Nice!

Alright guys, just a few more days and this GB starts up. 

It's midnight here, so let's get started.  I'm going to build the F-104 first as I still need decals for the B-26.  Here's what I'm using :  An Academy F-104G and Caracal decals for the NASA version.

The version I'm doing doesn't have wing tanks, but I guess I can manage.

Later!

Gary

It's officially the first and I'm sitting at home with a cold (No, it's NOT Covid!), so I figured today would be a good day to start my tribute to Kelly Johnson and his team. I'm in with a Hasegawa (sorry, NOT Tamiya) P-38F that will also be a crossover for the Mighty 8th GB.

I have some resin wheels, an aftermarket decal sheet, and am considering using some turned barrels, but otherwise this will be OOB.

This kit has some pretty nicely molded detail in the cockpit. The only thing I added was some belts made of paper. 

My builds are usually built with the cockpit's closed up, so I don't spend a lot of time detailing the office. (That and I'm not that good at cockpit painting and/or detailing.)

I like to build more than one kit at a time, so this one will share bench-space with a AMT's 1/48 F7F-3 Tigercat for the Animalistic GB. Stay tuned!

Good luck with your builds everyone. I'm looking forward to finishing more than 3 in 2022!

-O

O & Gary: Great start guys! Those look good!

I pulled my Tamiya P-38 out and gave her a good look over. Sorry to say I haven't started though. I've got a few other things I want to get done first, not sure when I'll start on her.

Didn't get much done today, but any progress, not matter how small, is still progress...

Today I focused on the booms. I've read that this kit isn't Hasegawa's best fitting boxing, and I saw that first hand today. I'm guessing, as Hase is prone to do, it uses a modular base kit with the bits and pieces to make the variants included in each particular box. Well, I saw today that the coolers on the booms and the intakes under the nacelles had parts that were undersized. 

Here you can see that gaps in the cooler doors...

And the lip on the cooler intake...

It wasn't difficult but after some filling, sanding, shaping, and rescribing...

I was able to get things looking decent...

Next I'll assemble the booms, attack the intakes, and get everything cleaned up. 

Thanks for lookin'! Of course comments, questions, and criticisms are always welcome.

Cheers!

-O

Just getting started on the F-16, working on the cockpit:

Sorry guys, I haven't been getting notifications  Typical for FSM.

Gary, O and AA, great starts!

Gary looking forward to that NASA chase plane. I always though they looked cool in NASA colors.

O, I've heard the only good fitting P-38 it the Tamiya but watching your skills, I have no doubt you'll make it look easy.

AA, you're building my favorite modern fighter fighter. Love the look and am looking forward to seeing it come together.

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

Looks great O, I knew you were more that capable to get those guys in line.

AA: Looks cool! 

O: Wow! She's looking great! I've built the Hasegawa kit before, just built her right out of the box- she didn't hold a candle to your improvements. 

Ortiz,

Nice work!  I'm sure you will produce a sterling project.

As for me, I'm trying to produce a NASA F-104 which is currently on display at Edwards Air Force Base.  I've been wanting to try one.

I've managed to prime the fuselage, and paint the exhaust.  What I'm working on now is the pit.  The Academy model didn't have one, so I'm attempting to build something resembling it.  So far, so good.  With my hand-eye coordination, I'm probably just going to drive myself crazy!

Thanks for looking!

Gary

I like that paint scheme

Yeah that's a very sharp scheme Gary. Good luck with the cockpit- looks like it's coming along well so far. 

Oooooh! A NASA Starfighter? You have my approval.

-O

There are so many great Lockheed Martin subjects, this might be a busy GB I think. I've made a start on my Ventura. I'll be bulding an RAAF one, in overall Foliage Green from a DK Decals sheet.

Cheers

Tony

That's going to look great Tony. I'm curious how that kit builds. 

Tony,

Nice one!  An underrated aircraft that did good service.

The 104 is together and just needs a little sanding before paint.

As for details, the Academy kit is surprisingly lacking in them, but just for building something that looks like an 104, it's okay.  For group builds, I apply the KISS principle.  Try not to go overboard with fancy AM items.  This model certainly fits the bill!

Gary

Not a whole lot to report on my Lightning but there are a few things to share.

First, I got the transparencies installed, but before I could, I had to deal with a small problem.

During dryfitting, I noticed the rear canopy wouldn't sit flush against the fuselage.

Turns out the armor plating behind the seat was too tall. So, I had to remove it and cut it down. I used some liquid cement to soften the joint, then carefully pulled the piece away.

After I cut it down, I reinstalled it, and the canopy piece fit beautifully.

The five-piece canopy assembly was a bit fiddly and took some time to get together, but the parts go together nicely.

I bought a Montex mask set and got the framing interior colors sprayed.

I have to say that I'm disappointed with the Montex masks. This is the third set I've tried, and all three have been too big. With all three sets, I've had to cut each mask into smaller pieces to get them to fit within the molded framing. For the side windows, I had to use the masks Montex provides for the interior of the transparencies. I don't think I'll be using Montex in the future...

Anyway, I have to go back to work tomorrow. I don't think there will be much to share until next weekend. Now that the transparencies are protected, I think I'm going to attack the boom attachments, clean up seams, and replace any erased details. Stay tuned!

Feel free to share your comments, questions, and/or criticisms. 

Thanks again for lookin'!

-O

Looks good Gary, I don't think the 104 had much in the area of exterior detail anyway. The rivits were flush and the panel lines were tight. We have a 104 at our local museum. It still amazes me that that thing could turn. A bear to land I understand.

O, that surprizes me (just a little) since that's a Hase kit. Yeah, I tried the Montex once since it was the only thing avaliable for the kit I was building (the 1/72 Airfix Blenheim if I remember correctly). I didn't have a issue with the size but with the tackiness of it. I've had size issues with Eduard as well but on the too small side. I rather have them too small than too large though. Easer to add than remove.

O & Gary: Those are coming along great guys!!!

Tony: Ohhhhhhh, very cool!

More work-in-progress on the F-16:

Nice progress AA. Does that Tamiya kit include the intake trunking or does it just come to an end at the nose gear well like Hasegawa does?

It's not a Tamiya kit, it's an ERTL/ESCI.  The intake goes well past the nose wheel well, all the way back to the main gear well, but there's not really any detail in there.

I knew I should have checked before opening my mouth about its vintage. I'm glad you have some trunking even if sparse detail. 

AA: Coming along nicely!

Well, this plane has been going together quite quickly and trouble-free!  However, I came to a halt when I ran out of FS36375 paint - don't you just hate when that happens? 

So, since I hate to pay all that shipping charge just for a bottle or two of paint, looks like I'll have to go online and do some more model shopping - oh, darn the luck! 

What a bummer AA 

Heheehehehe!

I know what you mean!

I need some paint for my Ju-188E1 in Bish's Junkers GB too. Be a shame just to order two bottles of paint.......

Okay, so I found a paint among my vast paint inventory that, although not listed as FS36375, is a pretty darn close match (the small blotch in the upper left corner of the paint swatch).  So I'm gonna go with it, instead of buying more models and paints ().

Painting is underway: