Weedeater

- Thought I'd share my latest build. Started it on the 4th of July weekend model building party at brother Keith's. A fellow model buddy in the club said that I couldn't finish it in less than 6 months, so the challenge was on. - Built totally OOB. Several of our club members were building this same kit for a special sponsored contest. I didn't get mine done in time for that one. Many of us, including myself, acquired decals for that "O-so-lovely dari-air'd babe" artwork and I figured I just had to go and do something else, more original. Most, if not all Israeli Spits were "e" wings and I didn't want to monkey with the conversion. So I landed on this paint scheme that I had been wanting to do for years in 48th scale. All references that I found show the Mk IX's with "c" wings. I suppose that it is possible that they did have "e" wings too. - Go try and find references on Egyptian Spits, Good Luck. There is very little that I could find, mostly only in references for the Israeli Spits. Never found any color photos of em, except for color artwork. And ya know what they say about the percentage of accuracy of artwork, ask Jack Morris (artist for many decal companies and the now defunct Aerospace Modeler Magazine). Of the few references that I could find, they were conflictive in reporting the REAF Spits "with Standard" and "NON-Standard" RAF Desert paint schemes. My thoughts were that they were most likely painted in the Dark Earth/Midstone/Azure Blue colors, but would have faded severely in the desert sun. So, I interpreted that when I applied the camo along with a variety of airbrush effects to further the simulation. - Decals came from the Hobbycraft 32nd scale Foreign Sea Fury issue. I did have to mask, match mix the green, and airbrush the centers to get rid of the cresent moons and stars for the wing markings. All references noted the lack of them on the wing insignias. Other aircraft (Hurricanes, MC.202/205's, later Mk Spits) apparently did get them on the wings though. The White/Black stripes were airbrushed over the camo and purposefully applied thin so that the camo colors were just barely visible thru them to give that "worn out" effect. - This was my "All-Nighter" finish in the hotel room for the Nats in Phoenix. When I started work on Thursday evening it had the camo applied, but was missing all the decals, the washes, and everything forward of the engine firewall. Some may say I'm looney to do it, but it has become a tradition. Basically, of the 11 or so Nats I have attended, I have done this at the last 9 of 'em. Call it procrastination, or dedication, or obsession...... guess I just love doing it this way. FWIW, statistically, everyeone of my "All-Nighter" finishes in the hotel room have netted a placing at the Nats. And quite often, 1st places. This one squeeked out a 3rd place in 1/32 OOB Aircraft against 16 other entries. Not a 1st, but as always, I am thrilled and honored to place with any entry. Hope you enjoy something different and the insanity of the build. - I have since learned that the nifty "paint chipping effect" on the prop leading edges may not be correct/accurate. Apparently, most if not all Mk IX's and/or REAF Spits had wooden props. I have seen in some photos where some props look like they have a re-enforcement leading edge applied, but I still think that my prop may not be an accurate portrayal of it. And I was so proud of the way I achieved the effect too. Oh well, lesson learned. - The price I paid for the not-so-finished model was a few incomplete components in the engine department, a lack of a full application of weathering effects in the same engine department, and a lack of completed weathering effects on the rest of the model, ie., gun blast staining and additional exhaust staining, both with pastels. I plan on still adding them in the next week or two. Otherwise, another.....lesson learned. - I used the kit's stock PE Sutton seat harness. But first I did anneal the sheet. They were much more compliant after that, to get them to lay down convincingly. I looked at several images on google for Sutton harnesses and figured that the REAF Spits would have had the brass looking fittings on the belts and they would have been "tarnished" or worn out looking, hence the dark looking brass color. - So, hope you enjoy it. Model on, Brothers of the Sprue.

Gil, great job on the George. Yes, if'n this had been a contest build, the windscreen could have used some blending. But for a "quickie build"/"fun build" this came out great. I especially like the airbrush effects in the layered green, taking advantage of the underlying gray/green plastic showing thru the thinly applied green in some areas. (Or was that "pre-shading"?) As usual, ya did good. Loved the Havoc too. I too, right before the Nats, started an Otaki/ARII kit, the P-47D Razorback. It is also a decent kit that can be built as a "quickie build"/"fun build" without hesitation and look quite good sitting next to a Has or Tam Thunderbolt. Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

Mike, - This is too cute. Happy daughter and proud father. Pink car and pink dress. It's all good.

Gil, fabulous completion. I especially love the bazooka tube contraptions. I assume they are authentic from photos that I have never seen. Whether they are or not, who cares. They look cool and worthy of copying onto one of my models someday. (Yes, copying is the best form of flattery). Great job and we're all looking forward to your next masterpiece. Model on, Brother of the Sprue.....and Resin....and.......eeeuuuuuu....VACUFORM.

Jeff, - I looked thru my small pile of Tigercat "stuff" which includes the In Action and a few "Korean War" references (Sq/Sig, Warbird), a Wings of Fame Vol 2, and a couple of SAMI pubs. There was next to nothing showing any single seaters in Korea..... except this artwork in the Scale Aviation Modeler Int'l...... Vol. 3, No. 7, pg 457 (yeah that's an issue from 1996): - In case it does not come through very well, the bottom drawing states it was "A matt black F7F-3P flown by Capt. K. Dykes in 1950 Korea. Photographic Tigercats flew with the headquarters squadron, First Marine Air Wing." So if'n yer lookin to do a Photo-Recon bird, at least it's a single seater. HTH. Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

Brian is correct, Hasegawa had a limited release of this: ...kit number 09554. In fact, I may have been the one that bought Brian's kit at a club swapmeet. Sorry Brian, I really like it and wanna keep it. (________) This is Hobbycraft's issue, kit number HC1433: ....and the back cover showing which markings you get with it. While this kit is not quite as good as Hasegawa's, it really is a nice kit and worth the money. Also, there is a really nice comparison building article of the two kits above with an even better detailed article of Argentine Scooters with tons of photos and artwork in this Model Aircraft Monthly, Vol.4 Issue 12 magazine: And then Aztec has (or had???) a 48th scale sheet 48-007: I hope these images help you looking for what you want. And I am sorry to say that I really like these and do not wish to part with them. Lastly, if you come up with thee Hasegawa kit, mine is missing the instructions and I would like to get a photocopy of them, please. PM me if you do, thanks. Model on, Brother of the Scooter Sprue.

- Jim had posted this inquiry over in the Automotive Section. I had started to inquire about the aircraft (obvious) in the photo asking about the Nationality of the markings. So I thought I would drag this part of the discussion over to the Aircraft Section. - They did not look like the usual RAF markings as seen in SEA and Australian region. But....Jim pointed out that they were Fleet Air Arm markings after the Buffaloes were diverted to the UK following the Dutch take over by Germany. This is all new to me and I can only find a few references, not to mention fewer pics, about Buffaloes in FAA service. Can anyone (Jim included) identify whether these were eventually painted in the typical FAA colors (Dark Sea Grey, Slate Grey, and Sky) or were they left throughout the remainder of their service in the Dutch colors (Dark Earth, Foliage Green, and Silver bellies)? Or what? Does anyone have either a color drawing or a text reference to support which ever the color schemes were or became? Thanks for your assistance with this mystery.

Dick, inbound email with two kit digi's attached. Please, let me know if they show up. If not, please PM your current e-ddress.

Dick, inbound email with attached digi. Please, let me know if it shows up. If not, please PM your current e-ddress.

Jim, What I'm dying to know is, what markings are those Buffalos are in? Unless they are significantly washed out from the photos, they don't look British. Because of size and shading, they actually look more like French roundels. And this would be the first time I've ever seen Buffalos in French markings. Are they Finnish? I look forward to your enlightenment, thanks. Just Some Buffalo Fan, Ken

Excellent catch BoB. Dick, FWIW I completely agree. Checked my two Seminar kits and the logo is exact.

Maybe: Ben-Hobby? Blue-Tank? Sanwan? Yo-mama-gawa? OK....the last one was just to be a smart-alick. I have also sometimes seen within the asian printed language "TILT" and it usually is not accompanied by any English. I cannot read the small writing below the logo in your digi to say if this kit is the same example. Best of Luck with the ID.

Yeah....um......a......I have been known (aka notorious) for literally working all through the night in the hotel room (getting an occasional 15-20 minute nap) finishing a model, and walking into registration 15 minutes before closure with the finished model! I'm probably one of the guys whose models you've smelled gassing out at the Nats. Funny thing though, I've got about a 90% success rate of placing with those "All-nighters". Two of em nabbed 1st places, in loaded cats! It is my hope that this year I will not do the all-nighter. I'm working right now on getting those that are close, finished before driving out. See ya in Phoenix.

Fabulous airbrush work. Subtle but pronounced. Besides your other two posts (He-219 and MiG-21) this one is also an inspiration to pull out my 32 A6M and use THAT paint scheme on it. Great work! Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

Emerson, THAT is a superb job. Excellent work. Thanks for sharing all of your in-progress shots too. Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

Emerson, - I am a MiG-21 fan and you have taken what I had once thought to be an otherwise average (almost boring) paint scheme and made it look interesting, attractive, and inspirational. Of the many MiG-21 kits I have to build, I am now very interested in doing this paint scheme. Thanks for posting these pics and thank you for opening my eyes further than I thought they were. Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

Or the smell of fresh Dullcote on the contest table!?!?!? Been there, done that.

- Basically, you don't remove them but rather you "conceal" them under: 1. Putty. 2. Adhesive (I use CA adhesive for most assembly AND filling of minor imperfections and then sanding). 3. A piece of sheet plastic over the offending sink mark. The best example of this is sink marks inside landing gear wells. A small section of sheet plastic strategically placed over it/them goes a long way for "spicing up" the wheel well too. - I also lump "ejection stamp" marks into the "sink holes" category. At least the "recessed" ejection stamp marks. Because many kits have a "raised" mark where an ejection pin left extra material. In most of those cases, it is simply a matter of carefully removing them with a knife and/or sand paper. On some occasions where the "raised" mark is inside a wheel well, I revert back to the strategically placed piece of thin sheet plastic over the offending area in the well and move on. - This piece of sheet plastic in the bottom (or top, once you place the model right-side up again) tip also works for the dreaded fuselage join line running down the middle of the nose or tail wheel wells. IMO it's a lot easier to slip a piece of thin sheet plastci into the bottom of the well than to try and putty and sand that nasty seam up. - HTH and Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

I guess I'm double dog lucky: 1. My loving wife of 23 years understands and has supported "The Model Room" in our house. So I have a dedicated room entirely devoted to my passion with plastic. 2. In that model room, I have arranged not just two, but three desks all sort of facing each other. The primary desk is where I build. The secondary desk is "The Computer desk"/building desk for guest number one, usually my brother. The third desk is for a second guest builder or over flow from the primary desk. - I too have learned over the past decade the value of the internet for researching my subjects. Where else can you find photos of a Zairian Mirage IIIDM? (Actually, in a book, which I have since acquired. But the internet was still very useful). - The down side to the PC on the "other" desk is it means I can't do both, research and building, at the same time. And of course, once I'm at the PC, just like Tim H., I get side-tracked fiddling around on the PC more than building the model that started it all. Sheeesh! Whadda ya gonna do? Model on, Brothers of the Sprue.

That's sweet lookin. Great job and thanks for posting it here. It's quite inspirational.

Amirable work here, Mike. Thanks for sharing the project with us and looking forward to seeing more IP shots and the finished masterpiece. Model on, Brother of the Liquid-turned-solid Sprue.

Fellow Model Duuuuudes, - Thanks for all of the supportive comments and encouragement. I really appreciate it and my hopes are to not let you down by posting either in-progress shots or the finished results. I'm not very good about grabbin the digi camera when I'm in full tilt build mode but we'll see how it goes. Model on, Brothers of the Sprue.

Jay, - In the past 20 years, I have painted four life-sized motorcycles with Full Tiger stripes, all 4 with different base colors (Yellow, gray, red, and an orangish-yellow). And I would truly love to take full credit for this creative adventure, but much of its layout is formed around many of the "Tigermeet" jet aircraft and their truly creative paint schemes. Mine is a variation of this: - In fact, the first real bike that I painted with Tiger stripes was patterned after a Canadian F-104 Tigermeet bird. So, one might say that I have "copied" someone else's creativity and if you ever had an interest to paint something like this, I would encourage you to give copying a shot. Once you're comfortable with those results, then move on to changing a color, or painting a "variation", or whatever. Next thing you know......you'll be the creative one. And I hope to be lucky enough to see your work here too. Model on, Brother of the Sprue.

- I wanted to share one of my in-progress projects with THE model Dudes here. This is the Tamiya 12th scale Bimota. Every one of these kits that I have seen built were always painted stock or a variation of Italian colors. They were all cool lookin, but I figured I'd try something different. Not just tiger stripes, but one of those tiger stripes breaking out of its stock skin kind of paint schemes. I also wanted to try a creative masking technic (simply Tamiya tape on a mirror, sketched, and cut). To add to that, I was trying to build this in 1 week. (That part didn't work, though): - The body work was glued (with CA), sanded, and primed Mon afternoon. - Lightly sanded again and rattle can painted with Tamiya Pearl White (I love the metallic like shean of this color) Monday evening. - Masked and airbrushed orange/brown and the torn pieces shadowed Tuesday early evening. - Hand painted the black strips Tuesday late evening. - Outlined the torn pieces with a fine sharpie and then everything Future gloss coated Wednesday evening. - As I put it aside to dry, I got distracted by other model projects. I am hoping to get this finished within the next few weeks and will post more pics as that happens. I hope you all enjoy this. Model on, Brothers of the Sprue.

- My absolute favorite was "Advanced Products - Full Matte". But they went outta business well over 20 years ago (I assume they went outta business, because I haven't seen their product in any LHS across the Nation in that time). It was applied with an airbrush and was the "flattest" finish I ever found. IMHO it was flatter than Testor's bottle (airbrushed) Dullcote. Since its disappearance, I have always preferred the Dullcote. I have tried thinning it with Lacquer thinner, Model Master thinner, Ispopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, and Denatured alcohol. The latter two are a little too hinkey to use, but the lacquer seems to work the best for my efforts. Even over acrylic paints AND "Future" coats. - I'm very interested to read (and hopefully see some samples, if possible) your results David. Thanks for posting your experiment here.