dai phan Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Hello everyone, I am done with my A7 and decided to work on the GWH T-33A instead of the AMK Fouga. I have always loved the plane and after some considerations I went for the GWH one although it has some reported outline issues. The problem I have with ordering after market decals is to know which versions to get ( early or late type). I ordered this Lybian scheme and I would like to know if this is applicable to the early or late type? I ordered the early version but may have to order the late type once the scheme is nailed down. The kit should be here by Friday. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shorty84 Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 Hi Dai, the early boxing should be correct. In this photo (link) of your subject you can see the pitot on the lower fuselage, in front of the nose gear. This points to an "early" machine, "later" ones had the pitot relocated to the fuselage sides (see the end of this article for the differences between "early" and "late" T-Birds). Looking forward to your build. Cheers Markus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 29, 2020 Author Share Posted May 29, 2020 4 hours ago, Shorty84 said: Hi Dai, the early boxing should be correct. In this photo (link) of your subject you can see the pitot on the lower fuselage, in front of the nose gear. This points to an "early" machine, "later" ones had the pitot relocated to the fuselage sides (see the end of this article for the differences between "early" and "late" T-Birds). Looking forward to your build. Cheers Markus I cannot thank you enough. The kit should be arrived today. I also order some additional decals options. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 29, 2020 Author Share Posted May 29, 2020 Hello everyone... The kit is here and should be started this weekend... Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 (edited) Greetings... I have started my built and so far the impression is good. The seats and wheel wells are pretty detailed and the fit is well above average. I am waiting for the Eduard cockpit set to arrive which costs more than the cost of the kit ! I am not a fan of two halves wheels and weighted so I will need to order an after market. While waiting , assembled the main parts and no issues of fitting issues so far. Dai Edited May 31, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gator52 Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Very nice work area! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Gator52 said: Very nice work area! Thanks. I got to have nice, spacious clean place to work. I have seen some work benches here that made me grab my Tylenol ! 🙂 Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 Dry fitting indicates well fitting on the top but not on the bottom. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 Greetings, Shimming and sanding are done before the wings are joined to decrease collateral damage. Once installed a little bit of gap filling CA will take care of the gaps. Waiting for the photo etch parts to dress up the cockpit. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 (edited) Greetings... The Eduard cockpit PE has arrived so the build continues. Still waiting for the seat belts to arrive. So far, no problems but the fit is average (less than what I thought initially). Dai Edited June 8, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 8, 2020 Author Share Posted June 8, 2020 Greetings friends... Completed the cockpit and started priming before the NMF coat goes on. I am surprised there is no sanding needed before the metal coat goes on. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) Good morning... Initial silver coat goes on. I use Vallejo Metal Color silver instead of planned Mr Color because the plane has a long cockpit sides and that will require some touch up once the masking tape comes off. The problem with MC is that touch up with a brush is impossible to look right. The color seems darker and the layer looks thick and ugly. Will need to do some minor sanding to correct surface flaws not seen on the primer coat. Dai Edited June 9, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 Greetings, The surface texture of the Vallejo metal color is so rough so I sanded off the airframe, reprimed and shoot Mr Color Super Silver. What a night and day difference. Smooth as silk and if you need to knock off some rough areas with sandpaper, you can do so without having to respray again. Tomorrow will be masking and painting the walk way, anti glare and wheel wells. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) Hi all Does anyone know what the inner color of the flap is? I see some NMF and some interior green on the builds but not on real A/C. Dai Edited June 10, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 Yo... I went ahead and painted the inside with interior green. The flaps may be natural metal and if that is the case and I can't stand it being wrong, I just close the flaps. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) Almost completed painting of the airframe... Dai Edited June 12, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) Hello all, The walkway decals are so thick and nothing can make them soft so I painted mine. Decaling will be next. Dai Edited June 12, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shorty84 Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Hello Dai, really nice progress on your Shooting Star. I'm building one too and found the fit very nice overall. One really needs to test fit some parts (especially the intakes) and maybe one or two swipes with a sanding stick on the contact areas but then the fit is almost Tamiya-like. The cockpit came out great. Just if you are interested, the interior colour of the flaps could be very well aluminum. This colour picture shows it (Link 1) and on this it looks aluminum too (Link 2). Cheers Markus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 4 hours ago, Shorty84 said: Hello Dai, really nice progress on your Shooting Star. I'm building one too and found the fit very nice overall. One really needs to test fit some parts (especially the intakes) and maybe one or two swipes with a sanding stick on the contact areas but then the fit is almost Tamiya-like. The cockpit came out great. Just if you are interested, the interior colour of the flaps could be very well aluminum. This colour picture shows it (Link 1) and on this it looks aluminum too (Link 2). Cheers Markus Thank you so much for your reply. Please post your build here so I can see your bird. Since I already painted the flaps, I just may as well leave them alone. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shorty84 Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Unforunately my T-33 is on hold since more than 2 year and at the moment I simply don't have much time for modelling (sometimes it feels like I'm the only one with this "problem"). Regarding the flaps, you could spray them aluminum without much effort. The flap interior on the upper wing could be left as is. If you look at the linked colour photo one can see that it seems to be zinc cromate green while the flap itself is aluminum. Cheers Markus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tato Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Looking awesome Dai! Love the NMF. Did you applied a clear coat after painting? Love the shine. Cheers Tato Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 Happy Friday evening everyone... Some little more progress. The plane is on its feet now ! Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Tato said: Looking awesome Dai! Love the NMF. Did you applied a clear coat after painting? Love the shine. Cheers Tato I did not apply clear coat as it will kill the shine. So far any clear coat will degrade quality of the metal finish. Dai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gonzales Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Hello Dai. Have you considered polishing the clear coat after applying to the NMF? Would be worth a try with some test on some styrene with the layers you applied on your T-33. F1 car builders do it all the time. Nice work you show us, I really like your clean style of modeling. Kind regards, Robert Jan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dai phan Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) Happy Saturday night everyone... Finished decaling the plane. The decals come from LF Models in CZ. You have to trim the away the clear coating. The images are quite thick even Solvaset does not have any effects but the clear coating is quite thin. It responds well to Solvaset and not noticeable at all when dried. Because the clear coat is so thin the ink can be rubbed of quite easily and I will have to do some touch ups later. Also the registration is poor. I have yet to clear coat ( if at all ) and I will have to be extra careful when comes to the wash. The clear carrier border film can catch the wash and ruin the model entirely. Dai Edited June 14, 2020 by dai phan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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