, most of those sets are part of the current sale so hurry if you need more.  

I just checked my tracking notice and they ought to be on my porch when I get home tonight- so much for staying up-to-date with yesterday's tracking info.