Els Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 So there I was waiting for the Model Master paint to dry on my KC-135. I had already built a Mig-23 while waiting but some of the later touch ups were still tacky. I didn't think it would take much longer so I just wanted to work on something quick. I had a Revell 1:48 P-61 that had been damaged in my last move. I figured I could fix the damages and touch up the paint. Should be easy....... After a wet sanding and rinse in the garage sink, I carried it outside with me while I was talking to my kids. As I was walking, I was slowly swinging it back and forth to clear off the exess water. This is when the Class A accident happened. A wingtip caught on my baggy shorts and the P-61 entered an uncontrolled flight into my driveway. There was too much damaged to repair and I didn't want to throw it away, but I didn't know what else to do with it. I have been a fan of Hank Caruso's Aerocatures. So I decided that I would try to make it into a Caricature of a P-61. Mr. Caruso did one called Black Night, Black Widow and I am going to use that as my inspiration. http://www.aerocatures.com/mini.htm After reassembly I found out that I no longer had all the parts. I have lost a lot of pieces to the Carpet monster but this is the first time I ever lost some parts to the Yard Monster. Lucky for me accuracy is not a big issue here. I have applied the first 2 rounds of putty. I chopped about a half inch out of the tail booms to shorten the aircraft. I am not sure if I should shorten the wings or not? After the first round of sanding I see that this is going to take more work than I thought. At least the paint on the KC seems to be dry. Sorry, my computer art skills are nearly non existent but this is a rough idea of what I am going to try to do. Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shawn M Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 great idea! should be fun to do and watch! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IrishGreek Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I've loved his stuff for a long time. This should be great! Keep it up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
McCoy Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 A terrible accident but an great opportunity for a different save... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robw_uk Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 ha - looks fab (had a quick look at the caricatures and they look great too...).... I have a 1:48 P-61 at my parents, would love to either rebuild it or build a newer version (dont have room for 1:48 but am sure I could find the space for this kit)....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Els, Agreat fun idea..Look forward to this .. Loved the aerocatures too on the linky.. HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JMan Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 WOW, what a great idea. Take an unfortunate accident and turn it into something that not a lot of people would think of to do. Kind of reminds me of an egg plane with a face. Can't wait to see more! Jeremy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thanks for all the positive comments. Even though it doesn't look like a lot was done, I have been spending a lot of time with two things that I am starting to really dislike. Puttying and Sanding. Here I have used some plastic to fill in the holes where I was missing parts. I ran out of gray primer and had to use some reddish brown primer. While it works fine it doesn't photograph very well. Looks like I gave it a mud bath. I am sanding down all the raised panel lines since a lot of them would be leading to nowhere. I coiled sheet plastic around the engines to increase the diameter and filled the gaps with Bondo. As soon as I finished this I noticed the laundry detergent that we use has lid that looks exactly like the engines only larger. I am thinking about cutting these off before I do all the sanding and shaping and replacing them with the caps. I couldn't resist sticking some plastic eyes on to get an idea of how it was shaping up. Thanks for looking. That last batch of Bondo must be ready for sanding... Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 After numerous rounds of putting and sanding I have roughly sculpted in the eyes with Aves. I have also been shaping the engines. Trying to get the engines the same on both sides is driving me crazy. I have a lot of respect for people that build accurate aircraft kits from scratch. Even though this is just a caricature and doesn't have to be very accurate, I still want it to be close. I am counting on the black paint to hide some of my shoddy workmanship. I decided I wanted to enlarge the area around the belly guns so I built the area up with Aves. I have also attached the tail with the shortened booms. I took about 3/4 inch out of the booms so there is quite a difference in the diameter where they attach. I will continue to fill and sand that area. Even though it has been a lot of sanding, I am having a pretty good time working on this. Thanks for looking. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 I am still plugging away at this. After looking over my progess it wasn't looking caricaturish enough so I bulked out the top and bottom more and moved the top gun back a little. Having used so many different types of putty I could not really tell how well I was doing. After some grey paint I can see that I still need a lot more puttying and sanding. It is getting there though. Symmetry is a Bit^%. If there would have been any planning what so ever I would have made some plasticard ribs and used them as a guide to make everything even. Here is the creature from the War of the Worlds that I am also working on checking my progress. Thanks for looking Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Miccara Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 This seems like it would be a lot of fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I've never seen anything like this before. This is interesting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Whoa, this is such a cool idea! I like caricatures and this is turning out great. I will be following this one and keep up the great work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Its been a while since I posted anything on this. I got tired of sanding and worked on a few other projects. This is where it is now. Somewhere along the way I lost a part for the left wing. I am shapping some plastic card to fill it. I will add some guns and after that, it will be off the paint shop. Thanks for looking. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Helleo Els I love this thread ..It is making ME smile seeing this as I think it is an awesome idea...rather than throw it away to make something out of it... Keep up the good work..Looking good so far. coming along nicely HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kamil Feliks Sztarbała Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 great idea! I'm loving it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Looking pretty distinct now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Cool. Fun :wacko: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drifterdon Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Very Cool! Can't wait to see the final result. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Thanks everyone. The positive comments are what have kept me going on this when I got tired of all the putty, sand, repeat... My Egg project is done so I can get back on this full time. Holes were drilled for the base and guns. Plastic tubing was glued in and the first round of putty to smooth it out was added (Oh fun, more putty and sanding). I will add some larger diameter plastic tubing to the ends later. For the base, a 2 inch block of wood was stained with red mahaogany. I think the red will look good with a dark aircraft. A hole was drilled and a length of 1/4" clear acrylic was glued in. It's pretty simple but it will work. I have decided to use the clear parts from a P-61 kit in my stash to make masks for the windows. I forgot how bad these clear parts were. Hopefully I will be able to finish the guns and start the masks tomorrow. Thanks for looking and let me know what you think. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrew.deboer Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I've always love Hank Caruso's Aerocaricatures, and now you're doing one in 3D! Excellent! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IrishGreek Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I have to agree with all the other comments! This is looking really cool. Great Idea and really well executed! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Thanks guys, Not much got done today. I tried putting tape on the kit clear parts and using that for masks but it didn't work very well. The tape distorted when pulled off the clear parts. I guess I will just have to try and mask it off by hand. I did paint some red lines on the wings. I started by putting down some white so that that red would show up better. Then I hit it with some red in the general area that I want the lines. After the red was dry I put the tape down where I want the lines. It is not 100% correct but it is good enough for the Caricature universe. Then I recovered the wing with black. Hopefully when I pull off the tape I will have some nice red lines. I took some larger diameter pieces of plastic tubing and drilled some holes. These will be added to the ends of the belly guns. I think this will make them look caricaturish. Tomorrow will be all about window masking. Fun fun... Thanks for looking, let me know what you think. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 The window frames were masked off (pain in the ***) and the overspray area was covered with Silly Putty. A shade of blue was mixed up and sprayed for the windows. After removing the tape, I think the blue is so bright that it will take away from the face. I will tone it down with some Tamiya smoke later on. The window pattern had to be changed a little to fit on the kit. I think what I have gets the idea accross. I also base coated the face and pulled the masking off the red stripes on the wings. I noodled some dark gray over the black to break it up. Then I sprayed gray over the wings to represent exhaust stains. I am going to have to add something to my base because it isn't very steady. I will look at that tomorrow. Thanks for looking, let me know what you think. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shawn M Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 this is just way too cool! Love it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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