jrallman Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 This will be my build. Here is a shot of all the goodies. There is a bunch of nice resin in the box. Full cockpit and pasneger area, engines, exhausts, bombs, and wheels. The decals are from Draw Decals. He has a bunch of really cool Goose decals, including Cutter's Goose, but I wanted something from WWII that was a little atypical. The kit comes with decals for two tri color USN planes, one Gloss Dark Sea Blue USN plane, and one FAA plane. I considered the FAA markings but then I saw these USCG ones and had to give em a shot. I hope to start this weekend or early next week. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr Fester Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Looks a really nice kit Jay, and to have resin included is surely a bonus. Cheers Doc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eaglebeagle Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 ditto, looks like a nice kit, will be looking forward to in progress pics cheers Brad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 and a deal too! I picked it up a few months back when Squadron had all of the czech model stuff on sale, plus my local club gets an additional discount, so I got the kit for under $25 US. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 5, 2006 Author Share Posted December 5, 2006 Update, but no pics at the moment. I left the camera in the diaper bag and he is asleep now so I'll just get it tomorrow. This is a nicely detailed kit, but you would never mistake it for a tamigawa! Very much limited run here. The wheel wells have this big blob of an injector stub right in the middle of some nice fine ribbed detail. I dremmeled it off but couldnt get the ribbed detail to look right, so I decided the the wheel wells would have some non-ribbed plates right about there. works for me! I have started attaching the various interior bulkheads as well. they are all too wide for the fuse to close, by about 1/4"! I have to install on one side, the dremmel the other and test fit till the fuse closes. I will take a pic of the gap before I grind the last one down to show you. The cockpit sidewalls are resin, and beautifully done! very thin, nice detail, just drops right in place. Once I install the basic interior pieces, I will mix up some custom Bronze Green and shoot the interior. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
I-16 Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 Looking forward to seeing this one go together. Port Angeles is pretty close to home. CH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 5, 2006 Author Share Posted December 5, 2006 Well then, maybe some pictures from home of the real plane, early 40's. The second JRF Goose delivered to the USCG. If this build turns out OK, it will be dedicated to the brave men of the USCG who served to protect the US during WWII, and specifically the men of V176 who lost their lives when they crashed into Mt. Blyn Tues, April 6, 1943. Lcdr Frederick L Westbrook, Ltjg Carl Heussy, Aviation Radioman First Class Thurlow E. Kesner and Aviation Pilot First Class Earl H. Muyskens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr Fester Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 Jay, From the photos this Goose looked in tip top condition, are you going to weather it ? Cheers Doc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 5, 2006 Author Share Posted December 5, 2006 very minimal weathering since they seemed to keep her pretty clean. The decal artist used to live near the base and saw the real thing. He said that the plane was pretty clean, and that the extent of the weathering was to dull the glossiness of the silver/aluminum lacquer somewhat, so I will probably go with a semi-gloss finish. if you look at the middle photo, that is the dirtiest of the bunch, and even then it is pretty clean. probably just do the panel lines, some light exhaust stains, and that should about do it for weathering. I asked in the tools n tips forum but didnt get much response, so I will try here. This plane is mostly silver/aluminum lacquer, except for the wing tops in yellow and parts of the wing bottoms in NMF. Does anyone have a good paint or mix of paints to replicate silver/aluminum lacquer used pre-war and during the war? I use MM enamels, testors enamels, and alclads, so paints and mixes should be in those ranges. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew A. Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 Will be very interested to follow this build Jay- I have been coveting one of these kits since I picked up a set of decals for an RCAF example. I can see this is going to turn out to be one of my "buy a $50 kit to go with the decal sheet you scored for $5" deals! :P I picked it up a few months back when Squadron had all of the czech model stuff on sale, plus my local club gets an additional discount, so I got the kit for under $25 US. Score! :blink: I have seen some other reviews of this kit that indicate it's not exactly a shake n' bake so will save time off your hard work! Stupid question time- Is the Czech Model kit the same as the Signifier kit? Cheers, A Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 No, the Signifier kit is more detailed and more expensive. From the reviews I have read, the Signifier kit has even more resin to it than the Czech Model kit. I will say, the detail does show in the finished product, especially the rivet detail. Since this was a pre-war Grumman design, there were alot of rather obvious rivets on this plane. However, as you can see from the pics above, they didnt show on this color scheme, I think maybe the aluminum lacquer covered them pretty well. So far the fit issues I have had are things that others have noted in this kit, so not unexpected. If you do decide to get this kit, let me know and we can price it out, it may be cheaper for you to let me get it through my club and ship it to you than it would be for you to buy it yourself. Here are the pics that I promised. First one shows the wheel well, with the plate added to cover the blob of plastic that was previously there. Yes, almost everything is silver on the outside! Next are the nice and thin resin cockpit sidewalls. They installed very well and will add some nice detail, though the windows are small so not much will be seen. Here is the gap I was talking about due to the overly wide bulkheads. After dremmeling the bulkheads and dry fitting till the fuse closed nicely, I installed the interior floor and then dremmeled that to the proper width since it was a bit too wide as well. Also added the resin cockpit bulkhead, which has some nice detail on it. I removed the door so I can pose it open. One consequence of the resin sidewalls and bulkhead being so nice and thin is that they were all warped. The sidewalls were no big deal since I just glued and clamped them to the side of the fuse and they took the shape, but the bulkhead was another story. I decided to cut some toothpicks and glue them to the back of the bulkhead to straighten it out and brace it. even with the window right there, it will be so small and dark, you still probably wont see it when its closed up. Next I am going to shoot the bronze green interior then work on the detail painting and the instrument panel. Then put the seats in and close her up. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ranger74 Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 (edited) Nice work I have a 1/72 vac kit of this aircraft and your trick of using matchsticks to support the bulkhead may be useful. Thanks for sharing a good idea Jeff Edited December 13, 2006 by Ranger74 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 sure thing. I had thought about reinforcing with some styrene strip but to get it stiff enough to hold the resin in shape, it would have to be pretty thick, so i figured, why not try the square toothpicks? seems to work just fine, so bonus there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 Small update for you, well, small in pics, but took a god bit of time. I had to cut all the resin seats (4 cabin and 2 crew plus 2 crew seat supports) from their blocks and sand the bottoms flat. Then I mixed up some Bronze Green. I used 2 parts MM dark green and 1 part MM gloss black to get the nice dark semi gloss look of bronze green. The details will be mostly black. Then I will give it a wash and a dry brush with medium green and silver. Also test fitted the wing and found that I had to cut about 1/8" notch in the wing top where it meets the fuse. it was about 1/8" too far forward so that the leading edge stuck out past where the canopy piece joins up and the wing bottoms were not aligned with where the wing flares out from the fuse pieces. After cutting, it lined up much better. I will have pics of that once I glue and sand the wing and glue and sand the fuse. Thanks for looking! Overall inteior. You can see where I added the rear windows and painted over them. I didnt bother to blend them in on the inside becuase they wont be seen, even with the other passenger windows, it is pretty small and dark in there. I will blend the outsides into the fuse though. Some Gooses, Geese, uh, JRFs had the rear window, some had a much larger square window, and most had no window. The one I am doing had no window, of course, so the kit window must go. closer shot of the resin detail on the interior Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 Well, going back to the kit tonight, I wasn't happy with the shade of the bronze green. It was just too dark, especially for scale, so I mixed up a new batch and added some zinc chromate green as well to give it a bit more color and pop. I think it turned out better this time. I have also painted the cockpit details black. I will dry brush and pick out a few details with some color. I painted the IP black as well, and will add some Mike Grant instrument dial decals once it is dry. I painted the resin engines alclad steel so I can wash them a few times and maybe do a little wiring, I havent decided on that yet. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr Fester Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Great looking office Jay . Are you going to wire the engine up? I think the engine will be more visible through the cowl than the passenger compartment looking at your photos. Whatever the dry brushing worked a treat of the cylinders. Cheers Doc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 I think if I can find some decent pics of these engines I may do a little plumbing and wiring since they are so nicely cast. One thing I also will need good photos of are the props. This plane had no spinner, but there is no detail on the hubs in the kit, so I will have to scratch build the hub detail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rampage55 Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Does anyone have a good paint or mix of paints to replicate silver/aluminum lacquer used pre-war and during the war? I use MM enamels, testors enamels, and alclads, so paints and mixes should be in those ranges. Thanks! I've found that Floquil "Old Silver" or "Platinum Mist" to be a good match for what you are looking for. I use them with MM and Testors enamels with positive results. (IMHO) Great subject! You gotta love the Goose! Well I love anything Grumman. Those Czech Model kits can be a real bear. Looks like you are managing quite well Looking forward to seeing this build progress. It reminds me of that TV series in the 80's. Can't remember the name, but I loved watching that plane. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 Tales of the Golden Monkey with Cutter's Goose. The guy who made my decals also makes decals for Cutter's Goose. The Czech Model kits, of which i have a bunch in the stash, all seem about the same. They have nice detail and fit pretty well, but after dry fitting and sanding several times. They are what I think of when you mention a nice quality and detail limited run kit. not for a beginner, but certainly within the reach of an intermediate modeler such as my self, with a little time and patience! I will check for those floquil colors, but my local hobby shop has an extremely limited selection of floquil. i think they had about a dozen last time i was there. and thats not a dozen colors, that is a dozen bottles, with a few repeats! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 (edited) howdy all. i finally have enough progress done on the interior to merrit some pics. ive been doing a little bit of work the past few nights, but it was alot of small steps for stuff that will barely be seen once the model is closed up. i didnt add to any of the detail on the interior except that I opened the door from the cockpit to the cabin, added some glass to it, and will be using flexible resin harnesses for the cockpit seats. oh, and some Mike Grant instrument decals since the IP just had blank round indentations. ok, so maybe i did add a bit, but no massive amounts of scratch or anything like that. still waiting on one set of belts to arrive to put the pilot and copilot seats in, but the rest is pretty much done. windows were all too big for the openings, so i filed the openings a bit bigger, and sanded the windows a bit smaller till they fit. attached by small beads of CA on the inside, let it seep into the seam between the window and the opening. you cant see the glue once it is closed up. Edited December 13, 2006 by jrallman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eaglebeagle Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 nice, very nice never built a Czech model kit would you recommend them? like your work so far keep the pics flowing cheers Brad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 14, 2006 Author Share Posted December 14, 2006 I have all of their WWII kits and I would definitely recommend them. There is no doubt that they are limited run kits - some flash, some un-even edges, thick sprue gates, kind of like a vac kit where you need to sand the join of each part before you glue it, but the subjects are very unique, the price is very reasonable, you get a bunch of nice true details resin with each kit, and the detail is pretty nice. I am by no means an experienced modeler, but not a beginner either, and so far I have not found this kit to be beyond my modeling skills. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erwin Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Looking good so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zdenko Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Great work, must have this model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrallman Posted December 15, 2006 Author Share Posted December 15, 2006 thanks guys! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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