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

Mustang is shaping up.  Decals are on so I'm going to let them dry a bit.

Looks great, AA.  The detail inside the turret is excellent.

68GT

I got some blue on the Mustang's ruder and spinner and a few coats of clear on.  Today I have managed to get some decals on inbetween wrapping.

 

Looks FG ood GT, been wanting to build that scheme myself. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Latest progress on the Greyhound: almost there!  Thought I was gonna be able to finish it by year's end, but it looks like it will be my first completion of the new year, instead.

Zvezda:  You certainly handled all those fitting problems well.  Things are looking really good.  Congratulations!

Some updates on the Shturmovik.

Fuselage halves were joined and after some test-fitting, were cemented together. The fit was quite good.

The cockpit was sprayed with Gunze's flat clear.

The masochistic fun begun when:

1. I tried to install the Instrument Panel (IP). IP was clearly wider than the available space between fuselage sides. After much testing, it was clear that the problem required urgent surgery. I locked and loaded my little dremel and dug into the inner fuselage, creating the missing space (while trying not to destroy the already painted cockpit details, a couple of milimeter's away). Some extra detail above and behind the IP were made with plastic and a spare PE part. I hope when slightly sanded and painted it will look less ugly...
2. 
   The cockpit and bottom fuselage-cockpit assembly were brought together.Again much testing, cutting of fuselage sides, trimming of the gunner's floor because it collided with the fuel tank. Then a heavy load of thin cement and some CA glue sealed everything together. A flat piece of plastic was added to the bottom of gunner's compartment, so as to cover the cut out floor.

After all these, I realized that dawn had broken out, so I decided to get some sleep...

68GT: I like the metal finish and the glossy red very much. It's time I attempt a N.Metal plane (I admit I always chicken out and paint them Olive Drab, up to now)

68:  looks really good; outstanding!  Nice job!

I got some blue on the Mustang's ruder and spinner and a few coats of clear on.  Today I have managed to get some decals on inbetween wrapping.

Thats som really nice work there Zvezda!

That looks great, Zvezda.  Nice job!

And:  Merry Christmas back at you!

After adding and highlighting some detail (cabling & hydraulics mostly), a couple of black & brown washes and a carefull painting of the Instrument Panel, the cockpit works were almost completed.

Seatbelts come from Eduard's pack.

The first wash was a  mix of floor finish (local Furute substitute) and black oil, but the glossy look will be tempered when a flat coat is sprayed tomorrow.

Merry christmas to everyone

Looks good from here, Ed.  That will be very colorful.

I got some clear on the other day to seal things up.  Today I masked and sprayed some basic gloss red testors enamel on.  Really didnt get as sharp of a line as I wanted but was lazy and got what I got.  I'll clean up the edges once things set up.

Great results with the cockpit, Zvezda.  Lots of detail in there.  Good paintwork, too!

Thanks for your comments about the BB-55 photo's.  It's a huge ship, and I hope you do get a chance to visit.  

Today the assembly of the cockpit was completed.

The rear fuselage armor plating was replaced by Eduard's PE parts (took longer than I expected).

The kit started to show its teeth, some struts of the lower fuselage had to be spliced in order to conform to the geometry.

Everything was sprayed with AKAN's 'A-14' steel gray acrylic, enchanced with a drop of blue mixed in.

Cockpit fuel tank was sprayed a random dark green, as per references.

Everything were then left to become nice and dry.

Check these are indeed great photos of this historic ship. I hope I will be able to visit also someday

Steve: Great work on the hull and camo, I am anticipating for the deck and the 'big guns'.

Ed: Very nice aluminum works. It would be nice to see the color variations that you make in some other photos.

Great looking finish, Ed.  You got a smooooth coat on.  Well done!

Looks great, Steve.  The hull plating show up quite well.  It's a very attractive measure.

After spraying MM no buff aluminum I carfully masked and painted with their chrome silver.  After all that I only ended up with a slight difference that is barely noticeable in the photo.

Guess I'll see what a clear coat does and go from there.

OK Check, here's what I got after painting the hull camo.

Next, I'm installing the deck

Synder & Short say that, too, so that's what I followed when I did a NC a couple years back.  As for horizontal surfaces being a pattern of 20-B and 5-O, I don't think I noticed any.

Vertical Surfaces:

Paint all exposed vertical surfaces a pattern of: 

Light Gray 5-L.

Ocean Gray 5-O.

Black 

Horizontal Surfaces:

Paint all decks and horizontal surfaces a pattern of: 

Deck Blue, 20-B.

Ocean Gray 5-O.

checkmateking02

It also looks like Navy Blue was substituted for black, the way she is currently painted at Wilmington. 

I was checking on the color last night from the Trumpeter's color table (don't necessarily trust that) and Squdron's NC "at sea" series book and they both said flat black, 5-O gray and 5-L gray.

I haven't seen that kind of rigging on any photo I've found either, Steve.  Looks like there are two column-like structures on it, but I don't know what they'd be.

Yes, that counter-shading on the barrels got my attention when I posted the pictures.  Appears to be Light Gray under the Ocean Gray top.

It also looks like Navy Blue was substituted for black, the way she is currently painted at Wilmington.  

Supper cool pics Check.

One think I keep looking for is there is some rigging that attaches to the top of the B turret but can't find any pics that show that.

Intresting the camo change on the barrels.

Looking good, Steve.

Here's a couple of photos I took last June when I toured the ship with my wife and daughter.  

I took a quick pic after I painted black on the hull and areas of the deck. On to masking off the hull and the rest of the camo.

Paul: Some pics could easily pass for newsreels of the era enhanced with color. Beautiful! I would like to see a little more rubble piled around - after all this destruction on the buildings, but that's totally subjective and minor. Thank you for this very nice diorama.

Eric: The kit seems nice. How adventurous , I guess I will find out...

Eric:  Bogue is added to the build roster.  Looking forward to see her progress.

Steve:  glad to hear things are progressing well.  Sharp ship in the dazzle measure.

EBergerud

MCrazy - I like what you're doing on the N Carolina. (Still haven't figured out why there's no 1/350 Washington - it's one of two BBs in WWII that sunk another BB mano v mano - Bismarck obviously the other.) That might work for the plates. Merit put out a 1/350 Enterprise a few years back and over did the plates grossly - ruined the kit for me. (I've got the 1/700 Academy now in Midway garb.) But I'm very curious to see how it works out.

Thanks Eric, I sanded the plates last night and becides knocking off a couple during the process, which were replaced right afterward, I think it turned out really well. I will be spraying a black base on the hull and deck tonight. Then comes the hull camo, spray the deck fittings grey, mount the deck and install the wood veneer. Of course, not all in one night.
the Bouge looks awsome. There are some intresting subjects that Hase did for their waterline series that I'm still discovering. Being able to talk to some NC vets would be a real honor.