Another Hasegawa T bolt Bubbletop, my first LSP. November 12, 2022, It is DONE at last!!!!!!!!

[Citadelgrad]

Right side up, canopy white glued for hopefully easy removal, waiting for me to decide to i paint the grey or the green first.

 

 

look at that fit

 

 

edit, actually, this shot shows the canopy slightly out of position, but it does fit like w glove.  I almost risked not gluing i i place as a mask, but put a little bit of pva to hold it secure. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Citadelgrad

[Citadelgrad]

Started laying down the camo.  Experimenting. Learning. Far from finished.  I decided to start with the grey, then after a few coats i blocked out the green so that i dont cover the preshading when the green goes down. Its been a long time since i have freehanded a festhered edge. 
 

 

the fuselage camo is going to be very difficult.  This paint is very thin, and the camo on the fuselage is very wispy and thin.  Hope it goes ok.  Ive just started blocking out the larger “blobs” which are where the ID codes go.  

Thin paint at least gives me lots of chances to fix stuff. 
the tail looks pretty rough at this stage. 
 

next time i will shoot another primer coat over any red or white from markings.  

[Citadelgrad]

More work, probably the last for today.  Still not finished but much happier with this look

 

full sun shots

 

 

 

[Jeff T]

Looking good Bill!

 

Jeff.

[Citadelgrad]

11 hours ago, Jeff T said:

Looking good Bill!

 

Jeff.

Thanks, Jeff!

 

It's slow going but I am starting to like how the camo is shaping up.

 

I was able to get these cut out on the Silhouette

 

 

Yes, there are a few errant bits that need to be removed, but I am at work and can't even see them without taking a photo and blowing it up.  A few minutes with my optivisor and tweezers, and this will be perfect.  

 

Now it's better!

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Citadelgrad

[Citadelgrad]

Here is a photo with a standard large paper clip for scale.

 

That's pretty good resolution.

[Troy Molitor]

This is coming along nicely for you Bill.   I’m loving all the updates.  

[John1]

Fantastic work, I'm following this build closely. 

[Citadelgrad]

Thanks for the kind words.  Tonight i printed out some photos of the crashed plane and touched up the upper surface camo.  I think the going back and forth with the green and grey looks a lot more like the surviving photos.  
 

one thing i picked up on was , of course the wings were repainted when the upper surface invasion stripes went away, but the resr upper fuselage got the same treatment, and the green blobs there are a lot less whispy than the forward fuselage, and for the same reason:  i think Col. Gabreski told the painters to do a better job.  
 

so the front and rear fuselage look a bit different, by design, and i am not sure i can do much better with the camo given my present abilities. 
 

can i get some input on how it looks?  Apologies for the poor lighting, i will get some natural light photos tomorrow. 
 

First up, the right side is pretty much dealers choice.   Not much i can find on what it looked like.  Heres what i ended up with. 

 

 

there is a better record of the left side, but mostly from off angle photos or stills.  The font is very spidery and whispy, the rear seems more blobby, and you can tell the grey, at least some of it, went down after the green 

 

my take

 

and from above

 

i am at that weird point where i dont know if i should keep hammering at the camo to try to get as close to an exact copy, or move on.  No strong feelings either way.  
 

thanks for looking.

 

Bill

[MikeMaben]

If you're using the same photos as I have (the 2 most common crash scenes) , it looks good to me.

Once you get all the markings on it will come together as a more whole picture. Soldier on Bill.

[Citadelgrad]

17 minutes ago, MikeMaben said:

If you're using the same photos as I have (the 2 most common crash scenes) , it looks good to me.

Once you get all the markings on it will come together as a more whole picture. Soldier on Bill.

Yep, the 2 crash photos show the rear fuselage pretty well, the earlier photos show the cowling area pretty well.

 

thanks, Mike!

[Citadelgrad]

Its hot here today, but i wanted to paint at least that upper wing insignia.  This is my first use of masks on an LSP, and my first LSP as an adult, just to review. Please be gentle. The first iteration was very rough and pebbled, and it left a blue dust on my finger when i rubbed it. I decided i should have sprayed from closer and added a bit of thinner to retard the drying. So i micromesh sanded around the white mask, touched up the surrounding wing camo, and here is version two. Im pretty pleased.  
 

 

i wanted to see the camo in natural light, anyway, so i snapped a few outside the garage. 

 

 

 

i started uncovering the lower wing insignia, the white invasion stripes got a nice crisp edge, and there is a lot of color variation, as i tried to impart.  It was hard to tell when everything was white, but with the grey there i am pretty pleased.  I got the external masks where i want them but i took a break because its so hot today.  I think i will have a cigar and a scotch and contemplate how much i prefer masks to decals.  
 

thanks for looking, as always, i appreciate any input.

 

Bill

Edited September 29, 2021 by Citadelgrad

[Citadelgrad]

Moving forward, i did the large underwing insignia.  
 

before 

 

 

after painting but before weeding the mask covering the white

 

and with the entire mask removed 

 

this one shows the tiniest bit of blue bleeding above the right arm.  I am undecided as to whether to “fix” that or leave it, i am not sure how perfect these were on the real birds. 
 

other wing
 

and a glamor shot of both

 

 

thats all for today.  I am really pleased with the masks, i recently got a silhouette cutter and i will not be going back to decals unless i have no choice, like Col. Gabreski’s kill markings. 
 

next up is the fuselage stars and bars, then the invasion stripe black portions.  
 

thanks so much for looking and any input.

 

Bill 

 

[MikeMaben]

8 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

                  I think i will have a cigar and a scotch and contemplate how much i prefer masks to decals. 

 

Smashing idea my good man.

 

 

Looking good Bill.  Touch ups would be easy , lay a piece of used mask next to the booboo

and brush paint any white with a small brush. 

[Citadelgrad]

18 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

Smashing idea my good man.

 

 

Looking good Bill.  Touch ups would be easy , lay a piece of used mask next to the booboo

and brush paint any white with a small brush. 

 

all work and no play…