80 Years of Airfix GB

Blue nose painted and masked off, now for an overall coat of auminum:

modelcrazy

Cheers Bish.

Put me down for the BV-141 next. It shouldn't take long to knock out. I enlisted the pilots a few years ago and pressed them into USMC service flying the Osprey, so I'll leave them out LOL

 

O, nice addition. Will addthat to the list.

Interesting plane, that B&V.  I wonder if anyone ever shot themselves down, hitting the tail while shooting at enemy planes.

Hello,

Been out of circulation for a couple of weeks, sry :|

Very nice work going on all arround, will not waste your time with repeating what have been said already but:

Congratulations on your completed builds!

Kensar (again), Checkmateking02, Eagle90, Keyda81, Modelcrazy.

Excellent builds, you need to get on to your second entry ;)

@ Bish, link the URL to the promotion section at Airfix, should put a smile on their face ;)

I'm sure this would be much easier if I was building the Academy Enola Gay B-29. It has the blanks for the turret openings' I cut the bottoms off the buckets that hold the turret tops on this kit and trimmed them to fit the turret openings. Now I'm filling, sanding and shaping. I discovered last night that I'm short one turret bucket to modify. Oy! 

@ castelnuovo,

I have not done the Airfix version but when I built the Italeri I was considering using the engine firewall as a base for a simple test rigg. I think the kit came with 2 optional and that was what gave me the idea. 

Some tubular rod to build a simple frame and get the thing "off the ground" and then display the engine next to the plane with its own plate. Totaly fictioues off course :)

Some scratcwork would be required to replace what is no longer there, like the radiator.

Svenne

@ John,

The result certainly look good, I do not fully understand how the cured epoxy comes out of the frame/window opening? Is there some shrinkage?

Thanks
Svenne

Hi Frank,

A Clipper to cheer you up:

Svenne

Svenne, before the economy took a dump back in '08, we had this poster hanging in the living room of the house we had to give up. Matted and framed it was about 30" x 40". Had to sell the poster to buy groceries.

I got her done! I didn't really have much to take picutures of after my last post, but here's a quick rundown of what I did to finish her.

-Clear coat

-Decals

-Tamiya Buff, thinned 9 parts thinner to 1 part paint, was misted over the upper surfaces. I underestimated how much the next clear coat would kill the effect. 

-Flory Dark Earth Wash

-Flat coat

-Little bit of work with soot/light sand Tamiya makeup weathering stuff, chipping with a sponge and silver paint. 

FINISHED PICS

(First one for the wrap up page, please)

This one I really liked the aesthetics of- new filter I found on PS Mobile

Thanks for the neat GB!

-TWA

Excellent camouflage! Thats a sweet Tomahawk!

TheWaggishAmerican

I got her done! I didn't really have much to take picutures of after my last post, but here's a quick rundown of what I did to finish her.

-Clear coat

-Decals

-Tamiya Buff, thinned 9 parts thinner to 1 part paint, was misted over the upper surfaces. I underestimated how much the next clear coat would kill the effect. 

-Flory Dark Earth Wash

-Flat coat

-Little bit of work with soot/light sand Tamiya makeup weathering stuff, chipping with a sponge and silver paint. 

FINISHED PICS

(First one for the wrap up page, please)

This one I really liked the aesthetics of- new filter I found on PS Mobile

Thanks for the neat GB!

-TWA

 

I also use the highly thinned Tamiya Buff technique on some of my builds. Works remarkablely well. But, yes, it works best when it is misted on after all clear coats are on. I also use a Tamiya light gray for WWII USN aircraft to good effect.

Again, Bravo!

cwalker3

ModelC, your Blenheim looks great. When you spray your camouflage colors, do you mask off or do my hand? Yours looks more soft-edge than hard. Or do you accomplish that look with the weathering process?

I’m ready to put the second camo color on my Lancaster. I primed with black, then sprayed on the dark earth parts. This pic is right before I sprayed on the green. I masked with Post-it notes. What a PIA.

 

 

I'm also an ardent user of Silly Putty. Like Steve mentioned, it really is wonderful and easy to use. I would recommend it as it saves time and sanity.

Keep on keeping on Brother.

Waggish, excellent work on the Tomahawk.

The camouflage is really well executed, and great photos too.

regards,

Jack

Svenne Duva

Hello,

Been out of circulation for a couple of weeks, sry :|

Very nice work going on all arround, will not waste your time with repeating what have been said already but:

Congratulations on your completed builds!

Kensar (again), Checkmateking02, Eagle90, Keyda81, Modelcrazy.

Excellent builds, you need to get on to your second entry ;)

@ Bish, link the URL to the promotion section at Airfix, should put a smile on their face ;)

 

Which page is that, are you talking about the new releases for this year?

Great job on the hawk TWA. Great job on the finish, nice subtleweathering. And love that last pic.

Got you added to the front page, thank you.

Welcome to the P-40 club, TWA.  Great looking job, especially the camo scheme.

Those of you that use silly putty for masking, does it leave an oily residue after pulling it up of the surface?

I'd like to join in on this Bish. Airfix kits were a staple for me during the 70's along with Matchbox. Since returning to the hobby a while back Airfix (along with Revell now) are still the go to company when I want a kit. I recently had fun buiding their old 1:600 Destroyers, their 1:72 P-51D was my go-to kit when wanting to add after-market decals to depict several aircraft. I also recently completed their 1:72 Liberator.

So, if I may, I'll select a kit and let you know?

Cheers

Al

kensar

Those of you that use silly putty for masking, does it leave an oily residue after pulling it up of the surface?

Older putty not so much, but fresh from the bottle (egg) I've had some problems. Almost ruined the paint job on a Tamiya Spit, actually. It's not really an oily residue, but it totally changes whatever it's pressed against. When I lay down some snakes for borders, I found that it killed any shading or extra paintwork I did, and made the whole thing basically the base color but a bit darker. It wasn't glossy or wet or anything, and I was able to repaint overtop it fine, but if was definitely awful to see the Spit covered in snake trails. The more you use the putty, the less bad it gets. I bought a couple eggs not too long ago, and I just work them with my hands, use them as much as possible to hold paint (so they get hit with the overspray), and try to work that into the putty after it dries. It's slow, but it can work. 

I've had enough problems with it though that I'm probably just going to use it for holding parts/subassemblies during painting, and try to find a good supply of Blu-Tack near me. 

-TWA

Beautiful work on your P-40 TWA! An all around very fine build. Your camo looks super, nice work on leading edge wear and soot stains. Your canopy is clean and the frame masking just right. 

if I may add a critique for you to incorporate into your next aircraft build, address the panel line washes over the decals. It looks like most might have come out of the decalled areas during your clean up of the wash. It’s obviously there at the radio access hatch.

You have have some great talent and skill with this hobby. Far better than mine when I was your age. 

Whats your next project?

stikpusher

You have have some great talent and skill with this hobby. Far better than mine when I was your age. 

Whats your next project?

Thanks! I noticed the decal thing too, just didn't have any idea how to correct it. After I hit the decal once or twice with Micro Sol, I just let it ride. 

Next project? Well, I finished a 1/48 Tamiya Spit Mk.Vb at the same time as the Tomahawk, so that'll get pictures over in Aircraft soon. I've started a blistering build process of things that I actually have a timeline to get done- I'm doing a full series running through Gruman's naval fighters for my channel, and I've got to get them all done before I can start pushing those videos so it'll go like a real show and each episode will premier at the same time every week for a month or two.

I'm trying to keep the builds going fast, so I'm doing them in groups of similar colors. F3F and XF5F, F4F and F6F, F7F and F8F and F9F Panther and XF-10F, F9F Cougar and F11F. Possibly add in a Tomcat if I have time, or I'll do that later and call it a special episode or something to round it all out. 

On that front, I'm doing a 1/48 Eduard F6F-3 and 1/48 Tamiya F4F right now. I'm just getting to final assembly/primer on a Trumpeter 1/48 Seafang, and when somethings drying on those three I've got a 1/48 DML 190A-8 'Slipper Tank' I poke around at.
-TWA

I’ll be looking for that Spit! All the other upcoming projects sound great. You can never go wrong with Grumman cats.

If decals are being uncooperative with panel lines in spite of sets and solvents, I like to slice the decal along the panel lines with a nice new sharp xacto blade. Perhaps you can give that a go the next time you run into that situation.

JOE RIX

 

 

cwalker3

ModelC, your Blenheim looks great. When you spray your camouflage colors, do you mask off or do my hand? Yours looks more soft-edge than hard. Or do you accomplish that look with the weathering process?

I’m ready to put the second camo color on my Lancaster. I primed with black, then sprayed on the dark earth parts. This pic is right before I sprayed on the green. I masked with Post-it notes. What a PIA.

 

That's some impressive progress cwalker3. I commend you highly on your patience and diligence. It sure is coming along very nicely.

 

I'm also an ardent user of Silly Putty. Like Steve mentioned, it really is wonderful and easy to use. I would recommend it as it saves time and sanity.

Keep on keeping on Brother.

 

Thanks Joe. I've used Silly Putty in the past and just ordered some from Amazon. Will give it another go next time. I'm out of Post-its anyway!

Cary

TheWaggishAmerican

 

 

kensar

Those of you that use silly putty for masking, does it leave an oily residue after pulling it up of the surface?

 

 

 

Older putty not so much, but fresh from the bottle (egg) I've had some problems. Almost ruined the paint job on a Tamiya Spit, actually. It's not really an oily residue, but it totally changes whatever it's pressed against. When I lay down some snakes for borders, I found that it killed any shading or extra paintwork I did, and made the whole thing basically the base color but a bit darker. It wasn't glossy or wet or anything, and I was able to repaint overtop it fine, but if was definitely awful to see the Spit covered in snake trails. The more you use the putty, the less bad it gets. I bought a couple eggs not too long ago, and I just work them with my hands, use them as much as possible to hold paint (so they get hit with the overspray), and try to work that into the putty after it dries. It's slow, but it can work. 

 

I've had enough problems with it though that I'm probably just going to use it for holding parts/subassemblies during painting, and try to find a good supply of Blu-Tack near me. 

-TWA

 

Thanks for the tip. I just ordered some from Amazon. I have the grandsons this weekend so I'll let them have at before I try and use it.

Cary

Cary, I’ve been using Silly Putty here and there for a few years now as a masking agent. I’ve had the same egg for about 3 or 4 years now. I’ve yet to have any problems with any residue....

Well yesterday I finally had a chance to get back at my workbench, and the rain had stopped... so perfect weather for airbrushing.

First up, I mixed up a batch of SCC 15, the British army version of Olive Drab adopted in WWII. I used a Tamiya paints using a mix formula that I found online by the same guy who had done the same thing years ago using Humbrol enamels. I mixed up one batch and gave it a test run on an older build of the Italeri Kangaroo Priest that I am currently overhauling/rebuilding. The mix came out great, and is almost exactly the same as the Xtracolor version of SCC 15 that I bought years ago and used on my Firefly and Cromwell builds.... 

Here is how it looks on the Kangaroo

anyways, I then mixed up a second batch using the exact same formula, thinned way down, and went to work on my black based 17 Pdr. I dialed my air pressure way down and went to work. It took quite some time and I need to have another look at it, but I think that it came out ok so far. Not great, could use improvement, but not terrible...

Anyways, daylight was fading, here are two photos, with and without flash....

I’ll see what the lighting today holds in store...

Hello TWA,

That looks really smart!

Very nice job on the sharp edge camo, nicely accentuated panel lines and weathering. 1/72! 

And the B/W is a nice addition :)

P40's and Tomahawk, I need to learn more about this A/C, did the Finnish use to fly them in WWII? Or the Russians?

Svenne

Edited: ...you are aware of the decal / pane thingy now...

Svenne Duva

Hello TWA,

That looks really smart!

Very nice job on the sharp edge camo, nicely accentuated panel lines and weathering. 1/72! 

And the B/W is a nice addition :)

P40's and Tomahawk, I need to learn more about this A/C, did the Finnish use to fly them in WWII? Or the Russians?

Svenne

Edited: ...you are aware of the decal / pane thingy now...

 

The Soviets received some P-40s by Lend Lease. The Finns flew the P-40’s older radial engined brother, the P-36/Hawk 75. I believe that those came from French stocks via Germany after 1940, but they may have been direct purchases like the Buffalo.

As far as Silly Putty vs Blu Tac, I far prefer Silly Putty. For me Blu Tac is more sticky and difficult to remove, also it's harder to form. I've never had an issue with residue.

modelcrazy

As far as Silly Putty vs Blu Tac, I far prefer Silly Putty. For me Blu Tac is more sticky and difficult to remove, also it's harder to form. I've never had an issue with residue.

Alright, maybe it's just the source I get mine from. I buy all mine from Dollar Tree, so they could very well be defective or something. I've never used Blu-Tac, but I heard it's better for soft edges, because it'll stay in a circular cross-section? I know I've never gotten soft edges with Silly Putty, since it tends to "ooze" and settle. 

Hi Stick,
I like that. Wanna share the recipie?

Svenne