Mud Movers GB - July 1st - Dec 31st 2008

aaronw-lookin' good.  I've got that kit in the stash and looking forward to seeing yours complete.

eatthis-nice paint scheme on the A-10.  Keep up the good work!

edit-I had a few moments of quiet time this am & got the canopy masked.  I'm going to apply some Future around the mask to help prevent seepage and hopefully find some time tomorrow to spray everything.  With a little luck and a tail wind, I hope to be finished by late Sunday.

how will the wash get underneath the decals into the panel lines if i put them on 1st?

eatthis wrote:

how will the wash get underneath the decals into the panel lines if i put them on 1st?

You don't want the wash underneath the decals....you want the wash over the decals so the panel lines go through the markings. Check out the "RESCUE" arrow on the right hand side of this shot....

That happens because the wash goes on over the decals, filling the panel line over the decal.

Another reason you want to wash after decalling is to ensure your decals have the same weathered appearance as your aircraft. If you wash then decal, your markings would look brand new while the rest of the aircraft would look weathered.

Here's a few more pic's but of TA-4's and OA-4's

I had the opportunity to get in some 20 hrs backseat time with VC-12 back in...GOD! that was over 30 yrs ago!

After playing boggies for F-14's, inbound back to NAS Oceana.

Close formation flying.

OA-4's at MCAS Yuma for a WTI exercise.

HEY MONOGRAM! how about re-releasing the OA-4 kit?

A TA-4 out of Pax River.

arki30 wrote:

Hey Paul, that is your Skyhawk on ARC!  Congrats!

Yup....thanks. I just saw that one! Pretty cool.

Getting down to the end.  Next profile is the AH-64 Apache.

Height: 16'-3"

Length: 58'-3"

Wingspan: 17'-2"

Weight: 21,000 lbs maximum takeoff

Powerplant:

(2) GE T700-GE 701 turboshafts at 1,696 shp each

Speed: 182 mph

Range: 260 nm

Armament:

(1) McDonnell-Douglas M230 30mm chain gun w/1,200 rounds

Up to 1,700 lbs of ordnance on 4 underwing hardpoints

I made some progress with the F-51...all the parts are painted, ordinance is attached, along with the landing gear.  Paint is drying on the gun sight & landing light. I'm not happy with the job I did on the props, so I'm going to repaint them in the am.  Also, I'll probably do an oil wash on the napalm tanks, rockets & landing gear.  I hope to have everything buttoned up by tomorrow night.

Last aircraft profile on the last day.  The F4U Corsair.

Height: 15'-0"

Length: 32'-9"

Wingspan: 41'-0"

Weight: 13,846 lbs max takeoff

Powerplant: P&W R-2800 Double Wasp @ 1,675 hp

Speed: 392 mph

Range: 1070 miles

Armament: 

(6) .50 in Colt-Browning machine-guns at 400 rpg

Up to 2,000 lbs of ordnance

You're killing me Arki-so many great Mud Movers, so little time.....thanks for posting the pics & info along the way.  Hopefully we can all gather 'round and do this theme again sometime in the future.

Props are painted.  I want to do a wash on the landing gear & napalm tank but I'm also in the middle of our first annual attic cleaning party....figured after 20 years, some of the stuff could go......may not get everything done on the F-51 today, but I should be able to post finished pics tomorrow or Friday.  Hope that is ok.

Ok...this one is done.  Well, almost.  I still need to repaint the gun site and wing lights, but that will wait-party to go to....It could also use some exhaust & gun staining, but that can be added later.  And I'm not happy with the fit of the left exhaust manifold.  Maybe I'll pop it out and refit...later.

Anyway....

Arki-thanks for running a first rate GB.  It's been fun hanging & building here.

Cheers

Bob, I'd call that finished!  Wow, really nice job all around.  Great color scheme, NMF looks good, and there's ordnance hanging down.  Thanks for squeaking this in.

Happy New Years to everyone.

I usually don't care for rockets on a fighter but they look great on your F-51 which also looks outstanding!

ARKI...just how many did finish the build?

Arki-Thanks.  It was a fun build (for the most part) and I've overcome my fear of NMF.  I still need to improve on the surface prep and some of the fit of the Tamiya kit is not as good as I would have expected, but live & learn.  I will definatly build this kit again in the future.

Archangel-Thanks and I agree on the rockets.  Out of the box they just don't look right-fins too thick, mounting hardware not as detailed.  These issues could be overcome with some PE & scratch building, but not this time.

Happy New Year to all.  As it's the 1st I'm calling this GB officially over. 

I want to thank everyone who participated (and put up with me) as you are the engine that makes a GB go.  I appreciate it.  The completed builds look great and you should be proud of each and everyone of your builds.  

Archangel - 6 persons out of 19 completed builds which seems to be about average for most GB's, although I would have preferred that be higher.  But it is what it is and doesn't take away anything.

For those still working, I encourage you to keep working and post when you finish.  I'll still be around.

I might do another Mud Mover's GB to recognize the CAS mission, but if I do it will be later in the year.

Thanks once again!

P.S. I am disappointed that of the 5-6 people who signed up with an A-10 NO ONE could complete it.  Come on!  That plane is the epitome of the CAS mission!  

my apologies for not completing the a10 i just had too much on my plate if its any concolation its a been a pretty naff christmas tbh

i WILL complete it just not sure when

Arki-Thank you for running this GB.  Again, it was fun to watch & build with the group and enjoy the informative postings that you added.  I for one would be interested in a CAS GB later in the year. 

Cheers

Well here is the Apache, I'm not so sure about the yellow decals around the windows, they were a real pain to apply and look out of place to me.

Nice work Aaron.   Anyone know what the yellow tape represents on the actual aircraft?

Thanks for seeing it through to the end.

arki30 wrote:

Nice work Aaron.   Anyone know what the yellow tape represents on the actual aircraft? Thanks for seeing it through to the end.

I'm assuming its some kind of crash rescue marking. It actually doesn't stand out so much in the pics as it does in real life, but the overall finish is shinier in the pics that in person, wierd. I do wish I had done a few panels in a lighter drab just for some contrast. 

Thanks for doing this GB while I came in on fumes, it actually kick started several stalled projects, I've got three more helos that are nearly done.

If you decide to do another close air support build later in the year I have a bunch more attack helicopters in the stash.

I'm really bummed out I didn't achieve my goal.

It turned out too cold and the future didn't cure quickly enough.

Yeah, but you still knocked out 2 builds which looked great. 

That kind of participation and contribution is well appreciated.  You can still post them when you finish.

Cheers