Yeah, great job on the cockpit there, love how you keep adding new stuff in there. Great work on the levers, I always knock them off faster than I can attach them. And very cool work on the wiring.

Thanks Joe and Gamera.

I finished off the side panels before I head off to bed. Just had to get a flat coat on 'em tonight so I could concentrate my efforts on the IP tomorrow.

and the Macro Monster strikes again to help out the situation. Looks like I've gotta tidy up those white strips beside ckt breakers. Man my eyes must be failing me even under the visor.

Lots of great work in here. I haven't been on much due to some travel and a lot of work commitments, but I've been watching via email and will get to my La-7 before the end of the year.

-BD-

Some stunning work there Joe, i love the detail your putting into this.

Thanks Joe Rix: Congratulations on your 1^st and 3^rd place.

Thanks Mustang1989: Excellent work on your cockpit, great detail.

Thanks Gamera.

Thanks Lostagain: Interesting use of brass tubing for the landing gear, a nice touch.

Entered my Bf-110 into the painting stage, last Thursday I washed the surfaces down with soap and water with a Q-tip. Some of the parts in the cockpit area had to be removed to make masking easier.

Model Master Acryl grey primer was airbrushed, the top side just after lunch and the bottom later on after dinner. To make a long story short I have decided to stop airbrushing model master acryl paints, there just to frustrating to airbrush.

Friday I pre-shaded with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black, usually after airbrushing Tamiya I let it dry over night, but to help speed things up I airbrushed the top in the morning and about four hours later I did the bottom.

The first of four colors was airbrushed on Saturday, I use Model Master enamel RLM 76. Same as before airbrushing the top surfaces in the morning, then the bottom later in the day. The enamel flats dry the fastest, about four hours with light coats. Sunday I applied the second coats of RLM 76.

Sunday was a off day to let the paint dry fully, in perpetration for masking RLM 75. In the past I had problems with paint pealing up after removing masks, on my StuG III after posting shading it I let it dry for a full day, then I masks it up to airbrush the interior. When that was done I removed the masks and it didn't peal up any paint.

Tuesday I masked up the top of the wings for RLM 75, to help reduce the over spray I turned the PSI down to 10, and had the airbrush needle open three to four turns. That worked out pretty well, two coats where applied. The next day I removed the Tamiya tape, no paint was pealed up, and nice straight sharpe lines where left behind.

Wednesday was freehand RLM 75 on the top of the fuselage, and the top of the rear tail. I though I masked up everything but a small about of over spray landed on the top of the main wings. The freehand work was done with 10 PSI and three to four turns of the needle open, two coats where applied.  (Forgot to take photos, will post them later.)

Thursday I airbrushed Tamiya X-1 gloss black on the bottom of the wing.  The RLM 76 over laps the leading edge.

Looking really nice Dan, god to see the paint going on.

Dan: That's some sharp paint work. 

Thanks Bish & Gamera.

Really happy with how the paint has gone done. Just finished up the second coat of XF-1 flat black, the next color to apply is RLM 83 in small blotches. Followed by RLM 02 to the main landing gear.

Excellent Dan. Your overall paint work is tremendous. And all of that patient puttying and sanding has really paid off. It all looks sharp and clean.

Time to show what i have been doing the past couple of weeks. Firstly, the figures. These were finished off with an oil wash over the camouflage and all the missing bits added. Once they are on the base, i will use some pigments to tie them better into the base.

And that base has been my main focus. It has been slow going, but i have just been making this up as i go along and i am pretty pleased with the results.

The road and path were painted with Tamiya German grey mixed with a little black. The path was then dry brush with oils and for the cobbles, i took a selection of grey and brown oils and went over individual stones.

The house was painted Humbrol brick red which was followed with Humbrol Pale stone for the mortar. This was the most time consuming bit. I then mxed differant batches of brick red with various oils, orange, browns and so on,and went over the bricks.

This was followed with a coat of Alclad aqua clear to protect the oils and enamels and it was all given a raw Umber oil wash. I wash very happy with how this came out, especially the house.

The inside also got some attention. Starting down stairs i added real cloth carpet from Reality in scale. This is really great product you can feel the texture. I then added some skirting boards with was a thin strip of balsa painted gloss white, followed by the wallpaper, also from Reality in scale.

After painting upstairs a light green, i added the ceiling/floor between the ground and first floor. For the lath and plater ceiling i use balsa wood, styene strip for the lath and celluclay for the plaster.

For the rendered wall i wanted a yellow/green colour. There are a lot of houses around where i live with coloured plaster on the outside walls, many in this colur. I was going to try and mix my own but whne i was looking through my Tamiya colours i spotted there yellow green which i had forgotten i had. Its not a colur i use often. And it was perfect.

And thats it for now. Just got to add the rubble and some final bts and pieces. The small open patch to one side of the house will be a small bit of garden. Going to add some grass and flowers to that, then a small bit of fence. Should be wrapping this up soon.

Dan: Your hard work is paying off buddy! I use acrylics almost exclusively and can definitely agree to thier difficulty in using. Even with a flow aid they're still tricky. Results are great but the work to acheive it is unbelievable.

Bish: That's some fancy work you're pulling off there as well. This is one area of modeling that I haven't ventured in to yet. Probably because, knowing how I am, I'll go completely overboard with that as well!

Dan: Excellent....How you did all that painting with the antennas sticking out of the nose I'll never know.

Bish:  There you go doing a fine job building targets again

Thanks guys.

Joe, ye, i know what you mean. I have having to restrain myself or this would never get finished.

Bish, that building, road and the figures are looking really, really good. I am looking forward to seeing it progress.

Dan, I like the step by step on the camo on that 110. 

I finally got around to finishing my Spitfire FR XIV, Belgian Air Force, 1946. You can use any photo for the first page.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Tony, and WOW. I am not a fan of the Spit, but thats one really nice example. I do like how you did the camera port and those markings really suit it. Nice weathering as well. I think i will use the seco0nd pic which shows the port and will put that up later. Thank you very much for showing that here and being in the group.

Whadda job on that Spitfire Tony! Spankin' it the whole way man!

Bish: WOW! That is very very impressive. I absolutely love what you have done with your base. It looks all the realistic part. I got to help judge the dioramas at WestFest contest and it definitely gave me new insight. Not to the critical side but, rather, what to appreciate in what folks put into them. And, now, I have a vast and deeper appreciation for the outstanding work you put into your bases.

Tony: That is one catching Spitfire. you have done a remarkable job on it overall. Heck, if you can build a Spitfire that catches Bish's attention, then you must be a master. Thanks so much for sharing your awesome skills with us. It was a real pleasure.

Tony, great looking Spit, those Belgian markings really set it apart. 

regards,

Jack

Thanks Joe, much appreciated. As i mentioned, its my first Urban dio, so i know theres a bit of tweaking to do in the future. Its a lot more work that rural ones but does give more interest. I do need to get some furniture so i can fit out future buildings a bit more.

And thats 2 great looking Spits we have had. I need to be careful, next thing i know i will be building one.

So, I had pretty much decided on which markings I was going to do my Corsair in when I met with the effects of an aging brain. I had in mind to do this:

This is a Corsair from VF-84 serving on USS Bunker Hill. It is the kit decals and I swore the instructions said 1946. But, when I double checked in preparation for painting there it was in black & white, 1945. What the...? So, a little research was in order and much to my dismay I find that VF-84 was inactive by 1946. Time to punt.

Decals are provided in the kit for a Corsair of Marine Squadron VMF-312 out of Okinawa:

But, again, the instructions indicated an aircraft from 1945. Research into VMF-312 indicates though that it was indeed active in early 1946. Thus, I had this option.

I thus began a search for other decal options and came across this beauty from Montex:

Again, the decals indicate aircraft from 1945. More research on my part found that VMF-512 was active in the Pacific until Feb. 1946. Yahtzee! This decal set arrived in my mailbox just the other day.

Now, I realize that I may be stretching this a bit as I'm unsure if these exact aircraft were active in 1946. This coupled with the fact that it was during this period that the USN was transitioning to the F4U-4. But, I figure, what the heck, this is a what if GB. As such, I hope that my efforts with the F4U-1D will still fly here.

The Montex set is really sweet and it has me very tempted to try a first. That is to use their masks to paint the insignia. I have some trepidation as I'm so used to and confident in decals. Yet, I believe I am up to the challenge

In the meantime, I've been working on some of the fiddly bits. I've wired some brake lines on the landing gear and working on the ignition wires for the rockets. I've also just received Quickboost's resin cowling flaps that are designed to run a wire around the inside to simulate the cable operating system. It will be a nice touch. Also got the props painted and just need to paint the hub. 

I hope to get some pics here soon of some of my progress. Unfortunately, I'm running into the part of the year where bench time is challenging. In addition to the milder weather inviting yard work and hiking, there is the fact that Denver Bronco football season is in full swing (and they're looking every bit the Super Bowl champions) and Utah Jazz Basketball is about to start. Simply put, I don't miss games..

Joe, i just need some checking and VF-84 was disestablished in Oct 45. So had the war carried on, it would most likely have remained active. So you could have stil gone with the original. But i must admit i like the Montex option.

Am i reading that right, does that Montex set include decals. I thought all there sets were just masks, i have a set for the Airfix 24th Stuka. Not tried masks for markings yet though. So i will be keen to see how these go.

Bish

Am i reading that right, does that Montex set include decals. I thought all there sets were just masks, i have a set for the Airfix 24th Stuka. Not tried masks for markings yet though. So i will be keen to see how these go.

They do indeed include decals for the insignia and for all other markings except the white striping. Those they provide only the masks for.

Bish

Joe, i just need some checking and VF-84 was disestablished in Oct 45. So had the war carried on, it would most likely have remained active. So you could have stil gone with the original. But i must admit i like the Montex option.

Thanks Bish. I like how you think.

But, this just opened up a a can of worms for me as I'm dealing with an inner conflict. You see, I come from a family of Navy pilots and thus, that is where my main interest lies. So, when I model USN aircraft I focus strictly on them. Certainly nothing against the USMC, it's simply my family heritage. I mean, come on, everyone knows that US Navy pilots are the greatest fliers in the world. Right?. With that said, I really do like the VMF-512 markings and will likely stick with them. 

Wow guys, heck of a weekend here!

Tony: Absolutly beautiful Spit there. I don't think I've seen a Belgian one built but she looks sharp!

Bish: Nice work on the figures and the street and wrecked house are top notch work. I followed the thread you had going on the diorama section of the forum and you really put that great information to use there.

Joe: What can I say? I like all of those Corsair schemes! And if the war were prolonged who's to say that some of the disbanded squadrons might have stuck around a little longer?

Progress. I have to keep telling myself this is a 45 year old kit

Btw: I did get a little more done here. I went with Jack's advice on pre-shading and adding black areas to the torii gate. And Bish's advice on staining the muffler on the tank. But you might have noticed I've been sitting on this for two friggin' months since my 'completed' photos.

It still was lacking something. Just looked kinda bland and sterile to me. Then I saw these Japanese cherry trees and thought they looked awesome. I haven't seen any Shinto shrines with the trees planted near a torii gate but the cherry trees in bloom make me think of Japan and plus to me at least some plant life takes away the sterile look of war machines and gravel.

I went and repainted the geisha to red, pink, and white to match the torii gate and trees. So now all the civilian stuff fits that colour scheme and the military stuff is green, yellow, and brown. There's probably some fancy word for doing things that way I forgot from my college art classes.

Anyway a few more things I need to fix and hopefully (cross your fingers) I'm done. Any other advice would be great!

I tried the tank with cherry blossums on it and without them. I think with looks better, what do you guys think?

TJ: That is some excellent progress. That's one sharp paint job you've pulled off. You're doing that old kit some righteous justice.

Gam: That is an excellent improvement. I like it. I like it a lot. I prefer the cherry blossoms on the tank also. Nice work my friend.

JOE RIX

 

Bish

Joe, i just need some checking and VF-84 was disestablished in Oct 45. So had the war carried on, it would most likely have remained active. So you could have stil gone with the original. But i must admit i like the Montex option.

 

 

Thanks Bish. I like how you think.

But, this just opened up a a can of worms for me as I'm dealing with an inner conflict. You see, I come from a family of Navy pilots and thus, that is where my main interest lies. So, when I model USN aircraft I focus strictly on them. Certainly nothing against the USMC, it's simply my family heritage. I mean, come on, everyone knows that US Navy pilots are the greatest fliers in the world. Right?. With that said, I really do like the VMF-512 markings and will likely stick with them. 

 

And now you have just cleared something up for me. So VF are navy squardrons and VMF are marines. Obvious really, but i never spotted that.

Ther eis a saying over here which dates from when the RN were said to get the best pilots and the Army was winning all the sailing regattes.

Fly Navy, sail Army and walk sideways.

tempestjohnny

Progress. I have to keep telling myself this is a 45 year old kit

 

Thats looking nice, love the nose markings.

Thanks G, i must to pop in there and post my results and thank everyone.

I do like the cherry blossoms, they are add a nice touch to the scene. Me and the Mrs recently watched a 2 part series with Joanna Lumley traveling the length of Japan. Some stunning sceneri and amazing buldings over there, it made me thing of your build.