Secret Santa- WWII Aviation GB

I want shout out a big THANK YOU to my SS Klaus.  This Italian bird is gonna test my building prowess.  Also i want to thank you for the X-Mas card that you sent.  That was really nice of you.  Hope every one had a great x-mas and hope to see what the builds will look like in the coming weeks.  I already got my bird primered and ready for tonight.  Klaus, didn't even know that the Italians had ww2 birds.  I learned something already.  Sorry for the pic but my wife is a little technologicly impared.  I knew i should've checked the camera, but i was a little rushed to get to this bird.  I update tomorrow what the specs are.

Let the building begin

Jim 

Well, it seems I goofed in my post last night. Thanks again Drew for this!!

I don't recall ever doing a P-51 & the only Tamiya I've done is the 1/48 Moto Tug that Bud sent me awhile back. This is goin' to be an interesting & Fun build!! Thanks Friend!!

I just wanted to post a proper thank you to my Santa as the chaos around here has died down a bit! I have a soft spot in my affections for German aircraft, it may be due to the fact that I am part German, so it was a perfect gift! I really like Tamiya kits, they are sort of a Cadilac of kits. My apologies for not thanking you by name Santa, but in the travels and the demands of 2 small kids I lost that information, but my thank you is no less real. Have a great build everyone!

Cheers ,

Eric

*This post is coming from my new laptop*

I must be a mind reader. When I woke up last morning, I thought "I know it's Tamiya". Guess what? 1/48 TAMIYA A6M2 Zero. The tent will open when I get of my butt and set it up. Thanks Zedoc (I think that's your name)!

well. i have to thanks jon for two things. first, for hosting this GB and second, for give me this wonderful Eduard Russian WWII Yak-3 Fighter.

rudy_102 wrote:

*This post is coming from my new laptop* I must be a mind reader. When I woke up last morning, I thought "I know it's Tamiya". Guess what? 1/48 TAMIYA A6M2 Zero. The tent will open when I get of my butt and set it up. Thanks Zedoc (I think that's your name)!

Close enough Adam.  Glad it made it there ok. Hope you enjoyed the festive paper i wrapped it with .  Enjoy the Zero.

The story of the "Chop-Chop" plane.

My wife....bless her heart.....is somewhat naive in the art and science of world war II aircraft.  (or aircraft in general.)

She does however have one particular plane that she likes, and whenever I happen to drag her to the airshow, she is alwyas on the lookout for what she refers to as the "Chop-Chop" plane.

Whats a Chop-Chop plane?  Well acording to her explanation, "its the plane with the chop-chop teeth on the front."

That is to say the P-40 in its Flying Tiger regalia.  

Now i have forced her to watch documentaries on the P-40 and shows on the exploits of the AVG in China........but I have never....ever.....been able to get her to remember the real name of the P-40...Its always the "Chop-Chop" plane.

Well imagine both of our surpirse when I tore open my Secret Santa's wrapper and out fell.......

 A CHOP-CHOP PLANE!!!!

We both had a great laugh and I know it'll be the first plane I build that she's actually interested in. 

 Thanks SANTA. Its the perfect gift!!

Flipperdad.......

The reason you may not remember who sent you your gift is probably because I very stupidly forgot to include your card, and to this day its sitting on my desk at home.

oops.   Im glad you like the plane, I wanted to do something a bit different that the regular prop planes.

If it makes you feel any better.....

I HAVE ALSO LOST MY SANTA's NAME! 

I spent all evening digging through the piles or crumpled up wrapping paper to no avail.  I love my Chop-Chop and want to give proper thanks.....sorry sorry sorry!

wing_nut & Mist086, glad you both got the cards. I was afraid they wouldn't make it in time.

wing_nut wrote:

Avus... sorry for not letting you know but I did get your card a couple of days ago.  So how come you live in Italy and your English is better than mine?

Thanks for both, your appretiation for my english and above all for the aircraft. As I said I didn't know that particular plane, but I'm looking forward to start working on it.

Mist086 wrote:

I want shout out a big THANK YOU to my SS Klaus.  This Italian bird is gonna test my building prowess.  Also i want to thank you for the X-Mas card that you sent.  That was really nice of you.  Hope every one had a great x-mas and hope to see what the builds will look like in the coming weeks.  I already got my bird primered and ready for tonight.  Klaus, didn't even know that the Italians had ww2 birds.  I learned something already.

You are welcome. I'm really happy you like what I picked for you.
These aircraft were not bad in aeordynamic design, but were no match in speed and armament for german or allied planes, this is why they are not as famous, I guess.
Should you have a hard time painting the "smoke ring" camouflage there ia a set of decals representing this particular pattern. I don't remember the company, but I'll have a look and get back to you.

OK.  I promised better pics and here is the best this camera can do.  After the 1st of the year i'm getting a better camera so i won't have to worry about it.  Thanks again Klaus.  I'm excited to try to paint a camo pattern.  Should be interesting. As you can see, it's already primered and ready to go

The decals Avus is referring to are from Mike Grant.  I have used them and they're great.  Here is the link to my site...

http://wingnutmodels.com/Mc-205%20Veltro.html

Any progress yet???  I have all the interior fuel tanks glued up and ready to paint.  I am doing the racer that Roscoe Turner flew in the mid '30s, so the passenger seats are removed for 8 extra fuel cells.  Since not much will be visible I am not going to go nuts with detailing so I can concentrate on the exterior.  I think there will be a fair amount of filling.  Have not decided whether to rescribe all the raise panel lines or try what Swanny suggest... make a line with a sharp blade and let the paint fill the thin grove.

What! You guys are already assembling and priming?!
I still have to order the photoetched set fom my "Panzerknacker".

wing_nut got it those are the decals I was talking about.

cj95 wrote:

The story of the "Chop-Chop" plane. My wife....bless her heart.....is somewhat naive in the art and science of world war II aircraft.  (or aircraft in general.) She does however have one particular plane that she likes, and whenever I happen to drag her to the airshow, she is alwyas on the lookout for what she refers to as the "Chop-Chop" plane. Whats a Chop-Chop plane?  Well acording to her explanation, "its the plane with the chop-chop teeth on the front." That is to say the P-40 in its Flying Tiger regalia.   Now i have forced her to watch documentaries on the P-40 and shows on the exploits of the AVG in China........but I have never....ever.....been able to get her to remember the real name of the P-40...Its always the "Chop-Chop" plane. Well imagine both of our surpirse when I tore open my Secret Santa's wrapper and out fell.......  A CHOP-CHOP PLANE!!!! We both had a great laugh and I know it'll be the first plane I build that she's actually interested in.   Thanks SANTA. Its the perfect gift!!

I was afraid that I may have choosen too generic of a plane.   But, it looks like I did good.  Still not sure how/why your wife calls it a "Chop-Chop" plane, unless she is thinking that the plane is hungry (for enemy planes that is).  Have fun with the build.

Avus wrote:

You are welcome. I'm really happy you like what I picked for you. These aircraft were not bad in aeordynamic design, but were no match in speed and armament for german or allied planes, this is why they are not as famous, I guess. Should you have a hard time painting the "smoke ring" camouflage there ia a set of decals representing this particular pattern. I don't remember the company, but I'll have a look and get back to you.

Now worries mate.  I wanna try and Airbrush those little squiggles.  I like a challenge

Jim 

Ok here we go ive got the office painted and insalled and just finished pro welding the fusalage and wings i'll post more tommarrow.

Bud this is what your seams should look like. Likw i said i used pro weld but tennex7R is the same.

Wha-whooooo!!!! WTG Smokin'!!!!!

Looking good, very good!! The prize for posting WIP first......... must be progress over the rest of us!

DrewH wrote:

Wha-whooooo!!!! WTG Smokin'!!!!! Looking good, very good!! The prize for posting WIP first......... must be progress over the rest of us!

Dagnabbit it Rob!!! Quit showin' OFF!!!

She's looking GOOD Rob, and thanks for posting that 1 pic for me LOL

Bud

Yay!

Thanks mph!!

 I had built the rather pathetic Monogram P-40 a while back, but this Hasegawa kit is gonna rock!

 Oh and yeah.....The Chop-Chop refers to the sound the teeth make when they Chop you up I guess......

Dubau wrote:

She's looking GOOD Rob, and thanks for posting that 1 pic for me LOL Bud

Yes He did that Just fer you BUD!! Now ya can see what it's suppose ta look like

Jeez Rob.... fast and good.

So I'll take 2nd palce with WIP pics

and of course my camera's outta batteries.  THe kids' toys suck batteries like a black hole.  I had gotten the office painted and detailed.  I clear coated it because this one i want to weather.  Thats what i'm doing tonight.  I'll grab pics too

Jim 

I just about forgot! You'll like to be seeing progress pics! I remembered lastnight when I was going to bed but it was to late for good cockpit pics. So here is what I have so far.

The kit allows opening of engine and nose gun panels but I prefer the clean lines of the subject itself and usually close up all panels. The result is a little putty work.

I rearranged the instructions in a big way so I could do some seam and panel line work while it was easy to get to.

Will post more as I go. I promise!

Mist086 wrote:

and of course my camera's outta batteries.  THe kids' toys suck batteries like a black hole.  I had gotten the office painted and detailed.  I clear coated it because this one i want to weather.  Thats what i'm doing tonight.  I'll grab pics too   Jim

Doh!! These things use batteries?!?! I better make sure I got some back ups!!

Man, you guys are FAST!!!!  Heck, I haven't even had time to start cleaning up parts yet!!!! All the WIP pics are really impressive, looks like there is gonna be some outstanding builds in this GB!

Brian 

brain44 wrote:

Man, you guys are FAST!!!!  Heck, I haven't even had time to start cleaning up parts yet!!!! All the WIP pics are really impressive, looks like there is gonna be some outstanding builds in this GB! Brian

  fer sure fer sure!! Some impressive wip goin' on in these parts!!

Hay Narc what are those seats? and Troy man you movin on that 262. So here what ive got done fuse done and wings attached, so here a question for you guys that use allcad 2 can i use enamel gloss black for the primer? I bought aluminum and dura aluminum and i cant ever get a good gloss coat with future and have heard nasty stories abou there primer.