Stikpusher

Mark & John, thanks for looking in and your kind comments. I really can’t say enough good things about this kit so far.

Lol! Thanks John. And yes, this build can be found on several forums. 😉

Thank you very much 😉 And we are back! First up I put down some Insignia Yellow on the turret front sides for the company insignia. Then I cut some circle masks from Tamiya tape and masked off the appropriate areas. Much easier to do it this way due to the location and items around there that would interfere with masking around the area. Then earlier today I airbrushed on a coat of Gunze Olive Drab (2) Now I’ve got to let that dry and cure before the next stage of gloss coat & decals.

Gil, thank you for looking in and your kind feedback.

Thank you James! Not bad for a $12 kit 😉 So here we go, a proper all angle walk around of the Hobbycraft 1/48 F8F-1B, in the markings of the VNAF 1st Fighter Squadron, Bien Hoa AB, Republic of Vietnam, 1959, at the end of their service career. And out in some sunlight Only changes to the kit were replacing the gun barrels with brass tubing, adding an acetate gunsight lens, and a Kits World 3D decal seat harness. Paints are Humbrol and Testors enamels. Mig panel line wash, Tamiya Weathering Master set, and oils used for weathering. Thanks for looking, comments and critiques welcome.

Thanks Mark. Just black based and some airbrushed light coats of Tamiya Yellow Green in the wheel wells. Ok, I’m calling this Cat finished I’m gonna let the landing gear fully dry overnite, as it is a bit spindly. Tomorrow I’ll get a full proper finished multi angle bunch of photos taken and posted.

Finally, enough time in the day, and no complications, to get in a good bench session. I did the last bits of airbrushing, then started removing all of the masking. Some of that dampened tissue paper in certain areas sure was reluctant to come back out, and that ended up causing me to knock a 5” rocket loose during the handling. But man does this look good now. One more good session and I ought to be able to wrap this one up…

That turned out very nice! The Malta camouflage is quite striking in its’ appearance. You’re also quite right on the Bandai 1/48 armor kits being quite exceptional for that era. It’s too bad that they have not brought them back to compliment Tamiya’s new 1/48 armor line.

Thanks Mark. I’m using a Mig panel line wash and cleaning it up with Mona Lisa thinner. Very easy stuff to use. A little more progress on the Bearcat. I painted up and weathered the kit 5” HVARs, plus added some Pro Modeler decal stenciling, then glued them in place. I also painted up the 20mm gun barrels using a mix of Testors Gun Metal & Flat Black. That gave a nice parkerized finish looking color. More coming tomorrow hopefully… lots going on here…

I’m working on it Gil 😉 I just don’t want this one to end up like poor old Red Leader did… 🤨

So I’m trying to get this project wrapped up shortly, and have been working on it for the past few days. First up I added and cleaned up a panel line wash and then this evening I made up some replacement gun barrels using brass tubing More updates to come soon…

So… two more acquisitions for my flight line from IPMS meeting the other night First up a large scale Yellow Wings beauty…. and then my first SMER kit, a beautiful little float plane racer…. now the kit itself is quite basic, looking about the same as old Hawk kits from childhood

Nice pair of choppers Mark! Funny how the old Cheyenne looks every bit as modern and menacing if not more so than the new Japanese tank hunter.

If Dave Fredericks was building this kit, it would run 😉 But not mine… 😆

Thanks Bob. This one was nearly destroyed by a cat hopping onto my shelf, along with several others below that did not survive… but yes, Russian tanks don’t look normal in pristine condition… unless they’re on parade in Red Square.