Airfix 4k lb bomb and Airfix bomb trolley

Today we get a twofer in terms of completions. First comes the RAF 8000 lb bomb, and second comes the RAF transport carriage that hauls the bomb to the aircraft (generally, a Lancaster).

Both of these items come from the Airfix RAF Bomber Re-supply set. Neither were a construction challenge, having so few pieces, and both were painted RAF Dark Green. Well, except for the tires, for which I used Modelmaster Euro 1 Grey. Decals were a marginal struggle, with the kit markings seemingly uninterested in remaining stuck to the paint. Patience and a bit of Supersol/set eventually took care of the situation. With all of the Hitler insults that the crews chalked onto these bombs, I thought the one used on the decal sheet was unnecessarily innocuous. Bah!

A couple of simple and pleasing additions to the completed model display.

This is completed ordnance #7 and vehicle #2 (4 aircraft, 1 ordnance, 2 vehicles for the year

2017), finished in April of 2017.

Painting progress (P-47s, Hurricane)

Another weekend painting session, highlighted by lots of detail work on P-47s and an upper surface coat on a Hurricane.

For the rattlesnake P-47, each wing and tail tip has a black and yellow stripe. In addition, the cowl is also black and yellow. I had already painted and masked the Insignia Yellow portions, so now I hit it with Gloss Black. There were some thinning issues (too thin) which caused a weird bubble-like surface on two of the tips. These were wiped off and reshot. Whether this will require more intervention, such as a complete sandoff and respray, will have to wait until the paint cures and I can see what the surface looks like.

Two other P-47s, “Pride of Lodi” and “Passionate Patsy”, require white tails. One needed its cowl flaps painted as well. In addition, I picked up some bits from the Barracuda that needed white paint. Mostly sensors.

The upper surfaces of the Yugoslavian Hurricane got a coat of Middle Stone. It looked pretty smooth, so if it cures properly I’ll do the camo masking in preparation for the Dark Earth.

Three small pieces (two vehicles and one ordnance) needed a flat sealer top coat.

Except for the issues with the Black, it was a pretty successful paint session, and will progress a number of projects down the line.

Much masking (P-47s, Hurricane, DC-3)

Time to catch up on some recent construction here on the 72 Land production line.

Actually, most of the work was masking, but the one bit of extended construction came with the recent Avis kit of the EADS Barracuda, a German drone/UAV. I’m gathering together quite a little sub-collection of these unmanned aircraft, including the RQ-1, RQ-4, and RQ-9. I also have an unfinished Attack resin kit of the RQ-7. They have their attractions (no canopy masking)! I haven’t quite yet screwed up the courage to face the line of Unicraft drones; though they have a lot of them, engineering and molding does leave a lot to be desired. I think it is just a case of time being too precious to spend it rassling with a Unicraft resin.

Being a short-run kit, the Barracuda has had its building challenges. Detail is a little soft, fit is in some cases approximate, and I think they could have figured out a better way to mold the nose gear bay, which comes in five pieces. They really should have just used the same method that they molded the main gear bays, which is one piece each. The biggest trouble I’ve had so far is connecting the engine exhaust to the rear fuselage; I’ve gotten some rather sloppy putty started on the gap, but there is much sanding in my future I suspect.

Beyond this, most of what I’ve been doing seems to be masking. I had a small burst of activity in my long-term P-47 project (one completed bubbletop and three in-process razorbacks). One required wingtip/tail masking, two needed some complex cowl masking, and all three needed Eduard canopy masking sets applied. While the razorback canopy is fairly angular and thus open to freehand masking, I really do appreciate these Eduard sets. They just speed the process up wonderfully.

I also masked the lower surfaces of the Yugoslavian Hurricane in preparation of an upper surface coat of Middle Stone.

Beyond this, there was a bit of decal work needed on some airfield equipment. 

Painting (P-47s galore)

Lately I seem to have been working my airbrush sessions while hail and downpours were going on beyond the garage door. But this session was actually beautiful, with clear blue skies and a nice 62 degrees going on. Please don’t pass this information on to anyone else; we want the rest of the country to assume that all it does in the Northwest is rain.

This round of airbrushing had something of a green theme. Besides putting a matte sealer coat on three almost-finished models, almost all of the other paints I used were shades of green. First of all, there was Zinc Chromate Green for the interior and gear bays for a couple of P-47 razorbacks. Then there was a repair coat of RAF Dark Green to fix up some sanding work that I did on a 4000 lb bomb from the Airfix RAF Bomber resupply set. Finally, there was Olive Drab for a pair of support vehicles (one Ford tractor, one fuel tank cart) from an old Hasegawa airfield set.

These little airfield vehicle kits are good for the mojo: easy to assemble and quick to finish. Nothing that would draw me away from my primary interest, aircraft, for very long, but fun to make a change of approach.

The one exception to the green theme was that I put some Insignia Yellow on the cowling and wingtips of an upcoming P-47 (whose markings will come from the recently acquired DK decal sheet). 

2017 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show (pt 7)

Here are the last set of shots from the 2017 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show. The IPMS-Seattle website can be found here: http://www.ipms-seattle.org/springshow/

My Photobucket album of the show can be found here: http://s958.photobucket.com/user/a172ndguy/library/2017%20IPMS-Seattle%20Spring%20Show

First, the sole Eurofighter at the show (and not even a Brit)

Special Hobby Ro-57

AModel Ilyushin Il-40 Brawny

MPM Fokker G-1

Fine Molds Y-wing fighter

Two extra large 1:72 scale submarines

And because the earth will likely crack if I don't include at least one, Bf-109G

I hope you've enjoyed the coverage of the 1:72 models at the 2017 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show. We will return to our regular program of construction, paint, and finished models shortly. 

Airfix Hawker Hurricane ragwing

Yet another ragwing Hurricane crosses the finish line. Having built a number of them, I don’t have much to add in terms of construction. I can whip them out pretty quickly now.

The markings, for a Hawker Aircraft demo and testbed aircraft, came from Iliad 72-013: Pre-war Hurricanes. According to the instructions, the plane was originally assigned to 56 Squadron RAF in 1938 but then sent back to Hawker. From there it was fitted with various mods and props and was used for flight testing. There are only 2 decals for the scheme, so I would have to say they performed exactly as expected.

This is completed aircraft #471 (4 aircraft, 0 ordnance, 1 vehicle for the year 2017), finished in April of 2017.

2017 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show (pt 6)

Another selection of 1:72 models at the show that caught my eye. 

Special Hobby Meteor 4 in Egyptian markings

AGM-68 Cruise missile

Hasegawa F-16 in Italian AF anniversary markings

Italeri Fiat BR-20

Azur Nardi FN-305

Will Bros Northrop Gamma (Texaco)

Mercury capsule

After tomorrow's completion recap, I have one more selection of models to put up. The final count of models on the table turned out to be 1358 including collections and the display only areas. I knew the tables seemed crowded, but I wasn't expecting that. I wonder how many non-national shows in the US can draw that many models for a one-day show.