Gamera. Thank you. I like this paint (Vallejo metal) now that I know how it behaves.

next time I'll paint the yellow bands instead of kit decals . latest pic finial pics to follow.

Your Sabre looks good, Crown!

Took a quick update shot last night, M40 was resprayed with Tamiya OD, running gear installed, and dozer blade and crew platform mocked in place.  Still debating on affixing them in the down or in travel position.  

Robert. Many thanks waiting on final pics.

I really like the m40 with all down in the firing position !

Gamera, Thanks!

Nick, your Sabre looks fantastic!

I am calling my Korean war build(s) finished!  Once the aircraft were completed, I only had to assemble a base, which was simply a few pieces of EPS Foam insulation from my local home improvement center (the blue one...), sliced on the bandsaw to the proper dimensions to fit a 13x19 inch print of 'MiG Alley', hot glued together, coated with a mixture of black craft paint and ModPodge, and an even dusting of Krylon satin black.  I grabbed a photo of "MiG Alley from Google earth, adjusted it to suit my vision in Snapseed, and printed it on my Canon printer, and then affixed it to the base using gloss Mod Podge.

I then heated and bent some 3/16" acrylic rod to shape and hot glued it into the exhaust of each aircraft and then into corresponding holes made in the foam base.

Here is the final display:

The only thing I would like to add is some lettering, or a placard of some sort with the title "Over MiG Alley" or something along those lines.  but for all intents and purposes, I am calling it complete.

 very cool !!! i like the display some fine work. And thank you for your comments.

Good job! (But you shoulda had the Sabre behind the Mig... )

Which photo would you like me to place on the front page? Also, would you like me to use “Over MiG Alley” as the diorama title in the GB? 

John 3:16 KJV

Good job! (But you shoulda had the Sabre behind the Mig... )

Which photo would you like me to place on the front page? Also, would you like me to use “Over MiG Alley” as the diorama title in the GB? 

 

 

Thanks!  I actually put the MiG chasing the Sabre for two reasons (originally, I was going to have the Sabre on the tail of the MiG...)

1. There was a story I found on Wikipedia when doing a little research on MiG Alley and John Glenn's Korean War experience as well as pilot uniforms, That told of John Glenn getting chased and shot at by MiGs several times, and 2. I wanted to show the MiGs chasing the Americans from that crucial area during the war.

For the front page, Naybe the first photo of the overall display?  Although, I am kind of liking the dynamic view in the "3/4" shot (the one with the sabre in the foreground, with the MiG high on his 5:00, almost head on into the camera...)

"Over MiG Alley" works for the title as well, althoughI'm not sure 'OVER' is the right term...lol

Nick,

Nice job on the Sabre!

Justin,

That is a cool display! Nice job!

Started on the first of my builds just before the July 4 weekend.  It's a Hobby Boss kit, so there's not much to it.  Fuselage is one piece with a basic cockpit molded in. Wings are a single piece, and the engine is molded in the cowling.  You have a choice between a nicely engraved but ill fitting two piece canopy, or a one piece canopy that fits well but has no engraving for the framing.  Spent about 30 minutes trying to do a decent job on masking the canopy (I hate masking canopies).  The tip of the tail has been painted white, and she's ready for some glossy dark sea blue.  Markings will be the plane flown by Ens. Jesse Brown when he was shot down over the Chosin Reservoir.

Justin, I’ll get the pic and title up on the first page. If you want me to swap the pic for the other one you were liking, pls let me know. Good finish, and I’m all for historical accuracy!! That only makes models more special! Please forgive my late reply. :)

lewbud- Congrats on getting the canopy masked; your plane’s comin’ along fast. I’ll keep an eye out for your next pics! :)

Put in work on the tracks over the weekend, they are rubber bands which always gives me heartburn, but with these, completely unwarranted.  As with everything else on this kit, they were a treat:

Took the paint without issue, sealed them with flat coat, and slipped on without problems:

Everything is workable with the running gear, so I can even run it through the grass in the backyard if I wanted. 

Good work, Glamdring! 

Robert,

Nice job on your tracks.  Your M-40 is looking good!

A bit of an update.  Since the Starfighter Decals set doesn't have the bureau numbers for Brown's and Hudner's aircraft, I exercised my googlefu and found a site that had the numbers for both.  I ordered some white letter decals to fix the problem with the K on the tail (compared to period pics, it's too short).  I hoped that there would be letters and numbers small enough on the sheets to do the bureau numbers, but I found out that those were four inch letters and the smallest on the sheet are six inches.  Honestly, even if the decal sheet came with four inch letters, I don't know if I could see well enough to pull it off.  I had a couple of problems painting the model.  I've always had problems painting Glossy Dark Sea Blue, turns out I wasn't thinning it enough.  The second problem came from an improperly set up compressor.  I had basically restricted the airflow to almost nothing and the airbrush could barely shoot  paint (I've always used cans of air, so this is my first attempt at setting up a compressor).  I talked with a friend who gave me some idea on things to check and I was able to get it up and running properly.  I didn't dial the air pressure back (was set at 30psi), and it was basically like using a water hose in a water gun fight.  I holding the airbrush too close to the model and it went on way too heavy.  I didn't get any runs, but it was thick enough in some spots to fill in the lightly engraved panel lines.  In getting her ready for a dunk in the purple lake, I broke the canopy when I removed it.  Fortunately, there's a second canopy included in the kit and I found a mask for it on evilbay.  As soon as it and the decals get here, I'll pull it out of the purple lake and finish her.  Pics eventually.

Hullo folks, Gamera here. I can no longer get into my former account and I've been locked out of the forums for the last three weeks. So here I am on a new account. We'll see how that goes. 

Great job guys, I'm afraid I'll leave someone out so I'll just leave it at that- KUDOS EVERYONE!!! 

Can you add a Tamiya 1/72 F-51D to my builds.  Markings will be for 2 Sqn SAAF.  It was based at Chinhae (K10) in 1952 and attached to the 18th FBG USAF.  Started work on it this morning, nothing pic worthy yet.

Gamera - Welcome back! Too bad about the account difficulties, but at least you’re back now! 

lewbud - That must have been frustrating! Paint job/airbrushing troubles are never fun...

 I’ll be sure to add your next entry! 

A simple update.  I now have something that looks like an airplane.

The pit is ready to be installed.

I now have something that looks like an airplane.

More soon

Sorry guys, I'm a bit late to the party. I will play catch up with everyone's progress tomorrow.

I got started on the M41 about 4 today and by 9:30 I was done and that counts an hour for dinner and TV, so ya, it was fast. Guess I'm gonna be priming tomorrow on that one too. This is an OLD Tamiya kit and it shows. The mold seems are plentiful and the fit is dubious at best, but it works. I wonder if anyone makes a newer mold? Hmm, I'll have to look. More to come soon.

BK

Ok, took some time to catch up.

Jeaton, I think I mentioned this already but well done on the F84G, it's very impressive.

Armor-Aficianado, the Mig-15 is very cool. Nice work.

Jacknewbill, the Easy 8 is super cool. You crushed the look on that one. Well done.

Justinryan, the Mig-15/F86 in flight display is very cool and very impressive. Well done.

Nick, I love the Corsiar and the F86 is a stunner as well. Nice work.

I went ahead and primed the Bulldog this morning and waited a couple of hours and then went ahead and laid down a coat of XF-62 Olive Drab on the lower hull, then added a several drops of yellow/green to lighten it up and sprary the sides of the upper hull and turret. I then added to that mix some Olive Green and painted the upper surfaces with that. It's hard to see the layering in the photos, but it will show more as I do some filters and weathering. Monotone schemes are really hard to make look good at first. More to come on this one later.

BK

Brandon,

Nice job on the M-41.  There are some Fruil metal tracks if you're interested.  The only other kit I know of is by AFV.

Now for today's update.

Put your mask on, there's going to be a paint fight.

Fresh out of the paint shop and ready for decals.

More soon.

That P-51 is looking pretty sweet, Buddy. Can't wait to see decals.

BK

BrandonK

That P-51 is looking pretty sweet, Buddy. Can't wait to see decals.

BK

 

Your wish is my command.  Still have a couple of springboks to add to the underside roundels, and there are black outline decals for the yellow and blue decals on the fuselage.  Decals should be done by tonight. I'm also running out of things to paint.  Here's the pics.

I don't normally hang drop tanks or ordnance, but since the Corsairs will be loaded, this one will be as well.  She'll be carrying 3 HVARs under each wing and either two napalm tanks or a couple of five hundred pounders.  Just got word that my order with the other Corsair kit is ready for shipping from HLJ.  Hope to have it next week.

Gamera, it's pretty hard to make a mustang look bad, and you have not done so here. Great looking scheme.

I have completed all the major paint work, now just hand painting details and begin some weathering before clear and the unit markings. More to come.

BK

The start of my Shooting Star. A Monogram putty monster

As it sits now waiting for Alclad

Yeah, it does take a little seam work, but at least it looks like an F-80 when you are done.  I bought one of the HobbyBoss F-80A's and it looks like it has the mumps.  Intakes are way out of shape.  I'd say it was unbuildable, but of course I suppose many would be happy with it.  The canopy on the Monogram didn't fit as well as I would like.

Looking good TJ!

Lew, Brandon, & TJ: Those look great guys! Please keep up the updates!!!

Hey, y’all! Here’s my update:

Installment 4:

The preshade

I also mixed a custom paint for it. You can see the color on the plastic piece on top of the turret.

Is it historically accurate for North Korean tanks or did the North Koreans tend to have greener T-34s?