Plastic modeling

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Good points. Extra Thin won't do anything for resin or metal. But tube glue seriously sucks.

I suppose there's a chance you could always come back and say, "Braff, you're opinions on poly cement are bad and you should feel bad," but I'm pretty confident you will love it.

You could always order from MegaHobby.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Cockpit, engine, and landing parts have been painted and lacquered. Will apply a weathering wash tomorrow, a decal to the instrument panel, and then continue assembling.

Cockpit painting is usually one of my favorite steps, but the detail on this old kit is poor and--like a Hollywood biopic--only loosely based in reality. Many of features are flat-out inaccurate or poorly represented, so determining what color to paint them became a challenge. Online resources weren't much help, either, since no two examples were alike. In the end, I just kind of winged it.

However, I did have fun dry brushing the cylinder heads and picking out the crankcase bolts. Instructions specified black for the crankcase, but the primer grey looked right, so I left it as is. Backside of the props were painted black.

And here's my version of aotake--two parts metallic green mixed with one part transparent blue. Such a neat color and way more interesting than the omnipresent zinc chromate.

Should have some finished pics of the "office" by tomorrow evening, as well as some build shots of the fuselage, wings, and empennage glued up.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Aotake appears to trigger the same passions as Caunter camo.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Rivet counters gotta have something to talk about.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Cockpit is finished and ready to disappear inside the fuselage. Most of this detail won't be visible, which is probably a good thing.

One of my favorite tricks is to dab a little PVA (white glue) on any dials. Hard to tell from pictures, but this technique results in a glassy, three-dimensional appearance. The IP dials are from a decal.

Aaaand the two dials visible on the left-handed console were hand painted.

Here's the bulk of my customization for this kit: drilling "lightening holes" for the bucket seat and aft cockpit bulkhead, and fashioning a harness and lap belts from masking tape with buckles and fasteners made from a single strand of 14-2 electrical wire.

From overhead showing the right-handed consoles, which don't actually exist, at least, not as abstracted here.

Probably overdid it with the wear and weathering. This will be a Pearl Harbor-era Zero, before the IJN and IJA overworked their planes out of desperation. Japanese pilots also had a reputation for fastidiousness, with some allegedly washing down their planes after every mission.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Division Blindee LeClerc fixin to go under the primer.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Holy shit, that's a lot of polystyrene!

Are you going to detail and weather everything after primer and basecoating? That's gonna be a full-time job, sir.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

3 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Holy shit, that's a lot of polystyrene!

Are you going to detail and weather everything after primer and basecoating? That's gonna be a full-time job, sir.

I have a cheap and easy method of weathering that preserves the dark shadows and lightest highlights.

1. Prime black.

2. Using flat brush, build up chalky white highlights. I brush across the cracks, so recessed areas stay black. On things like tanks, this gives a streaky look, like grime has washed down the side unevenly.

3. When that is all bone dry, stain with thinned paint. The thin paint barely tints the highest areas, giving them a sun-bleached look. Pools deeper down, where there is less (or not any) white.

Then I go back in and pick out insignia, little details & such.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Black primer is dry, adding the grubby white undercoat.

[atomheartbevo 89180]

I like to poke through the Internet Archive every now and then, and came across this book which was recently added - it's from a B-26/A-26 group during the Korean War.

https://archive.org/details/devilsowngrim1952/mode/2up

Kind of a cool/informal look at a combat squadron (13th), and lots of photos if any of you ever do an A-26 model.

Shitload of MIAs.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Thanks for sharing that, @atomheartbevo. The Invader has been a favorite since I was a boy. It was a beast of a plane: good performance, good armament and bombload, and with a long service life.

All the twin-engined Douglas medium bombers (e.g., including the DB-7/Boston/A-20 Havoc) were pretty awesome.\

I saved the book as PDF because one of these days, I just might build up an Invader. Unfortunately, there are only three current kits in 1:48 as far as I'm aware--two by ICM and the third from Revell of Germany, which I think is just a reboxing of the old Monogram kit. The Revell/Monogram kit has issues, but it costs half as much as the ICM offerings.

I'd probably drop $70 on the ICM if it were the glass-nosed -C model. Don't think there's ever been a better-looking twin-engined bomber, although Lockheed's PV-1 Ventura might object.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Painting 1/3 of the mob. This is the stage where I have to take it on faith because I hate how it looks until the last step of black, which is yet to be done.

I stain-paint clothes and vehicles, and do a traditional full-strength shading on helmets where I build it up with lighter coats (not done yet in this photo.)

[wd40 1976]

we need to get RD a macro lens.

you boys are inspiring.  that A/B-26 is badass.  I remember studying it after reading Bay of Pigs, some years back.  so I'd probably do the Fake Cuban air force version, or a Farmgate version if I can find a decal set for it.  I like the goofy one-offs.  

[atomheartbevo 89180]

17 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Thanks for sharing that, @atomheartbevo. The Invader has been a favorite since I was a boy. It was a beast of a plane: good performance, good armament and bombload, and with a long service life.

All the twin-engined Douglas medium bombers (e.g., including the DB-7/Boston/A-20 Havoc) were pretty awesome.\

I saved the book as PDF because one of these days, I just might build up an Invader. Unfortunately, there are only three current kits in 1:48 as far as I'm aware--two by ICM and the third from Revell of Germany, which I think is just a reboxing of the old Monogram kit. The Revell/Monogram kit has issues, but it costs half as much as the ICM offerings.

I'd probably drop $70 on the ICM if it were the glass-nosed -C model. Don't think there's ever been a better-looking twin-engined bomber, although Lockheed's PV-1 Ventura might object.

Yeah, I used to do just the models, without much research.  Now,  I want a bit of history to them.

Love the intro from 1952:

THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED BY AND FOR THE PERSONNEL 
OF THE 13TH BOMB SQUADRON. EDITORIAL VIEWS EXPRES¬ 
SED IN THIS PUBLICATION ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE 
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE. CONTENTS OF 
THIS BOOK MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN 
PERMISSION OF THE C.O. OF THE 13th BOMB SQUADRON. 

ALSO 

PEOPLE WHO READ THIS BOOK MUST BE CRAZY. 

Saw the book was dedicated to a Lt. Col. Walter S. King, and noticed that hew as listed as MIA in the book.  A few minutes on the web, and turns out he was a Texan.  Nice memorial to him in Scranton, Tx.

His widow forwarded some information on about 10 years ago, about DOD efforts and info - while DOD continues to look for the MIAs, he had a 1,000-pound bomb explode as it left his A-26.  No chance in hell he survived that, and doubt there would be remains.

http://3rdstories.yolasite.com/resources/King/WSK.pdf

And he was in the running for having Abilene's Air Force Base named for him.

http://3rdstories.yolasite.com/walter-s-king.php

[RDCanecutter 26133]

4 hours ago, wd40 said:

we need to get RD a macro lens.

you boys are inspiring.  that A/B-26 is badass.  I remember studying it after reading Bay of Pigs, some years back.  so I'd probably do the Fake Cuban air force version, or a Farmgate version if I can find a decal set for it.  I like the goofy one-offs.  

One of our family friends in the Air Force (Alabama Air Nat'l Guard?) was involved with communications during the Bay of Pigs, had to listen to those guys getting shot down.

Edited June 20, 2020 by RDCanecutter

[wd40 1976]

that sucks, man.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

14 minutes ago, wd40 said:

that sucks, man.

Well, it didn't suck as bad as getting shot down.

[TwiceHorn 30853]

Painstaking work friends.

As I last built a model as a 12 or 13 year-old, my mind boggles, although I'm sure my patience has increased somewhat, if not my skill.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

Painstaking work friends.

As I last built a model as a 12 or 13 year-old, my mind boggles, although I'm sure my patience has increased somewhat, if not my skill.

Dude. Whenever you want to jump back in, say the word, and I'll just give you something to play with.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

19 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Whenever you want to jump back in, say the word, and I'll just give you something to play with.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

9 hours ago, wd40 said:

that A/B-26 is badass.

I always favor the solid-nosed version of an aircraft, but the A-26C is the exception. Just something happens to the profile that makes it look awesome in my eyes (even though the -B model has all those .50 cals).

To wit:

Spoiler

I mentioned the Lockheed Ventura up thread. It's a very different aircraft but equally appealing to the eye, especially when finished in the three-tone, mid-war Navy livery. I need to get my hands on that relatively new (2011) Revell kit.

Spoiler

 

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Putting a little full-strength black here and there.

That's a 1/144 Minicraft B-25 I'd put together so long ago that it had a wine spill on it. The P-40 is a 1/100 printed piece that seriously needs some bondo, very rough finish, but it'll make a fine game piece.

[wd40 1976]

moar pics of ur tanks, plz

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Super boring update:

Finally had time to work on the Reisen this week. Primed the plane on Tuesday. Used the "black base" technique and followed that with white mottling last night. They combine to give depth, an illusion of the random effects of time and weather.

I'll show the first two steps here and hide the rest in a spoiler tag.

Lots of mistakes, but not too worry cuz they were soon covered up. Probably should've used my Iwata for the fine close-up work. Still, the $30 "Master" did well enough.

Spoiler

After first layer of base:

After second:

Just about there, but needed some touch up to balance out some areas that were under-coated. So third layer (no flash this time for more accurate color):

Unfortunate aspect of this old kit: many (most?) of the panel lines are raised, which means they tend to disappear under base coats and won't pop with a wash. So I lightly sanded on them with 2000 grit and then sealed everything with a gloss coat. 

The gloss coat unfortunately left an orange peel finish. Maybe one of these days, I'll learn to lay them down smoothly.

Tomorrow, I'll affix decals and a weather wash.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

tora tora tora.

 

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Did a thin black stain of all the vehicles to simulate gloom, sleep deprivation, and existential dread.

Next up are insignias. The Free French had their own deal, lots of small emblems that I will approximate by hand. Not sure how often they used the Allied Star. Be kinda nice if they didn't, less work for me.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Ze Free Froggies are, 'ow you say, ready.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Hell, yeah. Well done, sir.

That's a lot of frogs.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Thanks man. I can't even see straight. Not totally happy with the sheen of the spray sealer -- even though France is wet, and things really do have a satin finish-- but in military modelling there is the cult of the matte finish.

I get best results with Tree House Studio matte coating, available either at Covid Lobby, or via mule train because it has to go surface mail. I'm almost out, and using lesser brands to do the work, with a dusting of Tree House on top. Ain't happy. But probably obsessing.

[wd40 1976]

11 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Hell, yeah. Well done, sir.

That's a lot of once-dropped rifles.

fixed

Looks great!  there's one sherman there in the middle of the last pic that I swear has a Dracula face in the camo pattern, with a big yellow dot on his forehead.

but I'm probably just a little punchy from my ride, this afternoon.  

[RDCanecutter 26133]

You have seen the Face of Dracula, which means he has chosen you.

The yellow dots are weight insignia, should have little black numbers on them. Maybe I'll put black dots.

[Chad Fuck 17362]

Beautiful work. Really outstanding.

Of course the rivet counters would let you know that the red dot in the US roundel was nixed in 1942. But that looks like an homage to Belushi in “1941” so it gets a pass.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

3 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

Beautiful work. Really outstanding.

Of course the rivet counters would let you know that the red dot in the US roundel was nixed in 1942. But that looks like an homage to Belushi in “1941” so it gets a pass.

The P-40 is meant to be early war, for fighting toy Japanese in the Phillippines with other toys. It and the B-25 got mixed in with the Free French because when daddy pops open a bucket of OD green, everybody gets painted OD green.

But the red dot should never have been dropped. We should restore it now.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Just got a shipment of crafty stuff from Michael's. Being hard-headed I was going to ignore all advice and stick with my old crappy tube glue, but Michael's was out of that, so I went with the Testors liquid stuff.

It ain't bad. I have to pace it differently, because it dries slowly, but it doesn't leave little spider web strands like tube glue, or chew up your fingertips like super-glue.

The half-tracks and dudes with weapons were all assembled with Gorilla super-glue (pretty good stuff, for the stoic.) The Venus de Milo guys were done with the brush-on liquid stuff. Much more relaxing work, with two windows wide open next to me.

[Player 4575]

2 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Just got a shipment of crafty stuff from Michael's. Being hard-headed I was going to ignore all advice and stick with my old crappy tube glue, but Michael's was out of that, so I went with the Testors liquid stuff.

It ain't bad. I have to pace it differently, because it dries slowly, but it doesn't leave little spider web strands like tube glue, or chew up your fingertips like super-glue.

The half-tracks and dudes with weapons were all assembled with Gorilla  guerrilla super-glue (pretty good stuff, for the stoic.) The Venus de Milo guys were done with the brush-on liquid stuff. Much more relaxing work, with two windows wide open next to me.

fify

 

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

The Tamiya Extra Thin I recommended dries very quickly. I've never used the Testors Liquid Cement but I imagine it is more viscous and therefore needs more time.

One knock against the Tamiya Extra Thin is, it does not form as strong a bond/weld. It is best for small pieces, for joins that won't be under load/stress, or for smoothing engraved panel lines, etc.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

12 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

The Tamiya Extra Thin I recommended dries very quickly. I've never used the Testors Liquid Cement but I imagine it is more viscous and therefore needs more time.

One knock against the Tamiya Extra Thin is, it does not form as strong a bond/weld. It is best for small pieces, for joins that won't be under load/stress, or for smoothing engraved panel lines, etc.

I honestly thought the Testor's was what you had said. It popped up on the Michael's site as the only glue they had ready to ship, so I decided to try it. Ain't no biggy.

These are game pieces, so they need durability more than any other quality. I give those fiddly bits on the halftracks about two months of active gaming before they're all history.

[wd40 1976]

poke yourself in the finger with the exact-o, RD?

I didn't realize how big an industry you're in.  seems like a lot of folks doing this sort of work.  but I like your style (heavy weathering and despair) .

[RDCanecutter 26133]

23 hours ago, wd40 said:

poke yourself in the finger with the exact-o, RD?

I didn't realize how big an industry you're in.  seems like a lot of folks doing this sort of work.  but I like your style (heavy weathering and despair) .

That is a popped blister from my other hobby, pulling up clumps of crabgrass by the root.

I actually did stab myself in the ring finger, not visible in the photos. It ain't a real model until there's blood on it.

Thanks for the kind words. I have used many a mud splash to cover up my own glue fingerprints.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Goofin around.

Parts of 1/48 Tamiya Pz II, 1/56 Rubicon Pz IV, resin Army Group North Miniatures 1/56 M3 Honey, and resin 1/56 Indian Pattern Carriers from Bolt Action (?), they're the nicest resin castings I've ever seen.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Nice kitbashing there, RD.

I save all my unused parts and sprues but have yet to work up the courage.

[RDCanecutter 26133]

Didn't really glue any of that together. Just having fun.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Finally made some time for the Zero this weekend. She's currently lying on her top, waiting for the landing gear to fully cure. Her powerplant, prop, and cowling await nearby.

Plenty of touch-up and detailing still to go, but decals, washes, and general wear have been applied. Without the engine and cowling, she's reminiscent of a Val dive bomber.

Tamiya's decals are infamously thicc. They sit proud despite many applications of softener. I should've hand-painted the hinomarus and squadron markings. Not liking how the "wing walk" wear turned out, either. Oh, well.

Thought I could get away with not filling in the EPMs (ejector pin marks) on the inside of the landing gear covers, but I was wrong.

Neglecting the build for two-and-a-half months didn't help with chipping. After much persuasion, the topcoat did pull away, but the result was unpredictable and haphazard.

Still, for nearly 50-year-old molds, the kit isn't half bad.

Should have her finished up within a few days, then it's on to the F4F-4.

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Applied a satin varnish to the Reisen this morning. All that's left now is some touch-up around the cockpit and then the infamous "greenhouse" canopy, which I've procrastinated to the point of absurdity.

Next project is already underway. Mentioned upthread what it would be, but here's a tease to refresh memories.

Spoiler

The "office" mocked up with sticky tack.

 

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

The Reisen is finally finished. Have also made good headway on the Wildcat, but I'll save that for another post.

Painting the A6M2's greenhouse canopy was even worse than expected. Needed three hours just to mask it, and even then for pretty meh results. Tamiya used a strange combination of raised and recessed panes, so finding the seams under tape was extremely difficult. Used every trick in the book--bright light, burnishing with a toothpick, fresh blade, all for naught. Still, for less than $12 and seeing as how the molds are nearly 50 years old, the kit is a helluva good deal.

Didn't glue the center section, so it can be removed/repositioned to expose the cockpit interior.

If you're desperately curious to see more, feel free to open the spoiler.

Spoiler

 

[RDCanecutter 26133]

I like that exhaust schmutz.

[atomheartbevo 89180]

I browse kickstarter for all kinds of things every few weeks, and came across this - around 60 hours left.  We Americans can only get the digital plans for $32 though, wish they shipped here from the UK, but I get that it would be heavy.  @RDCanecutter and @Braff Zacklin you all may find this interesting, but y'all probably have plenty of room.

I am thinking I might pick up the plans, or look around Etsy/Amazon/etc. for something similar, really dig the idea of having something this small - would be perfect for my level of modeling these days.

I would buy the shit out of this thing.

Edited September 28, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[RDCanecutter 26133]

18 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

but y'all probably have plenty of room.

 

 

In theory, I have a dedicated 6' table and surrounding shelves for my work space.

In practice, accretions of books, paints, random crap, etc have grown up on them like coral reefs, and I do my modelling on a surface about 2' square.

Regardless, this little box is cool. It'd make a great travel kit. CSB: back in 2001 there was a stretch where I painted minis to eat. One day I was sitting in a car jetting up I-35 putting finishing touches on some WW1 British infantry so I could get paid that week, complaining about my girlfriend driving all Nascar because her lane-changes were messing up the brush work.

I bet she really misses me.

[atomheartbevo 89180]

@Braff Zacklin @RDCanecutter you all may find this interesting.  Rough translation, from an interview with the head of Tamiya.  Basically there's been a huge model and supply shortage due to covid, meaning a lot more people are doing plastic models.

https://tamiyablog.com/2020/12/popular-plastic-model-due-to-nesting-chairman-shunsaku-tamiya-speaks-of-worldwide-shortage/

Quote

Plastic models are selling. It is said that sales of related products have also increased, as it is seen as “needing demand” due to the new coronavirus. That popular anime has also been made into a plastic model, and it is expected that model fans will expand. However, according to the top executives of each manufacturer, it seems that the sails are not always smooth.

“It has increased by more than 30% year-on-year. Production is not in time and there are not enough products worldwide,” said Shunsaku Tamiya, chairman of model giant Tamiya (Shizuoka City). I have been involved in plastic models for more than half a century, but I am surprised that “models of ships I designed in my 30s and 40s are also selling. This is the first time for me.”

According to Tamiya, not only plastic models, radio-controlled models, and Mini 4WD, but also tool nippers, paints, adhesives, etc. are sold as a whole, and some are still in short supply. The person in charge speculates that “there are fewer people going out and many people have started making plastic models at home.” Corona has restricted the operation of overseas factories, so it is said that it has recruited new employees in Japan.

 

[Braff Zacklin 13306]

Yes, prices have gone up significantly since the pandemic first began to spread. Demand is high, and supply is (supposedly) lower. For example, kits one could find on eBay a year ago for $17, shipped, are now closer to $30.

I suspect it's a bit of a manufactured shortage, a la the semiconductor industry, but I'm a cynical ass, so the truth might be elsewhere.