Military Veterans GB

Good start Leon.

That looks like a potential headache with the seams between the upper and lower

fuselage halfs.

Hope you don't need too much filler.

Mark

Well hello everybody.

I'm leon, and I started this GB waaaaaay late, and only now have found time to get my build, underway.

I painted RF-4C Phantoms while serving in the USAF, back in the mid 80s.

I have always though the early block, 1963-64 models of the recce F-4s, looked interesting in their original paint scheme, that was the same as the Navys colors, and intent on making mine look like one of those.

I plan on trying to ID the plane as one of them I worked on, while in the service.

My model is actually a 1/48 Hasagawa RF-4B, that I am going to do my best to convert into the Air Force, "C" model.

Here are my begining shot, and I will have to keep the ball rolling on this one, to ensure its done by the deadline.

Cheers!

OOOOOOHHHHHH Mark are you stoking the fires with that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You really dont think the F-111 was the best do you??????. If so, then i must counter with the good old F-4J. Everything after that is a dissapointment.

Steve

I'm sorry to hear that Mist.

I also feel sorry for you.

It sounds like you peaked early, having built the worlds greated aircraft for your first model.

Everything since must feel a little dissapointing.

At least with the tomcat's swing wings and super responsive, trouble free P&W engines  you could kind of pretend it's an F-111.

Have a good day guys

Mark

I'm giving them until this weekend then i'm gonna go with the box decals.  I've had it up to here!!!!!!  so hopefully i'll have a close to finished bird by monday/tuesday. 

Steve, the A-4 looks real sharp dude. 

And Mark, that F-111 takes me back to the very first model i did, great job man.  Sorry to say but i think it was shot down by an angry 10 year old 

Jim 

Thanks for the kind words guys.

The flash really washed out the pics, I didn't realise how bad till I saw them on a different computer.

Mist, I'd be if I had to wait so long for my decals.

Hope they get here soon for you.

Keep up the good work guys.

Mark

Great work all you guy's. The builds are really moving along nicely.

Hook, very nice hummer it's comming along well

Mark, love the camo on the 111 sweet build.

Mist nice to see the 14 again and sorry about your decal problems. Hopefully they will be in soon.

Thanks for all the nice comments guy's.

Steve

wow everyone incredible work on your builds . i think i may have to confiscate those models and display them as my own .

hook that is funny about the hood on your hummer. mine looked the same way we were changing sling points on all of our hummers because of new sling loading proceedures. i dont know if i am gonna leave mine monotone or as i first got it full camo.

i should have some more pics up soon

kenny

Mark, looks good, dull coat will soften the look.

Mist, your's looks good to, sorry to hear you are still having decal problems. Hope your ordering them yourself helps.

Well, the decals fell thru, again so i ordered them myself.  Used a buddies credit card so hopefully i'll finsih this baby soon.  I got a new camera over the weekend and got some better photos for you to peruse

I'm almost ready for 'Future' and decals.

I've made so many mistakes with this paint that it's such a relief to get it to this point.

In future I'll be a lot more patient and plan my builds better to avoid all the painting/repainting.

The refrence pics I've got of operational A/C as opposed to those taken at airshows show the paint pretty faded so that is the look I'm after.

From previous experience I believe the final matt clear coat will soften the effect somewhat.

Thanks

Mark

Thanks Mark, I apprieciate your comments mate. I will try some better photos tomorrow as I was not too pleased with all of these. I am looking forward to seeing your F-111 finished with all the extra work you have put into it.

Steve

Great work Steve!

You deserve a beer or ten.

The pastels really look good on the panel lines and I love the job you did on the IP.

Those decals look pretty good too.

I think your mate will be very pleased with his gift even more so considering the work you put in.

Well done.

Mark

Hey Guy's, well her she is as promised. All finished in all her glory. I present to you my finished A-4 Skyhawh. The kit was very basic as it was an early 1970's vintage and as such was not up to todays standards but was a joy of a kit to build all the same. The kit has no recess panel lines so I used pastel chalk to give it some depth and then of course there was the decals. I had to make them myself and that was a fun expierence but it turned out to be not as hard as I thought it would be. I use the Testors decal maker kit and was very simple to use if you have a inkjet printer. The tail code letters were a pain and they did not print too well so I tried to touch them up by hand and I am not 100% happy with them but what can ya do????.

This aircraft was a reserve A-4 from VC-12 stationed at Ocieana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach Va. Being a Jarhead we had the fortune to service even Navy aircraft at times and a friend of mine was the pilot and that is why I built this one instead of a marine jet. I am happy to say that this one will go to him now that it is finished. Shout out to my friend LCDR Jim Huggins who was a Viet Nam vet flying with VF-31 off the Saratoga. Thanks Jim. Also thanks to Kenny for hosting this GB, great idea for the GB and thanks for being our leader on this one. I really enjoyed this GB and working with all you guy's and thanks for your service to your respective countries, you are all heroes in my book. Hope you enjoy the photos.

As always and comments welcome

Steve

Sorry about the quality of the pics fellas...... More to follow later in the week. I am almost done with my HMMWV. I still have a bunch of weathering to do, I just made a little detail progress. The only thing I have added out of the box ( other than paint and glue) was some small bits of bare metal foil for the mirrors.  JOSH

Thanks for the tip Hook.

I'll give it a go tonight as I'll be worning on the landing gear soon.

Kenny, your Humvee lokks great. Nice Dio base too. Can't wait to see the end result.

Steve,

I'm looking forward to seeing your pics of the Scooter. It's looking really good so far.

I've finished the last of my wings on the F-111 as well as the wing glove area and am about to modify the landing gear as we speak.

I have a few area's of paint to fix as I've worn through a couple of areas through excessive handling and overspray.

I really need to plan my builds better as I've probably added over 3 weeks to this after all the stuff I've had to do 2 and 3 times.

I should have this proetty close to finished by the end of the week.

I'll post some pics tonight.

Cheers

Mark

Hey Kenny, great looking progress on the Humvee. Looks like you are almost done with this build. Great job, I like the way you displayed it also.

I finished my A-4 late last night and if all goes well I will have photos posted tomorrow as the daughter has the camera right now.

Steve

Mark sorry for the slow reply... I was away from home this last week. The answer is yes black then green. Depending on the subject I will usually lay down a base coat of some sort. When I am working with armor or vehicles it is usually black. Aircraft will usually get a dark grey or black depending on the color scheme. That gives me the flexibility to get heavier or lighter with the paint to create a worn look.The dark color underneath will show through in the thin spots and make the paint darker or " fresher", all you have to do when you are done is hit the thick spots with a slightly lighter color and the effect is complete.  Anywhere it needs to look really grimy I will drybrush it instead of airbrush. Remember YOU are your toughest critic...... have fun and enjoy ( but listen to your girlfriend, wife, etc. when she tells you it is really cool!). JOSH

that is perfectly fine air your very welcome to stick around and chat with us.

thanks for the comments i am home today so hoping to get some more work done on the build

kenny

looks good Kenny!

I was deployed to FOB Speicher last year and the Rakkasans were there too. Unfortunately Col. Steele is in trouble for some ROE violations.. the charges are absolute BS though.

*edit* do you guys mind if I stick around and observe and BS with you?

just some updated photos of what i am up to and hopefully how it will come out when done

thanks for stoppin in air hope you enjoyed what you saw too bad you couldnt join in

jim and steve glad to hear things are coming along nicely i am actually working on mine now letting some paint dry should have some update pics tonight

kenny

Whoah, wish I had seen this GB earlier! I woulda done a 130 for it... then again, wifey would prolly kill me if I tried to buy another kit, rather than work on one of the many in my stash

Its cool to see what ya'll work on though.

for the record, I am an Air Transportation guy, so I load planes!

Hook, thats a very nice looking hummer. Great job on the camo.

Mist, glad to hear you will have your decals on soon. Post photos when ya can.

On my side of things, I am almost finished my A-4. Got a lot of work done last weekend and only need to put all the fiddly bits on it. I will post some photos hopefully this weekend.

Steve

sorry guys.  It's been awhile since i was on last.  Weird stuff in my life right now.  Anyhoo.  My LHS "promised" me my decals will be in on Wednesday.  If they are this bird is 1st in line on the workbench.  Keep your fingers crossed

Jim 

HOOK DRIVER wrote:

Is this a little better?

Heaps Better!

Thanks Hook. I've only got a little lap top screen so I struggle at the best of times to see any detail.

That's a great camo job you've done there.

I like the way your wheels look too. I might give that a go with my F-111.

Did you paint them black and then dry brush the green on?

Mark