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Group Build: History's Rejects: Indefinitely Postponed.


Guest PetrolGator

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CHANGE OF PLANS!

 

After looking at the Classic Airframes Buffalo, it appears to be a pre-war F2A-1 version, which I already have on the shelf. It's also a complex kit, with resin and pe parts that I just don't want to tackle right now.

 

However, after searching the stash, I do have a "Philippines Defender" issue of the Hobbycraft P-35. The P-35 was not a very famous or successful plane, especially when it came to facing the Japanese in the first months of the war! So, THAT will be my group build effort here as soon as I finish the F-105B.

 

GIL :smiley16:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Progress on the P-35...

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Added a few parts to the interior and some clear red/green plastic for the wing tip lights. Other than that, OOTB. The fit has been pretty good so far. Hope to be painting it before the weekend is out.

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Guest PetrolGator

I've collected a lot of reference material (relatively speaking) on the German carrier. I'll begin prep work on her this week with some actual building taking place MAYBE this weekend.

 

Aside from Gil, who else is in this?

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I was going to try this, but so far I haven't found anything in the stash to build for this. I'll have to keep looking, I doubt I'll be able to start on the start date anyway with all the stuff going on in my life currently.

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Speaking for myself, it would help me. Right now I'm going through the Week from Hell. It might take me till then to recover enough to spend some time finding something to build for this.

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I saw several F7Us at Hensley Field next to the Vought plant in Grand Prarie when I was a kid back in the 1950s. Interesting build and nice too!

 

Mark

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Guys, I've decided to start this as it's gonna turn into a long term project. I also hope some building on this may get some of you all to jump in.

I wanted to win "Best Ship" in an IPMS contest. I, uh, succeeded and took home the "Best of Show" at the Lafayette show. I'm honestly stunned on that one. My next goal is to take a "theme" award. We have a contest in January with a "what if" theme which interests me. With that in mind, I'm going to take a stab at resin and build Orange Hobby's Graf Zeppelin, ideally in a nice dazzle or disruptive camouflage.
I'm also planning on scratching some little Fl-282s or an Fa-223. I figure the Zepplin's intended use was recon and commerce raiding, so why not fit her with some choppers? I can imagine them being rather useful in locating, tracking, and potentially attack convoys. I'll need some help making the masters for these (if I do both.)
At any rate, this is my first resin kit. I've absorbed all the advice and tutorials I can, cleaned the resin, and began the build.
I'm playing with the dry fit. All the major sections fit beautifully. This is truly a lovely kit.
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Currently, I've cleaned the hull and began filling any casting errors. There aren't many. I've also started fitting a few of the platforms along the side of the hull. Most have gone on easily after some sanding. I got a little overzealous and removed a little bit too much on the aft most platform I've installed, but it'll clean up with some putty.
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At least it's straight?
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Gaps here are minimal and will easily be solved with dilute putty or Mr Surfacer.
Orange Hobby PE feels VERY stiff, but with delicate lattice structures, I like it. I just hope it isn't brittle like some of the Eduard stuff I've used.
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I plan to build the PE supports on to the bottom of the forward and aft flight deck projections. I think that will ease overall construction and painting.
Resin is certainly interesting. The plan is to prime her with Mr. Resin, fit her on a sea base and MAYBE display her refueling a Zerstroyer.
Time will tell if I want to take it that far.
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I'm loving this. Looking good so far. Speaking of "what if"; I myself picked up the Revell kit to do a "what if", only mine would look like I imagine it would if the Soviets had kept it after the war; developed it for their use and even added an angled deck to it (a la Kiev class). I'd then add Forgers and Helix's to it; and maybe even some Su-25's, Su-27's and -29s as 'test' aircraft in prep for the 'new' Tblisi/Kuznetsov class carriers.

 

 

Now if I can only find that Revell kit in my stash......

 

Keep going Chris, I'll be watching this one with interest!

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Heh. I wish the Soviets had tried to rebuild this thing into a real carrier. It would have set them back decades in carrier design. I'm not kidding when I say that it is possibly one of the worst designed ships I've ever seen.

 

The GZ was expected to:

1) Scout

2) Engage surface targets

3) Provide air screen for U boats

4) Provide air screen for surface raiders

5) Survive the North Atlantic and have enough power to outrun anything that could kill her

6) Somehow launch planes quickly.

 

The Germans uh, compromised her design. AA was a mixed bag of decent to downright awful guns (though, most DKM AA was like this.) She was also needlessly weighed down by casemate guns along her side which were effectively useless in all but mirror smooth seas, which the Atlantic was not. To add insult to injury, she had standard SHIP CATAPULTS installed on her flight deck. I don't even know why. I think German aircraft were heavier? Either way, it's not an efficient way to launch aircraft.

 

Throwing in the feud between the Luftwaffe and DKM, you essentially make one useless pile of steel. Goering didn't want to waste money on developing naval aircraft and the Navy wasn't interested in simple conversions. Frankly, the GZ would have done well with a few groups of Fl-282 helicopters for scouting and maybe some torpedo bombers for convoy assault. I'd remove her casemate guns to increase stability and available weight for AA and possibly aircraft.

 

She could also use a real island.

 

With all that hate spewed toward her design, she's the ONLY Nazi carrier ever built. She's so utterly unique and ugly that I love her. If the German had a few of these things (with, say, a focused design) the Battle for the Atlantic would have been a lot more costly.

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Alright, a few observations from a newbie in resin:

- This stuff sands quick. (Yes, I'm using a respirator.)

- Fit, even on a good resin kit can be difficult (see below)

- Holy heck CA glue sets quick.


I'm currently adding small deck assembles to the hull and test fitting/building smaller sub assemblies where I can. The aft overhand of the flight deck doesn't quite mate with the hull. It leaves a gap. I will have to fill this thoroughly with thinned putty or CA glue. It's hidden under an overhand, but I hate even knowing it's there.


Note that Orange Hobby actually pre-drilled the holes for your casemate barrels. Nice touch.


Here's where I stand:


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Nice gaps, gun. I'll set this as level as possible and gap fill like crazy.


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Orange Hobby PE is VERY nice. It's stiff, but not difficult, well, minus that curved bit at the end. It feels like foil, twists like foil, but did not seem to want to shape as easily as foil. Pain in the butt.


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Quick view of the topside details. And the carpet. Hi, carpet. No, you may not have and PE.


All for now. With all the stuff going on in the next few weeks, this will be a SLOW build.

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Small update. I'm going out of town for the weekend, so it'll be a while until I get to work on the GZ again.


The biggest issue I've seen are the gaps. They're not TERRIBLE, but will require a bit of work. I thinned some Tamiya putty down and applied it in layers. There's... still more filling to do. Bubbles-wise, she's pretty solid. There's also no sign of warping.


While waiting, I built all the casemate guns:

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Sorry for the blur. Stupid phone. The pre-drilled holes are NICE.


I also built a single heavy AA gun. You have to carefully drill the holes for the barrels, but it's not too bad, being resin.

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In place:

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Here's where she is. Sorry, again, about the blur. Note the gap on the aft flight deck. That's gonna be fun.

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Guest PetrolGator

Great progress Chris!

 

GIL :smiley16:

 

There's been more, though mostly small bits and sanding. I've been REAL busy and suffering some pretty bad burnout.

 

I always hate the initial prep of a build.

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