The 50 Shades of Gray Group Build!

Nice chopper O!

Johnny, that jet looks superb!

We are now at the 1 month to go mark...and my drone and helicopter are still not attached to the Freedom.  

I got a little bit of gray on today!

68GT

I got a little bit of gray on today!

 

Ed you can't buy grey-in, i know I've looked, but you can put gray on! Looking good and by the pic I'd say you'll get some nice shading in the color coat!

That Warthog is looking great!

I'm all done. JAS-39 Gripen A. Italeri kit. Not bad 

Looks like a real hot rod!  Splendid work!  

Want the 1st or 2nd picture on the completed list?

tempest, I'm usually not a big delta wing fan, but in my opinion, the SAAB Gripen and Viggen are se...um...attractive airframes. You've done the -39 justice. Nice!

I've managed to make a little progress on my AH-1J. I got the elevators and stub wings installed. Also, I've got the markings on it too and started a little weathering.

The airframe I'm working on didn't have a lot of stencils, at least not that I could see. The other airframes in the squadron wore minimal markings too. I didn't have decals to match the squadron code nor the modex, so I has to make stencils and paint them on.

From what I could see in my references, not all airframes in this squadron had their serial number painted on, and it looks like the airframe I'm modeling didn't either. Although they did have the MARINES stencilled on the tailboom and a stars-and-bars on the fuselage. Again, markings and styles varied from airframe to airframe, even within the same squadron, but it looks like this is how my subject was painted up. On my build, the MARINES and national insignia are decals from my pile.

This one's nearing the finish line. I hope to have it wrapped up over the weekend.

Thanks for looking. As usual, comments, questions and criticisms are welcome.

Cheers!

-O

I've gotten the decals on my Eagle. The kit decals were atrocious. I swear they were printed on scotch tape, they were so thick.I had some after market decals for all of the important stuff...

So I got this great idea to scan the kit decals and print them out on clear decal paper. That would have worked great but the old decal sheet had yellowed and that yellowing transfered to the reprinted sheet. But I pressed ahead anyway by tring to cut as close to the pertinent part of the decal, cutting out as musch yellow as possible. In the photos the kit reprints appear as black blobs. In hindsight I should have just left them off.

One of the benefits of working from home during this pandemic is the bench time. When I have a virtual meeting and listening to someone ramble, I can do some modeling while "listening." 

I'm working towards the finish line with my AH-1J. I'd say I'm in the last turn before the final straight. Now I'm at the point where I'm thinking the whole, "Oh, yeah, I still need to do that." before I get to the final assembly. While sitting at my table today, I tackled two of those "little things" that needed to get done.

The -1J had a shroud or shield (for lack of a better term) covering the canon's opening in the turret. The Fujimi kit does not have that covering.

Some -1Js during ODS did not carry them, but the airframe I'm modeling did. So, I scratched one from some stryrene.

It's not perfect, but I think it looks the part. 

Also, I realized that I lost the pitot for my kit. When I went to look at the one in AH-1G project to measure, I realized that one was missing too. So, I used the one on my USMC -1G for measurements and scratched one...er...two. 

Here's one. Again, not perfect, but I think it'll look fine under some paint.

I hope to have this kit wrapped up over the weekend. I just have a few odds-and-ends to wrap up before final assembly. Once it's done I'll be able to turn my attention to other (not gray) projects.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Cheers,

-O

Coming down the homestretch with my viper. I'm working on the base for it now. Here's a couple pics of the mock up. VMM-163 is deployed off the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship So i grabbed a few pics to come up with the flight deck layout. 

Good looking choppper action going on in here!

Mark the decals relly look nice!  I love that nose art.

OK gang, I'm posting some (OK, a lot!) of photos of my finished AH-1J from HMA-775 circa 1991. This wraps up my third (and final) submission to the GB. 

This is Fujimi's kit in 1/48 with Cobra Company's resin cockpit. It's the first time I used a resin cockpit in one of my builds. It was a challenge, and a great learning opportunity, for me. The ECS hoses (wire wrapped in finer wire), turret-opening cover/cannon surround (sheet styrene), pitot (styrene rod and very fine tubing), RHAW receivers on the nose (punch sheet stryrene), FOD covers (red napkin soaked in diluted white glue) and rotor tie down (paper strip with a random PE buckle) are scratched. The whip atenna on the tail is painted monofilament. The blade antennae on the belly are from the spares box. The CC resin set comes with some chaff dispensers, but I swapped them for the plastic ones from Italeri's AH-1W boxing. The tail's squadron code and the nose's MODEX are painted on using home-made stencils. The branch markings on the tailboom and national insignia are decals from the drawer. 

It's painted using MM enamels and weathered with pastels and Flory washes. 

Well, it's another 3-footer to lay on the shelf. Here are the photos. Remember, you were warned. There are a lot of 'em...

Just for fun, here are a couple of "buddy pictures." Here's one with an AH-1G I kitbashed a couple of years ago.

Here's one with the AH-1(4B)W I Frankensteined using Italeri's AH-1Z boxing.

I realize that the dihedral on the stub wings is a little steeper than it should be. That was the angle I had to use to keep the gaps to a minimum. It's something I'll just have to live with.

Thanks for looking and thanks to Robert for hosting the GB. Feel free to share you comments, questions and/or criticisms. Now to move on to...anything NOT gray!

Happy modeling!

-O

PS: Robert, here's the glory shot for the main page:

Magnificent, O!  Thanks again for posting.  I like the contrast of the OD rocket pods and the red engine covers.   

-O I love your creativity on these builds. Some super scratch work always going on. At least one idea of which i know will get used, the monofilament whip antenna. Glad you posted the buddy shot. Great to see your collection. As tempted as i was to quote your post so we could browse those photos again i refrained 

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She is all done and looking like she threw down some ordnance!

I used the Flying Leathernecks decals, so many to choose from. I decided on the Red Skeleton Jolly Roger of VMM-163. I picked up the Werner Wings decal for all the stencils. And of course you have to use some of the kit decals as well. I will say they go on swell and were thin and easy to apply. I ended up buying Eduard seatbelts to really match everything else done in the cockpit. Since i was spending money on shipping why not get more right, so i picked up DefModels 20mm gun barrels as well :-) And with my jolly roger choice I needed some full motion video which I got from Shapeways.

The cockpit additions are all scratch built. My favorite add is the tiny wound cable behind the gunner’s seat. Lot’s to see in this one. All the plastic behind the PE vents was cut away and wiring and components were added. Hard to see with my camera skills tho but I did my best to show something ;-)  The 4 sensors(i assume) on the corners are hand painted and filled with testors window maker to try and simulate the glass. The pitot is brass tubing bent and sanded to shape. The seal where the stub wing meets the fuselage was painted and then coated with mask solution so upon final painting it could be uncovered for a little added detail. And lastly some inspiration from a local buddy of mine, goes by Bradley25mm over on the IPMS forum - fine detailing the tail rotor gear assembly with wiring, sensors, and wire clips. His looks awesome and he gave me lots of pointers on this build. 

Paint was my usual mix with 1 addition this time. Thanks to Starfighter(LSP) for the recommendation on color choices for the upper bluish gray on these birds. I ended up with Mission Models as they were available locally. Primer is Citadel Chaos Black (satin). Color coats are Mission Model and MCW acrylic lacquer. Cockpit is all done in Vallejo colors. Weathering is all Flory Models washes. And the final flat clear is MCW to close it out.

I’ve been looking forward to this model for some time and am excited to show these pics. Once I have the base done she’ll make one final flyby.

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That's awesomeness right there. I dig it!

-O

Nice jobs on the helicopters guys!

I managed to get some darker gray on this morning. Still have the engines to mask and spray.

Mongoose that is a VERY nice looking build! Should be proud of that one.

GT the Hog is coming along nicely!

More progress on the Eagle for me. Got the titanium sprayed and started on the gray for the upper side.

Another session or two should see the bottome finished up. Then I can paint and add the drop tanks as such.

GT, the hog is moving along nicely.

Rooster, look like there are muliple shades of gray, very fitting!  Really turning out well.

I have finished my F-15E. The last few steps started with some weathering, added the last few details and ended with a catastrophe. Let me elaborate. After getting all the decals applied and giving her a flat finish coat, I brushed on a thin light grey wash to lighten up the bird. My washes are thinned acyrlic craft paint, so no compatibility issues here. So far so good, no problems there. 

So I get this idea to highlight some of the surfaces with various grey pastel chalks to modulate the finish a little. The idea was to simulate fading of the paint on the fuselage here and there. It was an experiment since I haven't tried this before on a broad basis.

Again, not an Earth shattering proposition. Well, on some pics of the Strike Eagle I have seen, the radome is of a noticably different shade of grey. I thought the chalk would serve that pupose well. This is where I got into trouble. All of the pics I've seen show a sharp demarcation line between the two shades of grey. OK, I'll just lay down a small srtip of tape and rub on the chalk. So far, so good. It's when I removed the tape that it happened. Apparently I erroneously applied some tape to the MAIN decal on the side of the craft. This one...

Yeah, that one... The "Lets Roll" one. So, this is emabaracing, when I lifted the tape I also lifted part of the decal. And this is what's left...

CRIPE SAKE!. So close to the end. Well, I pressed on and finished her up. For what its worth, here she is all done, worts, missing decals, and all...

This one fought me pretty much every step of the way. I am not particularly happy with the result. Being the optimist that I am, I'll just chalk, no pun intebded, it up to lessons learned and move on to the next one...wiser. 

I have one idea that could salvage this build, at least psychologically. The narrative will be that this plane while in service in the middle east was subjected to a freak sandstorm that wore away the paint on the mural. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Tomcat dang you got that together fast. Seems like i was just reading about the painting and now done. Rest assured you're not the only one who has done that to a decal. Love the story. If i come across a set of those decals will send them your way

Mongoose. Thank you for the generous offer. You know an internet search led me to the actual nose art. I just might be able to produce my own decal from it. Stay tuned we'll see what happens.

Tomcat - It still turned out great even with the sandstorm event!  Thanks for posting!  Do you want me to put a pic on the roster yet or are you going to try a redo on the decal?

Lostagain - I look forward to seeing your update, bit it seems like there may be a picture display issue.  All those in your post have what looks to be a forbidden symbol.

Hold off on the pic until I give this decal a try. I should have an answer by the weekend. Wish me luck. 

Tough to see in the photo but I finished up the grays including a false canopy.

Ah yes, started my 2021 build album so I need to set the permissions up correctly.

Same thing last year, but this year I will be smart and record what I need to do to make them visible.

And put those instructions in a safe place...