ghodges

Got some more work done today. The top pic shows the main gear well and main gear assemblies. I don't like engineering that requires this type of building as it means the gear will be hanging in the way from now on, but it was the only option short of major surgery. Koster gives you a jig (center of top pic) to help assemble the metal gear parts, which is much needed to get it done. The instructions are barely adequate, especially if you don't have any other references. That said, the parts all fit together reasonably well once you figure out what goes where. Keep in mind that these kits aren't necessarily designed for the beginning modeler, and Koster probably expects a certain level of experience with model building and vac building; which is why the instructions are as sparse as they are. The bottom pic shows how the asemblies fit into the wings, and they too fit reasonably well. All plastic gluing was done with Weld-On #4 to tack things into place followed by liberal amounts of super glue and accelerator to set things in place and strengthen the assemblies. The wings are now assembled and have been test fit to the fuselage, and they fit suprisingly well! I hope to make some more progress tomorrow on the cockpit. I think the hardest parts are done! Comments and questions are welcome, as always! Cheers! GIL

Excellent technique leading to superb results! Thanks for sharing! GIL

If the cover of the very first FSM can be believed, "The Flying Undertaker" is available in almost all scales. Several were built for the express purpose of demonstrating the differences in the main scales of plastic model a/c. GIL

Another in my litany of "guilt builds"...... I've had this kit since Koster released it @1990 (and I was sure NO ONE would EVER release a 1/48 A-20 in injection mold ) I'd gotten this far a couple of years ago before being side tracked by something else (common sense?) And got this far today after about 4hrs of work Though it doesn't look like much, getting the cockpit/nose gear well together allowed me to test fit everything, so that now painting and detailing can proceed in those areas. I even cut out the main canopy and was surprised how well it fit! Anyway, I'm building this as part of the vacuform Fellowship Build over on Agapemodels.com, so I figured I could just as easily post it here for anyone who's interested to follow along too. Vacs aren't really that tough. They just require a little more elbow grease and some additional techniques to compensate for thin plastic and the lack of locating pins. As you can see by the first pic, this is a true multi-media kit (like all Koster full kits) with metal, pe, resin parts and a full decal sheet. It'll be built primarily OOTB, as nothing else is really needed! Comments and questions welcome! Cheers! GIL

Looks like a good show! Thanks for sharing the pics! GIL

Welcome Jamme! Glad to have you here with us. Anyone who can put a good gloss coat on a vehicle has my respect! Hope you have a LOT of fun hanging out here! GIL

The old Pactra clear flat was the best way back when......Now I fnd Testors Dullcoat is generally the flatest stuff I can get. I'll be watching this with interest! GIL

I got to look at this up close in person at our meeting last night, and the pics don't do the gloss gray paint justice! This is going to be a great looking model! GIL

David: there are no "FS" numbers for WWI colors. The colors used varied way too much, from country to country and manfacturer to manufacturer, and FS hadn't been invented yet. There are some Munsel color equivalents, but good luck on tracking down a good source for those! You'll see references to that in the Windsock Datafile WWI books when covering color info. The Brits used "PC-10" for a lot of their stuff. It's the WWI equivilant of OD green, and like the WWII OD colors, it can vary from a dark green to a khaki brown; depending on manufacturer paint batch and exposure to the weather. "Clear Doped Linen" is another common WWI color that was essentially a clear dope placed over the plain uncolored fabric to seal it and shrink it taut. However, depending on the number of coats, exposure to the elements, and its age it could be a light gray, light buff, a yellow tan, or even a bit of an orange tan (think "shellac"). Metal parts were generally painted gray, if not painted in a squadron color. Keep in mind there were NO "aircraft" paints; they hadn't been developed! Automotive paint and other paints for metal surfaces would have been used, and the colors would have been whatever was available for commercial use. There was some bare metal panels on some planes, especially Sopwith Pups and Camels. Very few would have been highly polished, and even if they started off with a shine, they would dull quickly in service. Field maintenence wouldn't worry about that, and it was too early for them to really worry about corrosion yet. Plain wood for WWI planes is a technique all to itself, and varies from builder to builder. My best suggestion is to go to Hyperscale.com and check out the other Wingnuts builds posted there, especially the LVG builds. There are several good "tutorials" on how to get a nice looking plain wood finish. In short, those paint call-outs in the instructions should be good enough. If you can get the Humbrol stuff, they probably have more dedicated WWI colors than most other manufacturers. If not, decide what shade of dark green and underside tan you want to put on the Pup and then find the closest approximates in your favorite paint brand. Best of luck! GIL

Not so much what I have in the stash, but when I find an ELUSIVE kit it makes my day! Most recently I was finally able to track down the ID models 1/48 vac P-3 Orion. My wife even managed to stifle her yawn while I eagerly showed it to her! Still looking for a Classic Castings 1/48 resin A-17 and the Sanger vac 1/48 B-47. Let me know if you can help put another smile on my face! Cheers! GIL

She's done! This was my second attempt at using pencil for the panel lines, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. MUCH easier and faster then using a wash! Not all that impressed witht he kit, but I'm happy with the end result. Now I have Bud Anderson's Old Crow in 2 versions! All that's left is the P-51D. Cheers! GIL

There are LOTS of Japanese a/c with flaking paint, BUT be careful what you pick! The later in the war, the safer you are because of the discontinuation of using primer on the a/c. They knew they wouldn't last long enough to corode, so why prime them?! That meant top coats flaked off easier. However, some manufacturers seemed to stick to their guns til the end of the war. Zeros seem to have a lot less flaking than Jacks and Franks (for example). War time pics are your best refernece for any type. GIL

Very nice, shiny, sleek, and black! I also see that it's got all the bumps and humps for the latest Hawk, as well as the detcord in the canopy. Great looking model James! Can't tell you had a decal problem from your result! For some reason I now have an itch to build y resin 1/48 T-45 trainer..... GIL

Best KIT I've ever built (quality of molding/engineering) is the 1/48 Tamiya P-47D. Best MODEL I've ever built in terms of most rewarding personally due to scope of effort/degree of difficulty would be the 1/32 CollectAire resin T-28C I built last year. Worst kit: the 1/32 Combat vacuform P-6E Hawk. So mis-molded it couldn't be assembled AND aligned correctly. The ONLY kit I've ever thrown in the trash incomplete since the mid '70's. Worst MODEL I've ever built........purely due to disappointing MYSELF; the CollectAire 1/48 resin E-2C Hawkeye on which I put the outer tail fins on upside down! I've had a lot of other "disappointments" over the years, but that's one with NO excuses! Still, it's on my shelf. It's not like I'm so disappointed I'll throw it out! GIL

Welcome Baris! Have fun! GIL

For what it's worth, I always had the impression that the Japanese didn't do nearly as many experimental "dedicated" schemes, but simply adapted the schemes they already had in use. In other words, they WOULD paint a green/black a/c overall black for night fighting, but they wouldn't change the factory scheme to black. One last thought...I have both of the Thorpe books also, and consider them very good references. BUT, that info IS 40 years old, and much has come to light since then. If an accurate finish is an absolute for you, I'd go to the J-a/c site as suggested. Best of luck! GIL

The "flightline" tour is now being run again. I took it last year after being unable to do so the previous two years. The bad news is you CANNOT get off of the bus and have to take your pics at a distance. But, an added benefit to that tour is that it borders one of the active P-cola runways and you get to watch all manner of stuff coming and going! GIL

The only thing I see holding up the kits are the licensing fees that Cameron and company will demand! But I do think there's a great market for them if they get produced. GIL

It might be two signs of the times......the first that the economy is hurting and modelers are picking up and building the older less expensive kits, and the second that some of us are enjoying some "nostalgic" modeling while building kits we've built in our earlier years. I know I enjoy the older models (up to a point) for both of the above reasons! GIL

The Kubi Point Bar and Grill is a lot of fun too! GIL

Nice camo job. Wish there was one of those in 1/48! GIL

Nice looking Tojo! Thanks for sharing. GIL

I think the weathering is ok, especially since that theater wasn't known for pristine maintenance! Neat markings! I've never seen those roundels before. GIL

Now that's an interesting scheme and a good looking build. I've heard good things about the Hasagawa Tony. How'd it go together, and where did you get the markings from? GIL

Great looking cockpit, especially for a 1/72 model. I too look forward to your what-if Hose Nose. Keep us posted! GIL