The Rib Man

Thank you all for making this such a fun group build. Lot's of interesting subjects and great builds. RM

Tamiya 1:48 scale P-38J SCAT II

It looks great. I think the P-38's look a little bit leggy in real life as well. Especially planes without bombs or fuel tanks. All of the prototype pictures seem to look a bit different. I suspect fuel load and armament make a difference in how they stand.

Almost done! I just need to resolve the missing machine gun barrel and decide if I want to mess around with the radio wires. I am pretty happy with how the bare metal look turned out in the end.

Just a few more bits to go, then on to decals.

Making some progress on the painting. It looks pretty good if you don't look too close. This was my first effort at a bare metal finish. I've definitely learned some lessons for the next time (keep the area much cleaner and free from dust, thin the paint some more, maybe don't airbrush outside when it is 3 degrees C, etc.) I was pretty happy with the Vallejo metallizer paints. I used aluminum, dark aluminum, and dull aluminum colors sprayed over their black base. Hopefully somewhere on my table I will find a broken machine gun barrel.

Finally an update. I just need to clean up a couple spots and install the canopy. I will airbrush on a black base coat and then on to the metal finish. I will be using Vallejo paints of various colors for the metal. Robin Olds? RM

Wow, that looks great!

Work continues on the 2 booms. One boom done, and I feel like I have already assembled half a Spitfire. The metal bearings give the booms some heft.

I have finished the work on the front of the main fuselage. I said I was going to build out of box, but couldn't pass on the Eduard aftermarket guns when I put in my paint order.

Having built a Tamiya P-38 kit before, the connection between the upper and lower main fuselage is the step I was most worried about getting right to minimize the amount of work required to prep for the bare metal finish later. There are a couple seams that will be very visible if not gotten right. Fingers crossed that things will look good when the clamps and tape come off.

Proceeding to install the cockpit: The engineering of every part of the Tamiya kit is exceptional. I like that they provide both weight for the nose and a very sturdy method for attaching the wings and wing booms.

I'm really looking forward to this one. It is a very interesting and unusual subject.

And so it begins I am planning to build this one out of the box with the exception of the aftermarket decals. The Tamiya cockpit is pretty great as-is. I added a few little wires on the side panel, but most of this will barely be visible anyway.

I can't wait to get started on this group build. I will enter with the new Tamiya P-38J kit with markings for Robin Olds' SCATT II. I am planning to do the bare metal scheme most likely without invasion stripes. RM

I have been eyeing this group build since it was announced thinking "if only Tamiya would release a P-38J, and I could find some Robin Olds decals." Little did I know that Tamiya WOULD release a P-38J AND I would find some Robin Olds decals. Looking forward to join with my first build since last summer with "SCAT II." Here is my last P-38 build "Miss Virginia." RM

I am planning to join with one of the new Eduard A6M zero's. RM

Academy 1:48 F-4c 8th TFS "Flamingo-1"

Calling it finished! This has been a really enjoyable group build, and happy to barely finish in time.

That looks amazing! Good work.

Those metal parts look great!

Lots of work since the last update. I added a panel line wash, decals, and matte finish. I made it through almost all the stencils before I gave up on that. I'm happy with how the decals turned out this time. I went with markings from the 8th TFW in which Robin Olds and W.D. Lafever shot down a Mig-21 in May, 1967. Call sign Flamingo-1. Lots of little bits left to go, but I am done with the fuel tanks, pylons, TER's, MER, and most of the canopy painting.

I do not claim to be an expert, but from what I have read the Air Force F-4's in SEA would sometimes fly with tanks on one outer pylon and ECM pods on the other. That is mentioned in Robin Olds' memoirs. I have also read that the Navy jets generally preferred to fly with only the 600 gallon centerline tank and no tanks on the outers when flying off carriers due to balance issues. You see a lot of pictures of F-4B's with centerline tanks and MER's on the outers or sometimes empty pylons. One nice thing about F-4's is if you look at enough photos you will find every configuration imaginable. And your model is looking awesome!

Charlie, For the cockpit detail I have been using the virtual cockpit tours from the National Museum of the USAF. https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil This one is special to me, because as a kid I was lucky enough to sit in their F-4 sit-in cockpit exhibit many, many times.

Stefan, Thank you for your comment. Your plane is looking good. I like the light green primer. I primed the plane this time with Mr Surfacer 1000 primer from a spray can. I don't have an allegiance to a particular brand of primer, but I usually use Tamiya or Mr. Surfacer depending on what is available at the local craft store. I let that dry for a few hours, then did a black panel line shading. I used an airbrush for all the painting. I painted the bottom color a day or two after the primer dried. The next day I started with the brown. The next day I masked the brown with masking traced onto 3M Scotch brand delicate surface painters tape (purple color). It is something I just buy in a big roll from a home improvement store. I have had great luck with the delicate surface tape and bad luck with the regular 3M painters tape (the blue color). I lined the masking with thin rolls of AK Interactive masking putty for airbrush to try to get a bit of a blurry edge. I then sprayed on the dark green color. I let that dry for about 8 hours. Then I applied additional masking over the dark green color and sprayed the forest green color. Then I almost immediately pulled off all the masking. Opinions vary widely on when to remove the masking, but I have had the best luck removing it right away with this paint. Finally I painted the metal color around the exhaust after the greens had dried for 24 hours. The whole process took about a week. To make the masking, I stick the tape onto waxed paper. Then I draw the shape onto the tape and cut it out with scissors. The nice thing is you can get the shapes of the camouflage exactly how you want them before you stick them on the plane.