1944 Group Build

Axe, I like the look of that. Great work on the camo.

Fantastic looking Panzer thus far...keep up the good work.

Great work, everyone! Looking forward to '45.

Bish you have really captured a moment of 1944 there. The 251 is worn out but still going. The Germans are war weary and looking at a grim future ahead but still lethal and fit for fight.  It's awesome!!!

After some hours of placing decals the results are as per below pics.

Decals were rather bad. Once placed on the kit they had the behavior of a stiff. Only after each one was individually taken care of with soft brushes pushing down, small drops of Gunze decal solvent, patience and a glass of single malt whisky did they all decide to settle. Many of them broke off and had to be reassembled from their various pieces .

Then some blending/fading of the markings with the camo and a heavy coat of gloss clear was applied.

Hope to have it finished by tomorrow, even though it;s a bit difficult.

Thanks for the comments! I added the skirts to the hull. I totally botched the first attempt at painting them and had to primer them and start over. I'm still not as happy as I was with the hull and turret. The big flat metal doesn't behave the same way and I had a tough time getting the brown to not be a runny mess. All in all I'm happy with what I have. I've not done a German tank in this scheme before and I like it. Even my wife said "WOW!" when I brought it in from painting. (i usually don't get any comments from her on my models so that's something!)

Cheers Zvezda, glad you like it. That's looking really nice with the markings on. Nice work.

Axe, that's looking sweet.

Bish I'm going to be about a week late. Are you OK with that?

Yep, that's fine. Any builds underway are fine to carry on until they are done.

Tempest: Love the effect you have achieved on your Jug. Definitely gives it a nice wearhered appearance. Well done.

Axeman: Outstanding paint work. Looks to me like you're getting the hang of free hand airbrushing quite nicely. The panzer looks fantastic. Glad to hear that you got such a nice reaction from your wife. Mine is often asking to see my work, especially when I get to the paint stage. Always a major plus when "She who holds all power" is very supportive of the model building.

Zvezda: The Yak looks great with the decals on. For having issues with the decals you sure did an admirable job of getting them in place and pieced together.

Rob S. Congrats on your first GB completion. It has indeed been a real pleasure to not only build along with you but, to get know you. I'm with Bish in that you just sound, look, feel and smell like a seasoned veteran around here. See you in the '45 GB.

Zvezda1980

After some hours of placing decals the results are as per below pics.

Decals were rather bad. Once placed on the kit they had the behavior of a stiff. Only after each one was individually taken care of with soft brushes pushing down, small drops of Gunze decal solvent, patience and a glass of single malt whisky did they all decide to settle. Many of them broke off and had to be reassembled from their various pieces .

Then some blending/fading of the markings with the camo and a heavy coat of gloss clear was applied.

Hope to have it finished by tomorrow, even though it;s a bit difficult.

Just been having a good look through the pics and was wondering what those stars are for on the engine. My first thought was kill markings, but these are usually done with the insignia of the nation the destroyed aircraft comes from.

Admirable work, Zvezda and Axeman.  Beautiful results and flawless finishes on your kits.  Extremely nice to look at.

Fantastic work guys!

Axeman: WOW was the first thing that came to mind when I saw your finished paintwork. Excellent and very vivid.

Bish: These are indeed kill marks. The Soviets used stars for all their kills (perhaps it was a directive, indicating  collective honor to the motherland and communist ideals).

After a race the small Yak is announced finished.

Summary of todays work:

Resin exhausts were cleaned, painted steel and left to dry.

Various bits (wheels, propeller + hub, etc) were given final paint and assembled.

Oil wash was applied with black for the upper surfaces and dark brown/mud for the lower.

Various minor corrections not worth mentioning.

The clear coat was not even given time to dry properly. A heater was used to accelerate drying (it is also too cold today so that was dual purpose).

Some ligh dry brushing to everything.

A new pitot was made from brass tubing and stretched sprue (the kit's is too thick).

Just in time to go celebrating new years eve.

Comments and criticism are more than welcomed.

That was fun in a hurry

Happy new year to all fellows.

More great work, Z!

Thanks for the info Z. I was wondering if that was it, but wasn't sure. And its a really nice looking build, and finished just under the wire, less than 6 hours before the end, god going. Been a pleasure having you and your yak on board.

The only thing I would suggest is that maybe the top wash should be a bit darker and exhaust stain's would be a really great addition in future builds. The underside looks dirty but the top looks very clean.

Look forward to seeing more of your work in the coming year. I am sure SS will add it to the front page soon, I know he has been a bit busy the last day or so.

Its now 2015 GMT and so an declaring this GB now closed to all new entries and un started builds. All those already under way are of course still counted.

Thanks to all of you who took part or are still building. Once again its been a real pleasure with some great builds and some great fun along the way.

And many thanks to Spartan for helping out. Its been a pleasure buddy. See you all in 2015. And for those who have not had enough of 70th anniversary builds, don't forget the 1945 GB is now open and up and running.

cs.finescale.com/.../163030.aspx

happy new year and happy modelling to all.

Oh... Man I've been working like nuts trying to FINISH it before midnight. OK.... calm down.... totally botched the weathering.... just go back and do a dark wash to cover it up...... ugh.

Again, guys, been a pleasure...great bunch of builders. To those that finished, congrats and well done, to those almost done, 'git 'er done!!, to those who couldn't make it...see ya in 1945!! Happy new year all (Eastern time here, so, I got 3 hrs to go!!) ...see ya next yr!

Thanks, Bish.  It was a great GB.  Had great fun with it and all the participants.

Happy New Year to y'all, and much modeling in 2015.

Happy 1945, eehhh I mean 2015, to everybody with good  health and plenty of time available for quality modelling.

Bish I agree totally for the upper surfaces.

I had set as an imperative rule of my own  not to exceed the deadline and there was no more time so I decided to call it an end for the build as it was (no exhaust stains, no further camo  fading, no radio antenna, I even ommited the navigation lights).

Nevertheless it was really very enjoyable participating in this GB.

See ya all in 1945

I don't blame you there Zvezda. It certainly doesn't detract from the build. Glad you enjoyed taking part, its all part of the fun of the GB's.

Great work Zvezda.  As for me I'm going to be a smidgen late. Here is progress so far.

Tempest, The P-47 is really shaping up very nicely. Some fine work on your part for sure. What decals are you using there/

For my part, everything is progressing nicely so far on the repaint. I applied a primer coat followed by the dark sea blue today. The fading effect will come next and then the dreaded gloss coat.

Thank you Joe. Aeromaster set. Debden jugs. From what I understand this aircraft was one of the last C' s flying. January 44

Looking good there guys. Johnny, I know some C's were flying as Assembly Ships for some bomber units quite late, but not with fighter units as late as 44. Nice to see a c variant for a change. Looking nice.

I won't go quietly into the night.....

I had some time to get the the instrument panel painted and put together.  (One drawback to digital photography is I see all the spots I missed.  Time for some touch-up.)

I'm not a fan of decals for instrument panels...I think my next build I'll attempt PE.  We'll see.  I didn't have gunmetal for the guns, so I painted the guns black and dry brushed some aluminum, and I'm pleased with how they turned out.

On to the next couple of steps.

Nice work G-J. I know what you mean about decal instruments, I am not keen either.

Bish: You absolutely naild the wet, muddy look on the base! The weathering on the 251 and especially the figure painting look truly amazing as well!

John: The color modulation on your Jug turned out great! It's very nice to see a C for a change!

William: The camo on that Pz. IV looks very nice! The camo pattern on the skirts sure is something else!

Zvezda: I really like the look of your Yak. Definitely makes me want to try my hand at some Soviet aircraft as well. Is there any particular pic you want to see on the front page?

Joe: Now that's what I call a great save! She looks as good as new again!