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Shelf of Doom #5 Hasegawa 1/32 P-47; Decals Started


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Here is another shelf of doom kit. This has been sitting around for about 4 years, maybe longer. It is interesting to try to figure out why a particular kit got put on the shelf of doom. For this one, it was easy. First the box art.

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And here is the model as I found it all dusty and tattered looking.

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You know a model has been sitting around too long when there are spider webs on the sprues!!

Here is this poor kit’s story. I received this kit and an airbrush/compressor for either a birthday or Christmas a few years back. (I wanted the Vintage 1/24 P-47, but SWMBO didn’t really know the difference between this kit and the Vintage kit and got this one instead). So, I built it up with the intention of having this as my first airbrushed kit. I completed the airframe and started taping up the kit to spray the bottom. As I was doing that, I began to look at the scheme I picked out to do. It is the one on the box art. I very quickly realized there was no way I could do this scheme as my first air brush experience. So, up it goes to the shelf of doom until I get better with the airbrush. (We won’t go into the sad tale of really how long it took me to start using an air brush as it is pathetic.) Now here is the bonus to this kit and the shelf of doom. The airframe was on the shelf of doom. Then, I had to find the box containing the rest of the parts and decals. After some searching, I found the box. When I opened it up surprise, these were in the box.

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This is a resin kit that was not on my lists of kits owned (Yeah, I do have a list!) The decal sheet is for a 1/48 Hobbycraft P-59 that I now need to find its box. Why I put these in the P-47 box, I do not know. Morale of the story, check your shelf of doom boxes for other items you may have put aside and out of sight!

The tape has been on this kit for years. I thought the first step would be to take the tape off and see how bad the paint underneath it has suffered from years of adhesive. I also did not trust any of the tape to be secure enough to actually protect the airframe from overspray. After a bath to get the dust and adhesive off here is the current status of the kit.

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There are some areas that really need a do over, like the tail wheel area and the representation of the leather boot

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The cockpit looks like it held up pretty well

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The cockpit does need some seat belts, so those will need to be sourced. I also got out all of the other parts besides the main airframe that have been built up.

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You can tell I built this as a brush painter and not an air brush painter. Since I started air brushing, the wheel covers are always sprayed at the same time as the underside. On this kit, they are already attached to the main landing gear. It also looks like I pre-painted the canopy, I am going with the flaps down option and I have already selected the propeller option. In addition, the entire ordinance and fuel tanks have been built, but need painting. Next step is to check the seams and make sure they are still okay and then re-tape the airframe to spray the bottom colour. As always, all comments are welcome.

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Paint update. After having fun removing 4+ year old tape, I re-taped to spray the bottom color.

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The grey bottom color was applied.

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And then the upper green color was applied.

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Now the fun part begins masking the green to create the green squiggles that appear on the grey upper paint. The kit instructions were blown up, cut out and then placed on the kit with double sided tape. It was a wonderful couple of hours spent.

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And then the grey upper paint was applied. The difference between the lower grey and the upper grey is very slight. The upper is just a tad bit darker. The masks were removed and voila:

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The results aren’t too bad; I am somewhat pleased. I still have to redo the black stripes on the tail both upper and lower. The upper don’t exist, and the lower are extended on the tail too far. And, I really goofed up on taping between the lower grey and the upper grey and left a very nice patch of raw plastic that has no paint on it. Once that is done, a dousing of Future and the decals will be put on. As always, all comments are welcome.

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Nice "save" of this one! Funny you would say that about looking in old boxes and finding stuff you'd forgot about. I did the same thing yesterday when I found a Brassin R-2800 engine in a Hellcat box, a nice surprise.

/Erik

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Nice "save" of this one! Funny you would say that about looking in old boxes and finding stuff you'd forgot about. I did the same thing yesterday when I found a Brassin R-2800 engine in a Hellcat box, a nice surprise.

/Erik

I think you straighten out stuff and "temporarily" put some things aside with the intention of going back and "properly" putting them up and then life gets in the way. I can't count the number of times I kmow I should have something, but can't find it until I'm searching for something else I misplaced!

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Decal update. I finished touching up some of the paint that needed it, like the strip that I missed painting. I also redid the wheel wells, flap and cockpit area that I over sprayed doing the camo scheme. The kit was then given a coat of Future/Klear and the decal process began. For the invasion stripes, the kit provides white strips of decal film to be put over a painted black area. I used the middle white strip to line everything up as there was a specific place it had to be put to fit with the gun openings. After that was lined up, the rest of the strips were measured out and put on the wings along with the stars and bars. The color of the national insignia is a bit suspect, so that may be changed out. I may change my mind after the weathering process.

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The next step is to do the base of decals on the sides prior to piecing together the invasion stripe decals. The decal scheme for this is somewhat complicated. The national insignia is the focal point and has the most definable position so that will be the base for all the other decals to form around.

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All of the above side decals need to dry and set before I start with the invasion stripe decals. These decals are extremely fragile. The first couple of white invasion stripes tore and I thought were going to shatter. This may be due to this kit being on the shelf of doom and I didn’t properly seal the decals and they dried out. Normally, Hasegawa decals are not this fragile. Sorry for the small update, but that’s all I got right now. As always, all comments are welcome.

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Great save (and what a PITA must have been masking for that camo :banghead::frantic: ). Have you considered painting the invasion stripes on, rather then using decals?

Ciao

Yeah I always think about painting invasion stripes, but I like the challenge of trying to make decals look painted on. The black portion is painted. There are a couple of black stripes to go on the tail planes and those will be painted rather than use the kit decals. The camo wasn't that bad as I just blew up the kit paint instructions, attached some double sided tape and cut the masks out. It might have gone faster, but I am only allowed to use the blunt, rounded nose scissors! It probably took about 2 or 3 hours to cut everything out and then put it in place. Of course, I have been known to spend that much time masking up a simple canopy. I really bite at masking stuff; I am so slow. Thanks for looking in, the rest of the decals will be put on tonight and then weathering this weekend.

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Side decal update. The layout of the decals to do the side invasion stripes is a bit convoluted. I think the design of the decals are more complicated than needs be plus there are some considerations to be taken as to the surface detail and curvature in the area. Here are the decals that comprise the port and starboard side invasion stripes and rest of the national insignia.

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I think some of the decals could have been combined into a larger decal and this design could have been much simpler. Onward and upwards (I hope) with getting everything to mate. Here is a start of the starboard side

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And after some grunting, groaning, moaning and very slight, PG rated cursing this is what the port and starboard sides look like.

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There is still some massaging and cajoling to do concerning these decals to make them conform completely to the surface detail. Overall, I am pleased with the result. The next step is to tackle the bottom invasion stripes. The only issues will be how to fit them around the flap hinges and cut the decals to fit the wing and flaps. As always, all comments are welcome. I hope to have this completed by the end of the weekend.

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Heading down to the wire update. All of the bottom decals have been done.

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The decals conformed to the surface detail exceptionally well, even around surfaces like this.

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Next up the bottom was given a wash to bring out the panel detail

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Then the top side got a wash and started out looking like this

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Once the excess wash was removed the really nice kit detail is evident. You have to give Hasegawa credit; the detail on this kit is phenomenal.

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Next there has to be something done about the weapons. The gun barrels for the kit are solid. Some metal tubing was cut.

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Notice in the above picture, I started out with a bit larger tubing that did not look so good. Then the fun process of inserting each piece of tubing was done and making sure everything was lined up with everything else. Slow setting superglue was my friend in this.

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While on the topic of guns, what is missing from this picture?

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That’s right, all those lovely .50 cals and not a gun sight to line them up. At first, I couldn’t find the gun sight in the left over sprues. That is because the one sprue I needed was sitting right in front of me rather than in the box. Does this happen to anyone else? You search all around for a sprue and it was just in front of you? Anyway, it was put in place and needs some painting and the clear glass parts.

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While around still in the cockpit the seat belt issue needs to be fixed. A while back I ordered some seat belts from Fine Mold. They are plastic rather than PE or fabric. I have never used them, but thought this would be a nice time to try them out. The reviews online talk about how they can be shaped and twisted without any problem or fear of them breaking like regular plastic. Out of the box, they look very nice and detailed.

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I then began to shape the shoulder straps which also are very nice.

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Obviously, they need me as a product tester as I very quickly accomplished what should not happen and broke the plastic while bending it. I then painted the belts and very gently bent the others into shape. Once in place, I think they look pretty good.

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I shall use these again, but will be very gentle with them. I am wondering if maybe dipping them in some warm/hot water first should be advised prior to manipulating them.

Now here is where the problems start and what stopped me from finishing this kit this weekend. The propeller needed to be finished along with some stripes on the tail. The color call out for the propeller and tail stripes are matt black. Now for this, I use either Tamiya NATO Black or Humbrol 33 matt black. Since I was out of NATO Black and with great wisdom bought as replacement NATO green, I fell back to Humbrol. I like Humbrol paints; I like them a lot, well the enamels that is, I don’t get along with the acrylics. I have never had a problem with Humbrol 33. It always goes on nice, dries as it should and dries fairly quickly. I painted the propeller hub silver, no problem. I then painted the blades Humbrol 33 . . .

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Does this look matt black to you? This is after it has dried for 48 hours. I also painted the tail stripes at the same time.

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Doesn’t look very matt either. This has dried for 48 hours also and is still tacky to the touch. The propeller wasn’t too bad and I was able to mask and paint the tips yellow.

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It is a sad day when chrome yellow paint dries before matt black! Here it is on Monday afternoon, over three days drying time and the tail stripes are still tacky. Now this is a new tin of Humbrol 33. I had problems with the Humbrol paints made in India, but this tin indicates made in England. I am not sure what happened but this is not matt black and it doesn’t dry right. I am going to let it set a little longer as I really don’t want to remove it and then repaint. Rats!!!!

Other than the Humbrol paint problem, this kit has really come together. This is how it stands so far.

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If the paint ever dries, I can finish weathering the kit, add some pastels, add the clear parts, attach the propeller and this puppy will be done. Now, I am just having fun watching paint dry. As always, all comments are welcome.

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George, outstanding job so far! Decals came out very good, and I love the weathering :goodjob: .

Sorry about the Humbrol Black issue. I have no experience about Humbrols, for matt black I stick with Tamiya's and Lifecolor's regular ones (both acrylics, with a different "shade", I'd say)

Ciao

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Final update. All the miscellaneous pieces, odds and ends, doo dads and bobs have been put in place and the kit is finished. All in all, a very enjoyable build. I have another one of these kits in the stash plus the Vintage Models 1/24 version and may even have one of the Trumpeter versions. I look forward to doing another of these as there were no problems with the construction of the kit, the engineering and the final result. I think this kit is limited by the person’s talent in painting it. (For that reason alone, my next kit is very limited in nature!) I think it turned out rather nice.

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A proper RFI will follow when the weather is better here and it is sunny rather than cloudy and rainy. As always, all comments are welcome.

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