Els Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Since this quick Group Build has my modelling Mojo boiling over and I don't want to wait for the parts I ordered for the F-4J, I started the Revell/Monogram Albatross. I bought this kit at a show with the intention of building it as an aircraft from the 135th Air Commando Group, Maryland ANG. But after starting it today I changed my mind. It is just basically a black airplane with some red lettering. The F-4 I am going to build is pretty bland to. Two bland aircraft at the same time kind of brought my mojo down to a slow simmer. So I am going to try and make it the plane from the first Expendables movie. If I cannot make the decals, then I can fall back on the 135th aircraft. I started with the wings and found that the plastic in this kit is super soft. I have never seen plastic in a kit that was this flexible. I glued some sprue into the wings to give them some strength. You can see at the bottom of the picture I cut a piece of the sprue off and bent it into a knot without it cracking or breaking. The interior was painted gray so that it would be dark enough to hide the fact that there is no interior to the kit. Next I glued the windows in. I am always nervous about these types of windows because at least one of them usually pops off inside the kit when I am masking them. I am going to build this in flight just over some water so I am trying to put the gear up. The gear and rear door are gap city. And of course the big gluey finger print around all those raised rivets makes things easier.... The blobs of plastic, I mean crew was painted up. Probably a waste of time. I don't think much will be seen through the front glass. Tomorrow I will start cutting a hole in the bottom for the in-flight stand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Nice start. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I loved that kit. Lots of warped parts. But stick it out, and it works!!!! Even has positionable landing gear! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airmechaja Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I'm shocked at the softness of the styrene. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 Kurt, thanks, Phantom, I haven't had any problems with warped parts so far, probably because the plastic is so soft that it will just flop into any position needed. I am bracing everything because I am afraid that when I add the stand, the thing will warp over time. Airmechaja, even though it is soft, it has pretty good detail. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
modelmax Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 On 7/20/2018 at 6:56 AM, airmechaja said: I'm shocked at the softness of the styrene. Hi Els. Love your build ma'an! I'm also surprised about the softness of the plastic. I am also currently building the monogram albatross (and the same bird) in the in progress forum... but I have the nasty orange plastic kit. the plastic is traditional monogram plastic. I will eventually need to source another kit, I'll just have to make sure to avoid the one you got... is it a re-issue? thanks, and keep up the good work. Ernie A. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 Modelmax, I can't believe that I missed your build thread. The interior you built for your kit is really nice. Are you going to build the AN-126 as well? I am not sure when this kit came out but it was part of their SSP (Selected Subjects Program) program where they took old kits and re-released them. I will be watching the rest of your build with great interest. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
modelmax Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Thanks for the kind words Els. Yes, the Antonov An-26 is also in the plans. the kit is the An-26 "early" kit by A-model. I'm still researching the colors of the wicked splinter cammo. I hope to be able to develop mask templates to have masks made for the build... it's just so much masking otherwise. Thanks, Ernie A. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RKic Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Wow! You're digging into the really early stuff with this build! Is that Arny and Bruce Willis in the seats? I've never seen the final, but if there is an albatross in it, I may have to give it a look. Keep it coming! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted July 28, 2018 Author Share Posted July 28, 2018 Rkic, painting those two figures was pretty much a waste of time. Even without the front glass on I can't see anything but the white hat and the faces. Extra sprue and epoxy was used to strengthen the kit. I also epoxied in a spatula handle for the inflight stand. Then the halves were glued up. After the wings were on I printed out some test images that I am going to use for the decals. It took a few times to get the size close enough for me. I found the closest font for the side that I could find to match the movie. It doesn't fit quite the same as in the movie but it is good enough for this out of the box build. On to the putty, sand, repeat stage that I dread. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I remember that kit being a LOT of work. Looking good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Looks good so far, can't wait to see the black paint scheme. I'm sure Sly would approve!---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RKic Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 WIldlife conservancy? Awesome! I think I need to see this film. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Just picked up 3 at Wal Mart for $3.74 a piece, whopping $11.22 for some good action flicks!---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 You will not be any smarter after watching these movies but they are fun to watch. Definitely worth $11.22, I might have to go over and get the third one. I haven't seen that one since it first came out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 Aarrrrgggghhhhhh... Double Aarrrgggghhhhh... 2nd round of putty, dust everywhere, modelling mojo plummeting. While working the seams I lost a lot of rivets so I decided to sand them all off. Since the plastic is so soft most of the panel lines disappeared while doing this. I started scribing in the major panel lines (Hate rescribing, Not good at it!!!), but have decided to get rid of what is left of all the little round and oval access panels, to lazy to rescribe all that. I am not worried about accuracy, I just want to get to the fun part, painting. Once all the dust settles in the modelling room and I can see again I will sand it down some more and hit it with some primer to see what I got. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 that is a lot of putty work. It can be hard to push through a challenging scenario like that, when the problems seem to compound themselves. Have you ever tried wet sanding? It would help prevent the dust. It is looking good, you will get through this putty sand repeat purgatory soon enough. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Why aaarrrgggghhhh? That's a "typical" old Monogram build, to be expected. You're doing a great job, as mentioned go to wet sanding. I start with 220 grit, then 400, 600, 800, 1000 and finally 2000. You can delete some or add other grits, whatever works for you, this is what works for me, YMMV. ---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Very old model, I remember using a lot of putty on mine as well. Its coming along nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 Still plugging away at this kit. After much more sanding and priming I am starting to see the very dim light at the end of the tunnel. The fit of the windows is not good (suprise), so I am going to putty over them and replace them with decals. I guess I am going for more of a desk top model at this point. I also worked on my decal sheet, It is not the greatest but it will be good enough for this kit. I went with dark grey for the door and top hatch decals so that they would show up on the black. I am also going to try the blue for the windows, reflection of the blue water it will be flying over. I need something to stand out against the black paint. I will see what it looks like when the time comes. I might have to try something else. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Most of the color is blocked in. There is still more that needs to be painted and a little more scribing will have to be done. The lines on the aircraft don't match up to the real thing so the painting is fudged a little bit. I am not to worried about it though, as long as I am close I am OK, it will never see a show. I started with some of the decals but I quickly found that I had not really thought about the decals when I made them up. I did not reverse the images for left/right side of the aircraft. After I went back and did that I noticed that I had mirror imaged the bird decals with the GWC so those letters were backwards on the decals for the right side of the aircraft. So it was back to the drawing board. The decals for the windows do not look good so I am going to rescribe the windows and gloss them after the aircraft is matted down. This kit has surpassed my three week interest level so I need to try and get it done this week end. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 I bought a three pack of wood bases to use for this and the F-4 I will get back to working on at some point. I like to use Future for my wood plaques because I can put a little paint in it and make quick gloss colors. Then I cut a hole in it and epoxied the acrylic rod with the kit into it. Then some Bondo was spread over the top and textured to resemble water. Some various blue's, a little dry brushing and a few coats of Future and it is done. And with that I am calling this one done. I found two different pictures of the antenna's on the real aircraft used in this movie so I just did a bit of a combination of both. I did not scribe in the hatches on the top or the hatch on the nose that Christmas was shooting out of, I was ready to be done with this project. I tried painting a couple of different shades of gray on the windows to simulate a reflection and then glossed them up. The windows that I filled in turned out OK. I need to buy a template that has rectangles with rounded corners for projects like this. It is definitely not movie accurate but is close enough for me. It will be a great addition to my 4 foot air force. Thanks for following along. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Parabat Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 (edited) Good job! Nice to see it done, what an epic build. Edited September 6, 2018 by Parabat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Pretty fancy looking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lost_Erik Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Fantastic! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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