PACIFIC CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD

Craig: You're coming along right nicely there.

Joe: Some sweet action you've done to make that rather spartan cockpit look really good. Definitely some harnesses to dress that up. Just my suggestion.

Looks good Craig. Its that point in the build that I usually have my fingers crossed, praying the the seams are all taken care of enough to just move on to paint. lol

 Ok fellas. I have a small update here in building the cockpit. Mr. Rix was kind enough to give me a link in which to paint and detail it up with. Those who know me also know that I usuall lace the crap out of the cockpits with PE and AM items but I'm holding true to my OOB build. I may add some scratch built seat belts just to take up the emptiness look of the seat. Like most of Revells kits these days, the flash and mold seams were horrible and needed ALOT of clean up prior to painting!!!!

 I started off with a base coat of olive drab for the "pre-shading" process.

 I then painted a light coat of zinc chromate and painted all of the raised detail. After that I applied a gloss coat then a Mig Productions dark wash (thanks again Joe Rix). After all that dried I coated with a flat coat and brought out the raised and worn areas with a lead silver pencil.

Control stick and bulkhead are next.

I found a little time to work on my Hellcat.  I added the wings, horizontal stabilizers, and rudder.  Finally it's starting to look like a airplane.    I used the Tamiya extra thin cement to fill the fine gaps.  That stuff flows real nice.  I have the next two days off, so I hope to make some progress on this sucker.  I just got a Trumpeter F107 the other day, so I'd really like to start on it.  With that said, I want my first GB badge to be the Pacific Carrier.  FLY NAVY!

Craig

Thank You for the rather high compliment Clemens. I have to admit that I find it quite gratifying to be able to pull off some cool stuff in 1/72. Although, it tends to have the side effect of raising the bar for skill and detail when I get into a 1/48 kit.

Joe (Mustang): It's nice to have you join us!

Joe (Rix): Holy crap, that engine is truly amazing, brutha! I know I say this a lot, but it looks like a way larger scale to me! Admit it, you're actually working on Eduard's 1/48 kit!

Bakster: That's a nice idea for making instrument faces look like glass!

Thank you very much Steve, Rob and SB.

Rob, DOH! You are absolutely correct and thanks for pointing out my error in terminology. Not quite sure why adonize popped into my head other than maybe I should reassess typing/thinking so early in the morning. Heck, the coffee had barely kicked when I was sitting down rattling this stuff off.

Awesome engine Joe! I can't believe that's 1/72!

JOE RIX

The installing of the ignition wires would have gone much easier and faster had I remembered to adonize the PE with my mini torch first.

Joe..your engine looks awesome.  I love all the detail work that you did.  Thanks for sharing.

Steve

Lol! Thanks Joe. I worked on the engine during short sessions over the past 2 weeks but, if I added the total time spent It would be around 2-3 hours. The installing of the ignition wires would have gone much easier and faster had I remembered to adonize the PE with my mini torch first. That would have made the bending part far easier. But, I prevailed nonetheless.

Thank You Flyerduke. Yeah, I failed to mention that I gloss coated with Mr. Surfacer lacquer gloss and applied an oil wash using a mix of black and raw umber MIG Abtielung oil weathering paints thinned with turpenoid.

Nice work work on the R2800.  After seeing your photos, I think I need to add another layer of a darker wash.  The wiring does stand out nicely on your engine.

Good grief!!  . That's it ....I quit! You guys and your 1/72nd scale stuff! That looks really good Joe!!  BTW ...how long did that take you????

It is now time for some further evidence that yes indeed, I am an active participant in this GB.lol. The engine is completed. I must say that Eduard did a stand up job of producing a beautifully detailed R2800 engine in 1/72 scale. The cylinders were finished with Alclad dull aluminum and the case in MM neutral gray. This was the first time I've ever worked with PE ignition wires and at first I was a bit frustrated with bending and gluing them but, once I got a routine down it went rather smoothly. Not a big fan of the "flat" shape of the wires but, once on they do reflect the look, at least in 1/72. Not sure I'd use them on 1/48 and larger. Also, the PE emblem and placard are a nice touch.

What proves interesting when modeling the R2800 engine for me is the color of the ignition wires. I have dozens of reference pics and although you see them in black, silver, or some dull gray or green, I could never find a reference that stated what color they actually were. Then, when sitting down and reading the captions of pics in the Squadron Walk Around book, there it was clearly stating that the wires were in copper sheathing. That explained the dull gray and green you see often as it is the oxidized copper. The book though had pics of the Smithsonian engine with the untarnished copper. Thus, I went that route with painting them for two reasons. first, I had already painted them copper and I was struggling with how to create the dull tarnished look. The second was a sort of artistic license approach in that the copper color creates an eye catching contrast thus drawing the observers attention to the detail in the otherwise hidden engine. Any way, here be a few pics of my efforts:

'preciate it Joe!

It is completely fantastic to have you join us Joe. I'm looking forward to your efforts on the most awesome fighter of WWII.

Man there are some steady hands and lots of good talent going on in here!  Well hell Clemens , I'd better get in on this thing before I don't have enough time to finish it. I'm going to again step out of my Luftwaffe comfort zone after building a 1/48 BMW R75 motorcycle and build an F4U Corsair for a friend of mine for a Christmas gift. The man has been  a mentor to me and he loves the Corsair so that's what I'll be entering here. (Looks like I'll be joining after all Clemens!!-at least if you'll still have me. lol )

Lets get started shall we?

  I'm shooting for totally OOB save for masks(otherwise thiis is gonna be another 9 month build!) . I don't know if there is a set of canopy and wheel masks for this but I'll start looking.

Thanks Joe and Checkmate. 

Joe--I used packaging tape and the clearest I could find.  That tape has some strong adhesive.  I doubt the tape will fail, in my lifetime anyway.  If a person was in doubt though, they could meticulously cut portions away to expose some of the underlying PE layer.  That could give an additional glue point.

I am looking forward to see your progress Joe.

Thanks again.

Toothpicks and tape--the things I don't learn around here!  Nice work, flyerduke and Bakster.  

Steve, Your very clever idea appears to have worked quite well. I've never seen that tried before. Very creative indeed. And thus, your IP looks great. I guess I have one concern about the tape method, and maybe you have already addressed it, but that is that over time the tape will lose its adhesion and the IP might fall off. Simply an observation. It's good to see you making such fine progress.

I'll have the engine done on my Hellcat here right directly and I'll get some pics up. I'm also about ready to start shooting some paint. It's just getting that stretch of uninterrupted and dedicated time in order to pull it off.

You guys are doing some nice work on here and progress is coming along.

As for me, I am still working on the IP and flight deck.  I decided to try something a little fun though.  I thought I would simulate glass over the PE instrument gauges. So I installed clear tape over all the PE instrument faces, and then glued the top PE layer over it.  It actually worked out well.  When the light hits the IP just right, the gauges reflect back just like glass.  

The image below is how it looks with the final PE installed.  I tried to show how the light reflects off of the gauges but it was tough going using my current camera setup.   You can see a little of it but the photo really doesn't covey it well.  Anyway--it was fun to try and the end result does enhance the PE.

Thanks Joe.  The fuselage halves didn't line up perfectly, so I got to do a little fill and sanding.  I also have the gap problem Bakster had with the wing mating to the fuselage.  I put a piece of toothpick in the opening to spread the wing just enough for a snug fit.

Craig

You're making some excellent progress flyerduke. Everything is looking real good so far.

I found a few minutes to work on the Hellcat.  I buttoned up the fuselage and wing halves, and added the control surfaces.  Now I have to fill some fine seams and sand a bit.  I may get this sucker done by the end of the year.

Not in the GB, but your paint job surely caught my attention, Drew.

Really nice!

Drew, the pre-shading on your Wildcat looks great! The rudder stripes look very nice as well!

Hey Drew,

Beautiful looking Wildcat; really captures the rugged toughness of a Navy fighter!

Thanks guys, yeah I painted the rudder stripes - I figured the extra masking work was worth it over the decals.  I used Tamiya paints and the colors that the instructions recommended.  After I painted it I didn't like how the preshading looked.  It seemed a bit too exaggerated, so I added another coat and it looked more natural.  I then added some white to the paint and sprayed the middle of the panels to make them look sun faded.  It's more noticeable to the naked eye but I'm pretty happy with it.

That's turned out really well, Drew.  Very nice effect from the pre-shading.  

Drew, Gorgeous paint work. Overall finish is excellent. Especially great job on the rudder stripes. I'm assuming you painted those. Also, the pre shading appears to have produced a nice effect. You may have mentioned it before but, what paint brand are you using? Very nice stuff indeed.

Just as a clear coat before and after the decals.  Straight through the airbrush.