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

Excellent recovery!  I hate it when--near the last--the decals cause trouble.  

Check, I got back on the North Carolina and spent several hours adding the spinter shields, ammo boxes and capstans on the deck. Just a few more items to add to the stern then start on the 02 deck 

Nice work, Steve.  I've always liked the way the Navy colors look.

Once the last gloss coat was dry, I applied some camo weathering with the airbrush.

Very thinned black, light green, grey and white acrylics were sprayed on various panels and panel lines, leading edges, etc.

Best regards & stay safe

Very effective, Zvezda!  Subtle, but distinctive!  

In the limited time available due to work, I only managed to make some minor corrections on the camo, install undercarriage and bombs and paint the propeller and hub. The blue was probably ligher but I like it this way so no correction here.

The blue looks good--so does everything else!  Nice work!

Tonight I invested a little time on the guns.

I didn't want the notorious 37mm cannons of the Shturmovik to be represented by the simple plastic stubs provided by ITA (all of Wehrmacht would be laughing at this GB).

Not having the proper diameter of brass or steel tubing, I decided to drill out the tip of the kit cannons. The result is not perfect, but I hope it will work.

Next I have to figure something out about the machine guns...

I wish you all to be safe and well.

Something I don't think I'd have nerve even to try!  Nice going!

37mm cannons and RS-82 rockets were attached on the plane today.

Had to rush to work, so upper surface pics will be shot at night.

Looks great, Zvezda.  

Almost ready

Some slight weathering was applied

Bottom: Dust/dirt stains behind the wheel wells and horizontal stabilizers . These rough frontline airfields must have been dusty.... Also a couple of small oil leaks

Top: Exhaust fumes stains, cannons/machine guns stains, a little paint chipping and dirt where the crew steps while walking up to the cockpit 

Machine guns on wings and tailgunner's position, gunsight and canopy remaining glass were attached

A final inspection will be made tomorrow before it's released for it's next mission.

Beautifully done!  Congratulations on an exemplary aircraft!

I am beginning this group build, with two American classics...

An F6F Hellcat...

And this one...Monogram 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt. (this is a change from the F7 Tigercat I previously announced).

Hope to get a bit more done this weekend unfortunately so does someone else on another wavelength completely. Fingers crossed for the weather to be onside, gardened in the rain before no need to make a habit of it though.

Mark:  I updated the build roster to include the P-47.  The photos are not coming through; just little "minus signs in a circle."  Ain't technology wonderful?

Est.1961:  Looks good.  That's a handy little stand you've got the plane on.

lets try this again. Monogram F6F...

And the Thunderbolt...

Lets see if this works.

Yep, it works fine, Mark.  Everything shows!

Enjoyed catching up with these great builds well done everyone. Sprayed the upper and lower part of the Brewster Buffallo using Vallejo light grey and olive drab next the black scheme for the camouflage, under carriage prepared will be patient and take my time with the canopy.  " alt="" />

Sharp-looking aircraft, Est.  Nice paint work!

I've been away from this GB for a while and had a lot to show. But since I dont have a lot of time I'll just upload lots of pics.

Guns and superstructure set in for the pic.

The 5" didn't work out (the dog ate one) so it was fortuitous that I had ordered a set from Alliance Model Works

Everything is ready for paint.

What a load of PE, Steve!  Must have kept you busy for weeks.  Beautiful work!

[quote user="modelcrazy"]But since I dont have a lot of time I'll just upload lots of pics.[/quote

No problem I liked seeing the pictures and as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words, that's a lot of work there. 

checkmateking02

What a load of PE, Steve!  Must have kept you busy for weeks.  Beautiful work!

 

Yes sir, it did.

Est.1961

No problem I liked seeing the pictures and as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words, that's a lot of work there. 

Thank Est.

Getting started with this build. Since these two Monogram kits are fairly simplistic, I have decided to pursue these a "dual build", that is building the Hellcat and Thunderbolt at the same time. so far I've completed some of the common components of these two craft...

Bombs...

props...

interior colors...

engines...

and pilot figures...

While working on the Hellcat I came across a situation that required and unusual approach. The port/starboard upper wing halfs are two seperate pieces that glue together in a butt joint with three small tabs that are about the size of a pencil point.

See pic...

notice the small tab near the bottom. I circled them here...

and on the underside...

So I decided to take an unconventional approach. I spanned the butt joint underneath with a peel and stick label cut to fit. Before applying the label I gave the bare plastic a coat of Future so as to give the label a little more adhesion power. Then sealed around the edges with more future. With out this "reinforcement", I was afraid the joint would fail with such a flimsy joint, or so it seems to me. So far the joint is holding up and seems pretty strong.

And now a problem. While waiting for paint to dry, (that always seems to be the case with builds, doesn't it?) I decided to assemble the drop tank when I noticed this little snag...

I'm pretty sure there isn't supposed to be a gaping hole in a fuel tank! 

to fix this, I cut a small piece of dowl rod and expoxied it into the huge maw...

My plan is to cut, hack, file and sand it down into something approaching a decent looking drop tank.

Here are the initial cuts...

So I'll keep sanding and filing and putty the heck out of it. Let's see how this works.

Great progress, Mark.  Nice fix on the wings.

Wonder how they could let the drop tank leave the production line with a hole like that!  Innovative solution you came up with.  Hope it works out well.

Steve your work is a true pleasure to watch (and learn).

Eventually the final inspection lasted for more than a month (ts,ts, shame on me). 

This build is proclaimed as finished.

This Il-2 is a machine operating during autumn of 1944 in the fierce fighting over the Baltic countries and the Memel offensive.

I enjoyed this kit so much, all the problems and the process of solving them.

I also like how the AKAN paints look, they are so close to the result I wanted, based on the various references.

Speaking of references, I highly recommend the book of Jason Nicholas Moore 'Red Avenger' to anyone wanting to build an IL-2. Great historical research and a source of inspiration, from a fellow who is also a modeller. His book gave this modelling session a sense of historical immersion.

Many many thanks to our host for this GB and to all fellow participants with their excellent projects.

It's time to leave the war torn 1944 and return to our own troubled times.

Check you may pick any photo you wish for the front.