Monogram Mafia IV Group Build

Lots of great progress guys and gal. Plenty of fine builds.

CB, I gotta ask as to how the cockpit tub came loose? That really is a bit of a ggrevation.

stikpusher

Lots of great progress guys and gal. Plenty of fine builds.

CB, I gotta ask as to how the cockpit tub came loose? That really is a bit of a ggrevation.

 

Well it stayed in place pretty well without glue when I was dry fitting and consequently I guess I forgot to glue it before joining the fuselage... 

Moring report:

Morning started off with giving the Jug a coffee bath. Once that was cleaned up I started painting the pilot figure (experimented using tamiya paint with their retarder -- worked pretty well).  Next I micro-meshed the inside and outside of the windscreen and polished it with a rag wheel in my dremel. Looks almost as good as Tamiya kit part now. Sorry, no time for pictures right now!

Understood about the cockpit tub. I do like the idea of polishing the canopy with the micro mesh and rag wheel. I've never tried that before. I just wipe them down with a good micro fiber lens cloth before a dip in Future.

Well I had my windscreen looking good yeserday; howeverr, I was less than impressed with the fit. I decided to fix it  with the help of some baremetal foil and slo-zap. Now I have to polish and buff the windscreen again but I should be able to install the windscreen after final painting/assembly now, which will greatly simplify the painting process.

Got sidelined by other things but finally got some work done. I used some very thin wire wrapped around a mini drill bit to make the spring for the canopy hold open wire.

EZ line was inserted into the tiny spring and super glued in place. The HF extra hands jig are a great help in aligning things.

Hold open wire in place along with some scratched out belts made from wine foil and left over pe parts. Aerial wire is EZ line and a pleasure to work with.

Got the wheels pinned and glued down to the plank surface. The flash reflected off the Floquil Silver and looks lighter than how it actually is.

The figures are next. Got them cleaned up and shot them with Floquil Engine Black enamel as a primer/pre shading coat.

Looking good PJ!

cbaltrin

Looking good PJ!

 

Agreed! I love those two figures that come with that kit! 

Howdy, fellow Group Build members! WOW, all of the builds posted so far are looking GREAT!! Very impressive what can be done with a Monogram/Revell kit and good, old-fashioned modeling skills. 

I hoping to have an update for the forums either today or tomorrow for my TBD-1 Devastator. Work got really busy as soon as I signed up for this project, which just goes to show that someone/something doesn't want me building models!! But I'll show 'em/it!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Gary Mason

Ok, I seem to have lost my engine face for my P-47. All I can figure is it fell on the floor and bounced off somewhere, a mouse ran away with it, or one of my boys walked off with it...  Well, it's not a total loss as I have a few in my spares box and I also managed to clean and organize my shop while looking for it so good things can come from bad...

Was going to build a 1/48 P-47D after the Tigercat but I think I'm going to build a few 1/72 F-4Js instead.

Tigercat progress with gaps in the wing roots being filled and a fresh coat of blue.

CB

I like what you did to the windscreen. Looks like a much better fit.

GT

Your cat looks very good.

I have 2 AMT cats in the stash, the 2N and 3N that look super detailed. I got them at a show a while back for a song.

Finished painting both figures. I had forgotten about the great looking figures Monogram used to include in their kits. I just hit them with an oil wash so i will shoot some clear flat tomorrow and then will be mounted on the base.

Finally made some progress on my Devastator this weekend. Started by doing what I always do when starting a build - assembling the parts that don't need painting first!

The outer wing halves went together first. I started by test-fitting the outer starboard wing panels, and they looked ok (or so I thought). I glued the pitot tube in place, then glued the halves together using the old Testors tube glue that comes in the blue tube - has that great citrus smell to it. I figured I would go back to the old days with this build - the way I built when I was a kid, using the same stuff that I used as a kid. Do you know that if you DON'T use that stuff for a while (as in years), you get outa practice with it? I didn't, either.

Anyways, once I joined the two halves together, I discovered that the trailing edge had a decent-sized gap in it. I then applied some Tenax-7R, thinking that would help fuse the plastic together a bit and close the gap, but I was wrong. Didn't help a bit. Didn't hurt anything, but didn't help, either. So, ok, I figure I'll just have to use a little putty on the trailing edge, and accept the fact that I'm gonna have a thick trailing edge on one wing. Below is a view of both outer wings before sanding the squished-out glue off:

Here's a view of the trailing edge of the port starboard wing panel showing the gap:

The trailing edge of the port wing is next:

You can see the difference. I attribute this to me not paying close-enough attention to what I'm doing......

Below is a front view of both wing panels.....

I kinda wish that Monogram had molded the wings as one-piece affairs (so there would be no seam in the corrugated areas), as the corrugation on all the wings' leading edges are gonna make cleaning up the seams a bear. What I'm considering is sanding the leading edges as I would any other wing to get them nice-n-smooth to eliminate the seams, then use some stretched sprue to replace the corrugation that's lost in doing so. What do you folks think? Is there a better way to get around this? Take a look below:

That's all I have for now. Hope to have more done before the week is out.

Also, I have something in common with Toshi. I have always used flickr for my photo posting, but, since my last use of it (sometime in late July 2017 to start posting on this group build - been using flickr for many years), something has changed to where I can't obtain the link to post photos here, so I have switched over to Fotki tonight. It seems to work ok; just gotta get used to it's user interface.

Gary Mason

Stunning figures! Really, he came with those flares (?) around his boots?

Gary, yeah those folds were probably meant to work. Stretched sprue is a good idea. I did that to clean uo the joins (not meant to be folding) on the Airfix Ford Tri Motor. 

Got a little sidetracked building an extension on my back deck for my grill, but back at it soon. It's "car week" here- the Concours of course, but also a gazillion car shows. Maybe I'll find a kit at a sale table.

CB, your P-47 must be jinxed.... what is going on there? Modeling gremlins? First the cockpit and then the engine....

68, the Tigercat is looking sweet in the Sea Blue. 

PJ, those figures look awesome! Man you did great work on them!

DD, you're off to a fine start on your TBD. You're pretty braver to use the old  sniff proof glue. Lord I hated that stuff. For clean up of the wing leading edges, I suggest using needle files. That's what I used on my TBD build a few years back.

Thanks stik, GM  and bob.  This one is done and on with the 17Z for the second part. Click on the images for closeups.

Don Stik,  These issues with my P-47 are not an issue for a rusty old modeler. They are minor annoyances that I will swat like so many flies.  I have extra engines in the stash and have already perfected a CRRS (Cockpit Retrieval and Reattachment System... AKA Chops sticks and a big hole in the firewall).

Capn Napalm

Finally got started on the P-51.  Still a lot to do... 

 

Welcome to the party Capn! looking good so far. Nice detailing there.

PJ. Ditto on the Don's comments. Your figure painting is excellent!

stikpusher

DD, you're off to a fine start on your TBD. You're pretty braver to use the old  sniff proof glue. Lord I hated that stuff. For clean up of the wing leading edges, I suggest using needle files. That's what I used on my TBD build a few years back. 

I actually love the smell of that glue (and the toxic stuff, too!). Too bad Glade doesn't make an air freshener with that scent - I'd buy it in a heartbeat! And, being the Marine that I am, I also like the smell of gasoline, cordite, and sulphur. Really.....

Didn't think about needle files - great idea - gonna give that a try. I was trying to use my X-Acto knife, and it got some of the seam, but just not good enough for my low, low standards. If all else fails, and the files don't work, sanding & stretched sprue will be my last resort.

cbaltrin

Don Stik,  These issues with my P-47 are not an issue for a rusty old modeler. They are minor annoyances that I will swat like so many flies.  I have extra engines in the stash and have already perfected a CRRS (Cockpit Retrieval and Reattachment System... AKA Chops sticks and a big hole in the firewall). 

THAT is hilarious!! Mr. Miyagi would be proud of you!

Great job on the 262, plasticjunkie!! Is that your first for the group build, or the second?

Thanks gents. Dawg I'm working now on the second one, an old  Monogram 1/72 Fying Pencil. 

That's a good-sized kit, even in 72nd scale. Good Luck!

Wow how did I miss that--PJ has completed his 262! Great looking model PJ!

Devil Dawg

  

 And, being the Marine that I am, I also like the smell of gasoline, cordite, and sulphur. Really.....

 

Yeah, I love those smells as well.... especially cordite... hell, even CS can give me a twinge of nostalgia.... I think I hit my head on landing too many times....

PJ, simply outstanding work on the 262 all the way around. I love the plants growing up between the planks on the base. Awesome detail touch. And those figures. Your build is the epitome of why we started the Monogram Mafia build threads and the Show Your Monogram builds. For all the haters out there, have a good look!

cb, I'm happy to hear that you have a solution to your speed bumps. I look forward to seeing them happen.

While I still have not decided on any kit for my to build yet, I gotta admit that seeing "Dunkirk" a few weeks ago really put me in the mood for a RAF build. Then I watched "Battle of Britain" over the past few days on our HD TV and Blu Ray player. Mind you I only have that movie on DVD and not on Blu Ray, but still the improvement in clarity and resolution is remarkable...

Thanks fellas for the nice compliments. I'm very happy how the NMF came out using Floquil Old Silver which has a metallic sheen to it. You can actully get different shades by simply thinning it more making it more metallic looking and a bit deeper in color. Too bad that paint line was discontinued. I wanted to get a weathered look on the metal so I sprayed some clear flat to kill some of the shine to get an oxidized look.

The figures were very easy to work on since they have some very good molded details. The dark oil washes and dry brushing make up the shadows in the deep recessed areas and folds.

Thanks again for all the nice compliments.

My original decals were shot so a while back I contacted Revell for replacements and they were nice enough to send me a set.

Got the IP decal sheet on

and the fuselage together

the figures are very tiny at 1/72 scale and will not be very visible once they get seated and the clear parts go on with all that framing so the 4 lads just got their unifoms and faces painted and got a dark oil wash to sharpen some details.

Great start PJ! I'm surprised that Revell had that decal for this kit in stock. I have not seen one on shelves in ages. When was the last time that they issued this kit, if anybody knows? 

One question, didn't the Luftwaffe bomber crews usually wear a grayish khaki coverall flight suit instead of the service blue uniforms in flight ops? 

Actually ROG re released the same kit in 2011 so it resurfaced again with better decals.

What little I could find about early bomber crews described the color as greyish blue including the instructions, and we all know how inaccurate manufacturers can be with color call outs.

I suspected the khaki color too but you confirmed it so thanks again stik. This will be an easy correction to make since the lads are still taking a break and relaxing on the sprue tree.

I'm making this one in-flight since it even has the cool old time stand. Looking into prop blurs for the spinning effect.