1944 Group Build

Looking forward to seeing that P-51's completion!

Mike, Your P-51 is looking really nice. Sounds like your coming into the home stretch.

Coming on nicely Mike.

Well, painting is coming along nicely.  All I have left to do is the top-side olive drab and to finish the drop tanks and propeller nose.

i started painting the white on an M1117 4x4 for a MERDC winter scheme. that went south. so decided to freehand airbrush the green camo on my british LCVP (italeri) and that went south too. so i stripped it down and repainted the base color on the bow twice before that looked ok. obviously wasn't my day to paint.

FOLLOWUP- just checked and my recovery base coat paint job looks good. and this is for THE LONGEST DAY GB but i saw ther LCVP

Bish

JOE RIX

Bish

Joe, RAF aircraft are not my forte, I was just lucky enough to get a visit to the BBMF thanks to one of the RAF WO's at my unit also being the Load master on the BBMF's C-47. But at a guess, I would say yes, at least after the RAF switched to night bombing. And I say that only because it seems to make sense to have a cockpit that's as dark as possible at night, not only to stop it being seen by the enemy, but I think it would also make it easier for the pilot to see in the dark if he didn't have anything bright around.

But its just a guess.

Yes, that makes absolute sense. You are he who is much filled with wisdom.

Don't let my Mrs hear you say that, you will hear the laughter from there.

I taught the Longest Day in my history classes yesterday, so I thought I'd make some progress on my LCVP.  After lots and lots of cleanup, I have the deck and ramp done minus the string to hold the ramp.

Next step is going to be removing the molded on rope so I can make some hatches for the rear deck.

By the way, a lot of impressive work on here.  I'm learning a ton just from seeing what you all are doing

EB... Two absolutely GORGEOUS builds... I agree with Bish Tanta Ju is my favorite!

JOE RIX

Bish

Joe, RAF aircraft are not my forte, I was just lucky enough to get a visit to the BBMF thanks to one of the RAF WO's at my unit also being the Load master on the BBMF's C-47. But at a guess, I would say yes, at least after the RAF switched to night bombing. And I say that only because it seems to make sense to have a cockpit that's as dark as possible at night, not only to stop it being seen by the enemy, but I think it would also make it easier for the pilot to see in the dark if he didn't have anything bright around.

But its just a guess.

Yes, that makes absolute sense. You are he who is much filled with wisdom.

Don't let my Mrs hear you say that, you will hear the laughter from there.

Bish

Joe, RAF aircraft are not my forte, I was just lucky enough to get a visit to the BBMF thanks to one of the RAF WO's at my unit also being the Load master on the BBMF's C-47. But at a guess, I would say yes, at least after the RAF switched to night bombing. And I say that only because it seems to make sense to have a cockpit that's as dark as possible at night, not only to stop it being seen by the enemy, but I think it would also make it easier for the pilot to see in the dark if he didn't have anything bright around.

But its just a guess.

Eric, Your Mustang and Ju 52 are really outstanding. Your Ju 52 is indeed exceptional. I would like to thank you for taking the time and effort to share your history, analysis and process with us. It is so much more rewarding and helpful when someone takes the time to explain and show what it is exactly that their doing and how they are doing it. Thanks once again. And again, stunning work.

Eric great weathering and the decals look awesome. A very nice build.

Eric, sweet looking builds there, but I have to say I love the Ju.

Rob, no problem, I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Awesome, thanks

You want to put a lot of pledge on - a puddle, not a coating. It's only needed on the area where the decal sits - you could use this technique on a matte surface. Put the Pledge on immediately before applying the decal because Pledge starts to dry fast and then moving the decals is tough. Once set correctly gently draw a damp brush over the decal and push it into the Pledge where it will kind of glue to the surface. I find using lots of water is more forgiving on a normal surface, but if there's something irregular Pledge does work well. Like any new technique you might want to try it on a spare model. It could very well be that a top quality decal will serve better than a lower grade variety regardless of how you put it on. Anyway, this does work.

Eric

Eric: VERY excellent Ju 52!! One question, applying decals on wet Pledge, I've recently read about this but never tried it, is there anything you need to know about this technique to get it right, or, is it pretty straight forward? Thanks!

JOE RIX

Bish, I Thank You for that clarification on the cockpit colors. So, are you savvy if this was the case with all British bombers say like the Wellington, Sterling etc.. And if the "minty" green interior color was specific to their fighters and fighter/bombers.

The seams are about gone, and itty-bitty parts are starting to come together.

The launch supports are glued to the ring, the rocket is just sitting there.

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag99/billh7/IMG_6902_zps13e9d692.jpg

Same situation, but the fins are fitted (not glued) just to see how it fits.  Same with the ring support platform.

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag99/billh7/IMG_6908_zps08b4b480.jpg

Sorry about the focus, macro is still a challenge......

Eric: Both are very nice, but I REALLY like what you did with that Junker.  Outstanding!

Revell 1/48 JU-52

Paints: Vallejo & Tamiya

Weathering: True Earth Whitewash; Iawa Com.Art Acrylics

Tamiya 1/48 P-51 MKIII (RAF)

Paints: Tamiya acrylics for base; stripes and interior Golden Fluid Acrylics

Weathering: Iwata Com.Art acrylics

Joe, RAF aircraft are not my forte, I was just lucky enough to get a visit to the BBMF thanks to one of the RAF WO's at my unit also being the Load master on the BBMF's C-47. But at a guess, I would say yes, at least after the RAF switched to night bombing. And I say that only because it seems to make sense to have a cockpit that's as dark as possible at night, not only to stop it being seen by the enemy, but I think it would also make it easier for the pilot to see in the dark if he didn't have anything bright around.

But its just a guess.

Bish, I Thank You for that clarification on the cockpit colors. So, are you savvy if this was the case with all British bombers say like the Wellington, Sterling etc.. And if the "minty" green interior color was specific to their fighters and fighter/bombers.

Rob, all of the front end of the Lanc interior was black and from the pit back it was green. I was lucky enough to climb inside the BBMF Lanc a few years back. But yours looks good and the green should hopefully help things show up a bit more once its all closed up.

Hey Rob... yeah the thicker clear is unfortunately in part due to the clear cycolac being much more brittle then the regular opaque styrene and secondly the scale tends to make them smaller and harder to extract from the molds, again increasing the risk of cracking and breakage. Good tip from Jack... I will file that away and try when  need be.

Doug

Mike: Looking very good. I'm with Bish on the oil wash being a bit on the light side.

Doug: Wow, that's one impressive weathering job! She really looks like she saw some action.

Rob: Nice looking work on that cockpit!

Joe: The interior colour, to be honest, is based on the instructions. It seems to be mixing black and interior green. Strangely, there is an inconsistency with what it's supposed to be: The left fuselage is mix black green and the right side is solid black. I really don't imagine the entire bomber's interior was as black as the plan calls for. Really surprising for Airfix, eh? But, in the end,  I'm not a big 'researcher' so I take the plan for what it is. I did google Lanc's and really, the interior green is definitely more prominent than black for sure.

Jack: Thanks for that. I really want to have those holes 'glassed'. The obstruction of the instrument panel comment is based on the last Lanc I did from Revell. Airfix really likes their thick clear plastic. Thin it out, eh? Interesting to try, but, never have done before...I'd be worried that I'd wreck the thing!!

Guys, great looking works happening here.

Rob - regarding your question about the liquid to create clear lenses, windows etc., yes it does work.  It looks milky when you first apply it, but does dry clear.  The process is similar to when you were kids and made bubbles with dish soap.  The edge has to be completely covered with the stuff, and once a skin is formed, carefully withdraw your paintbrush (or whatever tool you are using to apply the special liquid).

As for the canopy obstructing the view of that instrument panel decal - if you think it would be still visible angle wise, you can thin the clear plastic from the inside with sandpaper, gradually working up to a fine grit.  Then dip it in future, and once dried it should be much clearer to view through.

regards,

Jack

Rob, Your cockpit is looking great. Really nice work so far. Something caught me upon seeing your cockpit paint work. I'm not overly familiar with the details of British, oops, sorry, RCAF bombers. More precisely cockpit colors. I've built a Spitfire and a Hawker Typhoon and they each had the British interior "minty" green for the cockpit. Are RCAF bomber cockpits actually a different color as you have depicted? I'm not saying it's wrong, just curious. I guess I'm just used to the fact nearly all American aircraft are chromate green and Luftwaffe in RLM 66. Did Avro use a different cockpit color as opposed to Hawker and Supermarine? I'm always interested in learning something new and this simply perked my interest.

Wow Rob.  It's looking great so far!