75th Anniversary of 1944 Group Build (World at War)

Hi Check,

I cannot wait to see your Iowa with all the masks off it.  I do admire your 1/700 work.  My 5N seemed to went on thick and uneven.  I thought I had the ratio correct.  Coulorcoats are a fine paint, but like other fine brands, seem to be finiky with the type of thinner or reducer and the ratio to use.  I think much of my problem is humidity.  It has been over 80% at night.

I did manage to get the flighdeck secured.  Now to start the detailing.

Looking good, Scott.  I use coffee cups filled with water to weight down flightdecks while the glue dries.  

I've had Iowa unmasked for a while.  It's the touch-up-by-hand-with-a-paint-brush that's taking so long.

However, I think I finished yesterday, and will apply a clear coat of semi-matte as soon as I get some time freed up

Hi Guys,

Here is a better photo of my final Trumpeter 1/700 HMCS Huron as she was in 1944.

Cheers,

Nuckss

Yeah, that's a great photo showing the ship to major advantage.  I'll swap out the front page.

Thanks, Nuckss, for taking part in the build.  

So, I’ve decided to not give the Piper a display base for right now. However, here are the photos I’ll have be my finish-line pictures for this GB. (A piece of tile was my photo shoot base.)

Thank you for entering me into this GB, check; and here is my Smer 1/48 Piper L4 Cub! You can choose whichever picture you prefer for the completed model photos list.

But first,

...and model:

Very cute Cub. I helped my brother repaint one that he restored and almost died of the fumes. Bro made good money on that deal. Almost the perfect plane for its time - almost a pity they aren't still in production - more air worthy than one of these powered hang gliders.

The Ki-61 was based on the engine and plans for the BF-109E. Instead of simply copying the 109 the Japanese completed work on their own airframe. The plane was deployed in late 42 but was always hampered by it's dicey build quality, especially of the engine. The IJAAF wanted to build a much more powerful version (the Ki-61-II) but it was a design debacle. Ironically the best of the breed were a small number of Ki-61s that were fitted with a functional radial engine and redesignated the Ki-100. BTW: Japan's obsession with build quality in all things after WWII was very much a "lesson learned" from being taught the problems of a second rate manufacturing base during WWII: in 1945 Oscars were fighting Mustangs - ouch.

Speaking of Japanese quality, I've finished the basic assembly of the Tamiya Ki-61-Id. If anyone doubts the superiority of Tamiya in the plastic modeling world, they have to build this kit. It's not simple - the part count is too high. But the fit is simply excellent. You install the cockpit by pushing it up through the bottom of the fuselage: sounds like trouble but "click" and it's in perfectly. The entire wing assembly is one piece and it is also kind of maneuvered into the right angle for - another click and zero gaps anywhere. I've only used a tiny bit of filler on one small error on the wing, and a couple of really small seams underneath. I think I'll be able to have a very clean model to apply NMF on.

Assembled by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Obviously there are some pieces missing - not sure what I'll leave off during priming and painting. Also, as this is the first crack at Vallejo's newish Metal Color paints, I'm going to be assaulting a paint mule (get this - an ancient 1/72 model of the A7M - a neat plane not modeled today at all) with primers, clear coats and the paints. I don't want a bright and shinny fighter - I doubt those existed in WWII. So figuring out how to paint and weather this project will take some time.

Eric

Great job, KJV!  Quite an eye-catcher with the invasion stripes.  I'll pick a photo that shows them off to good advantage.  And the tile looks like it might be sitting in a sandy environment--maybe the invasion beach?

Thanks for taking part in the GB.  It was a pleasure having your involvement!

Nice-looking plane, Eric.  Certainly has sleek line.  It'll be instructive watching the painting and weathering!

Thanks, EB! Did you get to fly the real deal before your brother sold it? :)

Check: No problem, and thank you! 

Nice that it served with the DEA. :)

Alright, I'm finally no longer "TBA," having decided on THIS for my entry:

Tamiya 1/35 scale M8 Greyhound

I decided to make this a full hull and am now mating the lower hull to the assembly.

AA: the M8 is a very nice build. I did a winter version and bought (rare for me) resin wheels with chains on them from Verlindin.

Ki-61 is mostly assembled and primed. I've used the Vallejo Metal Colors on a paint mule and I am "hopefully optimistic" (how's that for a 1980's non sequitur?). This has been an education. Tamiya makes better kits than anyone else - period. (Heard about their new tool 1/48 P-38F/G? I know what my Xmas present will be.) I decided to use gloss black stynelrez. I had good luck with it when I primed my SU-76. But I had not heard their recommendations of 20-30 psi with a .5 needle. Well, had I looked at my Paul Budzik (one of the two or three best YT modelers I think) video on nozzles, I would have remembered that .5 can mean a lot bigger or smaller depending upon the complexity of the needle. The Harder Steenbeck .5 I used is complex - a very shallow slope - which means a whopping big hole. Had this been a Paasche Talon, .5 would have been right. Stynelrez is "self-leveling" which means it should clean up when laid on thick, which you'll do with a .5 at 25psi. It didn't altogether - there were some streaks that I may or may not fix. Stylnelrez did follow the scratches on the surface too well - I had the whole fuselage very smooth but there were some very light scratches on the side - and the primer pooled on top of them. OK - time for surgery. I sanded the primer off and worked more on the scratches. Then I found out that despite claims of glory from other quarters, Stylnelrez does not sand off like a lacquer - it peels around the edges. (I've heard that a coat of future will allow Vallejo primer - famous for peeling - sand solid. That wasn't what I wanted here with NMF coming.) So, after trying to reapply the primer with a slower build up (think .20mm Harder Steenbeck at 20psi) it still didn't look right. So off it came and on went my Duplicolor Hot Rod Black Lacquer Primer. Duplicolor - being a no joke lacquer, grasps plastic like glue (but it does not damage it at all - zero). But Duplicolor is both "fillable" and "sandable" - which means small scratches disappear and you can sand the primer very nicely to give it a very smooth sating finish. I'm guessing that the Vallejo Metal Colors are opaque enough that it won't matter a bit. Anyway, stylnelrez is now for armor only - aircraft will get Duplicolor - it's great for black basing and I'm guessing it will work perfectly well for an opaque NMF. We'll see.

I've also researched some pics of the NMF Ki-61s. It looks to me that the NMF finish is more irregular than I've seen on US planes. Below are a wartime photo and one contemporary museum pic which is no doubt pitted, but still shows sign of an irregular finish. Many other photos show the same I think. (Yell if you think I'm wrong.)

Eric

primed by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

MetFlight by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

metal2016 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Got the base coat down of Vallejo Metal Color Aluminum. There are some errors - but I always make some. For a first try, I'd give it good marks. It lays down very nicely - no thinning, used my main club the Iwata Eclipse HPC (.3mm) at about 12psi. Seems to level well. A lot more to do.

Eric

painted by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Time to get going on my second entry, the Revell 1/72nd Fw 200C-8.

I'll be adding an Eduard Big Ed Pe set for this. And i will be useing Xtradecal Am decals. I got the decal set for the Trump C-3 kit but it included a C-8 which, like the one in the kit thats featured on the box art was used against the Finn's in 1944. But unlike the one in the kit the AM set does not have the wave pattern scheme which i am not ready to do just yet, so i took the easy route.

The kit has quite a nice interiour for the front and rear areas and the eduard set adds quite a bit of extra detail.

The radio compartment won't be seen at all once doen but i put it all in anyway.

I got the fuselage closed up and that went well. Then in my haste i got the wings on before taking pics. The fit is very good and there was not much to clean up on the fuselage seams.

The forward gun position was then fitted along with the horizontal tail surfaces.

And i primes and painted the underside where the gondala will go along with the wheel wells. The Eduard set includes PE flaps. I have been at these for about 2 nights, its a lot of work but worth it. The upper sets are fitted, i stil have a bit to do on the lower flaps and will leave those off for painting.

Thats it for now. Going to get the flaps wrapped up then i can finish off the final bits before masking and painting.

I have a Revell P-51D (1/48) that should fit in.  Flew with the 356FG from 1944-45.  Its the one with the blue spinner and tail.  I'll start this up when my Airfix Eagle is done.

First WIP pic of the Greyhound, assembling the undercarriage:

Nice looking vehicle, AA.  I'll fix up the front page build roster.  It'll be an interesting build to watch developing.

Looking good, Scott.  I haven't built a full hull version of anything yet.  It's good to see how it's done.

Nice going, Eric.  That NMF does look more varied than a lot I've seen.  It'll make for an eye catching presentation.

Quite a kit, Bish.  It's a lot more involved and complicated than the old '60's era kit of the Condor.  It's a good looking interior.  Looks like it's moving along really well.

I've added your Mustang to the build roster, 68GT.  It fits right in.  Very colorful aircraft.

Thanks check. ye it is, though i could have planned it better, had to get the RLM 02 and spray brush out several times. But its getting close to the paint stage now.

It's still progress, Bish.  Looks good!

It's time for a big think on the Ki-61. As reported the kit is brilliant. In general, the Vallejo Metal Colors are excellent - and I will be doing more NMF planes in future. That said, everything is very unforgiving and the inevitable errors do leave tracks that are very tough to hide. Many "fix" techniques like overspraying spots or drybrushing do show. Below is the bird painted and decaled. I put salt under the black/blue anti-glare panel (and the prop & hub - not shown) to get a nice chipping effect. I used a toothpick dipped into metallic paint to put some chips on the orange leading edge - looks good to me. (The anti-glare and leading edge panels were done in Golden High Flow just to remind me why they're my favorite paint.) I wanted to see how to do NMF so there will be no mottle on this kit. I also chose to use a very simple decal scheme - and managed to hide a booboo on the side. Might add that I like Tamiya decals - thick they are, but they're also hard to wreck. I was going to use Aeromaster (the tail thunderbolt is AM) - but the hinomarus were too thin and showed the darker metallic color from underneath which didn't work at all. The thick Tamiya markings covered fine - the only downside was that I didn't want a white circle around the side hinomaru. Oh well. The result is below:

decaled by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

As you can see, I did paint a few panels a mix of duraluminium and/or aluminium and magnesium. (The fabric control surfaces were done in "dull" alumininum - which I'd guess is the standard color mixed with matte gray: I think that's the right fit.) I also applied the Vallejo Metal Varnish which is extremely unobtrusive and I think will be helpful. The problem is that I have to get from what I have, pictured above, to something that looks like a real Ki-61 pictured below:

tonyprofileview by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

I'm already regretting the painting the odd panels different shades - they should have been much less different in color. Actually, I'm not really sure why I painted those panels at all - they're much too regular and I've been doing "black basing" lately and it's design to prevent symetry. So how to proceed. The plane is too tiddy by half and looks like a metal checkerboard. This is going to require some serious weathering - but of what type? I do have a paint mule all metallic now and will use it for trials. I'm sure I'll be relying on my Iwata Com.Art acrylics - they're terrific for grime. But that won't be enough. I think it's time for some serious oils. This is a challenge and I can still pretty much wreck things. However, I don't see how I'll be able to blame anything on Tamiya. I'm still working on the canopy but the clear parts look terrific and seem to fit nicely. Never made a perfect model and this won't be the first. But with luck this could be a keeper. Wish me luck.

Eric

Still very appealing results, Eric, despite the challenges.  It is tough to get the right variations in NMF, but your weathering should bring things all together.

Getting started with initial construction stages on the Greyhound:

Very good, AA.  The underside looks like a kind of complicated structure!