defaoite62

I'm using Testor Metalizer paints applied with a brush then buffed to whatever sheen I want. Like most silver paints it has a tendancy to come off with handling So I'll have to touch it all up when I'm finshed with the model before it goes on the shelf and not be handled as much. I've found that by painting a part with aluminum and then going over it again with stainless steel, I can buff it out to an almost mirror shine. Aluminum alone is too bright in my opinion and has a a bad tendancy to rub off (See inside of compressor). The Stainless tones it down slightly and helps seal it so

Rotorhead, Thanks for the compliment. :D I hope I can do as well with the rest of the hot section. I bought this kit back in the early 90's when it was reissued for about $20. Some of the kits I've seen online are going for $200-300. I'm sure there's a collector or two out there that are pulling their hair out right now. Def

I've got the compressor section and accessory drive pretty much complete. Looking down the air inlet. Right hand side. Bleed air ducts and Bleed valves and Ignition Exciter Box. Left Hand side showing the Distribution box, Ainti-icing Solenoid and Ignition Relay box. Here's a little detail note for you. I'm not sure about other places, but the Navy has a color code system for lines inside their aircraft. Fuel and oil fittings are often anodized yellow. Air line fittings are anodized blue and hydraulic line fittings are red. This is usually done inside of the airframe and engine

I've got the compressor spool completed and the casing pieces ready.I broke a couple of the compressor blades off but they were easily fixed. There was quite a bit of flash especially around the leading edges of the blades and stators. I painted the insides of the casing pieces and the stators Testors Metalizer Aluminum while the blades I painted stainless steel. On the real engines the outside of the casing is a sort of powdery grey. I believe it may be some type of ceramic coating to dissipate heat. I painted mine Testors aircraft grey. Take extra care when installing the stators in

Hmmm, The divorce might be worth it Here's a little hint: when cutting the compressor wheels off of the parts sprues be extra careful and use a fresh exacto blade. I broke three blades off a wheel last night and I'm going to have to figure out how to repair them. Now I'm afraid to cut any more off. Def

Awsum, thanks! :D Def

I need some white lettering decals printed. I can probably do the artwork and even provide the decal sheets. But I can't print in white. Is there someonone out there that can do it for me or recommend someone who can?? Thanks, Def

During my first hitch in the Navy I worked on the P-3 Orion. During that time I was assigned in the intermediate maintenance level T-56 shop for a year working almost exclusively with Allison T-56 turboprop engines. I bought this kit many years ago and have been saving it until I could set up an "I love me" wall. I believe this kit was originally done back in the 60's and has opening sides so you can see the interior workings. The engine spins, showing off working gears, compressor and turbine. The propellor hub can be rotated to change the prop pitch. The kit comes with squared off

What color Viper? Photos I've found of the Mark VII Viper show it's color ranging from light to medium grey to blue. I even found a discussion on the web where they were saying the Gallactica Vipers were grey while the Pegasus Vipers were blue. The full scale mock up prop used in the series is clearly an almost metallic blue. The instruction sheet that came with the model calls for Chrysler engine blue while the photos on the box show a sort of mottled grey. After masking, I sprayed my model with Testors Intemediate Blue (FS35164)and gave it a dusting of Light Ghost Grey (FS36375). My

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to this but life tends to get in the way of my model building. Last weekend I managed to make a lot of good progress on this one. It might have been easier to cut away everthing but the top rail and build the rest of the cockpit from scratch. By the time I cut everything out of the way I didn't want, there wasn't much left. The top rails, front control panel, center console and a small amount of floor. As it was, the center console visibly is off center to the left which means there's far more room on the right side than on the left side. I made

Thanks for the replies. I used copper wire from an old extension cord for the antenna wires. On the EP-3, The ends were fed through tiny holes drilled into the fuselage and super glued in place. I then drilled a small hole through the verticle stabilizer and fed one wire through to make a loop then fed the other wires through the loop, pulled them tight and glued them down. The antenna wires are one of the toughest parts because they're a bear to pull tight and get them straight, pull too hard and the wire breaks and you gotta start over. If you look closely you can see a few slight ben

I've decided to take a break from my "I love me" wall stuff and have a little fun. I've got a Viper Mark VII from Battlestar Galactica that's been sitting around for a few months. I think it will make a nice addition to my Viper collection as I already have the Colonial Viper from the original series and a Viper Mark II from the new show. This is the 1/32 scale Viper made by Mobeus Models. I picked it up at my local hobby shop shortly after it was realeased. It's a fairly simple model with nice surface detail. The fit is pretty good with the top and bottom halves of the fuselage going to

Nuthin like a day late and a dollar short. New pics are here Def

This started out as a simple display base for my EP-3 and EA-3 and it's fast becoming a diorama. I'm trying to capture the VQ-1 flight line around 1982. Which is the time frame I was stationed there. I added some figures from the Fujimi 1/72 carrier deck crew kit. I wasn't pleased with the tow tractor that came with this kit since it's mostly used on carriers. I sctratch built a JG-75 tow tractor. The NC-8 is from the 1/72 Verlinden kit. It's only about half complete. I'd like to display the NC-8 with the back open and the cable pulled out. I'm going to have to hog out the back with

Thanks for your replies. djparkins doesn't have paypal. The other guy does but it didn't work either since it goes through our bank account. I have a couple of things I want to try before I give up. We had an incident a few months ago where some clown in India tried to charge $180 to our paypal when we didn't order anything. We put a stop on it and it froze our bank account for a couple of days until they could get it straightened out. The bank was really cool about it and even gave us a small loan to hold us over until our account was freed up. I can understand putting certain coun