1944 Group Build

It wasn't out a week ago or so. So now I've got more info to confuse me. I'd be surprised however if they spend a lot of time doing ocean water for ships. I buy very few kits these days because of my insane stash, but still pick up books and gadgets. I'm looking forward to the TankArt volume on weathering aircraft. (Wish they'd do ships. AK did a DVD on ships but it's a serious disappointment - it would be of some value if you wanted to weather severe damage or maybe a hulk. But they weathered their German cruiser like a Tiger and ships don't wear that way - salt water leaves a completely different impact - and chipping on a 1/350 DD?)

Eric

LOL

i don't feel so bad now.

That's why I only do one at a time

Bish

Ken, thanks. And get it dug out, is that the one for the Hollywood GB. Nice to see the B-24 coming along.

Yes, its the Hollywood build. hmmm How many am I working on now and how many will I be starting real soon? I guess I can push the B-17s to back of the bench

I'm currently working on

1 B-24 Strawberry B...

2 Hollywood Halftrack

3 B-17 Chowhound

4 B-17 Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby

5 D-day Diorama. I am putting the P 38 lightening and the P 47 jug in this

And I'll be starting these real soon

1 Robert Johnson & his P 47

2 Egon Meyer & his FW 190

3 My Uncles Tank Destroyer

I want to build a launching ramp for the V 1 rocket too

Is this Enough?. Maybe I should ask. Is this Insane?

the newest THE WEATHERING MAGAZINE is all about water

There are several tutorials about making a water base - some could be used with any dio that included a harbor or even a river. On Model Warship you have a good list of them at http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37923 . Among those listed there, those made by Chris Flodberg are to my eyes the best. If you look, there's a YouTube link to a pair of video tutorials (about 8 min total, but very worthwhile) by Chris. (The guy's one of Canada's better known professional painters - as in pictures, not houses. I've always thought that many uber-modelers have a background in some kind of graphic arts - Mike Rinaldi and Mig Jimenez are examples - or something to do with makings things.) You can go on YouTube and search Chris Flodberg and you're right there. Also search "water effects" and you'll get many made by model railroad fans and war game players that illustrate using water effects on a land dio. 

Eric

Eric: I really like the base you have done. Nice work

Zvez: Excellent progress! Tremendous detail and paint so far.

Yes, very nice looking ship and plane!

That looks really nice there Eric, I think the water colour looks pretty damn good. Do you have a link for those tutorials.

Nice work on the MiG, some nice details added there.

Merry Christmas to everyone fellows.

G-J excellent work on one of my favorite aircraft and one of the best models Tamiya has produced. Looking forward to your next stages.

1944 is rapidly reaching its dramatic finale and as the Western Allies are fighting hard in Ardennes, here in the East we are trying to deliver as many aircraft as possible for our upcoming winter offensive.

Thus...

The little fighter was assembled complete. Some filler was needed in the stabilizers join. Otherwise fit is indeed excellent. Also, the minimal panels (wood construction rules!) kept rescribing to a minimum.

Some quick modifications were:

gunsight - the original is just a blob of clear plastic. A new one was made from small styrene strips and a strip of clear plastic and I think it looks more like something you can aim and shoot with.

Also the plexiglass behind the pilots headrest was provided way too thick (1,5mm amounts to 72 mm in this scale). I was replaced with a thinner clear screen. Everything was done quickly so quality is not superb. Then the cockpit received an elementary wash and dry brushing.

Finally, the cowling machine gun outlets received a hole each  (the bullets have to get out through somewhere in order to hit those Me-109's)

After this the canopy and gear bays were masked.

The undersides color was a mix of 70% RLM 65, 20% Bright Blue and 10% white for the scale effect.All Gunze acrylics.

This mix was airbrushed on the undersides and lower sides of the plane and now left to dry proprely.

Also wheels, landing gears, propellers etc were assembled and painted.

Comments and criticism are more than welcomed.

Absolutely the last 1944 picture. I spent most of the last month trying to figure out how to model a water base for Hobson. It is not easy. I have very little space and dios have never been a temptation. Then I stumbled onto some water base tutorials by one of the gurus on Model Warship and figured if I could do one one third as good it might be worth the candle. I'll do a full build write on in the ship section in the next couple of weeks if anyone's curious about the details. BTW: I picked the dull green color because it's been raining in Northern California the last few weeks. So we've got low clouds, an ugly rain without huge winds and that sounds like D-Day when Hobson and the other USN DDs earned their supper. Anyway, the Bay looked a lot like this and several D-Day photos I've seen have the same look. Not Hawaii.

Merry Christmas one and all.

Nice work on the landing gear G-J.

Merry Christmas to you all.

ajd, Well, despite how you got there it's agreat looking cockpit. Good to see you making such excellent progres.

G-J, The landing is really sharp. Very nice work indeed.

May you all have a Joyous and Merry Christmas. My well wishes to you all.

Nice set of wheels, G-J.  You're going places.

Getting out of work a half day early has its advantages.  I was able to finish up some loose ends, and reach some milestones.  In the picture below are the main landing gear for the Mosquito.  In the foreground to the left you can see bombs that need some touch-up painting.  Now, it's attach the landing gear, and start the cockpit.

I must say, this Tamyia model is much more detailed than the models I've done in the past.  But, that's only making me work harder.

I'm off for a bunch of days, I hope to spend most of those days at the bench.

More to come soon, I hope.

Making good progress, ajd!  It's looking superb.

Nice work on the P-51 aj.

And that's one reason I build 72nd aircraft. But the dio doesn't need to be that big, especially for aircraft.

Bish, your half-track dio is looking SUPER neat!! I would love to do a aircraft dio one day, except I have no idea where I would put it when complete.

Thanks guys. I think I have the wet look I want now. The future still didn't work out, after spraying it still have that white look. So I went over it with my normal gloss varnish and its done the trick.

I have now started loading the kit onto the vehicle and the figures are coming along nicely.

Raven728

Bish , I was considering trying to recreate the photo below in a dio; for some reason I had it in my head that the Hellcat was aiming over a wooden fence, but its clearly stone, so it's a moot point anyway. Thanks though.

Ye, that would be a nice one. You could always adapt it. The distance between the tank and the wall in that photo would leave a big empty space in a dio. If it was me, I would use that as an inspiration for a dio. I would bring the fence/wall closer, so maybe its just under the end of the barrel.

Bish, that Halftrack looks amazing! Some really awesome stuff! I know what you mean with the mmud not turning out as you'd like it to. Getting a proper wet mud look is still a mystery for me (gonna have to redo the mud on my winter King Tiger once I figure out something that works for me). I think the mud on the base and 251 look great though, maybe not like wet mud, but certainly like damp earth if you ask me...

WOW!  Bish, another amazing build.  And as always...super base!  I'm just going to send you may builds to make bases for!    Awesome work mate!

Eagle90

Heavy mud is a tempting technique because it was very common indeed in spring and late fall in basically every front of the ETO - this was a world where paved roads were uncommon and vehicles tore things up regardless. You don't think of mud and Tunisia or Italy together, but they were. The rasputisa in parts of Russia stopped the war for a few weeks in spring and fall. And I'd guess that NW Europe during November 44 through early March of 45 was full of it on and off. But give the ground a week (or less) to dry and you're looking at something else. The more I weather tanks, the more I like using pigments and fixer more or less alone for light mud. It takes several layers with differing colors and a lot of attention to the tracks and wheels, but I think you can get good results without plaster, mediums or anything like it. If you want to give a hint of "wet" you can apply a little clear or Pledge in streaks - works great.

I've mentioned this source before, but if you haven't seen one of the Mig Jimenez DVDs on weathering, there's one complete on YouTube - "AFV acrylic techniques" - 55 minutes long and Mig walks you through a build. This one is designed for people that don't like solvents and shows that you can weather a vehicle very well with acrylic products alone. You don't have to employ all of the techniques, but I've found many of them very useful. This video also uses fewer of the brand specific products that make some of the other DVDs infomercials. There's a very nice job of a build-up of dry mud on it. Mig Jimenez could weather a model with color crayons, so there's no guarantee mortals will get the same results, but it's good for inspiration. Smaller bits of the other DVDs done by AK and MIG are also on YouTube.

The last time I messed with really wet mud was part of a medical experiment. (One pic from it is above - but the experiment was much longer. Wish I'd taken pictures.)  One problem with using stuff like plaster is that it impacts the color of the mud. I found one useful tool here - get some flat school grade acrylic paint from a place like Blick and use it as the mixing medium. If you start with something like flat dark brown, you can alter the color with other paints (black, white, gray, even red) and use the pigments for texture. One thing nice about using pigments on their own is that they're very color true - although permanent fixing solvent (I think it's  ISP with mineral spirits the temporary fixer) will darken it a little. Anyway, don't listen to a duffer like me. Check out Mig.

Eric    

My problem with the mud method is getting some variation in the color. It should be the chalk that adds the color but my exxperience is that it doesn't always make that much of a difference depending on the dirt I use. My yard is kind of sandy as I live about 1/2 mile from Galveston bay. Today and went down to the bayou and got some dark mud. We'll see how that does. I had kind of given up on this technique until my brother-in-law asked me why I quit doing it. He thought it was great.. i was so-so on it the last two times. We'll see how I do with it in the next day or two. I;m going with light mud - not swimming in it.

I've stalled as long as I can on doing the main camo painting. This German stuff always has a bunch I do freehand whether aircraft or armor. I dread it and look forward to it at the same time. I'm using Tamiya acrylic paints this time instead of the usual vallejo. My family will start showing up for Christmas tomorrow evening.I hope to get the main job done before that happens.I hope to have some pics for you all.

That would be a great dio!!

Bish , I was considering trying to recreate the photo below in a dio; for some reason I had it in my head that the Hellcat was aiming over a wooden fence, but its clearly stone, so it's a moot point anyway. Thanks though.

Doug, thanks. The setting is Normandy in June, but it was rather wet that June in Normandy. I am aiming for a time frame of late June, just after Kurt Meyer took over the Div, so I am glad the look is coming across.

Ken, thanks. And get it dug out, is that the one for the Hollywood GB. Nice to see the B-24 coming along.

Eric's tank is a Pz II, if it was an Allied tank, I would have next to no idea.

Nomad53

greentracker: Awesome that your compressor working. Nice start on the wings..

Doug

Thanks Doug,

I hadn't thought about it, but now that all of the exterior is painted. It looks like a different hue in different light.

Bish Your halftrack looks great. it make me think about pulling mine off the back of the bench. I messed up the axles on mine. So I'm going to have improvise. I think I can used a solid metal axle like in the car models. They won't be seen anyway.

Eric Great job on the tank. Sorry, I don't know my tanks; Guess I'll have to take tank idenfication 101

Ken