Steve...very ambitious base, that I'm sure, you will pull off!! Looking forward to that.

Yeah, Mikey, it's got a low part count, so, it's going together quick.

Rob S.

So, this kit has such a spartan interior, I'm not unhappy that she's gonna bit pinned up tight. Nothing to see but a few rows of seats. This just means that the exterior has to be the main focus. Anyway, for a lower quality kit, I was quite pleased with how well the fuselage went together. Well sealed. The clear canopy went on perfectly too. That I didn't expect..

I 'smoked' the glass inside the top of the canopy cover prior to installing. There's an instrumentation decal on the interior cockpit roof too, but, it'll never be seen again!! Too bad. More tomorrow.

Rob S.

So, this kit has such a spartan interior, I'm not unhappy that she's gonna bit pinned up tight. Nothing to see but a few rows of seats. This just means that the exterior has to be the main focus. Anyway, for a lower quality kit, I was quite pleased with how well the fuselage went together. Well sealed. The clear canopy went on perfectly too. That I didn't expect..

I 'smoked' the glass inside the top of the canopy cover prior to installing. There's an instrumentation decal on the interior cockpit roof too, but, it'll never be seen again!! Too bad. More tomorrow.

Woops! Think I hit the "quote" button twice...oh well!

modelcrazy

That looks wicked cool Rob  

OK, here I go with the base, this will be the first time I try this method.

First I made the base out of an old piece of house siding and made poster board walls and used hot glue to attach them to the sides. I also stiffened the walls with some cardboard backing.

Then I placed the ship inside the box and laid in sawdust, and formed some crests and troughs. I then squirted some thin CA onto the sawdust to stabilize it. That worked remarkably well but use an enormous amount of glue. 

Once dried, I applied Mod Podge for a base for the acrylic gel.

I will use the acrylic gel to form the wave peaks and smooth the texture. After the gel will be applied, I'll paint dark blue mixed with turquoise at the foam. After the paint will come the cotton, but I'll show that when I get there.

That's all for now.

Steve

Rob: For a cheap kit she's coming together quite well!

Steve: Wow, never thought about using sawdust and superglue! I've seen people use plaster before- does the sawdust work better?

I don't know yet. It is MUCH easier to form into swells and the like, and weighs less, however I used a whole 8 oz refill bottle of thin CA to get the job done. If I use this method again it will be for 1/700 and not 1/350.

I believe I will use foam on my next dio, which should be the Yamato for your GB. That is if I can scrape up enough cash for a PE set for that monster.

looking forward to this Steve...watching with great interest.

I got a lot done today, but, not worth photos. I spent a considerable amount of time masking and filling/sanding. Not much in the construction, but, that'll continue tomorrow.

Not surprising Rob with all those windows masking seems like a serious job. Guess that's one reason I don't build more choppers!  

Rob S.

So, this kit has such a spartan interior, I'm not unhappy that she's gonna bit pinned up tight. Nothing to see but a few rows of seats. This just means that the exterior has to be the main focus. Anyway, for a lower quality kit, I was quite pleased with how well the fuselage went together. Well sealed. The clear canopy went on perfectly too. That I didn't expect..

I 'smoked' the glass inside the top of the canopy cover prior to installing. There's an instrumentation decal on the interior cockpit roof too, but, it'll never be seen again!! Too bad. More tomorrow.

Hi Rob,

Nice work so far.  Very clean and great job on smoking the top glass!     

Ken

modelcrazy

That looks wicked cool Rob  

OK, here I go with the base, this will be the first time I try this method.

First I made the base out of an old piece of house siding and made poster board walls and used hot glue to attach them to the sides. I also stiffened the walls with some cardboard backing.

Then I placed the ship inside the box and laid in sawdust, and formed some crests and troughs. I then squirted some thin CA onto the sawdust to stabilize it. That worked remarkably well but use an enormous amount of glue. 

Once dried, I applied Mod Podge for a base for the acrylic gel.

I will use the acrylic gel to form the wave peaks and smooth the texture. After the gel will be applied, I'll paint dark blue mixed with turquoise at the foam. After the paint will come the cotton, but I'll show that when I get there.

That's all for now.

Steve

Wow Steve.  You have put a lot of thought into making that base!  Nice work!   

Ken

Rob S.

looking forward to this Steve...watching with great interest.

I got a lot done today, but, not worth photos. I spent a considerable amount of time masking and filling/sanding. Not much in the construction, but, that'll continue tomorrow.

Hi Rob,

I don't envy you on the masking, especially all that glass.  Looking forward to seeing it when you are done!

Ken

Well, I got a bunch of YELLOW done tonite..just yellow. Had a disaster too...I opened a brand new bottle of Insignia Yellow I got special for this kit and just as I twisted off the cap, I dropped the whole yellow mess on the floor. Managed to salvage enough to get a base coat and had to finish it off with Tamiya yellow:

Ouch! I hate when that happens! I jut recently spilled a bottle of Lacquer Thinner all over too. Fortunately it was only about a third full, but still, I almost ruined parts of my Annie. Close call there. Paint looks great; you really laid it on smooth. Nice work!

I was not pleased with the way the sawdust was leaving lumps so I went over it with torn paper.
  

I Painted the blue and sprayed the seafoam green to the churn area. Next it the cotton application.         

Steve

That water effect is incredible Steve!

Rob: She looks fantastic!!! Again let me reiterate how much I HATE SPRAYING ANYTHING FRIGGIN' YELLOW!!! She did a great job with it.

Steve: Looks pretty doggone good to me!!! Looking forward to the larger finished photos.

Thanks Gam...yeah, I have to say, I made a colossal error, which could have been prevented. I had fully intended to prime this yellow monster. Well, after I dropped the Yellow paint bottle, I got frazzled knowing that I don't have easy access to a LHS, so, with what I had left in the bottle I went right to painting. Anyway, I wasn't happy with the first coats of Model Master acryl. THEN, another disaster struck....I KNOW you cannot mask over MM acryl...I KNOW this, I've made this mistake a dozen times...BUT, I bloody well did it again!! I almost quit on this one when I pulled off tons of yellow paint, but, I took a break for a day and went back at it and re-painted the offending spots! Anyway, after a calm break, I think I managed to recover the balance.

I did realize too, that I was remiss in keeping up with my photos so I missed some progress. Here is my progress after oil wash and initial decal application.

Also, the RCAF roundels supplied were way out of register, so, I had to 'luckily' substitute them from my spares box. Happily, I had a sheet of RCAF markings from a F-104.

Despite all the problems Rob she looks good! The red and black look perfect to me. And did you apply a brown wash? Brings out the detail without messing up the yellow.

Yes, Gam...just a dirty browny/black oil wash to bring out high features and panel lines.

I'm done with this yellow mess. I'm not happy with it, but, it is what it is. Lots of lessons learned...first being, don't paint a big monster helo yellow! I don't have a clue what happened, but, when I pulled off the masking, almost every glass surface...ON THE INTERIOR was stained with I don't know what. No idea what happened and I'm not impressed. Anyway, overall, it was a huge challenge and I need to do something like this again to try again to improve the technique. Thanks all and I appreciate the comments.

The decal for the rear rotor didn't work against the black, so, I created my own markings.

You can kind of see the marring in the front windshield. It's almost like the mess you get when you get CA glue fog on glass, but, I didn't use CA glue, so, again, NO idea what happened 

Thanks for lookin' and if you don't mind, I'll take a badge.

You may be less than happy with it Rob, but I think it looks awesome.

Steve

Rob S.

Well, I got a bunch of YELLOW done tonite..just yellow. Had a disaster too...I opened a brand new bottle of Insignia Yellow I got special for this kit and just as I twisted off the cap, I dropped the whole yellow mess on the floor. Managed to salvage enough to get a base coat and had to finish it off with Tamiya yellow:

Ouch Rob, that is a bummer of dropping a brand new open bottle of paint.  I am sure that was a pain to clean up.

Your EH-101 certainly is yellow!  Looks like you got a nice smooth finish on it!     

Ken

modelcrazy

I was not pleased with the way the sawdust was leaving lumps so I went over it with torn paper.
  

I Painted the blue and sprayed the seafoam green to the churn area. Next it the cotton application.         

Steve

Nice work Steve.  You are truly an artist!     

Ken

Rob S.

Thanks Gam...yeah, I have to say, I made a colossal error, which could have been prevented. I had fully intended to prime this yellow monster. Well, after I dropped the Yellow paint bottle, I got frazzled knowing that I don't have easy access to a LHS, so, with what I had left in the bottle I went right to painting. Anyway, I wasn't happy with the first coats of Model Master acryl. THEN, another disaster struck....I KNOW you cannot mask over MM acryl...I KNOW this, I've made this mistake a dozen times...BUT, I bloody well did it again!! I almost quit on this one when I pulled off tons of yellow paint, but, I took a break for a day and went back at it and re-painted the offending spots! Anyway, after a calm break, I think I managed to recover the balance.

I did realize too, that I was remiss in keeping up with my photos so I missed some progress. Here is my progress after oil wash and initial decal application.

Also, the RCAF roundels supplied were way out of register, so, I had to 'luckily' substitute them from my spares box. Happily, I had a sheet of RCAF markings from a F-104.

Wow Rob!  You went to town on your EH-101!  Looks like you recovered nicely from pulling up the paint.  Sure can't see any blemishes in your photos.  Great job on the wash, it really makes it pop.     

Ken

Rob S.

I'm done with this yellow mess. I'm not happy with it, but, it is what it is. Lots of lessons learned...first being, don't paint a big monster helo yellow! I don't have a clue what happened, but, when I pulled off the masking, almost every glass surface...ON THE INTERIOR was stained with I don't know what. No idea what happened and I'm not impressed. Anyway, overall, it was a huge challenge and I need to do something like this again to try again to improve the technique. Thanks all and I appreciate the comments.

The decal for the rear rotor didn't work against the black, so, I created my own markings.

You can kind of see the marring in the front windshield. It's almost like the mess you get when you get CA glue fog on glass, but, I didn't use CA glue, so, again, NO idea what happened 

Thanks for lookin' and if you don't mind, I'll take a badge.

Great job Rob!  You blasted that one out pretty quick!  She came out great!     

Ken

Ken, I think your helo is looking fabulous! Way to go. Question: is the blemish on the inside or outside of the canopy? I've had some fogging-type issues on mine before that were from my masking agent. If it is on the outside, try using Goo Gone to clean it up.

The marring is on the inside and she's sealed up tight.

I don't think anyone is satisfied with their own work, to me she looks fantastic Rob. You took an insanely complex scheme with probably the worst colour to paint, yellow, and knocked her right outta the park.

I wonder if the smudge might have something to do with Future, did you dip your clear parts in it? I've had it do some weird stuff before.

Duke Maddog

Ken, I think your helo is looking fabulous! Way to go. Question: is the blemish on the inside or outside of the canopy? I've had some fogging-type issues on mine before that were from my masking agent. If it is on the outside, try using Goo Gone to clean it up.

Speaking of helicopters.....

I had a wild weekend! Went out to see my buddy out on the plains, where he works as a city official. I arrived on Sunday, and overnight they had some heavy rains, a ditch had overflowed and flooded some areas in town. I went out to the local airport to meet him as they were waiting for a chopper to take the group out to overlook the damage. What shows up but a Blackhawk! They were getting briefed and about to board, when my friends boss asks "we have an extra seat, does your friend want to go for a ride?" I couldn't say no, could I?

I have some photos that I will post later as I am at work now, but I couldn't wait to tell you guys!

Talk about a chance in a lifetime for a guy like me!

Jim