Grumman Iron Works Group Build

Charles,

I haven't been able to inspect the Tigercat closely enough to determine exactly what areas will accommodate weighting, but I do know from looking over the instructions that I will be painting it flat black rather than Blue Angel blue from some Korean unit.  Too early to say though exactly which markings I'll be using.

Steven

There are lots of photos of Korean Tigercats with 50 gallon barrels under the tails, depending on the fuel load they could tip back, apparently.  I'll see if I can find the magazine the photos are in.  There were flat black and ugly weathered, unless I'm having a mindfade.  I think not, but how do I know?

Steven

I placed my weights both in the nose and behind each engine in the nacelles.  I did this to spread it out and not put so much pressure on the front main gear leg.  I didn't know they made a metal replacement at the time.   

Also, get Cutting Edge's OR Ultra Cast replacement props, replacement wheels, and a set of decals.  If posing the pit ipend, get a Squadron Vac Canopy too.

The kit is nice as you will find out.  Good luck building her and post lots of pics.

Regards,

Freddie 

I started this one before the build started so never signed up but if nobody minds here is a link to the finished project.

/forums/882330/ShowPost.aspx

And a couple of shots at the beginning.

I added some bulkheads to box in the wheel well and to hold the lead shot and epoxy mix I use for weight.

I added about this much weight to both sides of the fuse.

Just to show I'm not slacking....here's where I am on the Wildcat so far. Since it is a simple paint scheme I am thinking of painting the elevators, rudder and fuselage separately before I attache them together. Have you ever done this? What do you think?

Progress is slow but it's not the kit's fault. This is still a great little kit from Tamiya.

Charles,

Your Cat is coming along very nicely.  As to your question, I probably paint individual pieces like that roughly half the time.  Most recently my first build for this GB, the Albatross - I painted all of the individual parts separately then did some masking to put on more paint once all the parts were mated and seams filled.  I'd say it's a matter of personal preference.

Well, Steven, I'm glad I painted them separately, When masking the elevators I ripped a good chunk of paint off. It cured fine, but I think I didn;t clean the surfance well enough before painting. Anyways, instead of trying to sand and even out the attached elevators, it was easy to soak the individual piece in windex and start over again so the entire surface is smooth. I'll retry the masking tonight...hopefully with better results.

Other than that, she's coming along nicely. I'm getting ready for Future and then decals...

philo,

That is a nice looking Wildcat!   As I have the kit collecting dust in my stash (along with several hundred other kits), I was wondering if you could pass along any hints or tips that you learned in building yours.  A friend from my model club was working on one for a while, and I know that the PE hinges were not fun at all for him.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.

philo426 wrote:

sorry for such a long post but i just wanted to give you guys some tips.

No need to apologize Philo...your tips and comments are what makes GB's a good thing. Great looking build and thank you for the tips...they will come in handy if I ever run across this kit.

Well, I've run into a small roadblock with the Wildcat...I've ruined one of the decals. Fortunately it's a common kit and I'm going OOB...a few potential donors have already responded. I may be a week delayed, but all things considered, it's not that awful.

Well, silly me...I actually havethe spare decals I need. The Wildcat moves along...

Today I will finish the decals. All of the raised rivets mean a LOT of Micro-Sol. This build is getting near the end. Now I need to tell myself not to hurry and rush the small things!

No pics quite yet but I am done with the declas and weathering. Now it's just down to the deatils and touch ups...hope to post some pics soon.

In a note of good news, I am happy to say that I found a bottle of polyscale flat clear (new formula in the red label) that works as good as the old stuff. I ran into 2 bottles in a row that were "bad"....sprayed chalky white. I almost gave up on the stuff, but this bottle proved once again that Polyscale rules the roost in flat clears.

Whoo Hoo! Finished (except for the ares I noticed as I looked at the photos!).

Here is my submission to the Grumman Ironworks GB...the venerable 1/48 Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat, but strictly OOB...even the thick decals. This is still a great kit despite the age. I would still like to add an aerial wire, paint the underside lenses and touch up a few areas, but here she is:

Paints were Color of Eagles Light Gull Gray on the underside and Blue Gray for the upper. CoE are great acrylics that are toned down for that scale effect. The fuselage decals were tought but I managed to get them nice and snug in the Future coat.

Thank you for looking and thank you to Steven for the GB idea. Grumman makes some of the best aircraft.

philo426 wrote:

Looks great!The panel lines are very well done!How did you do it?

THanks, Philo. THe panel line wash is a veyr easy technique I learned in a copy of Finscale. Tempra paints. They are cheap and water soluable, so if you make a mistake, you can wipe it off and re-do before you seal them in. I basically make a dark gray color by mixing black and white, then dilute it a little so it flows into the grooves.

Basically, you slop it all over the panel lines and let it dry. Once it's dry, wipe OVER the panel lines with a damp paper towel to remove the excess paint. When you are satisfied with the look, seal it in with a clear coat (I used flat clear for military aircraft). It is cheap, easy and I think adds a lot to the look of an airplane.

Give it a try on one of your older models you've already built.

Charles, that's a great job on the Wildcat!  I really like that panel line technique, so I think it's time to go shopping for some of those paints.

Klem, I'll add you to the group list on the first page shortly but go ahead and post pictures if and when you can.

philo,

Thanks for the tips.  I will try to keep them in mind once I actually get around to tackling that build.

mucker,

Really nice job on the Wildcat!  I also look forward to building that Tamiya kit some day and hope that I can do it as much justice as you have.

Aggieman,

I still need to finish up the USS Saratoga that I am building for a group build that I started, but I have made a decision on the plane that I will build for this group.  And the winner is....drum-roll please...a 1:48 Monogram F9F-5 Panther with a Black Box cockpit and in the VF-192 markings from the movie "the Bridges at Toko-Ri" that came with the kit.  The kit that I have is the one re-released a few years back that includes a book about Navy jet aircraft.  I will get this build going sooner or later, but a least I have now committed to a kit.

Aggieman,

 I got back too late as I see that you have updated post #1 already.  I realized last evening that my kit is an F9F-5 not a 2.  I updated my message from yesterday, but you may want to fix post one as well.  As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!".

Been awhile since I updated my project....

If you look close in the upper left corner, you will see a second cockpit tub. With a little luck I hope to have three of these bigscale monsters built for the group build. Once you dip most of the bigger parts in warm water and straighten them...the kit really builds itself...though, I still haven't figured out what I am going to do with that nose/fuselage seam.....UGH!

For fun, I took a comparison shot to show the size difference between 32nd and 48th....