Second Annual USAF Vietnam Group Build

modelcrazy

Thanks Russ, here it is,

I shot the Alclad and it goes on nice. Went through a lot of it though.

Found out the prep work needs to be perfect. You can see every imperfection if it's not.

I do not care for this kit or build. I'm missing the wheels and the decals are just coming apart. I applied some Micro Sol liquid decal film, but too late to save the US Air Force decal for the side. I bet I can find a replacement though. I don't think I'll waste the Aim 9's and leave the racks empty.

Hi Steve,

It still looks pretty good from the picture.     

I have heard that you must have a perfect finish before using that Alclad.  I have several bottles of it myself but have never used it yet.  The only metal paint I have used is the Model Master Metalizer.  It worked pretty good.  One bonus of using it is the fact it is made to go directly on bare plastic.

Ken

Thanks Ken,

I used Model Master acrylic for the primer. I usually spray acrylics and like their look, however I've never tried gloss acrylic. It sprayed very nice, and apparently didn't have any reaction to the lacquer Alclad.

I went through 1/2 a bottle of the Polished Aluminum, but I may not have needed to use that much, I'm still learning. I will try a different approach on the F100, but still use the acrylic as a base.

Steve

SOMM

Not a problem about the F-102. I had totally forgotten about my 1/72  Italeri B-26K Counter Invader. I have some great "Naughty Invaders" decals to go with it so please put me down for this one.

Decals are for a USAF  B-26K from Operation Steel Tiger in Laos, 1966-1969 and based at Nakom Phanom with the 609th SOS, 59th SOW.

plasticjunkie

SOMM

Not a problem about the F-102. I had totally forgotten about my 1/72  Italeri B-26K Counter Invader. I have some great "Naughty Invaders" decals to go with it so please put me down for this one.

Decals are for a USAF  B-26K from Operation Steel Tiger in Laos, 1966-1969 and based at Nakom Phanom with the 609th SOS, 59th SOW.

 

Excellent Plasticjunkie!  Welcome aboard!    I am updating the roster on the front page.  We look forward to seeing your build!

Ken

Thanks Ken. Sorting things out for this build and will be posting soon.

Well, I was hoping to make this a simple OOB build but it doesn't look that way. Preliminary recon on the subject revealed that Italeri goofed in the cockpit area as they included it for the WWII and Korea version of the A-26B/C variant having one pilot, one control yoke and a jump seat. The K version was modified to have dual controls and a co-pilot.  Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to extend the IP and scratch out a second yoke.

The wheels are wrong too as they were the KC-135 type along with the wing mounted MG's that need to be removed. There is also a missing tail beacon. Pretty simple fixes otherwise the exterior looks very good with recessed lines and the correct armament.

Son Of Medicine Man

Striker8241

Hi, All,

I imagine we're all stuck in real life issues and don't have much time for modeling. I know I don't at the moment. But I did manage to get a little more done on my Combat Talon C-130. I added the side circuit breaker panels and I've got the raised flight deck temporarily in place as shown in the photo below. I had to extend the deck forward about 4 mm to accommodate the deck.

I got sidetracked for awhile when I decided to build a model of a B-2 stand to go with my Arc Light diorama. Below is a picture of the progress so far.

Cheers,

Russ 

As always Russ, great job of scratch building!!    That looks great!

Ken

Thanks, Ken!  Not much to show for so long but at least I'm moving forward .

Russ

plasticjunkie

Well, I was hoping to make this a simple OOB build but it doesn't look that way. Preliminary recon on the subject revealed that Italeri goofed in the cockpit area as they included it for the WWII and Korea version of the A-26B/C variant having one pilot, one control yoke and a jump seat. The K version was modified to have dual controls and a co-pilot.  Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to extend the IP and scratch out a second yoke.

The wheels are wrong too as they were the KC-135 type along with the wing mounted MG's that need to be removed. There is also a missing tail beacon. Pretty simple fixes otherwise the exterior looks very good with recessed lines and the correct armament.

That is too bad that you will need to do the extra work on that kit to make it right.  But it shows how diligent you are about doing the research and the willingness to make it right.  Kudos to you for that!   

Ken

Here's my F100 update.

Still need to install several more parts, but here the new pics (the color is supposed to dark olive green)

modelcrazy

Here's my F100 update.

Still need to install several more parts, but here the new pics (the color is supposed to dark olive green)

Nice work Steve!  It is definitely looking like a Super Sabre!     

Ken

Looks good, Steve!

Russ 

Well after several family emergencies keeping me busy, I finally have gotten a chance to do something.

Keep in mind I am no expert, just wanting to learn and get better.

I have some cleanup to do on the olive drab and of course more paint to add, and I have got the fuel

tanks and armament glued up. Not satisfied with the smudginess of the controls. Pointers?

Here is my first attempt at dry brushing, not real satisfied. Any tips? I always dip my brush in thinner before painting to make it easier to clean, is this a mistake?

Here's my Hun so far. I still need to mask off some panels and the rear exhaust area befor I spray the gloss and add decals. I know it looks kinda  messy, but the F 100, from what I've seen, just doesn't have that polished look like the F 104 seems to have.

Comments, criticisms welcome.

Steve

That looks very nice. I like the feel you got on the metal, well done.

Theuns

mailwalker

Well after several family emergencies keeping me busy, I finally have gotten a chance to do something.

Keep in mind I am no expert, just wanting to learn and get better.

I have some cleanup to do on the olive drab and of course more paint to add, and I have got the fuel

tanks and armament glued up. Not satisfied with the smudginess of the controls. Pointers?

Here is my first attempt at dry brushing, not real satisfied. Any tips? I always dip my brush in thinner before painting to make it easier to clean, is this a mistake?

Hi Mailwalker,

I think it looks pretty good so far.  One thing that I have become accustomed to is how the camera and it's ability to take close ups will show even the smallest amount of imperfections.  With that said, it is very hard to get a close up of anything to look good.

As far as pointers, the only thing I can add is the way I try to get the small detail like the cockpit to look good.

First, I use a Donegan OptiVisor Headband Magnifier.  I use different magnifications depending on what I am doing.  I also use a couple of the lights that are meant for the OptiVisor.  This way I can get a real get "close up" while I am working on the subject.

Next I use a super small paint brush.  It is so small that the paint will dry on the brush before I get it to the subject I am painting.  So it takes a little practice to get used to. Here is a link to the one I use:

http://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/amwbrush01.htm 

One other thing. I will paint the cockpit base color with gloss paint before adding any wash or detail.  This way if I do make a mistake, it is easy to wipe off and start over.  When the cockpit is finished, then I will spray a coat of flat clear to take away the shine and seal it up.

When dry brushing, you want the brush "dry".  Dipping the brush into thinner first is okay as long as you get the brush dry using paper towel before you attempt to add the detail.  If the brush is too wet, it will coat everything and the real object is to get the highlights accented and not get any paint into the recessed areas.

This will all take practice, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't come out perfect the first time.  Just keep working at it and you will get better.

Ken

Ken

Mailwalker

Ken gave you some great pointers which is similar to my approach. I would like to throw in a couple more if you don't mind.

When doing the pit, I like to airbrush the base color first. This lays down a VERY thin paint coat not obscuring any of the faint raised details you want to dry brush later. I usually mix acrylic paint with Future to gloss up the flat finish which will create a barrier for the dark washes that you want to show up as sharp details adding depth and contrast. When that dries then I lightly paint the IPs flat black being careful to lay down a light coat.

When dry you can then either dry brush the instrumentation light grey or white with the brush being 99% dry. I sometimes punch out instrument decal faces and use them for the instruments.

It takes patience and practice

Steve

The Hun looks very nice and looks like the NMF is spot on.  

Thank you Ken and Steve. Those tips and encouragement are exactly what I needed. This modeling is a little harder than I thought as far as the detailing goes. I love it though. A lot different from slapping goopy glue and paint on plastic back 25-30 yrs ago. I'm looking to improve, and you all and FSM have already set me on the right path!

Yeah, you can't get much better advice than from plasticjunkie, Ken and others.

I'm ready for decals, weathering and finishing touches.

modelcrazy

I'm ready for decals, weathering and finishing touches.

Great work there Steve!      You did a great job with that metalizer paint.  The exhaust end of the fuselage looks spot on.  And the wash you added really makes the detail pop!  Very realistic looking!

Ken

Great job Steve. Nothing better than a NMF Hun.

Well, today I was able to spray a coat of MM Interior Green in the wheel wells and all the gear bays. I have seen others where these areas were bare metal, but my uncle who I'm building this for said he recalls these areas being green. He worked on an F-100D at Phu-Cat Viet Nam., so if he says green then this one will be green. His plane was SEA camo version, 355th Fighting Falcons, USAF. 

Here are some pics of my progress. Had some paint creep under my masking tape, but cleaned it up easily enough with PT and Q-tips. will have to touch up a few spots with a brush.

Yeah there are some pin marks on the smaller panels. How do you all remove these?

Also discoverd today superglue eats MM paint, and so does debonder! 

mailwalker,

which Monogram kit is that? The trees look identical to mine.

modelcrazy, it is kit  #5471. Got it off EBay. It was missing an intake piece, but Revell was kind enough to send me a replacement.

It's not the same box at least, but I'll bet it's the same kit. I was missing the canopy and the carpet monster eet my pilots are (I wasn't going to use him anyway).

That's the kit I'm using for this and other GB's.

Modelcrazy, Care to tell how you did the aft section on the F-100. I have some Model Master non-buff ready to try.

Sure,

I used Alclad II, but MM will work just as well. I sprayed light coats of Alclad Steel over the Alclad Dull Aluminum, followed by streaks of MM Artic Blue Metallic (for the cars in my stash). Tonight I'm going to add just a hint of MM Jet Exhaust in vertical streaks over the current application of blue and a smidge more Artic Blue just in front of the nozzle.

I downloaded some Hun pics from the internet as a guide. Looking at several different examples, you can't really go wrong, just don't overdue it.

If all you have is the MM, then try varying lighter and heaver applications in small streaks over your silver, followed by a very light application (and low pressure) of blue near the nozzle, until you feel it's about right.

The picture I took last night is a little dark and doesn't do the area justice.

Hope this helps.

Steve

Got started on my Counter Invader so the first thing on the agenda was to extend the IP for dual controls along with scratch building a second control column. These are preliminary shots and the parts still need cleaning up, sanding, fitting and detailing.

The B-26K used KC-135 brakes and wheels so I picked these up and have plenty as I plan on doing a couple more down the road.

Dog gone it!

I was doing some finishing touches, wanted to touch up the canopy frame, and masked it off just a little bit. After I sprayed, I pulled off the masking tape and oops, up come some decals. After some choice words, I ordered a new set (the same set I originally ordered for the Hun).

Oh well, I can use some of the "No Step" and other decals to add to my F 104. They should be here in about a week. I'll unveil both the the F 100 and F 104 at that time after I get them on.

And no, I didn't have the decals sealed yet.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

mailwalker

Well, today I was able to spray a coat of MM Interior Green in the wheel wells and all the gear bays. I have seen others where these areas were bare metal, but my uncle who I'm building this for said he recalls these areas being green. He worked on an F-100D at Phu-Cat Viet Nam., so if he says green then this one will be green. His plane was SEA camo version, 355th Fighting Falcons, USAF. 

Here are some pics of my progress. Had some paint creep under my masking tape, but cleaned it up easily enough with PT and Q-tips. will have to touch up a few spots with a brush.

Yeah there are some pin marks on the smaller panels. How do you all remove these?

Also discoverd today superglue eats MM paint, and so does debonder! 

Hi Mailwalker,

If your uncle says they were green, then I agree, they were green.  How can you argue with someone that was there and especially if he worked on them!

As far as removing those pesky ejector pin marks, one method I have heard about is using Mr. Surfacer 500.

Also very sorry to hear about your paint job getting messed up by Super Glue and debonder.  On that same note, I found out the hard way that "Zip Kicker" CA accelerator will also eat paint.  I hope you are able to recover without too much trouble.

Ken