Let’s Get Moving

I began basic work on all three kits yesterday by cutting out the cockpit and ordinance parts from the sprues. I now have three sprue forests going and I will devote some time tonight to getting the various parts painted.
All three look like high quality kits and I am excited to get rolling into them. The F-15, Typhoon, and Tornado look great with lots of detail and options. If I can get a good start, I think they will be completed by next weekend. That is the plan, anyway. I’m on vacation all week so why not?

Junkers Ju-88 A-4

With Thanksgiving behind me, I have put an end to the Ju-88 build. I actually took it to my parents house on Thanksgiving Day to weather it. Now it’s finished and up on the shelf.
Revell didn’t impress me with this build. They kind of proved that they are still a mediocre company in my opinion. It was’t a terrible build by any means. It just lacked in areas and ill performed in others. That’s not to say that you can’t succeed at it though. I am quite content with the end result.
The sanding project in the beginning wasn’t welcomed but I managed to get through it. There are some visible seams on the belly that I missed but I’m ok with that. The overall build was good. After all the filling and sanding, the rest had a decent flow when I actually worked on it. I dragged my feet more than I would have liked for this build. I should have been done a lot sooner. It’s finished and that is all that matters. It’s number forty-eight in the yearly count. This upcoming week will be focused completely on achieving my goal of fifty.

Rekindling the Fire

The Ju-88 is slooooowly inching closer to completion. The Bearcat snag kind of halted any momentum I had and the beginning of the holiday season has shifted a few responsibilities away from my much coveted hobby. I haven’t begun to panic just yet. I’m still two builds shy of my goal with a month to get there. That should be plenty of time to reach and exceed it.
Just a little bit of shifting around and I found some time to get the first of the two top colors painted. I let that dry and was able to get the camouflage masked off. I will finish the last color tonight and more than likely begin weathering it tomorrow night or Friday. I start vacation tomorrow so I don’t see any reason why this can’t be accomplished by the weekend.

F8F-1 Bearcat

The ordeal with the Bearcat is now over. Not without one more decal blunder though. I attempted to try the Print Scale sheet again before I officially gave up on them. I sprayed some gloss on them hoping that would strengthen them up a bit. Epic failure part II. After two decals, I was done. I went with the stock decals and moved on.
The paint job was the only hiccup in this build. After the Insignia Yellow, I covered it with Blue Angel Blue hoping to save the decals. When that plan failed, I opted not to paint a third time and just stick with the second color. It’s not right, but close enough. I’m still bummed that it turned out the way that it did. Given the circumstances though, I think it turned out pretty decent.

OV-1B Mohawk

The workbench hasn’t been busy lately and I am slowly getting it going again. I sat down yesterday to get the Mohawk completed and up on the shelf. Final assembly went as I hoped for. The biggest triumph was that I added enough weight to keep it from sitting on its tail. I ditched the provided decals and went with a set from Isra Decals. They went on pretty good with zero issues. There is a little silvering here and there but not too much.
The weathering came out better than I thought it would. I wasn’t sure if the dark green paint scheme would be too dark for the weathering to show up. I was pleasantly surprised. The SLAR pod was painted olive drab to add a little contrast to the dark green. I think it breaks it up just enough.
The beginning of this build wasn’t so much fun with all the filling and sanding. After that was taken care of, it wasn’t so bad. The canopy could have been made better. It was a goofy fit that required too much effort and babysitting as it dried. That was my only other complaint. The rest was pretty painless. I am happy with the end result.

And the Winners Are….

The polls are closed and I have already begun prepping the three winners. In the end, it was a three way tie with each getting 18% of the votes. I must say that I am surprised with what you guys chose to see built next. Only one of my picks made it in the top three. This set of builds will be fun with some great kits. I am excited to get moving on them.
So first up is the one that I thought for sure would make it. I am pleased that I was correct. Tamiya’s 1/72 EF-2000 Eurofighter has been in my inventory for about two weeks and I was crossing my fingers that you guys would choose it. The guts look great. It should make for a great build.
Next is Academy’s 1/72 F-15C Eagle. This is another that I hoped would be on the winners list. I have been trying to fit this one in for over a year now. I have some 9-11 memorial nose art decals that I have been itching to put on. This is another good looking kit that I can’t wait to get into.
Last is Hasegawa’s 1/72 Tornado GR.4. I was surprised by this pick. It was the dark horse of the three beating out the Su-22 in the final days. Again, this looks like it will be a fantastic build. I think all three kits were great choices by you guys. The poll was a fun change that I will utilize again sometime.

Bummed Out

The three builds are in their various stages of paint and I hit a major roadblock. The Bearcat was on its way to completion after a coat of insignia yellow and Future. Was, being the keyword in that sentence. The time came to sit down and apply the decals and what a flop they were. I was using an aftermarket set from Print Scale that would not transfer without wrapping themselves in a tiny ball. Crash and burn. Of course I had to pick a color scheme that there is only one of. So now I will hit the airbrush again and re-paint the aircraft in sea blue. Thankfully it’s an easy fix. Frustrating, but simpler than a missed seam or lost part.
The Ju-88 is a much better situation. The underside of the wing tips have been painted with RLM04 and the rest of the belly with RLM76. I have masked it all off for the base color on the upper surfaces. Not too much longer until this one is completed.
The Mohawk went from second to first. The paint is complete and it awaits decals. I will get that moving and hopefully be finished in the next couple of days.

Procrastinate No More!

So another day has gone by without me making a concentrated effort at getting my airbrush going. Yes, the Bearcat would be finished by now. But the nagging issues with the OV-1 and Ju-88, I don’t feel unaccomplished.
As you can see, the Ju-88 has overcome its infection of gaps. All holes have been plugged and now it is finally ready for paint. Another nag in the pot.
I shored up the Mohawk this afternoon by masking off the anti-glare panels and walkways. I shot it with flat black yesterday evening and let it dry. So now this becomes the third nag and all I can do now is give in. I’ll fire up the airbrush tomorrow and get them finished.
There is still time to get your votes in for my next three builds. Go to
http://poll.fm/50iqo. to vote for what you want to see next.

Pushing Through

Activities at the workbench are looking bright. With a lot of time and effort, I was able to make some strong gains in my progress. At least with two builds. The Bearcat is still waiting for paint. I will try to get to it in the morning.
The Ju-88 has made it out of the filler stage nicely. I was able to get the wings and horizontal stabilizers attached. As I expected, there were gaps at the wing roots. I addressed those and I’ll put a coat of primer on tonight. The next problem arose when installing the clear parts. The canopy had a severe fitting issue. There was a major gap behind the canopy that I really cannot believe that it was intended to fit like that. I sanded the canopy down as much as I could and filled the rest with glue. After the glue dries, I will add some filler wherever needed to finish the gaps off. The nose canopy had a terrible fit as well. I was able to make it fit with some strategic sanding. I’m hoping the “issues” are over with since all major construction is completed. I won’t let my guard down with this one.
The Mohawk is coming along nicely. The spine and the belly have passed inspection and I moved on to the wings. The wing roots had some good gaps that I wasn’t expecting but I filled them nonetheless. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers went on well with no issues to correct. I will get some primer on tonight and go from there. I’m hoping to start painting soon.

Testing My Sanding Skills

The Ju-88 and the Mohawk are quickly reminding me of the Matchbox A-10 build a few months back. Both kits need filler, filler, and more filler. From the cockpit back to the vertical stabilizer as well as the entire length of the undersides, I will have my hands full for a little while. The wing issues have been corrected on the Ju-88 and now the focus is on the fuselage. The Bearcat is in better shape. I need to do a little more sanding and it will be ready for paint.