EDCS87

Wow, this is a great end result for this kit! I built this one a few years back and had the same issue with the wing to fuselage joint. Yours looks much, much nicer! Top job

Thank you very much for sharing your setup, Jeroen! It's so simple but so effective really. I had a look at your builds and your photography is very good. I will give it a shot 😃

As the end of the year approaches, I'd like to wish all of you here on BM a wonderful New Year full of health and joy, doubly so considering the state of our world this past year. I know I was blessed and lucky to be able to have a productive year at the work bench, or should I say "home office." I am saving up to purchase a lightbox and a decent camera, so i'll apologize in advance for the poor photography. All of my kits are painted with Tamiya or Vallejo acrylics, and finished with Prismacolor pencils, Tamiya pastels and enamel washes, and cheap artists oils. Without further ado, I present my completed builds for the year, in no particular order: 1. MPM Gloster Meteor F.4 (1:72) A lovely kit with wonderful decals, little to no fit problems and an appealing set of schemes to choose from. This was my first attempt at a freehand camo scheme and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. Better than I expected, to be honest. I unfortunately cracked the rear canopy glazing while polishing it, and also made a mess of the wing walkway decals (wrong location). I also neglected to add enough nose weight, so she's a tail-sitter, which I remedied by gluing the nosewheel to this small base with a drop of white PVA glue. 2. Italeri Macchi C.205 Veltro (1:72) Another gem of a kit, aside from some questionable fit around the nose cowling area, which required filler and shims to fix. Excellent decals as always with Italeri subjects, and this was my first attempt at mottling with an airbrush, which ended up a bit too subtle but looks nice in real life. I added a lot of detail to the cockpit, but of course it's all but invisible now. Lesson learned, hopefully. 3. Special Hobby Dassault Mirage F.1EQ (1:72) Very happy with this outstanding kit from Special Hobby. The only trouble was of my own doing: I lost one of the main gear doors and had to draw a new one in CAD and print it on my Anycubic Photon printer, which turned out virtually indistinguishable from the kit part. The joys of technology! The only after market items were CMK's Sycomor chaff pod and Remora jammer. 4. Hasegawa Saab J 35F Draken (1:72) Classic Hasegawa quality from their heyday in 72nd scale. I had always wanted to build something in this eye-catching Swedish blue/green scheme, and this was also my first attempt at cutting out a kit's flaps and lowering them. I had a surprisingly hard time getting things to look right after making the cuts, but I think the effect is nice. I designed and printed the Hughes Rb 26 missiles (not included in kit) and the small wheels on the bumper gear (kit parts devoured by the Carpet Monster 3000). 5. Hobbyboss SEPECAT Jaguar A (1:72) The less said about this one, the better. Not a bad kit in any way; it practically falls together out of the box, but the finished paint job doesn't look "right" to me. I built this one while recovering from surgery and that may be while I don't particularly like the end result. Oh well... Not pictured: 6. Sky-High Beech T-34C Turbo Mentor (1:72) Kit was damaged and awaiting repair.

I can't wait to see how this build unfolds!

Stunning paintjob on this! That big gap on the fuselage underside is no joke. You did a wonderful job getting a clean finish all around.

I would be very proud to have a model built to this standard in my cabinet! Excellent work all around on a fascinating subject!

Beautiful MiG, thank you for sharing!

Yes, a 50/50 Model Air mix of Chrome Silver and Gunmetal. I am now trying to figure out how to replicate the exhaust stains in this area. I may try out pastels and oils to avoid having to mask half the darn thing all over again. The fit of the wings on my kit was so good that I really regret having glued them on so early!

Thanks for the comments and interest! The Neptune is fresh out of the paint booth. The engine exhausts were painted with a 50/50 mix of chrome and gunmetal, and all of the light gray underside areas were repainted with USAF Light Gray. None of the the decal sets I have for this aircraft features the black walkways on the wings, fuselage and horizontal stabilizers, so I had to mask the lines out the old fashioned way. BTW, the surviving Neptune in the Argentine naval aviation museum does not have the lines painted on, but they are visible on the in-service photographs. The lines were shot with NATO Black and then darkened with thinned Tamiya Black. The mug of tea's just a reminder of the size of the 72nd scale Neptune... it BIG. The moment of truth... one of the most satisfying moments of this build. No touch ups needed! A true pre-Christmas miracle. I also painted the radar domes, including the big one up front, which required a difficult masking job but turned out quite nice. The tamiya fine-line tape was super helpful here in keeping everything tidy.

The mojo has been slowly ebbing away from my build, but I'm hanging in there... The nifty foot cage in the observer's compartment was a bit too big, and the thought of ordering more rod and waiting it to arrive, and then building another from scratch was really unappealing. So I cut down the original until it fit. It's inaccurate but then again, when my girlfriend takes her once a year look into the model display case, she wont notice the mistake on that funny looking green and blue "B-52" with propellers on it 😉 Earlier in the week I made the first big mistake: I added the wings in the primer stage without realizing how hard it would be to paint the engine area afterward. But I just wanted to get the damn wings on already and I could see the finish line drawing closer. Damn the torpedoes! Rattle can Tamiya primer and a quick test fit and on we go with the wings. This was also the moment I realized the Neptune is the biggest model I've ever built and it won't fit my Ikea display cabinet. I've been busy in the spray booth these past few days. I started with a black base and then added white marbling to simulate the faded look of these airplanes as they looked in 1982. I first painted the bottom using USAF Gray/Curtiss Gray + white from Vallejo (more on this later). After letting it dry for 72 hours, I masked the underside of the wings and fuselage with blue tac, Tamiya tape and de-tacked 3M tape. After much head scratching and going around in circles with the paint options, I decided to mix my own from Tamiya colors: Cockpit Green with some white/light gray added, and Sky Blue/Medium Blue + white for the top side, sprayed freehand while following various references. My phone camera and the lighting makes the shades look quite a bit darker, but when handling the model the result is quite nice. Painting the nacelle area was a royal pain and it was very difficult to move the airbrush without getting a lot of overspray. I think the smart move would have been to leave the wings off and add them later on once the paint is applied. After painting the top colors, I removed the masking on the bottom and to my horror, the Vallejo paint just peeled off at the slightest touch. I had detacked the tape as I usually do, but alas, the pictures don't quite do it justice. I'll have to re-mask and paint the entire bottom half of the fuselage again. And to think I was so content with the way the colors looked ... 😥 I took some fine grit sand paper and sanding sponges and slowly went about sanding the bottom paint to get rid of raised edges. This isn't the first time Vallejo paints have done this and I don't think I'll trust them again from now on. Mixing shades from Tamiya colors is a bit a chore sometimes, but at least I know the paint is foolproof, I won't get tip clogging and it won't strip off from mere evil looks. After going through more references, I believe I made a mistake when painting the nacelles. I think that the green color actually extended all the way towards the end of the nacelle, at least that's what I can make out from the pictures. That's it for tonight. It's back to the paint booth for me

Thank you, Martin. I have followed some of your builds and I believe you're selling yourself short mate! You guys don't see all the boneheaded mistakes I make....🙈

Thank you!

Thanks! You're exactly right. As soon as I saw it I knew I'd be in for a treat. I've worked with similar canopies and the past and always had problems with weak joints. Luckily the Neptune has a big overhead console with throttles, so I fashioned one from thick Evergeen to it and after adding it to the underside of the canopy, the joint is now rock solid.

After sealing up the fuselage and puttying the seams (mostly minor), it was time to finish the cockpit. The area was sprayed Vallejo Light Grey and all the delicate pieces slowly added. My new instrument panel was slightly bigger than the kit part, so I had to correct the bump behind the dash with styrene and putty. Once this was sanded smooth, I added some further detail to this area with thin strips of Tamiya tape fixed with super glue and some small plastic bits. I sanded down and puttied the small gap between the bulkhead and the roof, but it was a waste of time, seeing as how the canopy covers that gap almost perfectly. Oh well, you live and learn... The last pieces added to the cockpit before attaching the canopy were the seats, control columns and green hoses. I made the later by super gluing one end of a strand of stretched sprue and then wrapping it around some thin-gauge wire, and then gluing the opposite end. Once done, I then submerged the entire part in a glass of very hot water and... voila! Before attaching the canopy, I had to work on a pretty nasty seam between both clear pieces. I added some thin stretched sprue in the gap and then covered it with primer and sanded with wet 800 grit and then 1200 grit paper. The fit on the canopy was not bad for a 40+ year old kit. Tamiya putty and liquid primer took care of the troublesome parts. While the filler was drying, I realized I had made a mistake when painting the main gear wells. I noticed in reference photos that the green color had been overpainted with white, which was just lovely, considering it's such a tight fit in there. After some gnashing of teeth, I carefully masked the interior bits and painted the wing spar and sides of the bay white, as well as the inside of the oil cooler area. Once that paint work was done, it was time for the most stressful part of the build so far. I've noticed in all of the reference pictures that Argentina's Neptunes were almost always photographed with underwing pylons fitted. The kit does not include any, so I designed and printed a mostly accurate pylon after referencing workaround pictures and Asao Shirai's incredible P2V7 build on Hyperscale. My first dozen printed examples were horrible: poor detail, warping, and brittleness leading to cracking. I tweaked the print settings and got ten very good pylons. I then had to drill sixteen mounting holes in the wings and fit eight pylons, ensuring they were parallel and all angled correctly. If any of you need help doing this, I can recommend a digital caliper to get precise location data for your drilling. Even then, mistakes do happen, but once the pylon is fitted, any oversized holes can be filled with sprue and sanded down. I think the end result is OK, and I didn't have to spend $20 (the price of a decent used kit!) on aftermarket pylons. Now that I see the blown-up picture, I can see a few mistakes, but I avoided any horrible misalignment issues which was my main concern. I also drilled out a small light under each wing, which will receive a bulb and be filled with Crystal Clear after painting. That's all for now, thanks for your interest!

There's nothing quite like the feeling of peeling off the masking tape and seeing that perfect painted curve emerge... kudos on this wonderful project Moa

You've done an excellent job on this kit! Inspiring work mate

Many thanks! I was really surprised when I opened the kit box and saw the sheer size of this thing! A 1/48 Neptune would be a real showstopper. It's been a learning experience with the 3D printing and it certainly has its pros and cons. The results sure are nice in the hands of even a novice like me, and it's really helpful when you need multiple copies of a visible component, like seats or pylons, etc. But the time spent modeling the parts in CAD is time spent away from the actual model, so for a lot of tasks, I just stick to the good ol plastic (ie: all the interior parts, seats, consoles, etc.)

Thank you! They really did stuff the airframe to the gills and I agree about the long missions; the fatigue on a mission like that must have been simply enormous. The fit was surprisingly good, which is the first time I can say. My previous attempts at making bulkheads was quite frustrating, but I picked up some great tips here on BM.

Love the work you've done on that fuselage seam, I'm learning a lot just from following this thread!

Back with an update! I finally got around to adding all the interior pieces: The three systems operators seats, with belts made from Tamiya tape and wire buckles. The radome was filled with steel shot (60 grams) and glued with PVA glue. I added some leftover Milliput on top to ensure it stays put. Added cockpit detail pieces. The center console is overscale, but everything else fits into place, and it looks just fine through the thick canopy. If you don't tell anyone, I won't either! 😉 I added the rear observers' seats, sonobuoy storage, tubes, and the all important toilet, and cleaned up the seams in the entrance hatch area. And speaking of the entrance hatch, here is the hatch itself, painted and ready to be glued into place. The glazed nose compartment received its observer's seat, and other small details, as well as some small lead pieces right under the floor. I then focused on the nose observer's footrest cage thingy. The kit piece is too small and incomplete. I tried to design a piece in Fusion 360, but was frustrated with my limited skills, so I tried other methods. Music wire seemed like a good idea, until I realized it's harder to bend than kryptonite, so in the end I resorted to thin plastic rod, glued with CA and extra thin cement. In the pictures below, it is still missing a few bars, but it's now in the paint shop awaiting a coat of light gray. Added the roof glazing pieces, with some added reinforcement since I knew I would have to sand and polish the larger split window. The fit on this piece was not very good and required some fettling. The smaller dome fit well, but I lost it as soon as I closed the fuselage. I was able to rescue it with a toothpick topped with Bluetac, and from there was able to glue it back into place with Tamiya Extra Thin cement. Whew! Lastly, I went to work on the canopy, adding the overhead instrument cluster with throttles, lights and levers. I still have to add the internal framing for the retractable sunshades over the crew seats.

Great job on these! I especially like the Zero, I think the aotake color in the wheel wells is spot on! If the end result makes you happy, then that's a perfect model in my book. I had the same problem with the green turning a shade darker after gloss coating on a Japanese build. What I do now is lay down lighter coats of the color, keeping in mind the darkening effect after gloss + weathering. Hope that helps!

Beautiful scratchbuilding on that interior! You're really doing this wonderful design justice.

Thanks! I think you're right about the black... I think something like Tamiya NATO Black would be pretty close. The silver looking paint is actually a light gray. This link (http://arqueologiaaeronautica.blogspot.com/search/label/LOCKHEED P2V-7S Neptune – 2-P-112) shows a preserved example, but the colors are largely accurate. The gray looks almost white in sunlight.

Thank you, Martin! You're right about the nose wheel leg. I taped the major portions of the kit together and added the landing gear with blue tac and the stance is definitely off. I added a section of 5mm hollow styrene tube and reinforced the joint with a piece of brass wire. I hope it will hold up to the weight! Late last night, I painted the remaining interior bits in preparation for putting the fuselage halves together.

Thank you all for the comments and interest. I've moved on to painting and finishing the interior. I raided the spare decals box for the borders around the windows and the assorted instruments, which will hardly be seen after all. After receiving a coat of Future and some Tamiya enamel wash, it's ready to receive the nose weight and be sealed up forever. I turned my attention to the engine nacelles. Kudos to Hasegawa's mold maker(s) for their ingenious breakdown of this complicated section. Unfortunately, every single seam on my kit's nacelles required serious work. One of the nacelles had a sink mark, which I'm willing to forgive given the age of these molds! Even after fettling a lot of plastic away, I had to break out the Tamiya putty and dissolved primer. After filling and sanding all the seams, I rescribed the lost detail and added rivets where appropriate. After the nacelles were taken care off, I added the brutish radial engines and 3D printed oil coolers, which will be almost impossible to see (but I learned a skill while designing them, so I'll chalk that up as a positive). A look inside the painted wheel well, with pressure flasks (?), hoses, and oil coolers on reverse side, with cut out flap. The nacelles and their innards. After dry-fitting and making sure the gear retraction elements would all fit, I added the remaining parts and varnished/washed everything up. It's a tight fit, but it works. I then painted up the other part of the wheel wells and wing spar with Vallejo Green Zinc Chromate mixed with some Grauviolett. Lastly, I looked at pictures of the Neptune searchlight and decided to go for something a bit more realistic than the kit's puny bulb and reflector. I drew up and printed a quick bowl-shaped reflector and drilled out the kit's parts. Then I added some minor detail with sprue and plastic rod. I'll paint this up soon and then add the glazing. That's all for now, thanks!