fightnjoe

You are all very kind. A most humbled thank you. Tony many thanks for responding on the references. Joe

Ok, how about a brief update. Now although it may not look like it there is some progress. Work is continuing on the interior details and the placement. Of the work so far the focus has been on the cockpit, the nav station, and the radio equipment. A little has been accomplished in the bombadier station. For this update let me let the pictures tell the story. Remembering all that is kit is the Gray plastic while all else is from myself. Now the third image is the radio set and that even since the picture was taken has changed a bit. More on the next update. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

You are all very kind. Many many thanks. Bstarr I have used so far .015 to .120x.375 strips for the shapes. I have also used .010 up to 3/64 rod. Many other bits and pieces that I gathered from the scrap boxes that I keep as well. Joe

You are all very kind. I am using the Walk Around from Squadron as well as the Detail in Scale. To supplement I have done a number of searches both general and part specific on Google. Joe

Part two of the update. Beginning working on the kit details was to remove them. This is what the kit has. Then the reconstruction began. First up is a little work on the cockpit. Looking at the seat there is something missing. On the right is the kit seat and on the right my version. Some additional of what little I have accomplished. I did also play a bit with the wing area as this section will be visible. Beginning with the inner space between the wings. And then moving on to some of the smaller details, bounced around quite a bit at this point. I also began to construct the radio set. More updates hopefully soon. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Been a while hasn't it.... Must be about time that I show some progress. First up is to play with the fuselage. Had to try to figure out first where the cuts would have to be. The next step is to remove the interior detail from the fuselage interior. Now the fun begins. The interior begins with the addition of styrene strips to simulate the interior smaller vertical framing and the horizontal stringers. This is the first part of this. Next up will be to begin the deconstruction and construction of the details. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Honestly real life happened. However....... Joe

I am grateful for all the support. Thanks. Joe

Shawn the plan is for this to be a cut away build. I do hope I can do this justice. Joe

It has been quite a while since I did this. This will be a long term, in depth project that will have quite a bit of work. The subject... Joe

Many thanks. Joe

Many thanks. Joe

Well my friends we call this one done. Well we did a while ago just never took the time to finish it out. Added were custom decals as well as the finishing touches for the props and such. All in all this is to represent an aircraft of the 1st Bomb Group. The pictures turned out like garbage though. Not sure how or why. I know that I have something on one of the inner workings that is causing some issue but these show a ton of crap. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Kev it is a fun kit to play with. Many thanks. Joe

My friends this build is finished. Following the last update the little things were completed and attached. There was one issue that is now a glaring reminder to me that it is not over until it is over. One of the last attachments was the clear parts. Following my normal procedure I fitted them and then used Tamiya Extra Thin to attach. This time the glue marred the surface and made the clear nasty. This does happen and in itself it did not bother me too much except for the idea that I had been working this "live" and did not have alternative parts. All in all this experiment was a success in my mind and I put it to the shelf with a smile. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many many thanks. For this build no, nothing out of the box. Future attempts, who knows. Ok this is the last, or what I thought was the last, of the weathering. For this part I did go back over the different panels with the oils again. This time my main goal was to add a bit of blending. I did manage to get some better definition on some of the panels and did add some further effects on the panels near the cowl. Now following this set of photos this build went quickly. The small bits went on with little issue other than the canopy. I will expand on that more on the final update but for now I will leave these with you. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Ok for this update let me talk about my methods. First up for me was a drybrush of Testors Flat Aluminium. This concentrated on areas I felt and have seen received excess wear and tear on the paint due to crew use or even weathering. Along those lines I also used my cheap Oil Paint Titanium White with an abused round brush as well as two sizes of flat brush. I put small dots into the centerish of panels and then worked them into the paint. Mind you that this is being done over a flat clear layer. After several passes that encompassed varied panels I came to the decision that one of my more recent investments needed to be used here. Recently I purchased four sets of Abteilung 502 Oil Paints. Beginning with ABT070 Dark Rust I began to play a bit with panel lines. After just a brief attempt I just had the thought that it didnt look right. I used a cotton bud to remove most of it and brought out ABT004 Bitume and began to work around some of the lines. I tried to keep this to where dirt and grime would build up and where the weather would cause streaking. I did this over several sessions. Overall there is several hours of work. In the next update I will show what at the time I thought was the weathering finished. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

With the continuing movement forward with the videos on this build it is time to throw out some better, used very loosely, quality images of the weathering. First up, and each of these will be a kind of summary of what happened. First the initial process was with a gloss coat I used Titanium White, cheaper oil set, to try to get some streaking and a bit of weather staining on the fuselage. I also used Burnt Umber, same set, to try to get some distinct staining on the panels of the engine area. I did not like the way this came out. Anyway the pics. The process is started anyway. Teaser, a bit of a change in execution is next up. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many many thanks all for the kind words. Not a reaction that my work normally gets. Joe

Another update. Decals are on. Again for this build the markings are not my focus. This will however be the last update showing what I had planned to show. After this I go a bit off road. The decals went down with no issues. I used MicroSol to get them to conform and then threw a gloss over the top to seal them in. Next up is the weathering. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many thanks all. Joe

John we all need some of that type of model. Joe

Now for an update on the 1/72 B-18. The wings and the wing roots are now attached, puttied, cleaned up, and now painted. This kit has been a major chore all the way through. Next will be to get the markings on, some custom, and then finish out the small stuff. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Yep, seems the bigger the confidence the more apt we are to run into stuff like this. Joe

Ok second part. After several sessions I was not particularly thrilled with the look and went back and carefully sprayed some Testors Olive Drab from the square bottle to give it a bit of warmth. A couple of things I am pretty happy with. The appearance of staining and panel paint fading. Alrighty then, she is pretty much ready to decal up. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe