Weekend Warrior II

Day two of the weekend proved to be a success. I picked up where I left off at the airbrush and then some. Again, the A-10 was first up to make sure that I get this build finished as soon as possible. Euro I Gray was sprayed and the airplane was set aside to dry. Dark Green is next with a date at the airbrush for tomorrow.

The F-15 is finished with its camouflage and just needs the nose painted now. I had a bit of a hiccup with the Dark Tan and had to touch it up a little. I am still learning the nuances of my new Aztek airbrush so I had a case of spattering from a clogged nozzle. Another boo-boo was getting off course from the camouflage pattern. All fixed now so it’s time to get that nose painted.

The P-70 and Ta-152 received a little spotlight time at the workbench as well. Cockpits were finished up and affixed to one half of the fuselage. The Ta-152 looks like it will be nice to me. The P-70 on the other hand…yikes! There is a good size gap on the underside that will need to be fixed before I can wed the two halves. Some surgery will most certainly need to be performed.

Weekend Warrior

Well, my intentions were pure on getting more completed since my last post. It seems like the weekends are the only time that I can really give 100% now. This week was kind of hectic with chiropractor appointments and a dinner at church, so nothing was accomplished. Yesterday was the start of my weekend so I did some much-needed work at the airbrush.

The A-10 remains at the forefront in priority. Five weeks are all that I have left before I hit the one year mark. NOT GONNA HAPPEN! I went to Hobby Lobby to get the Olive Drab that I was lacking and went ahead and applied that yesterday. Color two will commence tomorrow sometime.

The F-15 is cruising along with its second color. I used Pale Green and it seems a bit too dark. My hope is that it tones down a bit with some weathering. Maybe after I apply the Dark Tan tomorrow it will look a little better. The nose cone will need painted eventually. I have been looking at reference photographs and I will need to address that detail.

The F-16 is almost done with paint. The camouflage scheme is finished and all that remains for paint is the nose. I will get that masked off and wait for the F-15 to spray both noses at once. I’m quite happy to see this aircraft painted.

So the P-70, F-22, and Ta-152 are coming along slowly. I worked some more on the cockpits this afternoon. Tomorrow should open up to some assembly on all three. Ideally, I’d like to get some fuselages affixed as well. High hopes, I know.

Getting My Paint On

Eventually the stars had to align with the moon while the temperature was at optimal level for whatever. What I am getting at is that I have finally broken through and took my procrastinating butt out to fire up the airbrush. It has been nearly five months since the last time any paint has been sprayed. This also gave me a great opportunity to get a good feel for the new airbrush. It’s a little unconventional, but the Aztek performed pretty well.

So the F-15 and F-16 received their first set of colors while the A-10 only saw the tops of the vertical stabilizers getting painted. It just so happens that I am all out of olive drab so I was held up a bit on the A-10. Round two will hopefully take place tomorrow evening with some freehand camouflage on the F-15 and F-16.

Masking, Masking, and More Masking

Just a quick update today. Not a massive effort this weekend, but I did sit down and make a little headway on the A-10 and the F-15. More time than I anticipated was spent getting these two ready. Both kits are fully masked and ready to join the F-16 at the airbrush. I am hopeful that I can make it out in the next few hours here, but I am a realist and won’t bet the farm on it. My intentions are good, my track record isn’t! We’ll see. I really want to clear up some projects at the workbench so I am motivated at the moment.

Productive Week

Well the posts haven’t been flowing this week but the model building has to an extent. There weren’t any huge breakthroughs but all six builds have progressed a little bit over the week.

A-10

So the A-10 is slowly gaining ground with all the masking. I would say I am about 80% done with that project. I will keep chugging along and eventually it will get done. Again, the lack of good reference photographs is hampering me. The underside will be all guesswork of what I think would be covered up.

A positive note on this build is that the base is almost complete. I still need to add some more vegetation though. I will most likely use one of my many built A-10’s as a template to get a rough outline of where the shadows would be. I also need to create some anchor lines soon. Lots to do still!

F-16

The F-16 is ready to head out to the airbrush. All the parts were sorted out and everything is accounted for and alligator clipped for final paint. I would like to make it out to the airbrush today or tomorrow but I will most likely wait for the A-10 to catch up and knock them out together.

F-15I

So the F-15 has had its first taste of final paint. The underside was painted yesterday afternoon and is now ready for some masking and the topside painting to commence. Like the F-16, I will more than likely wait for the A-10 and paint them at the same time.

F-22

The F-22 has gone through preliminary paint and just awaits the beginning process of cockpit assembly. With the F-16 & F-15 in final paint stages, I have plenty of time to get this build going.

P-70

Alarm bells are already ringing on this build and I have only started on the interior of the aircraft. The instructions are unclear and misleading at the start so I hope that I am doing this correctly. There is a good amount of detail which is a plus. Most of the interior has been assembled already and that leaves me with some touch-up painting before I fit them into the fuselage. It feels great to be further along with this kit.

Ta-152

The Focke Wulf wasn’t really far along at all. The engine was about the only thing that was addressed. It looks done so at least that is out of the way. The inside of the fuselage was painted but the cockpit pieces weren’t. Not quite sure of my logic in that but we all have brain farts right? So the cockpit parts were painted along with the inside of the engine housing. Eventually the housing panels will need to be cut out to open up the engine. I have a decent start and I will try to get the cockpit finished toady.

Inching Forward

The workbench hasn’t been as busy as I would like to see it lately. That whole “life” thing just keeps getting in the way! When I have a limited window of opportunity, I try to knock out little projects within the builds. It gives me the satisfaction that I am advancing the aircraft, even if it is in a smaller sense. Every little bit adds up.

Last night started very quickly with the A-10 getting some flat white touched up on the underside and the back of the engine nacelles. The clock is ticking on this build as I am approaching the one year anniversary of its start. Not a good thing to celebrate! Last years spring break to Branson, Missouri was its debut and I don’t intend to pack it up for this years trek to Gettysburg. It MUST get finished soon! The display base is almost complete so that is a major plus. I will attempt to finish the masking tonight and maybe, just maybe, get out to the airbrush tomorrow.

My other small project was masking all the clear parts for the Focke Wulf, F-22, and        P-70. Certainly not a massive undertaking. I actually enjoy masking canopies. It’s a healthy challenge for me. There wasn’t much to take on last night with a quick masking session. The nose of the P-70 will be painted so that was one less piece to address. My goal is to sink a little deeper with these three this weekend. The F-16 and F-15 are on the docket as well with final paint prep.

The Forgotten Focke Wulf

Do you ever start a project and completely forget about it? Well, I did. While tidying up the shelves next to my workbench, I uncovered this Focke Wulf Ta152H-1 from Dragon under the A-10’s box. This was started sometime late last year and I absolutely spaced it off. I remember wanting to build something WWII German with the F-15 & F-16. This was what I chose and it looks like I have a decent start to it. The engine looks like it is completed and the cockpit looks ready to assemble. This was a good selection that I can’t wait to get more involved with. More to come as I further inspect what I have actually accomplished.

Making Headway

The workbench has been active over the last few days with great steps being taken across the board. The P-70 is my lone project to remain silent this week. Not bad. The     F-15 and F-16 are well on their way to final paint. Just a few minor touch-ups and I will transition over. The F-16 had its air intake finished up and the belly stabilizers affixed on Tuesday. The instructions for both builds will be double checked to make sure that nothing was overlooked. I better get the airbrush up and running soon!

The A-10 has finally made an appearance back on the workbench. I spent a good hour going back and forth with all the reference photos to get some good ground covered on the masking. The good thing is that it looks like there is no exact method to the real life process so I don’t have to worry much about total accuracy. There is plenty of masking to be done. Working in sections seems to be the plan for right now. The next section to cover will be the engine nacelles. I need to apply some more flat white first to cover some thin spots that I noticed. After that it’s game on.

The F-22 made its own debut finally. Not much was accomplished with just the parts getting clipped from the sprue trees. I’d like to see them make their way onto some alligator clips and get some preliminary paint applied this weekend. A very achievable goal in my opinion.