2014 BRAILLE SCALE (UPDATE)

Nice job on a very clean build Wayne! The color really stands out. Most impressive!

Thanks Wayne! Yours will probably get done better than mine.I'll be interested in seeing it done. I( considered getting a second one to make in travel mod, but I don't know if I can afford one yet. I'll wait until they go on sale. That one; when I get it, will be camouflaged.

Thanks Theuns, You're doing outstanding with that helicopter. Thanks for the memories of the four I built some years back.

Thanks Checkmate! I am so glad to finally have that done!

checkmateking02

Nice, Wayne.  Ought to be able to hide in the snow pretty well!

thank you. the snow will be amusing to try. at least i can look out the window for inspiration. here are all of my OTS builds this year, 4 1/72 and a 1/76. not bad given i started this scale this year and i have a bunch for next year.THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO PARTICIPATED AND COMMENTED. this was my first as host and i enjoyed it.

Nice, Wayne.  Ought to be able to hide in the snow pretty well!

here is the JAGDTIGER. i will be adding a small snow base, maybe a treeline with a road in front and some mud trails so this isn't completely weathered. this late in the war there would be little damage. primed with ACE NOW gray and airbrushed with VALLEJO AV dark yellow, silly putty mask, and VALLEJO ivory (which really needs to be thinned. no problems with paint pull off, in fact painted ivory, cleaned airbrush with VALLEJO cleaner, about 6 minutes then pulled silly putty off.  a bit of touch up.

wanted to try something different so washed it with payne gray oil followed by prussian blue to create the illusion of cold and some dirt weathering with burnt umber, one right after the other, not waiting for one to dry completely. the color is really interesting. the ivory seems to make the dy a tad greenish and the blue stands out in some lighting more than other. this is why i want a white base and some muddy trails.

Duke Maddog

Okay, as promised, here are the finished pics of my entry for this Braille Scale Group Build. This is the 1/72 scale Zvezda SS-25 Topol "Sickle". It don't look as good as Wayne's does, but I'm happy with it.

You'll notice that I didn't camouflage it. I saw all those fiddly bits and bobs sticking out and figured I didn't want to deal with all that when masking for the pattern. So, I did it all green with some color modulation. This also insured that I got it finished in time for the end of this. Now I can go claim my badge.

Thanks for looking in, comments are always welcome.

hey DUKE. it does look better than mine since mine isn't finished. i think i will revisit mine and see if i can fix the paint, probably dark green though i have had luck airbrushing VALLEJO ivory over panzer yellow. i have a second one i can do, learning from all my mistakes . silly putty should cover all the fiddly stuff. next one will be in travel mode.

Well done...great finish Theuns!!

That is one nice helicopter, Theuns!  I love the way you've finished her.  Very good!

What an impressive model, Duke!  That is really great.

What a cool launcher! Very interesting subject :-)

I am calling the Apache done....

I plan to put it on a base, still need to decide wich one best shows "Apache"

Okay, as promised, here are the finished pics of my entry for this Braille Scale Group Build. This is the 1/72 scale Zvezda SS-25 Topol "Sickle". It don't look as good as Wayne's does, but I'm happy with it.

You'll notice that I didn't camouflage it. I saw all those fiddly bits and bobs sticking out and figured I didn't want to deal with all that when masking for the pattern. So, I did it all green with some color modulation. This also insured that I got it finished in time for the end of this. Now I can go claim my badge.

Thanks for looking in, comments are always welcome.

Wayne, here is my latest on the Topol I was doing. Tomorrow I hope to post the finished pics of this monster.

[deep breath]

Okay, this Topol finally got a wash after the clearcoat, and I also detail painted the rest of it:

Next, I added the decals to this and just for fun, I snapped all the wheels in place. Here it is so far:

...and with the launch tube:

This thing in the side kept coming off. After all, it was only attached with two small plastic rods; nothing to support it at all. I have no idea what it is, but here you can see the holes I drilled in the chassis and the part in preparation for attaching brass rod to this so that it will stay in place:

Now you can see the part in place and it ain't goin' nowhere!

This monstrosity is now finished. Since the above pics have been taken, I've dullcoated this and lightly 'dusted' it with a dirt brown for some light weathering. Pics will be forthcoming.

checkmateking02

Thanks, Theuns.  And what a sweet-looking aircraft!  Great yellow livery!  

And yeah--pin-washes!! Either they want to come off altogether, or they don't want to budge at all.

By trial and error with numerous situations similar to yours, I've found that it sometimes works to use one of the blue-coloured window washing solutions--in the states "Windex."

Sometimes it also works to use water or Windex on the end of a toothpick and gently rub it off.  Had to do this on the Hurricane with the wash I used around the landing gear legs.

Of course, sometimes neither of these works at all.

Nevertheless, great work on the DH and the Apache.

1. DON'T USE WINDEX to clean VALLEJO from an airbrush. spend the extra money and get their cleaner.

2. having said that i have taken down oil washes with the odorless oil paint thinner on a q-tip. i have taken down pastels and tamiya powders with a water moist q-tip. i will be experimenting with using simple green on a q-tip to blend camo lines. all of this is with acrylics  painted over primer, no barrier between paint and weathering.

3. i am lost on who has finished what lately so, if you guys can drop a note and a pic i'd appreciate it. time to wash the JAGDTIGER and it will be finished though later i will add a snow base.

Thanks, Theuns.  And what a sweet-looking aircraft!  Great yellow livery!  

And yeah--pin-washes!! Either they want to come off altogether, or they don't want to budge at all.

By trial and error with numerous situations similar to yours, I've found that it sometimes works to use one of the blue-coloured window washing solutions--in the states "Windex."

Sometimes it also works to use water or Windex on the end of a toothpick and gently rub it off.  Had to do this on the Hurricane with the wash I used around the landing gear legs.

Of course, sometimes neither of these works at all.

Nevertheless, great work on the DH and the Apache.

Good question, it did not want to wash off like usual, maybe my clearcoat was not smooth or cured enough....

I have the left and side rigging complete, will do the rest tonight.

Theuns

what happened with your pin wash, Theuns?

Theuns - nice work on both the DH.82 and the Apache Longbow!  I really like the yellow color of the Tiger Moth.....very distinctive!  Also the scratchwork on the Apache's gun.....Looks like it was already molded on!!

I am basically done with the Apace, I just need to make the "Apache base" for it

The gun was really bare so I spruced it up with some stretched sprue bits like the "role cage"

I have alsorepainted the undercart green ;-)

Theuns

Here is is all new and yellow...

Then I messed up the pin wash totally as it did not want to come off! SO I disguised it to look like the pupil during training lost directional controll in cross wing landing thereby damaging the right hand side airleron, elevator and stab needing fabric repair. Still in silver dope, not time to paint it yet LOL'

No, actually I did use CA for the interplane strutr to wing joints.

I firt did the joints to the top wing, made sure everything was straight and lined up , then I carefully placed the struts into the lower wing. The cabane struts I glued on using tamiya super thin cement.

The masking on the Hurries canopy is just outstanding! Just like the rest of the build well done :-)

I must say, the P-47 looks the part, one would never say it is an "easy build kit" from what I see there!

My DH is already painted in humbrol trainer yellow overall, when fully dry I will brush on a coat of future for decals.

Theuns

Wow Ernest...what a friggin' great looking '47..Just wicked..

Thanks, Rob and Ernest.  I appreciate it!

And that is a very good looking P-47, Ernest.  It's a nice shade of OD, and the panel lines make things pop.

Nice 47!

Diuke - that Topol is one monster of a build!  Hats off to you for doing a WIP on it for the GB!  Don't know a darn thing about them, but you seem to have a handle on the big guy!!

Theuns - the Tiger Moth is coming along nicely!  Good tip on gluing the struts with white glue!  I was wondering why you didn't use CA, but then I figured it wouldn't allow enough time for adjustments. 

Checkmate - sweet little Hurricane and a distinctive pattern underneath!  Thanks for the pics and the background.

OK, so the P-47D Razorback is done!  Finished it 5 minutes shy of 48 hours!! 

A quick composite of the building process:

Finished build:

Now to complete the Jeep/Kubel/Kettenthingie!

Making progress even though its slow.  Painted the canopy and a belly tank this morning also.

Just beautiful checkmate...fantastic build, thanks for the history as well. Well done

Now the kit.

It was obvious in photos that Paddy III was unusually painted on the undersurfaces.

The wheel wells in the old kit leave a lot to be desired.

And a walk-around.

Thanks for hosting the GB, Wayne.  I always appreciate the opportunity to support the cause of 1/72.  I've wanted to do Cobber's plane for quite a while, and this was good excuse finally to get at it.

The quality of the work in this GB has been inspiring!  I look forward to keep checking in.

Happy New Year, soon to be!

Finished my Airfix Hurricane yesterday.  First, a word about the real aircraft and the pilot who flew it.

"Paddy III" was one of several aircraft used by Flying Officer Edgar James "Cobber" Kain, the RAF's first "ace" in WWII, shooting down his fifth enemy aircraft in March, 1940.

A New Zealander, born 27 June, 1918, he was  assigned to 73 Squadron in France during the "Phoney War."  He ended his carrier with either 17 or 16 victories, depending on the source.

On 7 June, 1940, at Echemines, he was performing some acrobatics over the airfield and flew his plane into the ground.  "Cobber's" body landed some 27 metres in front of the crash.  He is buried in Choloy Military Cemetery.

"Cobber" is New Zealand slang for "pal."

Photos of Cobber with Paddy III.  There seems to be some uncertainty whether this was a metal or fabric wing Hurricane.  I didn't have a fabric wing kit, so I built it as a metal wing, using Airfix's old model.  I may do another in the future with the new fabric wing model.

And here is where Cobber rests today.

Outstanding work, Theuns.  Biplanes aren't so easy.  You've done great getting the wings on.  They always give me trouble.