Monogram Mafia III

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.

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

Dave

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.

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

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

Eagle90

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

Looking good Stick.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

Love that Gemini there Stik!

Did some more work on the Fokker today.

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

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...

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!

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.

Thanks guys! It's all coming together now.

Very nice, Stik!

That is absolutely stunning detail work Stick.

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

68gt

I have a couple of those Fokkers bagged under the Monogram brand with instruction sheet dated 1979. I got them from Squadron for like a buck some moons back. It is actually very nice for its age. I see that the ROG rebox has some nice decals unlike the original that I have. I do have a Micro scale decal sheet that I will be using once I start it.

stikpusher

68GT, that Fokker (oh that sounds borderline) is originally an Aurora mold, later obtained by Monogram when Aurora folded, and somehow making its way to the most recent Revell Germany boxing that you have. Under the rules of this GB, it qualifies, and I personally would love to see it built for here!

[quote user="modelcrazy"]

I'll use good ole metalizer for the discoloration on and near the exhaust.

Steve

/quote]

That will work just fine. I used Tamiya clear blue acrylic thinned with lacquer thinner for that discoloration.

That's a fine idea, and less expensive. I'll order some on my next payday,  that and some new decals.  I don't like the one's that came with the Monogram kit. I'll use good ole metalizer for the discoloration on and near the exhaust.

Steve

Thanks modelcrazy. Yes it's alclad but get like for example aluminum and steel. Add a couple of drops of steel to the alum mix to darken it to get panel color variation.

Wow P.J. that looks awesome! You used Alclad didn't you?  I'm hoping to get some of that stuff for the Hun, but just can't afford the 3 or  4 different colors I want right now.

My bad then, thought they had the long tall red escape towers. So Mercury's had the towers then?  You should throw in Jeannie's bottle on the side to make it even neater! .

Here's a quick update on my Voodoo. Finally all the decals went on and they look really good. Several applications of Solvaset snuggled them down. I have to shoot some clear flat over the grey walkways and some minor scuffing will represent foot travel on the area.

The landing gear went on secured with Tenax for a SUPER strong bond.

Flattened out the wheels a bit to show some weight and painted with Testors rubber paint.

Next will come some oil paint washes to pop the details on the wheel wells, internal flap area and gear struts and rims.

PJ... Escape Tower? How about Jeannie? LOL! But seriously, the Geminis did not have that. Instead it was equipped with Ejection Seats! This thing was closer to an aircraft than anything else of manned US rocket launched spacecraft until the Space Shuttle came along.

Great work there stik. Majors Nelson and Healey look right at home. Does it bring an escape tower? These early space ships are fascinating.