Some Upcoming Projects - November 24, 2014

Some of the things I have been working on, may not be the next one though..

Sherman Winter camo (combo Dragon, Tamiya, Tank Workshop)

Tamiya 35 Scale Tiger I Mid Production

Tamiya 35 Willys Jeep

Tamiya 48 Scale Gloster Meteor

Canadian LAV III Afghanistan - Final Update November 23, 2014

I am now ready to call this done.

Just had to make a few final tweaks.

Looks for added tow cable and concertina, reworked stowage and Coleman cooler Orange to tone it down.

I have a few models in the works, will probably throw a shot up of all of them soon..

Sherman whitewashed, 

48 scale Hurricane Mk I with Johnny Ken marking from Sept 1940 with 303 Sdn

Tamiya Tiger I Mid production
Bronco M24 Chaffee
Tamyia Jeep

Canadian LAV III Afghanistan - Update October 7, 2014

Very close to the finish line.
I have some stops and starts with waiting for eBay. I started with tamiya tape straps and that wasn't t what I was looking for. I found some photo etch Stryker straps and that proved to be the answer.

So other than a big more stowage (tow cable, razor wire, C6 machine gun), I am playing a bit with the dust and weathering.

This one is coming close to what I had pictured. I even made a base, for the first time in my life. Now if I could only do figures....

Hasegawa 72 scale B-17F Update August 20, 2014

I have been waiting on some after market things to move this one along.
I needed the grey fuselage letter decals, as opposed to the yellow ones that come with the kit.
They came today (from eBay).

In my research, I am not sure that the white triangles, the ship letter on the tail, etc, were ever used with Yellow fuselage letters. They may have for a day or two or ten, but with all the decals I wanted, I need to have grey letters to represent "Hells Angels" in late 1943.

Hells Angels was a ship from 303rd Bomb Group. They were one of the first 6 or 7 bomb groups to fly missions out of England with the 8th Air Force, starting in late 1942.

It was Hell Angels the airplane, that was first to complete 25 missions in Europe, with different crews I believe. "Memphis Belle" finished her 25th mission six days later (with the same crew for all 25, I believe).
Memphis Belle got the glory and went home out of it.

Hells Angels stayed on and completed 48 missions before being retired and sent home in January 1944 to become a training ship. She was scrapped in 1946.

Memphis Belle sat proudly in Memphis from 1946 til 2005, when the US Air Force Museum took it and is currently restoring it, to be put on display in 2018 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton Ohio.

I have most of it finished, just need to place the guns and glass.

I will put a coat of future over that, do some weathering.. I have streaks and wash/filter/fading in mind for this, more than I usually do on aircraft.

I will then seal it all with a Dullcote.

Progress so far. It is still shiny, won't be when it is done.

Hawker Typhoon 1B Finished!!!!

I finally finished something this year..

This is the Revell Typhoon. I wanted a quick build to get something done, however it took several months, No such thing as a quick build for me, I always take it too far, try to fix too many things, and try to make a simple kit perfect. However, I have the sense of accomplishment that I was looking for :)

This is out of the box, using my standard techniques,

Build
Prime with enamel
Base coat and Camo with Tamiya XF colorx (XF81/XF82/XF83 in this case)
Good coat of Pledge Floorcare Multi Surface Finish (formerly known as Future)
Decals (w/Micro set and Micro Sol - in that order)
Another coat of "Future"
Washes for recessed panel lines and edges
Dullcote
Pictures

Finished product....

Typhoon 1B
198 Sdn - June 1944
Just realized I never got a shot of the invasion strips on the bottom!

Cleansing Diversions July 27, 2014

As I was getting too intense with the LAV, I put it aside to take a break, and I took one an unfinished one from the shelf and started a new one from scratch.

The Testors Typhoon is standard Testors fair, but for me a quick build to try some painting techniques.

The Hasegawa 72nd scale  B-17 on the other hand, is a fine kit. Almost like Tamiya, this one almost fell together, everything was a fine fit. I got this from Dave at a recent Club day form the Swap Table. Thanks Dave!

I thought this might be a quick build, only two sprue's of parts and most of them large, but the build was quick, yes.. the painting, however.. I have already spent more time in finishing than building.

I wanted the seams to be completely gone so I used putty and then MR surfacer and did a trial primer, seams still there. So more putty, more sanding and it was ready to prime.

Since it had raised panel lines, pre shading (and post shading) are my only avenues for panel demarcation. So I painted the many panel lines with black, top and bottom, a lot of surface on this one.

The bottom was supposed to be Neutral Grey, but the Tamiya XF53 was too dark. I found a reference on the web, XF-53 with 1/3 rd white - tried that - looks good. My technique, as I saw Brett Green do years ago, was to fill in the colour between the preshading, and then mist the colour overall after. I did this for top and bottom. The top was supposed to be OD 41 which is supposed to be close to FS 23070 or 33070. I found a reference in IPMS Stockholm to 1 part XF62 Olive Drab, and one part XF49 Khaki Drab. This works for me. I painted between the preshading and misted over the whole topsides after.

OD 41 was used on USAAC aircraft until 1943, then replaced for the USAAF with FS 34084.

TO do this right, and according to references, there are a lot of small painting details. The top colour carries down on the lower undersides of the nacelles (eight sides to mask and blue tack), and under the tail as well. Then there are the de-icer boots to mask, which are straight on the wings, but curved on the horizontal stabilizer. Blue sticky tack for that too. The underside of the front nacelle carries the green all the way around, this needed two different maskings to accomplish.

Then there is the colour to represent fade on the control surfaces, which were fabric, while all other surfaces were metal...

Usually my patience starts to wain at this point but I am getting past it. A few more things to do and I can clear coat and decal it. Then put on the wheels, propellers and engine hubs.. Can't wait!

So far...

Canadian LAV III Afghanistan - Update July 27, 2014

Updated with more work on weathering and stowage. Stowage is dry fitted, or attached, need straps and some more stowage parts in progress.

This has been done since the first of July. I put it on the shelf for a break before I go back at it again.

In the meantime I have been poking at something else for a diversion..

Same model from same time, different picture treatments.

Canadian LAV III Afghanistan - Update June 29, 2014

A couple of little details painted, and the last bit of paint before I clear coat in order to start the weathering.
I painted the wheel wells Khaki Drab overall first, then shot it with Buff on the highlites, the back drop is then more brown than green for the areas not covered, simulating old dirt.

So far... First shot with old camera on the workbench with left side wheels dry fitted. They have been painted and weathered with light brown oil, then pigments over all that, each - 9 times including spare...

Second shot in the light tent with new camera.

Next is a coat of Future, then filters, washes with oil paints, and anything else.

To be continued.....