Citadelgrad

Hey! I worked at Mcdonnell Douglas way back one summer in law school. Eye opening for sure. I worked the civilian side, but the military line was making C 17s right there next to us. i still have the lucite paperweight i got when our MRP team figured a way to safe something like $7 million a year.

Survey says $147.77 $130 plus shipping.

I will have to take a look and don't mind sharing. It's out for delivery today so stay tuned.

I had forgotten about this until i got a shipping notice email today.

Not a ton of progress to report but progress there is. i did some detail painting on the interior, notably the “chrome” armrests and controls, and so far my least favorite part of this build, the delicate chrome accents on the center console. photos and some mock ups apologies. This angle highlights the still wet black touch ups. I will hit this with some semi gloss varnish and it will unify nicely.

That's how you know it's a great thread. Comic misadventures!!!!

That's a nice paint job, Mike. Well done.

You're making great progress on this one, Mike. How big is it compared to something like a P-47? (which already doesn't fit on the covered shelf I had planned).

Well, our daughter was injured in a car accident last week, she broke her wrist and has had surgery, but she is doing very well, so I snuck out after work and shot some MRP black. Seems like a ton of this build is going to be black, black interior, which means carpet, dash, door cards, and seats, and the firewall and fenders need to be black to match my old car. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE lacquer paint? This stuff went on like a dream. I used MRP primer in white, and the plastic was already white, so I forgot to take any before shots. Here's the after... Door interiors have really nice detail, if you look closely, you can see the ash trays adjacent to the vinyl arm rest pads elt The plastic part of the armrest, basically everything except the pad on top, will be chrome...YAY!! The seats came out nicely. I forgot to add that I put some white in the black for the vinyl seats and door cards, they never looked jet black to me. Back seat I left the metal parts that will be black with pure black, and it went on like a dream The airbrush, an Iwata HPC, performed flawlessly. Really silky results, I can't wait to see the blue. I did a quick mock up to remind me it's going to be a car And a dry fit to see what the interior looks like before any detail painting. I think I will hit the "carpet" with some matte clear to look more realistic. More later.

The US effort to find and return home lost service members is an unsung army. My dad’s cousin, a B 24 crewman, was lost during the war but returned home for a hero’s burial. My dad was just a little kid idolizing his cousin when he got the news. Butch’s mom never learned the fate of her son. the AF times article tells much of the story https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2015/03/02/world-war-ii-radio-operator-finally-laid-to-rest/ Getty Images has a page, The USAF Maj Gen saluting is my dad. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-honor-guard-escorting-the-remains-of-u-s-army-air-forces-news-photo/464962654

Shot the “steel” part and here is what its going to look like. Very happy with this version

The replacement wheels showed up. i de sprued them and dry fitted them. They appear to be a non brittle resin, almost a styrene consistency, pretty heavy attachment points but well thought out. the “chrome” isnt as super bright as the kit chromed parts, and is nowhere as durable. It appear to be some kind of metal the parts are dipped in. It wont just wipe off, but you can mark it permanently with a thumbnail. photos they are 4 piece wheels, a part to represent the “steel” wheel itself, a chromed top hat center cap, a beauty ring part, and a perfectly plain inner wheel face with a hole to mount it. the center cap is a press fit The beauty ring and a fuzzy shot of how well it fits on the kit tires sorry about the focus on that last shot. tonight i washed the steel parts in prep for some paint, and i will get some good shots of what i hope to be a convincing set of rally wheels.

Here are the wheels I ordered: Not the greatest photo, but this is what sold me A 68 with the wheels I ordered. Fingers crossed.

Well, for anyone in this dilemma, specifically, trying to paint the "painted" portion of a steel rally wheel while not wrecking the chromed portions, I think I have found a soltion after much searching. A place in Florida, NO AFFILIATION, has many types of 1/24-1/25 wheels, including Rally wheels, and they are 3 piece units, with the trim ring and center cap chromed, and the "steel" part unchromed, so it's theoretically a simple matter of painting the steel and then adding the trim, just like a full sized one. They are Scale Equipment Ltd., they have a bunch of other stuff for sale, too, but it was difficult to find them, I eventually found a car model forum where someone recommended them. Strange that I couldnt find them directly. Anyway, I will work on the interior this weekend hopefully while I wait for my new wheels.

Well, sort of. There are one piece resin wheels on ebay. I know I saw some 3 piece wheels, steel rim, trim ring, and rally cap, somewhere, but I can't find them. I am considering stripping these down and trying to paint them again, but the CHROME finish needed scares me a bit. Open to any ideas in this regard. The ebay spare sprues has some comparable wheels, but not the exact model of rally wheel I am looking for.

Thats a great looking Saber. sorry i whiffed the masks. I will dust off the skills for next time. Bill

Slight issue with the wheels. The plan didnt work well. The “chrome” really didnt clean up very well. Looking at sourcing some more rally wheels. I hope to get some work done this week.

Thats AWESOME, Woody!

Snuck a few minutes at the bench today at lunch. I got the dark grey down, but getting it off the chromed beauty parts with a cotton bud is a bit more labor intensive than I had anticipated. Here's a sort of late in progress shot. Not super happy with the look, I think the color is spot on but the "chrome" parts aren't shiny enough. I will play with this some more.

Mock up pre paint experiment. Sorry about the dust, the sanding apparently builds up a static charge. Needs a bit of clean up, this was a lunch session and I had to come back to work.

Wow Jay, your skills with 3d printing are really amazing. I am just starting to look into it, and am working through some Fusion 360 tutorials. I know just enough to confirm that it is a very complex subject. Your wheels and tires look incredible.

I am kind of skipping around on this build. i really dont like the looks of the chromed wheels that came with the kit. Shape wise, it sort of looks like a chevy steel rim with the beauty ring and the top hat center i looked at them and pondered, and figured it out. Instead of a totally blinged out super chrome wheel portrayed, its a painted steel wheel and chrome accents. my plan was to paint the wheel part and have the ring and top hat stand out that way. but of course, the factory wheels have 5 punched out holes that are just depressions in the kit part. first things first, i sanded the back of the wheels to make a true hole in the wheel. heres the dusty result. Three more to go. i tested the chrome paint, and it seems unaffected by Tamiya enamel thinner. Instead of the worlds most frustrating masking job, i will try a thin coat of tamiya metallic grey airbrushed on, then clean up the parts that are supposed to be chrome with a bud moistened in enamel thinner. wish me luck. Bill

More progress, baby steps. i painted the starter and gave the motor and transmission a dark wash to pick out some of the nice detail. I still need to tidy up the cable, the detail is there but its soft. Heres a dry fit on the 396 motor the aluminum intake manifold took a nice wash and shows lots of cast detail the transmission looks decent, too A bit of cleaning up with a cotton bud, i want this to look pretty well taken care of. next up, exhaust and plug wires.

I enjoyed this kit as my first LSP after returning to the hobby. Interested to see what you do with her. One thing I missed was you need to open the holes for the drop tank before you close the fuselage, and there are some well known sink marks in the belly and wing areas, minor and easy to repair. Looks great so far!

Speculating, but I think it's as simple as cutting the 336 apart and making it read 363?