1945 GB

With canopy closed you can't see much inside anyway

ye, that's one advantage of 72nd, and it does sound like they are well worth it.

I think that I will be throwing in a "crossover" build as well, in addition to my Assault Gun Sherman. I am gonna build a Monogram 1/48 Hawker Typhoon IB, Not sure if I will do RCAF for Bodenplatte or RAF markings for Varsity yet. I am still researching. but I need to get a second Monogram kit done for my Monogram Mafia III GB so this one has been chosen... I will get cracking on it during my days off this week,

Das Maus is coming along well.  I have it pretty much all assembled and ready for paint.  No complaints yet. Quite fun but a ton of suspension parts!  I had to insert a spacer in between the suspension plate and top armor.  The top was warped a bit.  Easy fix!

You're not wasting any time here, are ya Cody? ;) There are only 359 days left for this GB to run...

Nice start Cody. Coming along nice a fast.

Ah, yes, the Maus .. Very interesting subject..great start Cody!

Impressive progress, Cody.

Wow... I go on some holiday celebrations and been busy at work in between those days of binging and this place explodes with new recruits and kit selections... I guess I need to do more keeping up here. The roster has been updated to as of today, Jan.7, mid morning along the Pacific Coast...

In the meantime I have been online researching my second kit build and am going to certainly do a Typhoon of 439 Squadron RCAF. I found a good website for 439 Squadron and have been able to find that this particular aircraft was involved in Bodenplatte where it was slightly damaged, as well as flying Flak Suppression missions as part of Operation Varsity. That sounds good enough for me. I will kick off my project tomorrow afternoon here.

Thanks Stik and it certainly is shaping up nicely already. Interesting looking build there.

Hey Stik, Gad to see you back and active. Thanks for the roster update.  I'm looking froward to your Typhoon. I really like that brute. I built the Hasegawa version a few short years ago and it sure looks nice, and big, in my cabinet.

I've actually cut some sprue and done some test fitting on the La-7. The first thing to note is that this is not an Eduard molding but rather a rebox of the Gavia kit. It's not real bad but it is apparent from the start that there is going to be some fit issues and that the putty will likely need to be handy.

I am sure you can handle it Joe, looking forward to some pics.

I really want to get started on my F6, but I need to move further on my other GB's first. Hopefully, I can start in the next two weeks on this one.

Stik,  Love the Typhoon. Can't wait to see you build it up.

I know the feeling Brandon, that's the problem with so many good GB's.

  Hey Bish, I want to run something by you and Stick... I've been thinking about what I could do that is a bit out of my comfort zone but would fit the criteria of this build... July 23 1945, Ford Motor Car company seeing the end of the war coming, and more and more military contracts being canceled, again began production of their line of automobiles. They were the first to get back into building cars, with the other companies following suite later that year but not really releasing the cars until 46 for the most part. The Ford line consisted of a 4 door sedan hardtop and a 2 door coupe in hard top or convertible, and was sold in 1945 (the few that were produced) I would like to build one of the Coupes as a first build for this GB.

  Having said that, here is what I need a call on. There are no modern production 1945 Ford Coupes or any others for that matter. I did read up on them and the 45-46-47-48 were identical down to the hub caps and the only thing that identified the years was a small year number molded into the glass of the tail lights and running lights. I have located a 46-48 kit one by IMC and one by AMT that designate the kit as a 46-48 Ford Coupe. Would that be acceptable being the 4 year span were identical? If not no problem, I will go in another direction and save that idea for later builds.

Think it over and I will of course accept your decision and enjoy what ever we do here as a group. Take care, and thanks.

Doug

Rigidrider

  Hey Bish, I want to run something by you and Stick... I've been thinking about what I could do that is a bit out of my comfort zone but would fit the criteria of this build... July 23 1945, Ford Motor Car company seeing the end of the war coming, and more and more military contracts being canceled, again began production of their line of automobiles. They were the first to get back into building cars, with the other companies following suite later that year but not really releasing the cars until 46 for the most part. The Ford line consisted of a 4 door sedan hardtop and a 2 door coupe in hard top or convertible, and was sold in 1945 (the few that were produced) I would like to build one of the Coupes as a first build for this GB.

  Having said that, here is what I need a call on. There are no modern production 1945 Ford Coupes or any others for that matter. I did read up on them and the 45-46-47-48 were identical down to the hub caps and the only thing that identified the years was a small year number molded into the glass of the tail lights and running lights. I have located a 46-48 kit one by IMC and one by AMT that designate the kit as a 46-48 Ford Coupe. Would that be acceptable being the 4 year span were identical? If not no problem, I will go in another direction and save that idea for later builds.

Think it over and I will of course accept your decision and enjoy what ever we do here as a group. Take care, and thanks.

Doug

I have no problem with that, but Bish will have to give the final yay or nay...

and now for my beginning to build something new...

Between bad weather and holiday celebrations, I missed out on a couple weeks worth of my longest distance bike rides... so today I paid the piper  ... but I am feeling better now 

So in the mid afternoon I began work on my Tiffy. Of course this is not gonna be straight OOB, so I began with modifications...

As you can see, this kit is old... 1969, the same year as the first Apollo Moon Landing... but the surface detail is not bad at all. Nice petite raised panel lines and some rivets here and there...

since RCAF 439 Sqdn was a "Bombphoon" unit, I had to first fill the rocket rail mounting holes...

I used some strip styrene filed ti fit and a good amount of Plastruct liquid cement for each one, then nipped off the excess... I will sand them smooth later...

then I had to sand away the kit's exhaust stacks to make way for the Ultracast exhaust stacks

The kit's pilot seat is kinda weak - it's made for a seated pilot figure

so I found a possible resin replacement in my spares' drawer

then a test fit of the Ultracast dust filter...

since it is designed for this kit, it drops right in place with no fuss.... nice!

that's all for now...

I sure hope they give you the go on the Ford Coupe Doug. Not only would that be an awesome build but, also because it is such a unique idea for this GB.

Well I do like the sound of a 1945 Ford Coupe...

Looking great guys!  Very neat to see your choices!

I did indeed get a quick start!  I got the Maus from a friend during Christmas so I was really eager to begin.  So 6 days after the start date, I sat down and built the majority of the tank that evening (was very simple but nice clean molds & detail).  I needed to paint the parts separately.  So here its is painted and assembled.

I need to do the camo and also the washes and tints.  I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a pic of the Maus being taken back to Russia?  Id prefer to paint it like that. 

Thanks guys!  Happy building!

Yeah man, the MAUS. What a tank. Good job Cody.

Doug, no, I have no problems either. It doesn't seem any different that getting a kit the markings for which are one year and doing it in a scheme for another year. And I know model companies can't always be relied upon when it comes to how they ID a kit. Go for it.

Stik, nice start. They kit has the same year stamp as I do but it looks in better condition than me.

Cody, that's looking really nice.

Stik - that's right on seeing a Canadian tiffy at the bench

---------------------------------------------------

Cody - making great time on the Maus, looks very good.  Might require more research, but as I understand it, the Soviets took the hull and turret from the  two Maus vehicles that were put out of action -  they are referred to the V-1 and V-2, and this was done after the war, but still 1945?  The vehicle was sent back to USSR for further testing, arriving 4 May 1946.

Some photos here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/message/1097282886/These+photos+posted+at+the+old+TRF+recently.....

regards,

Jack

Bish, it's  not the years, it's the mileage ;)

Jack, recently going thru my builds recently I realized that I had NO builds from our cousins up north... Obviously that needs to be corrected... and a RCAF Tiffy was perfect!

Bingo!   Thank you Jack!!!  Boy they didn't waist anytime putting the hammer & sickle on it, did they?  lol

Thanks Stick, Bish... I kinda got the idea knowing that about that time the auto industries began building cars again, and I looked at a picture of General Eisenhowers staff car and thought, that looks like a 45 -48 Ford. Well in a way even though his staff car was a 43, it was, being that was the design, (since they already had the tooling) they used to re-start their industry again.

Joe R, thanks for the vote of confidence!

Doug

Jack, nice find there, I was only able to dig out a couple of those. You are correct about the two vehicles being combined. The first photo in your link is the V-1 which had a weight to simulate the turret. This hull was combined with the turret from the V-2, the one in the second pic. It shows how heavy those turrets are when you see how many vehicles it took to recover it.

Looks like you have a good reference there Cody.

Stik, don't I know it.

Doug, be nice to get a none military subject in on the action, look forward to it.

Last night after dinner I sanded the rocket rail mounting holes smooth and this morning I rescribed the lost panel line detail

after that, I test fitted the upper wings to the lower and noticed a bit of a gap there where the landing light openings are located... so I set about creating some wing spar there to fill the opening

This morning I glued the upper wing halves on the lower wing

and as you can see, the spar is visible...

kinda plain now, but not to worry... I am gonna mount one of these in each opening for landing lights... now I am glad I found them.. I can do a whole bunch of fighters with this package...

and finally I got some work done in the cockpit...

seat separated from the armor plate and resin replacement seat from it's pour stub

and the IP and floor troughs ready for some generic RAF PE detail stuff from Reheat that I have had for ages...

tp://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t671/stikpusherII/rcaf%20tiffy/100_1304_zpsc19808d9.jpg

I should have some more progress to show in a few hours...

Those "pearls" are a fantastic idea! Great innovation! Man you did a nice job on filling the holes too, I always have trouble with things like that... You make it look easy.

Doug

Thanks Doug. It actually was pretty easy... just time consuming... gotta let the glue dry, then sand away.... The craft store bling should come in handy for just this sort of thing many times over...

Well here is the afternoon/evening update... 
I used this Reheat generic RAF/FAA set to spiff up the cockpit a bit

added a compass to the IP

and some rudder pedals to the floor troughs. I also added a brass wire connecting rod for the pedals based upon some photos I came across, as well as some styrene rod structure work to add what I saw in those photos... those pedals were a challenge as first you had to bend them to shape, then add the upper crossbar...

I also added another layer of armor (sheet styrene) to the cockpit rear bulkhead, the seat, some framework, as well as a retaining bar for the harness. I have some Eduard RAF late war Harnesses that I will use on this after painting

it may not look like much but those little PE things drove me a bit crazy... but nowhere near as bad as my last PE experience...