PACIFIC CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD

Rob: Very nicely done. Right impressive. You are a better man than I. The very first thing I do upon acquiring a new kit is to immediately buy an Eduard mask for it. For someone like myself who has limited bench time these are an absolute godsend.

Steve: Alright. That is good news indeed. Still curious though. Are you using a thin viscosity Zap-a-Gap? The medium or thick Zap-a-Gap doesn't run all over the place  plus it gives you a little bit of time to fiddle with the part before setting up.

Looks nice Rob.  I like it!

I know I have been in and out of this GB guys... but Rob this Squadron canopy looks great.  Do you plan on displaying them open?  I've only ever bought two and my first experience was less than what I'd hoped for.

Those flaps came out nicely too.  Getting it right the first time is pretty key I think.  =]  Definitely looking forward to seeing this one finished!

OK, so the greenhouse canopy complete.  Here is a bit of eye candy, such as it is, for those looking for pics.

This is the Squadron crystal clear canopy, the kit part is far too thick to properly pose open.  I did dip it in Future, which immensely improved the clarity.  I found the frame on the canopy was a little soft on detail in some areas, especially the spine along the top.  Consequently, some of the lines were a bit off, but overall it's a lot better than freehand!  There is an undercoat of Tamiya flat aluminum with a MM Acryl US Navy Blue Gray overtop.  As I've read elsewhere the Acryl is extremely fragile stuff and a few areas peeled a bit as I removed the masks.  Fortunately the Tamiya is much more durable and so I got some unplanned "chips" in the paint job. I'll just pretend it was intentional and call it weathering .  One thing I forgot was to give it a shot of Dullcote while the masks were on.  No way I am going to do it now!

Does anyone know if Tamiya makes a good match for US Navy Blue Gray (M-485)?  I have a few more WWII American Naval aircraft in my little stash and I'd prefer to use a different brand of paint if I can.  Unfortunately I only have access to Testors, Tamiya, and Vallejo here in this part of Canada.

Hi guys.

Thanks for the kind words, those flaps are indeed the first I've ever built from PE.

Welcome Baxter, I too recently got back to modelling.  I discovered the Flexi-file's touch-n-flow and now I don't use anything else for styrene.  I use it with Tenax liquid cement (I preferred it to the liquid cement supplied by Flexi-file).  The Tenax seems a bit "hotter" but it also works faster and bonds better.

I've just finished masking the canopy.  That was a multi-hour adventure and another first.   Way back when I'd paint them free hand!  I started with Tamiya tape and then switched to using Bare-Metal foil.  Vastly prefer using the foil to mask vs. the tape!  I should be getting the canopy finished off today or tomorrow and then I'll pop up a few more pictures.

One thing I could have used was a flexible metal straight edge to help trim the foil.  Does anyone have a recommendation for this?  I started using a scrap piece of annealed PE fret about half-way through the job, but it was a bit tricky to manipulate since it was so narrow.

Regards,

Rob

Agreed with everyone else, those flaps are very nice.

Bakster, welcome to the group build and the forums! I look forward to seeing how you're coming along and I hear you on that glue...I've been using some super glue on some models recently and it is getting everywhere on the model, workbench, and myself.

Joe....it's been over two pages sine you've posted pics   we need something to look at!! 

Lol! Oh, did I forget to mention the part about joining a GB has a tendency to cut into one's bench time due to excessive chatting. oops, my bad. Are you building your entire model with Zap-a-Gap? If so, then you really need to get some liquid cement. Testors and Tamiya both make some as does Flexi File. Another good one is Tenax. I use the Tamiya liquid cement. I was thinking that maybe you would like to post some of your previous pics so as to get the rest of the folks here caught with your build so far. Alright, alright , I'll let you, as well as myself, get back to modeling.

Say Joe.  I don't have any new pictures to share yet.  I did get some work done on it though.  I glued the tail rudder halves together and I am scoping what other parts I can glue.  Speaking of glue.  Man..that zap gap sure likes to work its way into everything including panel lines.  I don't think I ruined anything yet but I came close.  The glue job is not as clean as I would have liked but what ya gonna do for my first time in 20 years.  I have to get a system down for sure.  I had to laugh though because I had my iPad by me as I worked.  I heard several dings as emails came in. I thought, oh the boys are busy chatting, because I never get that many message is such a short time.  Hmmm.  I am working...you guys are chatting.  I see how it is. 

Lol.  Glad to have made your day.

Well, That is indeed true Clemens. I know for myself that the grain doesn't quite go all the way to the top of the silo. Funny, my wife is quite adept at pointing that out to me rather often.

Aren't we all mad if we're honest? I always thought the "Mad Austrian" became my unofficial title here because I posted that one myself as a joke, but ah well...

Steve: Hot dog! You made it over. Welcome to the GB. Now, hows about some pics of your Avenger. As for Clemens, it should be becoming quickly apparent as to why we call him "The Mad Austrian".

Rob H.: Those flaps are indeed a vast improvement and, regardless, are deserved of being displayed. Nice work.

As for my Hellcat, I am applying the Mr. Surfacer 1200 primer from a rattle can as we speak. Pics to follow soon.

Well the Austrian air force isn't that well-equipped, but the sight of Sally B at Duxford inspired me quite a bit... I just have to find out where to get some 500lb bombs...

Rob.H, that's a knockout job on those PE flaps if it's your first time. Looks like they were done by an old pro.

Unless military flap operation is totally different than civilian, flaps usually get retracted shortly after landing. But, as mentioned above, you gotta show those off, man.

Steve (Bakster), you did it! Good for you.

I knew Clemens would scold me for passing on his kidding about the airstrike to you. I've been waiting for it,  just made my day.

Have fun!!!

I have an Accurate Miniatures TBM too, I can't wait to watch you build yours

Oh great, he told you... I guess he forgot to tell you the part about me joking around..

I'll put you on the build list right away! Welcome aboard! BTW, I love the look of the TBM and that Academy/Accurate Miniatures kit looks really nice (got one myself).

Hello... Clemens.  I would like to join this group build.  I am building the Academy TBM-3.  Greg has warned me that if I don't get my build in on time, airstrikes could commence.  It might be worth it just to see the sky light up. 

Thanks!

SchattenSpartan

Bob: I have to apologize for taking so damn long to get your Dauntless pic posted to the front page, but I only had access to the forums using my mobile phone and I can't post pics from there...

Rob: Wow, those PE flaps are a huge improvement! Very nice work! I'm pretty sure the airbrakes would be retracted when the A/C is parked (i didn't see any pics of Devastators with the brakes out at least), but I'd show them off in the open position too...

No worries, I figured you'd get to it.  Rob those flaps definitely look better.  I'd show them off

Bob: I have to apologize for taking so damn long to get your Dauntless pic posted to the front page, but I only had access to the forums using my mobile phone and I can't post pics from there...

Rob: Wow, those PE flaps are a huge improvement! Very nice work! I'm pretty sure the flaps would be retracted when the A/C is parked (i didn't see any pics of Devastators with them out at least), but I'd show them off in the open position too...

A long overdue update on my Devastator.  I finally got back at it this week.

Here is a pic of the PE flaps and the original kit parts.  There is certainly finer detail with the PE.  I was expecting these to be a bear to put together but found them surprisingly easy.  Would these normally be open when the plane is parked on the ground?  I plan to leave them open anyway just to show them off, but I was curious how accurate that would be.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys, it's appreciated. I don't generally get so down on a model, but this one's really gotten on my bad side for some reason. I wouldn't really trash it of course.....or would I?

I'm glad you're not trashing your Corsair, Steve. She looks really nice IMO!

It's looking great so far.... I've built that Revell Corsair and yes it needs some TLC but it'll look great afterwards, just keep sanding!

Hi Steve.  I agree with Joe and Silentbob.  If you stick with it you'll get an excellent opportunity to improve your skills.  When I decided to build the Monogram Devastator I also had the newer Great Wall one in my stash.  Part of the reason for building the older (and poorer fitting) kit was nostalgia, as I remembered building it in the 70s.  But it has forced me to learn some things about gap filling as you can see from some of my pics upthread here.

Stick with it Steve, we've all been there with you.  There have been plenty of kits I've wanted to trash, but I just can't bring myself to do it...probably because I'm cheap.  And like Joe said, these are the types of kits that I think we learn the most from.  

Steve, I'm glad to see that you are sticking with it. I consider kits like that as an opportunity to put a bend in my learning curve. Despite the kits ill manners it sure appears that you are doing a bang up job on it. Funny you should mention possibly tossing it as I was just over reading the thread in General Modeling about "I Quit" models and folks experiences with kits that simply drove them to give up on them. I encourage you to hang in there as you are doing a great job and hopefully it will improve your skills some.

Thanks, Joe. I hate to admit it, but I've had to fight the urge to dump this bird in the trash on more than one occasion. This is an inexpensive kit, and sometimes you get what you pay for. My main issue is with the fit; the kit is meant to have posable, folding wings and gear bay doors, and while I appreciate the effort the kit designers put into it, nothing seems to line up correctly. Anyway, here she is with the wings on, not sure if you can see the huge gap in the middle of the right wing. I'm going to do some gap filling but honestly I just want to get this finished and move on from it.

Excellent progress Steve. Your efforts are looking great.

Making some progress on the Corsair. A little detail in the cockpit, not too much. I used the kit decal for the control panel, but in hindsight I wish I'd painted it. Oh well.