BlueNosers352nd

Was going to do the Hasegawa F6F-3, but I found this scheme today and had to do it. So this is what I will be tackling, eventually, for this GB. VF-38 F6F-3 Hellcat #117 VF-38 F6F-3 Hellcat #117

Ok, I lied! In doing some web surfing today I found the scheme I had to do. So I am switching to the...............Eduard F6F-3 1/48 Profipack. Didn't want to buy a new kit, but the scheme is on the decal sheet for this kit and I like unusual schemes. VF-38 F6F-3 Hellcat #117 by Jim Fox, on Flickr

and why are Detail in Scale and Walkarounds for the F6F so dang expensive? Ridiculous!

You guys are killing me with all these GB's! Guess I can't stop myself but I am going to enter with................. 1/48 Hasegawa F6F-3 CAM Decals (not sure which bird yet) True Details Cockpit Ultracast Wheels I have the Cutting Edge corrected cowl, but one bird that is a possibility has the later cowl, so I'd have to cut off the lower open cowl flap and fill it and rescribe...........so we will see on that one. Not sure how much I will do early on. Would like to finish my two kits for the P-51 STGB before I start. Plus I am off to Spain for a week of vaca. But I'll start posting as I accomplish something.

Now that I've done it, I am starting to second guess myself. Working on the A-36..........with the filled wings, how much chipping would you've actually seen? Probably some on the fuselage side of the wing root as it didn't have anything over it.......and along the flaps. But what around the gun bays or farther up the wing roots on the wing side? Wondering if I've done to much.

Got the OD on last night, but in the end I got a little heavy handed over the mottling effect. Can still see it in a few spots on the fuselage, but the wings are pretty much over done and hide it. Not much done on it today though, had fun in the snow instead. Did manage to get the strip on he tail. Hopefully some more time on it tomorrow. One thing I definitely need to work on is while holding it to mask things, I am notorious for leaving scuff marks, I think from my fingernails.

Lookin good! Amazed at how everyone else but me makes that nose piece fit so well.

It's off to the paint shop for the A-36! Had these stencils (Picture 1) for a little bit as I saw someone use them over the top of the painting to add a weathered effect. Then just recently saw a post somewhere where the guy did this prior to painting instead of spending a lot of time doing a gabillion squiggles. So I said, what the heck let's try this. Mixed up Tamiya White and Tamiya Sand, maybe 65/35 and thinned it quite heavily. Was thinking sand would help a little with the underside. But in reality I am not sure how much of the sand shows. I ended up adding a bit more paint as it was too thin. I think it turned out pretty good........I'm happy with the effect. Need to work on keeping in close to the model for stronger effect. The model had been primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 black and misted with a coat of Mr Leveling Thinner and the left over dribble of Mr Surfacer in the cup. I would say the contrast between the mottling and the gray is harsher in the pic than in person.

I wish all early Mustangs were done like that. Always hate trying to fit those windows in.

I used Mr Surfacer 500 on the A-36A I am also building for this STGB and I got the same issue. What was actually weird was that after I sprayed it with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and that misted some Mr Leveling Thinner over it, they actually looked raised. I sand them down again and did another coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 black plus mist coat. Now that it has dried it's slightly recessed. But since that is gonna be OD/Gray I am going to leave it. Get some weathering on there and hopefully it won't be so noticeable.

Ok, first ever test run chipping paint. Don't think it looks too bad. First was going to use Vallejo chipping medium. Read one review saying they mixed with about 30% water. Thought that was too little. Got it probably more like 60% water, tested it and thought it still was too pebbly. So I cleaned the airbrush and got out the cheap hairspray. By the time I was ready for that, the Vallejo had leveled out and was smooth. Ran the hairspray through the airbrush, misted a couple light coats on (which almost dry instantly) and let it set for a while. Came back and sprayed some Tamiya OD with Mr Leveling thinner. Let that dry for a while and hit it with a brush. I was surprised how easy it comes off. Seems like all the videos I've watched it takes a little more work. If you have any thoughts or think I need to change things up, let me know. Tooth pick even popped off the paint pretty easy.

I've actually be monkeying with this thing. Prepping for a NMF is ! Spray, sand/buff, spray some more, sand/buff, spray some more. Well I sprayed tonight and was looking at it going, ugh......gonna have to sand/buff again. Decided to go eat dinner and came back in about an hour. Mr Surfacer Black 1500 and Mr Leveling thinner is amazing! Few random particles that found their way on to the paint, but no to shabby. Still need to work out a proper panel line fill. Still not sold on Mr Surfacer 500. Usually use Super Glue but I've found that sanding to what looks perfect reveals a slight bump along the line when painting. Now what shade of Alclad to paint the wings.

Nicely done! Always amazed how everyone else seems to handle the separate top nose piece so much better than me. It's always been Achilles heal on my Tamiya stang builds.

Like Dads said above, I solely use Mr Color Thinner or Mr Color Leveling thinner. Sprays super easy outta the airbrush. Clean airbrush with lacquer thinner.

I don't think the kill markings were changed on Petie 2nd. Character was changed on Petie 3rd. These are the only other things I got on Petie 2nd. Didn't find any other photos other than the one you already posted. Super old Microscale Decal Sheet Closeup in the Osprey book....

Kill Markings and the character were also changed as well.

Dave, you could still do the white Petie 2nd version. There was two different iterations. After your post I went and grabbed the Blue Nosed B's of Bodney book the 352nd FG Association put out years ago and took a quick peek. Not sure what other photos of it are in the book. But in the back they go through every squadron and give a B&W photo and a description of each plane. NOTE: Flickr was running slow/having issues earlier, so if it doesn't load maybe they are still have intermittent issues.

Oooo ooo ooo.........another Blue Noser! What bird you gonna do?

The compressor, yes is from SprayGunner..........included 10% off for my birthday month too. They didn't have the airbrush I was after, so that is from somewhere else.

Big week for me purchases wise (especially since I wonder how much modeling my back will allow me to do)...... No-Name Tooty Compressor Iwata HP-C Plus Airbrush Encyclopedia of Aircraft Modeling Techniques Vol 3 and 4.

So the Mr Metal's I got are the buffable kind, didn't know that. But that's because I really haven't done any modeling building for a while and I just didn't catch that part. Which explains why when you put tape on it, even 24 hours later it still peals residue off. Definitely buffs to a shine, but I will have to do a heavier coat as I buffed back to the black. Something to play with another day. 24 hours later I didn't have pealing of Alclad under Tamiya Tape. Now I didn't leave it on long like when masking for another color.

I'll have to do some more testing as well. I was masking within a few minutes of spraying over the Alclad with Tamiya tape and had no residue or chipping on the tape. The Mr Color definitely needs longer to dry. Hard to see in the photo, but it pulled paint a lot on the Aluminum color. Not down to black though.

I sprayed some tests last night to see what to use for the Mustang. Don't have a huge selection of Alclad/Mr Metal. So as a reminder, this the plane I am shooting after... Here are a couple shots of the test..... (from left to right: Alclad Aluminum, Alclad Polished Aluminum, Alclad Duraluminum, Mr Color Aluminum, Mr Color Chrome) This was shot over Mr Color GFX II + Mr Color Leveling Thinner + Mist coat of leveling thinner This shot also include a wing section with just Mr Surfacer Gray 1200 (or maybe 1500) + Mr Color Leveling Thinner I know pictures can be hard to tell in picture rather than in person. Alclad Polished Aluminum (#2) looks way to dark to me, maybe I don't have enough coats? Almost would call it a steel color. Obviously the aircraft looks well worn and faded/oxidized. Honestly, based on this test, I am leaning to Duraluminum (#3) for the fuselage as it's a little warmer than Alclad Aluminum (#1) which looks a little cool. Mr Metal Chrome (#5) almost looks like Duraluminum with maybe less metal effect. Anyone ever done a Mustang in Duraluminum? I'm a bit worried that it might be too dark. Not sure what would happen if I mixed Duraluminum and Aluminum to kinda get an in between. Hopefully it would lighten up a bit with some weathering techniques to get it oxidized..........not that I know what that technique would be yet. Thoughts? Again, I know it's hard to tell with a picture and not in person. First Mustang ever with Alclad. Really wanted to try KColor's Chrome 61 (after watching someone's video) but it seems to be back ordered.

I picked up some equvilant to these after seeing someone's Model use them. No these exact ones, mine were off ebay, but the same power. I hate them! Too much hunting and searching for where I am at. https://www.amazon.com/Dental-Power-Binocular-Working-Distance/dp/B008BO57FU/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=binocular+dental+glasses&qid=1580154617&sr=8-14 I still prefer my old optivisor. Although mine doesn't let you change lenses.