fightnjoe

My friends all good things must come to an end. The Dan Jayne tribute build has been finished. Summary: Interior aft the cockpit is scratchbuilt. Wing internals are scratchbuilt. Paints include Model Master Enamel RLM 02, 65, 70, and 71. Paints also include Alclad, Rustoleum, and Model Master Metallics. Various strip, rod, square, and sheet styrene was used. This is not intended to be an exact replica. It is intended to give the illusion of the real thing. Paints include Model Master Enamels, Alclads, Rustoleum, and Testors. Details. And the overall. Started in August and finished in Feb. I was fortunate that I was able to chat with Dan over the course of three years. He was gracious with his knowledge and encouragement. I am proud to say he was my friend. Miss you my friend. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many many thanks. Joe

You are very kind. I am humbled. Joe

Back with a quickie type of update. A couple of hours has been spent with oils, paint, and pastels. Streaking, chipping, and a bit of grime and streaking is the result. To be honest it is not over the top. I had to make sure I didn't take it too far. I did use caution. First the engine. Oils and pastels were used. Oils for the grime and dirty look and pastels for the exhaust stubs. I used oils and enamels to do the chipping and the streaking. The streaking is tough to see in the pictures. Now to let that dry out so I can hit it with a flat coat. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

My god that looks awesome. Everytime I get going I see something like this that just knocks my shoes off. Wonderful work. Joe

Well I have been a bit fortunate in that I have had some quality time at the bench over the last couple of days. With that how about an update. The Stuka now has her main legs as well as her engine. I did add a few things to the frame and the firewall. A few things to give the illusion of wires and hoses. Today was the big day. It was sink or swim. Time to see if my homemade decals were up to the game or not. Honestly they are not very good. The letters other than the "L" should have been on a clear sheet but I only had the white backing sheet. Still they should work for my purposes and I should be able to hide the issues caused by my jumping to them too quickly. Now to let these dry for a day or two. You see they did not want to lie down without a fight. One in particular may not even play nice after a generous amount of solvent was applied. Homemade decals are generally very thin and react well with the surface. These did not. Next up however after they dry is to seal it in with a nice coat of clear and then I can work on weathering the fuselage, engine, and wings. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

We have progress. Yes my friends we have progress. The pictures show the tale. The fuselage and wings are attached. The gaps, and there were some interesting gaps, were puttied and then sorted. The paintwork was then touched up. While I waited for the putty to dry I spent some time on the landing gear. And just a bit to prep for the next step. The engine and the engine compartment. And that is now ready for my attention. I have a few things to finish prepping but I am ready to move forward. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

You have all been very kind in your comments and very encouraging. I am most humbled. Joe

Many many thanks. Joel I had seen the same. I just do not have either picture or documentation that verifies it. Joe

Time for just a very brief update. Big news as the fuselage is now closed and the inner wing sections are attached. Not so happy news is the gaps for the fuselage halves and the wing roots were at the very least and eighth of an inch in width. This thing needed about a third of a container of putty to actually fill them. That was even after using some styrene to try to fill the gap. In the end though the inner wings are on and the fuselage is closed. I did add the detail to the interior of the cut wing section. More on that later. Pictures of the gap and putty show. I did spend a little time on the engine. Nothing worthy of pictures yet but soon I hope. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many many thanks. Joe

The Alclad was on hand and has a smooth enough finish that it works with what I had planned. The other metalizers and paints on hand have larger grains it seems and it throws off my plan. Joe

Very kind. Thank you. Joe

After nearly two weeks of being sick I am able to show a bit of progress. I began the process of preparing to get some color on the build. I did this just a bit different than previous builds. I began with a Gloss Black base. I then shot Alclad Polished Aluminium. Mind you this was not done to be a high gloss, mirror finish. Just a base for the color to come. Once dry the real colors make their appearance. RLM 70 and 71 for the upper and RLM 65 for the lower. I began by taping off the shapes and then shot a lightened version of each of the top colors to get a first color. I then went back through with thinned coats of the colors to darken up the cammo. For the lower I shot several layers of thinned color. This was done over the cut away sections. I did this to try to minimize any overspray to the interior. I did have a bit of a mishap. Prior to getting sick I scanned the decal sheet. My son touched up the image to give the best possible color. I then printed off the decals on two sheets, my only two sheets, of decal paper. Once I thought it was dry I sprayed decal bonder. Once I felt up to doing anything again I checked on the decals and found that they had a reddish tint. Not sure if the ink had not dried or what happened. I do need to redo these. This is good progress and hopefully the momentum can continue for a while. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Thank you all. I am humbled by your kindness. Joe

Hmmm most interesting indeed. With your permission I will save the picture as a 1/32 JU-88 has also reached my shelf of waiting to be built kits. Joe

Here we are. 2017. A new year with new hopes and dreams. It is time however to finish something off. In July I began my annual tribute to those who died and to those who survived the attack on Hawaii, December 7, 1941. Although it began much like the previous issues it ended a bit different. In September I made contact with the editor of Military Modelling. He was introduced to me by a mutual friend and was interested in my work. I showed him my progress on the Wildcat and he asked me to go dark so that it could be published in the magazine. I agreed. The issue was published and went public in early December. I waited til now to post anything public as I wanted to respect the wishes of the magazine. Now with the newest edition of the magazine making its public debut very soon it is time. A Marine Wildcat from Ewa. The markings are from several sets and portray MAG-21 as they appear December 1941. The specific aircraft however is very fictional, at least I am unable to verify the aircraft number existed. And the glamour shots. Thanks to all who followed this build. This particular build is very important to me each year and the fact it made publication as part of a tribute edition made it so much more special. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Kev many many thanks. Joe

Today was a productive day. The day began with the skeleton of two pieces of wing and one tail feather. It ends with ribs and details. The ribs are a mixture of .010 x .040, .020 x .020, and .010 x .030 strip. I began to fabricate the two fuel cells and the inner bulkheads and such. In the outer wing the shinny round pieces are BB's and the larger blue pieces are craft beads. Let the ribbing commence. There they are in all their glory. I do need to finish up a bit of the detail work but then I can go forward with the firewall and the engine compartment. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many many thanks. Joe

How about a really quick update on the 1/24 JU-87. Still filling out the detail on the interior, this update shows Hanz and Franz are now occupying the positions that they are required to. There were some minor things like the Morse set that is just too small for me to get a good pic of and a couple of cables. I still need to add more cables and a cross brace. However I am getting anxious to get to painting. I know that the easiest way to do these is to paint the areas that have the cutaway prior to completing the closure of the fuselage. But even with the eagerness to paint I do not wish to run before I walk. I want to make sure all is as complete as I can get it. Thus the documentation of the very minor progress. I must admit I am finding myself siting and staring at this build. I find myself wondering what Dan would do, how he would approach some of these things. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am sure of one thing. He would encourage to just do it. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Many thanks for looking in and following along. Joe

Many thanks. Joe

Ok here I go again. Kind of a jump in progress this time around. Although it did seem to be more of one step forward followed by a dozen backwards. First up, the interior got its paint. Gloss Grey followed by Alclad Chrome. I then went to work on the pit. First the color is Model Master RLM 02 Enamel. Some scratched parts for a number of reasons and then a shot of them together. And then something I rarely do. Figures. I cleaned up and then sprayed Flat Black. I shall, for the moment, call them Hans and Franz. Not sure they will end up in the final edition as the poses do not seem to fit very well with the interior. All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged. Joe

Let me just say this is the most incredible work on a B-17 I have ever seen. I have done a lot of research on the aircraft and you sir have outdone anything I have ever seen. You asked early in the thread if we were bored yet. I can tell you truthfully that I look forward to each and every update you post. Joe