Monogram Mafia III

PJ, your Voodoo looks dazzling! I love the idea of Jeannies bottle near the capsule. I may just have to scratch one for the stand.

I have also come up with a more realistic  idea for a diorama display with this kit using some modified figures...

Last night and this morning I applied the decals, which all went onto the capsule portion of the craft, including all those little red hash marks.

Upper portion

Right side

Left side

bottom portion

close ups of the hash marks, as you can see there are a few air bubble I need to deal with on the "shingles"

One other thing that I did was fill and sand smooth the attachment holes for the upper portion of the Equipment Section. Afterwards I had to repaint it

Then I airbrushed on a coat of Satin Clear to seal in the washes on the Retrograde and Equipment Sections interiors

That is absolutely stunning detail work Stick.

Very nice, Stik!

Thanks guys! It's all coming together now.

Wow Stik, that capsule is looking kick a$$. Great detailing job! I really meant it about including Jeannie's bottle as a display. I think it will be extremely unique.

I'm loving that capsule Carlos! I can't wait to see it at the next IPMS meeting! Looks like you got a winner for sure! Go ahead... add Jeannie's bottle and watch the fun at IPMS shows!

Thanks guys! PJ, I love the idea and will see if I can pull it off properly... Mark, I wont be at IPMS again until November due to my days off rotation, but I see that January's theme is "Think Big" 1/32 or larger, so I may hold this one off until then...

The model went together well, with the usual Revell part misalignments, that needed filling and sanding. It is, however, surprisingly detailed and I am enjoying this build. When you can pick it up in just about any store that sells models for kids, with a cost of around $13 (at least in my area of Boise, ID), I would recommend it for fun. My next pics will be after panting, and before weathering and placing on the diorama base.

Steve

Love that Gemini there Stik!

Did some more work on the Fokker today.

stikpusher

Mark, I wont be at IPMS again until November due to my days off rotation, but I see that January's theme is "Think Big" 1/32 or larger, so I may hold this one off until then...

Sounds good, and this will fit right in. I'll be looking forward to seeing it then.

Meanwhile, here's some progress I made on my two models for the Group Build.

As I mentioned before, the first thing I was to apply liquid decal film to the two sheets of decals on my Navy aircraft:



The next day, I got the decals applied to my two Navy aircraft:







That fuselage band was real hard to get lined up! Wow!



You can see how badly they silvered; and they even started curling up on the Bearcat as you can see in the pics. I hit both of these with a good dose of Solvaset to hold them down and things look a lot better now.

I'll have more pics soon; I'm hoping to get more done on these this week. Who knows? I may have one of these done in a few days.

Stay tuned for more and thanks for looking in. Comments are welcome.

Sorry folks I ain't fell off the edge of the earth, I have had only one day off on the last three weeks. B-52 is just like you saw it in my last posts.

Don't worry Darrin, it's a hobby. Do what you can when you can. We'll be here.  

Looking good Mark! Considering that the decals in those kits have to be at least 30 years old, I think they are looking great! MC, the Hind is starting to take its' properly wicked form. 68, your Fokker is looking great so far as well. I really like that bright blue you are using. Gotta love some of those WWI schemes.

After repeated applications of Solvaset, I think this is as good as I will get with the decals over the corrugations

Not prefect, but good enough.

I also painted the manuevering thruster nozzles on the Retrograde and Equipment sections based upon photos. I still need to paint their centers. But that will be after I airbrush on the final clear coat tomorrow

Looking good Stick.

Looking good everybody, Stik, I think you did a pretty good job getting the decals down, must have been a bear.

Man, there are some great Mono/Revell kits being built here!  Gotta love em!

Eagle90

Maddog - Did you try Future to pull the decals down?  I'll use it under the decals as a setting solution for old decals.  I don't know if it is just me or not but I feel the Microsol does not work as well when coated with the liquid decal film.

Stik -  Thanks, that Tamiya X-4 blue over a base coat of white.  I was thinking of so many different schemes but ended up with what was on the box cover.  The blue and red of Jasta 15

My efforts pale in comparison to what I see here!  Here's my first completion:

I've started my Hellcat.  Not much of a cockpit, but I'm putting my best into the pilot.

Colin, your work looks great to me!  Thanks for sharing your MMAF!  Great looking flight line you've got there!

Dave

Josiah, MC, 68, thank you for the kind words on this build. Colin, that is a great Monogram 1/4 scale USAAF so far! I love it! But  I think you need a P-51 and P-61 to complete the fighter collection.

So after a bit over four weeks of not so constant effort, I am calling this one done. This afternoon I finished up all the final touches- gluing on clear parts after a final airbrushed coat of Humbrol Satin Clear Coat, painting up the Astronauts helmets, then gluing them in in their seats, and lastly painting in the ablative coating in the manuevering nozzles.

a close up of Astronaut John Young (my close up shot of Gus did not come out so well)

some of the beautiful molded on exterior surface detailing

and on the kit display stand

I will take a few weeks to decide upon my next one for this GB, but right now an old Harrier kit from my stash really has my interest.

Stick,

That's a great looking Gemini there. I was still a little kid during Gemini, so all I really know about the program is what I've learned over the years. I do recall just faintly, the Gemini to Gemini rendezvous on TV.

Colin,

I like your air force, I especially like the P47, my favorite WWII fighter. You do seem to be missing a Hellcat and Corsair though, If you wanted to extend into the carrier side of things that is.

Steve

Thanks MC. I was just a newborn to toddler when Gemini was going on so I have no recollection of that program when it was going on. I learned more researching for this build than I knew for the past nearly 50 years of my life. And I really gotta say that this craft grew on me. It really was a pilot's spacecraft. Probably because Gus Grissom was so closely associated with its' design and features. Now Apollo I remember quite well. I'll get around to building the Apollo kits in my stash one of these days.

Stick,

Watching your build makes me want to start my "Man in Space" kit.

68GT

Maddog - Did you try Future to pull the decals down?  I'll use it under the decals as a setting solution for old decals.  I don't know if it is just me or not but I feel the Microsol does not work as well when coated with the liquid decal film.

GT, I used Aqua Clear on these to clear coat them. The liquid decal film may have made them a bit thicker and thus a bit more difficult to lay down, but I;d rather deal with that than broken/shattered decals. I didn't use MicroSol either, mostly because of the same reason  you mentioned. I pulled out the Nuclear Option: Solvaset, which pulled the decals down very nicely indeed.

Hopefully, I'll have pics up soon. I suffered a setback in having the engine and propeller both break off on the Bearcat. I gotta figure out how to get the engine put back in before I can even fix the prop.

Carlos, outstanding work on that Gemini capsule! Very well done! The astronauts even look good too! I gotta ask though, where's Jeannie's bottle?

Colin, that's a great looking Monogram Air Force you got! Way to go!

MC, go for it! We need more real space stuff on this site.

Mark, I am looking thru my spares bin for appropriate sized shapes/parts to modify to make her bottle. I still have a few months to get that part done...

Nicely done, Stik!

ajd, that looks real good. But I bet some PE or scratchwork in there can make it outstanding!

Golly stik that looks excellent!