Grumman Iron Works Group Build

Hello? Is this thing on? Echo echo echo....sure is quite in here....

Anyway.....got another update.

So...I've gotten a *little* work done since my last post.....

This is the dreaded nose seam. Everyone talks about how horrible this is. Well.....here it is. Note that this seam has not been filled or sanded at all. That is exactly how it came out. It is completely smooth to the touch, no steps...and you can see very little filling will be required. The trick was strips of styrene inside the fuselage part of this joint. I took .125" x .125" strips and cut them into little pieces, maybe an inch in length...then attached them to the fuselage so they would make guide pins. Once they had dried and were on there good and strong, I slid the nose on and this is what I ended up with. The test fit without the styrene was horrendous. But the strips not only gave me a guide, but also served to help form the pieces together....

Oh yeah....I also got some other work done.......

*note....that is about half my dining room table there....these things are HUGE!

Philo,

When I looked at that first photo I felt like I was back in the Navy on shore leave!  In all seriousness though, nice job on your plane!

btp2k2,

That really is a BIG jet!  I pull mine out of the box every now and then just to admire the size of that project (especially when compared to the 1/700 scale biplane airwing I just built for my USS Saratoga CV-3).  I took a new position at work last month and now have my own office.  Perhaps that will give me the motivation to build one of those monster cats to hang from the ceiling.

Keep those pics coming, Btp!

Hey, can I take credit for the nine Grumman F3F planes that I built for my USS Saratoga CV-3?

Here are a couple of photos.  They are 1/700 scale, the pencil is for size reference.

Sure, the group build specifies any scale allowed - even one you can barely see!!!

The only hold-up would be when did you build these F3Fs?

Aggieman,

I just finished the propeller stripes this past Saturday.  I was mainly joking, but they are Grumman aircraft, and if you want to give me the credit that is fine, but I am still getting ready to start the Panther that I chose for this build.  I actually started thinking about posting the photos of the finished F3F's (they are too small to figure out which model) here when I joined this group as it seemed humorous to me.  Yes, they are tiny, and each one consists of four pieces (fuselage and lower wing, upper wing, propeller, and front wheels) plus five decals (chevron on top wing plus four stars (two on top wing, two on bottom wing)).  The fuselage stripe and engine cowling stripe are hand painted.  I spent most of the last three weeks just working on the thirty-three planes for the carrier as I could only work for so long before I needed a break from the magnification devices I had to use to build them.  The more I think about it, I do want the credit here.

Philo,

Kind of a Star Trek fan.  When I first joined the FineScale web page I used the name "Bull" as that was my nickname back in my Navy days (this was from being the senior 3rd class petty officer in my rating, or Bull).  When the web page changed a couple of years ago, I could not register using the same name for some reason, but I assume that someone thought "Bull" was short for bulls***.  It was not, but I had to come up with something new and as some of the guys at work say "Give me more power Scotty" when they see me, it seemed like a good idea (especially as I work at a nuclear power plant).

Aggieman,

Thanks!

By the way, the build is on for me.  I started some initial work this past week by fitting the Blackbox sidewalls into place after removing the interior detail on the kit fuselage halves.  I was a little disapointed in the amount of work that I had to do to get the cockpit tub and the front wheelwell to fit in the fuselage at the same time.  I spent quite a bit of time filing, sanding and dremelling (is that a word?) the middle of the wheelwell to get it to fit after I sanded down the resin bottom of the cockpit to about a one one thousandth inch thickness (not entirely on purpose).  I can already tell that there will be some fit issues to deal with along the way.  Once I get a little further along, I will get a photo or two taken and posted and I will continue to update my progress from time to time.

Aggieman,

I just took a look at posting #1, and thanks for the credit on those little F3F's.  There is not quite enough engine detail to determine if they are dash 1's, 2's, or 3's.

All,

I have made a little progress this week on the Panther as all of the resin piees are now cleaned up and ready for installation in the cockpit.  I need to do some airbrushing next and start the fuselage assembly.  Once I get a little further along, I will post a photo or two.

Hello, at the invite of Aggieman here is my Hobbycraft 1/48 F8F Bearcat in South Vietnamese Air Force markings.  This kit was an easy and quick build.  Overall finish is Floquil Old Silver.  A new technique for me was done on the formation lights on the wings.  Although you can not see in this image, I used Tamiya clear blue with a clear lens on top.  The decals were punched out using a punch and die set so that they would lay over the lights.

Thanks for letting me show my work

Jeff 

Here's my progress, this is  a challenging kit. But nice.

I finally have made some progress on my Hasegawa 1/32 Hellcat, which I am going to do in Alex Vraciu's markings.  I met him once, sat next to him at a dinner. Told him "thanks".  A fine fellow, he is.

I'm using a Verlinden cockpit set and the Eduard PE parts, some of each.  The Eduard panel has film instruments, and I added a white styrene sheet backing to make it more rigid and to provide the white for the gauge markings.  The Verlinden parts need a fair bit of fitment, but I like the quality of the castings.  I didn't like the thickness of the F6F-3 windows and had a hard time getting the area cut out accurately, so I used a thin clear acetate that is oversize and faired them in, then masked the inside and outside to protect the smaller area of the windows while I am painting.  I also made a bulkhead and shelf for the aft window area, it will be visible and pictures in Detail ands Scale are "sort of" like what I made.  Probably ought to add some wiring or plumbing back there, but at this point I haven't found a convincing photo of the area.

Well....the big scale Tomcats stalled a little....so I ran to the hobby shop to find something to get me out of the funk....

So last week I picked up an Italeri Tomcat. It's waiting for the paint to set and then will get a coat of future tomorrow....

Aggie, can you add this to the list? 1/48th scale Italeri F-14A

Thanks

John, nice progress on that big Hellcat.  Looking forward to seeing her complete.

btp, I've added your second Tomcat to the list.  I built that same kit last year along with a 1/144 version and made a wall plaque out of them.

Nice!

I love seeing the size differences between scales. Like these 32nd scale Tomcats compared to the normal 48th scale....when you think in terms of numbers, 32 isn't all that far away from 48....but then when you see them next to each other...WOW!

The paint on your 48th scale looks great....

Working on the engine and cowl for the Hasegawa 1/32 F6F.  This is a nice kit but you can tell it is an older mold, in terms of fineness of some details.  Great fit and sharpness and only a little flash on this newer pressing.  Edges of the cowl need some thinning around the cowl flaps, and I am reworking the supercharger scoop to open it up.  Blanked off in this scale just doesn't work for me.  They aren't even taking that route in 1/72 in the better new kits.  Some photos below.  More detail to add to the engine still, but I have to show it cause I'm having so much fun with it.  The fuselage halves are glued and the seams are filled, not much work there.  The fit of the wing at the lower rear looks like it will take some care during gluing.

The first photo is my engine assembly fixture.  The induction manifold was arguing with me so I persuaded it.  It is not always a bigger hammer that does the job.

The induction manifold was arguing with me so I persuaded it.

Your tools of persuasion seem to have worked.    Nice looking engine, John.

John, that engine looks great!

I hope to be done with the decaling on my Italeri Tomcat by tomorrow.

Here is my Italeri F-14A Tomcat.

It still needs a top coat of future and then weathering...going to add the coat of future in about 5 minutes and then weathering should happen tomorrow. Once I weather, I will put on the gear bay doors and the shoulder pylons. The aircraft will also carry a TARPS pod. I will photograph it properly when completed

The kit bang seats were pretty laughable, so I liberated some spare seats from a Hasegawa Tomcat...the ventral fins were WAY off shape wise, so I grabbed the ventral fins from the same Hasegawa donor kit the seats came from. The kit came with two closed Pratt & Whitney nozzles, I had a spare open P&W nozzle from an Academy kit, so I used that on the port engine. The markings I used were from an early Tomcat, the kit did not come with the proper chinpod, so I liberated that from an old Revellogram Tomcat. The VF-111 Sundowners markings came from Aeromasters "Tomcat Supreme part 2" sheet.