GWH 1/48 scale Lockheed T-33A early ver.

[CaptainObvious]

She looks great primed!
I'm looking forward to seeing her colors on.

[Joel_W]

Just now, CaptainObvious said:

She looks great primed!
I'm looking forward to seeing her colors on.

Capt. Obvious,

  thanks for stopping by and the thumbs up. It's always much appreciated. 

  Just got the base color coat on today, and it really makes a big difference.

Joel

[Joel_W]

 Well, I managed to get enough done this week for a small update, all via one of my air brushes.

     The nose of the T-33A needed to have a split black nose panel, with the bottom portion smaller then the top one. the top was hard enough to mask, but the bottom one, which was one done on a separate day as I had to give the top a day to dry, was a real challenge to say the least. Thank goodness for Tamiya bendable vinyl tape.

    Next up was the anti-glare panel. Easy enough to mask out, but the front was rounded. I used a piece of Tamiya tape on a  small piece of .040 sheet, then punched a hole with my largest dia. punch. I cut it in half and peeled the tape off. Eye balled where the anti glare panel ended and pressed in place. then I just laid down two pieces of Tamiya tape, and I had the panel marked out. The only thing left was to tape off the windscreen frame as it  wasn't painted flat Black. I air brushed on Tamiya XF-69 Nato Black as I like the way it looks in scale over plain old flat Black.

 

 

 

 

   Next up on the list was painting the inside halves of the wing tip tanks with Nato Black. 

 

 

   Finally I finished painting the insides of the flaps Model Master Enamel FS34151 Interior Green, leaving the outside trailing edge still needing a color coat of ADC Gray. And finally as strange as it sounds, even though the wheel wheels, and air brake housings are all Interior Green, as my research pictures show the insides the interior surfaces of the gear doors and air brakes were Natural Metal. I had previously primed them black, so now I shot them with Alcad Aluminum ALC 101.

 

 

  And that's about it for this update. As usual, thanks for stopping by and checking out my build, as it's always much appreciated.

Joel
 

[Aigore]

Coming along nicely 😄

looks good with the blacks on!

[Joel_W]

2 minutes ago, Aigore said:

Coming along nicely 😄

looks good with the blacks on!

Janne,

 thanks my friend for taking the time to checkout my build. It's always much appreciated

Joel

[Joel_W]

 Finally, I've reached the decaling stage, but 1st I needed to lay down a really smooth and shiny coat of gloss. I've been experimenting with Tamiya X-22 Acrylic gloss, but it's never dried really smooth, nor have I been able to get a consistent coat laid down.

  I Thinned the X-22 with Tamiya Yellow cap Lacquer based thinner 1:1, then applied a tack coat, followed by 2 sort of wet coats. Gave it 2 full days to dry. What I had was basically a repeat of my previous efforts. Ok to decal over, but I'd be risking some silvering and flash issues, as it was not really smooth to the touch. So I VERY lightly wet sanded the entire fuselage with Tamiya #2000 sanding sponge. You cold see the opaque residue both on the sponge and left on the body. But it was now smoother then ever before. A gentle wash of warm water, and I finally had the finish I was looking for: Smooth as a baby's butt. 

   For the decals I had purchased the Caracal Models ANG T-33A part 2 sheet which was printed by Cartograf.  I've been using a modified decaling system that I got from Paul Budzik: Microscale Set, Sol, & Solvaset. 

  The decals laid down without any issues, and were extremely easy to do any reposition adjustments, to this end I contribute it to the smoothness of the surface more then anything else. Over all the 4 day decaling process went perfectly. The decals laid down into every single nook & cranny, and I couldn't see any issues once they dried. The only additional thing needed was after about a 1/2 hour I cut the two decals that went over the rudder and Vertical Stabilizer joint , added more Solvaset, and the end result looks as though they were painted separately. 

   There was a time many years ago when I would have cut out every single letter and number, and then pain snakingly applied them one at a time using tape as a guide, but those days are long gone with poor eye sight and slight shaking due to old age. So I've always been just a little leery of having decals with a lot of clear film as I always managed to have a little silvering issues. But not this time. The polishing solved that issue for me. 

  Two issues did come up with the Caracal decal placement sheet. The 1st one was that most of the ANG units didn't use the Red separation line where the fuselage pulls apart for engine maintenance. I found that rather strange, so I dug through my resource pictures and sure enough that is correct. I also found an issue with the black nose. The Caracal instructions calls for a split 2 part black nose of different proportions for the top and bottom, but my references has the nose as solid black with those proportions. Unfortunately, I didn't check till it was to late.

 

 

  So while I didn't apply the Red line, I painted the nose incorrectly.

  The decaling while completed, there is no top coat of gloss as yet. 

 

 

 

 

 

   Thanks for stopping by and checking out my build to date. It's always much appreciated.

Joel

  

[Slartibartfast]

Looking good!

[Joel_W]

20 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said:

Looking good!

Slartibartfast,

  Thanks for stopping by and leaving a most positive comment. it's greatly appreciated.

Joel

[Scooby]

Looks great Joel, I generally only like T-Birds in Canadian markings as that was what I was so accustomed to seeing. But that is a great scheme. Great work.

[AlienFrogModeller]

Well done Joel, haven't been on in some time and catching up on some subjects I was following. This definitely a lovely scheme.

 

I have a question tho, the actual aircraft pic shows the black nose as one piece and yours is two pieces. Was there different equipment in the nose to have this occurrence? I have noticed as well that I think this is the first time I have seen a nose with one black section. I'm used to seeing either a one upper black nose section, or a lower and even nothing in the later stages of the CT-133 life.

[KursadA]

8 hours ago, Joel_W said:

. I also found an issue with the black nose. The Caracal instructions calls for a split 2 part black nose of different proportions for the top and bottom, but my references has the nose as solid black with those proportions. Unfortunately, I didn't check till it was to late.

  

 

Hi Joel,

 

Great build so far, but there is no issue here, and the instructions are correct in showing two separate black areas in the nose. These are two separate dielectric panels. Some  units (Texas ANG being one) simply painted the frames of the top panel black later in the T-33's life. This was far, far less common than the ordinary practice of leaving two separate black areas. I have photos of Texas ANG aircraft in both styles. Most photos of ANG T-33s from this period will show two separate black areas. I personally think that the single black nose is highly unusual and would leave the kit as it is (correctly) painted now.

 

Here is a large photo that clearly shows the panel lines of the dielectric (black) area and the surrounding frame. Note that if the frame of the top panel was painted black, it would have given the impression of the single black area that you see in some photos.

 

Here are a few photos showing the two separate dielectric areas in the nose very clearly. Again, I can easily supply dozens of photos to support this. 

 

Photo1

Photo2

Photo3

Photo4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by KursadA

[Aigore]

Looking great dressed up in decals 😄

[Mr.Happy]

Joel,

 

Great job on the Great Wall kit.

 

Sorry to hear about your difficulties with the X-22 clear. I’ve had fairly good luck with it. I wonder if it has something to do with the weather.

 

(I.E. If your airbrushing during a high humidity day and or cold)

 

It can make or frustrate your day at times☹️

 

Keep up up the excellent work I’m looking forward to seeing

the final reveal😎 

 

Cheers, (Mr.Happy In name only)

[Joel_W]

18 hours ago, Scooby said:

Looks great Joel, I generally only like T-Birds in Canadian markings as that was what I was so accustomed to seeing. But that is a great scheme. Great work.

Scooby,

  Thanks for stopping by, it's much appreciated.    Glad that you like the Plain Jane scheme. it's the markings that makes it for sure. One thing I was really worried about was the my custom mix of ADC, but judging from the pictures, I got it pretty darn close.

 

Joel

[Joel_W]

17 hours ago, AlienFrogModeller said:

Well done Joel, haven't been on in some time and catching up on some subjects I was following. This definitely a lovely scheme.

 

I have a question tho, the actual aircraft pic shows the black nose as one piece and yours is two pieces. Was there different equipment in the nose to have this occurrence? I have noticed as well that I think this is the first time I have seen a nose with one black section. I'm used to seeing either a one upper black nose section, or a lower and even nothing in the later stages of the CT-133 life.

AFM,
    If it doesn't have a prop or two up front, I'm really a newbie about the actual aircraft.  KursasA posted 4 pictures that really answers our questions, so it looks as though I'm safe with the split nose.

  

   Glad that you're finding time to catch up. Always a pleasure to hear from you guys.

 

Joel

[Joel_W]

17 hours ago, KursadA said:

 

Hi Joel,

 

Great build so far, but there is no issue here, and the instructions are correct in showing two separate black areas in the nose. These are two separate dielectric panels. Some  units (Texas ANG being one) simply painted the frames of the top panel black later in the T-33's life. This was far, far less common than the ordinary practice of leaving two separate black areas. I have photos of Texas ANG aircraft in both styles. Most photos of ANG T-33s from this period will show two separate black areas. I personally think that the single black nose is highly unusual and would leave the kit as it is (correctly) painted now.

 

Here is a large photo that clearly shows the panel lines of the dielectric (black) area and the surrounding frame. Note that if the frame of the top panel was painted black, it would have given the impression of the single black area that you see in some photos.

 

Here are a few photos showing the two separate dielectric areas in the nose very clearly. Again, I can easily supply dozens of photos to support this. 

 

Photo1

Photo2

Photo3

Photo4

 

 

 

 

 

 

KursadA,

   Thank you so much for posting those 5 pictures, as it certainly settles any nagging questions I may have had.   Please accept my apologies for even 2nd guessing your instructions.  Moving forward I will be using your decals whenever possible, as I found the whole process to be one of the best decal sessions I've had in many a year.

Joel

[Joel_W]

17 hours ago, Aigore said:

Looking great dressed up in decals 😄

Janne,

  Agreed, she looks way better dressed up then as a plain Jane in just her ADC colors.

Joel

[Joel_W]

4 hours ago, Mr.Happy said:

Joel,

 

Great job on the Great Wall kit.

 

Sorry to hear about your difficulties with the X-22 clear. I’ve had fairly good luck with it. I wonder if it has something to do with the weather.

 

(I.E. If your airbrushing during a high humidity day and or cold)

 

It can make or frustrate your day at times☹️

 

Keep up up the excellent work I’m looking forward to seeing

the final reveal😎 

 

Cheers, (Mr.Happy In name only)

Mr. H,

  thanks for the thumbs up, it's greatly appreciated. 

  the weather here has been rain, then dry, then rain during the whole painting and clear period, so the humidity could have been an issue. Once the warmer weather finally gets here, the house Temp control system maintains 70 degrees @ 50-60% humidity levels. so  things should settle back to normal then.

Joel

[Scooby]

1 hour ago, Joel_W said:

AFM,
    If it doesn't have a prop or two up front, I'm really a newbie about the actual aircraft.  KursasA posted 4 pictures that really answers our questions, so it looks as though I'm safe with the split nose.

  

   Glad that you're finding time to catch up. Always a pleasure to hear from you guys.

 

Joel

 

Not all T-33s had the split dielectric on the nose. Canadian CT-133s didn’t. I think a few did very late in their service lives, but not early in it.

[egg2012]

Joel 

It looks beautiful .

I am also thinking about polishing the gloss coat.I just wondered if #2000 was a little powerful for the polishing.

Feng 

[CaptainObvious]

Hi Joel,

 

I found that my X-22 thinned with lacquer thinner will spoil if I don't use it all. They take on a pinkish hue quickly. Since I've noticed that, I don't thin the X-22 with lacquer thinner anymore for fear that they will change the tone on the completed model. These days I just thin them with the regular acrylic thinner. After leaving it a dry for a few days, I shoot a neat flash coat of Mr color leveling thinner and that leaves a nice smooth finish for decaling. You do have to be careful to just use a flash coat and not lay it on wet as lacquer thinner is hot.

 

Of course, polishing works too. The decals looks great! Really looks painted on.

[Joel_W]

9 hours ago, egg2012 said:

Joel 

It looks beautiful .

I am also thinking about polishing the gloss coat.I just wondered if #2000 was a little powerful for the polishing.

Feng 

 

Feng,

   I was also concerned about that issue. I was going to use #3,000 Tamiya sponge instead, but of course I didn't ( and still don't) have any. I could have gone with the #4,000 Micro Mesh pad, but I thought that the sponge would be a better option for being able to evenly work all the compound curves. My solution was to make sure that I used plenty of water, and I used a light touch on the surface. The results were exactly what I was looking for. You could always go with the #3,000, and see if it gives you the results you're looking for. If not, and further polishing doesn't work, then step down to the #2,000 grit. 

Joel

[Joel_W]

5 hours ago, CaptainObvious said:

Hi Joel,

 

I found that my X-22 thinned with lacquer thinner will spoil if I don't use it all. They take on a pinkish hue quickly. Since I've noticed that, I don't thin the X-22 with lacquer thinner anymore for fear that they will change the tone on the completed model. These days I just thin them with the regular acrylic thinner. After leaving it a dry for a few days, I shoot a neat flash coat of Mr color leveling thinner and that leaves a nice smooth finish for decaling. You do have to be careful to just use a flash coat and not lay it on wet as lacquer thinner is hot.

 

Of course, polishing works too. The decals looks great! Really looks painted on.

 

Capt. Obvious,

  This is the 1st that I've heard of a pinkish hue issue. Are you saying that it will turn pinkish while it's in liquid state, or that it tends to take on that hue slowly after it dries? I've used it on the last two builds and as far as I can tell, the clear coats have no pinkish or any color hue I can detect.  As for spoilage of non-used X-22, or for that matter any clear coats of any make, I never save any unused quantities even if I'm going to continue to clearcoat in the next day or two. 

 

 I've read several times about a final coat of Mr. Leveler or Tamiya Yellow cap that will smooth out the finish perfectly, but  I'm really concerned, ok worried, that I'll go to heavy handed and ruin the clear coat. By a flash coat do you mean more like a mist coat?

 

 Glad you like the way the decaling turned out. Like I said, it even surprised me. 

 

Joel

Edited May 14, 2018 by Joel_W

[CaptainObvious]

1 hour ago, Joel_W said:

  This is the 1st that I've heard of a pinkish hue issue. Are you saying that it will turn pinkish while it's in liquid state, or that it tends to take on that hue slowly after it dries? I've used it on the last two builds and as far as I can tell, the clear coats have no pinkish or any color hue I can detect.  As for spoilage of non-used X-22, or for that matter any clear coats of any make, I never save any unused quantities even if I'm going to continue to clearcoat in the next day or two. 

 

 I've read several times about a final coat of Mr. Leveler or Tamiya Yellow cap that will smooth out the finish perfectly, but  I'm really concerned, ok worried, that I'll go to heavy handed and ruin the clear coat. By a flash coat do you mean more like a mist coat?

 

 

Hi Joel,

 

I meant that the X-22 thinned with lacquer thinner turned pinkish in the liquid state. I have not had it change hue after application on the model.

 

-co

[Joel_W]

11 minutes ago, CaptainObvious said:

 

Hi Joel,

 

I meant that the X-22 thinned with lacquer thinner turned pinkish in the liquid state. I have not had it change hue after application on the model.

 

-co

 

Capt. Obvious

Thanks for the clarification. At least I don't have to check all the models that I used X-22 on worrying about a pink Hue.

Joel