A pair of Academy P-38's for Tom

[moon puppy]

Fly out on Wed and not back till Sat because I refuse to do the redeye. :smack

Man what a chore! I looked at the wings and didn't like what I saw, some strange textures and blemishes. So I masked off and sanded them down with Micro Mesh sheets. Did this a couple of times today as I kept getting issues. This last one I had it just done and the airbrush spit and ended up with a big ol' blob of Alclad on the leading edge and it ate right through to the primer. Sand sand again.

While I sanded this last time I notice that the alclad was getting harder and harder to come off. I don't know how the thought process got here but I'm going to try something.

Kinda like a post and pre shade all at once. I'm thinking that the lower metal will dull out and the new coat will be really shiny. We'll see...

And if that fails..strip it again.

 

[moon puppy]

I couldn't help myself. I had to go ahead and do it.

I think I will work with the top of the flaps, got too heavy back there but, I think I'm happy with what I got.

Moving on to the landing gear, the brassin wheels are REALLY nice, very detailed. Hit them with Alclad Steel, the landing gear are in dull aluminum with some of the Eduard PE added for omph.

 

[ij001]

You will prevail, Bob - have some NMF :zen :zen :zen :zen in the interim:

Now back to the 'green' one - Also arrived in the same parcel from the old country:

Some very nice weighted resin wheels by True Details (hate those rubbery things that come with the kit !!), and Master turned brass late (sleeved) .50cal gun barrels, appropriate for the timeframe of my project.

Ian.

 

[moon puppy]

I'm debating the barrels myself. I'm getting a list of supplies I need so might as well add them to the list. Yeah the kit tires are dreadful.

 

[ij001]

Came to apply the decals today, started with the stencils, which curled-up and shrivelled to useless balls of nothing. So did all the stencilling from an old SuperScale sheet. Cut just one squadron code letter, and yep, it curled into unusable crud aswell.


Done too much to throw it at the wall, so I've boxed all up, and consigned it to the 'Shelf of Forgetfulness' until I find another decal sheet for a late OD/NG that catches my eye. Thanks folks for the support on this one, however enough is enough for now.

Ian.

 

[moon puppy]

What decals were you working with? Were you using any setting solutions?

 

[phantom II]

My sort of luck Ian . Hate to hear it

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[ij001]

What decals were you working with? Were you using any setting solutions?

Nothing to do with setting solutions, they just couldn't be manoeuvred off the backing paper without curling, tried dropping them back in to the water they uncurled but as soon as I took them back out, got a tiny ball of decal frustration to work with.

Best option is to find another sheet. I'll need to do some re-painting but that's not a huge issue.

Ian.

 

[moon puppy]

Was it the kit decals?

 

[ij001]

Was it the kit decals?

No, bud, 'Print Scale' from Russia.

Looks like I'll be using the Cartograph decals from the 'Mini Top Colours' book for the well known 'California Cutie'. Some serious re-painting will be needed, again nothing too complicated but will need patience and time.

Give me a couple of weeks, and I'll drag the thing back out and re-start.

Ian.

 

[Hippy Ed]

Ian, sorry ta hear about the decals going FUBAR on ya. :geek But hey! That's one sexy beast ya got for a back up!!! :drinks :drinks

 

[lupanzer]

Great choice Ian!

Luiz.

 

[phantom II]

Good choice

Cheers, CHristian B)

 

[Skinny_Mike]

Sending some :zen for the both of you!

 

[sacktime]

Both of these builds are looking great guys! Makes me want to go out and build one of these for Tom.
Looking forward to see these finished

 

[SA Dave]

Oh yes glad youre back at it

 

[moon puppy]

I'll be back at it tomorrow, recouping from travel today. :zen

 

[Tony lee]

Ian I've had a few decals that wanted to curl up and I found out that I can pretty well control the
problem by slipping the decals off on a small flat brush with only a small portion hanging off for contacting the model.

Something you might consider if and when.

Uncle Tony ldguy

 

[moon puppy]

And she's up!

Landing gear submitted for inspection

Next up, Landing gear doors and some stickers.

 

[Tony lee]

Lets see, the angles look good from all directions,strut air pressure seems to be correct.
Did you put her up on jacks and cycle the gear to see if the limit switch timings all function?

If so sign off on the red crosses and you're go to go Boss.


Uncle Tony ldguy