121: Photo Feature 2 - 2013 Warbirds Over the Beach, Virginia Beach

 

121: Show and Tell

The theme of the May meeting was "Aggressors".  There were five theme builds and eight non-theme builds.

May's honored "Golden Clamp" award winner was Nick Kessel for his pair of Top Gun A-4E models.  Members had a hard time picking between the 1/72 Fujimi kit and the 1/48 Monogram kit.  The Fujimi kit represents "Top Gun 56" that was built completely OOB including the kit decals.  The nicely done MiG silhouette was painstakingly hand masked and painted.

The old but venerable Monogram kit was also built OOB with added Sidewinder launcher and adapter as well as the In Flight Refueling Probe from a Hasegawa kit.  Decals are from Superscale to represent "Top Gun 52".

Jim Rotramel's theme entry is his Monogram 1:48 F-20 Tigershark in a "What If" USAF aggressor scheme.  The kit was built OOB except for the captive Sidewinder and AIS pod that were taken from his spares box. Jim also used rhinestones for the wing nav lights.

Another 1:48 A-4 Skyhawk for the theme build was this "Super Fox" model built by Joe Hegedus.  Joe started with the excellent Hasegawa kit and added a True Details seat, Cutting Edge "hotdog" antennae on the tail, and a TACTS Pod from the Hasegawa weapons pack.  Markings are from either a Fightertown or Afterburner decals sheet.

The final theme build was this 1:48 Italeri F-15 built by Ryan Turgeon.  This was the kit that Ryan used to make his return to modeling.  Ryan added Aires resin exhaust cans and Afterburner decals to represent an airframe from the USAF 65th Aggressor Squadron.

Non-theme builds for May included this eye-popping 1/144 F/A-18E Super Hornet built by Vince Mankowski.  Vince built the excellent Revell kit OOB with decals from DXM to represent the 2011 CAG bird from VFA-137 Kestrels.  For more details, see last month's blog entry.

Besides his A-4, Joe Hegedus also brought along a pair of Glossy Sea Blue (GSB) aircraft.  The first is the XTB2D-1 Skypirate.  The Douglas torpedo bomber was built from a Planet Resin 1/72 kit with a tailhook fashioned from a paper clip and new prop shafts made from brass tube.

Joe's second GSB model was also built from a resin kit.  The Czechmaster 1/72 TBY-2 Seawolf was built almost OOB, with main landing gear struts from a Wings 72 Seawolf kit and the propeller from a Tamiya Corsair.  The markings represent a NATC service test aircraft from 1945.

Moving along in 1/72, we have a wonderful Boeing F4B-4 built from the excellent Monogram kit.  Ken Kelly completed this build in his usual style of a brush painted paint job with Polly Scale paints and EZ line rigging.  Ken added a scratch built seat, floor, yoke, and panel to the otherwise sparse kit cockpit.

John Bray was along with a pair of nicely done diorama's, including this very unusual Ostrich Egg diorama.  The center piece of the diorama is actually the egg itself with John fashioned from an actual ostrich egg.  A nicely done Ostrich figurine was added in front of a hand painted mural of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

John's second diorama represents the (in)famous shootout at the OK Corral.  The diorama is done up in 1/32 scale with Black Hawk Toy Soldiers figures that were repainted and placed between a pair of scratch built period buildings which were made from construction board.

Equally impressive was Collin Tatsuko's beautiful Bf-109E Trop.  Collin built the 1/32 Eduard kit OOB and finished it with Model Master paints.  The green blotches were free handed with his new Sotar 20/20 airbrush.  All paints were thinned with Mr. Leveling Thinner by Gunze which Collin endorses as "Awesome".

Rounding out this month's builds is the unique Japanese Type 94 Combat Car built by "Doc" Haugh.  The 1/35 Fine Molds kit was built OOB with a Soviet tanker figure added for scale reference.  Doc reports that the tracks were a bit too short in the otherwise excellent kit.  And yes, they did fit more than one person in there!

121: In Progress

For May, there were only three in progress builds, one of which was theme related.

Mike Colvin is working on a Hasegawa 1/48 F-16A that he had intended to have complete for May's theme build.  He plans on using a Fightertown Decals sheet to depict one of the Navy's NSAWC Top Gun aggressor aircraft.

Showing off his latest project, Nate Swift brought along his Dornier Do-335B-4.  Nate is building the Dragon kit OOB, including kit supplied Photo Etch.  This reconnaissance version of the seldom modeled fighter is sure to be a stunner.

Rounding out the in progress builds is Andrew White's nearly completed Hobbyboss F9F-2 Panther.  Andy is taking a departure from his usual larger scale builds and tackling the 1/72 kit nicely.  The OOB build is being finished gear up, with markings to represent the VMF-311 aircraft flown by Ted Williams when he was shot down in Korea.  Markings are from an Iliad Decals sheet, and the fine panel lines were accentuated  with a Flory Models light gray wash.

Looking forward to seeing these three models completed!

121 - BTSK: Notes, Cautions, Warnings.

BTSK

 

Notes, Cautions, Warnings

 

For our October BTSK theme, the Airfix 1/72 scale BAE Hawk is the designated subject and I know that some of you have begun work on yours. It seems that Jim Rotramel is not one to procrastinate, as he has completed his! In way of helping his fellow modelers Jim offers the following build review of the Airfix Hawk kit.

 

Take it away Jim!

 

 

Build Review

1/72 scale Airfix Hawk (Kit # A02005)

By Jim Rotramel

I’m done with this little kit now, and have a few words of experience to share.

Fit is generally not too bad with one massive exception. The wing-fuselage join results in a significant ‘step’ on the bottom of the aircraft between the two. While you could do some cutting on the fuselage to make the wing fit flush (i.e., higher), that will result in a gap on top where the wing fairs into the fuselage. Pick your poison, but the bottom line is that the fit as it comes out of the box leaves much to be desired.

The instructions are okay, with a couple of problems. In step 10, they show that the wing fences need to be glued to the wing, but fail to provide any positioning information whatsoever. (They are roughly aligned with the break between the aileron and flap, maybe a couple of inches outboard.) Step 12 shows the flat clear windscreen between the front and rear seats (part 4H) being glued into the canopy (part 6H) without the benefit of knowing exactly where it goes (ARE you kidding me?). DON’T do it! You’ll note a small step on the front of the back seat glare shield (part 13A) in step 7. When you get to Step 12, attach part 4H there, NOT to the canopy.

I could point out some other things I have issue with, but this is an introductory-level kit, so for a young fan of the Red Arrows, it’s fine and generally accurate.

For masking, I bought the Eduard mask EDUCX248. WARNING! The break in the mask for the white separation band on the canopy (part 4H above) is too far aft by about 1/4-in! The major justification for buying this masking set in the first place was that there is no scribing on the canopy to aid in painting the band (or locating part 4H), so this provides an extra challenge. The set is still useful, but DO NOT apply the masks to the main canopy until the fuselage is assembled with part 4H installed. Then dry fit the canopy and apply the masks, which will need to be modified somewhat. The good news is that the curved parts of the masks are still usable, its just that the straight parts along the bottom of the frame will have to be shortened for the front section and additional masking added to the rear section. I found adding a strip of painters tape along the sill line useful to ensure the two sections are aligned.

 

 

 

 

 

I also bought Eduard’s Zoom set (SS354), even though I’m not normally a big fan of PE. I found some parts of this set useful. When I bought the set I was concerned about the cockpit instrument panels, but they are so far beneath the glare shields that they really aren’t that visible. The new glare shields don’t fit well and the front one is too short by about 1/8 inch. However, there were a some of useful bits: The HUD frame is nice, but wait until ready to install the windscreen to add it, as it’s quite fragile (don’t ask me how I know!). The exhaust nozzle is nice, once I figured out how to install it  (inside a piece of 3/16” brass tubing to ensure it’s round). And the wing fences are nice, although I had to use a razor saw to cut a slot in the wing for them to fit into, as the opening for the wing is a tad narrow. That’s okay as they fit more securely in slots, but it would have been nice to know beforehand.

I used a pair of Pavala 72060 MB Mk.10H ejection seats. Nice seats, very detailed, but remember to order two!

For the pitot tube, I used the Master AM-72-020. Worked fine. It bent a little when I dropped the model, but straightened out nicely!

The little clear piece in the nose is a light. I drilled out the hole, inserted a piece of plastic rod, sat a rhinestone on top of it and finished it off with a drop of clear epoxy. Much better!

In short, it was a much bigger fight than I expected out of such a tiny kit.



120 - 1/144 F/A-18E “Digi-Hornet” by Vince Mankowski

1/144 F/A-18E “Digi-Hornet”

VFA-137 “Kestrels” CAG Aircraft 2011

By Vince Mankowski

 

                As most of you know, my wife and I are looking to move to Spokane, WA in the (very) near future.  To make this possible I have been looking for work very hard for the last several months, so hard in fact that I haven’t touched a model on my workbench since early February this year!  Since I have been running into road blocks (3,000 mile distance not withstanding) and growing frustrated in my search to the point a week ago that I simply said “To heck with it, I’m going to take a break and build a model!”

                Rooting around in my stash, I wanted something I could build ‘out of the box’ relatively quickly that would have a unique or striking paint scheme to it.  My eyes fell to the 1/144 Revell F/A-18E Super Hornet kit (number 03997). 

 

 

Revell 1/144 F/A-18E Super Hornet box art

 

I just happened to have the DXM decals for a ‘digital camouflage’ Super Hornet on hand.  The decals represent a “Commander, Air Group” or CAG aircraft from the VFA-137 Kestrels painted this way in 2011 in both an ‘early’ and a ‘later’ scheme.  The decision was made to proceed with this model, in the “digi-hornet” scheme.

 

 

DXM 1/144 Decal Set

 

                I started by cutting the parts to the model from all but one or two of their sprue attachment points and cleaning up the mold separation lines present on them.  Once they were cleaned up, I began the initial painting for interior colors for the cockpit, wheel wells, intakes, undercarriage and such.  Some parts I completely separated from the sprues and attached to toothpicks for preparation.

 

 

Initial painting on model parts

 

 

More initial painting

 

                Once the initial painting was done, I started by applying the decals (yes, DECALS!) for the instrument panel and consoles in the cockpit.  This was followed by some more painting to complete the preparation for assembly.

 

 

Instrument panel and console decals applied to the cockpit interior parts

 

                I followed the instructions for the most part, trapping the cockpit tub between the fuselage top and bottom halves, constructing the intakes with fan face along the fuselage, and attaching the nosecone to the fuselage assembly.  I clamped everything nice and snug to prevent any seam problems later.  I can say without reservation that this kit goes together very easily, and has great fit throughout!  There was very little in the way of seam clean up that was required.  The intakes have small attachment areas to glue them together, and are a little fiddly for folks who are not used to working in this small a scale, but other than this ‘hazard of scale’, the kit went together apace and with no troubles.

                The all-moving elevators are connected on the sprue by a plastic dowel that passes through the fuselage so you can articulate them when construction is finished.  However, due to the scheme I was applying and the fact that the colors are comprised of decals I chose to clip the dowel and simply glue the elevators in after painting and decaling the model.  This was my only deviation from the instructions.

 

 

Clamping the fuselage together while the glue dries

 

                Once all of the major assembly was finished, I prepared the model for painting.  I masked off the engine intakes and wheel wells to preserve the flat white prepainting.  I also masked off the canopy and while the windscreen was permanently glued in place, the canopy was lightly tacked in place using Ailene’s Tacky Glue so I could separate it later and install it in the open position.

 

 

Ventral masking for the paint job

 

 

Dorsal masking for the paint job

 

                Once I had applied the overall Light Ghost Gray paint scheme, I let that dry for a couple of days before coating the model in a gloss clear coat in preparation for the decals.  I also let the lacquer gloss coat dry for a couple of days before starting the decal process.

 

 

Unmasked and ready for decals

 

                The DXM set for this scale is unique in that it includes all the digital camouflage as decals to apply over the single base color.  Now, that was unique, however it took some 30 decals just to apply the paint scheme to the model… in 1/144 scale!  The only hard part was in the beginning, with the first decal applied (right wing) as the alignment for the entire paint job relied on getting the first decal right.  The application sequence fell out as:  right wing, spine (6 decals), left wing, right LERX (2 decals), left LERX (2 more), aft fuselage (6 decals), forward fuselage (4 decals), nose (4 decals), vertical tail(s) (6 decals), and elevators (1 decal each).  A total of 34 decals just for the paint scheme!

 

 

Applying digi-camouflage decals

 

                Once the color scheme was finished, then the aircraft and squadron markings had to be applied and believe it or not, it took even more decals to accomplish this.  The regular markings included items such as the “Navy” titles, squadron name on the spine, side numbers on the nose and flaps, bureau numbers under the elevators, and national insignias.  The DXM decal sheet also included some of the warning, safety, maintenance stencils and slime lights you would normally only find on models in larger scales!  All in all, I spent 3 nights applying decals to this little beast, but when they were finished I think it looked absolutely fantastic!

 

 

Squadron/aircraft specific decals going on over the camouflage decals

 

                I used the Microscale decal setting solutions by putting the Set solution on the decals while the glue softened after a dip in room temperature water.  I applied the Sol solution to the spot on the model where the decal was to be placed.  Using this approach everything snuggled down just beautifully into all of the surface detail (note the photographs above carefully!).  The DXM decals responded very well to the Microscale products and did not melt, skew, or otherwise get damaged during the process and I am very happy with the results achieved.

                Once the all of the decals were applied and left alone to cure over night, I started the process of attaching all of the fiddly-bits to this model.  Believe me when I say, that in 1/144 scale the fiddly-bits are that much more fiddly when you have large hands and fingers.

 

 

Undercarriage and pylons installed, tail flying surfaces installed, gear doors are next

 

 

Oh, yeah, and the centerline tank is installed!

 

 

Gear doors, ejection seat and canopy installed, almost there!

 

 

A penny for your thoughts…

 

 

Carrier lights painted with the end of a sharpened toothpick

 

 

Ejection seat with tape belts

 

 

Low aspect photograph of the finished model

 

 

High angle photograph of the finished model

 

                I thoroughly enjoyed building this model.  I applied a light wash to the entire airframe to pick out surface details.  Once I cleaned up the excess with a alcohol soaked cotton bud (or two, or three) the whole thing looked really nice.  I am contemplating adding the ordnance under the wings.  I painted up the AIM-120C AAMRAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles along with a pair of GBU-31 JDAM bombs.  I think I just may add them after I get done absorbing the pleasure of finishing the first model I’ve completed since well before Christmas 2012!  I hope to not wait this long to finish another model ever again!