ALF18 Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Boy, those masking set are life savers on builds like this! Looking really good there ALF! :thumbsup:/> So where is this going when finished? Happily, it's not going to be in my house. I'm building it for a colleague of mine, a fellow instructor at our aviation college. That will be his problem! Thanks for the encouragement. Today, I had a great day. Started out boring, with meetings, but then we went by yellow school bus to a float-plane base that our school has just established this summer, to replace one where cottagers were complaining about the noise, and all float planes moved out. Hot dogs were served, the sun came out, and we had a pleasant day. The best part was the trip back; I flew left seat in a Bell 206 Jet Ranger with one of our helo instructors. He let me fly the majority of the flight, including an enroute stop in a field to try my hand at hovering. The last time I had hovered a real helicopter (not counting simulators when I worked at CAE in Montreal) was 31 years ago, in Lahr, Germany with one of my friends in a Kiowa. I was overcontrolling a bit with the collective (pumping it) at first, but settled down after a couple minutes. When we arrived at the airport, I did the approach to landing by the hangar. Lots of fun. A Cessna 185 and Bell 206 in school colours at the camp, taken from a small boat. A rare day to relax as we start the school year. Selfie time! My buddy is starting up the helo, while I slack off and play tourist. More progress soon. Thanks for stopping by! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VMFA314Knights Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Now THAT sounds like a great day (if you're not building model airplanes I mean... ;)/>) Nothing like a helo ride to get the adrenalin going...and YOU got to drive... cool. B)/> Cheers, David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 You are very welcome, my brother! Nice save with the blister 'oooooops'! What's a build without a moment or two? Keeps us young. Or up to date with the newest curse words. Or close to the liquor cabinet. Nice set of wheels there too buddy. Congrats on getting a bit more stick time. When are you going to get your helicopter license? Lucky this is going to a friend. Murphy's Law would see you hang it from the ceiling in the garage, the string would break and the model would crush your car. Seeing the look on the insurance adjuster's face when you tell them that a plane crashed on your car; priceless. Very nice work on this build ALF. Keep it up. I look forward to more progress. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 That's my kind of school! Awesome! Sounds like close to the perfect day. Great work on the Superfort, too - even a 1/72 one intimidates me but this is a very educational build to follow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 I've been radio silent for several days - sorry about that. Life got in the way. I have made a bit of progress. Painted the overall silver with a spray bomb. This is a build for a friend, with zero budget, so I wasn't about to use 6 bottles of expensive Alclad on it, nor am I going to worry too much about different shades of natural metal by doing several differing undercoats. I primed the whole thing with Canadian Tire Krylon grey, then painted with a shiny metallic anti-rust paint. You can see how the transparency fit nicely, and how the pre-cut masks have saved hours of work. Those masks worked beautifully. The little spots are dust, not overspray. One of the reasons this build stalled for a while is I managed to lose a nose wheel. I can't blame the carpet monster; I have hardwood floors where I build. Either the dog ate one, or it got swallowed by the vacuum cleaner. After having solved the problem, I suspect I will find the lost wheel when I clean the central vac this weekend. The larger black wheel is the kit part; I lost the other. For weeks I mulled it over, and even sent an email to Monogram asking for a replacement. They sent me back a polite note saying they were no longer able to provide replacement parts. I imagine they got quite a laugh at my request! I then started to think that this bomber's nose wheels probably looked similar to a fighter's main wheels. I compared them to some P-47 wheels in 1/48: surprisingly similar! B-29 nose wheel in black. P-47 main wheel on sprue, and wheel hub below the B-29 nose wheel on sprue. I was thinking that maybe I could rob those wheels, and build the P-47 wheels up, when I rooted around further in the P-47 box and found that the ARCer who gave me the kit (Thank you, Emvar!) had thoughtfully included some resin wheels for it! Problem? What problem? I now have replacement nose wheels of about the right size and shape, with no impact on my other model. Sweet! Kit wheel in all-black, P-47 kit wheels painted up. The next step is the arduous chore of masking the silver to paint the black leading edges on the wings, horizontal, and vertical stabilizers. Thanks for stopping by! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 This is turning into a wonderful build, Monsieur ALF. Great save with the wheels. See!? You've had your for this build. I'd blame Max. The wheel could definitely be mistaken a little treat if it fell onto the floor. The sheen you've achieved with your finish technique looks very nice. You're close to the home stretch chum. Keep it up. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 This is turning into a wonderful build, Monsieur ALF. Great save with the wheels. See!? You've had your :deadhorse1:/> :bandhead2:/> for this build. I'd blame Max. The wheel could definitely be mistaken a little treat if it fell onto the floor. The sheen you've achieved with your finish technique looks very nice. You're close to the home stretch chum. Keep it up. Mike Always nice to read your comments, Mike. I definitely blame Max. He looks guilty to me! But then again, I'm not in law enforcement... just a gut feel. So to speak. Thanks for the encouragement. Coming along better. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 The silver finish is looking good Dan I wouldn't blame the dog, things can bounce a long way when they hit those hard surfaces :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 At least you have a supercute helper! Our cats show zero interest in what I do in the Man Cave. Great work with the paint, she's looking superb! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 The silver finish is looking good Dan :thumbsup:/> I wouldn't blame the dog, things can bounce a long way when they hit those hard surfaces :D/> Thanks! Turns out, the dog is not guilty of this particular offence. (spoiler alert) After I finished this model, sure enough, I found the missing wheel. This damn thing is just so huge, it's impossible for me in my cramped little workspace to see where things are. Here you see the missing one (unpainted), the one I had, and the two P-47 main wheels that replaced them. I kind of like the tire tread better on the replacement wheels. Strangely, they are actually a tiny bit smaller than the kit wheels. At least you have a supercute helper! Our cats show zero interest in what I do in the Man Cave. Great work with the paint, she's looking superb! Appreciate the encouragement. I didn't put too much money or effort into this natural metal finish, because I am doing this to give away to a friend. He has only provided the kit and the $20 for the mask set. More progress: After starting to mask, I decided to rip off the tape and paint the black areas free-hand. There was a bit of silver paint that came off with the tape, but I didn't fix it up. This is what I will call "weathering" of the finish. Those masks are true life-savers. I carefully pried up corners on each one with an Exacto knife, then used tweezers to pull them off. Decals mostly on. I sealed them with a brushed-on coat of Future. Only some minor details to finish up. The cockpit is partially visible here, but I am quite happy with the amount of effort (very little) that I put into detailing it, given how little it would show. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Finally done! Here is a close-up of the cockpit for you. This is a little stand I made for the aft fuselage, to prevent it from tail-sitting. On the bench, finished. Look how much room it takes up. I made some errors on this (such as putting the 4-gun turret under the nose instead of behind the cockpit on the upper fuselage), but overall it kind of looks like a B-29. My friend is looking forward to having it in his office at the Aviation College, and is debating if he will hang it from the ceiling or use up the top of a large filing cabinet to display it. He now wants a bigger office! Thanks for following along. Look for my next build in the Vietnam War GB (An F-4C). The folloowing pics also appear in the finished build thread here. It has not yet snowed, but when I took the picture it was 3 degrees C with a bitter wind, and the leaves are already falling off the trees. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Ohhh! I like it, nice huge and silver!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) Nice work Dan, it turned out a beaut. What type of paint did you use on the silver finish? Edited October 16, 2015 by Trojan Thunder Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Ohhh! I like it, nice huge and silver!!! That's what she said... Thx Shawn! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Nice work Dan, it turned out a beaut. What type of paint did you use on the silver finish? Believe it or not, it was a rattle can of "Dupli-Color" chrome-coloured spray enamel. It said it was "perfect for trim." After spraying, it does dry quickly, but comes off in a fine dust until sealed with Future. Thanks for your continued encouragement! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 ALF, Hanging from the ceiling or not, your friend IS going to need a bigger office to display that behemoth. The finish turned out very well. Even with a sealant coat, it doesn't look overly shiny. As for the turret FUBAR, who hasn't been there before? I'm at the front of the line for that one. You did very well on this one, ALF-San. I hope your friend was pleased with the results and the effort. Will check on your Vietnam entry a bit later. Good luck with that build as well. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.