Trak-Tor

Merry Christmas to you as well!

I'd like to be entered as a recipient and a donor of a 1/32 Doyusha A6M2 Zero
 
Thanks,
Brady

Howdy folks,
 
Just a small pre-Christmas What's New update this week.
 
Merry Christmas everybody!
 
Kev

Seasons Greetings
 
I figured before I finish the cockpit, I better start skinning some of the nose as there would be some hammering involved to get the metal to conform to the very curvy rocker cover blisters..
 
..it all starts like this - a bit of ali sheet taped along one edge and worked & beaten to follow the shape.... it creases and buckles and really doesn't like it, but I will have my way in the end..
 

 
..by now it's pretty much there, always working the creases away with thousands of taps of a tiny ball pein hammer..
 

 
..then the surface is abraded to get it smooth (sorry for the crap pictures..)..
 

 
..and finally cut to shape allowing the bottom edges to flare under the panels that will sit on top of them....
 

 
..and with those panels added and the exhaust ports..
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
lots more panels to go, and I need to complete the cockpit before I can do the rear of the blisters and add the cooling vents..
 
Happy Christmas everyone
 
Peter

I'd like to enter as recipient and donate this book to the raffle:

 
Merry Christmas time to all!
 
Br, Jani

I'd like to add this to the list as an offering!
 
 
(The book, not the 1/24 Mk.IX behind it. )

I'd like to enter as a donor and recipient
 
My donations, as 2 separate gifts
- Two Bobs 32-032 F-16 Block 50 Big mouth Vipers (we already have 32-031 and 32-033 in the raffle. 32-032 ought to be here as well )

 
- Fox one decals F-4J Marines 32-003
  
 
 

I'd like to enter as a participant and a donor if it is not too late.
 
It appears I have an extra copy of Duke Hawkins F-104 Starfighter book.

 
Also as a set, the following AM for the Tamiya F4U Corsair in 1/32. If I manage to dig out any more AM for the Corsair I will include that as well.
HGW wet transfer stencil set HGW Royal Navy Corsairs Barracuda wheels (plain tread) Yahu Models instrument panel
 
All the best and happy modelling!
 
Jeremy

I'd like to enter as a recipient, and as a donor. I will have three different donations:
 
Zotz Decals 32-084 1/32 Douglas A-20G Havoc in the PTO WWII
 
 
Zotz Decals 32-086 1/32 On Griffon's Wings: The Spitfire XIV In Service
 
 
Zotz Decals 32-085 1/32 Gerald "Jerry" Johnson: Ace of the PTO
 
 
Thanks!
 
- Dennis S.
   Mount Juliet, TN USA

Go on and stick me down to receive and give. I will donate a decal bundle (mostly WW2 era) that will be worth around $100-$150.

Mr prepared/efficient here has boxed up his gifts whilst wrapping the wife’s presents.. Just need to slap on an address label and send them on their way now, once I know where they’re going!

We are almost there :
 
After two coats of Vallejo Polyurethane glosss varnish : it's time for the final touch :
 
Landing gear installation.

 
And the canopy... That was not a fun part.. I hate vacuform so much....
It's a leftover from my September Fury built so not really made for a P-51 conversion... It was difficult to cut it to the right size and adjust it. But with some patience, I managed to have something more or less convincing.

 
Built completed !
I'll do better photos with the lightbox and a proper camera someday.


 
 

Progress of the day:
 
Decals are set on Dago:
I used the sheet from Draw decals, they are great. Actually they drastically improved in quality since I used then ten years ago when I built Strega.
 



 
On the other side of the bench, some progress on Strega as well :
 
I rework the radiator air intake : remove the original one from kit that was way too small and replaced it by the normal P-51 intake from the revell kit I used for Dago and added some bits of plastic card here and there.
 

 
It's not fully accurate but way better than the previous one...
 

 
After hours of puttying and sanding and a layer of Mr surface 1500 : the surface is still not great but that will do...

 
Brand new propeller from Eduard to replace the old one. I reworked the blades tip and leading edge to give them the typical shape.
 

 
 

Everything was resprayed properly :
 

 
And the prop is ready. I used Green Stuff World chrome. It's the best chrome paint I've seen so far. the only dowside I see is that it is strongly recommended not to varnish them to lot loose the shine... but they are not protected and it could be a problem in time or while manipulating the parts.

 
I usually use Vallejo Metal Colors like here on the inner side of the landing gear doors but their chrome is not as shinny...
 

 

thank you ladies, you are all too kind
 
so, this is one of the few pics I have of the cockpit...
 

 
..tons of info there - all I have to do now is make it..
 
..started with control yoke, forward bulkhead & rudder pedals, all from plastic or brasss..
 

 
...then it was a few more bobbins including the seat and time for paint.. I have tried to start a bit of weathering as I suspect open cockpit, seawater and an oliy monster 18 inches away would mean it would get a bit grubby..
 

 

 

 
..also starting to get the fuel tank seen in the photo ready for fitting, though lots more pipes to go..
 

 
..and thats it - I want to get it closed up so I can start skinning the fuselage - the instrument panel is next as soon as the decals arrive later this week
 
have a wonderful Xmas everyone
 
TTFN
Peter

Thank you Gentlemen, very kind
 
 
there is plenty of rework, thats for sure, but thats all part of the fun
 
In fact, this post is littered with it...
 
time to make the fuselage sides, so made a plug using the same bulkhead drawings and vacformed form sheet..
 

 
,,these were then tack CA'd into place so the sanding & filling could start.. you can see additional strip plugs added as I screwed up the measure / cutting..
 

 
..and once refined, the structural elements of the fuselage are complete..
 

 

 
..a jig was fixed to the sides while they were in place to keep everything where it should be (if they flex, the detail breaks free inside later  - tell me how I know), and then they were cut & prised off and interior detail started..
 

 
..in the next screw up, I should have made the sides run right to the last bulkhead, but I had cut them at the headrest bulkhead - the fuselage is hollow in real life so actually there is no bulkhead at all, but I ran it to one behind the seat in the hope it won't be seen..
 
..so the sides were refitted and the last section cut out..
 

 
..this meant the sides needed sorting out to integrate the additional walls, so out with the filler again..
 

 
..the missing detail was added..
 

 
..and cleaned up & primed you would never know on the inside..
 

 

 
..however, on the outside it is Frankenstein's monster..
 

 
...the structural beams were made from litho, but will have to be fitted to the fuselage rails, rather than the walls as there is no way to add the sides over the brass beams once they are in place..
 

 
onwards & upwards
 
TTFN
 
Peter
 
 

for 2024 the work program is the painting of the Astazou 14 turbo engine, not sure that the year will be enough...

hi all 6 more months to finish this 650 pieces, 128 gram puzzle...around 1500 hours since start. a lot of time spent on flight instrument files and tiny decals. all the parts positioned on supports for a “50 shades of black” glycero airbrush paint :-)

Note: For those that have offered to donate items, but haven't yet confirmed what those items will be, the drop dead date for letting me know, is 12 26 23 in the afternoon, as that's when we'll be doing the drawing.
 
Thanks a bunch,

Updated recipient list.
 

Hi all,
The Hanriot HD.1 of the Belgian pilot Willy Coppens of the 9th Escadrille, Belgium, 1918. 
Thanks for your support and comment during this build.
As usual a fully detailed build log (PDF) can be downloaded from my web site.
 
Mikes WW1 Aircraft Models
 
Mike
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Some more "basic modeling skills".  Unfortunately during all its time upside down on the painting jig, the antenna mast on the vert stabilizer got snapped off.  So I drilled a hole, shaped a new one, and secured it with a pin instead of just a butt join. 
 

 

 

Here's the result of some weathering on the underside.  I did a 'sludge wash' with AK paneliner for blue/gray camo to pick up rivet details and give some slight modulation to the blue gray color.  On the landing gear bay I chipped through the light grey to show some salmon primer underneath.  Then did some oil and mud staining with oil paints.  
 

 
I airbrushed some thinned Tamiya smoke as a first layer for exhaust staining then went over with oils.  My first pass was too dark based on reference photos, so I wiped that off (great thing about weathering with oils!) and went back over it with more greys, tans, and whites, with a little bit of black.  Then finally went over it with some pastels after a flat coat. 
 

 

 

 
And added some additional oil staining along the gravity dependent areas on the main engine panels.  You know what they say about the R-2800 - "if it's not leaking oil, then it's out of oil!"
 

 
I tried to make all of my staining effects the way they happen in real life: getting an area dirty, wiping it clean, and dirtying it up again.  I fear that I may not have demonstrated enough restraint on gun staining:
 

 
And finally, a last look at the unmasked portions of the underside.  I always love the look of those recognition lights:
 

 

 

Time for a little motivational picture