Infinity 1/32 Son-of-a B!tch 2nd Class

[quang]

Strangely I’ve never seen this rustic aspect of the gun mount mentioned anywhere on the WWW. Even Trumpy’s C-team can do better.

[Woody V]

14 hours ago, RadBaron said:

It's got inaccurate details, and the fit is terrible, but at least it's expensive!

Brilliant! 

[RadBaron]

16 hours ago, airscale said:

very nice work Denzil

 

I love seeing kits like these taken on - for me they are the most rewarding to watch, and in a warped way the most fun to build

 

love what you are doing with it

 

Peter

Thankyou very much, Peter, your encouragement is most appreciated!

 

I think this kit is a real eye opener in terms of how our view of what an acceptable kit is, has shifted though I'll reserve my final thoughts on this topic until I've drug the beast across the finish line 

[RadBaron]

5 hours ago, alaninaustria said:

Great work so far; such a historical subject matter! Nice to see her coming along in 1/32 scale!

Cheers

Alan

Thanks Alan, it is strange that such a historically significant aircraft has been shunned by manufacturers, especially when it looks like such a monster too!

[RadBaron]

On 10/17/2022 at 4:03 AM, quang said:

Strangely I’ve never seen this rustic aspect of the gun mount mentioned anywhere on the WWW. Even Trumpy’s C-team can do better.

 

I think it's pretty easy to gloss over minor detail inadequacies when compared to the rest of the kit 

 

 

The comparison between this and all the "unbuildable" Trumpeter kits has crossed my mind during this build. For all their accuracy issues, at least Trumpy stuff will normally fit together well and feature crisp detail 

Edited October 23, 2022 by RadBaron

[RadBaron]

Quick update, nothing exciting, just more of those much derided "Basic Modelling Skills" being put to use. 

 

I know I could have bought the separated control surfaces add-on for the kit, but where's the fun in that?

 

Elevators and horizontal stabs

 

 

Also thinning the area around the wheel well. I made a cut line the thickness of the wing spar, then ground away everything forward of that. The plastic is nice and soft and VERY easy to carve and shape. 

 

Denzil 

 

 

 

 

[STM]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:07 PM, Panzerwomble said:

Odd coincidence that the original aircraft was a bit of a dog as well .

My ex-wife had a second cousin who flew them after flying Dauntlesses. He hated them. They were sluggish, had very high stick forces and were difficult to bring aboard. He always said if the Japs didn't kill him, that aircraft would. He managed to cheat both fortunately. 

[dutik]

@RadBaron

 

Lurking in the darking, watching the drama unfold Good job indeed! Hope that you will make a homerun

 

Regards

- dutik

[RadBaron]

Wow, I'm away for 10 days and my post has moved 4 pages deep. Awesome to see people actively building 

 

On 10/18/2022 at 10:19 AM, dutik said:

@RadBaron

 

Lurking in the darking, watching the drama unfold Good job indeed! Hope that you will make a homerun

 

Regards

- dutik

Lurk away, mate, I'm always happy to have people living vicariously through my life 

 

 

Working on this kit has had me thinking about discussions trying to pinpoint the reasons people build the subjects they build. 

One reoccurring point on the topic of Aircraft VS Tanks, was the amount of time and effort and lack of visual progress that goes into aircraft before you even look at a paintbrush, let alone use one in anger. 

 

 

This build has been exactly that experience for me. Hours upon hours of slogging through identifying parts on sprues, study references to determine correct location, trim/sand/file to fit, replace lost details. Secure parts in place. Repeat. 

 

And it's been a glorious experience to get it all together 

 

The plastic is not too soft, not too hard. It carves well, and responds perfectly to Tamiya extra thin and Plasti-weld. 

 

A large majority of the parts go into the cockpits, so after several weeks of the above, a busy (albeit not entirely accurate) cockpit emerges and everything is ready for some paint!

 

 

 

Eagle eyes readers will notice that there are more than just cockpit parts waiting for some paint in the above pics. More on that soon. 

 

Everything was primed with the usual Mr Surfacer Black, then MRP Interior Green, which had parts looking like this

 

 

 

Enthusiasm is flowing!

 

Denzil

 

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by RadBaron

[RadBaron]

Cockpit details:

 

The pilot's headrest didn't look right to my eye, looking like something from a modern fighter, and I couldn't see anything of this shape in period pictures, so I sanded it into a flat box shape and used a bit of sprue-goo to give it some texture.

 

 

 

Next up, although it'll be difficult to see with the rear deck closed up, I filled in the depression where the horizontal stabilizers exit the fuselage. Quick work with plasticard. 

 

 

 

 

Master gun barrels are a quick upgrade.

 

 

The life-raft tube as supplied in the kit is surprisingly devoid of raft. 

Quick work with some miliput made for a completely adequate representation of a raft. Good enough for a closed up cockpit 

 

 

The instrument panel and radio faces are supplied as clear plastic. Not my favorite way of depicting these because of the extra masking involved, but it does mean that you get some really nicely molded details. Decals are supplied for the gauges, to be applied to the rear of the faces. Unfortunately there are ejector pins aligned precisely with the back side of some of these dials, happily they were easily removed and the plastic polished back to crystal-clear with minimal effort.

 

 

 

 

I suppose in hindsight I could have done my usual method of cutting out the dials Individually, but ad per the first post, I never claimed to ownership of many brain cells. 

 

Anyway, stuff got done 

[RadBaron]

A little bit of paint splashed about, an oil wash and a combination of kit and @airscaleplacards makes things look nice and busy.  A few more paint chips then the fuselage should be ready to close up!

 

 

 

Next up will be things like seat belts, instrument panel, radio faces etc.

 

Denzil

[petrov27]

that pit is looking fine indeed - great work!

[airscale]

very nice work on that 'pit Denzil - looks great

 

also i love seeing our stuff in action

 

Peter

[monthebiff]

That's some serious progress Denzil. Really like your extra detail with the paint work bringing it all together. 

 

Regards. Andy 

[Woody V]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:39 PM, RadBaron said:

 

 

Even if I had waited my entire life for this kit, that photo would convince me to pass. That kit MG looks like a toddler's mud pie.
My hat is off to you sir for not only tackling this kit, but doing an amazing job. BRAVO!