Secret Santa- WWII Aviation GB

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!!! 

Here are the final photos of my 1/48 Revell P-38J (vintage 1964 ) right before I put it into the display case.  There are some major fit issues with the kit, but if you're patient and have seam filling skills you'll be good to go.  There is no way on God's green earth though that you can get all the canopy parts to fit properly, they're just not shaped correctly for that to happen. 

Thank you Jon for hosting this build, it was a lot of fun! 

The build and painting stage of the P-38J is finished.  Next up, decals! 

Thanks everyone! Hope to be able to make some more progress next weekend.

Indeed it's not a common aircraft, none the less it's a nice one. Some refer to it as the ancestor of the A-10.

Great progress Scott and Avus. Those builds are really looking great and looks like they will be finished up soon. Cant wait to see the completed models. Great job guy's.

Steve

Looking good Avus!  Now that's not a plane you see everyday! 

I'm just about ready to put the decals on.  Everything has been painted, just need to do a little touch up on the landing gear and install the prop assemblies. 

As you can see, I finally got the weights installed.  I used two each of the biggest cone shaped weights in my weight stash, and secured them with CA glue.  My wife spent about 4 hours in my den with me while I was working on my kits Saturday.  She totally organized my den and modelling areas, found all kinds of stuff that I'd been looking for (including the weights), and put all my aftermarket parts together in a shoe box.  She even organized all my reference material, magazines etc. and got them all on my book shelves.  It looks great!  I have so much more room, and far less clutter.  I'm a lucky guy!  She's the best! 

Here are two quick shots right after I pealed all the masking off. 

Great progress espins1 and sidure! Looking forward to see your planes done.

Managed to make some progress despite my other businesses. Clear coated the bird and applied the decals. Following steps will be final weathering, dull coating and adding chipped paint ("adding chipped paint" sure sounds strange: how can you add something that has been removed!).

Now the pics:

Almost finished.  The OD has been painted on the upper cowling and inside upper surfaces of the engine nacelles.  Tomorrow I touch up the red and get the decals on! 

Here is a quick shot of the underside right after I sprayed the BMF underside. 

Thanks for all the advice on the weights gentlemen.

Well, I started to mask off the red that I had already sprayed and I gotta tell you, the paint just isn't sticking very well to the plastic, soooo..... I pulled the plug and just gave the thing a good coat of primer.  Hopefully that will give it enough tooth for the silver, red and olive drab to stick. 

The fit of the canopy, nose and gun covers leaves a lot to be desired.  I highly recommend to anyone building this kit to go with an aftermarket canopy set.  I chose to slog onwards so I can get this thing done.  It would be a miracle if I could ever get a GB done on time. 

Thanks for the comments guy's, I have had a few problems with the C-47 but most of them were my fault and I must admit that the overall fit and engineering of this one is pretty good. That's why I was shocked with the wing to fuselage joint being so way off. The largest gap I have ever seen. Heck, that was probably my fault too.

For nose weights I use a spent .45 cal round for 1/48 with a little CA.

Steve

Cool, thanks for the info MPH34.  The last thing I need is to have any self induced problems on this build. 

espins1 wrote:

I was thinking of using epoxy to glue the clumps of weights in the front of the engine nacelles.  What do you guys use to clue nose weights?

DON'T USE EPOXY!!!  The amount that you will need to use will start to melt the plastic!!  I found this out the HARD WAY.  Luckly, I was able to go back and putty over the damage.  CA Glue is the way to go.  I use the medium, but the thick is just as good.  I don't recommend the thin as you will have CA all over the place execpt where you need it.

The other way I go about nose weights is to use the weight strips that you can buy at the hobby store that is used by RC Aircraft modelers for wing weights.  The package usually has 2 bars @ 4" each, with the double sided tape already to go.  They are also cuttable to length, and can be 'molded' to fit a curved area.

espins1 wrote:

What do you guys use to clue nose weights?

About a 1/4 bottle of CA glue

Coming along nicely Steve! 

Progress update - P-38J.  The wheels and prop assemblies are finished.  The red has been sprayed on the spinners, wingtips and tailplane tips.  The gun assembly is finished, just needs to be installed.  The canopy has been masked, probably one of the easiest masking jobs I've had to do in recent memory.  I still need to find my box of lead weights.....

I was thinking of using epoxy to glue the clumps of weights in the front of the engine nacelles.  What do you guys use to clue nose weights?

Hey Guy's, it's been a while since I posted an update so here it is. Have not had much of a chance to work at the bench lately but things are getting better and now back to doing some work. I have had the C-47 fuselage and wings together for a while but had to try 4 times at getting the invasion stripes correct. Still dont know if they are correct but good enough. I even waited for this months article on invasion stripes but found that it was the same way I was doing it. It just is not as easy at it sounds to get them straight so in the end I free styled it a little. Will not know exactly till all the tape comes off. In addition, I had a hugh gap at the wing to fuselage joint that was a big as the grand canyon. Tons of filler needed there with plenty of sanding etc. Anyway, it's getting there little by little.

It's all ready for the paint shop now with just a little more sanding needed at the bottom of the fuselage/wing joint. Really having a great time on this GB and looking forward to the next one.

Steve

Nice progress with the Lightning Espins.  Can't wait to see the finished product.  As for me the Corsair is coming along.  Got the cockpit painted and the wing done.  Now I need everything else to finish.  Kind of hard when you have little time on the bench.  Hope to have everything assembled and ready for paint this weekend. 

 Has the deadline changed for  the group build?  If not, just to let you know, I will be a little late.

I had some major ejector pin marks to fill and clean up on the props of the P-38J, the putty has been applied, just need to do a little sanding tonight. The wheels have been painted.

Tonight I'm painting the spinners and tips of the tail plane red. I should be able to get the BMF down tomorrow. Oh, and the canopy pieces required a lot of cleanup. I don't think I've ever seen that much flash before! Anyway, they were dipped in future last night. I'll mask them tonight in preparation for the spray job tomorrow.

RadMax8 wrote:

Hey guys, I was working on masking my canopy of my Me 109E today, inching closer to paint. Suddenly, the windscreen I was masking took a fall. It looked like it went under the bench. I put my foot down. CRUNCH. "". So now I'm short a part. Anyone have the Tamiya 109E-4/7 1/48 kit and aren't using the windscreen, part D3? Thanks.                                                                     Sadly,                                                                       Max

Ach........The carpet ate my 109E canopy as well for the 109 GB.  I had to order a new one from Squadron. 

So technically I do have one laying around on the floor somewhere.....I'll let you know if I vacuum it up. 

Whew!  I am finally finished with the seamwork around the boom/wing assemblies.  That was a lot of work. 

I'm going to plow forward with as much of the assembly as I can tonight.  Things will speed up so hopefully I can lay down some paint in the next day or two. 

Hey guys, I was working on masking my canopy of my Me 109E today, inching closer to paint. Suddenly, the windscreen I was masking took a fall. It looked like it went under the bench. I put my foot down. CRUNCH. "". So now I'm short a part. Anyone have the Tamiya 109E-4/7 1/48 kit and aren't using the windscreen, part D3? Thanks.

                                                                    Sadly,  

                                                                    Max
 

So far so good with the Seam work.  I applied Squadron Green Putty to all the gaps.  I then followed up with Q-tips and nail polish remover to remove the excess, especially where there was raised detail, such as rivets.  I'll need to follow up with some light sanding in a couple of spots to get the surface of the booms flush with the fuselage.

Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what the seams look like between the wings and the booms.  I'm going to tackle those now. 

Glad you all like the clips.  My wife picked up a bunch of clips for me a while back, they work great!  Best of all they all have a magnet on the back of them so I just stick them up along the top of my paint booth so they're out of the way, yet right there. 

The upper and lower wing/fuselage assemblies actually fit better than I had expected.  The only really issue was that there was some over lap on one of the wingtips of about 2 or 3 mm.  I had to sand around the tip to make them flush.  On the booms, the only realy issue is along the underside, mostly on the inner portion, which will help conceal them a bit as the putty and sanding will wear down some of the raised detail.  I'll have more progress to post later today.