[quote user="John 3:16 KJV"]Hello and welcome, Est. 1961!  You’re on the roster! What’s your kit’s manufacturer?[/quote

The manufacturer is Revell. 

Happy 2020 all!

I finally started the Dragon 1/35 M-26A1.  I was out of town all last week for work, but brought the kit along to keep me company!  Managed to build up the suspension and a little bit of the lower hull:

This tank's suspension is a bit complex.  Took a bit of dry fitting to figure everything out.  Also the instructions called out the opposite part #s for the swing arms with shocks. Switching them was the key.  The front and rear needed some shims to fill gaps when the upper hull is fitted. Here it is with the upper hull and road wheels dry fitted.

Travelling again this week and the kit is coming with!  Hope to have a little more done by the weekend.

That looks sharp Ernest, after all those suspension arms the rest of the kit can't be that much work!  

Mmmmm, Mmmmm...Him say too many wheel!

Here is the 1/48 Monogram F-80.  See if I can overcome the notorious step between the wing and fuselage.

Hope the decals are still good, I've had the kit since the mid-eighties!

Chris: Oh wow, I started one of those years ago and never finished it. That's gonna be cool watching you build! 

bufflehead

Happy 2020 all!

I finally started the Dragon 1/35 M-26A1.  I was out of town all last week for work, but brought the kit along to keep me company!  Managed to build up the suspension and a little bit of the lower hull:

This tank's suspension is a bit complex.  Took a bit of dry fitting to figure everything out.  Also the instructions called out the opposite part #s for the swing arms with shocks. Switching them was the key.  The front and rear needed some shims to fill gaps when the upper hull is fitted. Here it is with the upper hull and road wheels dry fitted.

Travelling again this week and the kit is coming with!  Hope to have a little more done by the weekend.

 

Good start! What’ll be your method for masking its wheels?

freem: An F-80 from the eighties, eh? ;) Have fun with the build! 

John 3:16 KJV

Good start! What’ll be your method for masking its wheels?

freem: An F-80 from the eighties, eh? ;) Have fun with the build! 

John, most likely I'll paint the rubber a black/gray color and use a circle template like this one to mask off the rubber and paint the rims OD.

If none of the holes fit I'll use my Olfa circle cutter to make a few masks from tape

Well, I started applying the aluminum paint to the F-51D along with a Zero I'm building. Seems the cap on the Alclad bottle didn't seal well and the solvent had evaporated out of the bottle leaving me with some thick sludge. I tried spraying it and it just made a mess. So I went and ordered some more Alclad aluminum from Sprue Brothers at 10:30 EST. Got an email this morning at 9:30 that the order had been filled and shipped. Sorry a bit off subject but I like to give some recognizion for excellent customer service.  

That’s no fun; but that’s good about Sprue Bros. Will await pictures of your plane when you finish up painting it! 

What do you use to thin the Alclad and clean it out of your air brush, by the way? 

John: I thought I had some Alclad thinner but when I looked I didn't have any of that either. So I grabbed some laquer thinner and used it. Not a big fan of the stuff, I think it's melted the seals in a previous airbrush but sometimes I use it as the 'atomic option'. It's so hot it will clean up pretty much anything.

Will get some photos up when the paint gets here and I get some actual work done on her.

I always use hardware store lacquer thinner to clean up Alclad.  I've never had to thin any, I use it up too fast.

jeaton01

I always use hardware store lacquer thinner to clean up Alclad.  I've never had to thin any, I use it up too fast.

 

Hmm, that's what this was. So you normally use it? I've been a little afraid to use the stuff. I'm not sure if it destroyed the seals in my airbrush or not but been trying to stay on the safe side.

I’ve never used Alclad before; and frankly enamel paints are my comfort zone. I know I can get bulk thinner for the enamels at hardware stores, and I like the cost effectiveness of that. It’s good that that can be done for Alclad, too. However, the melting of the air brush’s seals couldn’t have been nice. I suppose it is possible that the thinner hurt them. With enamels, I think I learned somewhere that it’s best to avoid getting the thinner on the seals as it could hurt the rubber.

Somewhat of a change in topic, but still about paints and thinners: does anybody know if AmmoMiG’s Acrylic paints be thinned with and cleaned out of air brushes with tap and/or distilled water? 

Cliff, I use Bager 150 and 200 airbrushes and I've been using lacquer thinner for years.  Even if I'm using acrylics I often follow Windex through the airbrush with some lacquer thinner for final cleaning.  I've never had to send an airbrush in for service, but now that I've said too much my luck will probably change.

Thanks Jeaton, I'll keep that in mind. Hmmm, the airbrush keeps leaking paint back into the body, I just assumed the seals were bad and lacquer thinner is the strongest thing I've ever used in it. Guess something else is to blame but I'm not sure what else could have done it... 

When I get paint back in the body it's usually because I have blocked the nozzle when the trigger is pressed down, for instance blocking the nozzle to backflush the paint passage.  I quit doing that!  Another thing I do to keep the needle free on the 150 which is suction feed double action, is to put some thinner in the brush holding it upside down and pulling the trigger without pushing it down.  That seems to clean the needle in the seal that is behind the paint entry.  In the Badger air brushes that seal can only be replaced by Badger, not by the user.  I think damage to that seal is usually caused by physical damage or wear, not chemical.  As I said though, I have four Badger brushes and none have been back to Badger for repair.  Mine may be worn there but it doesn't seem to be causing any issues given how I am operating them.

I know what I'm going to do for this build.  Put me down for 2 F4U-4 Corsairs from VF-32. One was flown by Lt. jg Thomas Hunder, the other will be Ens. Jesse Brown's. On 4 Dec 1950, while providing close air support for the Marines near the Chosin Reservoir, Ens. Brown was shot down. Lt. Hunder attempted a rescue as Ens. Brown was shot down behind enemy lines and was wounded. Unfortunately, Ens. Brown was pinned in his aircraft and died before the rescue helo could get there. Lt. Hunder was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions, and Ens. Brown was awarded the DFC. Ens. Brown was the first African-American Naval officer killed in action in the Korean War.

Jeaton: Hmmmm, it's a Grex airbrush, maybe I should go back and try cleaning the head. I've had the same issues with my Paasche airbrush, it leaked paint back into the body until I gave the head a really good cleaning and it works fine now. Thanks! 

Lewbud: Ohhhhh that sounds cool! 

I’ll update the roster! Good choice, lewbud!  

What are the models’ manufacturers, by the way? (Just for the roster.) 

John 3:16 KJV

I’ll update the roster! Good choice, lewbud!  

What are the models’ manufacturers, by the way? (Just for the roster.) 

 

Don't know yet, I'll have to check the stash.  If memory serves, I have a HobbyBoss and an Italeri F4U-4 that will work. Will let you know.

Roger that, lewbud.  :) 

I sprayed the black undercoat on for the NM finish for the F-51D. I ended up with a lot of trash in the finish so I sanded it out and went back and resprayed the black, being more careful this time. I did a Zero for my Japanese GB at the same time.

The black undercoat went down a bit grainy so the NM went on with more texture than I wanted. Still I don't really want to sand it down again so I'm going with this. There are two bad places were the paint ran so I'm going to try to sand them out and hopefully I won't have to do the whole thing over again.

BTW: I asked the Korean waitress if she could translate the nose logo. She said it wasn't Korean though. Is it Mandarin Chinese? I dunno. The translator on my phone couldn't make heads or tails of it. I'm going to try to ask a Chinese lady next weekend if she can read it...

You’re plane’s comin’ along, Gamera. :) As for the writing,....the mystery continues...  

Thanks John, I hope to have the drips sanded out and the paint touched up this weekend. Cross your fingers... 

No problem. Will keep watching for updates! :)

Small update on my Chaffee.  I got the hull together and the resin wheels with what I think are lightening holes not found on the kit wheels.

The blue color is just the lighting (LED)