Weekend GB 2017-Closed for the season

A model AND a diorama?!  That might be a first for this GB.  Both are well executed and look great!  

I just couldn't leave the cockpit "Barren" so I cobbled together some gauge's.

Finished the base...

I was going to make it look like the pilot missed the end of the runway.... But the plane turned out so pretty, I couldn't bring myself to destroy it !

So...... This scene is of a Trainer parked just off the edge of a field / grass runway.... somewhere in Europe ? ( Could be anywhere I guess. )

I took the following picture's using my flash, so everything get's kina Shiny.

And I did it with 17 hour's to spare !

lewbud - the Whirlwind came out great with that menacing black finish! Nice job!

Bob - great finish to the GB with your Mustang!  I'm going to tackle my kit soon and I will use some of your tips when I work on it!

Tony - the Me109 is killer!  I'm glad you finished it....great desert camo job!  No Me109s on my shelf yet, but yours is another one inspiring me to build one!

littletimmy - the Texan is coming along nicely!  What kind of scene are you planning with that base??

and this one is done!  Finished about an hour before the deadline of 6:30 PM, but I was messing around with my photo booth for quite some time before snapping the pics.  Two different sets of photos...first are with a portable photo booth a friend gave me, the rest are with my standard photo setup.  Not sure which I like better:

Proof of completion by deadline:

decals on and waiting to dry:

New booth.  Softer lighting, less harsh shadows, colors a bit muted.

Old booth - brighter lighting, but harsher shadows.  Brighter, more true to life colors.

Not too crazy with the three color scheme.  I think the "Deck blue" came out too dark and the "Blue gray" came out too gray.  I tried to apply a flat final finish, but it came out with an "eggshell" finish....oh well, there's always next time!

Thanks again lewbud for hosting the GB!  Can't wait til next year!

LT, that's looking pretty good, I hope you get it done. Thanks for your comments.

Bud - I'm trying to build little  collections of at least 5 aircraft of the same type. I'm in the middle of doing 5 1/72 109Es, and this was the 4th, so I squeezed it in ahead of the Spitties. 

Cheers

Tony 

Buffelhead...

I think the tri-color came out just fine. A light wash should "set it off" perfectly !

Taxtp

Love the Camo on your 109. As soon as I figure out my airbrush, I may attempt  a 109 too. 

You didn't "copyright" that Camo...... did you ???

Lewbud, that's an interesting subject. Cant say that I have ever seen one before.

Look's nice, too bad about the shark mouth. Would have definetly "set it off" !

bobbaily

I have the Monogram 1/48 version sitting in a box, about 80% complete-I can't bring myself to mask the canopy.

I didn't mask my canopy I figured I wouldn't have time...... so I freehanded it ! Your Mustang is looking good !

DEcal's are on and 2 coat's of glosscoat to seal them.

Who would have thought that such a small plane could generate such a big mess !

Did a little of the base.....

Hate the way the tree trunk has the joint at the base.... look's like I cut it down ... just to glue it back on ! Too late to fix it now.

Waiting on Gloss to dry. Then the final "push" to the finish line ! I will post more in a few hour's.

Bob - Your F-51 looks great. I didn't dare attempt NMF in this buils. so hats off to you, that's a really good acheivement and a nice looking model.

Bud - Your Whirlwind looks terrific. Once again, I would,'t have tried a twin engined job for this GB, so awesome work and a nice model.

I finished my 109 later on 31st Dec, so a few hours late. Although I missed the deadline, I learned more than usual on this model in terms of planning out a quick build, but also finding that I can successfully reduce drying time for acrylics, at least in Summer. I think the first photo is good for the front page. 

Bud - thanks again for hosting this, I always look forward to this GB, and this one was as good as ever. 

Cheers

Tony

Timmy-your T-6 is progressing nicely-looking forward to seeing more pics.  I have the Monogram 1/48 version sitting in a box, about 80% complete-I can't bring myself to mask the canopy.

Ernest-nice paint on your F6F-I really need to add a Hellcat to my collection-maybe next year...hmmm

Lewbud-love the look of the Whirlwind-and it looks ominous in black.

Finished the P-51D (or F-51 and yes, those are the Tamiya decals-I gave consideration to putting the Tamiya drop tanks on (painted as napalm tanks) but it wasn't a good fit-the bombs would probably work.

Again, this kit needs more time devoted to it to ix the little things-canopy fit and seams are the things that come to mind.  Add to that trying to spray rattle can paint when the temp in the garage is way under the minimum.  Add that to the other self inflicted wounds-I learned that neither Vallejo Model Air or Tamiya yellow like being airbrushed over Tamiya rattle can chrome silver.

Lewbud-thank you again for hosting this GB-it's always fun to watch and a great motivator if participating.

Cheers

Timmy,

The T-6 is looking good. Never done a base before, should put that on the to-do list.

Bob,

I like those markings.  Are those from the kit, or did you rob a Tamiya kit for them?

Ernest,

If you look at period pics, the Hellcat in the three color scheme ranged from matte to flat depending on how new and how well maintained the plane was.  As I said earlier, the paints tended to fade rather quick in the PTO.  Modern restorations tend to go with a gloss finish because it lasts longer and is easier to maintain. (Not really pertinent to the story, but while I was looking at Hellcat pics, I ran across a period pic of the Blue Angels Bearcat I just finished and the Tamiya AS-8 is almost dead on for the color, so I'm happier now)

On to the Whirlwind.  When we left our hero, she was just about ready to go into the paint shop. Here she is in Tamiya Matte Black.

Now fully marked. I stole most of the decals from the new tool Airfix Defiant. I really wanted to use the sharks mouth, but I would have run out of time.  The flash tended to wash out the yellow.

And here she is all finished up.

Photos taken with five minutes to spare. Need to go back and touch up a few spots, but she's in the record books. 

littletimmy - glad you're back for the last dance!  Looks like the Texan will build up really quickly! 

Bob - the Mustang is looking real good!  I would never have thought that the natural metal finish on it was from a spray can!    This build is inspiring me to brush the dust off my kit and build it up!

OK, it nearly midnight on New Years Eve and the Hellcat is painted up and just had a clear gloss coat applied for the application of decals tomorrow morning.   Here's some progress pics from earlier today:

Canopy masked and kit ready for primer:

Mr. Surfacer 1200 primer applied with the AB:

Tri-color scheme applied.  Not too sure about the final colors, but its too late to worry about it now!

No pics of the gloss coated model....its sitting inside an acrylic box to dry without dust getting on it.

BTW, what finish should this particular F6F have when done...gloss, semi-gloss or matte?  I noticed a lot of Hellcats have a high gloss finish, but usually only when its got an overall dark blue scheme.

Getting ready to pop the bubbly!  HAPPY NEW YEARS ALL!!

lewbud

Bufflehead,

The colors look fine to me.  It's hard to argue colors for the USN three color scheme because they tended to fade quick.  The painting instructions are wrong.  The landing gear doors and bays should be same color as the underside, in this case white.  Look forward to seeing the Hellcat finished.

Thanks so much for the painting tip lewbud!! I had already painted them zinc chromate, but after reading this I corrected it!  I was also planning on painting the oleos silver, but a quick internet check showed that even the oleos were mostly white.

Making progress-fought with the spray can Tamiya in the cold garage-doesn't look too bad-lost the detail on one side though. And silver shows every flaw-I thought the seams were better than they are.  I've been mixing other activities with building so I haven't given this kit the attention that would propel it to the next level.  I need to paint the canopy and landing gear but I'm hoping to get up early enough to finish before my deadline.

Littlejimmy-love the Testor's kit-a Testor's P-47 was my first kit back from a 35+ year break-looks like a fun kit.

I remember it as a Hawk kit.  A little before your time..... but not by much !

Terstor's re-poped it back in the 80's . The kit I'm working on is dated 1991 . 

Looking good!  I remember seeing that kit on store shelves when I was a kid.  

Got the second coat of Silver on...

Tommorrow will be detail paint day, and decal's.

I'll be working on the base overnight..... while watching Jurrasic Park.

( Inspiration for ground cover...... not a Dino dio. )

Got the first coat of Silver on it. Decided , while I wait for it to dry I would start on the base.

Yes,.... That IS my thumb print on the right hand side !

Da plen Timmy, da plen, da plen!  Bases? We don't need no stinkin' bases!!!  Just kidding (sort of. Although if you finished the base and not the T-6, you could pull a jet off your shelf and press it into the base leaving only the wheel prints and say you built a model of Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet.)

As for the Whirlwind, she'll be finished with about fifteen minutes to spare (1645 start time on Friday). Will post pics when I get to work tomorrow.  I will try to finish the Hellcat in the next couple of days.

The rest of you scalliwags, keep on building.  

To everyone, have a safe and happy New Years!

????????????????????

HMMMMMMMM...............

Watch..... I'll get the base done in time....... BUT NOT THE PLANE !!!

O.K.  I'm going to try this one more time.

Proof of life....

The kit only has 17 parts..... what could possably go wrong???

The 2 figure's were molded off.... their faces are split down the middle and one side is higher than the other so their usless ! So I wont be using them.

So now......

The kit only has 13 part's .... what could possably go wrong ???

Got most of the assembly done and first coat of primer is on.

In order to save time (or my sanity.... not sure which )I will be painting it in overall Silver with Olive Drab anti-glare panel.

Actually the truth : The kit has molded in markings where you put the decal's, so in order to do the "Nicer" trainer paint ( Yellow wing's , Silver fusalage, Red band's ) I would HAVE to sand down the entire plane !

Waiting for primer to dry now so I will post again in 2 hour's.

P.S.   If I can pull it off, I may do an "extra special" finish to this.... not saying what.... 

Thanks again for hosting this one Lewbud.  I look forward to this build every year.  Congrats to all those who participated and finished.  I hope you will be back next year for some more madness.

Unfortunately I fell ill this past week and didn't have the energy for round 5.  As much as a drug influenced camo pattern may have been interesting I will put the kit aside for next year.

Happy New Year to all.

Till next years insanity, take care.

Tony,

Bummer about not finishing in time.  However, that's a good looking bird you're working on.  Can't wait to see her finished.

Bob,

That classic builds up nice.  Looks like you'll be a made man in no time.

Bufflehead,

The colors look fine to me.  It's hard to argue colors for the USN three color scheme because they tended to fade quick.  The painting instructions are wrong.  The landing gear doors and bays should be same color as the underside, in this case white.  Look forward to seeing the Hellcat finished.

Hey Bob, love your choice for the GB!  I bought that same kit purely as a test subject for natural metal paint finishes but it looked like a nice kit so I set it aside for a future build!  Your's is looking very nice!  I just used the Vallejo Air Metal - Aluminum and DuraAluminum for the little Mustang a couple of weeks ago.  I have very little experience with NMF paints but I had absolutely no problems with these.  They sprayed on easily and dried quickly.  I was able to put masking tape on the finish a few hours later without any paint lifting.

Work started on the HobbyBoss 1/72 F6F-3 Hellcat at 6:30 pm this evening.  Proof of start pic.  I switched to my little Nikon camera that has the time/date stamp on it. 

This kit really is pretty simple, with a low parts count and fits together quite nicely.  By 11 PM major assembly including interior painting is done.

 Its going to get the tri-color Naval scheme of 1944:

I mixed up some Tamiya XF colors to get these for the "Deck blue" and the "Blue gray".  Anyone have any opinions of these are a good match?  I tried a lighter/bluer shade for the "Blue gray", but it seemed a bit garish on some test shots so I toned down the blue and darkened it a bit.

Tomorrow morning I'll fill some seams and mask the canopy before I hit it with the primer.

Tony-nice job on the 109-love the desert camo scheme-you accomplished quite a bit in 48hrs-can't wait to see the final pics.

Lewbud-looks like you're off to a great start.

I started this am with the 1/48 Revell/Monogram P-51D.  The kit is turning out to be nicer than I remembered-I do have one major snafu so far-the cockpit is slightly askewed so the canopy is going to need some 'adjusting'.

Here are the proof of start pics, a picture of the cockpit, and the plane ready for primer.  Just finished priming in the garage-was hoping to use the plane as a test for Vallejo Air-Metal paints-I did run a quick test on the inner wing but I don't feel confident that I can pull it off before Monday am-just shot the Tamiya rattle can grey primer-I have a can of Tamiya Gloss Aluminium so that will go on later tonight or early tomorrow...anyway, here are the pics

Nice 109! The mottled camo looks great!

Tony, the Me 109 is looking great!  I really like the desert camo you chose for the scheme.  Too bad you didn't get it done in time, but it's going to turn out awesome whenever you finish it! 

So upon reviewing my available paint stock it looks like I have the colors (or close enough!) to do the F6F Hellcat (it WAS my first choice)....so that's my entry for this last dance build for the GB!

Start time should be between 6-7 pm PST tonight.

Hi Everyone,

I stopped working at 9.25am on my Me 109E, as this was the deadline. I didn't make it, but I've enjoyed every minute. I knew last night that I wouldn't get there, but I pushed it right to the last moment. In the end, this is a bit of a complex scheme for a weekend build for me, and I chose to allow 2 hours drying time before masking each new colour, so that ate up a bit of time, although I tried to keep busy when I could.

Status at deadline:

Camo is painted, aircraft has been clear coated and is awaiting decals. Minor parts all painted.

Still to go:

Decals

Flat coat

Final assembly

weathering

I'll try to take you through the sequence.

Primed.

White fuselage stripe painted.

Whilst the white fuselage stripe had some drying time, I masked the canopy. I used half of an Eduard masking set I had left over, and did the rest the old fashioned way with tape and masking fluid.

Preshading

RLM 79 Sandy Brown

Masked it

RLM 76

This is where it got to by the deadline. I tried to apply the mottle in the same pattern as the diagram. It's not perfect.

In the spirit of this GB, I'll push on and try to complete it today, although I will pause to eat and breathe now !

Cheers

Tony