Battle For Germany 45 GB Starts Now - 08 May 06

Sean-very nice Spitfire.  I'm just looking for a reason (GB) to build one now.  Well, maybe not 'right' now.....

I'm in agreement on the Catch-22 thing.  Finding myself in a lot of interesting GB's, just not the time...and it get's tougher with summer coming up.  As long as no one starts any more 'till fall, I'll be ok.....maybe.....

Sean, Nice work on the Spit.  Looks like the repairs were a success.

Regards,  Rick

Jay - yeah I have had it happen and the future did seem to make it all go away....  good luck to you! 

I know it is a bummer when you've made it all the way to the decal stage and something happens.  I had it happen with the Do335 recently.  Somehow I tore one of the AM decals for the wing roundels.. I quickly snipped two of them from a Hasegawa Typhoon sheet I didn't use and put them on... they would never settle down so I decided on plan B, so I took the Micro-Sol and began softening them good and tried taking them off... ended up with gooey residue on the wings..  I finally had to remove all the future with Windex, sand down the wings to get the goo off and then retouch up the paint...

All for one stupid decal that ripped in half and wouldn't mate back up well with the other half.....

Sorry Sean... I had meant to start the other post with a disagreement with something you said... having to do with your Spit.... looks fine to me

Sean - I got so wrapped up in feeling sorry for myself about the decal thingy I forgot to mention your spit as well..  it looks good to me!  no worse for the wear... as always a model to be proud of!

I guess I did the same as Marc and Tom (Some times I get too self absorbed).  Sean your Spitfire looks great, if you didin't tell us about the issues, we'd have been none the wiser. 

BTW Tom whats with the revolving avator, first you're one thing, then another, then another!   Who's yer latest?

The G.B. Shaw thing was when I had a brief reminiscence on "Pygmalion" in one of the threads here.. I went out saw how cool he looked so decided on that one...   This one is "Getafix the Druid" from the Asterix the Gaul comic series during the 60's and 70's... in the 80's his name was changed to "Panoramix" because of the connotations with drugs.  (He made special potions that made Asterix super strong, or another person this and that, etc.. hence "Getafix", now he is PC and dropped the name)   Next will be "Obelix" trusty but bumbling companion of Asterix... 

BIG NEWS!!!

I am scant hours from completing the Do335... all the decals are on and setting up, slight pastels for exhaust smeared, ready to tape the NMF nose for the dullcote on the rest of the body... once that is done a few tids and tads and she will be ready for your viewing pleasure!!!  However I discovered something disturbing last night.. after ordering the decal set for this specific plane and putting them on, I realized the roundels are ALL wrong!!!  They are the blue circle, white circle, red dot roundels WITHOUT the yellow outer circle!! 

Also on the fuselage it had a white bar behind the roundel similar to the US insignia.. Wierd, because all the other visible captured aircraft at that field had the standard 4 color roundel without the stripe...  So another one of these is definitely in my future with corrected decals (wherever I might find them) a PE set for it, if only for the IP and side control panels alone as they are very visible....  And a hold on all other GB's I am in at the time...

Anyone know of any other craft that used the roundel with a white stripe behind it?  I know I have seen it on one or two occasions, can't remember what AC..  if worse goes to worst I will pull a white wing stripe from my P-51 decals and cut it down...

 

 

 

 

 

Geez Sean she looks just fine to my eyes, what's the prob? Oh and it's good to see you back again btw

As you may have noticed it's time for an icon change, Tom set me off with his so I had to do it.  Although I'm staying with the Mel Brooks theme,  I think in a couple of months I'll try an find a pic of Gene Wilder as Baron Fronkonshteen

OK, general question to Karl, Jay and any other member of the former British Empire.  Are you guys watching the Commonwealth Games at all because the Poms and the Canadians are doing really well. Sort of kicking our buts in the rugby 7s actually .  It's taking place in my home town of Melbourne and I was wondering if you guys are taking any interest at all, or is just us die hard sports nuts?  Please note that this has absolutely nothing to do with modeling but what the hey.

Tom you have incoming email.

Cheers

Thanks for your replies guys.

Tom nice looking 335, might actually get my 1/72 out and have a look cause it really is an unusual looking craft.

Darren, I have been keeping an eye on it, I actually totally forgot it was starting this week till I got an email from a couple co-workers (one's from Scotland and the other from England), they commented on how bad Canada was doing (after 1 day) but we're comming on strong now! I think we're in third now behind you Aussies and the English. 

Is it true that the host country gets extras medals just for hosting?...

just kidding!  You aussies have a much better program for developing your athletes than we do here in Canada, besides, your weather is much more conducive to summer sports than our short season.

ARRGH! These decals blow chunks!  I pray that the future will help some what.  There is all kinds of residue left over, some of them aren't sticking down, even with several applications of setting solution. I tried putting on the nose spinner decal, I even cut all the extra film away and it broke up.  and didn't stay down nice.  I hope touching it up a bit will make it look halfway ok.  I think I should just chuck the rest of the decals in the trash.  luckily it wasn't an expensive AM decal set. (maybe thats why....harump!) 

Sean:  Great looking spit!   I recently read Johnson's biography and I defintiely have to do one of his crafts.  I already have the decals for his early spit.  As for the 1/72 Do335 that you mentioned is that the Dragon Kit?  I would be interested to know how it builds up.  I built the Linberg kit many years ago but it has very poor detail.

Darren:  I still Olympic hangover and work is really busy right now but I hope to catch up this weekend on what has been happening this weekend.  The Commonwealth games were in my home town of Winnipeg not too long ago and it was great fun.  Enjoy it because stuff like that doesn't happen very often.  Now that I live in B.C. I'm really looking forward to the 2010 winter olympics in Vancouver.

Tom:  Looking forward to seeing your finished Do335.

As for the catch 22 thing I have definitely been suffering from a lack of enthusiam myself lately.  I have been working on an Airfix Sunderland kit for many months now with breaks to do/start some smaller projects.  I was working on up to three projects at one time (trying to keep up with too many GB) and I found that was a mistake.  I rely on the joy and satisfaction of a finished product to spur me on to the next one and with 3 on the go I just wasn't getting anywhere with any of them.

Jay:  For future reference (so I can avoid them) what set did you use?

Sean, from where I'm standing, alright it is 12,000 miles away, or whatever, it looks just peachy. Definitely nothing to complain about.

But I know what you mean about losing your mojo, I've gone through the same thing with the 109, and it has suffered as a result.

BTW drove past a Seafire on the back of a lorry on the way home from work today. Very cool.

Tom, don't sweat the roundels, bear in mind these things may well have changed over time, and therefore the photos merely reflect a different period in the machine's life.

Looking forward to the finished article.

Darren, the start of the Comonwealth Games was a complete non-event here, with very little coverage on TV or radio, especially compared with last month's Winter Olympics.

Jay, sorry to hear about the decs, sound like a duff lot. BTW I find Mr Mark Setter is just the best.

As for the GB thing I find myself reluctant to join GBs which don't contain the Usual Suspects....

....."Hi! I'm Karl, you don't know me but........".

I think we are all on a similar wavelength with our approach to the hobby, and also the appreciation of the history behind it, which is what makes these GBs so much fun.

Progress Update

The 109 now has decals, most of which went on without a hitch being Eagle Cals. The only heart stopper was the spinner spiral, but copious applications of Mr Mark Setter sorted that out.



My other half is away this weekend, so it's just me and the kids, which should mean plenty of time to finish the 109.

I'll probably also get the wings, tail, and engine covers of the 162 painted. The fuselage will have to wait because I'm having trouble rescribing the curved panel line to the rear of the engine. That and I still haven't got around to masking the canopy etc.

Don't post for a week, and end up writing War & Peace!

Karl

Karl - Finishing the Bolingbroke was like a load off my back, I started it back in November! (you can see it in the Canadian GB).  I'm pumped to finish the dora for this one (besides my decal issues) and get started on the Canso for the BoA GB.  Karl I agree, these builds with the usual suspects are loads of fun!  Others just don't seem to have the oompf! if you know what I mean.  I'm in the Langnase GB with my other dora and it is pretty dead, I think most of the posts in the last month have been mine!

Dave they were from "Ministry of Small Aircraft Production", I think they are out of Quebec. I paid $6.50 for the set of 5 different subjects but I may try one more set and then junk the rest.  At least the other one I want to use didn't have any stenciling, nose spinner or fuselage band, it is just the crosses and numbers. I'm going to try the Academy dora for that one, waiting on the Eastern Front GB to be kicked off as it is for a unit that fought the Russians.

Tweets - it really was an amazing aircraft too... tell me when ya are ready to start and I will forward you all the references (few that they are) I found... a lot of good pics to use for references in one of them.

Karl - unfortunately these roundels would never have changed, it was one specific Do335 captured by the British and painted with thier insignia.. It's no biggie as I am not a rivet counter but for the next one I do, I will do it correctly.  This one is probably going to my sister in laws "Boys" dental treatment room.  She has one for girls with all these bears and dolls and such but had no idea what to put in the boys one until I ran out of room for more models at the house and wanted to give them to her kids.  My BoB Martlet along with a few other GB planes are there... I think the other (N. Africa) Martlet will be making the trip there after I finish my Schnellboot... I'll need lots of room for that.

0 progress today, running errands is a bummer..

ok... final coat of future on, dullcote tomorrow and one or two fiddly bits and I should be finished...

Tom, sounds good.  Where's the pics ? 

Regards,  Rick

I knew it... 6am in the morning and the picture police are busting down the door...  okokok it's almost 10 but I just had my coffe and need to get motivated! 

Ok, his "Fringness" has arrived... complete with PRELIMINARY pics of my build... I did some black and whites of mine to compare at a reasonably close angle of view to the original.  Although I think I have the NMF right, the weathering is way to light for the pic of the real British adorned Do335.  I think I will actually put down pastels over the flat coat then flat coat again.  That's the only way to get that much exhaust to show I think.  I have some MM buffing "Exhaust" but have never airbrushed it so I am a little afraid to try it this late in the game on such a big project.

As you can see, the roundel is all wrong...    Shame, Shame on you Cutting Edge!!!!

-=edit=-

the one close up side shot is angled, the kit is really not sitting nose high like that.. edit2, I just realized the port landing gear door has become disattached at the top and is hangin precariously as well... "and now for something completely different!"

The original:

Mine:

Original:

Mine:

Any suggestions on weathering would be lovely, and as always the canopies are not glued down yet so I know they are out of kilter. 

Tom, it looks great to me.

I'd definitely go a little heavier on the exhaust staining, but other than that, it looks like the real deal.

BTW it must be a trait of Cutting Edge decals, because the ones for my He 162 are incorrect as well, wrong Werknummer!!!

Want more pics.

Karl

KJ200 wrote:

Tom, it looks great to me. I'd definitely go a little heavier on the exhaust staining, but other than that, it looks like the real deal. BTW it must be a trait of Cutting Edge decals, because the ones for my He 162 are incorrect as well, wrong Werknummer!!! Want more pics. Karl

That's a shame.. I was so excited to find this set too!  Such an obscure aircraft!  Oh well, if nothing else they game me the motivation to take some fringe and add paisley and sequins to it!    I tried adding the proliferant exhaust stain prior to dullcoat but the future wouldn't let me get enough pastel down.. I've dullcoated it now so I can "go to town" so to speak...  

(when I was growing up, my section of Texas was fairly rural, so when we had a chance to "go to town" it was a big event and we got dressed up and cleaned up and washed the car etc...  hence the saying...  To "go to town" is a big thing, and a chance to really put on the duds and look good!)    Oh yeah, to say something is "going to town" means either it is moving along rather fast as in a politicians mouth spillling out all the rosy speaches, or working very hard to do something well.. as in a carpenter really working hard to ensure the cabinets looked spot on on a house he is working on.. .We here would remark "That guy is really going to town on those cabinets" or on the politician he would be "Going to town trying making himself look good"

Now you've had your first lesson in "Texan" 

yeah the wurknummer was not even on the sheet... even though on the original photos it is visible in german garb and visibly painted over in British garb... (I am starting to worry... first Martlet's... now cross-dressing Do-335's??????  Am I trying to tell myself something??  hahaha)

Looks good from here Tom.  It's hard to judge the weathering in the B&W pics.  Might be easier with color.

Regards,  Rick

Looks great Tom but we wanta see some colour!!!

Well my case of the "Shakes" has died down so I hope to get back to work on that @#$%&@$$%^#@$ DML halftrack I'm suffering with the same problem many builders of the DML 251 sieries "HackTrack" have had upper hull does not quite want to mate up with the lower half correctly so I'm gonna reach into my bag of tricks and see what i can pull out. If worst comes to worst I wonder if I can find pics of one blown to H.E. Double hockeysticks TTFN

tho9900 wrote:

Oh well, if nothing else they game me the motivation to take some fringe and add paisley and sequins to it!

I'm not sure Texas is where you should be living with quotes like that. Sounds more west coast with hills if you catch my drift.

tho9900 wrote:

Now you've had your first lesson in "Texan"

Texan is obviously a extension of English, as it means the same in both cases here. However the accent might be another matter all together....

I wouldn't worry about the interest in 'Fringe', just think of it as challenging the boundaries of social aceptance.

Of course it could be that you are just a deviant.

Like the rest of the Usual Suspects!

Karl

KJ200 wrote:

Of course it could be that you are just a deviant.

Maybe I am... ::holding head in trembling hands::  ok who am I kidding???  I am a modeling deviant and I love it!!!  haha...

Interesting to learn that is used in England... It's pretty much a southern thing here, and you hear it more in my area.  I've had some funny looks when I used that while travelling... some thought it quaint.  A lot thought it funny and began using it themselves..

Going to town is fairly common in the northeast as well then we use sayings like "Going up the line" for heading into boston and calling close buddies "Cuz" and sayings like "Kibbie'ing out"=Freaking out or your going to town is sometimes replaced with "Going House" but i digress

still trying to figure out how im gonna get this upper hull to fit I'm pretty close to Kibbie'ing out on this thing not only is the upper hull slightly warped but that is on top of the usual fit prob but other than that it's comming out beautifully TTFN

Kibbie,Kibbie

Karl - Nice progress on the 109.  Looking forward to the end product.

 

Tom - Nice… real nice.  Any color pics coming up?

 

A question for you Tom.  I picked this up as Wal Mart today… $15 cheaper than the same one at Bed Bath and Beyond.

 

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2416364

 

Is this the same one you use and do you put solvents in there for you’re AB?

wing_nut wrote:

Karl - Nice progress on the 109.  Looking forward to the end product.   Tom - Nice… real nice.  Any color pics coming up?   A question for you Tom.  I picked this up as Wal Mart today… $15 cheaper than the same one at Bed Bath and Beyond.   http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2416364   Is this the same one you use and do you put solvents in there for you’re AB?

Marc - that is the exact same one... in the Wal Marts here I could only get the SONIC model, not the ultrasonic.  So I had to go with the BB&B one.. (or wait 7 days for the Wal Mart catalog one to arrive and I couldn't have THAT!!! haha) the only solvent I have tried yet is alcohol as I spray only in acrylic... I imagine mineral spirits would work fine for enamel users, I would be leary of using lacquer thinner in it...  Even with water it was able to take a a significant amount of enamel out of an old color cup... I was impressed.  And with something like low odor Mineral spirits I think it would do wonders!!!  I think I have pics of my experiment with the old color cup somewhere, I'll have to check for them so you can see.  If you are married your wife will feel justified for the expense 1000 times over when you put her rings in it... they come out like brand new!!!  Just don't stick them in Mineral spirits.. haha  BTW:  I usually send my airbrush pieces through 3 cycles to make sure they are clean..

No color pics yet, I somewhat succeeded in duplicating the dark exhaust staining today and overcoated it.  I did a little flub and didn't angle the rear exhaust stain down enough but hey... it is definitely visible, good enough for me.  The thing I think is wierd, is this aircraft used the higher end of aviation fuels... most of the late war fighters, even things like the SBD-5 which used high octane fuels had a whitish stripe from the exhaust... I wonder if the dark stripe in the pics I posted was from inexperienced (with the plane)Brit and US pilots trying the Do335 out and not getting the mixture right.. ...it's a thought..

Anyway, the rear canopy is on, the landing light cover is on.  Just have to put the front canopy on and get some more pics and it's done!!  I do want to do some more black and whites outside though.  I want to experiment with getting the feel of the real plane down.  Normally I don't do that much weathering, but the exhaust stains on this one were unbelievable!!!

Ok.. this was wierd, I went back the link you sent, then clicked on the link for the deluxe model of the same cleaner... where I see Wal Mart selling $3000.00 1 karat diamond rings... who would have thunk it???

Karl-the 109 looks good.  I'm still in awe over the work you did on the Panther too.

Marc-thanks for the post on the ultra-sonic cleaner.  My anniversary is this weekend and I was looking for something for the wife

Tom-the Do335 is outstanding.  I am gaining an apprication for 'fringe'...may even try it someday.

The Panther is at a standstill-out of town this weekend.  Fun, but no modeling done.  Think I'm gonna use the kit treads and leave the side skirts (yeah, I know there is a name for them, but it escapes me at the moment...) on.  Also, I want to weather the camo a bit and my wife ordered me a T&C Omni 4000 for anniversary....well, I ordered it but you get the picture. Then I still need to paint and attach all the tools, cables, etc.  Maybe by month's end....