chuck540z3

My major comment is that this model is an example of your typical work, which is always excellent! Very, very, well done and the forward details are superb. Weathering for a drone of this time period is perfect as well. Since you asked for possible critiques, the vertical stabilizer should sit flush with the fuselage leaving no gap, which is entirely due to the poor fit of the Tamiya kit parts and no fault of your own. These parts need to be sanded down to fit flush, so you can likely still do that without any further paint work? I think you can. Cheers, Chuck

Or, use one of the many MRP Zinc Chromate Yellow shades like this one, easily purchased through Sprue Bros. MRP 129 Cheers, Chuck

Thank you Ray! Cheers, Chuck

Thank you sir! The Snowbirds are quite different than other demo teams and the music played during their demonstration is more likely to be symphonic than rock and roll. I still love the "brute force and noise" shows of the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, but the Snowbirds are more "elegant", for lack of a better word. Cheers, Chuck

Thanks- and apparently they still are! Rocky Mountain Aircraft Cheers, Chuck

Freaking awesome Pete! That sure looks like a lot of fun. Cheers, Chuck

Woody, Sometimes we old farts NEED to learn new tricks now and then, and the HGW wet transfers are the very best decals you can use for small stencils. Here's a few pics of them on my Spitfire I did a few years ago. Regular decals on these big gaps would be a twisted mess. And more recently my Tempest Crisp, clean and No decal film of any kind. What's not to like? Cheers, Chuck

I tried to create multiple shades of BMF Aluminum using several Alclad shades of lacquer on my CF-104 build almost 2 years ago. Rather than re-describe everything here, the link to the painting portion starts about here: Alclad BMF Painting sequence While not perfect, you can certainly get a very interesting contrast of Polished Aluminum, Dull Aluminum, Titanium- and many other shades in between. HTH Cheers, Chuck

Hi Ron, My guess is that either a lot of people do just that, or there are no parking signs all over the place, since it's obviously a big distraction and could be a highway hazard. Nothing is stopping anyone from going to Calaway Park nearby, however, or parking on Springbank Road which is parallel to Hwy 1. All of the acts fly predominantly North-South so anywhere along that trajectory should be able to see something fairly well. If you're interested tomorrow, the Hornet flies at 2 PM and the Snowbirds are at 3, so it's not a big time commitment. When you go home, it's better to continue west to Hwy 22 and loop around through Cochrane, to avoid the $itshow of construction at Valley Ridge with extra traffic from the airshow. Cheers, Chuck

I love airshows, but like everyone else, I hate the hassle of entering and leaving the venue due to the large crowds that go with them. I especially like the “Aviation Nation” airshow at Nellis AFB (Vegas) every couple of years, which I will be attending this November, but you can easily spend 1 ½ hours getting onto the base and another 1 ½ hours leaving the base, for a total of 3 wasted hours of standing in line. Thankfully, this air show is always worth the wait, especially if you like fighter jets like I do. There are no worries about what fighter jet might show up, because all the key ones live at Nellis, including the Thunderbirds. F-15’s, F-16’s (usually Aggressors), F-18's (Navy comes every year), F-22’s and now F-35’s are all a given, with lots of other cool aircraft like Warbirds fill the skies. Here in Calgary we don’t have any big airshows, but we often have a small one on the western outskirts of Calgary at the small Springbank Airport, which is going on today and tomorrow. I know from experience that getting in and out of this airport is a really big hassle, so I wasn’t planning on attending, knowing that I was getting my airshow fix at Nellis in November anyway. It turns out, however, that most of the airshow acts do a practice run on the Friday and the Canadian Snowbirds sponsor a VIP tent right on the main runway, for families with children who have Cerebral Palsy. Through some connections I was asked if I would like to attend, to take some pictures of the kids and transport a few of the attendees to and from the show. Hell Yes! So my wife and I attended this mini-show yesterday and as advertised, there was only about 80 of us with front row seats- and no other people, other than those who collected in the deep background to get a glimpse of what was going on. Very cool, and a real tribute to the Snowbirds for sponsoring this charitable event. With that long preamble out of the way, here are a few pics of the show and for privacy reasons, I will stick to the aircraft pics only and not the many “people” pics I took. While photography is another hobby of mine, I don’t have any of the super long prime zoom lenses (400 mm+) that are required to capture airshow acts cleanly, since I would rarely use them and they are super heavy and expensive. Instead, these are some pics using my Nikon Z7 II camera and a 70-200 mm f 2.8 lens, which is great for people shots, but not so good for aircraft flying by at high speed. With the big 45.7 MP sensor of this camera, however, I was able to digitally zoom in a bit further than 200 mm with a few decent results. The main act for me is the Canadian CF-18A Legacy Hornet, which is showing its age, but man can it still put on a great show! These demo jets are usually brightly painted in a new scheme every year, but for some reason this year is just two tone grey in an almost digital pattern. This pic also gives you an idea of how close we were to the performing aircraft. My next favorite aircraft, as always, is the P-51D Mustang. I’m not sure where this beauty came from (California?), but it was gorgeous! A bit closer. Note the “back-up” Hornet in the background. First act were parachutists, waving the Canadian flag. And also recognition of our American friends and performers. Next were three Pitts Specials of the Northern Stars Aerobatic Team, who are Canadian RCAF veterans. These guys are good…. There were two Mustangs that flew, like the one above that is called “Grim Reaper”. Note the dark clouds starting to roll in, which eventually shortened the airshow later due to lightning. And another P-51D, which is an obvious tribute paint scheme of the Tuskegee Airmen from the Erickson Aircraft Collection of Oregon. Not as pretty as the Grim Reaper by a long shot, but it flew just as well and as fast. Take-off. This where a long prime lens would have been much better. I can hear the sound of that Merlin music just looking at it. The other Mustang... Next up was the CF-18, with thunderstorms growing in the background. Take-off, showing how close the airport is to a residential area and the growing wind speed. I think this new paint scheme is supposed to look like a real Hornet? With the humidity building in the air, every high G turn came with a good vapor trail off the LEX. I still love these jets, even if they are old. Speaking of old jets, the last act, and sponsor of our group, were the Snowbirds that fly CT-114 trainers, which date back to the 60’s. While nowhere near as fast as the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, the skill to fly them in such tight formations is still fantastic to witness, especially since there are usually 9 of them instead of the traditional 6. The Snowbirds had to cut their demonstration short due to the building thunderstorm clouds and a few strikes of lightning in the distance, or I likely would have taken a few more shots. It was time to leave for everyone, so we all packed up and left the airport with NO crowds to hold us back! Pure airshow Nirvana, and a great day for a great cause all around. My wife and I were very touched by the attendees, which on it's own, was well worth our small efforts. Cheers, Chuck

Happy Birthday Buddy and I'm so glad you are doing better. I had some day surgery for a hernia go bad a few weeks ago and after a second surgery and another week in the hospital, I am finally starting to mend, although I have zero energy right now. It must be a Canadian thing, eh? Cars are great, but I've been looking forward to you attacking that 1/24 Airfix Hellcat kit you have in your stash. I can see the magic you will perform on that really cool engine that only Wolf Buddee can create! Cheers, Chuck

Pure eye candy modeling art that is so well done. Cheers, Chuck

I'm not a Bi-Plane guy but I am one who can appreciate fantastic modeling, and this is right up there with the best. Awesome work! I could look at this for an hour and find all sorts of interesting details that look so well done, and all perfectly weathered. Cheers, Chuck

Incredible painting and model. Really, really well done! Cheers, Chuck

Atta Boy Jay! We all need to stretch ourselves as modelers once in awhile, otherwise our hobby becomes routine and boring. Thankfully one of the best acrylic lacquers out there are Tamiya rattle cans, typically in the "TS" series and decanting them is super simple. Others have different methods (and I encourage other input), so this is what I do: - Find a clean tube that's about 3/8" to 1/2" thick and cut it to about 5" long. I'm not sure where I found mine, but I think it's plastic tubing for micro-irrigation in flower beds, etc. Any such tubing will do, even metal. - Find a jar that you want the paint to go into, leaving about 50% for thinner. I use Tamiya 20 ml jars or similar. - Find a place to spay the paint where you can make a bit of a mess if things get out of hand, which is now rare for me (it wasn't always so!). A regular paint booth is perfect, because you also want to vent the fumes. - Shake the can of paint well, then using rubber gloves, spray the paint through the tube into the jar at about a 45 degree angle, using your other hand to cup the jar and prevent paint spilling and over-spray. With the pressure drop from can to jar, you will feel the paint get very cold which is normal. - When the jar is about half full, stop spraying. You will note that the paint will continue to bubble as gasses escape, so don't put on the lid tightly or it will explode when you open it again. Just leave the lid on lightly for several hours until it de-gasses. - Add about 50% Tamiya Lacquer thinner (Item # 87077) and stir. If you want, adding the thinner early helps with the de-gassing process, so you can decant paint and be ready to use it within an hour. - Add the paint to your airbrush and spray away. Like all modellers, we all find a certain viscosity that works best for us, our particular airbrush, the humidity and the pressure that we spray the paint. This is where you need to practice the most, to find that elusive recipe that works every time. Once you've found it, further painting sessions are easy. That aluminum skin will need a primer for sure and this is where I can't help you much, because I've never done it myself, so I would seek the help from others who have. Cheers- and Good Luck! Chuck

Jay, I am in such awe of your skinning work and also a bit jealous, because this looks like a LOT of fun! Picky, exacting and at sometimes frustrating work I'm sure, but fun nonetheless. With all the other bits you've done in the background so far (that engine!), this beast is coming together splendidly and will look awesome once finished. As mentioned before last December, you must airbrush this masterpiece in order to attain maximum perfection. You MUST! What's amazing to me and I'm sure many others, is that your painting so far was not airbrushed, because it still looks terrific, but that was for small areas like the engine and cockpit. Painting all that beautiful aluminum skin will require a lot of paint and a lot of precision which you just can't do with rattle cans and paint brushes. Take a few weeks off and hone your airbrush skills on mules and other objects before you paint, and you won't regret it. To make it easier, make sure you buy and use one of the popular acrylic lacquer paints like MRP or similar. As a matter of fact, I guarantee you will wonder why you didn't start airbrushing earlier. Cheers, Chuck

So excellent in every way and one of the best Tamiya Mustangs I've ever seen. Bravo! Cheers, Chuck

Beautiful Tempest John! I am always a big fan of your modeling skills, detailed in progress photos, explanations of same, and this final product which is exceptional in every way. Congrats sir! Cheers Chuck

Looking terrific John! It's so interesting to see how you attacked this kit compared to when I did a few years ago, and your results are stunning. One key difference is your weathering, which is much more pronounced than mine and I think looks more realistic, if not more interesting. When that beautiful engine is exposed, it will be a show-stopper and I'm glad my model won't be competing against yours at a future model contest! Cheers, Chuck

Great "save" John! Left as is, this model would have bugged you forever, so it's always better to just bite your lip and get it over with. As always, your painting is flawless and doesn't show a hint of the major changes you have made. Cheers, Chuck

Really nice build Cor. There is so much detail to look at that is so interesting. Cheers, Chuck

Super nice build John and that engine is spectacular! Is that nose fit bad due to the kit itself or due to the addition of the engine? Having used the Barracuda resin nose on my build, I had some fit issues as well, but since it was created primarily from the kit parts, that might have been the root problem. In any event due to your tweaks, your nose fit will look perfect after paint. Cheers, Chuck

Certainly Ray. It's always an honor! Cheers, Chuck

Very interesting observations from everyone. No two modelers will have the same skill sets, desire for perfection and desire to be recognized (or not), so it’s no surprise that everyone has a bit different view on posting WIP threads or entering model contests. For me, both of these activities make me a better modeler. When I create a WIP thread, I know that my work is under a microscope for many to see, especially when I use close-up photography for most of it. I can’t count the number of times I have completed a stage in the build, taken close-up pics of it and discovered flaws that I did not recognize earlier. When this happens, I can usually re-do my work and the model is better for it. When you stick your work out there for all to see, you force yourself to do a better job than you might ordinarily accomplish without external scrutiny. As for recognition in these WIP threads, I really like the “Like” and other buttons, because it allows those who look at my work give me a “tip of the hat” without an actual “attaboy” response, assuming it is warranted. Don’t get me wrong, because I love attaboy responses, but they aren’t always necessary and I recognize other modeler’s work the very same way. Every once in a while, I too give attaboy’s when I see something that really stands out, but most of the time I stick with the Like button, which I click on often. As for subject matter, my interests are extremely narrow to WWII+ military props and jets, so if the build is a WnW Biplane or an aircraft that I find unattractive, I don’t even look at it, since there are so many other builds going on at any given time and I’d rather spend my time modeling than looking at every build. I’m not very proud of this stance because it sounds a bit snooty, but it’s true, at least for me. As for modeling contests, once I have built a model here at LSP in a WIP thread, it has already been pre-judged here in a way, and I usually do really well at contests as a result. Sure, I don’t always win and sure, I often find flaws in contest judging, but I really like to see what other modelers have created in person and discuss my models with those who enquire about them. Model contests are not always positive experiences and I’ve attended a few contests where I was certain that I was robbed, but overall, I enjoy the contest experience and you have to take a few lumps with the trophies. And the overall reason I like doing WIP threads and entering model contests, is that whether we like it or not, our nerdy hobby isn’t all that popular in the mainstream. None of my friends or relatives really “get” why I bother to spend hundreds of hours on building one model, so unless I share my work here at LSP or at a few modeling contests with those who understand a good build from a poor one, it’s a pretty darn lonely hobby. Cheers, Chuck

Now that these early images show up, it makes me laugh. Now that the model is finished and the seat is installed, you would be very hard pressed to see any of this detail behind the seat, even with a flashlight and close-up corrected vision. I recall it was a ton of work correcting the wiring and adding some Adriatic Resin items, so it was obviously mostly a waste of time. Oh well, at least I know it's there! Cheers, Chuck