2014 BRAILLE SCALE (UPDATE)

That is some great work, Duke.  What an impressive model!

Great progress on the P-47, Ernest.  Looks really good.  I like what you did with the engine and cockpit.

Nice paintwork on the Jagdtiger, Wayne.  That looks really good.  Hard to believe it's 1/72,

Thanks Rob! It sure has cost me some hair, that's for sure. I cannot wait to get it done.

Great looking progress for all you guys...that Topol looks like a 'life drainer' for sure Duke!!

I just shot some primer on ,looks OK but I am out of gloss yellow.

I have matt but do not want to attempt to have to glosscoat for decals and sand ect, will rather go buy gloss LOL

Theuns

Here is the DH-82's basic airframe completed . The undercart is finify but do-able with some patience.

I glued the interplane struts to the wings using superglue instead of using cement. I was concerned that the ends of the struts ,being so thin might melt and become to short

Everything lined up nicely though.

They should have a "one day madness" GB for these kits LOL

Theuns

Thanks for the kind words fellas!

Theuns - funny you should ask about the detail on this kit!  Read on....

Assembly of the major parts is done.  Just need to work on the little details (there's not much) and she'll be ready for paint.

The two major components are the fuselage which comes already molded as one piece with the antennas already molded on, and the wing assembly which is also molded as one piece with the MG tubes.  All you have to do is glue the wing assembly to the fuselage.  Not sure if you can see the seam on the sides of the fuselage where the wing assembly meets it.  There's a noticable gap on the other side which I'll have to fill.  I'll take more pics of this tomorrow.

 The cockpit comes already molded in the one piece fuselage and is very basic.  There is some ribbing on the floor and the joystick is also already molded in place.  You do get a nice decal for the insturment panel!

The pilot's seat is molded separate and just glues in place.  That's it!!  The whole cockpit looked too plain so I dressed it up a bit by making a headrest from scrap plastic, painted it Tamiya Red Brown and glued it in place.  Then I added harness straps made from Tamiya tape.

The radial engine is molded as one piece which I painted up and dry-fitted into the cowling.  Then I dry-fitted the cowling in place on the fuselage.

The molded on machine gun tubes need to be drilled out.

Hoping to have this done tomorrow!

And here it is, my progress on the Topol...

I finally got tired of all the crap with this kit and just bulled right through it to get it done. I started by completing all the suspension parts (I found out I'd left off two axles!) and all other underside details. Then I continued by building the driver's cab and adding the fenders to this:



I then built the erector sled onto the back section of the main body. This was a particularly delicate join:



I then glued the rear panel section to the back of this model and tested the positioning of the launch erector sled:



Moving a long, I then built all the side boxes on each side of this monster:





After that, the erector sled broke off. I have since just added it to the rocket tube instead and will install the whole thing when it's time.

Later on, I added all the rest of the details and finished off the crew cabs:





And finally, I completed all the details on the rocket tube itself:



This beastie was now ready for paint.... or so I thought....

When I looked at this  later before attempting to paint it; I noticed seams and gaps on the little tower mounts on the cabs and side boxes, as well as sinkholes in the side of the erector sled. So, I filled them with Mr. Surfacer 500, let it dry and then sanded them smooth. Here are all the sink marks on the erector sled that I had to fill in:





Now this thing is ready for paint, so I shot a coat of Dark Green on it:



Next I will try to camouflage this if I can find a decent tan to use. However, after all that, I was so tired of this I set it aside.

Well, that's about all I have for today. Maybe sometime in the next few days I'll be able to call this done. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

Wayne, Ernest, looking good! Now to get my latest progress posted....

BTW, that is some impressive masking on the 47's canopy!

Theus

I have been looking at some of those "eazy builds" of Hobby boss but never actually got one.

How are they for internal detail and fit sofar?

Theuns

yes the dragon with porsche suspension.

Theuns - I LOVE that Longbow!!  Its looking fantastic, can't wait to see it complete!  Looking forward to the new builds too!

Wayne - Nice work on the Jagdtiger and the winter camo!  Is that this Dragon kit?

Here's the crossover from the Weekend Madness GB:

Its a Hobby Boss P-47D Razorback "Easy Assembly" which means "quick"!  Just what I need for a 48 hr build!!

Started today at 11:40 AM and needs to be complete by same time Sunday.

2 hrs later:  Only some paint applied.  Its my first AC kit in over 35 yrs...not used to the way it builds up since I've only been doing armor for the last 8 yrs.

Masking the canopy was a PITA!  Well....maybe not as bad as sanding a gazillion Pz.IV roadwheels!

Rob S.

Thanks for hosting this one Wayne!! As it is my primary scale, I felt right at home...look forward to a Canadian GB maybe in 2015?

ROB oh hell yes. lots of 6 wheel animals and a ww2 chevy truck in the stash.

DUKE, THEUNS, ERNEST thanks this was fun. may do one in 2015 with a twist,

here is my JAGDTIGER in winter camo. the basecoat is VALLEJO AV panzer yellow airbrushed over an enamel primer. it sat for a week and today i put the silly putty and painted. the silly putty didn't want to stick and 1/72 is more delicate to handle than 1/35. i airbrushed it with VALLEJO ivory (NOT AV).that took a lot of thinner and 30psi but, other than right rear fender no run problems. lots of passes but i wasn't concerned if it didn't cover well. 

have some touching up to do and decals before final weathering. may try my hand at a small snow base.

Doing a crossover with the Weekend Madness GB....a 1/72 Hobby Boss P-47D Razorback.  As soon as that's done I'll get the Jeep/Kubel/Kettenkraftrad done!

Posts on all coming soon!

BTW....Happy Holidays all you Braille Scalers!!

Thanks for hosting this one Wayne!! As it is my primary scale, I felt right at home...look forward to a Canadian GB maybe in 2015?

Wayne, as one who re-started doing Group Builds here in your first Group Build, I'd say you did fantastic! I will definitely have to sign up for more of your Group Builds. As for really getting into 1/72 scale, welcome to my world! I must have at least 900+ total aircraft and armor in 1/72 scale completed.

Now to jump on that Topol I'm doing for this and get it done!

If all else fails....read the manual!

I see now the cutoff date, please do not add the F-18, that will take to long to complete, I think the Tiger might just make it in before the door closes  :-)

Thanx

Theuns

you can. this ends at the end of the year but i have a bunch of OTS in the stash for 2015 and a lot of them will be crossovers.

i think this GB went well. never hosted one before. perhaps the pics on the front page could be smaller. i wasn't expecting to build this many myself but am really into the scale. comments and suggestions welcome.  

The rigging will be "interesting" to say the least, the fuse is only 4" long rudder to spinner....

Theuns

I'm looking forward to your review of that Tiger Moth.

Hi Wayne.

May I add these two to the list?? They will also cross over elswhere.

Academy 1/72 F-18c USMC out the box, just AM Decals

Airfix 1/72 DH 82a out the box

Theuns

Your to kind , thanx

It's always allot easier to do when you have a good kit to work with :-)

Theuns

looking good. and you're right about having a nice kit. 

Your to kind , thanx

It's always allot easier to do when you have a good kit to work with :-)

Theuns

Impressive work! That is looking better and better, even when I think you can't make it look any better!

That looks great, Theuns!  Nice work.

A little bit more done,all nice and dirty :-)

thanks CHECK , DUKE, ROB. was a fun build. i think i will be doing a bunch of OTS next year as fillers while doing larger builds.