Me-262A

The failed game changer of WWII. Well, not a failure but thankfully it was used in an unsuitable capacity at the right time in the war. It had to be a scary sight to see one of these streaking past you for the first time.
This build has been looming for a long time and I enjoyed every bit of it. I even crammed enough nose weights to avoid the tail sit.
Again, this was a great build throughout. Hasegawa did a great job with the details and fit. The flow created itself and continued to the end. I ran into some old paint that gave me a headache, but survive it did. I need to go through my paints and clean house. Aside from that minor obstacle, everything went well. I have a night fighter version from Hasegawa that might need to be built to go next to this one.

Hawker Hurricane MK.IIc

My four days off has served me well, finishing up all three builds and starting three new ones. First up is the Hurricane. So there have been a lot of “I can’t wait to see it” comments on this build and I hope I have done this airplane well. I am happy with the results. Academy did great on this kit. This was a fantastic kit throughout.
There are so many different options when building a Hurricane. I need to stock up with about four or five more after seeing all the different paint schemes. The winner is from the No.87 Squadron. The all black belly looks fantastic on this scheme. I think I chose a great one.
Overall, this was a pleasurable build. As always, I was my worst enemy with time. It may have took longer than it should have, but I am thrilled with the outcome.

Rough Week

As with anybody who enjoys a good hobby, life happens. I just finished up a week of 72 hours at work. With that schedule, there isn’t too much left over for family time with even less for free time. This is my second of four very welcomed days off. Yesterday was spent kind of related to my hobby. My kids were on fall break so we headed north to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI. It’s the perfect selfish destination for aviation enthusiasts. Not only do they have planes and plane related items to peruse, they have carnival rides for the kids! The perfect disguise for a day getaway. I needed reference photographs of the XP-55 Ascender and Kalamazoo has the only surviving example. Great deal all around. We had a wonderful time. After virtually being absent from my wife and kids lives for the past month, it was fantastic to reconnect. And see some planes at the same time.
The road to completion has slowly taken form for all three builds. At my last post, they were ready for paint. I am thrilled to report that all three are painted and two of them are ready for weathering.
The Hurricane and the Me-262 are ready to be weathered tonight. I put a coat of flat clear on this morning and I will let that dry throughout the day. As for the Fw-190, I airbrushed the last color on this morning. This one took a little longer due to a more complex paint scheme. By complex, I mean more colors. The tail rudder and the bottom of the engine cowl are RLM Yellow so that had to be airbrushed before anything else. The rest was a mix of mottling and masking three different colors. I will do a little touching up after I remove the masks but for the most part the painting is complete. With two more days off, these three will be finished by Friday.

Just About Ready

I am still keeping to my schedule and meeting my daily goals. This is the part where it will test my motivation. It always seems that when it comes time to paint, I procrastinate a few days before I actually do it. I am standing at the threshold of that very stage. Sanding and priming is essentially complete except for a few small areas. The Hurricane looks great and ready to move on. The underside will be the first to get painted. I will tackle that ask in the morning. The Me-262 had a few minor gaps that I missed during my initial filling party. I corrected the issue and the plan is to get the underside painted tomorrow. The Fw-190 needs some filler behind the cockpit which I will address tomorrow. I don’t need to get too exact as the canopy will be covering the area. Better safe than sorry. Ideally, I will get the belly painted tomorrow with the others.
All is going well and I don’t foresee any alteration from my course. The way these three are performing, I should expect them to be completed soon. It’s nice to have builds go together so well.

Fantastic Flow

Construction has almost been on cruise control this time around. It’s amazing how you can go from frustration on one build to splendor on another. My current three builds are splendid, indeed! I am continuing to meet all my daily goals and then some.
I was able to sand all the seams on all three kits last night. It looks like I will be able to skip the filler. Today saw the wings and horizontal stabilizers affixed to the fuselages. All three needed some filler at the wing roots but nothing serious. With that completed, I will let the filler set up and get the cockpits masked off so I can prime all three tomorrow. If all looks good, I will begin painting them hopefully on Thursday.

Moving Over to the Slow Lane

The pace has been slow and steady for the current trio of builds. I think I have given myself some leeway for the challenge and I am going to seize the moment to slow down a bit. Even with the decrease in production, the results are still forthcoming.
All three kits are basically in the same stage. The cockpits are finished and installed along with the fuselage halves and wings being completed. They all have a date with various sanding sticks and filler today.
All three have started off well. The only minor issue was with the Me-262. The engine nacelles needed a little shaping to fit into the wing slots. A little sanding and they had a decent fit. The Focke Wulf and the Hurricane have been flawless so far. Even the dry fit of the wings looks good. We’re in good shape on these three.

Back to WWII

The fact that all three of my next builds are from WWII is purely by happenstance. I am in a WWII phase so it makes the picks a lot more enticing. This should be a fun set to dive into.
First up is Academy’s 1/72 Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc. This is a typical Academy kit. Great all around. I have clipped the parts from the trees and will get some painting done tonight. The final product will be a night fighter version. The black belly on the Hurricane looks fantastic. The British had some attractive paint schemes.
Next is Academy’s 1/72 Focke Wulf FW-190A 6/8. I haven’t decided between the 6 or the 8 version yet but I have clipped the parts and prepared them for paint. Like the Hurricane, the FW-190 offers quality details. I’m eager to get going on this one.
The last of the three is Hasegawa’s 1/72 Me-262A. I’ve been trying to get this one built for while but other kits keep pushing it back. This is a great looking kit. Like the other two, the parts are clipped from the sprues and awaiting some paint. I’m undecided on a final paint scheme on this one. I like the mottled versions but I’m not entirely decided yet. Either way, this will be an enjoyable build.

PV-1 Ventura

Last weekend was one of the most productive weekends that I have had in a while. Three kits finished and three more started. I’d say I am in a good groove. The last of the three to be completed is the Ventura. It was nice to get a bigger WWII airplane built and up on the shelf.
Like the MiG-25, the Ventura lacked in the detail department. An open bomb bay would have been nice to work with. The construction was pretty decent except for the engine nacelles. They frustrated me on several occasions. The rest was pretty standard building. I somehow managed to get overspray on the inside of the fuselage windows. I must not have done a great job of masking the openings off.
The Pacific scheme won out for this Ventura. I played with the thought of a British version but decided not to forego it. Maybe next time. For the decals, I went with a set from Starfighter Decals. Like with the Buffalo, they applied just as well. Overall, this was a good build. I learned a few ideas that I want to try the next time I attempt this kit.

F2A-3 Buffalo

The next installment of the trio is the Buffalo. This “barrel with wings” was an enjoyable build. It could have easily taken only a few days to complete if it was a stand alone build. Hasegawa did a wonderful job with this kit. Decent detail and a great fit highlighted this build. I didn’t want to build a pre-war version so I used a set of Starfighter Decals depicting a late 1941 Buffalo from the USS Lexington. The decals were superb with great release and perfect thickness. This was an overall great build. It’s a smaller aircraft compared to it’s brethren, but I am thrilled with the outcome.

MiG-25 Foxbat

I can quit my bellyaching and woe is me posts now! The Mig-25 is complete, as well as its build mates. This post should have been written a week ago but due to circumstance, here I am. It’s finished and that is what counts.
Hasegawa did a fair job of the Foxbat. For being such a large jet, I was left a little disappointed in the lack of detail. There is definite room for improvement. I opted to take a straight from the box approach and it is what it is. I am not overly enthused about the results, but it was my hand that created them. I wish I would have put a little more effort in adding more detail. I guess it’s a reminder for the next builds.
So construction was okay. There were a few minor snags along the way but nothing major. It actually goes together decently. There are few decals to this kit which made applying them a breeze.
When it comes time to build another Foxbat, I will look for more options. A detail set would be a great addition. I am unsure if they make one but maybe by the time I am ready they will. After building this airplane, I have been looking at various Foxhound kits. Does anyone have any suggestions?