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80 Years of the Mighty 8th GB

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  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Land of Lakes
Posted by cbaltrin on Monday, January 3, 2022 7:30 AM

plasticjunkie
Made some progress last night drilling out the guns

Holy Smokes PJ. You must have nerves of steel. How did you get those holes dead center? Nice work.

On the Bench: Too Much

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Monday, January 3, 2022 8:23 AM

cbaltrin

 

 
plasticjunkie
Made some progress last night drilling out the guns

 

Holy Smokes PJ. You must have nerves of steel. How did you get those holes dead center? Nice work.

 

Thanks cb. I used my pin vise with a sharp pin to punch a pilot hole on the center then use my mini carbide  bits from Habor Freight that work great. I can get some tiny holes drilled out with them but they will break very easily.

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Monday, January 3, 2022 8:37 AM

Nice work on those PJ. Those fine drill bits come in very handy, i get mine off e-bay in packs of 10 which is useful.

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 2014
Posted by rooster513 on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 12:09 PM

Great work so far everyone!

Bish, I'd like to add Hasegawa's 1/32 P-47D bubbletop to the list. This one jumped ahead of the B-17. I'm not sure yet about the markings but I'm going to have my first go at skinning it in bare metal (aluminum foil in this case) so we will see how that goesIndifferent

-Andy

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 1:10 PM

Will do Andy.

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
    February 2003
  • From: Between LA and OC, SoCal
Posted by oortiz10 on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 2:39 PM

I took advantage of my last couple of days of vacation and a couple of subsequent sick days and put in some quality bench time.

I've been able to make some solid progress on my Lightning. I got the booms squared away. As I mentioned in a previous post, the inserts for the various variants didn't fit very well. I was able to get them to a point that I was happy with. 

After some shaping, filling, sanding and rescribing, here are the finished products:

 

I was also able to get the central "pod" assembled. The instructions have the booms assembled to the upper wing before adding the cockpit/lower pod assembly. During dry fit, that didn't make sense to me. Seems to me that's where other builders' alignment problems came from. So I assembled the central section first, then will assemble the booms and lower wing sections later. Anyway, I was able to get a very good fit and good alignment, however, it seems that as the glue was setting, the parts shifted a bit which resulted in a step along the forward fuselasge sides. I'll have to deal with that.

 

You'll notice that I also got the nose cone installed. Like other parts in this kit, it doesn't fit well. It's too big. I ended up with a step at the bottom, but you can see I was able to wrestle that into submission. Nothing some more shaping, filling, sanding and rescribing couldn't handle. 

Oh, and of course, I couldn't resist posing the main assemblies together for something that resembles a Lightning...

Anyway...more later. Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-O

-It's Omar, but they call me "O".

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Northern California
Posted by jeaton01 on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 9:17 PM

Much progress, Omar.  That is a strange prop attachment on those booms.

My ProModeler B-24 kit does not have 8th AF markings, so I went looking for a likely candidate for an 8th B-24D and came upon Bomerang.  Here is the history, copied from a page on the American Air Museum in Britain web site:

 

The B-24D, 41-23722, Bomerang, based in Britain, flew on the 93rd Bomb Group's maiden mission on 9 October 1942. It sustained the worst battle damage of the ten Liberators damaged on the mission, with over 200 holes in the plane. Due to shortages of B-24 parts in the UK early in the war, common practice dictated, 41-23722, was to be cannibalized to repair the other aircraft, but the aircraft's crew chief, Master Sergeant Charles Chambers, adamantly refused, and the aircraft was saved with the support of the pilot, Lieutenant John Stewart.

Bomerang, was flown on Operation Tidal Wave by Pilot Roy G. Martin and Colonel Luther Smith Bird, who survived the raid on the Ploesti oil refinery complex, to return safely to Libya on, 1 Aug, 1943.

Bomerang, became the first B-24D Liberator of the 8th Air Force to complete 50 missions. On completion of the aircraft's 53rd mission on 4 April, 1944, General Ted Timberlake visited the plane and crew at Hardwick for their "50 Mission" going away party.

On 17 April, 1944, Bomerang, embarked on a war bond tour, returning to the U.S. with its crew led by Col. Walter Stewart, with Lt. Royden Lebrecht in, The Squaw, and Lt. John Young in, The Blue Streak.

One lucky B-24!

I thought about doing the decals myself, but I didn't find any reference for the Kangaroo artwork colors.  I was able to find decals for it from Dave Klaus' website so I ordered them.  If anyone else has need of the other parts of the sheet, let me know, they are all Ploesti raid airplanes.

 

Here's the Bomerang part of the sheet.

 

John

To see build logs for my models:  http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 6:29 AM

Omar, lots of work going into that, and its paying off. Nice work.

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
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 6:30 AM

Glad to see your sorted the decals John. Those Polesti raiders are interesting subjects with the British tail markings on them.

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
    May 2004
  • From: Land of Lakes
Posted by cbaltrin on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 7:37 AM

Hey John, Isn't do the research half the fun in this hobby? Nice story & thanks for sharing!

On the Bench: Too Much

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by TheMongoose on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 7:41 AM

rooster513

Great work so far everyone!

Bish, I'd like to add Hasegawa's 1/32 P-47D bubbletop to the list. This one jumped ahead of the B-17. I'm not sure yet about the markings but I'm going to have my first go at skinning it in bare metal (aluminum foil in this case) so we will see how that goesIndifferent

 

Hey Andy if you need any advive or have questions on foiling with kitchen foil let me know and I'll see if i can help. I've done a few now that way. My biggest issue has been painting and decalling over foil. My favorite glue, Mona Lisa brand gold leaf foil glue Yes

In the pattern: Scale Shipyard's 1/48 Balao Class Sub! leaning out the list...NOT! Ha, added to it again - Viper MkVii, 1/32 THUD & F-15J plus a weekend madness build!

  • Member since
    September 2014
Posted by rooster513 on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 8:11 AM

TheMongoose

 

 
rooster513

Great work so far everyone!

Bish, I'd like to add Hasegawa's 1/32 P-47D bubbletop to the list. This one jumped ahead of the B-17. I'm not sure yet about the markings but I'm going to have my first go at skinning it in bare metal (aluminum foil in this case) so we will see how that goesIndifferent

 

 

 

Hey Andy if you need any advive or have questions on foiling with kitchen foil let me know and I'll see if i can help. I've done a few now that way. My biggest issue has been painting and decalling over foil. My favorite glue, Mona Lisa brand gold leaf foil glue Yes

 

Sounds great Mongoose I'll take all the tips I can get. I tried to PM you but the feature doesn't seem to be working at the moment. How do you go about burnishing the foil? I've been trying it with a cotton swab and toothpick.

-Andy

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by TheMongoose on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 8:47 AM

-Othat lightning has alot of potential. Nteresting to see how the change in assembly helps for sure.

John love the storyline. Looks like cool nose art. Klaus' decals are really nice. Have you used them before?

In the pattern: Scale Shipyard's 1/48 Balao Class Sub! leaning out the list...NOT! Ha, added to it again - Viper MkVii, 1/32 THUD & F-15J plus a weekend madness build!

  • Member since
    September 2020
Posted by fearlessfarless on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 10:20 AM

Good morning, I just found your group build. I started a 1/48 Eduard P-51D on Dec 25th. Is it too late to join the GB?

P.S. Sorry to post here, but DM would not work.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 12:56 PM

fearlessfarless

Good morning, I just found your group build. I started a 1/48 Eduard P-51D on Dec 25th. Is it too late to join the GB?

P.S. Sorry to post here, but DM would not work.

 

Nope, not at all. Welcome aboard.

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 2020
Posted by fearlessfarless on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 1:20 PM

Thank you!

  • Member since
    September 2020
Posted by fearlessfarless on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 2:18 PM

Here is the kit and markings I'm working on.

 

 

 

I know it's cliché, but is it really a Mustang without checkerboards on the nose? Wink

  • Member since
    June 2017
  • From: Winter Park, FL
Posted by fotofrank on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 3:22 PM

FINALLY!! I started the 8th AF F-82E. Not much, but a start. The seats are pretty much done. I cut some Tamiya tape on my Infini cutting board to make the shoulder harnesses and lap belts. Not sure if I'll have pilots in the seats though. Now to put the seats in their respective fuselage.

 .

The copyright on the inside one of the fuselages is 1973!

OK. In the stash: Way too much to build in one lifetime...

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Northern California
Posted by jeaton01 on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 6:00 PM

Mongoose, no, these will be the first I've used, but I think I do have some of his other decals in the stash.  It seems like a lot of the time I pick subjects that are not available anywhere so I make a lot of my own decals and masks.

CBaltrin, yes, the research is fun, and building a model with no sense of its history seems less interesting to me.

John

To see build logs for my models:  http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

 

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 8:04 PM

John> Interesting B-24.  Hopefully the decals don't give you too much trouble.

Fotofrank> Not bad!  The F-82 will make for a wild ride!

Fearless> Welcome to the GB!  Look forward to the Eduard P-51.

My own P-51 has had its bath and is awaiting my finishing up other projects.  Always something!  Big Smile

Gary 

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 9:22 PM

Outstanding work by everyone on this GB. 

Been looking over things and the flaps, ailerons and elevators are all missing the riveting so, out came the RB Riveter and spent a few hours roling the missing details. Just enough to busy up the metal skin.

The parts before detailing.

After rolling the riveter.

Topside completed, the bottoms will be next but not tonight Surprise

The rivets are subtle and hard to see in the pictures but will be more visible after paint and washes.

 

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    September 2020
Posted by fearlessfarless on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 9:29 PM

I finished the cockpit last night, now on to fitting the fuselage together...

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Between LA and OC, SoCal
Posted by oortiz10 on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 11:32 PM

Lovin' it. Lovin' it all! 

Hey fearless, I kicked around the idea of doing Landers' Mustang for this GB as a crossover for the Animalistic GB too. I'm glad I didn't! By the look of your start, I don't think mine wouldn't have compared!

Keep up the great work all. Great lookin' stuff!

-O

-It's Omar, but they call me "O".

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Australia
Posted by Helo H-34 on Thursday, January 6, 2022 12:15 AM

I have a two reference books regarding the Mighty 8th AAF , so

I've beenthinking about joining this group build for a couple of weeks now and was going through my kit stash to find something that would be suitable .

I have chosen the 1/72 Academy P-38J Lightning

The kit decals have the "California Cutie" markings which I found reference to in the Mighty Eighth in colour book

Please sign me up .

  • Member since
    September 2020
Posted by fearlessfarless on Thursday, January 6, 2022 3:40 AM

oortiz10

Lovin' it. Lovin' it all! 

Hey fearless, I kicked around the idea of doing Landers' Mustang for this GB as a crossover for the Animalistic GB too. I'm glad I didn't! By the look of your start, I don't think mine wouldn't have compared!

Keep up the great work all. Great lookin' stuff!

-O

 

 

Thank you! You are way too kind.

I hope I didn't steal your thunder with the Landers' Mustang...Indifferent

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Thursday, January 6, 2022 6:05 AM

Helo, will get that on the roster.

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
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Thursday, January 6, 2022 6:06 AM

fearless, nice looking subject and off to a good start.

frank, will check out your build tonight, can't see the pics from work.

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
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Thursday, January 6, 2022 8:54 AM

Helo, can’t comment on the 1/72 scale but the Academy 1/48 P-38 is a great kit. I built one as a commission a while back and went together very well.

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Between LA and OC, SoCal
Posted by oortiz10 on Thursday, January 6, 2022 10:24 AM

fearlessfarless

 ...I hope I didn't steal your thunder with the Landers' Mustang...

 

Nah. Landers' Mustang's been on my to-do list for years. It'll get done, just not for this GB. But I am looking forward to seeing yours built up. 

Yes

-O

-It's Omar, but they call me "O".

  • Member since
    September 2020
Posted by fearlessfarless on Thursday, January 6, 2022 2:32 PM

"Snowmageddon" hit my little corner of the world today and work was canceled.

What a shame...

free model day WOOHOO!!!

I know, I know, the wheel wells are all yellow. Heresy! Sharpen the torches and light the pitchforks! Big Smile

I've seen, heard, and read arguments with more variations than can be counted, green, yellow, bare aluminum, and all combinations of those finishes. IMHO, considering the variations, no one can say with certainty what 44-72218 had for factory original finish, or what was added in theater...

Yellow looks good! That being said, I want this thing to be right, so if someone KNOWS something i don't, I've got a brush and plenty of paint Wink

Thanks y'all!

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