The RCAF Group Build Birthday Party

Summit wrote:

Guy's, Walthers the train people have a Great Decal Starter set "On Sale Today" for $21.98        www.walthers.com/     part # 768-5070     sorry I can't post a direct link.

That's the 'Vitachrome Kit'.  I've used up this months allowance already (bought those books), and it's what, the 2nd day of the month!  I've bookmarked the site and will see how much it costs at the end of the month. If I get it, I'll let you all know how it turned out, but, the RAF aftermarket decal sheet sounds like a plausable out if I can find a set of numbers that start with 'BS......'  - ain't that typically Canadian....I can hear me now on the RT: "Tower, this is B.S. 101. Wanna hear a good war story eh?"

Guy's, Walthers the train people have a Great Decal Starter set "On Sale Today" for $21.98        www.walthers.com/     part # 768-5070     sorry I can't post a direct link.

Poppie, the only kit I know of is Testors decal making kit which comes with some simple software for making the art work, the decal paper and the setting solution that you have to spray on to seal the ink on the paper so that it doesn't desolve in the water.  I have not bought the kit.  I've been told that the software is rather limiting.  You can use just about any graphics program that you are familiar with to do the art work. 

I have used testors decal paper to make my own decals using Photoshop as the the software but I found the testors decal paper a bit thicker than normal decals.  Its usuable but I know there is better decal paper out there.  I just don't know which is the best.  Anyone else out there have a decal paper they recommend? 

Also, for the setting solution you can use just about any clear coat, even future, to seal the ink, you just have to be careful to apply several very light coats so that you don't make the ink run.

EDIT:  On the other hand Poppie, Given that Spitfire code letters are very light coloured you might want to consider picking up an after market decal sheet with RAF code letters on it.  Light colours are hard to do unless you have an Alps printer that can print white.  Or you can print on white decal paper but then you have to cut each letter out exactly so that the white doesn't show.

razordws wrote:

That's a cool story Poppie and no, I don't think anyone thinks your crazy.  At least I don't.  I think your goal to redo the squadron is ambitious but will be well worth doing.  It would be a real treat to see you pull it together.  You may have to lengthen the GB though.

Thanks for the encouragement Dave, but I don't think I'll have the project done in this GB. I think I'll probably get bored/tired of doing the same kit over and over and would need some distraction if for no other reason than to learn more and different techniques.  I'll just keep on plugging away at it til its done.  Anyway, I still have to find the remaining 4 kits.

I've read somewhere of a kit you can use on your home computer to design and build your own decals. I'd like to be able to do that too someday, then I wouldn't be stuck with having to get a kit with the proper decals already supplied. 

Anybody know where I can get information on doing my own decals?  Muchly appreciated.  I'm really going slow until I get those two books by Michael Ashley - they sound like they have a lot of exciting stuff in them and I'd like to try out as much as possible. This is exciting.

Found a second book by Mike Ashley "Model Aircraft Tips and Techniques: An Illustrated Guide".

I imagine there's going to be a fair bit of overlap but I've bought the one book for myself, the one you recommended, and this second book for one of my sons, who is just getting into modelling. We should be able to share.  Please don't hesitate to recommend to me any books that you have found to be helpful and instructional (and that use 'baby-talk) as half the fun for me is in learning new ways of doing things.  For only being two days old, this Group Build has been a blast - we've brought together a truly great bunch of guys. But hey, we're all RCAF affectionatos - what more has to be said.

 Your "Group Photo" made me drool. Why is it that just seeing a photo of a bunch of plastic kits causes a senior citizen's heart to start to pound, his hand to shake, his pocket book to vibrate and sing out "you can buy it, you can buy it".  I'm one of those guys that when he finds a model and builds it and its been fun, he keeps buying them up and building them. As you can see from the attached photo, In the upper right hand corner, there are 7 x 1/48, Hasegawa Spitfire Mk Vb kits, plus one on the go, plus two x 1/48 Tamiya Mk Vb TROP.'s that are out of view on the shelf below, and below that is a  Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk I/II, and above my workbench is a Airfix 1/24 Spitfire Mk Vb while up on the shelf in the 'main stash' are 4 Airfix 1/72 Spits IX, XII, and completed, and stuck on my toolbox are two Spit 1 X 1/144's. 

 Now, I'm not obsessive, a hoarder (I do build them) I just have a MAJOR love affair with the machines. I won't mention the pictures I have of them (I've lain on my belly on the grass and taken shots of the wheel linkage assembly of the XVI that's up at CWH, pictures of the pit, close-ups of IP dials, rivet assembly's on the wings, cannon mountings, - actually, I think I have enough to do a well documented book, and speaking of books, I have 5 'How to' books on the Spits alone starting from the Osprey.   Yeah, I admit it, I've got a problem, but my goal is to is to "practice" building these planes until I can put together one that I can put on my Dad's grave - it was a Spitfire Vb that got him on Dieppe (friendly fire) and I've grown up with a love/hate relationship with that plane that just drives me batty!!!!!!

I published the Combat Record of 401 Squadron earlier in this thread and I'll come clean:  What my dream is over the next two years is to acquire enough of the Hasegawa Spitfire Mk Vb kits that I can assemble a copy of the squadron and do a good enough job that I could donate them to the Canadian Warplane Heritage.  That's 12 planes and I have 8 and Hasegawa isn't making the JT4:2000 kit anymore. I cleaned out ebay - have to wait awhile to see if they come up again. I need 4 more planes.  Those kits have the markings for 401 Squadron - I have (posted) the plane numbers and the names of the pilots, and have traced the pilots that were killed by the end of the war through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  That will be my tribute to my Dad, and to the guys who flew.  If you think I'm nuts, just say so, buts that's why I want to learn how to detail the planes with scratch built as much as I can.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with the 1/24 - hang it in a barn somewhere, but it will be, I hope, my piece de resistance in which I hope to incorporate everything I learn (and have learned) about the Vb's.  Thanks for listening to me ramble, but for some reason, I'm reallly missing my Old Man today. I had sent to Veterans Affairs for a copy of his Military Medal that he won on the beaches at Dieppe and I got a letter back from them this morning with a note for me to notarize as the eldest surviving son. Really got me thinking. I'm Melancholy as all get out.

DaveCS wrote:

P.S. don't get me started on prop kits going the way of the do-do....  and if I see one more company kit another Focke-Wulf 190 or ME 109 or Spit I'm going to scream - there are so many more props that deserve to be kitted... *sigh*

  Dave this is for you, I Have Felt it my Public Resposibility to give many of these Old Forgotten Kits a Safe, Warm, Dry, Loving Home . Here is just one of my Groups in a "Class Photo" No vintage kit will be Turned Away !

Brent,

If you're lucky you can search (and find) the Gavia 1/48 Lysander kit on Ebay - it shows up from time to time - and hey, we do have 2 years to build it right?

Poppie,

I've got that book that was suggested  by Brent. It's a good book but I never noticed that one section regarding framing before - fancy that, you learn something new every day!!! 

Folks, seeing as how we're asking some questions I have a very basic one regarding a common activity that seems to elude me every time I try it - stretched sprue - I swear, I've tried a ton of times lately and, maybe the plastic composition has changed since I first started building about 30 some years ago but I can't seem to stretch sprue thin enough for making aerials etc. 

Does anyone have any personal methods that are, basically, foolproof for all brands/age/colours of plastic sprue?

Cheers,
Dave

P.S. don't get me started on prop kits going the way of the do-do....  and if I see one more company kit another Focke-Wulf 190 or ME 109 or Spit I'm going to scream - there are so many more props that deserve to be kitted... *sigh* 

Thanks for the lead on the book guys, I put my order in for a used one - says it should be here in 2-3 weeks but my experience is that it usually only takes about one week for Chapters.ca to get things delivered.

For some reason Amazon.com will not ship used or rare books to Canada. I've tried several times to place orders for different items and after inputting all my data and credit card info and clicking 'purchase', I get a message that 'they are unable to ship to the address provided'. Bummer.

Summit wrote:

Brent, I have an old Hawk Lysander. But you are most likely looking for something from this century since your not interested in the Airfix. Just checked on ebay, there are 2 Pavla kits listed right now !

The only reson I don't like the Airfix is because I remember doing so much sanding on them. Maybe they have gotten better? Is yours 1/72 or 1/48? Can you give me the wing and hieght dimensions possibly?

Do you have a link for those ebay kits? I typed in Lysander and got 0 results the other night.

 Poppie - glad to here you had so much fun with the family, too bad about the plastic kits though. I can't believe they are going to the die cast........everyone has 2 to 300 clams for kits these days eh? My daughter has a table across from me and she is going to be starting her Revell/Monogram Spitfire MK I soon, hopefully she will have as much fun as she did when I took her flyin gin the Cessna 172 I used to fly up in Canada.

Brent

Reload wrote:

Sorry to be so back and forth with the scales, but I just figured there would be kits if them to be had............my bad. I also noticed something else today in the LHS, there were alot of WWII planes, but holy moly were they outnumbered huge by the modern crafts. I really hope this is not a trend where some poeple tend to forget about the stepping stones of our countries. Brent

Brent, I got the same terrible shock today in, of all places, the Canadian Warplane Heritage!!! What WWII planes they had were well stocked, but my gosh man, you'd think the prop had gone the way of the hand egg-beater (remember those). The one high spot for me was that they carried a ton of the Hobby Craft Easy Build kits for beginners and were selling them to the school kids off the bus tours.   On the other hand, the cashier told me they were not going to be handling plastic kits in the future but were going to be sticking to the cast iron, ready made  planes. Don't know whose going to buy them at 200 and 300 dollars a pop! There are a few nice lines by Franklin Mint and Corgi, I have a few of the 1/72 but their hard for kids to come by at $25 a plane. Absollutely terrible markup prices.

Thanks a million for the lesson on the canopy and the lead on the book. I'll be plunking down my money as soon as I'm through this post. Probably buy a copy for my son as well as he's starting to get back into modelling now that he's in his forties.  My youngest boy has shown a great interest in my hobby these past few months. He and his comic book kids, Nat and Nate, (age 7 & 4) brought me in a lovely  30" framed and double matted painting of a Spitfire . I was pleased as punch and when I asked them what the occasion was they said: "Oh, this is just an 'We love you Poppie Present".  Man, did I tear up.  Had it hanging over my doorway in the living room in 3 minutes flat.

It was a great experience to have my two sons and their two sons sitting at my workbench with me working on a couple of easy-build models last week-end, - three generations of modellers talking and teaching and learning and just having a general all round ball.  The afternoon shot by.  I helped them do a rough spray job of acrylic so it dried that night, put on a coat of Future and we did the decals Sunday morning. Then my wife had to put up with one old geezer, her two sons and two g/sons aged 9 and 8 running around the house with airplanes in their hands doing immelmans, half-rolls, inverted dives, ratt-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat *gotcha*, I'm hit, going in Poppy, your dead dad, watch this plane smoke em Dad,...............it was a blast. Best time I've had in years.

Thanks again for the lead on the FMS book - gotta go buy two.  Poppie.

Brent, I have an old Hawk Lysander. But you are most likely looking for something from this century since your not interested in the Airfix.

Just checked on ebay, there are 2 Pavla kits listed right now ! 

Poppie, go to your LHS, and see if you can find a book titled, "Detailing Scale Model Aircraft" By Mike Ashey (it is put out by Kalmbach books and they have ads in FSM all the time) Here ya go, http://www.amazon.com/Detailing-Scale-Aircraft-Modeling-Handbook/dp/0890242054

This is how I started doing all the extras on model building. It shows everything form tools, painting, scratchbuilding, seatbelts, engines, re-positioning the movable parts....ect. Everything you can imagine, he has it in there. He is an ex-Navy Seal and his models grace FSM very frequently.

Seats belts, I learned from him, are made from putting 2 pieces of tape together, cutting them to shape, and you can buy PE seatbelt hardware for them.

Canopy, I do what you do. I have my special wet/dry sandpaper from 3600 grit to 12000 grit. I sand them out in order, and in the end they will be a tad milky. I then clean with white toothpaste (NOT GEL) rinse, and dip in future like you do. I then use scotch tape to cover the canopy and use a toothpick to bur the edges beside the frame. I use a fesh #11 exacto blade and carefuly follow the frame work on the inside. When done, the tape comes off the framing and not the clear glass portion. Take your masked canopy, and spry the 1st coat with the color that the inside should be. When dry, paint a 2nd coat of the outside color. When you are done the outside will be the outside color, but when you flip it over the 1st coat will show through the on the bottom.

A sad note for me today. I went to the LHS after searching the internet for 3 hours yesterday. Besdies an airfix kit (not my fav) there are no Lysanders to be found anywhere other than the 1/32. So I am goin to have to go with a Harvard I believe. Revell makes a 1/48 PBY but are in the process of re-issuing it. So instead I found a real nice 1/72 Acadamy PBY that got great reviews and looks to be perfect for what I want to do. 

Sorry to be so back and forth with the scales, but I just figured there would be kits if them to be had............my bad. I also noticed something else today in the LHS, there were alot of WWII planes, but holy moly were they outnumbered huge by the modern crafts. I really hope this is not a trend where some poeple tend to forget about the stepping stones of our countries.

Take a look at this web site. I use it all the time for walkaround photos, reviews, tips, tricks, ect.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/index2.htm

jssel wrote:

At any rate, since my last posting I now have masking tape seat belts added and the fuselage halves together.  More pictures to follow. This sure is getting me out of a slump.

Glad your enjoying yourself Jeff. Now, time to do some teaching. I've heard of, and seen the results of, guys making masking tape seat belts in the past but I don't know how to make them. How is it done? I mean, the whole shebang - how do you make the belts, the buckles, install them, paint them.  They are something I'd really like to know how to do. Can you guys help me out?

DaveCS wrote:

Yep.. this is going to be loads of fun Ansons, Sea Furies, Vampires, Spits, Lancs, Hornets, Boxcars etc. etc. etc.  so many of them and all, in my eyes, cool

Dave, when I was a little kid my parents used to pack us off to my uncles farm in Wooler, Ont. which is just outside Trenton. The planes from Trenton Air Force Base used to do their practice loops and dives right over the farm - so it seemed to our young eyes -that was Sooooooo cooooool -  I can still remember my uncle telephoneing the base because some young pilots in a Moth had 'buzzed' his cattle - he was in an uproar.  I imagine now, looking back, that the planes were probably a couple of hundred feet above ground but seeing them come down at me in a dive and then pull up and fly away used to just set my 9 year old heart a thumpin.  I spent about 4 - 5 summers on his farm and we could just sit on the side of the hill and look straight into the cockpits with a pair of binoculars, - or so it seemed.  I still get a thrill, and a young one at that, when I hear a Harvard or a Moth flying low overhead. 

I was out at CWH this afternoon picking up a set of decals for my Typhoon and I couldn't just go into the tuck shop, make my purchase, and come home. Naw, had to wander, scuff my shoes on the tarmac, daydream a bit, kill a couple of hours.........now where did that afternoon go?????  Was here somewhere, musta been an airplane around. Poppie's got his head in the clouds again.

Well, I started by giving my Hasegawa Spitfire a good scrub in dishwater and I was really pleased. I didn't find nary a single piece of 'flash' on the whole kit. Absolutely great! Hope this is a portent of great things to come with this kit.

I mentioned yesterday about rummaging through my grand-daughters jewellery making hobby supplies for odds and ends to use on the planes.  This is a picture of the really thin cosmetic wires that the kids gave me that they had 'doubles' of: They say they get it in a hobby store and just ask for jewellery wire and that it comes in 'hundreds of colours Poppie!'.  It's really fine, holds its shape perfectly, bonds great with CA to polystyrene, and the colours stand up well against the RAF Interior Green that just about everyone uses. They say it cost a couple dollars for a set of colours. I think you could probably get it at a place like Michael's Craft Stores.

  The rolls are less than an inch wide so they take up less space than a spool of thread if that gives you any idea of the diameter of the wire. The post on my wifes pierced earring is a lot thicker than this wire.

Yep.. this is going to be loads of fun

All I've got are kits that are based on the RCAF - That's what started me back into modeling.

A trip up to Ottawa back in '06 after my mom had passed away  had me going to the Canadian Aviation Museum and the War Museum - that just brought back a flood of memories as I had been to the Aviation museum about 25-30 years before with my parents. Seeing those aircraft just made me long to get back into this "quiet hobby".

I had been down the "buying kits and never building them" road before in my adult life though... and I knew the pitfalls of just buying anything and everything and creating more of a retail store than a small stash of kits So this time around I had decided "nothing but aircraft used within the RCAF" - sure, there were many "cooler" aircraft out there flying for many other "cooler" air forces but, really, after doing some research and looking at the aircraft that were used and made here, there's plenty to be proud of and to keep my hands busy for years to come.

Ansons, Sea Furies, Vampires, Spits, Lancs, Hornets, Boxcars etc. etc. etc.  so many of them and all, in my eyes, cool

Thanks for starting this Poppie!!!

Cheers
Dave
 

Jeff,

What size bit did you use to drill out the stacks.  Did you have to start with a 'pin' to mark it and then use a larger bit or is your hand steady enough that you just went right in?

My project for this group build is the Revell P40B in 1/48th scale.  This mold was produced by Monogram in 1964 and this release is labeled 2006.  The molds have really broken down by this time so cleanup of flash on all parts is necessary.  Probably one of the hardest tasks is filling in the "knockout" tab marks as some are in very tight spaces on the horizontal stabilizers and the interior of the flaps.  There is no wheelwells on this kit but since I am builing it OOB and once it is in the showcase no one will notice.  Overall reviews of this kit indicate that it is very accurate but low on interior detailing.  The decal sheet has not changed much in 44 years.  You get an AVG aircraft, a USAAC aircraft, and the subject of my build, a 403 Squadron P40 marked KH*R AH883.  Camoflage and Markings indicate that this aircraft was actually AH881. The Revell release has excellent quality decals.  I bought mine at Michael's Craft Store with a 50% off coupon for around $6.00 US. 

So today I did interior work in preparation for assembling the fuselage halves.  I also drilled out the exhaust stacks. 

More on 403 Squadron's short term P40 use later on.

Thanks for looking

Jeff

Whoa! I looked in the bottom of my stash and guess what I found..........a nice Hasegawa Typhoon Mk IB.  I'd rather do the Hase than the Academy....worlds apart...not the least is that the Academy is 1/72 and the Hase is 1/48.  Don't know why I was thinking the Academy was 1/48....guess I had the two of them mixed up in my head and just forgot that I had the Hase kit.  Happy, happy, happy me.  I have problems with the 1/72 because of a slight hand tremor and those small parts drive me batty......short drive....more of a putt.  Well, that fills my agenda for the next year and a bit.

I'm lucky in a way, I get to play all day as I'm retired and my wife is still working.  She has two years to go ( now figure this two year build) and I'm alone all day. It can be pretty boring at times though, so thank God for these little hobbies I've started.

jssel wrote:

I can send in progress shots if you like. Jeff

Hi Jeff,

'In Progress' shots would be great!!!  I'm hoping all the guys will start posting pics on what and how their doing. I have so much to learn and seeing a project 'grow' in picture form really helps me understand the dynamic of how things got to be what they are.  You know, looking at the finished product, you have no idea how the modeller (artist) got his/her project to look the way it does.  Who mfg your kit and what scale is it? I think you put down 1/48????

Poppie, I like your containers very much for organization.  Picture size is Ok also.  I usually upload pics around 100kb.  I started the P40 this morning in between moving a foot of snow since yesterday afternoon.  Lake Superior can be pretty mean at times.  But the snow came from Minnesota this time.  I can send in progress shots if you like.

Jeff

Well guys, todays the official day, I've got two of my kits for the build in.  Here's the Spit that I'm doing - as I said, it'll have the markings of 401 Sqn as of 18 Aug 1942.

Here's my second build - a lot simpler in many ways but I've been warned that I can expect to do a fair bit of sanding on this one.  I'll probably do it in the markings of of 438 Sqn when they were chewing up the German Army in the Falaise Gap in August, 1944.

How do you guys organize a build?  I've found it easier, and safer, to have gone to Wal-Mart and bought some cheap tupperware like containers and use them for storage and what all. For instance, I bought a pile (8 in a pak) of 4"x4" containers. I label some with the name and date of each build I'm working on and keep the clear plastic and small parts separate in them til I'm ready to use them:

I've got a couple of bigger ones that I use for things like my 'Future Dip Tank'.  As soon as I take the cellophane of a kit, I double dip the plastic canopy and such in Future, let it dry, mask them, and then put them in their own small container.

I was in Michael's Craft Store and they had a sale on plastic containers for people who do 'scrapbooking'. A 1/48 kit with the small container fits in one just perfectly, the lid snaps shut, and my builds are pretty much safe from g/kids and dogs and the cleaning lady (me).

 I find I can have 3 or 4 builds on the go at the same time and never get the parts mixed up, etc. 

 It's a way of organizing myself that has just sort of 'evolved' without any conscious thought, it just 'happened'.  How do you guys keep things 'straight' and how do you start your builds?

Major question - other than the colour, which I know is crappy as my flash is on the fritz, do you find that this is the right size for pics.  I'd like to see us post a lot of pics of work in progress with a lot of suggestions, tips, and helpful  critiques going back and forth.  Could we do something more than just say: "Hey, great job there buddy"  - Lets try and be specific for each other and tell each other exactly what it is we like or find lacking.  I think that way this wil be a real 'learning' experience for all of us.  Poppie

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear RCAF. Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you. It is hereby commanded that we the members of the RCAF Group Build of 2008 make our way, under our own power, to our own icebox's, and snap-a-cap-a-(insert favourite brew), and drink a toast to plastic pounding and keeping alive the memory of a very valiant few who performed some very incredible deeds.  We are committed to re-create, a 'living testimonial' in recognition of their achievements and to establish, foster and maintain and lasting bond of fellow craftsmen, dedicated to the re-creation of their famous, and not so famous, aircraft, of old. To those who have gone before, Happy Birthday and a heartfelt Thank You.

moskit wrote:

Hello, Great pics; I'm actually building 104815 from 1 Canadian Air Group. I have the print from my dad as a memory of our days living in Baden. It's a fairly simple green camo which suits my not so great air brushing skills. I've got few 1/48 Hasagawa kits (PT18 and PT20) in my stash so this GB came at a great time....and I can't wait to get started!! Cheers

Thats great Moskit. I'll bring you up to date on the Honour Roll and we can get started today. This is going to be a fun one.  Hope you don't mind me pulling your leg a big earlier though.  Poppie.