Grumman Iron Works Group Build

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.

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.

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,

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.

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?

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.

Keep those pics coming, Btp!

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.

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!

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....

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!".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.