GROUP BUILD - Pacific 60th Annivesary [from Nov 1 2004 to Nov 1 2005]

jason looks good from my desk. thankyou for the kind words. ive done what i can until the paints arrive.


joe

very clean looking paint job Jason, can't wait to see her finished

Thad

hi guys,Lobbie i can see why the cat would blend in nicely from the air,great build.Jay,your avenger is looking real good,keep up the good work

gdarwin[roy]

Very nice looking birds Im really behind on mine I have'nt even started. Im trying to finish the Nav air build and it is taking longer than I thought it would.

hello folk's, here's my weekly update. got alot of build time in this weekend so it now actually looks like a plane instead of a flying wing that it has for the last few weeks. here's the picks. by the way, you can probably see that corny orange paint holder ot Testor's fame. Well i finally have an airbrush and compressor (early X-mas gift). It's an Aztec A-370 and the kit came with that paint tray so i'm using it to keep the wife happy ( it was her gift to me) until i can think of another paint storage plan. anyway enough rambling. her she is now. the props were just placed there for the pic


here's what the open nose will look like. i just rested the other door on there. i didn't like the kit's hinge so i made my own using short pieces of small brass rod bent and super glued in place.

by the way whoever it was that said i'd have to weigh the nose down wasn't kidding. i had to put lead in both engine's and the nose to get here off her tail.
oh ya one more thing. i won't be building Maj. Bong's AC. It's instead going to be a regular P-38. Olive Drab and Net. Grey with the green molt camo, hey i want to try out my airbrush

later folks

very nice looking bird. How much more do you have till she is ready to fly?

Cruzr, your p-38 looks great,nice color too.keep up the good work.

gdarwin[roy

Jason,

Your Avenger is looking good, so far.

Cruz,

Your P 38 is progressing well, nice work so far

Lobbie,

GREAT Cat!! Spectacular - even in the photos. At some stage, I would love to hear you expound on your weathering technique - VERY realistic.

I, too, have not yet started on my build - being a late entrant, and with heaps on at work leading up to the Xmas break.

cossack,

Thanks for the kind words on the 'Cat', I did post this some time ago with indepth pix, email me and I'll let you know how this was done, I have several pix of this bird.
This 'Cat' is part of a contract that we [Scale Magic] have with the RAAF's Officer Training School here at Point Cook in Melbourne. It's not part of this GB, it was posted has a weathering technique for other's to replicate on their models.

Guy's,

My IJN birds have been put aside as I've been comissioned to build this Heller 1/400 Bismarck and it's taken to much of my workdesk, here are two pix of this model.





The black area on the hull is a 1/16 line, which I've AB'd a matt black, I'll cover this with 1/16 tape to paint the red of the hull, then paint the grey followed by the deranged cam patern.

Rob, where are the wings for that thing?(lol)

Thad

hi guys,

been offline[:0] having my PC repaired...i've missed some nice progress it seems.

as for me and my Kate, i just finished the mottle (i used RAF dark earth) over IJN green, and was quite pleased with the results.

since my PC now works, i should have some pics that i can post for you in the coming days...i can feel you all quivering with anticipation....NOT!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by fighterguru very nice looking bird. How much more do you have till she is ready to fly?

well of course the paint, which i should be able to lay down within the next two weeks(x-mas and all this weekend). other than that, pretty much the small detail work, wheels, props and glass. the glass was dipped last weekend. So i would say another three weeks at least. But i need some more info on the green molt camo. as in what color green and how was it applied. anyone have the info????

everyone else build are looking great by the way
later folks

cruz nice work on the p38.
Thanks everyone I should have it finished late this weeek
Jason

Lobbie ,your Bismark looks great,keep us up to date on it please.


gdarwin[roy]

Guy's,

Having spent most of the day painting models, starting with the Bismarck, I got energetic and painted the IJN Grey, on both the 'Jill' and 'Pete', here are two shots of the 'Jill' with and without the outer main wings, this is intended to have the wings folded when finished and one of the 'Pete'. With the 'Jill' the whell wells and flap housings are the strange metalic blue, the flash on the digicam turn this to a greenish colour, the cowling on the 'Jill' is just sitting there it is not glued on as yet.





Roy,
Thanks for the kind words on the Bismarck, [It's a consignment build for a customer and I'll be glad to see the end of it.]

Thad,
The wings ? um broke off under heavy shelling from the RN.

lobbie, all are looking great! What color did you use for the atoke blue?
Jason

Jason,

The atoke blue used on the 'Jill' is from the Xtra Colour range of paints for the I.J.Navy aircaft, the camo scheme on the 3 IJN birds I'm doing for this build will all be painted in the Xtra Colour range of paints.

The blue is X355
IJN Grey is X354
IJN Green is X353

They also make the atoke blue.green and it's number is X 159.

These paints are gloss and I've used them on a lot of models either Allied or Axis, they are available direct from Hannants in the U.K, I believe their is a stockist of these colours in the U.S, I got mine direct from the hobby shop that I worked in.


I hope this helps.

Jason, if you cant find the paints Rob was talking about I have mixed Tamiya paints to get this color.

Thad

thanks guys

G'day Folk's,

'Pete' has progressed to the completed cammo stage and has been joined by 'Rex'
these pix show the 'Pete's' beaching trolley shared with both models.
The paint is the Xtra Colour Japanese Navy Dark Green over Grey, these enamel paints are a gloss finish.
The masking tape on 'Pete' has not been removed as yet simply because the Dark Green coating was completed just before the pix were taken.

Their are 9 pix of both float planes.

If everyone doesn't mind I'll add the 'Rex' to the GB of my builds, as it was something that I threw together while waiting for paint to dry on other projects.

Those look great from here, you guys are doing some cool work.

Thad

Lobbie your pete looks great,my dukw is on hold for a bit,i have it all built just need some bits and pieces ,so now i am doing a bren gun carrier for my doctor its a fast build for me, will post pics in the armour forum.again the pete is great.

gdarwin[roy]

Lobbie,

Great pics ... and great models. When you really look at these aircraft - even in model form - you gotta wonder about the calibre of the aero-engineers thinking the aerodynamics of a float plane might match those of say a Zeke!!!

Keep up the posts - I am getting motivated (and the time!!) to get started on mine!!

lobbie Great Work both look awsome. Jason

To cossack:

Paul,

Are you still looking for the RNZAF decals for an SBD-5 Dauntless, which is what the Kiwi's flew in the Pacific, from '44. I have some spares from the SP48-10 AeroMaster set, for 3 of these birds.

You can email me at scalemagic2004@yahoo.com if you're interested in any of these for your RNZAF Dauntless project.

Lobbie, you would be the man to ask on this topic.

Which PBY-5 Catalina was the one that discovered the Bismark>
From details I've managed to scab around for, it was a RNZAF Cat, with an American crew on board.
What I can't seem to find are any images, or even a serial number for this particular a/c.

Would you have any idea as to which one it was?

On a side note, work on my A6M5 Zeke is going pretty well.
Got her painted up and decaled, but not really keen on how the decals look

So going to remove as much of them as I can, and then paint them on. Which will make the weathering stages ALOT easier.

Will post pics soonish.
Cheers
Sean

Sean,

In relation to your question to the Bismarck.

This is the information of the PBY 5 [Catalina IIa], that I have located: Catalina IIa of 209 Sqn RAF [based at Castle Archdale] on the 26 May 1941 was out over the Atlantic, with the crew under Pilot Officer Briggs being checked out by a 'neutral' Lieutenant in the U.S Navy. They spotted the Bismarck, radioing the ships position and kept her in view untill another Catalina from 240 Sqn took over and guided the British Fleet.

209 Sqn codes were WQ
Camo was Sea Grey / Slate Grey overall fuselage, upper suface of main wings and tailpanes, White under main wing and tailplane.

Aircraft code: M
Serial # VA 703

Aircraft codes in White, serials in Black.

I hope this helps a little

tweety I have done a bit of a search on the net and found this info on the catalina .
AH545 'WQ-Z' of 209 squadron

QUOTE: It was not until 1010 on 26 May that British luck changed. A British Catalina aircraft of No. 209 Squadron, piloted by US Navy observer Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR (US Naval Reserve), spotted Bismarck at a range of about eight miles. While Ensign Smith flew the aircraft and evaded accurate German antiaircraft fire, his British copilot radioed a report of the enemy warship's location

QUOTE: The Bismarck is sighted by Ensign Leonard B. Smith of the United States Navy, approximately 550 miles west of Lands End. Although the United States is not yet at war with Germany, Ensign Smith is flying as a member of the crew of a Consolidated Catalina of No.209 Squadron piloted by Pilot Officer D.A. Briggs. Fairey Swordfish aircraft from the carrier HMS Ark Royal later cripple the Bismarck in a torpedo attack.

and found these links to some great info
http://www.kbismarck.com/archives/smithreport.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq118-1.htm
http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/bismarck3.html

I don't know if any of this info helps.

cheers mike