AX 365 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Great work as usual Chuck. I found some of the phosphorescent paint you mentioned in a craft store. I'm going to use it on the 'slime lights' of the little Hornet I'm building at the moment. With any luck, it should yield the same, or similar, results as your IP. Hopefully... Take care buddy. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) March 9/15 Below is a pic of the almost finished Cutting Edge cockpit. The resin detail is really good, but with most of the small instruments already attached to the side walls and rear deck, painting it was a bit of a bear. The pics you will see below are super close-ups, so remember you can’t see a lot of the tiny flaws with your bare eyes. For those who might be interested, here’s how I tackled it. As shown earlier, all cockpit parts were first painted with Krylon gloss black lacquer. This paint is much finer and smoother than using flat black on instruments, it acts a great base for subsequent coats of Alclad and you can add “shadows” by directing the final coat of interior green from the top. In one of my reference books, the floor of the cockpit has aluminum plating with holes and a few slots in it. I think most P-38 floors are just painted interior green, but as a restored bird I’m just going with what I like the look of. For the holes and slots I used masking tape to retain the under coat of black, while instruments that should remain black were masked off as well. Same for the side walls. For the small instruments, I used thin Tamiya tape at the base and covered the top with Micromask. The trick to using Micromask is to use lots of it, because it shrinks so much and can be really difficult to remove later from small parts, so you want enough of it to grab onto when it dries. The rest of the side wall was sanded down to rough it up a bit for the interior green enamel. The floor and forward radio instruments were then painted with Alclad Aluminum, while the real instruments were sprayed with Alclad Steel. The floor was then masked off and the rest of the cockpit was painted with interior green. After removing the masks, I used a small micro-brush with Varsol to remove the green paint from the wiring. The Alclad and Krylon black lacquer are almost immune to the Varsol, so the vast majority of the aluminum or black paint underneath remained. I then sprayed the parts with Future to prepare them for several tiny cockpit decals and to provide an acrylic base, so that enamel painting errors could be easily removed. This is especially important around the thin cables and wiring which are very difficult to paint without making a mess. It also helped me remove some steel paint I used to slightly dry brush the various black instruments to pick out subtle detail. There is a “Z” shaped part in the Cutting Edge kit which is meant to be the brace behind the seat. Mine was broken and I found the diameter to be too thick, so I made another out of styrene rod. I wound up drilling shallow holes in the floor, because the small circular masks I used left a fuzzy demarcation line. In order to get the seat to sit up high enough and provide an anchor point for gluing, I made one out of styrene and then painted it interior green. After the application of several Barracuda P-51D IP decals (that were close to those used on the P-38) and the wiring was touched up with paint, I sprayed everything with Testors dull coat lacquer. What I really like about this dull coat is that it never leaves a whitish finish like some of the acrylic dull coats often do and you can really lay it on thick without it crazing the paint underneath with the Future coat barrier. A close-up of the right side wall. That lever next to the seat is the emergency hydraulic pump, which I made from styrene rod and tipped with CA glue before painting the red knob on the end. I tipped the control handles with CA glue as well, but I’ll be leaving these off the cockpit controls until the very end of the build so that I don’t break or lose them. Note the dark "shadows" that remain around the various instruments. With the left wall, IP and steering yoke installed, things are starting to come together. Edited March 9, 2015 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) The Webgarden cloth seat belts are also made for the P-51D, but they look close enough to me and maybe they are identical anyway? This set came with the rear cushion life preserver which I painted up and decaled, but I don’t think I’ll be using it because the seat detail is quite good and maybe “less is more”? If I keep it, the shoulder harnesses will have to be re-bent to accommodate the thicker back. The front radio is painted aluminum, while the rear instrument was painted with Alclad steel, then buffed slightly to reveal a little bit of the black underneath to make it look more realistic. I then used a thin wash of “The Detailer” to make the various recessed details stand out. You will note that I didn’t use the rear armour plate behind the seat, because it seems to be absent from most restored P-38’s and it would have hidden much of this fine detail. The IP gauges look pretty good from this angle. Top view Right side wall now glued on. The front gear well did not get any detailing love, mostly because you can’t see hardly any of it due to how narrow and deep it is, especially when the gear door is installed. All I did was add a bit of wash to pick out the hydraulic lines and called it a day. Hopefully this little gem will keep eyes away from where it gets parked. I’m sure glad I switched background colors to blue! With control handles and the gun sight attached later, this cockpit should look pretty good when finished, but for now I’m calling this stage of the build DONE! I think I’ve got the hardest part of this build behind me now. Thanks for checking in. Chuck Edited March 9, 2015 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taggor Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hey Chuck, I know that I don't post much if at all to your WIP's but, honestly, what could I contribute except WOW! Nice clean pit there. I guess I will just continue to "lurk in the shadows" until I feel like I can say WOW again! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 (edited) March 15/15 A small update, but after a lot of work. As noted above, the trailing edge of the aileron looked weird because there was an overlapping tab that seemed too long on the bottom. A quick review of reference pics shows that this tab exists on the bottom, but I couldn’t find the same thing on the top due to lack of good pics, so I was worried that Trumpeter might have put the tab on the wrong side, which is not a stretch for Trumpeter! As a matter of fact, when reviewing other builds of this kit, I found that some modelers had actually sanded the tab off because they might have thought it was flash and I even saw one build with the ailerons upside down! Thanks to Vandy and John, I now know that this tab exists on the top and bottom. Here’s a pic of one of them from the top showing the fixed tab and trailing edge extension. As with the other parts on this build, every panel line was re-scribed and every rivet re-punched, so I added some dark wash to show the detail. To replicate the same the same thing on the bottom ,all I did was to scribe a thin tab to match the top. Being on the bottom, this is definitely “good enough”! All of the other flaps and the elevator were assembled and I spent a great deal of time getting them to look as good as possible, using lots of CA glue to fill small gaps and repair many flaws . One item often missed by modelers is to get the trailing edges super sharp and thin, which you can barely see in this pic. Since this build is supposedly “kicked up a notch”, I thought I should improve the gun sight, which is supplied by the kit and Cutting Edge resin set as the more commonly used N-9, which is quite boring looking, as seen on the left of this pic. Fortunately, I still have a really nice K-14 gun sight from my Tamiya P-51D build leftover, which is made from 2 regular plastic, 3 clear plastic and one photo-etch brass part as shown on the right. Some P-38’s had them, so this bird must as well! Using the same methods I used to paint and detail the cockpit, I cut off the N-9 gun sight and modified the K-14 to fit the existing kit gun sight arm, although I will need to add a cross brace to the front windscreen when I get that far in order for it to look more accurate. Here it is dry fitted in the cockpit with tape. A close-up from the left side. Not only did those Barracuda stencils come in handy, a couple of them are actually made for this very part! From the rear you can see the rear and front glass, which is often not covered by the black shroud on top. I added an electrical cord to the back of the sight according to references. The other side. Here you can see the grip detail of the Cutting Edge resin steering wheel fairly well This angle shows the two circular lenses under the glass, which were a bear to mask off properly before painting. A little closer. All in all a fairly successful modification if I do say so myself. Thanks for checking in! Edited March 15, 2015 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattJCYKZ Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I really enjoy watching your work there Chuck. It's just comes across as effortless. Looking forward to more. -MattJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnS Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Wow, Chuck! That gun sight looks fantastic, Very realistic. Luv the grips on the wheel too. Well done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Wow. Just wow. Great cockpit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 (edited) Thank you guys very much! I really enjoy watching your work there Chuck. It just comes across as effortless. Looking forward to more. -MattJ Trust me Matt, it is far from effortless, but as I get more experience as a modeler, certain things do come easier to me than they used to. ;) One heads-up to some you P-38 purists or those who want their Lightning to be as accurate as possible. According to "p38johnny" over at LSP, the P-38 never did have the K-14 gun sight during war time, so stick with an N-3, J-5 and the Linn L-3 through the L model. Since my subject is a restored bird, I don't really have any restrictions, but I thought I would warn you. In the Squadron Walkaround Book #30 on the P-38, there's a pic of the K-14 installed in a P-38, so I know it's at least possible. March 16/15 I've been asked how I can see such small detail. There are lots of closeup magnifying glasses on the market, some with big headsets and lights that look heavy and cumbersome to me, so I sort of "invented" a pair of glasses for myself. At 60, my close-up vision started to leave about 10 years ago and by 55, I was wearing progressive lenses. These lenses have normal vision at the top, corrected or not, with lenses on the bottom that are better to see items fairly closely, like maybe a book or newspaper at 12 to 18 inches. The lenses overlap, so that you "progress" from one to the other almost seamlessly. Unfortunately the close-up lenses on progressives are not very good for real close-up work like modeling, so ordinary "magnifiers" with varying degrees of magnification of +1, +2, +3 and everything in between are needed as well, so you are always changing glasses as you look around your workbench. To solve this problem, I had some ordinary bi-focal lenses made, but instead of having your normal vision at the top of the lens, I had the lower portion of the progressives placed at the top and a magnifier of +1.75 on the bottom. To get as much working area as possible in the lens, I chose a tall circular "Harry Potter" lens, which allows me to rotate my head less often, as I tilt my head up to see through the bottom or tilt my head back down to see through the top. With modern looking glasses that are narrow and popular these days, there is not much room from top to bottom, so you would be tilting your head up and down constantly to see anything. With these glasses on, I have super clear vision from literally 2 inches to 2 feet, which is good enough for most modeling tasks. I don't even have to tilt my head that often, because I just place my work lower when I need close-ups and higher when I don't. I just love them and they were not expensive, because bi-focals are much cheaper than progressives. Now a bit of an update, albeit small. In my first post I documented how poorly the main wing section was created straight out of the box, with damage to the trailing edge caused at the factory, because nothing else was damaged. With lots of work with liquid sprue and a heat gun, I think I've got it repaired so you will never notice after everything is glued together. Well, I found some more factory flaws, this time a real big one on the nose where the guns go. Nice, right at the front where everyone looks! A close-up. The culprit is “pin damage” that creates the pin marks we all hate, as the plastic is ejected from the mold from behind. This “pin” is L-shaped, and literally crushed the front of the nose cap. Note the circular pin marks to the right, which is a more normal occurrence. Other parts of the fuselage are quite rough and the rivet and panel detail too shallow, like the belly below the cockpit. The gun shroud panel is poorly cast as well…. What is more common is better rivet detail, like this on the bottom wing, but with HUGE sprue attachments that are very difficult to remove without leaving a mark. So what’s my point? I need a lot of time to repair and smooth out these items and I’m taking a break from modeling to catch some sun, so my next update will be a few weeks off if I’m lucky. Thanks again for your continued interest in this challenging build. Chuck Edited March 17, 2015 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kike Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Great addition to an awesome cockpit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Before I leave on vacation, a huge shout out to Peter at "Airscale Model Aircraft Enhancements"! In prior discussions in this thread concerning the instrument panel decals and brass gauges available at Airscale, Peter reached out to me and sent me some of his products for my use and review. WOW! I only wish I had this stuff a few weeks ago when I started the cockpit, because there are many decals I used that would have been better with Airscale products. Next time! These photoetch brass gauges, cockpit items and tiny decals are awesome. I know, I know, I'm preaching to the choir and many of you guys use Peter's stuff already, but if you don't, here is his website and the prices are very reasonable for such a quality product: Airscale Model Aircraft Enhancements Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Der Grüne Punkt Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Great job, thanks a lot for taking the time to show all/most the steps you take, we all know how time consuming is to be this thorough on a forum and we appreciate it. Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Youngtiger1 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Chuck, the cockpit is coming along real nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 A brief update, mostly to indicate there really is no update. No, I haven't lost interest in this project, but with spring coming early to western Canada, chores that needed to be done around the house for a long time, a bit of golf and now travel to Britain for most of May coming up, I have discovered that I actually have a life outside of modeling. Who knew! That's not to say I've done absolutely no modeling, but it hasn't been much. My current task on this build has been to sand down the wings and central fuselage parts to remove many flaws and blemishes in the plastic, then re-scribe every panel line and re-punch every rivet. EVERY SINGLE ONE, which has been very slow and tedious, but with a new metal finish, it's really necessary if you want it to look good after painting. Hopefully I can get back with an update sometime in June that is worth showing. Cheers for now, Chuck Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Chuck, enjoy spring and your time away from modeling, it will be good to have you back here fully rejuvenated. ...then re-scribe every panel line and re-punch every rivet. EVERY SINGLE ONE, which has been very slow and tedious, but with a new metal finish, it's really necessary if you want it to look good after painting. There's a fine line between pleasure and pain... :cheers:/> Marcel Edited May 31, 2015 by Marcel111 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skinny_Mike Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hope your having a good vacation Chuck! Looking forward to your futur updates. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) Well, I'm finally back, but I still have no modeling progress to show. Vacation, work and nice weather are reducing my free time and desire to model, so progress will continue at a snail's pace until the snow flies once again. Oh well, this build is going nowhere and I have no real deadlines, so I'll model once again when I feel like it. That's not to say I've done nothing associated with modeling lately. Today was the annual Western Canadian Regional Model Contest, which was held at the Bomber Command Museum at Nanton with about 450 entries. This museum holds many vintage aircraft, including one of only 4 Lancasters left in the world with running Merlin engines. Here it is on one of two "engine runs" held today. What a noise! The model contest is held within the hanger where the Lancaster is usually parked. Very cool venue next to real aircraft.... I brought my 1/32 Trumpeter (Kit from Hell) A-10A Warthog, converted to an A-10C, to see how it would do. But I had plenty of competition in the 1/32 Super Detailed class, including these 2 German WWII beauties... This F-15E was really nice too. But the real competition was this Israeli F-16. Very sweet, with a killer base to boot... So how did the A-10 do at the contest? Pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Gold in the above category and a few extra special awards. The GOMBS award has a great pic of the late Rick Chin next to a real A-10. How neat is that! Very satisfying indeed. Stuff like this gets me super motivated to enter another model next year, with a Trumpeter P-38 perhaps? Time will tell. BTW, it was really nice to meet (or re-meet) several of you fellow modelers at the contest, like "Scooby", "MaxPower" and "Chomper", to name only a few who frequent this board. It was great talking to you all and I hope to see you again soon. Edited June 7, 2015 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coneheadff Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Awesome! Congratulations! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Chuck, Congratulations on your winning entry, and those special awards. Your build is truly a cut above the rest. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taggor Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) Congratulations Chuck! Certainly well deserved awards for all your hard work on the A-10C. -Mark Edited June 7, 2015 by taggor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) Thanks Guys! Here's one more pic of a fairly big car model that won quite a few prizes. What a beautiful paint job and that roof is mesmerizing... Edited June 8, 2015 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Chuck, I've never seen a model car with a paint job like that. It must have been spectacular in person. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eclipseone Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hey Chuck! Thanks for the nice words about my IAF F-16 =) Was cool to meet you and to see your A-10 in person. I knew it was all over once that bad boy rolled in - but us beginners need to see some serious quality work to get better in the hobby. I'm going to be starting on my 1/32 ZM Uhu and get it ready for next years show. Justin PS: and thanks for the tips =) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hey Chuck! Thanks for the nice words about my IAF F-16 =) Was cool to meet you and to see your A-10 in person. I knew it was all over once that bad boy rolled in - but us beginners need to see some serious quality work to get better in the hobby. I'm going to be starting on my 1/32 ZM Uhu and get it ready for next years show. Justin PS: and thanks for the tips =) Hi Justin, It was great to meet you too- and now I know your screen name! When I first found the 1/32 Advanced Jets and Props section at the contest and saw your F-16, my first thought was Oh-Oh, I'm in for a good fight with this one. I can't believe you just started modeling, because that Viper is expertly assembled and finished. The panel line and rivet detail is killer and your IAF paint job is top notch. Very cool build! If you or any other guys want to go to another contest in the Calgary area, the Alberta Military Modellers Show is coming up on September 19th (see link below). For me personally, I like this show a bit more than the WCRMC one, but only because military stuff is more interesting to me and I think the general skill level is a bit higher, although there are less entries for obvious reasons. This group started to let aircraft into the contest about 3 years ago and there seems to be more of them every year. Sadly I can't make it this year, but I encourage you to enter that Viper again. I like your chances! Alberta Military Modelers Show Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eclipseone Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi Justin, It was great to meet you too- and now I know your screen name! When I first found the 1/32 Advanced Jets and Props section at the contest and saw your F-16, my first thought was Oh-Oh, I'm in for a good fight with this one. I can't believe you just started modeling, because that Viper is expertly assembled and finished. The panel line and rivet detail is killer and your IAF paint job is top notch. Very cool build! If you or any other guys want to go to another contest in the Calgary area, the Alberta Military Modellers Show is coming up on September 19th (see link below). For me personally, I like this show a bit more than the WCRMC one, but only because military stuff is more interesting to me and I think the general skill level is a bit higher, although there are less entries for obvious reasons. This group started to let aircraft into the contest about 3 years ago and there seems to be more of them every year. Sadly I can't make it this year, but I encourage you to enter that Viper again. I like your chances! Alberta Military Modelers Show Thanks Chuck! I'm trying to get out to as many shows as possible this year. Sadly, the AMMS show will be the last for the 16 as it goes into retirement. It's too bad you won't be there! Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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