Multi Prop GB 17 March to May '17

TheMongoose

you know your self conscience is going to toy with you over those sink marks till you fix them...it's a sickness

Yes, I know all too well.   

Chris

Just a quick update.  Got the nose on and full of lead. Used 3 .25 ounce bullet nosed fishing weights.  The Italeri kit calls for 20 grams of weight in the nose, and that's approximately what I have after cutting one weight in half, and trimming the noses on a couple of them.  Since it wouldn't be seen, I left out every thing after of the cockpit so it should be enough.  There are some ugly seams at the wing/nacelle join.  The main gear has to be installed before joining the nacelle halves.  Once I get them sanded, and the nacelles de-riveted, she should be ready for paint.

Chris, she's looking good.  Keep it up!

Today i put down the high gloss black in prep for the aluminum skin. I'm using Vallejo metal colors on this. I'll let it dry till Friday and then put the finish coat on it. 

WOW, Lots of building going on. I've been away on vacation and business trips.

THEMONGOOSE- interewsting to see how the Vallejo metals work out. Have some but haven't used them yet.

Tonka here's what the aluminum looks like. Sprayed right out of the bottle. What i found, and i think this is true of all silver based paints, is that i had to put it on half as thin as i thought i should to keep it from running. Of course that's a problem i seem to have with all my painting, i tend to put it on too heavy. I'm getting better though.

Just about decal time. I will gloss coat it and it'll be ready. I did some subtle panel colors will duraluminum and semi matte aluminum.

Hi,

Your paint job looks really sharp.

Pat

PS. I often have trouble getting whites and metallic colors (and yellow too) to cover well.  Yours looks great.

Nice work on the 54, looks good.

For yellow to cover over another colour, first spray on a light coat of white , this will help the yellow to look better.

Theuns

Goose - That is one sweet paint job.  It looks nice now - I imagine it will really pop with the Thunderbird decals.

Lew - Nice and smooth !  looking forward to more.

Relief !  I didn't have to use filler to clean up those flaps.  Some time under a sanding stick was all it took to even them out and remove the sinkmarks.  Restored some panel lines with the back of an exacto blade, and laid down a first coat of RAF Dark Green (lightened) . . . and here we are:

Better pics to come.  Now I've gotta take care of that pesky canopy.

Chris

Theuns

I recon the Bear was the ultimate propeller plane :-)

Who knew ?  . . .   that this Bad Boy would be flying into the news so recently ! ?

Chris

PFJN

PS. I often have trouble getting whites and metallic colors (and yellow too) to cover well.  Yours looks great.

 

thanks Pat! Those colors have always been a hassle so i thought id add a few notes on what i did to improve how they look. Ive done 2 things - I use a white primer now under whites and yellows And I worked hard to control how much paint i put down at one time. It always felt like it wasn't covering so I'd keep spraying. Now i start with a mist and put down 3-5 coats total to build up the color. Thanks again for the kind words.

TheMongoose

thanks Pat! Those colors have always been a hassle so i thought id add a few notes on what i did to improve how they look. Ive done 2 things - I use a white primer now under whites and yellows And I worked hard to control how much paint i put down at one time. It always felt like it wasn't covering so I'd keep spraying. Now i start with a mist and put down 3-5 coats total to build up the color. Thanks again for the kind words.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the painting tips.  I've only recently started using primers and they have made a big difference for me.

Pat

Hello all,

Making a bit of pogress on the Blenheim, but decided to take on the engines before the Canopy.  

A while ago I built the Airfix Blenheim Mk. IV, which is just a variation of the Mk I. kit that I am working on now - so I knew of one issue that I wanted to correct with this kit - the cowlings at the front of the engine nacelles.  

These first two pics show the problem that I ran into with the Mk. IV.  The cowlings come in 3 parts that are all just a tad too short in circumference.  So you're left with some pretty big gaps - even if one divides the gap evenly between the three seams.

So here is my attempted fix ...   Glue each section to a piece of 0.040" thick styrene card stock . . .

and then trim.

. . .  next will be to sand them smooth before slapping them all on.

Chris

That is a good fix.

Theuns

I'm calling this beauty done! I struggled through the decals for sure. They refused to release from the paper. I lost some on the starboard side so here's her good sides!  

That looks outstanding Mongoose!

That is one very nice looking Skymaster you got there, well done.

I will update the front pang, please take a badge if you like

Thanx for taking part.

Theuns

Mongoose,

                                            Stunning ! 

Chris

Got the control surfaces on.  Found a couple of pinholes where the gunports were that need to be filled.  She'll look like this when she's done.

Hello All,

Lew - that's an attractive and unique scheme.

Well, after adding the card stock to one of the cowling sections on each engine, trimming them, and dry fitting,  I realized that I only needed to do one section for each engine.  A single 0.040" increase was all I needed.

The seam with the "adder".

The other seams that came together nicely without any additions.

And the fronts . . . 

Chris

Engines added and painted.

I'm running out of parts.  Must be gettin' close to done !

Chris

Hello again all !

Working on the ordinance in an attempt to further delay the inevitable canopy work.

I saw a reference pic for the Blenheim's bombs in the RAF group build and the one thing that stuck in my mind was the thin-ness of the metal that was used on the tail fin rings.  It's probably only 1/16" thick sheet or so.  So I decided to thin down the rings on my kit to bring them more in line with scale.

Here they are before . . . 

. . .   and after I hit them with the circular jewelers file and painted them.

Now I just have to dirtify them a little and paint some rings on them.

Chris

Bossman you've got skills  fine work on those bombs!

Thanks to All for your kind comments.

MA - any luck finding some clear parts for the 410 ?

I did find one legitimate thing that HAD to be done before beginning work on the canopy.  Actually I forgot all about it until after the bombs were finished.  This will be an in-flight model, so she'd look pretty silly without any peeps inside !

So I assembled a crew . . . and then promptly set about disassembling them.

I had three of the same standard issue Airfix pilot figures (two from the spares box) sitting with their hands molded into their laps, looking straight ahead.  I amputated the arms of one figure at the elbows.  This will be the pilot and I will fit him with new forearms so he can actually grab the control wheel,  The bombardier will be in the forward seat position looking over the sight.  He needed both arms completely removed, plus belly reduction surgery to allow him to bend forward at the waist.  Both of these guys needed to have their butts trimmed down a bit so that they fit inside the pit without bumping their heads against the canopy.

The navigator/gunner will be in the turret.  He had to have both arms completely removed as well.  New arms will hold the gun so that he doesn't have to shoot by bumping his face against the trigger. 

The other crew have been giving him a hard time about the fact that he needs a booster seat.

In my research I found out that this build will violate reality in at least one way. I read that the bomb bay doors in the Blenheim were held closed by bungee cords - and that they opened simply by having the weight of the released bombs push them open !!!   (I wonder if that's really true ?)  Well . . .  if it is, then this build will be in error as I have the bomb bay doors posed open with the bombs still sleeping soundly in their cradles, completely unaware that they are soon to become weightless !

Oh - and there's the mounting post inserted behind the bomb bay.  It'll probably be painted black and mounted in a wood base.

Chris

MA - So sorry to hear about the frosted canopy.  You definitely want to see all that detail work you did i the pit !  I had that happen to a Beaufighter a year or so ago.  Now I can't remember what glue it was.  I think it was a thin solvent glue (probond ?) or maybe a CA/superglue type.  I've heard that both kinds can cause frosting of clear parts.  Now I just avoid it totally by using Testors white glue or Elmer's.  No worries with those, but they're a bit more difficut to work with because of the longer drying time.

I think I heard somewhere that dipping canopies in Pledge floor wax will protect them from frosting.  I use that stuff to improve the clarity of the clear parts that are slightly surface-worn, but I haven't tested it to see if it protects from glue fumes.

Chris

Hello All,

More progress to report - and yes - more procrastination on the canopy.  Let's call it a change in strategy.  Basically - the canopy will get done when I have nothing else left to do.

So first - the crew.   I made a few very crude forearms and whole arms for the pilot and the bombardier.  I basically mushed out a bit of Tamiya paste/filler and spread it around with a putty knife till it got dry enough to roll into a very small "worm" with roughly the right diameter of a 1/72 scale guys arm. Then i just cut them to length and bent them into the position I wanted.  I had to use glue to attach them to the figures because by that time the paste wasn't sticky any more - but it was still a little flexible.  I did this after the figures were glued into place in the cockpit.  That helped me with the arm placement.

An hour or so later I painted them.

Then I applied a gloss coat to prep for decaling (yesterday)

And today she was ready for decals

You might notice the white ring near the port side roundel. Every once in a while I get that effect when I use MicroSol setting solution,  In this case I applied the roundel, then realized it was wrong and had to move it.  I caught it just in time.  I can take care of the white ring by painting over it.

Another day or two before Ill hit it with dullcoat.

Chris

Hey Gang, After all the delay, I've finally finished the ME-410, here are the somewhat sad final pics. Due to my current location in SW Asia, I have had access to such limited resources to accomplish the build that i finished the painting by hand. After assembling the canopy and leaving it overnight, you can image my frustration when I returned the next day to find the canopy almost totally frosted over! I think it’s due to the glue/cement I used which can be seen in one of the attached photos. Any recommendations on this are appreciated. Usually I use white glue at home, but not so much here trying to get this finished in time to send home. I was utterly and totally frustrated after the work on the front office. I had also read reviews where this kit's canopy was poorly fitted and this build definitely lived up to that review.