Romanator21 Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) Hello everyone, I hope to enter my current project into the group-build. It's a little Australian fighter, developed in record time as a stop-gap measure to defend the mainland from the Japanese in the event that the British and Americans could not send Spitfires and P-40s. As it turned out the Aussies did get the planes they needed, so the slow little Boomer was relegated to ground-attack and was largely forgotten... So, I plan to finish this ancient kit, which happens to be the only one of this plane, in 1/72 scale! (and the last example in my hobby shop!) Edited September 10, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) I already started the build, so I'll quickly show what I comes in the box ... er... bag. The header card doubles as the instruction manual... And painting guide... The decals have yellowed considerably, but right now they are in the window-sill bleaching in the sun I will likely only use the serial code anyway, and paint the rest. The good stuff: Miniature James May (sort of). I won't be using him in this kit. Sorry James Edited September 10, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 I removed two giant locating pins for the pilot's "seat", and thinned the cockpit walls a bit. I knew I wanted to scratch-build an interior, because the kit has absolutely none, but I didn't know how to go about it. I don't have styrene cards, and I don't have a lighter as of yet to stretch some sprue, so I went back to my card-modeling roots and made my interior from paper and card-board. Don't laugh too hard The kit had no instrument panel, so I used cardboard, and the instrument decals were scavenged from my Revell Hawker Hunter (which has an excellent panel with raised detail). Rolled up pieces of paper represent the instrument "cans" at the back of the panel. Not a great representation, but it will have to do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) After I painted the engine, The wings were were glued to the fuselage, and cowling attached. The fit is not good! But thankfully, I've got a tube of putty This photo show the thickness of the wing trailing edges to good effect (and also the ugliness of my hand, ) Lots of sanding to come! Edited September 10, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Nice! Interesting aircraft and sweet looking lil' kit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) Looking forward to your Boomerang. I think your interior looks pretty good and neat. which color scheme are going to do...? 4th or 5th Squadron. I quite like the 4th Squadrons color scheme... Keep up the good work and will be back for more.. THANKX for posting your WIP.. HOLMES Edited September 10, 2010 by HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) I like the color scheme for the 4th squadron, QE-F as well, but I decided to model BF-T from the 5th. I did a lot of research regarding color schemes, and this is what I came up with... The serial for BF-T is A46-178, and it appears here. Compare BF-T to BF-N and notice how low the contrast is between the camouflage colors and the blue roundels and fin flash. All these planes had practically the same color scheme to start! That indicates to me that BF-N is a little older and the paint faded significantly in the sun, while BF-T is newer and has fresher paint. So, to reiterate: New Australian colors (very low contrast): Old/faded Australian colors (a lot like the RAF colors!) So, if you want to make a weathered and beaten Boomer, just use the RAF colors that you would have in your set if you made a Spitfire previously. But, I am going to try to represent BF-T A46-178 as it is photographed above - new. PS - now that I've got the wings together, I should start thinking about making a landing light. Do you guys have any tips for making some? Edited September 10, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aaronw Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 What a neat and unusual subject, Airfix kits are so much fun because of the many oddball subjects they have taken the risks to bring out. They can be some work but it looks like you are beating it into submission. :D I noticed the Ace hardware price tag, is that the Berkeley Ace hardware? I always try to get in there when I visit the bay area, what a neat old school hobby shop they have preserved in the basement. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 (edited) CSI called, they want their detective back Great detail spotting. Yeah it's a great shop. I came across it completely by accident. They have everything you can possibly imagine, and at good prices. The guys in there are super helpful and knowledgeable. I came across a Hasegawa D3A1 Val, and when I tried to pick out the grey color I usually see in movies, one of the shopkeepers pointed out that the early ones were silver. Practically saved my life. I could spend all day in there just browsing, but in the end I can only choose one kit to take home! :D Edited September 11, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RKic Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 I love Airfix! That boomerang is a great kit to practice "modeling skills may be necessary" on. You're doing a bang up job thus far. Good luck and keep it up Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stevehnz Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Watching keenly, I picked one of these up recently, planning to do it in one of the finishes from the Aussie Models Boomerang set, possibly the Milingimbi Ghost which I've seen fly in restored form. Steve. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 Thanks everyone, and yes, pick one up if you can :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 (edited) Build is looking good, have you seen these decals? They are available from EBay, or I have the sheet and can send you one of the schemes if you don't want the whole sheet. Edited September 12, 2010 by Trojan Thunder Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 (edited) To my eye, Airfix did a great job getting the lines to this plane right. There are no glaring faults in the shape, but one - the cowling. I knew from the start that it would be bothering me later if I didn't do something about it. The problem is there is nothing for this kit - no detail sets, no PE, no resin, no aftermarket replacements, zip, nada. Call me crazy, but I decided to reshape the kit part to something just a little bit closer to it's 1:1 counterpart. This is where I'm at so far. Tell me what you think, how I can improve it, etc, etc. It's my first time doing this (and it feels like I'm making a mahogany model!) :) Before: After: Left is before, right is after: As you can see, I got a little lazy on the wheel wells. Hopefully no one will be peeking there. PS - Those look great, Ray, but I think I'll just try to use the kit decals and see what happens. I'll definitely pick one of those up if I ever do another Boomer Edited September 12, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stevehnz Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 (edited) Build is looking good, have you seen these decals? They are available from EBay, or I have the sheet and can send you one of the schemes if you don't want the whole sheet. Those are the Aussie decals ones I refered to that are sold by Novascale on Ebay, also available from Modelkitsonline, the link includes a closer view of the artwork. The one I want to do is the third from the top. Steve Edited September 12, 2010 by stevehnz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 Well, the weekend is effectively over, and this is my progress. Still a lot more sanding, filling, sculpting to do on other parts of the model. To check for imperfections I'm using silver 'Sharpie' as a quasi-primer. Again, far from perfect, but in my opinion, it approaches the real thing better than before. Please pardon the dust Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Share Posted September 30, 2010 Here's the Boomer as of today. The trailing edges of all flying surfaces have been thinned to an acceptable level. The tips were re-shaped, and the leading edges rounded from the square-edge that they were molded with. I sanded off all the panel lines. I tried to do a scribe job and it started out quite well, but I became impatient and turned them to crap, as you can see in my earlier set of pictures. I've decided to fill them in and sand flush. I'll try a very subdued pencil line technique to represent panel lines. If that doesn't work, well... The rudder profile was modified, ailerons re-scribed, landing lights carved out, and slot for the tail wheel moved. Still a long ways to go. I'm going to breathe a big sigh of relief when it's done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 That is coming along nicely. I have have the same impatience when I rescribe. That is why I don't do it often Nice work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Thanks! Tiny update, but no photos: I've been filling the wing roots, and I'm noticing pits in the putty. Do I just putty over again? is there a way to avoid the pits/marks? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) I tried another layer of putty. It didn't do much, but since the pits are tiny, I think a few layers of paint and sanding should do the trick well enough. Here she is so far. I've modified the kit cannons and pitot tube a bit (reshaping, shortening, etc). You can also see the sloppy landing lights, which should shrink some more and turn clear. Fingers crossed. :huh: The horizontal elevators didn't fit the fairings, so the latter felt the sharp edge of my knife before being sanded smooth. Also apparent is my dodgy attempt to reduce the size of the exhaust manifold recess using putty. This created an edge which was too soft/round, but I hope it looks better than what it would have otherwise. I just need to do a couple minor touch-ups, and make the navigation/anti-collision lights, fairings over the aileron controls, and finally the canopy before paint. 90% done, 90% to go. :P Edited October 12, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Small update - no pics The white-glue landing light method didn't work (too opaque), so I'm working on shaping a bit of clear sprue to fit the profile of the wing. The fit of the clear parts is sufficient - much better than the fit in other parts of this kit. It should cause no headaches. They are on the thick side however, but I don't have the confidence to crash-mold new ones just yet. I'm starting to see the faint glimmer at the end of the tunnel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 It seems the group build is over, but I'm not quite done yet. Good work everyone who finished. Anyway, here's my progress - I got the canopy parts on at last. I was trimming the rear fuselage windows, and one pinged off to nowhere, and I couldn't find it. I scrounged the carpet for an hour, with a bright light, to no avail. So, I set about scratching one, and I was tinkering with the plane when I heard something rattling inside. It was the piece! So, now it's in place. The clear parts are thick, but very clear after some polishing and future. The cockpit is still easily visible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 (edited) I finished one landing light with clear sprue sanded to shape. One more to go ;) It's the first time I've ever attempted it, so I know it's not so great. After that I just need to add the nav lights, and aileron actuator fairing/blister and I'm all done with the airframe and can begin painting. Edited November 9, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 (edited) Little update. This is my fifth attempt at making the aileron actuator fairings and navigation lights. I tried sculpting putty, and a few other tricks which failed, but this method seems to work OK. When it dries, and if I'm satisfied, the plane will be ready for paint. I took Tamiya tape, cut an ellipse, applied some white glue with a tip of a meat skewer (which has a looped end which is great for opening Humbrol tins without damaging them). Afterwords the tape is pulled off, and a bit of glue remains in the proper shape, position, and volume. Spartan. Any suggestions for next time? Edited November 10, 2010 by Romanator21 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romanator21 Posted December 11, 2010 Author Share Posted December 11, 2010 Small update - no pics: I'm trying to work out the paint for the underside. I've bought 2 different bottles of blue which turned out to be green, and finally I bought a dark blue hoping to lighten it. After adding white, it also turned out to be duck-egg green like the last two. That got me fairly upset. I guess paint manufacturers are really just using the same pigments in different concentrations and giving them totally different names. Also a side window popped out. :) This build is pretty discouraging at this point. I also think it looks like crap. Maybe I should have wasted my time on an easier kit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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