US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

I use a pot of boiling water like I do when I make tea. I usually grip the part with a hemostat or holding device and dip it into the water for about three seconds , pull it out and bend it to correct. If it doesn't want to stay formed I dip it back in for about 4 seconds and so on until it wants to stay formed the "correct" way. Works every time!

And by the way heat has a funny way of warping plastic. My garage temp exceeds the 100 degree mark. My 190 was a pain in the neck at first. Warped wing and fuselage parts!!

The stubborn decals are due to age I think. I've had the Hasegawa kit for about 14 years.

Hey you guys. I got up this morning and painted the inside of the dive flaps red and applied a wash to the lower wing area. Landing gear is about done and just waiting on the tire/ wheel assy to be done. Will move on to fuselage starting tomorrow I think. Got to go over the instructions to make sure I didn't miss anything first. There really aint that much to this thing. I think the kit contents have around 40 or so parts in all.

Thanks for the straightening tute, Joe. I might have caught on about the boiling water from your 'making tea' comment. :) (But I didn't)

Back again with a small update. I have the wash on the lower wing completed. At first I thought I applied the wash excessively but after looking at a couple of pictures I feel a lot better about it. First the pics of the wash and then the actual planes. And yes I drilled out the dive flap holes. All 250-260 of them!!!

That's some very nice weathering, Joe! Kudos to you for drilling out all those holes!

I'll continue work on my wildcat this weekend. I have no clue how the rivet decals i bought work, but I guess it won't be too hard to figure that out... I'll also try to repaint her in a lighter blue. The one I used seems way too dark to me...

Thanks for the Kudos Clemens. I had the same problem with the blue I am choosing for the Dauntless. I've got her narrowed down to a shade that's not so bold now I think.

What paint did you choose? I decided to go with a 1:1 mix of Gunze "Neutral Gray" and "Navy Blue". It looks way too dark though. That color was recommended for the 2-tone camo in one of my other kits (I don't know which one though)...

You know that's funny because the Hasegawa Dauntless kit instructions say to mix those two colors for the 2-tone camo pattern. Which ever kit you had that said to do that I'd say it's a safe bet that its a Hasegawa kit. I have the Vallejo Intermediate Blue that was supposed to be for the sides but that is appearing way too dark to use for that application for me. I'm thinking about using that for the top side color and a 60/40 or 70/30 mix of the Neutral Gray/ Navy Blue for the sides. Gotta have that scale "faded paint" effect you know.

I do still have to apply a wash over the dive flaps and looks like I missed a couple of key spots with the wash I applied on the wings!

IMO that is a very convincing looking wing underside, Joe. Nicely done. If you missed spots, I missed the spots you missed. :) What sort of wash did you use?

Nice accurate work on the hole drilling.

Thanks Greg! I use Mig washes. They do great over acrylic painted surfaces.

That's right, you probably told me that. I really must try some. Thanks, Joe.

I'm having marginal success with my Flory washes on my 190 over in Butcher Bird GB that worked so well on my TBM here. Combination of shallow panel lines on the Hasegawa kit and too much gloss coating on my part, I think.

Washes definitely add a whole different level of depth and realism to a finished model. As for todays update I primed the whole fuselage this morning. Man I forgot how crappy the fuselage halves fit together on these old Monogram kits. I see LOTS of sanding and filler in my near future!! There is literally a lip around the whole fuselage where both halves meet. It's like one half is bigger than the other!!! Good grief! So much for a simple build. I'm in this one for the long haul fellas so with that I'll have a hot cup of and keep building!

Keep on plugging away, Joe. I'm almost learning to dread priming, even though I just started doing it recently. Because every imperfection pops out. I know, I know, that's a part of the point. :) Ordered some MIg wash to try ystrdy, 'cept Sprue Bros was out of stock on the two I really wanted.

You won't be sorry I can tell you that. I've gotten to where I brush it on with a brush and smear it around with my fingertips. I come away from my bench in the morning looking like I've read newspapers all friggin day from the black / brown tinted fingertips!!! LOL

Ha!

The chalk particles in the Flory that worked so well on the well-defined seam lines of my last kit seem to be a bit big for my current build. That's my theory, anyway. But I just learned the stuff can be wiped away dry, which seems to help a lot. On my second go at the moment, patiently waiting for the Mig wash in the meantime. Have a hunch I'm gong to end up liking both products for different reasons.

Well guys I got the fuselage parts that I wanted sanded down and blended in completed and re-primed it. So far so good. I also squared off the bombsight and drilled it out. Will be adding a little glosscoat in the end of the gunsight when the painting is done to simulate glass. I also painted the upper dive flap exteriors and applied a gloss coat to the lower dive flap exteriors in order to apply the was later.  Will post pics soon.

Hey everybody. I managed to get the top part of the fuselage painted today. I went with intermediate blue because the dark sea blue was just WAY too dark I think.  Any how here's the before and after pics. (I don't know why some photos come out grainy...erks me to pieces!!)

Here's before:

...........and after

Looing really good there, buddy! Are you painting her in the 3-tone scheme?

I found out where I saw that color suggestoin: It was Great Wall's Devastator... The coor is way too dark IMO, but I have to respray the whole cat anyway, So I'll just mix a lighter shade of blue gray...

Thanks Clemens. Yeah it'll be in the two tone upper camo scheme. I'll go to hobby lobby today. Those guys have all the U.S. colors.

Do you have any tips on a nice color for the 2-tone scheme? I have access to paints from Gunze, Vallejo and Tamiya (AS as well). I'll go to my LHS tomorrow (last weekend with 20% off on all Dragon kits) so I could pick up some paint...

I'd prefer to use Gunze or Tamiya...

Neither one of those are at HL. I will check and see what color I come up with. If I don't like what I see I'm going to mix my own.

mustang1989

Thanks Clemens. Yeah it'll be in the two tone upper camo scheme. I'll go to hobby lobby today. Those guys have all the U.S. colors.

If you are doing the mid to late war USN "tri color scheme", the colors are Sea Blue uppers, Intermediate Blue sides, and White lowers. Sea Blue was indeed a dark color, lthough not quite as dark as Insignia Blue.

As opposed to the early war Blue Gray over Light Gray which was lighter on teh uppers but a bit darker on the lowers.

Model Master makes all of the required colors.

Hey stikpusher. I painted the upper surfaces with an intermediate blue that looks like the topside color thats in the picks. Heck the intermediate is so dark it could almost pass for purple with the light just right! I'm going to have to pull some ingenious stuff on the sides I think. I'll pull it off though. I've got those three pics you just gave me and about 8 other color photos to go off of, plus the reference material I have.

Very good. I am really surprised to hear that the Intermediate Blue is so dark. That almost sounds like it is a mislabled bottle. No worries. It should not be too hard to lighten up some of that for the side color areas for your 'ingenious stuff'. I just love finding those WWII color photos and posting them here. They bring the past to life so vividly and truly exemplify "a picture is worth more than a 1000 words" when trying to explain color and conditions.

You've got that right stikpusher. I can look at photos like that all day due to the fact that they are real. No artists perception there. I was really surprised about the intermediate blue as well because I ordered the Dark Sea Blue , Intermediate Blue and Flat White before I tackled this little project.  They are Vallejo air brush colors too and usually they are on the money. I bought some Vallejo Sky Blue today at HL and its really light. I'm thinking about mixing some with my "Intermediate Blue" to see if I can get a close match.

I have not been too keen on Vallejo's color accuracy. They seem more "artistic" than accurate. When I picked up their uniform colors for use on figures such as US and English uniforms, I found that they dont look a thing like the real items that I have in my collection. I started collecting surplus uniform items well before the reproduction business started, so they are  all genuine original colors and look.

Thanks for those pictures, Stik! They look great! I'm always surprised by the excellent quality of WW2 color pictures.

I don't have access to MM paints. Do you have any recommendations for a Tamiya or Gunze paint (or a mix of colors) that might work? The color suggested by Great Wall looks kinda like the intermediate blue in the first and second pic. Maybe a tad darker...

stikpusher

I have not been too keen on Vallejo's color accuracy. They seem more "artistic" than accurate. When I picked up their uniform colors for use on figures such as US and English uniforms, I found that they dont look a thing like the real items that I have in my collection. I started collecting surplus uniform items well before the reproduction business started, so they are  all genuine original colors and look.