Joel_W Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Will certainly trying that neat blue painter's tape technique. Just hoping that it does work with my HP 2400 printer. It's not exactly a state of the art printer these days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 I got going on the gun sight. The details wasn't adequate, so I added extra details to the stock part. I made the gun sight lens by punching out a clear plastic sheet with Waldron punch set. The actual lens is actually oval shape. Once the glue is set, the windshield and canopy is ready to go in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 Another overall view of the whole front office. Things are looking up now. Next hurdle, the windshield and canopy is ready to go in, and finish up the painting the surrounding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 The cowl assembly doesn't fit the main body very well. There is a nasty gap on top as well as the bottom. The windshield isn't any better. It's actually wider than the body. But it's beginning to look like a plane now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaxos345 Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Really very good job so far!!! John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 It's really starting to all come together now. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Wow great job on the tail band Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Really very good job so far!!! John It's really starting to all come together now. Joel Wow great job on the tail band Thanks very much for your comments. Well, the paint is done. Whew! Finally, it's looking like a plane now. After a bunch of re-touch up of over spray here and there, it's gloss coated with Tamiya clear, and ready for decals. Sorry, the picture quality isn't great. An upgrade DSLR camera is long over due in my house. I'm waiting for the UPS truck tomorrow with a box of new Canon Rebel DSLR. :woo:/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 There was some areas of the spine stressed skin on the left didn't looked very smooth. Even with a coat of Mr surfacer, I didn't detect it. Until the gloss coat went on, it wasn't that obvious. It's easy to go over board ruffing the skins. It really fooled my eyes. Had to sanded off and repaint the area again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Your camo paint scheme came out perfect. You may have detected over wrinkling of the skin, but on a monitor it never looked out of scale. Looking forward to your next update. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 No update today, as I'm busy checking out my new Canon Rebel DSLR. Going to be on a learning curve for a bit. Instead, I'll write a brief history about this plane. Here is the reference aircraft I'm building. This is how it looked in 1970 in Bien Hoa RVN. The VNAF received this aircraft from the US Navy around 1965, and spent most of its time in Da Nang. It was transferred again to the 23rd TAC Wing in Bien Hoa in 1970, and remained there until it was lost. It was 40 years ago today in 1974, this plane was lost around 1800hr at Binh Long, South VN, during the battle with NVA final offensive. The plane was hit by an SA-7 during it's third pass over the enemy. The pilot ejected, but his ordeal was just the beginning. But that was another story .... The pilot was my father. I'm building this model to commemorate the 40th anniversary of that date. I was planning of finishing this today. But... you know, work, kids, this and that gets in the way. Hope you're enjoying my built so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rocat Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Looks really great. Thanks for sharing its history. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 No new update today. Well, if you must count the ejection decals. I've been busy with the new Canon DSLR. I'm still on the learning curve. How does it look? Old cam: New cam: The lighting set up is the same for both. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Congratulations on the new Canon DSLR, you're going to love it, and that comes from a long time Nikon guy. I shoot with a D90, and have several lenses (other hobby is photography). There is a huge difference between the two photographs given that I'm viewing them on the same monitor (graphics preferred computer setup, but not a calibrated screen). The 2nd picture has more contrast and is brighter, which looks like the result of a difference in the exposure of about a 1/3 of a stop. The Cannon seems to be set for Spot metering, which is what is should be set at. Your only concern is properly metering the Spad, not including the background. Also looks like the WB is different. For most indoor work including flash use Auto WB, the camera will get it right most of the time. Joel Edited April 3, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 The only other thing I noticed is that there is a difference in Depth of Field between the two pictures. The 1st picture has a greater DoF then the 2nd picture. I'm assuming that you're hand holding and using the built in flash, the shutter is auto set at 1/60 sec (front shutter). I'm also assuming that you're using the kit lens which is about 50mm. Set the f stop to it's max: f 29 or so. Even using the preview button, you won't see if the entire plane is in proper focus. What PP editing program are you using? Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Outstanding work. I'm always impressed when a model has some history behind it. I'd love to hear more details. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Congratulations on the new Canon DSLR, you're going to love it, and that comes from a long time Nikon guy. I shoot with a D90, and have several lenses (other hobby is photography). There is a huge difference between the two photographs given that I'm viewing them on the same monitor (graphics preferred computer setup, but not a calibrated screen). The 2nd picture has more contrast and is brighter, which looks like the result of a difference in the exposure of about a 1/3 of a stop. The Cannon seems to be set for Spot metering, which is what is should be set at. Your only concern is properly metering the Spad, not including the background. Also looks like the WB is different. For most indoor work including flash use Auto WB, the camera will get it right most of the time. Joel The only other thing I noticed is that there is a difference in Depth of Field between the two pictures. The 1st picture has a greater DoF then the 2nd picture. I'm assuming that you're hand holding and using the built in flash, the shutter is auto set at 1/60 sec (front shutter). I'm also assuming that you're using the kit lens which is about 50mm. Set the f stop to it's max: f 29 or so. Even using the preview button, you won't see if the entire plane is in proper focus. What PP editing program are you using? Joel Joel, your assumptions are right on. This is the Rebel T5i. The setting is like what you said. Thanks for the advise. I'll be experimenting soon. The last pic was edited by the software that came with the camera. The only thing I did was use auto contrast, crop, and resize; tried to keep it as original as possible. Strange thing is, the picture uploaded to Photobucket seems to degrade a tiny bit, compare to the original one on my computer. Even though I did not do any editing in photobucket. I'm looking a the pic on my computer now on the same screen, and the quality is a little sharper than the one on ARC. Weird. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Outstanding work. I'm always impressed when a model has some history behind it. I'd love to hear more details. John Thanks John. Well, as he was going for the Bird Dog smoke, the plane was hit by an SA-7 as the bombs were released. The missile got the engine, causing the plane spinning out of control. He tried to climb out but the g force sucked him right in the cockpit. So he pulled the ejection rope in front of the seat. Those of you familiar with ejection, when a plane is out of control, it's nearly impossible to eject. For some miracle fortune, the plane was upright for a few seconds in flight, enough time to punch out. A few days before, an A-1E was down in the same area, but unfortunately, the wing broke, so there was no way for the pilot to get out as the plane spiraled down. It was some scary time back then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Strange thing is, the picture uploaded to Photobucket seems to degrade a tiny bit, compare to the original one on my computer. Even though I did not do any editing in photobucket. I'm looking a the pic on my computer now on the same screen, and the quality is a little sharper than the one on ARC. Weird. I think photobucket is reducing the size of the pictures. I usually upload pics with a size of about 900kb, and they always turn up being about 200kb big when uploaded at photobucket. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 I think photobucket is reducing the size of the pictures. I usually upload pics with a size of about 900kb, and they always turn up being about 200kb big when uploaded at photobucket. HAJO ok, I did not noticed that. The pic is smaller. Thanks for pointing out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SERNAK Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Outstanding work. I'm always impressed when a model has some history behind it. I'd love to hear more details. John For me, that's what scale modelling is all about. Well, most of it!!!! I find your build and the airplane's history quite fascinating! Congratulations on the new Canon. The difference between the two cameras is obvious when looking at the pictures but, as you say, you still have a lot to learn. Wish I had the cash to buy a new camera. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) Joel, your assumptions are right on. This is the Rebel T5i. The setting is like what you said. Thanks for the advise. I'll be experimenting soon. The last pic was edited by the software that came with the camera. The only thing I did was use auto contrast, crop, and resize; tried to keep it as original as possible. Strange thing is, the picture uploaded to Photobucket seems to degrade a tiny bit, compare to the original one on my computer. Even though I did not do any editing in photobucket. I'm looking a the pic on my computer now on the same screen, and the quality is a little sharper than the one on ARC. Weird. Photobucket uses a compression program to resize to 1024x768 as the max resolution it will upload. If you resize to that and no bigger, the program will just upload and post your pictures to your library. Your pictures will always look slightly different on your computer then when you view them through a cloud host. Every time a picture is electronically processed, there is a slight change in image quality. It's just the nature of the beast. I'm a member of Photo.net and we post our pictures directly from our computer to our galleries on the site. It's the only way to maintain some form of Quality control. There is nothing wrong with using some of the auto adjustments as in almost every case there will be a overall improvement in the picture. Just keep in mind that your camera's sensor is basing exposure and trying to adjust whites, and blacks to neutral gray. So you have to manually adjust for whites and blacks. Eventually you'll get use to doing it for close up work. Using the auto corrections in your post processing program is making those adjustments for you. Joel Edited April 4, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
let_models Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) No update today, as I'm busy checking out my new Canon Rebel DSLR. Going to be on a learning curve for a bit. Instead, I'll write a brief history about this plane. Here is the reference aircraft I'm building. This is how it looked in 1970 in Bien Hoa RVN. The VNAF received this aircraft from the US Navy around 1965, and spent most of its time in Da Nang. It was transferred again to the 23rd TAC Wing in Bien Hoa in 1970, and remained there until it was lost. It was 40 years ago today in 1974, this plane was lost around 1800hr at Binh Long, South VN, during the battle with NVA final offensive. The plane was hit by an SA-7 during it's third pass over the enemy. The pilot ejected, but his ordeal was just the beginning. But that was another story .... The pilot was my father. I'm building this model to commemorate the 40th anniversary of that date. I was planning of finishing this today. But... you know, work, kids, this and that gets in the way. Hope you're enjoying my built so far. Hello trietmcam, I have seen your thread about last week, now have a chance to write a few words in here, your build is very nice with super details, I think if I build this kit I hope just half of your accomplishment I would be happy enough! and I will continue follow up your works until It finish. Also beside your build, when I heard the story of your father, it admired me so much, It was the war time which most of the young services men sacrificed their life do the fighting to protect the cause of freedom for RVN, let me say this again it's nice to know his story and I guess his ordeal will be continue with more difficulty after?!, I like to salute him with honor and respect, because he was one of many heroic pilots serving in VNAF just for this cause. let_models :) Edited April 8, 2014 by let_models Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 (edited) Greeting again fellow modelers: It's been awhile since the last updates, as I've been on vacation. Just gotten back into the groove again with the build. I started to weather the model a little bit and adding in markings. I used Tamiya weathering sets, and started out with just a little bit of smudges, just to get a feel where dirt and grimes will be. Edited April 21, 2014 by trietmcam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trietmcam Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 (edited) I had to cobble decals from various sources. Obviously there are no aftermarket decals available for the model I'm doing. Had a real tough time finding the right size lettering and numbers. Finally, I used Archer's dry transfer. The insignia came from an old 1/72 Decal Carpena sheet. The stars and bars happened to be a good approximate size. The yellow bars were too wide, and had to be trim down. They should look like standard USAF insignia. I had to cut out the red bars, trimmed down the yellow fields, and repositioned the red bars. It was a grueling task for all four insignia. Edited April 21, 2014 by trietmcam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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