Once Were Warriors-7/1/07-7/31/08

Here is my progress thus far.  The fuse is buttoned up, ready for paint.  The wings are ready to paint, and the L/G doors are painted on the inside.  I painted the props and tires black(really had to force myself to leave new looking as in the photo!) and the landing gear is painted.  The red color on the oleos is the way the actual aircraft is displayed.  I am not certain, but I think it is some kind of protective sealant?  Regardless, that is they way she is displayed so that is how I must model it.I plan to mask the gear bays this week, and finish up the canopy after I fix the little boo-boo I had with the front piece.

Well, here is how she is looking:

Here is the photo I am using, shows the red oleos fairly well:

Daywalker wrote:

Tamiya 1/48 Do-335A as featured in the NASM.  I plan to build it OOB with just some simple seatbelts.

AJB93... oyuare most certanly wlecome.  I iwll add you to page 1.

Frank...lookin' good there buddy 

ruddratt wrote:

...are you going to model it with the wheel stands like in the photo?

Gentleman,

As the group moderator (PITA on a power trip), I would like to refer you to the GB rules (a more or less meaningless document) on page 1.  The model MUST (OK… should) depict he subject as it appears in the photo.  The wheel stands have to be there (but if they are not, that’s ok too).

Most important point to take into account here is that the one and only thing in the paragraph above that is ABSOLUTE… is the fact I can be a real PITA.  Ask my wife… she’ll tell ya.

wing_nut wrote:

ruddratt wrote: ...are you going to model it with the wheel stands like in the photo?   Gentleman,   As the group moderator (PITA on a power trip), I would like to refer you to the GB rules (a more or less meaningless document) on page 1.  The model MUST (OK… should) depict he subject as it appears in the photo.  The wheel stands have to be there (but if they are not, that’s ok too). Most important point to take into account here is that the one and only thing in the paragraph above that is ABSOLUTE… is the fact I can be a real PITA.  Ask my wife… she’ll tell ya.

Well, that settles it I guess!  Wheel stands it is.

The "Arrow" is ready for paint!  Tonight, I finished masking everything in preparation for paint.  I think I used a hlaf a roll of Tamiya tape on this baby!  Here she is:

Thanks Mike!

The design of this kit has a locking tab into groove attachment for the wings to fuse joint, and the joint looks to be pretty tight ala their P-47 Thunderbolt.  I thought it might be easier to paint them separately, but I've never built one of these before so hopefully I am right!

Mike and Marc-

You guys were right, the fit isn't close enough to paint the parts then put it together.

Luckily, I decided to check the fit today after thinking about what you guys said.  Lo and behold, the right wing isn't even close to fitting properly!  I had only painted the bottom up to this point, so I closed up the gaps, and taped her up for a couple of days to cure before finishing it up and start masking the top sides.  Thanks guys for the warning, you saved my !

Today, I masked and painted the second top color.  After removing the masking, I noticed the lighter green (RLM83) looks a little dark, but hadn't noticed it when it was the only color on top.  The RLM81 really makes it stand out!  I hope Marc doesn't kick me outta the GB cuz' I didn't quite get the paint colors right!

Here she is:

Kick you out?? NAH!  You know those museum guys never get the interior lighting right. We'll blame it on color balance

And extremely nice work there buddy. 

wing_nut wrote:

Kick you out?? NAH!  You know those museum guys never get the interior lighting right. We'll blame it on color balance   And extremely nice work there buddy.

Uh, yeah- that's what I was thinking.  Damn lighting...

Thanks for the compliment!

wing_nut wrote:

Kick you out?? NAH!  You know those museum guys never get the interior lighting right. We'll blame it on color balance And extremely nice work there buddy.

Any blame the paint shop, those guys are suffering from the fumes.....

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about this GB.  I've always had a soft spot for the Elefant, especially the one at Aberdeen.  I'm almost done building the Aberdeen Elefant, but as it appeared before it was captured by the Americans in Italy at the end of May 1944.  Here is a profile of it. 

I'll begin construction soon of the kit for this build and it will be done as it appeared when I saw it at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, Summer 2005.  I'm really looking forward to trying to pull this off. 

espins1 wrote:

I'm really looking forward to trying to pull this off.

Me too!  Got some interesting colors there.

I'm thinking that the best way to tackle this puppy is to spray the red oxide primer, then a very thin coat of a tan color tinted slightly pink.  Then I'll take my sanding sticks and carefully whisk off small patches of the tan/pink. 

The rust.. hmmm, maybe various shades of browns with a bid of red tossed in, followed up with a pin wash of rust around all the nuts, bolts etc.  The beauty of the deal is that I can build the whole tank including tracks and spray it all the same colors.    I am going to have to learn how to make a simple diorama base complete with gravel, grass and some old rubber tires being overgrown with grass.  I haven't done a diorama since I was a kid! 

Scott, with your skills that will look awesome! What I am loving about this GB is that we get to toss historical color accuracy to the wind in favor of replicating our subjects as they appear today.

...and I'm in the same boat with the diorama base. It's been ages since my last one, and now I find myself having to construct a scaled-down section of a street in Vancouver. Yikes!!

Thanks for the vote of confidence Mike.   

I'm debating on whether or not to order PE fenders for that beast so I can try to replicate the damage to them.

Scott,

Glad to see you are still here!  That project of yours looks quite intimidating, but with your skills I know it will look great! As for the PE fenders; I am not trying to spend your money, but the PE fenders dented up would be the icing on the cake!

ruddratt wrote:

...and now I find myself having to construct a scaled-down section of a street in Vancouver. Yikes!!

I know what you mean. I still have to contruct the inside of the hanger from the Weeks museum. Where would one get doll house supplies?  I am thinking they must have pre-made windows that I can use.

wing_nut wrote:

ruddratt wrote: ...and now I find myself having to construct a scaled-down section of a street in Vancouver. Yikes!!   I know what you mean. I still have to contruct the inside of the hanger from the Weeks museum. Where would one get doll house supplies?  I am thinking they must have pre-made windows that I can use.

Hobby Lobby has an isle or two of Dollhouse stuff.  The other place I'd look is in the phone book uner both 'Dollhouses' and under the 'Hobby' section.

I finished putting on the decals a couple of days ago, and sealed them with some PollyScale satin clear last night.  I used Mr. Mark Softer on the kit decals, and though it really helped them to snuggle down it also really shrinks them!  A couple of them needed to be poked in spots and the softer solution opened those up into gaping holes in the decals.  Not a fault of the stuff, I just need to be more careful with it and use it SPARINGLY, instead of gloping it on like Micro Sol.  Now I just need to attach all of the fiddely bits and finish the display base. I also started building the little wheel stands, and just need to paint them then build a base for this monster.