gunpowder

Ive been working on this for just over a week now. Its been fun but also a little bit of a slog at times. Im not going to waffle on so heres some photos.
 








 
Now the reason im thinking of the Texas Raiders decals is because no B-17 in the war was called Texas Raiders , so in some sense it is fictitious , but it also commemorates both the Wartime crews and the crews that keep them flying today.

Ive been working on this for just over a week now. Its been fun but also a little bit of a slog at times. Im not going to waffle on so heres some photos.
 








 
Now the reason im thinking of the Texas Raiders decals is because no B-17 in the war was called Texas Raiders , so in some sense it is fictitious , but it also commemorates both the Wartime crews and the crews that keep them flying today.

Ive been working on this for just over a week now. Its been fun but also a little bit of a slog at times. Im not going to waffle on so heres some photos.
 








 
Now the reason im thinking of the Texas Raiders decals is because no B-17 in the war was called Texas Raiders , so in some sense it is fictitious , but it also commemorates both the Wartime crews and the crews that keep them flying today.

Ive been working on this for just over a week now. Its been fun but also a little bit of a slog at times. Im not going to waffle on so heres some photos.
 








 
Now the reason im thinking of the Texas Raiders decals is because no B-17 in the war was called Texas Raiders , so in some sense it is fictitious , but it also commemorates both the Wartime crews and the crews that keep them flying today.

Sorry people i have been a bit lazy with the updates. The fuselage and wings are now built. I have filled the speedbrakes , and scribed a door with window cut out. The biggest challenge has been overcome , that being the radome. I got some measurements from a kind member and i have carved one from laminated Balsa. It still needs some filling and sealing but on the whole im happy.
 

Theres another possibility i was thinking of. The Swedish all over yellow target tug. It would save me building a radome!

I was going to build this straight from the box , but the temptation to make an AEW is just too great. Im not saying that this will be 100% accurate as im only working from photos.
The first bit i have done is the fairing behind the canopy. I have built it from one of the kit drop tanks and some plasticard. Alot of fiddling and sanding later and i think it looks OK. Thats one thing done. Next i need to fill the side airbrakes , scribe a door and cut a window , plasticard finlets , wheel well fairings , vent on top of fairing , flame dampeners , oh yes and that big radome. Not much then...
 

 

I then turned my attention to one of the areas I love……………….the pit. Again I am NO rivet counter, as I prefer to take Tom Ps approach to his B-29; cool and busy looking, and semi accurate in replication, but not 100% accurate down to the rivet. The kit is missing some details in this area, and missing some in the rest of the fuselage, but this build is not about adding those…………..especially when there is really no open canopy to speak of, and views inside will be very limited.
This build will be about unique features and cool looking details in the pit/the finish in foil, and extra details to make it special, without too much scratching, but a lot of AM.
 
After removing the pin marks and spraying a coat of paint on, I turned to the pit itself, and after scraping away some of the OOB detail and adding some non-painted base PE, I added a coat of Flory Models dark dirk wash, and then over-coated everything with a coat of MM flat lacquer.
 
This is where I am at now, I have a nice start/base, ready to start the cockpit detailing, AM, PE and scratched details –
 

 

 
Finally the base for the cockpit sides, which I will likely start detailing and adding PE/AM/Wiring in the next few days/this weekend. Again just a base to start adding details from this point –
 

 
I also got the other pit stuff painted and detailed that either already had its AM/PE added or didn’t need anything other than some paint and weathering added –
 
Got the co-pilots armor glued to the rear pit bulkhead and the pilots armor plate and headrest glued up and painted –
 

 
Heres the other side of the pilot’s armor plate, with a small toolbox that I scratched leather tie down straps and PE buckles for, along with a first aid kit –
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Also using the hairspray method, I finished up the pit floor. This is where the “semi-disaster” came into play. I initially sprayed the PE covered floor the same way as the rest with Tam silver, and then hairspray, then my pit green mix. All was working out fine (scratching to silver that is) except when I went to add my Flory Models wash, I forgot to clear the pit floor, and when I added the wash, then tried to remove it with at moist cotton bud, ALL of the green came off!
 
Crap!
 
 
So, time for a re-duex!
Attempt # 2 came out better IMHO than the 1st anyway. I roughed up the pit floor, and wore off the green in appropriate places where the pilot and co-pilot would have been stepping, scrapping, and scratching during normal combat operations.
I also think from almost all documentation I have, these PTO bombers had it pretty rough, and were normally pretty dull, dirty, and dingy and generally pretty skanked up.
 
I didn’t want that ultra-flat look on the pit floor either, as I wanted the look of wear here, with a slight sheen to it, as things get when worn on over, and over. The cool thing about the PE here, is the raised rivets really stood out proud when weathering so then got a bit of a nice wear pattern to them –
 

 
Lastly, but not leastly, I got the seats painted up and weathered. Same thing here, with these low level, late war strafing missions, the seats got pretty worn by the end, and Ive seen some pretty beat up pits…………The PTO sand, dirt and overall sea conditions meant these things took quite a bit of abuse. I weathered the seats in the appropriate places and left the rear of the seats, like all non-traveled areas, with much less scratching and signs of wear –
 

 

 

 

 
That’s all for now lads. More work to commence later today. I will also kicking things into high gear this weekend, as I took off all of Sunday night I normally work to get some marathon modeling in from Sat to Monday…………
 
Till ur older then!

Thank you
 
One of the good things about building straight from the box is the speed of construction.
 

Thanks guys , im glad you are all enthused! The pilot is definately a good one. Heres mine now.
 
 

Happy New Year to all on LSP!
 
This year i want to bring some fun and nostalgia back into my hobby , so the plan is to build straight from the box with no extras , other than plasticard. First up will be my new Harrier. Im only going to cut the auxillary doors out on the intakes , add a bulkhead to the rear of the canopy and MAYBE add some very basic sidewall detail to the cockpit.
Ive made a start this morning. The pilot is probably the best one they have done in 1/24 and he is crying out for a good paintjob. Im figuring that he takes up most of the cockpit so i may add some basic structure detail to the cockpit but it may not be necessary. The canopy will be closed anyway. The engine has been built and now needs painting. Its actually been alot of fun so far , but you do have to battle with your mind telling you to add detail! I will even be keeping the surface detail!
I will post more later.
 
Heres the box. Stunning artwork and most inspirational.

 
The engine actually has alot of detail for a kit from the 70s

 
Heres the cockpit. Sidewalls and inst panels are actually quite good.

Any fit issues? No not so far.
How many ballast was needed? I cant remember but i know its more that they said in the instructions. I ended up breaking the nacelles apart again and adding more.
And how sturdy is the u/c? Pretty sturdy but metal would be better.

The Camo was freehand. It was very simple. The darker colour first , then the lighter colour squiggled over the top with the airbrush.

Ive had this one since Telford. Its a beautiful model. It does have some innacuracies , but they dont worry me. This will be the first Luftwaffe fighter that i have ever finished. The camo was great fun , as i said its a first attempt but i love it.
It just needs the glazing , tyres painting and the ariels adding and its done.I really want to get this finished before the end of the year.

Ive had this one since Telford. Its a beautiful model. It does have some innacuracies , but they dont worry me. This will be the first Luftwaffe fighter that i have ever finished. The camo was great fun , as i said its a first attempt but i love it.
It just needs the glazing , tyres painting and the ariels adding and its done.I really want to get this finished before the end of the year.

I personally could not care a less about the shape issues , BUT... there are people that do. I have also found this thread very interesting. Im not going to change anything on mine but i applaud those who make small changes. If the UHU was one of my favourites i probably would have made the changes. I think the thread is really saying that the Revell kit is a great one , but can if people want to , be made better. Keep up the good work. I cant wait to see the finished one with the changes.

I personally could not care a less about the shape issues , BUT... there are people that do. I have also found this thread very interesting. Im not going to change anything on mine but i applaud those who make small changes. If the UHU was one of my favourites i probably would have made the changes. I think the thread is really saying that the Revell kit is a great one , but can if people want to , be made better. Keep up the good work. I cant wait to see the finished one with the changes.

A little more done today. Nose gunpacks and armour plate fitted. I also assembled and painted the main UC and fitted the nacelles.
Im going to build the engines next i think.
 

I have started to add some noseweight. I managed to get it under the floor in the nose , in the ammunition boxes and in the nosewheel. That all only adds up to 40grams at the moment though.
 

Thank you for the link.
 
Heres a shot of the cockpit before i join the fuselage halves. I will deal with the belts later
 
 

Thanks guys , its certainly a great kit. Heres the tail turret. I need to add a black wash over the ammo belts yet.
 

 
Now , on to the waist guns. I was amazed by these. Theres 5 parts to each gun. When they are together they look fantastic. Look at the tiny sight!
 



 
Heres the view from the outside looking in!

 
More tomorrow...

I made some seat cusions from milliput. I added some creases and painted them a leather brown.

 
On to the bomb bay. This is it straight from the box. I need to add the bomb racks and maybe some bombs. Colour is Tamiya bare metal silver with a promodeller dark dirt wash.
 



 
Thats it for tonight.

I have been waiting for a 1/32 B-25 for as long as i can remember. When i saw Hannants had them in i had to make the trip. Its alot of money for me and i wanted to make sure it was worth it. I wasnt dissapointed.
This kit is one of the best molded kits i have ever seen. There are no photos of it anywhere that do it justice , you have to see it in the plastic! One of the things i really like is that theres very good detail in the parts you will be able to see and not much in the places you cant. I cant decide on markings yet. Some of the ones on the ZOTZ sheet look good but 23 quid on a decal sheet is too much for me. Im really leaning towards a PBJ-1J at the moment. I can easily scratchbuild a wing pod.
OK on with a couple of photos. Heres the photos of the cockpit straight from the box. All of those levers are seperate.
 

I made some seat cusions from milliput. I added some creases and painted them a leather brown.

 
On to the bomb bay. This is it straight from the box. I need to add the bomb racks and maybe some bombs. Colour is Tamiya bare metal silver with a promodeller dark dirt wash.
 



 
Thats it for tonight.