dnl42 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) I started this morning on Amodel's 1/144 Grumman Albatross HU-16E in USCG markings. Looks like it will be aircraft 7246 as shown on the box cover--it's got the classic red and blue slashes :)/> I've got the Ginter book for references along with Google-foo. Page 64 of Ginter's book has several pictures along with some text of the aircraft with the AOSS (Airborne Oil Spill Surveillence System) configuration provided in the box. I already see one simple correction to make: the kit has you attach the wing-tip floats, which were specifically not present in this configuration. In any event, I'm thinking of doing 7246 prior to the AOSS mods to keep it in SAR mode. My Google-foo tells me that MM Chevy Engine Red and Cobalt Blue are good matches for CG Red and Blue respectively--they look good to me. Amodel are short-run kits, and that's pretty obvious: I black out glass on 1/144 models. Painting the inside of the clear plastic is my preferred approach, but in this case, I think I'll mask and paint instead. While it would be easier to cut simple masks with a knife, I'll likely cut masks using a Silhouette Portrait. Edited June 14, 2015 by dnl42 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Looks like 1/144 is the choice for the GB thus far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Good thing this is so small, as it's been quite a fight to this point. Got the wheel wells fitted and gaps filled as well as blanking the fuselage glass openings. Mated the fuselage halves and got a good start on smoothing the fuselage seams. Took another couple of hours of filing to get the wings together. Next on the program is to smooth out the nacelle seams, add engines, add the nose gear bay, and balance it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 O.M.G. This took a lot of work to get to this point, but it's ready for masking the cockpit glass and priming. Here's the wing-fuselage joint when I started: And this is after a LOT of lovin': And overall, with some re-scribing: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Hmmmm. looking nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 From your photos your almost done. Any more progress? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Not much due to work. Started masking the cockpit glass, but haven't had any building time for a couple of weeks now. But, it will let up RSN. With that, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work I go... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 OK. Got the cockpit glass masked and airframe primed with Tamiya white primer. I also made up masks in Inkscape for the fuselage glass, which I'll paint black. The upper block is the starboard side while the lower block is the port side. I cut the mask onto Frisket Film with my Silhouette Portrait cutter and will spray once the airframe is fully painted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Been a couple months since an update, finished her yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 No, but I'm finally ready to paint! Assembling those MLG was quite a chore. I used Silly Putty to hold the bits in place to align it all for gluing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Looking good! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted May 14, 2015 Author Share Posted May 14, 2015 As this little beasty will be mostly white, I gave everything a coat of Alclad Chrome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Mr. Color White #1 is on. I'm really liking Mr. Color! Ready to paint the colors (MM Chevy Engine Red and Cobalt Blue), windows (black), props (black, white, red), and tires. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Good, you can get that done easy in a month. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Gettin' there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GretarBill Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Looking good so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Most of the decals are on. The backing film is very thin, which makes placement exciting. However, they settle down very well. As you can see, there's a notch at the top of the blue fuselage stripe, I'll touch that up with paint. I'll wait until I have the cowlings, engines, and propellers on to mount the propeller arc warning stripe. I had meant to mask and spray the side windows, but forgot, so now I'll cut windows from black decal paper and add them after I've flat-coated the airframe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GretarBill Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Nice one Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hm, I first realized that the blue stripe was too close to the red. It looks like the white space should be about the same width of the blue stripe. But, then I noticed that the color was just wrong. Looks like Amodel used the same insignia blue for the stripe as the roundel. So, I pulled it off. I'll paint some white decal paper with the blue paint I bought earlier, which is Model Master Cobalt Blue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 That looks great!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 So, here's the new blue stripe in the correct position. Much happier with this one... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) Sigh, we only press post once, don't we... Edited June 13, 2015 by dnl42 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Looking good so far!! Emil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Done! This was a bear to build. There parts need serious cleanup, the plastic is somewhat soft, and a fair amount of filling and re-scribing was needed, and the blue USCG racing stripe was the wrong color. Of course, I added my own problems, like losing the propeller warning stripe decals (see the earlier post about waiting to apply those ). On the plus side, the decals were quite thin and settled in very well, it was easy to replace the blue racing stripe, and the aircraft's large size makes this a good subject for 1/144. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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