GEEBEE!

[geedubelyer]

Hi Mike, she looks good on my device. 

Gloss finishes often benefit from some light sanding and buffing.

I generally use distilled water when I thin Vallejo paints without issue. 

They do produce their own thinner and airbrush cleaners also. 

 

I'm eager to see the red go on. 

 

Keep at it. 

 

Cheers 

Edited February 25 by geedubelyer

[mconnelley]

Hello:

   Spraying black on the inside is a good tip.  I sort of did sprayed the inside black, but it was more to hide the fact that most of the interior is missing than to add opacity.  One problem on this kit is that the thickness of the plastic is quite variable, and is very thin near the wing roots.  In those areas, the black shows through a lot more than in other parts of the model.  I applied the most primer to those areas to hide the black that was showing through the thin translucent plastic.  

 

Mike

[Marcin_Matejko]

Cool

[s00ntir]

That's something unusual and very nice. Thanks for sharing - I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

Bodek

[DerekB]

Hi Mike, I have one of these in my stash, so I'm enjoying seeing yours come together! Nice work so far, and great to hear tips from other builders too. 

[Out2gtcha]

Looking good!

[Archimedes]

Great work on the GeeBee!

 

The damned thing was an utter death trap except in the hand of Jimmy Doolittle but this is a great build of it!

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[mconnelley]

Hello:

 

   It's been two months since an update, but now I think there is something worth showing.  

 

   So, with a Geebee the paint job is a major part of the build.  The main reason I hadn't built this kit earlier was just not being able to figure out how to do the pinstripe between the white and red areas.  But let's start with the masking.

 

   It turns out that the drawings in the instructions are the same scale as the kit.  So to get the scalloping line correct, I photocopied the instructions, and then laid strips of Tamiya tape over the instructions.  I traced the edge, removed the tape from the instructions, then cut along the traced line.  

 

   That works ok for the flat surfaces like the wings, but what about the fuselage?  I cut out the photocopied drawings for each side, and taped them together so that when I wrapped it around the fuselage the two drawings lined up.  I also cut holes in the drawings to clear the horizontal tail, which also served as a location reference.  Thus I was able to get a smooth curve from one side, over the top, to the other side.  

 

Mike

 

[mconnelley]

Hello:

   The next step is to paint the black for the pinstripe.  It's a really thin line, so I just tried to paint over the edge of the tape.  The paint is just Vallejo black primer.

 

Mike

 

 

[mconnelley]

Hello:

   To get the pinstripe, I bought some 1/64" wide masking tape.  The roll is at the bottom of the photo.  It's really hard to see the black tape on the black paint, but it's there.  I cut a length of tape then carefully applied it to the edge of the Tamiya tape.  I first bent a piece of wire along the edge of the Tamiya tape, then straightened it out, to estimate the length of tape needed for each section of the pinstripe.  It took strong lighting, high magnification, and patience, but the pinstripe tape is on.  

 

Mike

 

 

[mconnelley]

Hello:

   The next step is to paint the red.  Nothing fancy here, just plain Polly S red.  I intended to use some Model Master acryl red that I bought a while ago for a Ferrari, and although the jar had never been opened, the paint was goo inside...like no longer a liquid.  So out came the trusty Polly S.  

 

Mike

 

 

[mconnelley]

Hello:

   

   And now the moment of truth, when the masking gets peeled off.  There's a bit of touchups here and there, but overall it came out really nicely.  I was considering not doing the pinstripe (in some photos it looks like it's not there), but I'm glad I did since it really looks sharp with that black edge between the red and white.  

 

   So that's where things stand now.  I might airbrush a bit of white to clean things up, then gloss coat and then decals.

Mike

 

[wingman777]

very impressive work, glad to see somebody bringing this oldie-goldie kit to life.

[Cati888]

I love the gee bees, but of a passion built and flown two of these and a z.As rc models. They fly really well but a bit pitch sensitive which is easily tamed. 
 

hate to be there bearer of bad news but the pinstripe is actually blue. They are red white and blue like the flag. If you google search there is a peice of original fabric in the smithsonian showing the blue pinstripe. I think the interpretation of the old black and white photos leads to the misunderstanding. 

 

can’t wait to see this finished are you going to set it up in a pylon turn around a tower ? 
 

 

[spyrosjzmichos]

Impressive paint work!