billn53

Packing up for the show is the first time I've had the two side-by-side. I recall when building the Hustler how impressed I was with her size. But next to the YB-35, she looks like a nimble little fighter!

Gorgeous!

Unlike Alclad, the AK metallics (with a couple of exceptions) don’t need a gloss black underlay. To keep the mottling from disappearing, I had to put a very light coat of the aluminum metallic that was my base color prior to panel shading. A side effect of the light coat was that the aluminum was much darker than if I had done a normal coat. That totally screwed up my panel shading plan. Also, when all was said & done, the mottling effect is very, very subtle. I suspect the mottling would have been more obvious & effective if I had used Alclad metallics.

Thank, Dennis! As for the show, she'll be competing on the same table with my B-58 Hustler. I think they're gonna need a bigger table LOL!

She's done! RFI is posted here, with lots of new pics!

There's something about multi-engine pusher aircraft and counter-rotating props that stimulates my fancy. And if it's a flying wing, too, it's darn near irresistible! I finished this build in five weeks, which for me is super-fast (my B-58 Hustler took three months), and just in time for this weekend's local show & contest. The WIP can be found here: Significant changes/additions to the Italeri kit: Opened up and deepened the leading edge engine air inlets Added warm air exhaust outlets on the wing trailing edge Added leading edge slots near the wing tips Added gun barrels to all turrets (including the tail "stinger") Added interior details (what little can be seen) Added belly crew access hatch Markings are for a hypothetical in-service production aircraft ca. 1949 NMF created using AK Interactive Xtreme Metal paints On to the pics! Belly turret and crew access hatch: Turbosupercharger exhausts and exhaust stains: Interior details added (pardon the dust): Rear gunner's position and periscope sight: Leading edge engine air inlets: Engine warm air outlets: Leading edge wingtip slots: She's a big aircraft! Thanks for looking! -Bill

The gray I ended up using is Model Master Navy Gloss Gray. It comes in both acrylic and enamel — I used the enamel. If I were doing this again, I might try painting black mottles over a gray base, instead of the other way around. The AK dark aluminum looks very similar to their aluminum, just a tad darker. You might also try using AK’s steel, which is darker still. - Bill

It’s not too difficult technically, but deciding what shades to use, and where, takes some thought and research. Some of my shading is “real world” wear & tear from handling the model. Where it looked good, I kept it. Elsewhere paint touch up was needed.

72-Hours until show time and I think I'm going to make it, barring some major catastrophe. Here's the Wednesday morning progress report. I got rid of that ugly thumbprint, did some other minor paint touch up, and finished decaling. I then gave the Wing a couple coats of Alclad Aqua Clear, both to protect the NMF and to unify the various shades & colors on the plane. After the clear coat had dried, I focused on the underside of the Wing. I added the brass tube exhausts for the turbosuperchargers that I had made up earlier: And then spent about an hour doing the exhaust staining. First, I built an underlayer for the heavy staining using Tamiya's Smoke (X-19). I then sprayed Xtreme Metal "Jet Exhaust", starting at the turbosupercharger exhausts and becoming fainter and broader further aft. Next, I applied black pigment powder to soot-up the exhausts and the area immediately around and behind them. Finally, I sprayed the exhausts and stained areas with Humbrol matte acrylic (to fix the pigment powder and remove the glossiness of the Smoke and Jet Exhaust paints). After the exhaust staining had thoroughly dried, I installed the landing gear legs. I want these to be firmly attached when I turn the Wing right-side-up, so I let them set overnight... And this morning I added the wheels. My Wing is now standing on her own feet, and nothing has collapsed or bent in spite of all the weight I've installed! I had also noticed that the canopies had developed a few minor scratches in the parts bin, so I gave them both a fresh dip in clear acrylic to freshen them up: I added the pilot's yoke (which had broken off earlier), rear gunner's armor plate, and the gunsight periscopes, then glued the canopies in place with watch cement: The watch cement takes hours to dry, so no more work until this evening. But, I couldn't resist temporarily installing the props, just to see how the Wing is going to look when finished: There's not much left to do... I still need to: Install the landing gear doors Add flaps and propellers Build and attach the crew access hatch Add gun barrels And, if I have the time, I may do some light weathering. And that should do it!

I managed to break free from work and go to Chattanooga on Friday for the show. I was only able to spend a couple of hours (and a couple hundred bucks) there, but it was definitely worth the drive.

I guess I mistyped. But, Thanks for your excellent decals! - Bill

I was up at the crack of dawn this morning to get some build time in before heading into the office. First up was masking and painting the nose glazing frames. I used Parafilm M and a new #11 scalpel blade to do the masking, which did a great job. I really should use this stuff more, considering I have a 125-ft roll of it! Next on the to-do list was installing the four fairings at the rear of the wing. Decals for the small Stars & Bars, and the aircraft S/N, were applied to the two outboard fairings. Note that the markings do not run parallel to the fairings' panel lines. This is because the top of the fairings, when installed, are not horizontal but instead slope upward toward the aircraft's rear. BTW, I'm using Italeri's decals (made by Cartograph). Despite their age, they are excellent! I got the fairings installed a-ok…. … but not without a series of minor disasters. First, while cleaning out paint and sanding dust from the recesses in the wings, my chisel slipped and scratched the wing. Not once, but twice! I sanded out the scratches and did some touch up painting. Next, while gluing the fairings into the recesses, a drop of glue fell on the wing, eating through the NMF. More touch-up work there. Finally, when everything was looking great, I accidently touched some of the still-wet paint, leaving an enormous thumb print. Arrrggghhh!!! Easy enough to fix, but I could really do without these time-consuming mistakes.

I never thought of airbrushing Mr Surfacer 1500. I assume you thin it first... what do you use for thinning Mr Surfacer?

I spent quite a few hours working on the Wing today, but it seems that I don't have much to show for it. First, I spent some time getting the landing gear ready to put this girl on her legs. For the main gear, I followed Jeff Groves' example and added a brass rod for strengthening. I'm worried that the nose gear may not be strong enough, given all the weight I added to keep this from being a tail sitter. If worse comes to worst, I have a set of metal landing gear, but those are not my first choice for various reasons. Most of my time today was spent with the propellers, which I had previously started. I needed to paint the tips of the blades (32 of them) and add the Hamilton Standard logo and data decals (64 decals). To help mask the tips, I built a simple jig: And, after a few hours work, here's the result: Some of the tips need touchup, but otherwise the jig worked like a champ. As an aside, the instructions would have you put the logo and data decals on the back side of each blade, but every photo I've seen where the logo is visible has them on the forward-facing side. Having just finished putting a bunch of tiny decals on little blades, I felt a need for something more substantial, so I added the big Stars & Bars and "USAF" decals to the Wing's wings. They sure do look purty! Tomorrow's plan is to mask and paint the framing for the nose glazing, install the four driveshaft/gearbox fairings on the rear of the wing, finish decaling, and give everything a good protective gloss coat.

Your NMF panel shading looks great! I had a terrible experience using Stynylrez primer on my current YB-35 build. The Stynylrez lifted right off the plastic, taking my NMF with it, and I was using de-tacked tape.