Rick Stone

Have been busy with work, and away from home, but last weekend finally got back to the workbench. It's starting to look like a real airplane now. As much as I'd like for it to turn out decent, I've resigned myself to the fact that this is just a model for me to practice on. I really don't like the fiddly folding wings, I glued them fixed in the flying position, but they do not fit well..... please don't look too close! Next step will be masking and priming the whole thing. Hopefully I can get that bit done this weekend!

I've been using the Vallejo thinner. Have never tried flow improver. Gonna be fairly close to the hobby shop tomorrow, so I'll stop by and see if they have it. For my own edification, what, precisely, does flow improver do, and how does it differ from thinner? I'll also try a little lower pressure.... Thanks for the info, Denders!

Been busy with an out of town business trip, but back home and did get a little work done today. The wings and H stabs are assembled. It's coming together very quickly now, and hopefully will be ready for paint by next weekend. And speaking of paint, I am using Vallejo air. Supposedly ready for the airbrush right out of the bottle, but everything I've read recommends thinning a little more. Anyone have a magic ratio they suggest? I have a feeling I've been thinning it too much.

Just came across this. Such magnificent work is something I aspire to, but I think I'll have to be content looking at the masterpieces of others! Job well done sir! And the Photography! That too deserves recognition!

The fuselage turned out pretty good, no huge gaps along the mating surfaces! One glitch, however..... some dumba$$ who shall remain nameless forgot to put in the observation windows below the pilot. It took a bit of very careful maneuvering to get them installed, and they are a bit messy, but not horrible. I can clean them up. I was trying to picture myself in the cockpit, and wondering what I could see out of them..... and what should I see, and why..... Anyway, on to the wings, and once again, the word "fiddly" reared its ugly head. The hinges were not a joy to assemble.... a simple mechanism, but the poor molding made it a challenge..... if your name is not Tamiya, you should not be making such complicated assemblies. And as I predicted, the wing would not fold smoothly, and then return to the extended position neatly. I had already expected to simply glue them in the extended position, and that is exactly what I'll be doing. For now, here's more visual candy of the progress thus far..... PS.... can anyone tell me what is going on with the part in the last pic? Obviously something with the molding process, but it almost looks as though something was spilled on it.....

Word of the Day: Fiddly - adj. A term used to describe a model kit whose parts do not fit together well, and require significant manipulation for assembly. And so, my friends, "fiddly" is precisely how I describe the progress made. I don't remember these wonderful 1/32 Revell kits being so difficult when I was a kid, but maybe I was just so bad at model building that I didn't notice! Nevertheless, I got the engine and cockpit/landing gear installed, and the fuselage halves together. The instructions were less than clear, and it took me a while to realize the small square protrusion on the fron of the gear assembly went into the square hole on the fuselage halves as shown in the pic. And of course, it did not fit well..... it was..... well.... fiddly! I just hope that when I remove the tape tomorrow, I won't have gaps big enough to drive a truck through!

A bit more work done on the gear. I decided to go with what the instructions call for, as far as color, did the smaller bracing structure in black, and the main gear struts in white. Then added a bit of wash to the struts and the aft gear bay bulkhead to try and give it that used-but-not-neglected look. Didn't turn out as I had envisioned, but it did help bring out some of the detail. I'll live with it..... LOL

Started fiddling with the landing gear...... I swear, the plastic in this kit seems VERY brittle. Had to be EXTREMELY careful cutting the gear parts off the sprues, and despite my best efforts, managed to break em in 2 places. Got em back together in a semi-passable manner, then started to assemble the 4 parts. That was a challenge! But got em together, and now it's time for paint..... after just a bit more cleaning up. But I'm very scared of breaking something again while trying to clean up tiny bits that are barely visible! The instructions call for black for this assembly, but I have seen various pics on the web with varying colors, including black, white, and shades of gray. Suggestions? Which was the most common?

Thanks Kevin! I started looking thru your build, looks like it might be a bit fiddly. Hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!

Always been a fan of the T-6 Texan, but don't recall ever seeing a 1/32 scale kit. So this morning I let my mind roam the interwebs, and fell on one for sale on Etsy. 58 bucks plus shipping, so I'm into it for about 75 bucks. The only other example I have come across is on Ebay, for $150..... and no bids so far. So, did I get a good deal on this? BTW, it's a Kitty Hawk Models kit. I am not familiar with them.

Mongoose and Mike, thanks for the kind words and emojis!

Have been busy with life (which seems to still get in the way a lot!) so progress has been slow. Finally got the engine done (hardly a technical challenge, LOL) but I did play around with a wash, which I have very little experience with. The result is nowhere near the level of some of the incredible work I've seen here, but I'm satisfied with it. The wash really enhances the detail on the cylinders!

Thanks Thomas, I will remember that number next time I'm at the hobby shop. Easi, that's an interesting technique. I'll have to try it sometime!

And here it is assembled. It's already rather fiddly, even at this early stage, so this kit might be a bit problematic. At least I have more patience at this age, unlike when I was 10! LOL PS.... can someone tell me how to resize my images? I can't figure out how to do it on Postimages, nor can I do it within LSP.....

Made a little progress! Tried OBG's method of printing on photo paper. Worked well, but I was under the impression the ink would be tougher than it was.... I ended up smearing the center instrument cluster. So, printed another, and dammit, did it again! Set it aside for a while, and then decided to see how the sea tbelts would look. I had printed a test sheet on regular paper a couple days ago, so I just cut the belts out with an exacto knife. This was just going to be a trial fit/run, but by golly, they looked pretty good..... so I glued 'em on! Then, after I was sufficiently over my annoyance of ruining the center instruments, I got another idea..... I wonder how the regular paper one would look...... A few minutes with the exacto knife, and I had my answer! All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out so far. I am not going for either extreme accuracy, nor super detail, just something that looks better than the 10-year-old me did forty-something years ago! Will post another pic soon of the cockpit all assembled .

That's a great idea, OBG, never thought of that. It would eliminate some steps and reduce opportunities for errors.

Found a really nice set of accessories from Eduard on the internet, but they are 1/72 scale. Thinkin I might just get some decal sheet, resize, and print them myself..... Update..... fooled around a bit with the image in MS Word, and resized and printed a test sheet on paper, and holy smokes, it fit perfectly! So now I'll get some decal paper and print it. From what I have read, after printing, the decal paper needs to be clear-coated. Questions for the group.... 1) How heavy should the clear coat be? 2) Acrylic? Like Vallejo out of a rattle can? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Not much progress, but a little is still better than none! Tried some airbrushing last night...... did not go well. But I did learn a few things.... 1) I suck at trying to make custom colors by mixing.... I just could not get a combination to look like zinc chromate! 2) Not all acrylics are created equal.... apparently model master does not like vallejo..... or is it the other way 'round? In any case, they don't seem to want to mix well. So, at lunchtime today, off to the LHS I went for some vallejo zinc chromate. They do not have a color with that name, so I had to guess, and it was indeed a guess because the color chips on the display rack are nowhere near accurate. Oh well, I managed to select something that is passable, at least to my untrained eye..... so here you go..... I would like to find a decal for the instrument panel..... I have no desire to attempt to paint all those dials. I have done a brief search on google without finding anything. Anyone have any leads? Even a pic that I could download, shrink to size, and print on paper would be better than any paint job I could do! Oh, and seat belts too! I know I said it was gonna be OOB, but those 2 details are important, in my little mind.

I do, and thank you!

Since we're already into the 2nd page, and there has been a number of sidebar discussions, I have decided to start the actual build log in a separate thread here >>>

Not much to show yet. Just did the unboxing, verified all parts are there. Even the decals look amazingly good for a kit that has been bouncing around for probably 25 years. This big scale model is already sparking memories of my childhood..... and admonitions from mom and dad to make sure I put down plenty of newspaper and don't spill any paint! Most of the parts are still on the sprues, but there is a lot of flash around some of them. Old, tired molds I suspect, but nothing I can't work with. More to come soon, but for now, this is what the workbench looks like. Cheers!

I started another thread in this forum to sort of introduce myself and my re-entry into building 1/32 models. The thread grew in a couple different directions, mainly due to my questions, so I am starting the actual build log here. I have cleaned off the workbench (as much as it can be cleaned!) and am ready to get underway. I will gratefully accept and appreciate any comments, tips, and tricks to help me with this build. So, without further adoo........

I seek the Holy Grail. Not sure where all this other discussion comes from, but based on the question asked in the thread title, seeking the Holy Grail can be the only correct answer!

Thanks for all your help guys! After reading through the posts in the image posting forum, I tried the method that Denders outlined above. So I'm on the way now! Moving to another subject, any recommendations for aftermarket decals? I have a set of Techmod decals for the Zero I'm finishing up. Printing quality is top notch, but they are so darn thin, I often have trouble with damaging them. Suggestions appreciated!

Still working on the picture thing. I've used Postimages for putting up pics on Fine Scale Modeler, but it doesn't seem to work here. Or I'm doing something wrong. Still looking thru the posts Max linked too....