US Army Air Corps GB - Deadline extended again to June 30, 2009

Great builds, guys!!

Me, I'm still working on the P-36.  The sanding and filling took forever.  but I finally got to the point of laying down the NMF paint.  So far I am pleased, but next comes the accent colors and decals.  Lets hope the alclad finish holds up. [first time I've used it]

Steven, that Legend cockpit looks the biz.

DT, you're a machine!  Another nice looking cockpit.

I have finally (I hope) managed to fight my way through the filling and sanding.  Canopy is nearly masked and installed, so I will soon be able to move into the painting phase.

Aggieman, nice lookin' 'pit!  Way to go!

Work has been crazy (which is good in this economy), haven't been able to spend alot of time with my Academy P47N.  Here's what I have so far:

I finally have started and have some photos of my progress.  I'm building the Academy P-36 Hawk complete with Legend resin cockpit, Quickboost engine, Eduard flaps and Minimeca tubing for guns (fuselage guns, not the wing guns).  My progress is to the point of having painted the cockpit interior and installed the nicely molded Legend set.  The fuselage halves are now attached.  Hopefully I'll be able to start with the engine this weekend.

Great job on the P-40 DT...

Arki I did the Hasegawa P-38 a few years ago.  The only issue I had was the wing boom seam.

Sorry about the dust didn't notice until after I took the pics

Quick progress pic as promised.  Finally managed to get everything to fit, although I still have quite a bit of seam work ahead of me.  At least it finally looks like a P-38!

Well, I'm getting that modeling itch again and we have this 3-day weekend ... now if only the fellas who ship stuff from China to the States would play ball and deliver the set of flaps I ordered for my P-36 ... I could go ahead and dive in this weekend.

Everyone's work looks great so far!  Keep the pictures and progress reports coming.

Still slaving away at the fuselage assembly.  The fit of the booms to the main fuselage and wings is not a clean as I'd prefer.  However, given the horror stories I've heard about the Revell offering I'll stick with the Hasegawa fit anyday. 

Hopefully I'll have this licked by the weekend and have some pics worthy of posting.

That P-40 is awesome DT! The finish is really great on it.

And just a little update from me. The paint on my P-47 really turned out bad but I am currently stripping it off. Not a big deal, but it is post-poning the completion a little.

Fellow Army Air Corps/Forces Builders,

I've finished my 2nd kit for this GB.  Hasegawa's 1/48th P-40N was my aircraft of choice.  This was my first Hasegawa kit.  I must say it was a nice change from the Revell kit that I just finished.  Everything fit together beautifully.  This build was out of the box, no aftermarket accessories were used.

I used Model Master enamels for my paint.  I applied future on top of the finished paint job, then applied my decals & a chalk wash.  I sealed it with Model Master Dullcote Lacquer.  The antenna is streched sprue.

I really enjoyed this build, I'm anxious to get started on my P-47N now.

Here are a few pics, 2 of which are the original Warhawk flown by 1Lt Bruce Campbell of 45th FS 15th FG on Makin Island.

That P-38 turned out really really nice!  Great work, Darth

The PE looks sweet, Ark.  It's gonna make a huge difference

As promised, a couple of quick progress pics.  I have most of the PE for the cockpit now attached.  I've shaved off the detail on the kit IP to make way for the PE replacement, but I'll paint it before attaching. 

Figure by the end of the weekend, I should have a lot of this primed and painted.

 John,

 Great job !!

 Frank C

I was experiencing symptoms of withdrawal after finishing the P-38J, had to crack open the Hasegawa P-40N.  Got the 'pit done over the weekend.  This is my first Hasegawa kit, I like it already.

Still haven't started mine, lol..

I'm in just too damn many GBs right now...

Hello all,

I finally finished the Revell P-38J!  I picked this kit up at Michael's & used a 50% off coupon.  As I walked to the register, I thought to myself: "How bad can it be?"  This model will definitely challenge you.  Make sure you have some putty & sandpaper, there are fitment issues.

I didn't care for the decals that came with the kit, so I purchased the Super Scale set that included "St Louis Blues" from the 433 fighter squadron /475 fighter group that flew in the Phillippines in 1944.  Because this was a relatively inexpensive kit, I figured it would be a good time to try out a natural metal finish.  After construction of the airframe was complete, I primed the model with Mr. Surfacer 1000.  I then shot the entire plane with Alclad II white aluminum.  Once dry (it dries quickly), I taped off a few panels & shot Alclad II duraluminum for contrast.  Once this was dry, I was able to tape off the anti-glare paint on the nose & twin booms.  I had trouble finding references for this particular aircraft.  The top half of the Super Scale sheet said that the anti-glare paint was olive drab.  The bottom half of the sheet said that it was black.  I saw a few pacific P-38Js with black anti-glare paint & liked the look of it.  I'm not sure if it is historically accurate.

It was a fun kit to build & definitely helps develop your modeling skills.  After using Alclad II, I'm no longer afraid of natural metal finishes.  This stuff was very easy to use & it looks great.  My lightning has a new home on the mantle with the other WWII birds that I've built.  Here are 2 pics:

I'm finally at a good point with builds to begin this GB.  It's the 1/48 Hasegawa P-38J with Eduard Zoom PE, Pyn-Up decals and Black Magic canopy masks. 

I don't have a built P-38 for my display, so I'm looking forward to this.

Cheers

Aaron, good work on that P-36! 

I will be building that same kit for this GB after I finish my current Corsair GB.  The P-36 has always been a favorite of mine, I think since I first built that old Monogram P-36 in 1/72.  Plus its relationship to the P-40.

I have updated the front page squadron.  If there is someone's build that I have missed (between holidays, football season, and various house projects along with my own modeling I haven't been as fastidious in managing this GB as I should have been) please let me know and I'll update it again.  From where I am sitting, everyone is doing some great work in this GB.

Nice P-36 Aaron. That story about Rasmussen is really something. The custom decals are nice as well.

I am just currently waiting on decals for my P-47. I got the 1/72 Eduard Francis Gabreski set because I didn't feel like freehanding the Firey Ginger on Neel Kearby's Thunderbolt.