Stikpusher

Jim and Mark, thank you. It’s finally taking shape now.

That is an awesome piece of work! You can practically hear the soldiers yelling out their “Hurrah!” as they rise and charge forward. Fabulous!

To Testors.... So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!

That came out nice enough. Especially for a “quick build”. If you’ve built the Academy 1/48 Mk. XIV, how does the Hobbycraft kit compare?

I’m still looking to find something to replace their “universal” airbrush thinners, both enamel and acrylic, as well as their airbrush cleaner. I know that there is no such thing as a universal acrylic thinner, due to different formulations between the various companies. But for acrylics that did not need an alcohol based thinner, that stuff worked ok. And the cleaner worked excellent, without the heavy odor of lacquer thinner or acetone. Their enamel thinner gave enamel paints a little more “bite” so to speak, when I airbrush that type of paint. Certainly superior to other enamel thinners that I had used in the past. Ah well. I know that they’re gone, and that my search for those product replacements, for the time being, will continue.

Sad but true. It’s like Testors turned back the clock to the 1970s and all that’s left is what they sold then- square bottle enamels, tube and liquid cement, etc. Rustoleum/RPM gobbled up all of their US based hobby paint competitors thru mergers/acquisitions, then discontinued those companies. Sad days for us modelers in that respect. Ah well, at least we have other sources for products available.

If you have not used a decal solvent in it yet, apply decal set, try refloating and repositioning the decals to minimize or correct the tears. The longer that the decal sits, the harder that is to do.

Yup! I got an email from them yesterday explaining the relaunch of Squadron. I am looking forward to being able to get their products again! I really do like their stuff for 1/48 aircraft and 1/35 armor.

The last few days I have been working on painting interior parts, mainly the wheel wells, and getting parts ready to be glued inside the fuselage. and then next thing ya know, it is starting to look like an aircraft... somewhat... and some close ups of the cockpit and nose wheel well next comes seam clean up...

🤣🤣🤣 Well, at least them young punks don’t tell me OK Boomer... 😉 Thanks for the compliments Gil. I’m just about to the point where I can finish up in the wheel wells and get the fuselage assembled.

Well, I didn’t turn up a ‘65 penny in my can of pennies, so I used the closest one that I had 😉 And once again, thank you Mark.

Thanks Mark! I love these Z-M bases! Don’t know what I’m gonna use for my 1/32 F-4G whenever I get that beast finished though...

Thanks Mark. Those decals sure made the IP look better than I could paint it up. And of course, even with the cockpit open and unoccupied, they will be hard to see. Ah well... Well yesterday I finally finished up paint and decal work in the cockpit. and for a little scale reference, the obligatory giant penny now I just have the wheel wells and intake area to deal with before I can get the fuselage closed up.

Over the past couple of days, the mailman brought these two Zoukei Mura aircraft display bases that I had ordered. First up is a 1/32 US WWII thru Vietnam era wooden carrier deck. Too bad that they did the colors wrong, as US carrier flight decks were never in natural wood. Pre war had Mahogany stain, during WWII they were stained Blue, and post they were Dark Gray and Non Skid Black depending upon the area of the deck. So I’ll need to repaint this one. Then I also ordered this 1/48 US “Supercarrier” type deck, which is beautifully detailed!!! No changes needed, aside from perhaps the addition of an arresting cable, as they did provide one anchor point for one end. and of course I had to do a quick photo with an aircraft in place....

I hear ya Mark. The modeling muses are not always calling me either to my workbench when I have nothing else going on. Or when they do, my progress is minimal... I’m still working in the cockpit here.... Finished up the ejection seat and I started adding the Airscale instrument decals to the panel The IP decals are going to be something of a slow process...

These arrived in the mail. They will come in handy on my current Harrier project and many other 1/48 jet projects in the future.

Now that they pay me not to show up to work for the rest of my life, finding time for the workbench isn’t that hard for me to do. It just a question of what else do I have planned to do for that particular day.

Thanks Mark. I’ve been working on the cockpit some more the past couple of days. I just need to do a few more things in there and then I’ll get some more photos posted.

Thanks John. Just doing what I can to be helpful here.

I’ve got an oil wash done in the cockpit and have started on more detail painting... I have some instrument decals on the way for the IP.

More small stuff from eBay came in the mail yesterday. I’m going to use one of the side handles on my current Harrier project, but I’m making the face curtain rings from wire. The rest can be used on any number of future projects...

No worries. Most every one of here has made some similar error in our model building past. This hobby is supposed to be relaxing. But sometimes it is anything opposite that. If you haven’t built a Dragon kit yet, just wait until you get to one of those. THEN you will really wonder what someone has been smoking... 🤨

Nice finish! The sunlight photos definitely show off the weathering much better.

Which kit by Revell is this? If it’s the 1/96 kit, I’m looking at the instructions on Scalemates and your center deck section looks to be reversed. That opening in the deck by the main mast should forward of the main mast, not aft. That would cause your main mast to be facing opposite. https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/0/3/5/944035-29-instructions.pdf

Oils, with Mona Lisa thinner, work fine on top of both enamels or acrylics. That thinner is mild enough to not attack the enamels as long as the paint has dried and cured. Usually that is at least 24 hours depending upon temperatures and humidity. You should have zero problems of bad interactions between oils as your washes and acrylics as the base coat.