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Wolfman63

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Everything posted by Wolfman63

  1. This week I started working on the Devastators for Torpedo 8 for the USS Hornet. I am using White Ensign’s cockpit detail set #3548 and Tom’s Modelworks aircraft detail set #3538. The cockpit fits very well. I plan on having some of the aircraft with the canopy open and some with the canopy closed. Just like the Wildcats I set up an assembly line. Mounting the cockpit and seats first then assembling the fuselage. The detail set includes the rear gun, antenna, and the gun sight. One thing to note, The instructions for the aircraft assembly show the wings folded pointing straight up when in reality they fold over. Next I will be starting to paint the fuselage section and wings in preparation for the decals. See more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  2. The F4F Wildcats of “Fighting 8” for the USS Hornet are completed and aboard! I set up an assembly line. First I placed all the decals on the wings and lined them up. The decals were then applied on the fuselage. While they were drying I grabbed one of the 3-D printed Moto-Tugs from BaconFist on Shapeways and painted one of them. The detail for such a small tractor is awesome. The engine was painted engine gray. The body was painted intermediate blue with a black dash and seat. I also painted the front grill openings and tires. Once the Wildcats were completed I placed them in the aft hangar bay. I will set them in place later when I add the figures. I am finally starting the Devastators for “Torpedo 8” today. See more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  3. Progress this week is going slowly on the USS Hornet build. All things being equal 1/350 modern jets are much easier to build than World War II fighters. With the landing gear finished I needed to install the antennas. Using the Glue Looper V4 and a Pic-N-Stic I was able to place a small drop of CA glue and CAREFULLY place the antenna. ( Check out the Tips and Tricks section for the items I used at https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/photo-etch-tools/ ) It may look easy but it took one evening just to install them on 18 aircraft. With all the photo etch added I painted all the aircraft and their wings. With the wings being in the folded position I needed to put the decals on before the wings. I had purchased the Starfighter Decals Hornet Air Wing decal set. I am not sure if it was the decal film was too thin or somehow they got degraded but the squadron numbers and the aircraft numbers on the cowl were very difficult to slide and place. They kept falling apart and cracking. After messing up many of them I decided to just make my own numbers. I printed out a set for all the squadrons and replaced the ones that messed up with my own. With the decals all placed I added the canopy, wings and propeller. So the first F4F is done, only 17 more to go! Once these are finished I will be starting on the Devistator torpedo aircraft. See more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  4. I completed two more sets of 1/350 air wing decal sets! The first set covers the USS John C Stennis CVN-74 during the 2001 deployment with CVW-9. The second set is the USS Nimitz CVN-68 during the 1978 cruise and during the filming of the movie “The Final Countdown” where the USS Nimitz goes thru a storm and ends up outside Pearl Harbor on December 6th 1941! This air wing set is the most colorful set I have done so far. It covers THREE full pages of decals for all the aircraft aboard. I also created Package deals so you can get the air wing decals and the hangar bay decals together at a discounted price. https://davidsscalemodels.com/2021/08/13/more-1-350-air-wing-decal-sets-added/
  5. It has been another week of work on the USS Hornet CV-8 aircraft. I am still working on the F4F Wildcats. For this week I am showing all the little bits of Photo etch and the process of adding them to the aircraft. Once the fuselage is assembled I added the main gear which consists of the main strut, the landing gear doors, two struts, and a tail wheel. The main strut is added first then the doors. Getting the struts in position using very fine tweezers then gluing in place takes a little time. I find the Glue Looper V4 tip works very well for placing two very small spots of glue on the fuselage and main gear. Once dry I then place the tires and outside hubs on. I pre-painted the parts but they will require touch up after bending and gluing them. I then added the tail wheel. There is a slot for the kit tail wheel so the photo etch version fits into and using medium viscosity CA glue it fills the gap on each side since the photo etch part is a lot thinner than the kit tail wheel. After it dries I then do paint touch ups and paint the underside grey. While the landing gear dries, I assemble the propellers. I included a photo of the assembly showing the fiber optic with the hub and propeller separated to show the process. There is a total of 18 F4F’s that are being built. I am hoping to finish them next week so I can start on the others. See more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  6. This week the work on the USS Hornet was limited. I was “forced” by my lovely Wife to spend a relaxing weekend on the lake fishing. We both had a great time and caught many fish Anyhow, back to the build. I finished up the aft elevator and the fantail of the ship. I then moved on to some aircraft. During the trip across the Pacific the Hornet had its normal compliment of aircraft packed on the hangar deck while the B-25B’s remained on the flight deck. I need to build all these aircraft so I can finish the hangar deck. I purchased all of the photo-etch for these aircraft. Both Tom’s Model Works and White Ensign Models provide sets. The Tom’s provides landing gear, antennas, and propellers for each aircraft. White Ensign has some cockpit details (like the rear gunner for the SBD’s) as well as flaps for the aircraft. I decided to start with the F4F Wildcats of “Fighting 8”. Using the F4F that came with the kit I built it up to the point it was ready for decals. One of the things I noticed was they have a hole for the landing gear that comes on the tree. Since I was using the photo-etch landing gear I took a small drill bit the diameter of the main gear wheels and drilled into the fuselage to create the wheel wells that are on the real aircraft. I looked at using the photo-etch cockpit pieces but the canopy is very small and thick. You would not see any detail at all. So I opted to just paint the interior green and flat black for the instrument panel under the canopy. For the propeller I need to make the shaft into the engine. The hole in the propeller and hub are 0.5mm as well as the on the aircraft cowl. I took a 0.5mm fiber optic strand and used a lighter to melt the end slightly to make it the propeller hub cap. The propeller hub then blades were slid on and painted. The landing gear and antenna on the dorsal behind the cockpit were added. It was base coat painted for the intermediate blue and grey scheme. With interior green for the wheel wells and white for the main gear struts and hubs. I then took the other 17 aircraft and created an assembly line. I am building them up until the point of adding the photo-etch. As soon and all 17 are at this point I will add the photo-etch details and then paint them. After they are built up I will use the individual aircraft decals that are part of the Starfighter Decals Hornet set. See more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  7. Work continues on the Hornet hangar bay walls. While reviewing the few photos I have I noticed that the hangar doors roll up. I used some styrene tubing for the open doors and rods for the closed ones. The open door ones were painted the exterior color 5-O Ocean Blue due to how they would roll up. As for the brand of paint I am using, I will be using Scale Colors for the ship. The colors are 5-N Blue, 5-O Ocean Grey and 5-H Haze Grey. Once these were installed I then began to add fine details to the walls. I added doors to match the ones on the outside and then added ducts for the vents on the port side. A few platforms with railings and stairs/ladders were added as well. Other details I noticed in the photos were added as well. There are many pipes and cables which will be added later. I will be using the pipes to hide wiring and fiber optic lines when I add them. The walls were then painted and installed. I am currently working on the aft elevator then I need to build up and detail the fantail. This coming week I have a couple of days where I won’t have time to work on this but am planning on starting the aircraft by the end of the week. See more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  8. This week’s update on the USS Hornet covers more work on the hangar bay walls. I also started my experiments on add illumination to the hangar deck. I do not have all the lighting figured out but I have a general idea on what I need to do and a good start on how to accomplish it. Back to the hangar bay walls, the kit walls have many ejector marks so they have all been covered with 0.5mm styrene sheets. I then use extra rails and doors to detail them. On the thin hangar walls that lead to the outside I matched the doors on the inside. I framed the areas around the doors and for the doors that are closed I scored the surface to match the same detail as the outside. I still need to make the rolled up doors for the open ones but I need to wait until I install the flight deck supports. These will also affect where the wiring for the lights will go. I have also added a couple of stokes litters and a hose reel for where the Moto-Tugs will be parked. Another thing I need to do is to remove the guilds on the hangar deck for the walls. This is because with opening doors and with adding details to the inside of the wall they get in the way. For the lighting each support has lights hanging from their edge. (4 to 6 per support) There are total of 166 lights! I took some 0.5mm fiber optic lines and using a lighter I slightly melted the end to look like a bulb then dipped it in acrylic gel medium. Once dry I cut the excess gel off where the "bulb" part is and primed it all white except where the bulb area was. I used an individual Pico LED to see how the lighting would look. The effect came out perfectly. Now I just need to make 165 more and figure out how to mount them and illuminate them. As for extras, I received Hornet Air Wing decals from Starfighter Decals. These are for the battle of Midway aircraft so I will need to make the red dots for the center of the insignia for the Doolittle raid version. I also could not find 1/350 decals for the Doolittle B-25B’s so I made my own including the few aircraft that have nose art. The other accessories I received were ten 3-D printed moto-tugs thanks to BaconFist on Shapeways and I have 3-D printed officers and enlisted crew from HOLDEN8702RD on Shapeways. Next up is the finishing of the hangar walls then I will need to start making all the aircraft, accessories, and figures for the hangar deck. These will need to be installed before the flight deck supports and lighting can be installed. See more photos and details in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  9. On 1 April 1942 sixteen modified B-25B bombers were loaded aboard the USS Hornet CV-8. The next day the USS Hornet along with the ships of Task Force 18 sailed towards the Hawaiian Islands. They met up with the USS Enterprise and Task Force 16 then headed across the Pacific Ocean. On the morning of 18 April 1942 approximately 650 nautical miles from the Island of Japan, sixteen B-25B’s Led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle launched off the Hornet’s deck to perform the first air operation to strike the Japanese mainland in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor. For this next build I am building Trumpeter’s 1/350 USS Hornet as she was during the Doolittle Raid. This is going to be a super-detailed project. It is being built to be displayed at a museum that is creating a display of the raid for the 80th anniversary. This project is estimated to take around 4 – 5 months to complete. There are many aftermarket accessories that will be utilized in this build. So far I have four different sets of photo etch parts just for the ship, a wooden deck, all the B-25B’s as well as all the aircraft that were stored in the hangar bay that were later moved to the flight deck after the bombers departed in case the Task Force was spotted and needed to defend itself. All of the aircraft have multiple photo etch sets for the cockpits and exterior details. I will also be illuminating it as well. I have many accessories still on order like 3-D printed Moto-Tugs and crew members. At the end of the project I will list all of the accessories I used. I also purchased two reference books. One on the USS Hornet itself and the other covers the Doolittle raid. I also located a shipbuilding drawing of the Yorktown class carriers that covers all the decks from keel to the top of the island. I scaled the hangar deck sheet to 1/350 scale and printed it out so that I can accurately place the interior walls and other details. Starting with the hangar I began using the White Ensign Hangar bay photo etch set (#3541). The instructions give you sizes and plans to scratch build the hangar bay walls. I installed the hangar deck then painted it deck grey and gave it a basic weathering. I will be doing more weathering/staining once I figure out the layout of the aircraft. Using Evergreen Models 1.0mm styrene sheets I cut out the parts for the interior walls per the hangar bay detail set instructions. I have a few sheets of extra doors and rails from previous ship sets so after building the walls I added photo etch doors, stairs and rails to match the reference photos. The kit walls have numerous ejector pin marks. Instead of filling and sanding all of them I opted to use sheets of 0.5mm sheets to cover them. Also, since I will be illuminating the hangar bay I cut open many of the hangar bay side doors. With the starboard side interior walls assembled per the photo etch set instructions I added all the fine details as they are shown in the photos from the reference book. After adding details to the forward elevator bay I did some detail work on the bow. One of the obvious things missing from the model details is the bow mooring guides. I used some styrene tubing to make these. I then reshaped the anchor chain holes. On the kit these were just straight thru holes. I used a file to make them angled and flared. I removed the molded chain and will be replacing it with a real anchor chain. There are two supports for the front of the flight deck. I filled the mounting holes for the kit plastic ones and installed the correctly sized photo etch parts from the White Ensign Detail set (#3525). Working on getting the starboard side interior detailed and installed this coming week. See more photos and details in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/
  10. The 1/48 Trumpeter HU-16A Albatross is now finished! I painted the de-icing boots and added some EZ-line for the antenna. For the wingtip lights, the kit just had the clear lenses. I used a clear sprue and made small lamp bulbs that mounted to the lens and painted them using clear red and green for the bulbs. I added some exhaust staining to the top of the wings and this completed the aircraft. This aircraft is a nice kit to build. The fit was very good and so are most of the details. While the kit gives you details for the crew area, the numerous ejection marks require lots of work to remove/cover them up. The instructions are laid out well so the build process flows well. The kit does not account for the wingtip and top of the tail antenna’s so these had to be scratch built. I did not used the kit decals, however, comparing them to the Caracal decals the kit decals seem a little on the large size and the walkway is the wrong color. All reference photos show them as grey but the kit walkway is yellow. The Caracal decals look great and are the correct sizes. They are very thin so the conform to the surface well. The only down side is the larger decals like the walkway can tear/crack easily so extreme care when placing them is required. Overall the kit is fun to build and looks great when finished. See all photos and details from start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-hu-16a-albatross-uscg/
  11. As work continues on the Albatross I am getting closer to finishing this build. The kit engines have very good details. They only lack the ignition wires. I drilled holes in the cylinders and ran 30AWG wire to run from the cylinders to the ignition ring. With a little detail painting I was pleased with the engines. With the fuselage and wings completed, I masked off the landing gear bays, side windows and the crew door and painted the aircraft with Vallejo Duroaluminum metal paint. The wingtips and the fuselage stripe were then painted with Tamiya yellow. Reference photos show two antennas on top of the tail, one mid fuselage, and three on the underside of each wingtip. I used some spare photo etch pieces to replicate these. I then started applying the Caracal decals. The decals are very thin. It was a very tedious task to do especially the long stripes and the large walkway decal on the top of the fuselage. They are very delicate and craked easily. Eventually I was able to get the decals placed correctly. After the decals dried the entire aircraft was sprayed with a clear gloss to seal everything. Once dry all the masking was removed. The kit comes with both plastic and metal landing gear. I opted to use the metal version. Everything fit very well together. I then painted the wheel hubs and put them into the rubber tires that were supplied with the kit. With the landing gear all installed, I found that I had used the correct amount of weight in the nose to keep it from tail dragging. All that is left to do is some detail painting, painting the de-icer boots, adding the antenna lines and all the clear lenses for the wingtip and fuselage lights. See all photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-hu-16a-albatross-uscg/
  12. One last update – The client presented it to his Father. Afterwards he left this comment on my blog: “Thank you so much for all your hard work and effort on this. My father was incredibly surprised and even more excited to receive his plane. He immediately noticed the antenna you added and many of the other details you so expertly crafted into this. We spent the entire weekend talking about his time in the Navy, the squadron, and of course the plane itself. You helped make this a very special Father’s day. “ It was an honor to build this for a fellow veteran and having a Father and son to spend a special weekend together after being apart for a period of time due to pandemic situation.
  13. This week I will cover the detailing of the interior of the HU-16A Albatross. The first thing I did was scratch built the doors for the aft bulkhead. I then used styrene square rods and began lying in the internal framework. Once the framework was installed I painted it with interior green and added some scratch built equipment with wire for cables. Near the entry door on the reference photos there was a yellow safety strap. I used some cloth tape and scratch built one. I then assembled the entry door parts and added hinges (photo etch extras) so the door can be mounted in the open position. I then fitted the interior assembly inside and assembled the fuselage. To complete the fuselage, I started working on the canopy section. I masked off the windows with kapton tape and installed the escape hatches. (see https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/masking-with-kapton-tape/ ) The kit overhead console has no details at all. I then dug through my photo etch extras and found some detailed panels, knobs, switches, and levers. Using the reference photos I matched up the panels. I set the canopy onto the fuselage and the fit was not very good. The width was too thin and it was too tall. I heated up some water to almost boiling (around 180*) and soaked the canopy in it for a few minutes to soften it a little. I then took a toothpick and cut the length to match the width of the cockpit area. I picked up the canopy and placed the toothpick to widen the rear area and then soaked it back in the hot water for a couple of minutes. I pulled it out then placed it in a bowl of ice water to cool it off. Once cool the toothpick was removed and I test fit it on the fuselage. The fit was much better. The top was now even with the top of the fuselage and the width was very close and only required a little putty to even them out. I am now working on detailing the engines so I can put the wing assembly together. See all photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-hu-16a-albatross-uscg/
  14. For my next build I am building the 1/48 Trumpeter HU-16A Albatross. I should note that I have been working on this in the background for a while I was working on the commission builds. The HU-16A is a twin-engine seaplane (originally designated SA-16A) mostly used as a search and rescue aircraft for the United States Coast Guard and United States Air Force. I will be using Caracal decals # CD48047 and using the scheme for U.S. Coast Guard in 1956. I will also be super-detailing the interior. I was able to locate some reference photos of this aircraft from a fellow modeler. One of the first things I needed to do was to add the door from the cockpit to the crew area. I used some sheet styrene and made the window from clear acetate film. The door handles are extras from my photo etch bin. There are two bays on each side of the cockpit bulkhead that have avionics gear. I used more extras from my photo etch extras to detail the equipment and 30 awg wire to cable them. The instrument panel and center console were all hand painted. The flight control wheels had a sinkhole in the middle so I filled them with putty and the made decals of the 1950’s Grumman logo for the center caps. The pilot and co-pilot seats were assembled and detailed with photo etch seat belts. The landing gear bays were assembled extra details were added with 30 awg wire. The floor of the crew area has a path of non-skid as well and tie-down pads for various configurations. I represented the pads with spare photo etch pieces. There are three cots in the mid-section. The kit supplied photo etch pieces but they are flat and difficult to shape to make them look like the real cots. I decided to use some thin cloth which gives them a much better look. I detailed the crew seats with photo etch seat belts and mounted the main landing gear bays. I am starting on the fuselage now. The interior has numerous ejection marks. I filled these with putty so that I have a smooth surface to begin the interior wall detailing. See more photos and details in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-hu-16a-albatross-uscg/
  15. The F-15E Dual Role Fighter was carefully packed up with a CD of all the build photos (always included in commission builds) as well as a brass nameplate. Two days later it arrived at the client’s home with no issues. He then placed it and the nameplate in one of Grandpa’s Cabinet display case. He is extremely happy and proudly displays it. You can see all the final photos in my Commissioned Work section at https://davidsscalemodels.com/commissioned-work/1-48-hasegawa-f-15e-dual-role-fighter/
  16. The Eagle is complete! I finished applying the decals and then installed all the weapons. The canopy was polished , detailed and painted. Earlier I trimmed off the kit HUD and replaced it with a photo etch version using clear acetate film for the HUD glass. The canopy was then mounted in the open position. I did a final weathering of the exhaust and some detail painting to complete the aircraft. As for the kit, back in the day Hasegawa rushed the F-15E kit to the market by taking their F-15D and adding some “E” parts. While the kit resembles the “E” version it is not quite accurate to the real aircraft. Aside from the aftermarket decals and photo etch accessories this client supplied kit is straight out of the box. The fit is very good and the instructions are laid out well. I cannot comment on the kit decals as these did not age well. The aircraft now needs to be carefully packed up and shipped to the client. Thank you for following along! See more photos and details of this build from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-48-f-15e-dual-role-fighter/
  17. The F-15E build continues. This week all the bombs and missiles were assembled, painted and decaled. Starting with the bombs, these were painted drab with aluminum fins. They were then mounted on the racks. The AIM-7 missiles were then painted. For the AIM-9 missiles I cut the tips off and made the sensor head out of clear acrylic gel and painting them with Tamiya X-19 smoke. You can see how to do this in the Tips and Trick section at https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/how-to-make-laser-and-ir-sensor-heads/ Next I worked on the exhaust area by painting it with the Vallejo duraluminum Metal Color and weathering it with some blue, brown and black pastel chalk. The landing gear and tails were then installed. The kit decals are very brittle and yellowed due to being in storage for so long. I looked thru my decals sets and found a set of Afterburner Decals set (# 48-031). These are F-15E Strike Eagle flagships from the 366th FW at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. I will be doing the F-15E 87-0210 366th WG CO aircraft 2003. This aircraft features the "Let's Roll" decal on the left front fuselage. I am in the process of applying the many, many stencil decals then on to the specific aircraft decals. See more photos and details of this build from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-48-f-15e-dual-role-fighter/
  18. The build of the F-15E Dual Role Fighter is moving forward. I assembled the exhaust cans. The detail on them is very good. The kit even comes with photo etch parts for the turkey feather rods and control links. I painted the turkey feathers section using Vallejo’s Metal Color Jet Exhaust. It gives them a nice burnt metal finish. The base ring of the exhaust cans were then painted with Metal Color Steel. For the inside I used light gray, dark gray, and black pastel chalk. The outside I used dark gray, brown, and black then used blue and brown on the base ring. The intake vanes were painted Metal Color duraluminum with the intake ducts painted white. I was able to get the seam between the intakes halves filled with putty. Once the intakes were installed I assembled the main part of the fuselage then installed the forward section and the wings. The fuselage was then base coat painted with FS36118 (gunship grey). I then started on the centerline tank and weapons. The kit CBU’s lacked detail. Looking thru my spare parts drawers I found some Eduard Brassin resin CBU’s and opted to use these instead of the kit ones. I am currently working on all the weapons. The aircraft will be armed with the CBU’s, 4 sparrow missiles and 4 sidewinder missiles See more photos and details of this build in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-48-f-15e-dual-role-fighter/
  19. Update - Just letting all know that the Aircraft was packed up with a brass nameplate and shipped to the client. It arrived without any issues. I also recommended to use one of Grandpa's Cabinets Display Cases. The aircraft will be presented to his Father on Father's Day. All the final photos can be seen at https://davidsscalemodels.com/commissioned-work/1-72-hasegawa-p-2h-neptune-of-vp-4/
  20. They look bluer in the photos, but they look a little too blue as well.
  21. I created a tip in the Tops and Tricks Section on my blog on how I mask canopies. https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/masking-with-kapton-tape/
  22. This next build is the Hasegawa 1/48 F-15E Dual Role Fighter. It is a commission build for the same client as my last one. It will be built mostly out of the box but I will be adding an Eduard cockpit photo etch detail set. The first thing I noticed was the canopy and wind screen have a seam that runs down the middle. I sanded the seam down with 800 grit sand paper then went over it with 2000 grit. Once the seam was gone I polished them. You can see what I use to removed seams and polish clear parts in the Tips and Trick section at https://davidsscalemodels.com/tips-and-tricks/how-to-repair-clean-and-polish-clear-parts/ I then started on the cockpit. The ejection seats were detailed with the photo etch accessories and some spare decals for the labels. The cockpit tub was then detailed with photo etch side panels. The instrument panels were then sanded down so that the photo etch accessories could be added. The cockpit tub was then assembled and installed into the front section of the fuselage. I cut off the HUD glass mount as this will later be replaced with a more accurate photo etch replacement. Starting on the rest of the fuselage and the exhaust cans. See more photos and details of this build in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/1-48-f-15e-dual-role-fighter/
  23. The 1/72 Hasegawa P-2H Neptune (P2V-7) is now complete! Before we get to the final photos there are a couple of details I needed to add. I first took a photo with the aircraft outside. Seems that different camera’s show the weathering differently but natural sunlight shows off the weathering better. Now on to the last detail, the nose has a frame that protects the crew member while giving him a place for his feet and legs instead of resting on the clear nose. The kit came with a small frame that looked nothing like the actual aircraft. I started with 30 AWG wire and cut 8 pieces. These were bent and tack soldered together. The nose frame was then painted and installed. I then used EZ-Line fine to add in the antenna. With the aircraft completed, I am waiting for the brass nameplate before I can pack it up and ship it to the client. Seems the USPS is experiencing some delays and tracking keeps changing expected delivery day. Once it arrives I will post a few photos of it packed. The client purchased one of Grandpa’s Cabinets display cases. Once he has the display case and the aircraft together he will send me some photos and I will post them here. Thanks again for following along on this special build. See more photos and details of this build from start to finish in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/hp-2h-neptune-p2v-7/
  24. Work on the Neptune this week has been very tedious. First, I had a lot of questions and comments on why I use kapton tape. So there are a couple of photos on removing the tape masks on the canopy. I then installed the landing gear. The nose gear did not have the landing light so I scratch built the housing from styrene rod then made the lens using acrylic gel. Once I had all the base coat painting completed I started to do the decals. Since this kit was manufactured way back in the early 1970’s, the kit decals did not age well. I cut out a decal for the Japanese scheme to see how they would work. After soaking in warm water for over three minutes the decal started to slide. However, it then immediately broke apart. I took another one and coated it with Microscale decal film and let it dry. It still took a long time of soaking buy I was able to get the decal to stay mostly together. It required some very careful small movements to get it moved and placed on the spare surface. It was successfully placed. I decided that the only decal’s I was going to use off the sheet was the yellow rectangles for the tail. I then dug thru my spare decal binder and after an extensive search I located nearly all of the letters and numbers in the correct sizes as well as the US insignias. Surprisingly I found a decal for the propeller warning lines that was the correct size and looked more accurate than the kit decal. I then made the squadron logo decal that goes on the nose, the trident for the tip of the tail, and the “Jet Intake” decals. Since each of the letters and numbers were individual decals it took a lot of time to get them placed and aligned. With all the decals placed I then started on the heavy weathering starting with the jet engines. The aircraft itself was sealed with a matte finish so that the weathering can be applied. I will be using three different shades of blue and two shades of gray to weather the aircraft with gray, black, and brown for exhausts. See more photos and details of this build from in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/hp-2h-neptune-p2v-7/
  25. I used it on the inside of the E-2D windows. It is not crystal clear, but better than spraying tint.
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