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75th Anniversary of 1945 Group Build (World at War)

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  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Nashotah, WI
Posted by Glamdring on Friday, December 11, 2020 6:07 PM

Thanks Checkmate!  The first pic is fine, it's the best of the lot.

Robert 

"I can't get ahead no matter how hard I try, I'm gettin' really good at barely gettin' by"

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Friday, December 11, 2020 8:24 PM

Done, Robert.  Thanks for being part of this GB.  I always appreciate your participation in the projects.

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Friday, December 11, 2020 8:26 PM

Good to hear that the decals have a long shelf-life, Eric.  I've noticed that a number of manufacturers are supplying Cartograph decals with their kits.

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Nashotah, WI
Posted by Glamdring on Friday, December 11, 2020 8:49 PM

checkmateking02

Done, Robert.  Thanks for being part of this GB.  I always appreciate your participation in the projects.

 

And thanks to you for running it!  Smile

Robert 

"I can't get ahead no matter how hard I try, I'm gettin' really good at barely gettin' by"

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • From: Athens, Greece
Posted by Zvezda1980 on Sunday, December 13, 2020 2:52 PM

Robert: Very beautiful camo painting and colors. And I like the setting too.

Eric: That's a fine blue nosed metal bird. I was thinking for a long time of buidling a red nosed 'Ridge Runner' and you just inspired me to start it ASAP.

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • From: Athens, Greece
Posted by Zvezda1980 on Sunday, December 13, 2020 3:06 PM

Gloss coat and decals on.

This is yellow 3, of 1/NAGr.1, which took off from Juterborg airfield, near Berlin, on the dawn of 6th April 1945 for a recon mission over Soviet positions across the Oder.

It was never seen again.

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Sunday, December 13, 2020 7:08 PM

Excellent, Z!  Interesting background information.

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • From: Athens, Greece
Posted by Zvezda1980 on Sunday, December 20, 2020 2:48 PM

Landing gear and well doors were put together. First everything was dry fitted and when alignment was good, a drop of thin glue sealed them in position.

Cameras & bay were enchanced with some decals and aged with dry pastel brown gray.

After a coat of flat clear, canopy, pitot and rest of small bits were added and... finished.

 

 

  • Member since
    October 2016
  • From: Louisiana Gulf South
Posted by Mrchntmarine on Sunday, December 20, 2020 5:20 PM

Zvezda1980

Landing gear and well doors were put together. First everything was dry fitted and when alignment was good, a drop of thin glue sealed them in position.

Cameras & bay were enchanced with some decals and aged with dry pastel brown gray.

After a coat of flat clear, canopy, pitot and rest of small bits were added and... finished.

 

 

wow,  that looks good to me. Nice and clean too. -  I like it. Canopy framing is really good too. I just did my 1st aircraft and I learned a lot. Question - do you put pledge floor care on your canopy?  If so do you do it 1st or after all the painting?  What flat clear did you use?  Tks. 

Keep on modeling!

All the best,

William

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • From: Athens, Greece
Posted by Zvezda1980 on Sunday, December 20, 2020 5:57 PM

Mrchntmarine: thanks for the kind words. It will stay clean, as this was a relatively new aircraft, before it flew to its doom.

I don't have Pledge/Future available here in Greece, so I have never used it. Canopy masking remains on, until all clear coats are done.

I use Tamiya (gloss) and Gunze (flat) acrylic clears. The Tamiya gloss I totally love it.

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Sunday, December 20, 2020 11:32 PM

Lovely looking 262 there Zvezda.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Monday, December 21, 2020 8:27 PM

Outstanding, Zvezda.  The camouflage is excellent.  A fine job all around!

Which photo would you like for the finished product?

Thanks for being part of the GB.  It's been great seeing this aircraft come together!

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2020
Posted by EricB on Thursday, December 24, 2020 3:19 AM

 

 weathered352 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 left by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

1/48 Meng P-51D

 

Paints: Vallejo Metal Color, Golden High Flow

 

Weathering: Gamblin Fastmatte oils, Iwata Com.Art acrylics

 

 

 

This is a wrap for the Meng P-51. I can't say that I'm very happy with the build. The kit was a kind of Bandai which made it very difficult to dry fit. The instructions were very poor and didn't indicate any kind of build sequences - the problem is that there are several parts that must be done in sequence. You'll just have to find out yourself. Sometimes the fit was extremely good - the wing roots are perfect. Other parts were close, but still required prep - and prep is harder when you're assembling major assemblies into huge pegs/holes. There weren't any seams - that was nice. But I'm thinking that Meng will not be doing many more kits this way - a kit with over 100 parts and supposedly made to assemble without glue? And as noted earlier, the parts had very heavy and coarse sprue gate connections - almost every part required prep. This kit took a while. And it wasn't cheap.

 

The paints were fine - Vallejo Model Color metallics are outstanding for a water based paint. YouTube channels have also been impressed. This is a big deal for someone like me who has no spray booth and can't use solvent based materials. The Cartograph decals were excellent.

 

When I came to weathering I was not in a good position. A better modeler than yours truly would roll with the punches. I was discouraged with the kit and frankly just wanted to get it done. So I cut corners. And cutting corners led to a few errors - one a whopper which we won't discuss. (I also lost an aileron which I had to scratch build. And, when assembling the last piece of the landing gear I dropped the plane - bad vibes all around.)

 

Weathering an natural metal finish WWII fighter presents problems. On one hand planes were replaced often in WWII so there were always new aircraft coming in. (People were very slow to dispose of old ones though. There were a lot of pilots in the USAAF.) So were they shinny metal planes? You can find pics that make that case. On the other hand any student of WWII aircraft knew that they were all very "hot" planes with extremely advanced performance. Anyway you look at it, in that era, a fighter (bombers were worse) was going to burn a lot of oil and leak fluids all over the bottom. In addition they flew off grass fields which invariably meant mud. And add into things groundcrew crawling all over. I painted my Mustang in the colors of the 352d Fighter Group - one of the elite 8th AF units. The plane at the top is from the 352d and, as you can see, shows a lot of exhaust, fluids etc, most prominently just behind the exhaust and also underneath the national markings on the side where the air scoop exits. The 352d's top gun was George Preddy - the war's top P-51 ace with 27 victories - and his plane was none too tidy:

 

 Preddy by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

I did watch a YT video about the 357th FG - another Mustang unit with the 8th. Ace Bud Anderson recalled that on one mission he was separated from his flight and came in late - a cause for worry for his crew chief and groundcrew. (Every pilot I ever interviewed - and there were quite a few 20 years back or so - claimed that his fighter belonged to the crew chief and he was allowed to fly it as a kind of loan.) Anyway, Anderson came out the next morning and was startled when he looked at his plane - "it was silver!." Turns out the groundcrew had given the plane a proper bath with gasoline and tidied it up. This wasn't my finest hour, but it will pass the 5' away observation test nicely. P-51 was a handsome fighter.

 

Checkmate - been very nice to have participated in several of your "75th Anniversary Builds." I would have been in for at least one extra build - probably two - except that Finescale dropped me from their mailing list until late October or so. So thanks much - it's been fun.

 

A few pics below.

 

Eric

 

 rt-rear by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 RT-FT by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 left-R by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Thursday, December 24, 2020 2:35 PM

Thanks to you, Eric, for participating in this GB and the others.  Your work is always "swell," and this Mustang is no exception.  Great work and a pleasure to view!

Is there a particular photo you'd like for the finish?

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • From: Athens, Greece
Posted by Zvezda1980 on Saturday, December 26, 2020 7:49 AM

Eric, very nice build, I admire the look of weathered, 'fatigued' metal that you achieved.

Check, I would like to also thank you for hosting this GB. I really enjoyed this kit. I wish I had time to join all the other years.

You may chose whichever picture you prefer.

  • Member since
    March 2017
Posted by Armor_Aficionado on Sunday, December 27, 2020 7:46 AM

Finally got the tracks mounted on the M-36, and working on the turret interior now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Sunday, December 27, 2020 12:30 PM

Looking good, AA!

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2017
Posted by Armor_Aficionado on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 1:48 PM

More progress on the turret, almost ready to put the turret together:

 

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Thursday, December 31, 2020 6:41 PM

Complex piece of machinery, AA.  Nicely done!

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2017
Posted by Armor_Aficionado on Friday, January 22, 2021 7:17 PM

Reaady to spray on a gloss clearcoat, then put decals on:

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Saturday, January 23, 2021 10:37 AM

Well done!

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2017
Posted by Armor_Aficionado on Monday, February 1, 2021 5:31 PM

Well, the M-36 Jackson is finally DONE!  Here's the final reveal pics:

(BTW, you can use this first photo for the front page gallery, thank!)

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 6:49 PM

Great work, AA.  Well done paintwork and assembly, and the weathering is top notch.  It's very realistic!

Do you have a preference for the finish photo?  My own opinion, and not binding on you, but I think both the first and the last photo show your work to best advantage, but those detailed close up are really good.  You put in a lot of work on this.

Thanks for being part of the GB.  It's been great to see your work.

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2017
Posted by Armor_Aficionado on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:20 AM
Checkmate, use the first photo for the finish gallery. Thanks again!

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: AandF in the Badger State
Posted by checkmateking02 on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 9:40 PM

Front page is updated with the finish photo, AA.  Nice one!

Thanks again for your participation in the GB!

 

 

 

 

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