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billn53 last won the day on June 23
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About billn53

- Birthday 12/15/1953
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Madison, WI
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That’s a beautiful Spitfire! Well done, sir!
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Ah, the joys of working with Aires cockpits! They invariably require thinning both the resin tub, and the receiving fuselage, to within a micron of destruction.
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Italeri 1:72 F-100F Super Sabre
billn53 replied to Nikolay Polyakov's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Here are photos from the Italeri D-model in my stash: And yes, Italeri's D includes both early and late afterburner nozzles. -
Italeri 1:72 F-100F Super Sabre
billn53 replied to Nikolay Polyakov's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
I want to see how you do this. I sacrificed a Trumpeter intake trunk for my ESCI F-100D, a method that doesn’t need a donor kit would be helpful. -
1/72 SR-71 Blackbird Crew Access Steps
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
So far, I’ve built just one 3D printed model (I’m not counting the SR-71 stairs, with just two pieces to assemble). That was a 1/72 Socata Tampico general aviation trainer (the plane I learned to fly in). I seriously doubt any mainstream producer would ever model a Socata. The crew ladder on my recent F-100 was 3D printed, and came ready-to-paint — I.e, no supporting structure to cut away, unlike the SR-71 stairs and most other 3D items I’ve seen. I wonder how they did that? -
A few years back, I built Academy's 1/72 SR-71 Blackbird, which turned out very nicely and has even won a couple of awards in shows I've taken it to. At the time, I bought a set of photoetched brass crew access steps, made by Aircraft in Miniature (AIM) Ltd. Unhappily, Salvadore Dali could have done a better job than me of bending the photoetch, which ended up being trashed. Recently, AIM released a 3D printed set of Blackbird steps to replace their photoetched version, which I wasted no time in buying. Inside the box I found a nearly-complete set of steps -- the only assembly needed is to add the "bumper" that runs along the edge of the platform and protects the Blackbird's fuselage. The biggest job was in removing the steps/platform from its forest of supporting resin. Here's what it looked like when I was finished: Basically, all I had to do was add the bumper strip, and paint the bugger. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, no decals are provided so I printed up a set of my own based on photos I found on the web. I've not much else to say, so let's see how it looks when done: And yes, I think I may have gone a bit overboard on the weathering: That's it! A rewarding afternoon spent at the bench. p.s. If anyone's interested, here's the RFI to my Blackbird build from nearly 5-years ago:
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"The Year I Was Born" F-100D Super Sabre
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Actually, I mis-spoke. I meant to include the Misty’s in my F-100F topic. I have plenty of spare stars&bars, in the sizes I’ll need for a camo scheme. What I don’t have are codes for the tail fin. Maybe I’ll look for a cheap Trumpeter “F”, as donor for both the decals, and other parts . . . -
Excellent work (as always). You probably know this, but for the silvered decals you can try poking the silvered areas a few times with a needle, then coating the decal with your favorite decal softener (MicroSol, Mr Mark, SolvaSet, etc.). More than one application may be needed.
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billn53 started following Hasegawa 1/48 F-104C Starfighter
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Hasegawa 1/48 F-104C Starfighter
billn53 replied to AlexPopov's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Excellent work, I’ll tag along if you don’t mind. Your use of dental powder got me looking for more info about it (I’m a sucker for new tools and techniques). I found this video and thought I’d share it: -
"The Year I Was Born" F-100D Super Sabre
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Oh, yes! You should have been there. All the words I learned while in the Navy were used, and I think I made up some new ones, as well. -
"The Year I Was Born" F-100D Super Sabre
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Thanks, Bob! Since I stole the decals from my Italeri F-100F kit, I'm thinking of making the 'F' as a "wild weasel" Hun. But, the only such decals in 1/72 I know of are (were) made by Caracal, and are no longer available. So, if anyone has spare camo'd F-100F decals in 1/72, I'd love to have them and will compensate appropriately. -
"The Year I Was Born" F-100D Super Sabre
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Thank you, Erwin. This was certainly a learning build for me, as I knew very little about the F-100 when I began, and even less about the pros & cons of the various kits. Ed’s build was a great help on both accounts. I know I’ve made a few mistakes (discovered after it was too late to do anything) — nothing too serious but enough for me to think I could have done better. -
My 'Year I Was Born' F-100D "Franken-Hun"
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Thank you! But I must give credit to @TheRealMrEd , whose excellent Hun build inspired me, and from whom I stole borrowed a few key techniques. -
My 'Year I Was Born' F-100D "Franken-Hun"
billn53 replied to billn53's topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Thanks, Martin. I hadn’t intended for the Trumpeter kit to be an organ donor, but sometimes one must take drastic measures! Haha! -
Oh! Very nice start on the Seaking. And, do you think your parents might adopt me?