US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

Thank you Greg. I have been wanting to get to this project for awhile, but had too many others going. 

68, your F-4G is coming along nicely. I have somewhat wanted to do one in the Green experimental camo scheme that VF-213 wore over Vietnam for a short time. Probably one of the most unique USN F-4s to be found.

So here is my progress so far- only build work, no painting. Cutting out the kit seat base left some gaps in the cockpit floorboard, so I filled in the parts that would be possibly seen with some strip styrene last night and sanded them smoothe today.  I bought some AMS rounded drop tank tails for this build, which just so happen to come with what they call a bonus "throttle". Now comparing that throttle to photos of an actual A-4E throttle show no resemblence to the real deal. The real Scooter has a very basic set up and the AMS one looks like a modern HOTAS type like you would see on a Hornet, Harrier, or other post Vietnam aircraft. But, that throttle does look better than the kit supplied control stick top and is "close enough for government work" for replacing that item. So I used the more accurate kit throttle, cut off the top of the kit's stick, and replaced it with the AMS part, after hollowing out the base for a better/stronger join. And I glued the rudder pedals in place.

I also assembled the Quick Boost bang seat... what a beautiful piece of work! In addition to the face curtain and between the legs activation handles, there were also a few other appendages needing to be attached. I am looking forward to painting this up. The seat is exquisitely detailed with belts and all.

Now here is everything placed together for a preview...

More to follow in the next few days...

Ed, good to see you back at the F-4. Looking good. Cleaning up the exterior is where I'm at on my current build too. (not my favorite stage at this point of my re-learning curve).

Stik, that's gonna be an awesome cockpit. Your shots of the resin (I presume) seat have me wanting to try one. A lot. Oh how I wish I could be looking over your shoulder as you paint that office, and especially the seat.

Thank you Greg. I won't be doing anything wazzoo.... just paint, wash and drybrush to make it pop as best I can. Yes that is a resin seat by Quick Boost. The second product of theirs that I have used. I am always so impressed by their items. Simply gorgeous stuff!

Clemen's I am afraid I am going to drop out of this GB. I have been giving my commitments a lot of thought and have decided to trim down a bit so I have the time to build my kits properly and complete the ones I commit to rather than rushing builds and missing deadlines.

I would rather have my name taken off the list than just be another un started build. Sorry I can't take part, and I wish you all the best for the rest of the build.

Stik: Looking really nice so far!

Ed: She's going to be a beauty!

Bish: No worries, mate! If you are still interested in this one, you might consider joining the next round (myabe I will open it for all nations)

If you do a second round, then I will defiantly be in. Next year isn't looking to bad and I am going to TRY and keep my commitments to a more reasonable level. I really want to build this E-2, but I want to do it justice. And as I haven't done a USN aircraft in years, I have a lot to learn about painting and weathering these. Thanks for understanding.

Greetings group builders, hope all is well. I finally have an update to share with you. After weeks of painting, waiting, retaping and painting again I have finally got the base colors down on my Demon. This is going to be a VF-31 "Tomcatters" livery, so the wingtips had to be done in red and black. Hope you like it!

That's all for now, thanks for watching! 

Hey Ed, good to see some activity here! I'm still learning how to mask (mostly learning how to be patient!) and those lines surely look clean to me. Nice work!

That looks like an excellent finish overall. May I ask what paints you use? Whatever it is, looks like it laid down beautifully.

Also, looks to be gloss-coated already? Maybe? If so would you mind sharing how you do it? I'm on my second round of gloss coating and struggling again.

Stik, even though the cockpit is routine for you, if you have the time or inclination I'd enjoy seeing some WIP pics along the way.

Stik, you're off to a great start!

Ed: She's looking very nice so far!

Ed Sisco: Outstanding paint job! Very sharp lines on the wingtips! I'd be interested in the paints as well!

Thanks Greg and Sparty, appreciate it greatly. I use Testors white primer straight out of the can. I sand between coats up to 4000 grit to maintain a smooth finish. For the white I used MM and the grey is Tamiya decanted from the spray can. I used poster tack for the break line, gives it a nice fade effect and not a hard line. The wingtips were sprayed with Tamiya acrylic and I use Tamiya tape burnished down real well. After a quick sanding, I sprayed MM clear straight from the can. It's the lazy man's way, but hey it works! Plus, I find the decals adhere very well to it and any post shading/weathering is accepted well. Hopefully I have answered your questions, if not ask away!

Ed, thank you very much for addressing my questions! You answered my questions brilliantly, but I do have more. :)

Dumb question, are the Model Master paints acrylic or enamel or what? I just realised I don't know if Model Master is acryl only. And especially the MM Clear; acrylic, enamel, lacquer?

I ask because I am now using acrylics pretty much exclusively, and not quite brave enough to mix paint types on top of one another, especially enamels or lacquers over acrylics.

The MM paint comes in Acrylic, Enamel and there are a few Lacquer based paints in their line also.  I'm not sure which he used for the white but if properly applied and cured sufficiently they should be fine regardless of the type used.

Thanks for straightening me out on that, 68GT.

Sorry Greg, I use so many different types of paint I honestly get confused myself! However, 68GT is correct about what MM has. On this build they were lacquers for the basic paint scheme and acrylics for the wingtips. The clear was lacquer as well. I can control lacquers alot easier here in the humid days of Kentucky, acrylics do alot better for me in the winter/spring. Hope that helps! BTW, what is your current project if I may inquire?

Ed, it is comforting to know I am not the only one who gets confused with all of these products to keep straight!

And now I know, lacquer clear coat over both acrylics and lacquers. Thank you!

Of course you can inquire, building an FW 190 over in the "Butcher Bird" group build, and having a ball. :) My questions about your finish is regarding my struggles to obtain an acceptable gloss coat using acrylic products, btw. Getting closer, I think. But it ain't a finish like yours yet!!!

wow, all of your builds so far are awesome, I finally got a new workbench, so I can get some real work done on my TBM.  Now if I could just find a chair....

So I'm going to call my S-3A done.  here's the last pictures I took of it along with the silver medal I won for it at our show 2 weeks ago "NordicCon" in Minneapolis.

John

John, I am truly impressed with your S-3A. And congrats on your win at the show.

The reason I am so impressed is because I just really like your paint/decal work, but also because  for some reason I have a clear memory of this build from start to finish. I vividly recall some of my early preconceptions seeing this in it's beginning stages, me being newly back to the hobby I simply could not visualize where this build was heading. I could write too much easily here, let it suffice to say that I've learned a lot by following your particular build here.

So glad I had to opportunity to watch this one come together, my friend.

She's a real beauty! You really deserve that medal!

Which pic do you want me to put on the front page?

Thanks Greg,    I was a fun model to do,  I really liked doing the decals and the engine covers.

John

SchattenSpartan

She's a real beauty! You really deserve that medal!

Which pic do you want me to put on the front page?

John

Hey Ghostrider, glad you have your bench ready to go. I have been waiting to see your TBM-3 coming along!

Alrighty guys. I haven't been active in this GB too much since it first started but I'm now wrapping things up with the nose of my Fw190 D-9 and am going to set that aside long enough to actually complete this Dauntless that I started in December of last year! I figure this is as good of a time as any to get started again on this plane. Anyhow here are the canopy sections masked and ready for paint as of this morning just to show SOME progress.

That's a really neat masking job, Joe! I'm looking forward to more pics!

Thanks Clemens. I'll be starting in on this bad boy full time starting tomorrow morning.

Sorry gents. Almost made a post here that I meant to post in the Butcher Bird build. ......YIkes!

Made the first real progress on the TBM  Just some basic work on the front seat.

Edit:I don't know why the picture isn't showing up, I can't seem to link it either

Edit the 2nd: Fixed

If you're looking for a hand posting pics, Ghost, you need to click "Use Rich formatting"  next to the reply button. To insert the pic, click the little picture icon (looks more like a display or monitor.....when you hover over it it will say "Insert image". Just paste what you copied from Photobucket and the pic should show up.

Make sure you choose the "direct link" out of the 4 copy to clipboard option selections in photobucket.

If you already knew all that stuff, sorry, just trying to be helpful. :) Confused the heck out of me at first.

Good to see you back over here, Joe. Masking looking good. Are those Eduard's? If they're not, I want masking lessons from you. I darned near went goofy doing my 190 with no Eduard. Got spoiled on my first eduard mask set, I'm hopelessly hooked (and hopelessly lazy) :)

yup, that's what I did, double checked to be sure I had everything right, I've posted pics through PB on the forum before, this board doesn't exactly use standard forum code, but I'm sure it should have worked

Edit: Something's wrong with the direct link that I got from PB, I pulled the URL directly from the picture instead, and now it seems to be working.