Secret Santa- WWII Aviation GB

Hey Drew, turned out really nice in spite of the issues you had!  Nice save! 

Marc - warp tour eh?  I'll bet I can find something in my stash that would meet those criteria! 

It turned out great Drew.  Whatever the problems were you seemed to have taken care of them just fine.

Nice work on the interior Scott.

Hey.... This gives me an idea for a GB.... "The Warp Tour"  Everyone in the build sends someone else the model from their stash that has the worst warped parts.  We can set goals and give awards like who went the craziest fixing the problem or who got PO'd the most at the guy that sluffed off the worst kit on them.

Made a lot of progress tonight, did the oil washes, installed the cockpit and assembled the upper and lower fuselage/wing halves.

Well, I'm finished!! Finally!

 Aside from the required chopping up of a Tamiya kit this went together very well. I doubt there would have been any fit issues or filler needed if the fuselage wasn't warped. It took me longer than normal due to the large interior. It is the length is from the nose to the beginning of the tail. I thought I was painting a bomber at times. The design ensures that the correct dihedral of the wings is set. So, in conclusion, Thanks Jon for hosting this build I look forward to next year and I'd build another one without the warp this time

Looking good Avus and Scott! Comming along nicely.

Avus: What color did you use for the "blue" on the wings?? Looks interesting

I'm finally at the point where I can put the fuselage, wing and boom assemblies together.  So far this kit hasn't been too difficult.  The directions aren't as clear as they could be with regards to placement of the parts, and some of them don't really match what the part actually looks like.  I've had to be really careful to make sure I'm using the right guide points for putting in the assemblies.  The gun tray is a good case in point, along with the gun firewall.  The cockpit can fit a couple of different ways, so I'm going to have to be really careful that I don't create a problem for myself that won't be realized until late in the assembly.  Come to think of it, I'd better dry fit the cockpit with the canopies.....

Oh, and here is an enhanced photo of the above cockpit pic, the original was a bit dark and I wasn't really paying much attention when I posted them late last night.  The cockpit detail is a bit sparse.  The steering yoke is a solid piece.  If I had been a bit more motivated I might have tried drilling it out.  The plastic is a bit soft though, and it might have been difficult to maintain the nice smoothe shape of the yoke so I figured I wouldn't worry about it.  When my finished builds are in the display case, no one notices the cockpit detail anyway.

Began working on the Corsair last night.  I primed my pieces, should begin on the cockpit sometime this week.  Will keep posted.

Coming along nicely Avus! 

The instrument decal has been installed, and the cockpit assembly is complete.  Here are two quick pics.

DrewH wrote:

Progress all around! wha da ya know! Coming along nicely Scott, send her shopping again

Looks great Drew! 

I think my wife and I are doing some yardwork today, and might spend a few hours tackling the garage.  She's still asleep right now though, I guess she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I have a little time to myself.  Just trying to get caught up on all the FSM threads. 

I'm almost done with the cockpit detail, then I can get a little weathering going.  If all goes well, I should be able to starty assembling the fuselage etc tonight or tomorrow.

Interesting technique you got there Scott, and you also proceed at a fast pace.

Keeps coming up good, DrewH!

Here's this weekend's progress:

Finished spraying the camo-scheme, but I've noticed that it'll need some touch-ups.

Progress all around! wha da ya know! Coming along nicely Scott, send her shopping again

 Here's my progress as promised

I've got to remember to encourage my wife to go shopping more often on the weekends, gives me lots of un-interrupted modeling time. 

I'm about halfway done with the interior detail, just have a few more knobs and switches to paint, but am waiting for things to dry before I continue.

DrewH wrote:

Looking good Scott! Wish I had the time to build at the speed you do.

I really don't spend all that much time building, I just chip away slowly but steadily.  Half hour here, 20 min there, 2 hours on a weekend etc. 

I didn't make any progress last night, spend most of the evening repairing my sprinkler system.  Got it all fixed up and am watering the yard as we speak... well, the automatic system is doing the watering.  heh heh 

I experimented with the paint mix which was at first far too yellow.  I think the final ratio was something like 2 to 3 parts flat green to 1 part flat yellow. 

I was a little worried about the upcoming seam work, but I've seen a technique using putty and nail polish remover which it it works will spare the raised detail. 

I'm going to do the detail work on the instruments and levers tonight.  Pics shortly thereafter. 

espins1 wrote:

Cruising right along on the P-38.  This is a nice change of pace from what I usually build.  I was looking over the parts and noticed 1964 stamped on the tail plane    This kit is almost as old as I am!    The plastic seems a bit soft, but so far the clean up has been pretty easy.  The sprue attachment points on the leading edge of the upper and lower wing pieces required a bit of cleanup, and might call for just a bit of filling once they're assembled.  I've got all the interior parts, including tail booms, upper and lower wings (each just one piece which includes the cockpit) prepped and ready for spraying.  I like to do all the interior spraying at one time so I don't have to go through the hassle of airbrushing the interior green etc. in several sessions.

You must have the Monogram kit.  I have three of them that I am working on at different stages (P-38J, P-38M, F-5 are what I am working on).  I got all of them off of eBay, so I have three different box arts.  I don't think Monogram has done anything with the molds for the kit since day one.  I hope with the sale to Hobbico, some of these great kits get an update.

The other area to watch for if the nose section when you join the two halves.  I had trouble with alignment, and on one plane I used enought putty to act as a nose weight.  The other problem I ran into is all of those rivits.  On the F-5, I ended up sanding them off; the other tow I haven't gotten that far yet.

espins1 wrote:

I'm still in the "learning" phase, but after having somewhat successfully completed a Classic Airframes Bf109D, I can now handle anything!  Double checking the interior green color on the P-38 before I begin spraying.  Funny how "interior green" means different things to different manufacturers.  I'm using Tamiya Acrylics, it looks like the correct color should be somewhere between XF4 Flat Yellow Green and XF5 Flat Green.  Anyone know a good ratio to get me the color I need?

You have entered the kingdom's dungon of 'correct color' dispare.  This arguement is as old as the first plastic model.  Not only is there no 'final' decision on this, but then you have to deal with what manufacturer built the plane.  And what series/block did the plane come from.  Then of course you have the problem of any 'touch-ups' by the Army Depo before shipping.  Not to mention 'in the field corrections/repairs'.  

As far as the ratio that you are asking, I think I remember that I too tried this combination at 1 part yellow/green and 2.5 parts flat green.  Someone once told me to think of the color of a bowl of thick split pea soup (personally, this made me gag).

Bottom line, get an interior green color that YOU LIKE.  I have three different shades of interior green as I have seen several different shades (light {almost a true yellow/green}, mediun {split pea soup}, and dark {Model Masters Arcylic Interior Green with a little black added}).

From the photo that you provided, the green looks good (a bit dark, but that might be the photo).  I like your tip on how you paint the parts.  I will need to give that a try.

The masking tape/mass spray job is something I originally learned spraying roadwheels for armor as they used to be such a pain in the ......   

espins1 wrote:

For those that are interested, here is how I do my builds.  I try to be efficient and spray each color in one shot, even if it's for parts that are much further along in the assembly.      All the small parts are attached to a piece of paper using masking tape folded back on itself with the sticky side out.  I attach the tape to the paper, flatten it out, then stick all the pieces to the tape. I then spray all the parts, including interior fuselage areas like the cockpit section, and the wheel wells in the booms.

Cool idea Scott! I like how you labeled the part numbers- good idea. I usually do them on the sprue- but that always requires a little clean-up and touch-up later.... I'm going to have to try your idea.

For those that are interested, here is how I do my builds.  I try to be efficient and spray each color in one shot, even if it's for parts that are much further along in the assembly.   
 
All the small parts are attached to a piece of paper using masking tape folded back on itself with the sticky side out.  I attach the tape to the paper, flatten it out, then stick all the pieces to the tape.

I then spray all the parts, including interior fuselage areas like the cockpit section, and the wheel wells in the booms.

I'm still in the "learning" phase, but after having somewhat successfully completed a Classic Airframes Bf109D, I can now handle anything! 

Double checking the interior green color on the P-38 before I begin spraying.  Funny how "interior green" means different things to different manufacturers. 

I'm using Tamiya Acrylics, it looks like the correct color should be somewhere between XF4 Flat Yellow Green and XF5 Flat Green.  Anyone know a good ratio to get me the color I need?

Cruising right along on the P-38.  This is a nice change of pace from what I usually build.  I was looking over the parts and noticed 1964 stamped on the tail plane    This kit is almost as old as I am!   

The plastic seems a bit soft, but so far the clean up has been pretty easy.  The sprue attachment points on the leading edge of the upper and lower wing pieces required a bit of cleanup, and might call for just a bit of filling once they're assembled.  I've got all the interior parts, including tail booms, upper and lower wings (each just one piece which includes the cockpit) prepped and ready for spraying.  I like to do all the interior spraying at one time so I don't have to go through the hassle of airbrushing the interior green etc. in several sessions. 

Hey guys, I just finished up my Classic Airframes 1/48 Bf109D for the Spanish Civil War GB so I can finally devote some time to this one. 

I am starting on the P-38L tomorrow (have the day off because I had to work on Saturday) and hope to spend at least 4 hours on it.  The parts are all washed and prepped and laying out to dry. 

Actually this GB is slowing down afte the jumpstart we had in october. I suppose it's due to the fact that many birds are done and that we have a late end date. 

Great work jwb! Your Spitfire looks great!

DrewH the "surgery" on your aircraft left no "scars"! Looking good so far.

Doing some researches I stumbled across a secret project for an innovative camo scheme the nazis were testing. it was called "nuclear winter":

I'm obviously kidding, but the effect of Maskol on the primed aircraft had it's charm.

Giving the correct paint and removing the masking I got this result:

Maybe the shading is too light, but on the other hand the green is rather dark.