The 50 Shades of Gray Group Build!

I have been been decaling foe a few hours and te decal seet on the F4 stil seems as full as when I started ! Atleast they seem to be conforming will to te surface.

Theuns

Glamdring

I finally finished the badge and uploaded to the first post. (Hopefully)

Hi Glamdring, the badge looks good to me - covers it all

Apologies for the temporary absence, just due to Stuff Getting In The Way.  I got some bench time in this afternoon, working on the U-Boat's conning tower, mostly spent cleaning up flash & mould seams - the railings around the gun platforms took ages!  I also got a few bits stuck on, should be ready to get some primer on this soon, bringing it into line with the hull assembly.  I think I'll keep these assemblies separate for painting, at least up to the weathering stage.  No photos at the moment, having some camera problems (damp flash-powder, cracked plates, you know how it is...)

      Stay safe,

            Hutch.

Glamdring-I'd like to join this GB-subject will be an AMT '51 Chevorlet Bel Air-did some research and found that this car was available in two tone gray.  Got started today-some cleanup and primed-will post some pics tomorrow.

Thanks

Bob

took a minute and transfered pics-

I'm planning something close to the Shadow Gray roof & Thistle Gray lower...after about 10 years of abuse.....

Hi,

I'm looking forward to seeing your car build. 

Pat

PS. I luv late 40s/early 50s cars and own a 51 Buick in White over Gray (see my avatar).  I've always been a bit bummed that I couldn't find a 51 Buick model anywhere and tried to convert a 51 Bel Air model awhile ago, but never got too far.

Thanks Pat-I would image that there were a lot of common parts in the same GM platform but just enough different ones to justify the difference in pricing.  Would love to see some pics of your Buick-my grandparents had an early 50's Chevy and I can still remember the texture of the interior...good memories

I'm going for a early '60's gasser-this will give me some liberty on the build-I find myself getting too hung up on details to try to replicate a stock vehicle.

Hutch, that's ok!  Still plenty of time left to build.

Bob - Absolutely, welcome on!  Glad to see a different genre on the roster.  My uncle used to have a restored Bel Air.  He unfortunately sold it some years back I believe.

Moving along with this kitty. I punched out some discs to block the hollow Phoenix missile engine nozzles

Looks a lot better now

The missiles are huge

Got the missiles, landing gears and chin pod assembled but they have lots of nasty seam marks that have to be cleaned up. I will be doing a 2-2-2 load on this one. Both 54’s still have to be glued up.

Also got the forward fuselage assembled

really nice detailing. What is going to bond all that plastic ? 

crown r n7

really nice detailing. What is going to bond all that plastic ? 

 

Thanks crown. I use Plast I Weld using a Touch n Flow applicator which melts the plastic leaving a small ridge between parts when squeezed together eliminating the use of putty many times. I sand the ridge smooth leaving no visible join line.

That missile is larger than some tanks I have built!  A bit of an odd design choice that the manufacturer left the tail end as just a gaping hole.

 How has the fit been so far?

Glamdring

That missile is larger than some tanks I have built!  A bit of an odd design choice that the manufacturer left the tail end as just a gaping hole.

 How has the fit been so far? 

Yes I agree, a simple plug is enough to block the hollow look in the missile.

The fit so  far has been ok for the most part. The Plast I Weld really helps close up seams very well. The forward to rear fuselage fit Gad an issue during preliminary fitting that Zi took care with plastic sprue spreaders to make the join area even. I will post a picture of the fix when I get home.

The front to rear fuselage fit was not working out too well so I used the same method I used on the the 1/48 Hasegawa kitties that have the same fit issue and solved with the use of spreader bars made from the kit’s sprues.

Now the sides line up for the gluing stage

These 54’s are just a tad large 

The disc I punched out closes the hollow cavity in the nozzle

I hollowed out the molded light in the nose gear so I can make a more realistic light. 

I have to think on this one.

Had a bit of a set beck with one of my Phantoms.  Or 1 year old rescue pup decided to use it as a chew toy.

68GT

Had a bit of a set beck with one of my Phantoms.  Or 1 year old rescue pup decided to use it as a chew toy.

 

 

OUCH!! Hate when that happens! Can you say battle damage?

Yikes!  Well, it's now confirmed that models do not make good chew toys.

Made some progress on the boat launch deck over the weekend:

The gluing has to be done by small sections to help reduce the gaps. The rear fuselage was not a real problem but the front is a different story. I glued the spine first and it has a good fit but the underside has gaping spaces as you can see in the pictures. 

The solution: use my oversized long clamp to close up the gap as much as possible while sandwiching thin plastic sheet to fill and secure with Plast I Weld. Now to let it cure overnight and then release the clamps and continue gluing the side gaps. 

 The smaller clamps close up  the side gaps giving a smooth transition along the join line.

That's a good way to deal with those gaps - top tip!  And that kit is a monster - I've got clamps that big, but they're in my woodworking shop!  Lovely work so far, I look forward to seeing the end result.

Hutch6390

That's a good way to deal with those gaps - top tip!  And that kit is a monster - I've got clamps that big, but they're in my woodworking shop!  Lovely work so far, I look forward to seeing the end result.

 

Thanks Hutch. That large clamp is also from my woodworking tools. Like Norm Abram says, “You can never have enough clamps”;so I have several all in different sizes.

That 2nd picture from the bottom really shows the size of that model, what a monster!  Well done on the gap filling solution.

Great stuff, Thanks a lot!

Thanks guys!

I managed to get some painting done on the survivor while everyone was still asleep.

nice camo, did you use AV or MM ?

I thought the same thing last year, but when I get though the Learning curve of acrylics its a lot easier to clean and strip paint . The paint does go on smooth,  I add a drop or two of acrylic thinner but that's just me .