Weekend Madness 2014-Stick a fork in it, we're done! See you next year!

And here we are as of T+26 Hours (actually a few minutes shy of that when I took the latest photos)

in order of work today

conning tower and parts to be mounted there primed with Humbrol Primer (#1)

and then later painted in a dark blue black color (Humbrol Tarmac). Researching U-505 says that she was most likely in DunkelGrau 51 on the Hull and Blaugrau 58 on the Conning Tower. Only Lifecolor and White Ensign Make that in their lines and neither are carried by any LHS, so I approximated...

Hull base coated in Tamiya German Gray 

then I masked that off after giving it some time to dry and painted the upper hull sides with Model Master Acryl Marine Colors Dunkelgrau 51

then a photo with the conning tower placed on the hull for an idea of she will look when finished

detail painting on the conning tower fiddly bits

and finally a photo of all the wood horizontal surfaces painted with Floquil Weathered Black to represent the Teerfirness applied to the wood for camouflage and as a preservative against the sea water

I'm gonna let all this cure overnite before tomorrow's coat of Future, decals, washes, sealing topcoat and finally glue all the last bits in place...

Looking really good.

Looks great.  That PE really sets if off!

Well, 5 1/2 hours in and not much to report.  Still rummaging through all the parts trying to figure out just what I have to work with.  Cockpit roughly painted and wheels assembled.  Pair of mean looking Exocet missiles also.  Will take some pics in the morning after things dry a bit.

Yes, it's looking like a U-Boat...

Love that movie.

looking good stik!

Looking like a U-Boat to me too...and a good one at that

Sorry everyone!  I thought I would have some free time this week to participate more, but work is kicking my butt again!  Tonight I had dinner with some friends but I was able to get home early enough to start on my Weekend Madness build!

Here's the Tamiya Sd.Whatever 223.....started at 11:42 PM Friday night, Dec. 5.

A little over 2 hours later:

The lower hull/suspension is done.  I was going to glue on the upper hull when I realized that the radio and some of the interior would need to be painted first as this is an open turret vehicle......  I'm too beat to do that tonight so tomorrow I anticipate completing most of the assembly and getting a basecoat of paint on (probably wishful thinking! )

Again, sorry that I haven't been participating.  I managed to take a quick look at Stik's U-Boat build, but that's about it...I'll take time tomorrow to review the completed and in process builds!

She's looking good stik!  I got to go aboard her in 2009.  It was extremely cramped inside, especially when compared to a US fleet submarine.  Only bummer was they wouldn't let you take pictures when inside her.

Bufflehead, glad to see you're underway.  I look forward to more pics.

Well, my second build began at 0720.  This time around I'm building Airfix's new P-40B in Welch's markings at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7.

Caveman, keep at it.  Look forward to some pics!

Thanks for the kind words guys! I just got a coat of Future on, I am letting that dry before I apply the decals (all three of them...) then it's time for washes and such... it's getting there....

Ernest, those Tamiya armored cars are perfect for a GB like this. I had though about doing one myself, but figured I had not had a go at a Ship subject for Weekend Madness yet.

Roughly four hours in, she's beginng to look like an airplane.  Time to finish puttying seams, then get ready to go to work.

Almost 20 hours in.  Slept in this morning.  May have prove to be a disastrous error.  Pressing on.  Cockpit and seat almost done.  Things to hang under the wings are ready for paint.  Wheels and wings are together as well.  Will take more pics as it goes to the paint shed.

Looking better Caveman! I am sure that you are much farther along by now. I built that kit several years ago and I do remember that it built up really easily.

Well the last in progress photo that I took was this morning- Future coat on and ready for decals

then since I was building at a relaxed pace this year, I did the rest of the finishing, decals and wash, without any more progress photos. So at 1419 hrs PST, I am calling this one done for the purposes of this GB. Gentlemen (and any Ladies who may happen to be looking in) I present Bronco's Type IXC U-Boat in the guise of U-505 on her final war patrol, May/June 1944.

I will probably at a later time add some drybrushing on the hull for marine growth and add some rigging before I take it to IPMS, but for the purposes of this 48 hour GB, it is done...

NICE!

Fantastic as usual Stick.

Hey everyone!  Some really awesome builds here!  And always a fun GB!

Almost forgot to take starting pics!  But here it is.  All I had done was glue the "seats" and engine thingys on.  There isn't much to this kit, and there is NO cockpit at all!  But I want to try and do a camo scheme I have never done, so that will be the time consumer.  Anyway, here's the pic and I started around 5 P.M. EST.

Eagle90

Thanks MC, I'm glad that you like it!

Eagle, that should be a nifty kit!

Stik,

Nicely done. It looks fantastic!

Stik, a hearty Bravo Zulu and well done sir!

Ernest, modelcrazy, and Eagle, keep at it!  Looking forward to seeing your builds come together.

Front page has been updated.

Well, I don't know if I will be able to finish this one on time.  Furnace just caught on fire.  Hope it is something minor, like an animal, and not a new unit.  Won't find out until tomorrow.  Keeping vigil through the night.

Kits are going into primer as soon as I can get the smoke outta here.  Still might be able to pull this off.

Eagle, I wish my Sd.Kfz. 223 was as simple as your build!

Can't believe 25 hrs have passed already!  Here's an update:

Assembly almost done.  Couldn't focus on the build as much as I wanted to....too many distractions.  At least the fit of this Tamiya kit is good; being an older kit it has lots of mold seams to clean up.  The finish is a bit clunky, but acceptable except for the headlights.  These had sinkmarks that couldn't be filled because of the molded on mesh lens guard:

 So I just hollowed them out and will have to figure out how to fill them.  Here's the (almost) completed vehicle:

Just a few more small parts to install and she'll be ready for paint.  I put some self adhesive chrome material in one of  the headlights to see how it would look and replaced the overscale vinyl mesh for the turret doors with generic photoetch cut to size, but other than that its all OOB.

Paint job tomorrow morning....??

Nice work guys. Keep going, you can do it.

Caveman, Sorry to hear about your furnace problems, hope nothing serious. Kits are looking stellar!!

Bufflehead, I'm curious to see how you paint that up. I always paint and then assemble, so seeing it put together waiting for paint is new to me. Please explain you technique. Looks good so far.

Caveman, hopefully it's something simple.  Nothing like building a model to pass the time for a long night's vigil.  You got this.

Bufflehead, looking forward to seeing her in paint.

Eagle, looking forward to more pics as well.

About thirty hours in, and Welch's Warhawk is ready for primer.  Will try to get to the library and post some WIP pics before going to a Christmas party.

Well here is where I sit with 5 hours to go.  Last nights near catastrophe really messed me up.  All peripheral parts virtually ready to install.  Need a little drying time before decals.  This one's going to be really close!

I don't yet know where the second set of markings will come from.  I have a few options.  I think some epoxy is in order to finish this in time.

Rushing along to get the Panzerspahwhatever done in time!

Assembly complete 10:11 AM this morning.  Didn't help that I slept until almost 9!

I didn't like the kit MG, it was pretty lame, so I replaced it with one from my spares.   Had to cut off the mount from the kit part and modify it to fit on the replacment:

The jerry cans in the kit were also pretty lame so I used some Italeri cans that were already assembled in the spares box.   Found a PE jerry can holder that fit perfectly on the upper hull so that was installed.  I messed around with some clear sprue by carefully melting one end and pushing it into a piece of stainless steel mesh strainer from a faucet fitting.  The I sanded down to the correct diameter, sanded the back side to a nice polish and popped it into one of the headlamp housings....what do you think?

Now on to painting!  First up were the tires sprayed with some black/brown/gray tire colored paint (all paints sprayed with the airbrush are Tamiya)

Since I had the blackish paint in the paint cup I decided to spray this all over the undercarriage as sort of a pre shade.  Then I went over that with a light coat of Red Brown to give it that old, dark rust tinge, then finally a thin, light coat of Flat Earth to dirty it up.  The hues don't show up well in this pic, but I think it turned out pretty well:

When I went to paint the hull and turret with a desert colored paint I realized that I had none!  All I have are Dark Yellow and Buff.  Fortunately I had some leftover paint from an Italian M-13/40 so I did a quick mix job and came up with what I felt was a decent color for WWII German North Africa paint scheme.  Wierd thing was that it was also a PERFECT match for the plastic in the kit!  I had a very hard time seeing the paint as it was sprayed on and had to go over it a few times to ensure proper coverage.  Then I applied a little color modulation, some post shading on the panel lines with dark brown and blended it all together with light mist coats of the main color. 

10 more hours to go!!!

Caveman, the Mirages look great!  Look forward to seeing them done.

Bufflehead, the Panzerspawagen is looking good! Don't knock that mg, it was state of the art forty years ago!

Didn't get to the library, but she's OD over gray.  With the exception of the tires, everything is painted.  All that's left to do is assemble the landing gear, doors, and decals.  For now, off to eat BBQ and hang with the MINI club.  See y'all around 2100.

Well, I missed the deadline by 11 min.  Both are on their own three feet and marked.  As I post these pics, I  realize that I still need to unmask the canopies.  Sorry about that.  I will take some nicer pics with the Su-25 after I get some dinner in me.  

As for the kits, well most of the parts were there.  They were typical old Monogram kits that got stashed when the Kinetic and Eduard kits hit the shelves.  I had to steal some surplus markings from an Itareri

Mirage III to finish them off.

Will post proper pics. shortly!

stikpusher

Thanks MC, I'm glad that you like it!

Eagle, that should be a nifty kit!

Thanks Stik.  These PM kits have NO cockpit, but they are fun to paint!

Eagle90

lewbud

Caveman, hopefully it's something simple.  Nothing like building a model to pass the time for a long night's vigil.  You got this.

Bufflehead, looking forward to seeing her in paint.

Eagle, looking forward to more pics as well.

About thirty hours in, and Welch's Warhawk is ready for primer.  Will try to get to the library and post some WIP pics before going to a Christmas party.

She is a cute one isn't she?

Eagle90

Sorry for the delay.  Woke up sicker than a dog this morning.  But still got till 5 P.M. tomorrow.  Not much let to do.  Here are a couple of progress pics.  I think the camo came out pretty good.  First time I tried that type and I really like it.  The gear doors are going on now.  Might get most of it done tonight!

Eagle90

OK.  Now I can relax and enjoy the other work going on.  All critiques welcome.  I have to learn somehow.  Enjoy.