PACIFIC CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD

Hey folks, a small update.

The front cowl ring is on. It came out fairly well.

Below: Here again, the plane was made for wheels down so it took some mods. The door cover fit so--so. I am not particularly happy with the final fit but I think its close enough. It was a bit challenging to find an aerial view of this bird showing the rear wheel up. I managed to find one though and I think I have the orientation fairly close. The wheel assembly had to be cut down in order to fit it into the fuselage. I then epoxied it in place onto the other side of the wheel door cover.

Unless I find more stuff to repair, masking is next. I will start that this week.

"Fairly well" and "so-so" are unacceptable terms to be used on your build Steve. Everything looks absolutely excellent. Please do not short yourself on the really sweet work you are doing there. Your patience and perseverance is paying off in spades my friend.

I had designs on applying the oil wash to the Hellcat today but, that was negated by the need to do some auto maintenance on the wife's vehicle prior to her long awaited return.

Way to go Bakster!  Cowl looks very nice, and I think you did a great job fitting in that rear gear door.  She's gonna be a beauty when she's done!!

Oooooooooh this looks nice!!!  Very well done Hellcat, Joe.  Just beautiful, Sir.

Thanks Freddie and Joe.  Nice of you.  Hey Freddie...how much snow are you supposed to get out there?  Maybe a snow day for you tomorrow.  How awesome that would be.  You could stay in and work on models all day.  Unless you have to shovel that is.

Joe...I am lookimg forward to seeing your oil wash!

Looks nice Bakster.  Looks like you and Joe will finish up before the end of the deadline.  Lookin' forward to the finished product.

Craig

Just came across this GB the other day. I know it's kinda late to the party but is it too late to get in on this build? Just took the plastic off an Academy F6F-3/5 last night. It's 1/72 scale so should be a fairly quick build but it's also only my 2nd model since getting back into the hobby so I'm still a little rusty. Figured a GB might give me the kick I need

Hi There rooster! First, Welcome back to the hobby. You are definitely in the right place to help enhance your model building experience. Everyone here is absolutely fantastic.

I cannot speak for Clemens but, I would certainly welcome another 1/72 Hellcat. Hopefully he lets you give it a whirl. Also be aware that I do believe Clemens is planning on firing up another Carrier GB in the near future.

Love to see you build that Rooster, welcome to our group!!

Freddie: Outstanding work sir!! Thumbs up on the weathering and way to go on the Corsair!!! That looks one helluva lot easier than that  godforsaken Revell Corsair I built here.

Joe: Great work on the decals and glad to hear that something actually went right for you bud.

Bakster:That ring did come out well. Great work!!

Thank you Mustang!

Man, I have REALLY got to take a long hard look at my modeling kharma as it definitely seems to be balanced to the negative side. While applying the wash to the wings and center fuselage I discovered that in the process of my repair job the primer, paint and gloss coat was enough to fill in all of the panel lines. Hence, the wash has no effect. Soooo, here we go yet again. But, I had an epiphany (one that I wished I'd had on the first couple of go rounds) and that is that I remembered that I had not glued my wings on. Thus, with just a little persuasion I popped them off. Now, I faced an issue. Should I strip the paint I will ultimately lose the insignia decal on the bottom side. There is not a replacement on the Eduard sheet and any others that I have do not match in color register to the Eduard decals already on the model. In response to this issue I went to Scale Hobbyist and ordered a weekend edition F6F-3. Not only to get the one single decal but also to possibly replace the wings as a whole since the current ones have begun to lose some detail from the previous efforts. At this point I'm past the cussing stage and soundly in the deep sigh and head shaking mode. Also, I'm unsure whether I will make the March deadline. Now, I'm just wanting to make sure that I can get it done in time for the contest that I attend which is the end of April. But, I'm darn sure going to give it my best.

For now though I have set it aside as my wife has returned from her babysitting stint. For those of you who are not in the know, my wife has been gone for a year and half at her daughters in Everett, Wash. helping out nannying our grand children. It has been a long hard haul but, she is finally home for good. Time to spend some time with her and get ourselves and the household back into a new routine. So for now I'm unsure how much my bench time will be effected. It's also not helping that we have been having an unseasonably mild winter here in southern Utah and the outdoors and the yard are already beckoning.

I'll keep you all updated as I progress.

If I were you Joe, I'd glue the wings, prop, and landing gear on and call it done.  You've put so much work in to it.  I think we all want to see you finish it before you shelve it.  It looks great.  Good luck.

Joe...  I have no advice other than to do what you feel is best. I have been there Joe.  It just seems sometimes the model is fighting you.  Then the initial problem has a way of ompounding itself.  Whatever you decide to do, I support your decision.  

Hang in there Joe.

flyer: Thanks for the thought but, there is no way I could just glue it all together and call it good. That would drive me nuts to have a model sitting on my shelf that is half washed. Yeah, I forgot to mention that the tail section and the back half already have a wash on. And no, I am not shelving this long term. It will only be for a couple of days and then I'll set myself to stripping it down. I really want to finish this up right since the contest I enter is only put on bi-yearly. And such it is that I want to have at least two entries for it.

Steve: I appreciate your thoughts. This certainly has nothing to do with the model, paints or airbrush. This is squarely on me. I should know full well the perils of trying to take short cuts.

I remain undaunted and will overcome.

That's the spirit Joe, take a deep breath, regroup and hit it again!!

Agreed.  Keep at it Joe.

Well, it is kind of quiet on here so I will jump in.   I just finished spraying my Avenger with the primer coat. I used Testers lacquer based primer.  The lacquer went on well, no complaints.    I will let that dry for several days and then hit it with the enamel color coat.  

A few photos for you.

Below:  I just finished spraying a wing. 

Below: Here is a shot of the drying container I came up with.  This will keep dust from settling on the paint between coats.  It also helps keep the fumes from  floating around in the house as it drys. 

Below:  Here is a visual of the inside. 

The End.  

Woo Hoo! Good to see such nice progress from you Steve. Looks good with a fresh coat of primer. It'll look even better when you start getting some paint on. I also put my kits in a plastic container post paint session. But, given that I live in the dusty desert with a dog and cats in the house even my best efforts are fruitless against dust. I just do the best I can to limit the amount attracted to my model.

Yeah, It's been a bit quiet on my front. I'm working on settling into new schedules and routines what with the wife home now. Thus, bench time has been limited. but, things should start picking up as my Weekend Edition F6F arrived today. I'll be starting on the new wings come the morn.

Looks like that Testors primer laid down really well, Steve. Gotta love the panel lines on that Academy/AM TBM.

I still haven't figured out exactly which product you are using. How did the test spoon sprays hold up to the intentional destruction testing?

Thanks Joe.  Yeah it's great to reach this point.

Hey...great to hear that your weekend edition arrived.  

Greg...I agree.  This kit has great panel lines.  Too bad they will get lost in the dark sea blue paint that I will be using.

Yeah the primer went on very nicely.  Nice and smooth.  I am using Mr Color Leveler to thin the paint.  I can't say for sure but that might be helping to give the paint a slower dry time out of the AB.  Down the road I will try using a generic hardware store lacquer thinner and see if it makes a difference.

I did further destructive testing on the plastic spoons and the primer held up really well. That was enough for me to move forward with it.

Good to see things moving along smoothly Steve.

Joe - Glad to hear you will be back at it soon.

Craig

Question - Is anyone familiar with the Accurate Miniatures 1/48 TBM-3 Avenger kit?  Is it the same as the Academy kit?  I picked up this older kit on ebay and I was wondering if it was worth it ($25 including shipping).  Thanks.

Craig

Nice score Craig! I'd say you got yourself a decent deal there. If I'm not mistaken, I do believe that yes, the Academy is a rebox of that kit.

Craig, I'll confirm what Joe said, the Academy TBM-3 is a rebox of the Accurate Miniatures kit indeed. I also agree that $25 is a bargain!

Bakster, I figured the primer must have passed the 'try to get it off the spoon' test pretty well. Thanks for confirming. (I just wanted to make sure you remembered to do it)

Craig...it is as Joe and Greg said.     You got a nice deal man.   Congrats!

Say Greg..thanks for checking.  BTW.  I sent you an email showing the primer I used.  I didn't hear back from you so maybe it went into your spam folder.  Just an FYI.

Bakster,

You can bring back the panel lines on a DSB, U.S. Navy aircraft, by washes of a medium, or darker medium grey.  Either thinned oils, or an acrylic wash can be used.  Just make sure to have the model sealed with all the clear coats, before you start.

Regards,

Freddie

Here are a couple pictures to show how the effect can work.

One is an F6F-5, finished in overall DSB.

The second one, is an F6F-3, in a Tri-color scheme.  This was a little trickier, because while using the grey wash on the upper surfaces, I still had to blend that into the dark wash used on the side and lower surfaces. 

I hope these help with your build.  And BTW, it's a lot easier to do than it looks. 

Regards,

Freddie