Gamera

Colin: Sounds good! I know what you mean, I've gotten in the goove before to the point I forget to take any photos too. 

Bish: Hope the holiday went well, I really need to get over and visit Italy someday myself. Looking forward to more work on the F-4.

 

Very well thank you. Didn't get right to the top of Vesuvius as it was closed due to hight winds, but other than that had a great week. I am rather liking Italy, i think in a few years we will have to take a longer trip and tour round a bit. Spoke to quite a few Americans there, most of whom were touyring around spending at least a couple of weeks. But if your flying all that way you might as well make the most of it.

So its been a while, like many months since my last build post.

I was able to get some of the items on the list completed over the past months.

Fuselage, wings and horizontal stablisers married together.

I added some metal blast tubes etc.

And a bit of PE.

Canopy and windscreen have been polished and ready for masking. Then a bit of cleanup of PE and fuselages, then to the paint booth she will go.

See you guys in another 3,6,12 months...

Ohhhhhhhh, looks fantastic! I love the brass guns!!! 

Thanks Mate!

The turned brass blast tubes and guns make for a better result than the plastic kit versions. I just wont to get her into paint and play with my first attempt with NMF.

I loof forward to seeing your next build update.

Damian

Hey Damian, I agree with Gamera, those guns are really eye catching.  The PE looks great!

Some very nice work there damo, those guns have come out really well.

Thanks Bish, they are a last minute update, well worth the money spent. Just wish I could get it to paint...

That's a great looking Mustang!

Cdn Colin

That's a great looking Mustang!

 

Thank you for your kind words!

If I can get a coat of primer on her, I would feel like a milstone has been reached, just not enough hours in the day currently.

I'm taking a small break from the ship for just a moment to get something done on the Swordfish.

I assembled the tail, wings and engine/PE and sprayed the black base. I'm going to spray the underside of the wings and other hard to reach areas before I assemble further.

Coming along nicely Steve, i think thats often the trick with biplanes deciding when to paint.

I've just pulled the Phantom out of the drying box after adding the white on Wed. Going to mask up and add the top colour and hope to have some pics tomorrow before i add the one or two decals.

Thanks mate! Not that actually have a clue what I'm doing, I'm just making it up as I go along.

I added the "Sky" to the underside and fuse sides and painted the torpedo. I also highlighted the ribs, sprayed the engine and the exhaust ring on the cowl.

Sorry for the poor color of the pics. Too much wash out I guess.

Steve: She's lookin' good!!!

Thanks Gam,

I sprayed the camo on the upper surfaces and saw I made a boo boo. I painted the Sky on the wrong side on the upper wings. Not a big deal, the struts aren't glued in because I saw my mistake while dry fitting them. They looked nice though  So far I don't see where others have had problems aligning the wings, everything fits great.

The left wing set is the upper wing on top, the left is the lower on top. While the AB is out I need to touch up the struts anyway.

The lower wings (correctly painted)

and the fuse.

Very nice paint job Steve, lucky you caught the wing issue when you did.

After a week away it was good to get back to the Phantom. The week has been spent masking painting and repeat. So its almost ready for decals. First was to finish off the bare metal areas.

Once masked the white undrsides were painted and then the top. I also added some lighter patches to the top to try and replicate the look i have seen in photo's.

As i unmasked i noticed i have a few areas to touch up as well as the black nose, so will be a few more days before i can add the decals.

Alos got the tractor put together.

Then painted and decaled. The pics don't really show the proper yellow, think i need to work on my camera setings.

Thats all for now.

Excellent work as usual Bish! I have paint envy at the moment...

And looking forward to seeing you create anther diorama to go with your build.

Well done.

Damian

That's some nice work there Bish on the Phantom and the tractor. 

Steve and Bish, you are both showing some nice progress on those kits.  Nicely done.  I am looking forward to seeing how they both come out.

Thanks for the comments guys, speaking of the dio, i need to sort out a couple of figures soon.

Steve: Sorry I missed you somehow. Camo looks great! Looks like added a little pre-shading or streaking in there or is that just how the light is falling on the ribbing? 

Gam,

For the blue, after the black base I spray a light color coat overthe eniter surface, then go back over the ribs with a heaver coat, making them lighter. I do the opposite with the panels. For the green, I add a lighter color for the ribs.

Thanks Steve, love the results you've gotten there. 

Finished and mounted the engine in the cowl and then dry fit the cowl onto the fuselage.

I used thin glue to rough up the non-skid area of the wings but haven't finished painting them yet.

Great job on the engine Steve, and nice idea for the none skid patch.

If I wore a hat I would take it off to you, nice work Steve.

What paint are you using, your getting a nice finish in the shots you have posted.

Damian

Yeah. that'a really looking sharp Steve. 

Cheers guys,

Damian,

I'm using Testers MM enamel for the fuse, wings and Testers metalizer for the engine.

I will typically use a mix of paint, whatever I have avaliable, but in this case I have it all in MM.

modelcrazy

Cheers guys,

Damian,

I'm using Testers MM enamel for the fuse, wings and Testers metalizer for the engine.

I will typically use a mix of paint, whatever I have avaliable, but in this case I have it all in MM.

 

Thanks Steve,

Never used enamels in this manner (only brush use for detail), may consider it's use based on your splendid work.

Damian

Thanks again Damian,

Bish, I assembled the wings and attached them to the fuse. I still have much to do installing the PE and rigging before finishing it up. I'm going to take a few days break on it and go back to the Prince of Wales.