30 replies to this topic

[UmTutSut]

Gang,

At long last, some pix of my WIP F4B-4. Cockpit is mostly scratchbuilt. Biggest PITA was eliminating the seam on the bottom of the upper and lower wings, then re-ribbing them with thin pieces of tape. The model will represent 3-F-7 from VF-3 aboard USS RANGER circa 1935, using decals from Yellow Wings. Comments welcome!









Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack)

[Lee White]

Comments welcome!

OK, I'll comment.


That's awesome!! Makes me want to drag mine out of the to-do pile and start it!


Lee

[Allok]

Very nice.
I'm a big fan of the pre-war navy bi-planes. Not brave enough to tackle one myself yet.

Great stuff so far,
Keith

[LSP_Mike]

Looking good Les. I'd like to see some 'pit piccies if you have any. You're right, the wings are a bloody mess to get just right, yours came out pretty good, I'd say. I like your approach of adding decals at this stage. On the next one, that's what I'll do. Is the lower 1/2 of the engine cowl going to be blue? (A/C #3) Have you a plan to rig the beast? always good to see another biplane, esp. from the yellow wings age!

[UmTutSut]

>Is the lower 1/2 of the engine cowl going to be blue? (A/C #3)

No, this is a/c #7, third (blue) section leader. Even so, VF-5 left the Townsend ring light gray, painting only the cowl face in normal section schemes. If you have the F4B/P-12 "in action" pub, look at the pic of 3-F-12, showing only the lower half of the cowl face painted black. Another quirk the squadron had was using a black "F" in the section leader's band on the #1 and #7 aircraft; most other squadrons whose aircraft I've seen pix of used white.

I didn't shoot any pix while building the cockpit. I just more or less copied what Wayne Hui did in his build. See http://www.modelingm...eww2/huif4b.htm

>Have you a plan to rig the beast?

Wire (.10, I think) for the flying wires, probably stretched sprue for the elevator and rudder control cables.

Stay tooned!

Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack)

[LSP_Mike]

Les, Right, I understand the markings now. I've resumed work on the Bf2c Hawk, and should make the deadline. When all is said, and done, we'll have a bomber, and a fighter from USS Ranger, North Island, Sandy eggo, circa 1935. What did you use for the chrome yellow?

[UmTutSut]

What did you use for the chrome yellow?

Testors MM Chrome Yellow with just a touch of Insignia Red added. Tried to match the wings shown in this Dive Bomber production pic:



Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack)

[LSP_Mike]

Les,
OK I see that. Next build I'm going to add just a li'l dab 'o Orange, I think. The MM yellow is just to yellow with out any of the brightness of the chrome yellow. Much to my chagrin, I just realized that the hase Bf2c only numbers up to A/C #6; I'll have to rob another kit for the same size 5-B-7 to finish this bird.
I have the painting guide fro the Classic Airframes 1/48 F4B4, and it gives the option of using "US NAVY" bottom of lower wing. It also shows part of rear face of prop painted black, prolly as anti- glare. Can you confirm either of those items?
Looking forward to more pics!

[UmTutSut]

I have the painting guide fro the Classic Airframes 1/48 F4B4, and it gives the option of using "US NAVY" bottom of lower wing. It also shows part of rear face of prop painted black, prolly as anti- glare. Can you confirm either of those items?
Looking forward to more pics!

While the "U.S. NAVY" lower wing marking isn't impossible, I haven't seen it on any F4B-4 pix myself. It appears from the single photo I have of 3-F-7 that it is not on that aircraft's lower wing.

OTOH, the black rear of the prop blades looks likely. In the "In Action" book, most appear to have it, some don't. I'm gonna go with a black rear face on mine.

Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack)

[UmTutSut]

Gang,

I've made some excellent progress in the last few days. The fuselage and upper wing are overcoated with Testors MM Semi-Gloss for a realistic (IMO) finish. The gray panels on the lower wings are decals painted light gray and cut to size.

With any luck, I should get the upper wing attached this weekend, then it's on to rigging with wire!

Enjoy!




Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack

[LSP_Mike]

Looking good,Les! When does the cowl get paint? Should the tail struts be green, along with the rest of the tail? I'm going with the semi-gloss also, yours looks pretty good. A nice looking build, and great to see one alongside mine.

[UmTutSut]

>Looking good,Les! When does the cowl get paint?

VF-5 left the Townsend ring on their F4B-4s light gray. Only the front engine cover was painted in the usual section schemes.

>Should the tail struts be green, along with the rest of the tail?

Uggggggggggggggh...now that I look at the pic of the real thing, they very well may be Willow Green. Gonna have to check some pics of the other VF-5 aircraft. Thanx for the noodge!

Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack)

[UmTutSut]

VF-5 left the Townsend ring on their F4B-4s light gray. Only the front engine cover was painted in the usual section schemes.

Here's a shot of the "business end." 3-F-8 presumably would have the top half of the engine cover painted, 3-F-9 the lower half.



Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum flack)

[LSP_Mike]

Les, yeah, that's one of the details regarding the tail plane I noticed, but an easy fix.

[DougN]

Looks great so far Les! I'll be watching to see how you do the rigging on her

Cheers,

Doug