ALL SUBJECTS - Aussie Group build (ends 10/31/04)

An average photo of the Merc body shell. The windows are still blocked off so I can apply the gloss top coat without the matt black interior being affected.



Once the gloss is applied I'll do another and also a photo of the "real" car so you can see the decals missing from the kit. As previously stated these were't the easiest decals to apply. The driver's name on top of the mudguard actually became 5 pieces when placed in the water, the smallest piece being one leg of the "M".

Trev in another tread you asked which Camaro Bob Jane drove - it was a 1969. Mid way through 1970 GM changed the shape but the Jane car always remained as a '69.

Good luck with the decals on the Sierra, my Bathurst ones were also quite brittle.

tweety1,

I'm sorry to hear about yourself mutulasion. I have finished the chassis in the serria and will hopefully have the body shell painted by the end of the weekend. At least i know have the parts for my airbrush (thanks rob).

Cheers Trev

QUOTE: Originally posted by j.s.harrison Tweety1 i was half joking when i mentioned the 79SQD GB idea but the more i thought about it the more i liked it,i imagine the hardest part would be getting them into one pic,it would take a lot of involment from the entire team,we'd have to agree to build the A/C using the same external finish and with the correct serial numbers....... I was reading an older copy of FSM and one modeler was creating in flight shots of his model jets using computer software to great effect. Imagine creating a couple of shots of 76 SQDs Black Panthers Aerobatic team in a diamond formation as well as some runway shots...... This GB idea could well be the most ambitious Gb ever undertaken in these forums,and whats more it would only be able to have 12 members.... Anyway i'll start exploring the idea a little more,can't see a start date until Jan 05 with a 6 month time scale to allow for the extra work converting the F86........ If any of you Aussies are interested in this idea let us know....Cheers J.S

Don't worry about the photo layout J.S., I can take care of that. All I need are the pics and the rest is childs play
It would be a good build thats for sure

Could someone please tell me what is the best epoxy to use for resin parts, and what size tubs it comes in, 'cause I'm gonna need a bucket full

Ta
Sean

QUOTE: Originally posted by harvs73 Phroosh, have you looked at the War Memorial collection online? I just had a quick look and found a photo of the rear fueslage of a 13 SQN acft. The stuart wilson book covering the Hudson also has a photo of a 13 SQN Hudson in it. As well as a 2 SQN acft with the 'N' on the nose.

Thanks a bunch Harvs, I was going around in circles before you gave me these. That book is quite affordable for me, too. You have given me a bit of light at the end of the tunnel! I may get started after all!

Tweety1 i was half joking when i mentioned the 79SQD GB idea but the more i thought about it the more i liked it,i imagine the hardest part would be getting them into one pic,it would take a lot of involment from the entire team,we'd have to agree to build the A/C using the same external finish and with the correct serial numbers.......
I was reading an older copy of FSM and one modeler was creating in flight shots of his model jets using computer software to great effect.
Imagine creating a couple of shots of 76 SQDs Black Panthers Aerobatic team in a diamond formation as well as some runway shots......
This GB idea could well be the most ambitious Gb ever undertaken in these forums,and whats more it would only be able to have 12 members....
Anyway i'll start exploring the idea a little more,can't see a start date until Jan 05
with a 6 month time scale to allow for the extra work converting the F86........

If any of you Aussies are interested in this idea let us know....Cheers J.S

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 On a scarier note, I just spent the last hour and a half sanding the fuselage halves so they would mate with each other to some degree, and the fit is really quite atrocious, to put it nicely Gonna need ALOT of epoxy to even things up, it's like one mold was out of wack. The canopy does not fit properly at all, and depending on how long it takes me to fit the tub, air intake and front wheel well (I have to Dremel the inside of the fuselage halves something fierce!), I may be forced to pose the canopy open. So far things look a tad grim, but patience may be the key. And to top it all off, I now have stitches in my left thumb from the PE razor saw I used to trim the fuselage halves! But other than that, everything is just peachy!

Geez Tweets, what are you building there? Is it Red Roo's Avon Sabre conversion or are building something else? If it is, I think I will leave that one alone (on account of I am basically a lazy ba****d).

BTW, I thought only I was the only one silly enough to saw through my finger with a razor saw

Cheers
Darren

QUOTE: Originally posted by j.s.harrison QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Today I FINALLY received my Avon Sabre Opened the box up, and cringed at the amount of work I will have to do to get the fuselage to even resemble a Sabre, let alone fit the cockpit and air intake in place. Too add to this, there are panel lines that need to be filled, as the Sabre is a sleek craft, with only a few panel lines that can be noticed. Will also have to scratchbuild some 30 calibre barrels, and modify the wing roots so they resemble the actual attachement points. Oh well, let the fun begin!!!! told you so tweety,thats why i'm waiting for you to finish yours before i start mine,to benefit from your experience building it...... Hey ever thought about a 76 SQD RAAF GB yours and mine makes 2 only 10 more to get.then we can all take pics behind a blue background and superimpose them on a runway........J.S

I really like the 76 SQD idea, and all 12 imposed on the one pic would definately be an impressive sight.
Maybe after the Aussie GB, we can see how much wind is left in the Aussies and go for it.

On a scarier note, I just spent the last hour and a half sanding the fuselage halves so they would mate with each other to some degree, and the fit is really quite atrocious, to put it nicely
Gonna need ALOT of epoxy to even things up, it's like one mold was out of wack.
The canopy does not fit properly at all, and depending on how long it takes me to fit the tub, air intake and front wheel well (I have to Dremel the inside of the fuselage halves something fierce!), I may be forced to pose the canopy open.
So far things look a tad grim, but patience may be the key.
And to top it all off, I now have stitches in my left thumb from the PE razor saw I used to trim the fuselage halves!

But other than that, everything is just peachy!

Phroosh, have you looked at the War Memorial collection online? I just had a quick look and found a photo of the rear fueslage of a 13 SQN acft.

The stuart wilson book covering the Hudson also has a photo of a 13 SQN Hudson in it. As well as a 2 SQN acft with the 'N' on the nose.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Today I FINALLY received my Avon Sabre Opened the box up, and cringed at the amount of work I will have to do to get the fuselage to even resemble a Sabre, let alone fit the cockpit and air intake in place. Too add to this, there are panel lines that need to be filled, as the Sabre is a sleek craft, with only a few panel lines that can be noticed. Will also have to scratchbuild some 30 calibre barrels, and modify the wing roots so they resemble the actual attachement points. Oh well, let the fun begin!!!!

told you so tweety,thats why i'm waiting for you to finish yours before i start mine,to benefit from your experience building it......
Hey ever thought about a 76 SQD RAAF GB yours and mine makes 2 only 10 more to get.then we can all take pics behind a blue background and superimpose them on a runway........J.S

Today I FINALLY received my Avon Sabre
Opened the box up, and cringed at the amount of work I will have to do to get the fuselage to even resemble a Sabre, let alone fit the cockpit and air intake in place.

Too add to this, there are panel lines that need to be filled, as the Sabre is a sleek craft, with only a few panel lines that can be noticed.

Will also have to scratchbuild some 30 calibre barrels, and modify the wing roots so they resemble the actual attachement points.

Oh well, let the fun begin!!!!

I am still bogged down in the research for my 13 Sqn Hudson. I have given up hope of ever finding out my actual Grandfathers plane, and am fast loosing hope at finding markings for any 13 Sqn Hudson. I know that the planes had either a N of SF prefix, and that the N was painted on the nose, and the SF was likely back near the roundel, and I can get a serial number for a 13 sqn plane easily enough, but marrying them all up into an accurate set of markings is driving me nuts. Let alone colour schemes. There is a nice book available, but at $65 I am struggling to justify it, especially as I am not sure it will help.

I know that this isn't info that anyone can just give me, but some suggestions on possible ways to change tack would be well appreciated. I just can't bring myself to do a half arsed job on this.

Well I've actually been able to make some headway on my Spitfire. The cockpit is now just about complete and just needs a little touching up.

With any luck I'll have some progress shots in the next day or two.

Darren

Well I have got the 737-300 engines cleaned up. Wings and fuselage are assembled, cleaned up and ready for priming.

I am keen to get this done before WASMex 2004 which is before the GB end!

cheers

Mike

harvs73 the same thing happened to me with the Spit V111 but i was useing contact which i've used before without any problems but this time it pulled off huge chunks of paint so i had to do it all over again...........J.S..........

I just found out about the 'never know if it's going to work'. I masked up my A-20G with scotch tape and airbrushed the grey underneath. On removing the tape I took great chunks of the Olive Drab top colour off with it. Bugger! :( The silly part is that I have done this numerous times on different models and had no dramas.

Oh well, time to get tricky with the airbrush to repaint the OD top colour.

nicholma i approach every aspect of modelling with a certain degree of trepadation,you never know if it's going to work until youve done it......
BTW got any pics of your progress.........J.S......

Another weekend ends but further progress has been made on Denny Hulme's Bathurst Merc. After the mild disaster with the Roodecals last weekend, I approached things with a deal of trepidation yesterday. Only once in about 250 builds over 20 odd years has a decal set defeated me but after a couple of hours yesterday I was thinking this might be the second. However with trial and error I changed my technique to suit the decals. I found using a lot (and I mean a lot) of MicroSet stopped the silvering and Gunze's Mr Softener and a gentle heat from the desk lamp enabled the decals to snuggle down properly. Unfortunately the Mr Softener attacked the paint in a couple of places but careful polishing has got rid of most of that. However the right hand side will definately be the "to the wall" side!

Unfortunately the decal set is incomplete for the car as raced. The roof number, co-driver's name, smaller sponsors and the main "Martin's Filter" decals on the boot and front are missing. Odd because I also have a set in 1/43 by the same manufacturer and they are all complete.

Next weekend, weather permitting (I have to do all my spray painting outside), I'll gloss cover the whole body shell. Then its just a case of putting it all together as the interior/chassis is complete. I should also get my 1:1 back during the week with the roll cage fully installed so maybe something else may have my attention

Now I'm on the look out for the right Boss Mustang and Camaro so I can do the Moffart Coke Mustang and Bob Jane's Camaro.

QUOTE: Originally posted by darson I found this picture on the web and thought it might be useful for anybody else doing a Spit Mk.VIII. It sure gives you an idea of the weathering these planes took in the tropics. Darren

Thanks for the photo mate,they sure did cop a beating from the elements.....
Ive gone for a heavy preshade and faded the colours with a little white about 10%
after the decals i'll add some chips........J.S

QUOTE: Originally posted by madmike Hi all! Could I add my Matchbox 1:72 RAN Westland Wessex HAS.31, completed recently and my 1:48 LTD CAC CA-15 Boomerang? and I could also add my in-progress 1:144 Minicraft Virgin Blue 737-300? cheers and keep up the great work MikeJ

Mike, nice work on your Wessex and Boomerang and you are quite welcomed to add your 1:144 Minicraft Virgen Blue 737-300 to the group build. I will added your name to the first post.

I found this picture on the web and thought it might be useful for anybody else doing a Spit Mk.VIII. It sure gives you an idea of the weathering these planes took in the tropics.

Darren

Hi all!

Could I add my Matchbox 1:72 RAN Westland Wessex HAS.31, completed recently and my 1:48 LTD CAC CA-15 Boomerang?




and I could also add my in-progress 1:144 Minicraft Virgin Blue 737-300?

cheers and keep up the great work

MikeJ

Nice progress shots Harvs, very nice job on the Mosquito.

Darren

Thought I would put in a few in progress photo's.

QUOTE: Originally posted by pingtang G'day I would like to enter this GB with a 1/48 Beaufighter Mk.21. I have expressed interest in joining a few months ago but noticed that my name wasn't in the list on the first page. The beaufighter is nearly up to painting stage so it should be finished in a few weeks. Thanks.

No problem pingtang, in fact I can remember you expressing interest a few pages back, I must have missed it when I checked to make up the Iist. I will add you to the list.

G'day

I would like to enter this GB with a 1/48 Beaufighter Mk.21. I have expressed interest in joining a few months ago but noticed that my name wasn't in the list on the first page. The beaufighter is nearly up to painting stage so it should be finished in a few weeks.

Thanks.

I was hoping I'd have a picture of 2 after last weekend but not to beas I didn't finsih the decalling as expected.

The body of the Merc was repainted about 3 weeks ago so I felt it had had long enough to stand and harden. I polished it and started on the Roodecals. It is several years since I had used these decals and I had also been warned they could be a bit brittle and fiddly to apply. Ahh in a word yes!

The first decal was the long body strip incorporating the door number and "Martins Filters" script. As soon as it was placed in water it curled into itself. On opening out (very carefully) it had cracked in about 4 places. In some respects this wasn't a bad thing as it was easier to apply to some extent, the only downside was making sure that all the parts lined up evenly along the body. Microsol/set worked well in the most part but after about 20 minutes it had lifted in along several edges and started reacting badly to more Microsol. A bit of water smoothed it out though and after it had dried properly was fine. However it has silvered badly under the door number panel and the script. I think I can solve some of that on the other side by cutting away all the carrier film from around and within the script but it will be somewhat fiddly. I think I will also cut the other side decal into about 4 pieces which hopefully will stop it cracking.

Next weekend is forecast wet so maybe I'll have time to complete.

QUOTE: Originally posted by harvs73 HI Wayne, for this group build I will be doing a 1/48 RAAF Mosquito and an A-20G Boston. Dave Harvey (AKA Harvs73)

Thanks Dave, I will add the info to the list on the first page.

I have just about finished the chassis and interior of the serria. Just need to paint the fuel tank again and it will be done. Started to clan up he body and theirs a bit of flash and rough edges to deal with. hopefully will get it cleaned up today.

Cheers Trev

QUOTE: Originally posted by darson Well after a couple of hellish weeks at work, I finally got to do some work of the Spit last night. The cockpit has been base then gloss coated and has received a wash of black and burnt umber oil paints in prep for the detail painting and a dry brush. I'm using Pledge's One Go as a gloss coat prior to the oil wash as a bit of an experiment; so far the verdict is still out. It goes on Ok but the wash didn't "wisk" along like it normally does. Question for anybody please, what color red was painted on the spinners of 457 Squadrons spitfires? Darren

Can't help you with that one Darren,my spinners white.