Paintapalooza

Well it’s about time! The weather indeed warmed up today and I seized the opportunity to take advantage of what I could not grasp for the past few weeks. Whew! It feels great to finally be over the hump and on my way to finishing these kits up. Even with my victory today, plenty of work remains to be completed. 

I will start off with the elder of the group in the Fw 190. The belly has been repainted today and now has a consistent color throughout. Tomorrow morning will see the underside and lower portions of the fuselage masked off for another round of paint. 

Next up is the Polikarpov. Not much was completed as far as the big picture is concerned. I opted to paint the yellow engine cowl, waist band, and wing-tips first. I will need to add a second coat tomorrow due to inconsistency in the paint. I’m not sure if it was the cold or if I just mixed it too thin. Either way, it needs to be fixed. I will get a quick coat on tomorrow and be able to move forward with it.

The Macchi was the lone kit to not receive any paint today. I forgot to install the wind screen and needed to address that task before I can move on to paint. Some filler will be needed in one spot and hopefully I can get it started by at least Friday.

The Wildcat and Harrier made it to the airbrush today as well. The Harrier is finished aside from some touch-ups. I would like to start decals sometime tomorrow. The Wildcat needs to masked off and get the last color painted on. I’m still waiting on decals for this kit so I’m not in a massive hurry to get this one finished. 

   

Let’s Clear Some Kits Out

Whew! It has been quite a rough week. Anything model related has become a distant reality as of late. My weekend started off hopeful until I ended up having to double at work on Saturday. Now I don’t mind doubles too much but it was my most hated one, 6am-10pm. Sunday was basically a recovery day and back to work at 10pm for another double (10pm-1pm) and yet another double today. Three in four days isn’t a record for me but I am very thankful that it is over. The next two days are wide open for some hardcore model building. Well, painting to be exact.

The Wildcat and Harrier were officially changed to paint status with their bellies being painted flat white. They now join the Fw-190, Polikarpov, and Macchi for their place at the airbrush. We are currently getting a nice snowstorm as I type so who knows what tomorrow will reveal. If the temperature rises to over 30 degrees, I will give it a brave try. 

 Building may not have been getting addressed the past few days but a new kit has been thrown into the fray. I was looking through my built kits and my eyes stopped on an F-16 from a few years ago. It’s been about two years since I made one so I felt the urge to get one out. Kind of. I really didn’t know where I wanted to go with this so I pondered on it and remembered about a kit that I bought on close out from Tower Hobbies. It was actually just used to get over $50.00 so I could get free shipping. So I grabbed Hasegawa’s 1/72 Mitsubishi F-2A. Not technically an F-16 but close enough. There are distinct differences but the look very much resembles an F-16. It’s a joint project from Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi for the J.A.S.D.F. 

   
The kit looks fantastic so far. Very well made with the rare find to a Hasegawa kit in the ordinance. Country specific ordinance to be more thorough. No need to supplement with an ordinance set. The assembly is different in the fuselage which becomes a nice new challenge to receive. I will stick with the 60th anniversary scheme. I think the blues and the markings set it off real well. I’m up to four now and I think it’s time to cut myself off. The workbench is getting pretty full between all the new kits and the ones awaiting paint. Hopefully this week will bring piles of change with it.

Why Not?

The rules had to be broken eventually right? My two build slow down has been compromised by me adding another kit to the workbench. The idea of building the Canberra PR.9 instead of its American cousin B-57G wasn’t sitting too well with me. Now there’s certainly nothing wrong with the PR.9 and I’m happy to have the chance to build it. My reasoning for the add on other than just “I want to”, is that I think it will be a fantastic opportunity to see the differences in such a similar design. 

So the Italeri kit is the same kit that I built a few years ago. The only difference that I can see so far are the FLIR and LLTV blisters on the nose. If I remember correctly, I had a decent time with the “B” variant so I would expect the same out of this kit. I did forget to add nose weights and I won’t make that mistake again. This will be a fun parallel build.  

    
 

Adding More To The Paint Docket

The Harrier and Wildcat are coming along quite nicely and it’s looking like they will join the backlog of kits needing their skin very soon. Last night provided a mini-session at the workbench that reaped satisfying results. Starting off with the Wildcat, I really didn’t get a whole lot accomplished. It really comes down to what I accomplished. The wing roots were sanded and look pretty good to proceed. They still need primer but in my own judgment, they’ll pass. The horizontal stabilizers were the other facet of my brief time with the Wildcat last night. With those affixed and after a good coat of primer, it will be time to move on to paint. 

 Onto the Harrier, I am quite pleased with the progress from yesterday. The exhaust nozzles, air intakes, and the belly cannons were installed. There will be a little bit more prep work involved before I can transition into final paint, but not too much. The interior of the air intakes need to be painted beforehand as well as masked off. I think I will take the very easy way out and use silly putty for this task. The only other major item is the cannons. The halves kept snapping in half when I was trying to sand the seams so I decided to attach them first to provide more support so they don’t continue to break. So obviously I need to finish sanding them down and add some filler in a few tiny areas. Not a big job. I better get moving on the airbrush soon or I am going to be in a pickle very soon. We are supposed to get a snow storm this week so I am starting to sweat it. 

 

Moving On

Even with my struggles to make my way out to the airbrush, I’m always in a progressive frame of mind. I hope I don’t bury myself with halfway finished kits awaiting paint but the wings are officially on the Wildcat and Harrier so I will be foregoing with the next two builds. 

The only criteria involved with my decision was to build post WWII. There are quite a few piston driven aircraft filling up my shelf so I need to balance out a bit. My first choice has been a finalist too many times to count here at my workbench. I do this quite often and eventually they make there way in. So first up is Hasegawa’s 1/72 F9F-8 Cougar. The kit looks great so far. I can’t see any issues with flashing or problem areas so I’m excited to get started. 

   
The second kit will be one of my newest editions to my stash in Revell’s 1/72 Canberra PR.9. The original plan was to get this kit built sometime this year, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. I was leaning towards the American B-57G Canberra but I have already built a “B” version so I thought it would be prudent to go with the British variant. I think I made the right choice. The only problem I see is the starkness to the kit. I’m going to have to figure out a way to add some details to the exterior. I’ll be looking for a boarding ladder for sure and maybe some new landing gear. Other than that, this should be a fun kit. 

 
 

Slowly Gaining Momentum

Okay. This weekend hasn’t gone exactly like I originally had hoped for. That said, I don’t think it has gone terribly. The airbrush remains dormant even though we had an amazing day of 65 degrees yesterday. I was gone for most of the day so I will use that as my excuse. Today is back in the thirties so it was yet another day of not getting any paint flowing. 

All the underachieving aside, I have been fairing pretty well on the Harrier and Wildcat. I have just been trying to keep a good pace going and working as diligently as possible. I finished up the fuselage seams on both kits yesterday and went ahead and attached the wings. The wing roots looked fantastic on the Harrier so I also affixed the horizontal stabilizers. The wing roots on the Wildcat aren’t terrible but needed a small application of filler. 

It is feeling like I am on the home stretch with both builds now. If I get some time tonight, I want to get the nose section attached on the Harrier and fill any gaps where needed. I would also like to try and get the Wildcat’s wings sanded and primed. Not a massive to do list so I think it’s achievable. 

  

  

Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

Instead of continually complaining about how I can’t get out to the airbrush to get some much needed painting completed, I will embrace the opportunity to use the extra time to devote towards the Harrier and Wildcat builds. They remain the only positive on the workbench for now. I hope the weekend will bring better results but I have plenty of work to keep me occupied with the Wildcat and Harrier. 

The Wildcat is extremely sparse in the cockpit department so it was basically just skipping that step and attaching the fuselage halves together. It looks like it will sand well and I think I can make it without any filler. Fingers crossed! The wings were also assembled and await the sanding of the leading edges. The wings look worse than the fuselage so that is kind of encouraging. 

 The Harrier is coming along nicely as well. The main fuselage was assembled a few days ago while I worked on the cockpit/nose section. I finished up the cockpit last night and installed it this morning. The seams look promising on this one as well so I’m hoping for an easy sand and onto wing assembly. The weekend looks extremely open for progress and I plan on size in every bit of it.

   

Poor Effort

Okay, the past five days have been like walking through molasses. I can’t seem to find an edge to grab ahold of to get a good grip on all of my pending builds. The weather has been my biggest enemy thus far with cold temperatures making an unwanted appearance. It’s 32 degrees out today so I may be able to head out to the airbrush today. The Fw-190 and Polikarpov need they’re bellies painted and the Macchi has it’s underside finished and masked off for the initial upper painting. The Harrier and Wildcat builds are slowly coming around. I have completed preliminary paint and hopefully I can get deeper involved later tonight or tomorrow. Little gains are all I can expect for now. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and be left dissatisfied with my efforts. 

    
  

We’re Getting Closer

The hope for the start to this week was to piggyback my weekend success into the same progress that I so very much enjoyed. Here we are three days into the week and there hasn’t been all that much activity at the workbench. At least not as much as I had planned for. I came into work early today (9a-9p) and the same goes for tomorrow so any actual model work getting accomplished is a bonus now. 

The temperature keeps playing head games and has dropped back down to a frosty 19 degrees. The Fw 190 will remain grounded until at least Monday. 

The Polikarpov is fairing well with all the filling and sanding complete. The engine cowling was installed yesterday and I passed the sanding test on my first attempt. I primed it this morning with excellent results. There are a few little projects like ordinance to address before I can begin final paint. 

    
The Macchi is doing just as well. I finished up with sanding yesterday and primed it along with the Polikarpov. Great results ensued so I am very happy with this build. Final paint will take place so with this kit. 

   
I’m doing great at sticking to the two builds at once rule that I put in place a few weeks ago. It’s hard at times and I do have a stack of kits ready to be started. The Harrier and Wildcat have not been started yet, but I think now is as good a time as any to begin. I’ll only have about an hour in the morning to maybe get them on their respective work boards for preliminary paint. My best bet is to hold tight and get started over the weekend. 

Great Weekend

To measure how successful a weekend was, I don’t normally base it off of how far I actually get. I tend to be happy with little quality gains and anything else is extra credit. This past weekend was one of those rarities where I get farther than I really planned for. 

The Fw 190 could have gotten a little farther for my taste but I’m still sitting pretty good. The waist band was painted RLM 23 on Saturday and then masked off yesterday. The underside needs to be repainted due to some color differences from the initial painting. I’m not exactly sure how it happened but the fact is that it did and it needs to be fixed. Certainly not my worst mistake. I’m thinking tomorrow will be a great day to get that addressed. 

 The true success came in the Polikarpov and Macchi builds. Both kits have performed quite well and as you can see are almost finished with construction. The Macchi has a few gaps to fill and the Polikarpov has just the wing roots to address so far. The picture was taken before I attached the fuselage to the lower wing. I’m happy with my progress and feeling very motivated to keep up the pace.