The Forgotten War GB (6/25/08 - 2/28/09) - Deadline Extended Yet Again!

Aaron:

Are you stripping the whole plane? What are you using?

The F-84 is such a nice looking, significat Korean War bird. I hope you are able to use it.

Charles

   Aaron, good luck. Hope it works out!..... Quick update, Fuse is together and nose is sanded down. The fit was less than desirable. Top & bottom ok but "bulgey" on sides. Learned some about sanding!. But heres a couple shots of the new flaps. The pics realy dont show them very well, though. Thanks for looking, and all comments welcome.........Harv

She's definately looking like a Sabre, Harv!

I finally got a few minutes at the bench last night. I need to snap a few photos. I have the fuselage glued together with the tub inside. I still need to fill a few minor seams and smooth her out. Hopefully the cold weather will keep us inside this weekend and I'll get some more work done!

mucker wrote:

Aaron: Are you stripping the whole plane? What are you using? The F-84 is such a nice looking, significat Korean War bird. I hope you are able to use it.   Charles

I've been using Castrol Super Clean which normally works well for me, and yes its the whole plane except for the interior. I put on a coat of Krylon gloss black as an undercoat as I was going to give some Alclad a try. Something funky happend to the paint, and it has been very slow to come off. It is coming off little by little but is very frustrating.

I normally have good luck with Krylon paints, but this time it has been a nightmare and with the fussiness of a NMF I really can't work around a poor undercoat.

Hi all, Happy Thanksgiving from Down Under!

I've managed to make a start on my Mustang, just the wheelwells and wing. The pit still needs drybrushing and assembly, but most of the prepainting is done. No promises on how fast I can move along, but I don't anticipate any bumps!

Cheers,

Mike

Happy Belated Turkey day, guys. Not much progress, but some good news. I donated to the new Korean War museum being built in Illinois and in return I was sent a Korean War DVD. I can't wait to watch it!

Don't look now, but I have some progress pics to report. I've actually got the fuselage glued together now and the Mr. Surfacer is drying.

  Hello gang. Just a quick note to let you all know I wont be modeling for about a week. My sweet wife Bev, is in the hospital. Mon. morning she had another gall bladder attac, so I took her to ER. She was admitted and today they removed 2 stones. Tomorrow they`ll remove her gall bladder. Shes in no pain, and her spirits are good. So I`ll be taking care of her for awhile. To tell the truth, Jan. end date issounding not good either right now. But I`ll keep an eye on all of you and post when I can..............Harv

  Oh yea, Mucker, the pit is awsome, man!!

Mucker-nice work on the pit.  My Sherman is at a standstill....however, I'm close to finishing up another GB and my employer is shutting down between 12/24-1/5, giving me more time to work on the Sherman...and other past due builds.  Fortunatly, we can take 2009 vacation days for the downtime, but this is just not a good time to be in the auto industry....

Harv-Sorry to hear about the wife but glad to hear that all is going well.  I will pray for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

Harv: You and your wife will be in my prayers. With the medical technology we have today, your wife is in good hands (heck, my father collapsed from a brain tumor, was admitted to a hospital, diagnosed, had it removed and returned home...all within 10 days!)

Bob: I know what you mean...we share industries!

Harv-glad to hear that your wife is doing well.

I've not made any more progress on the Sherman.  However, my place of employement will be down for an 'extended holiday', i.e., it's not a good time to be in the auto industry, so I should be able to make some progress over the Christmas break.  Or look for a job...... It's always good to have an escape route planned...... 

How did things go with the wife, Harv? I she all bandaged and on the mend?

That's excellent news, Harv!

Maybe now would be a good time to tell her that model building can be very theraputic and help in her recovery?!?! Nothing like a good ol Korean War build for her debut, too!

I'm glad to hear she's doing well.

  Guys,I hate to say this, but with me taking care of Bev plus the weather sucks, I`m not going to meet the deadline at all. But I will finish it! I have too much in this kit and I dont want to just throw it together to finish. I`ve wanted to build this model for about 30yrs.With all the AM stuff and scratch building done(and to do) I want it to look as good as I possibly can build it.I`ll still post pics when I get something done on it, but I feel I should let you all know my situation,OK?

 Nuff said. I want to see some pics of your builds, nothing on this GB in quite awhile

  OK, I`m done sniveling..........Harv

Harv -- No worries, you look after your other half and we'll see your builds at a later date. We understand entirely!

For myself, with 19 days to go till the end of the build, I've finally managed to make some headway on my Mustang. The Tamiya pit is not bad but the IP decal didn't come out looking nearly as good as the one for their Corsair. I sprayed the panel dull black, added white for the dials, glossed it, applied the decal, snugged it down with five coats of MicroSol, used Gunze flat, then created instrument lenses with Krystal Clear. After all that, the instruments were virtually invisible in all the black. Ah, well, I have the satisfaction of knowing I did all the proper things!

The interior green and wood for the floor are mixed acrylics. Drybrushing is enamel. The flloor is cleaner than I intended, but I couldn't find my oils to do a dirty-up wash.

Here she is, so far:

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I think I'll mount the wings and tail now. The fit is certainly superb!

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

dirtball wrote:

Guys,I hate to say this, but with me taking care of Bev plus the weather sucks, I`m not going to meet the deadline at all. But I will finish it! I have too much in this kit and I dont want to just throw it together to finish. I`ve wanted to build this model for about 30yrs.With all the AM stuff and scratch building done(and to do) I want it to look as good as I possibly can build it.I`ll still post pics when I get something done on it, but I feel I should let you all know my situation,OK?  Nuff said. I want to see some pics of your builds, nothing on this GB in quite awhile   OK, I`m done sniveling..........Harv

Harv, you get a special pass on this one. You can finish whenever you need and still proudly keep the badge. Heck, you've been a solid contributor to this GB since the start.

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Harv -- No worries, you look after your other half and we'll see your builds at a later date. We understand entirely! For myself, with 19 days to go till the end of the build, I've finally managed to make some headway on my Mustang. The Tamiya pit is not bad but the IP decal didn't come out looking nearly as good as the one for their Corsair. I sprayed the panel dull black, added white for the dials, glossed it, applied the decal, snugged it down with five coats of MicroSol, used Gunze flat, then created instrument lenses with Krystal Clear. After all that, the instruments were virtually invisible in all the black. Ah, well, I have the satisfaction of knowing I did all the proper things! The interior green and wood for the floor are mixed acrylics. Drybrushing is enamel. The flloor is cleaner than I intended, but I couldn't find my oils to do a dirty-up wash. Here she is, so far: " border="0" /> " border="0" /> " border="0" /> " border="0" /> I think I'll mount the wings and tail now. The fit is certainly superb! Cheers, Mike/TB379

Great stuff so far, Mike. The more I see this kit, the more I want it. I've built one of the Tamiya Mustangs and the fit was indeed superb. After my last few builds (Academy, Kinetic and Hobbycraft) I'm ready for a Tamiya build!

   Mucker my friend, thank you for the kind words. The fact that you are leting me keep the badge means alot to me, may sound silly to some but to me its special. I promise I WILL finish it and post here. This has been a great GB. Only my second.

    You guys are the best, I`m honord to call all of you friends. Its wonderfull to be assosiated with such commrodery and talent!  Bev says "HI" and she will NOT be joining the hobby any time soon!...............Harv

My favroite part of GB's is the comaradarie. yuo really get to know some of the Finescale forum-goers better, and there are some great people here.

I'm making progress (although pictures will follow). Due to a bonehead move (no nose weight added before sealing up the fuselage) I'll be making my first "gear up" project! While this Hobbycraft kit is definately not shake n bake, the gear well parts fit very nicely, which eased my pain.

I hope to have it primed today.

Finally catching up in here... feel great to have some time! :)

Love all that NMF...  deadline extension?? yippeee! I may give it a go then....

Harv, glad the wife is doing better... of big reason I was out of GB builds (or any builds) was taking care of the Ms after a serious knee injury/surgery. I only burnt 3 dinners ;)

My apologies for not being a frequent or useful contributor to this GB... at a personal level I cannot WAIT for 2008 to go away, so much bad karma this year.

Cheers all

Hi guys,

Mucker -- yes indeed, the Tamiya D falls together, the main structure consists of anywhere from 8 to 17 parts depending on how persnickety you want to be with definitions of 'main structure,' and the fit is close enough for a beginner to get away with undressed joints. I have noticed the Tamiya plastic reacts a bit with solvent-based putty, you need to mill the surface with wet sandpaper but liberal applications of putty (not that liberal applications are needed) would create surface problems that would stick out like a sore thumb through a NMF. That said, she's a beaty and I'll be building lots more of her. The pit is not quite as good as Hasegawa's, perhaps, but its quite good enough for most, especially at this scale. She'll look the part!

JMart -- we seem to have some characteristic spousal injuries happening... Harv's other half lost her gallbladder, mine lost hers years ago. Yours had leg/knee injuries, mine fell getting out of her truck a fortnight ago and -- you guessed -- has bone and ligament damage and will have a cast for the next month! I'm terrified to hear the next one to show up in case history repeats!

The Mustang is now largely together, I mounted the flaps and scoop details today and did a round of joint dressing. I'll be getting to detail painting soon, landing gear, warload, prop blades, and the yellow trim of the unit. With the month-long extension now in force (correct???) I have time to chase some Express Masks, as they were out of stock at Squadron when I placed my last order.

More pics tomorrow,

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

JMart: Only 3 burnt meals? Now THAT's impressive!! I can't cook to save my life. My wife doesn;t let me in the kitchen when she's cooking either. 2008 has been kind of a wierd year. Here's hoping 2009 brings us some of the "good times" back.

Would an "end of January 2009" extension work? I know I can use it. I made some nice progress over the weekend, but I plan to take the family on the road for the Holidays. If enough people need the extension, I think that warrants it. I don't want to extend it if I'm t he only one needing it, though.

Mike: So you've built the Hasegawa kit, as well? I have one in my stash and was looking it over yesterday. I have the Kendall/KMC resin set for it, too. I am trying to decide my building golas for 2009 and this has to be in here somewhere.

I hear the Hasegawa kit has more detail, but is not quite as "easy" a build, which is a good stereotypical comparison between the two brands from my experience. How did you find the Hasegawa kit?

Hi Mucker --

Yes, I'd say the Hasegawa D is the slightly tougher build. I did one many years ago and I remember there were some minor fit issues around the scoop and tailwheel area, and exhausts that fit from inside so can't be left out until after painting, but otherwise a marvelous selection of options (canopies, propellors, exhausts, and a wide range of stores). Some impressive engineering too, like keyed fit of the landing gear main struts so misalignment is impossible.

The fact is I can finish the D on the original deadline, it was just a case of masking and feehanding the canopy the old way... And since the main section is separate from the metal lower edge, that solves at least half the problem to begin with. So I'd say don't extend the deadline for me, but if anyone else needs it, by all means do so.

Cheers,

Mike

Mike-nice work on the F-51D.  I'm building the same kit (different decal option) over in the Mud Movers GB.  And I've learned that the finish must be perfect before attempting a NMF.  I used Talon acrylic & polishing powers-I'm very happy with the results.

Mucker-I know the feeling-I hope to accomplish some work on the Sherman over the holidays, but I have a 'soon to be 15 yr old' at the house who will get his learner's permit on the 27th, so I forsee some serious road time coming up. An 'End of January' extension would be a blessing for me.

Bob: Ahhh, the old "soon to be fifteen year old". I remember back then. I was one year away from knowing everything! Now I am sooooo far away from that.

I have some progress pics to report. No priming yet, as I am painting the pilot figures before i seal them in and paint with canopy glued on. The figures come from the Kinetic F-84F and the Tamiya F-84G.