Secret Santa GB 2018 - Nearing the Finish Line!!

Bet you can tell I’ve got the week off! And I’m spending it relaxing at my workbench 

here’s the tower that is going smoothly. This is the smallest and most precise assembly I’ve ever done and I’m pretty proud of it at the moment . 

Do you guys hand paint these or can you do it with an airbrush without blowing pieces off?

Modelcrazy can you share how you made the water effects for the Kirishima?

 I started on the masts but progress has slowed for sure. Started ok but on the 2nd mast the inner landining didn’t fit. Turned the instructions upside down and that still didnt help lol

This piece was not only too long but too wide also, i couldnt slide the tabs through the crossbraced rear vertical. If i moved it down one landing then it fit however looking at the instructions and an online assembly from Dragon showing the assembled pe it wasn’t correct. So out came the snips and I modified it to fit where it’s supposed to be. Of course by that time the one-piece assembly was in 5 pieces, jeeesh. You can see a piece in the background above. I stopped to let everything dry and will go back and relook at it shortly.

Mongoose you're really moving along. Trying to get everything on prior to the PE is wise. I will put each sub-assembly together, including PE, paint and even any rigging if possable prior to installing. I've found that this lessens the chance of my fat fingers breaking anything off while I work myself from the center out. This doesen't always work though

You do me proud looking at your Spruance.

Thank you Chad. The Kirishima won 3rd at EagleQuest, 2nd at ScaleFest and 1st at the Texas State Fair. Not a bad run before I retire her. 

Man Mongoose, you are screaming through that kit. You're gonna be done before I even get started on mine. LOL, I did read the instructions over today, so that's something.

BK

Mongoose... Looking good, won't be long till you're done with her.

About 1/2 done with the offices on the vindicator.  Side frames are real delicate.  Will put up pics when ready to install and close up the fuselage.

That Karishima looks better in person!

The destroyer is coming along really well Mongoose!

Nice! Really like the waterline display too. That made for a reference. I used Tamiya panel line wash to highlight the sides and everything on them, dark grey and black so far. I put some orange on the life preservers and tried to just shadow the ends of the binoculars, missile tubes and gun barrels.

Started on the decals because I don’t want to try working around the PE once I put it on. I watched another 2 videos on pe railings. Going to try the towers though before i get to those. I’ll tell you what it sure is hard to find high resolution shots of destroyers! an awful lot seem to be blurry low quality shots that I can’t use to id details. Jeez.

The best and really only way is hand paint them. The stairs, ladders, small boats and such will be hull color with the exception of the small boat interior. I use Vallejo because it brushes so nicely. This is the Kirishima, 1/700 Hasegawa Hyper Detail. The Japanese version of the Arleigh Burke class DD.

Making more progress on this baby today. Everything done here except the PE masts.

what i could use is some advice on how to detail all the small elements like the life rafts, buoys, and stairs. Anyone good at this or seen a build thread where someone has done something to give some depth to these?

Ahhhhh.  Figured out the secret.  Have to use the PC.  Flickr and iPad don't play nice together.  

Anyway, here's the two kits my SS got for me.  I've built both before and can say that both are fantastic kits.  The Hellcat is more of the true definition of a "Weekend" kit.  One color, easy build.  The 109, however, comes with a lot of options, even for the Weekend edition.  I rummaged through my spares box and managed to find an unused Brassin cockpit/radio compartment and Brassin gun bay.  I've got both AM sets soaking right now and will likely start the modifications of the kit to accept the resin upgrades.

For the Hellcat, I found some Eduard fabric seatbelts and some left-over PE from an earlier build.  I also found some Model Master metal barrels for the night fighter version.  That was a bit of a fun surprise.  I've accumulated so much stuff over the years that I often forget just what is in the spares box.  

As stated above, the Hellcat should be a fairly quick build.  More pics to follow, now that I know how to do it! 

 Secret Santa 2018 by Stu George, on Flickr" alt="" />

Thanks!  I’ll try that

DiscoStu

Annnnnd if someone has a better way to post pics using Flickr I’m all ears......

 

I open Flickr and go to my drop down menu and select "camera roll"

I then scroll through and locate the photo I want to post. While hovering over it I click the expand arrows in the upper right corner of the pic and it makes it large. 

I then right click on the image and select "copy image"

I use that to paste into the forums image addition tool in the toolbar. 

If you have to edit the pic simply click the link located to the right of the enlarged image and it will take you to the page to edit your pic. Then go back and reselect the new image just as you did at the beginning, only  now it will be correct.

Thats all I do, it's easy and quick. Hope that helps.

BK

Annnnnd if someone has a better way to post pics using Flickr I’m all ears......

My apologies for the day-late post, Christmas is a hectic time for us, but Boyyyyyy did my Santa come through!  Not one but two Eduard kits!  Thank you so much!  I’m looking forward to diving right in.

https://flic.kr/p/2cqtoMt

WOW!  What  awesome kits!  I think this is one of the best SSGB's I've seen!  I am crazy excited about my P-47!!!!  The detail in that kit is crazy cool!  It will be very impressive when done!  LOL!  I opened it up Christmas morning and had a flash back to my childhood.  Thanks again Santa!!  You rock!

Looks like the elves and Santa went on a shopping spree with all the great items here.

The jolly guy dug deep into the bottom of the bag on my gift.  Haven't seen one of these for a few years, and it has a reputation as a beauty to build.

It comes with PE belts and canopy masks.  Decals for two a/c, one from the Ranger as well as the box art.  This will be a fun build......Thanks Santa!!!

 Just washed down all the sprues with wax and grease remover and letting dry.  Got to go over and get another bottle of alum. paint for the interior tonight.

Wow!! The elves went crazy with some awesome kits this year. We really do have a mash up of different themes and styles for sure. There will be no shortage of good ideas for me to pick up on and improve my builds with all you guys kicking out some sick work.

My SS came through in style and he tossed in a kicker as well. Not only did he send me a plane I haven't done, but he picked one I really like and he tossed in a display for it. This is gonna by the coolest looking kits in my collection. I can't wait for get to work on it.

Here it is.

I've never done a Meng kit so I super excited to build this up. And the background image, although tough to see through the plastic, is steller. An airborne shot of jungle canopy while the plane streaks across the tree tops. I never would have thought of this and I LOVE IT! This will be one of my proudest kits for sure, thanks SS, you crushed it.

BK

kg4kpg

My secret Santa, you..are..awesome!! Love it. 

 

A friend of mine just showed me this kit a few weeks back ironically. We messed around filling a fee of the many many open windows with testors clear parts cement. The model itself looks pretty sweet, can’t wait to see you build it out.

TheMongoose

What do you think, semi even when looking horizontal? I think I’m still a little shallow toward the stern maybe?

It's hard to tell with the curvature of the hull. I'd have to look from the bow but from the picture is looks like the boot top thins out a bit at the stern.

I'm looking forward to the Blenheim very much and if it's like the other later Airfix kits, it should be a great build. I just wish I could start on it now, but I'm here for such a short time that my wife gives me the stink eye if I look at the hobby room LOL. Like I said, I'll be back on the 1st, crack it open and start glueing. She will however let me look at it.

I'm just kidding, Our anneversary is tomorrow and she's taking most of the week off to be with me.

Your superstructure seems to be coming together quickly. That's not fun when you find injection pin marks on the small parts like the launchers. Luckly like you said, they probably won't be seen. For ship painting, I started painting the superstructure subassemblies first, then deck prior to the superstructure attachment as of late. The 2 kits I tied that with worked well but it may differ on each kit. I'm using that technique on my latest 1/350 Prince of Wales. That beauty will take me some time to complete but I'll get it done.

Time to get to business!  A good washing of the sprues then I’ll tackle the cockpit.  

My secret Santa, you..are..awesome!! Love it. 

Modelcrazy I’m following that Airfix build for sure. I didn’t pull the trigger on one for myself yet. The 1 tank I built was an Airfix and I’ve built a 1/72 Records n Spit but nothing else yet. Anxious to see how the bigger plane plays out. If you say it’s good I’ll join in!

now I’ve had some bench time today and have made some stellar progress...even after a round of Christmas shots lol

My last ship was not all that great, really struggled with the deck vs vertical walls and none of it looked good. Read the ship forum and made some changes this time. I either painted them on the sprue or did a partial assembly and used it placed on the hull so as not to paint the deck in an area i needed to glue superstructure.

Sanded down the keel on the split hull. Debated whether to do the waterline version but decided I wanted to try and scribe a good bootstripe for once.

What do you think, semi even when looking horizontal? I think I’m still a little shallow toward the stern maybe?

Then I worked on the superstructure, can you believe this ejector pin mark! The right one...no the top one as the picture seems to be rotated lol, is what I’ve been able to do with it. Turns out it will be facing inward so visibility should be minimal.

posted this while working on dinner. Traveling the next 3 days to family so just commentary from me for awhile gang.

Mongoose, that is one I have one my wishlist so I'm using you as a guinea pig LOL.

You had any 1/700 modern ship etc on your wish list and I knew exactly which one to give.

Now for me.

The Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV. This will be the first one I do for Bish's Airfix GB.

Next is the 1/72 Revell Eurofighter Typhoon, again on my wishlist and BONUS!!!! I must have been especially good this year. My Secret Santa sent this excelent 1/72 Revell MiG-29UB Fulcrum along with the Typhoon!

Any one of them could bring me my next metal. Secret Santa award winners seem to be becoming a tradition.

TheMongoose

Check out the detail on this Dragon kit! It’s going to build up really nice.

 

Mongoose,

The Dragon Spruance builds up nice. Don't ask me what it looks like finished because my USS Radford with the AEMSS mast still languishes in an unfinished state. If/when it gets done, it will look a whole lot better than my first attempt at a Sprucan.  I look forward to watching your build.

Lot's of fun this Christmas morning.  Tamiya Buffalo in british markings - will look great next to my Spitfire.  Thank you secret santa!

This is going to be a diverse build for sure. Now for my reveal.

I have five or six Hasegawa Tiger Meet Tornados in the stash, but not this one. Thanks Santa!

Oh! Nice one! Good luck on the build.

That is some nice detail for sure!