Mayan God

[Foxbat]

My entry for the group build will be the ICM P-51D (a, err, tribute to the Tamiya kit) in a Guatemalan scheme.

The kit:

If I can manage a decent NMF, it will be aircraft No. 315 in this scheme:

And if I can't, that will form the basis of a weathered version of this scheme:

First step is to investigate Vallejo equivalents to interior green. Converting from Gunze H58 to Model Colour gives German Bright Camo Green, but Golden Olive seems closer. I'll see what they look like in daylight before making a final choice.

Andy

Edited March 4, 2012 by Foxbat

[Antoine]

Hello Andy,

Nice choice.

Those Aztec decals sheets are marvelous.

I plan muself to build 315 for latter this year

[AnonymousDFB1]

Love the camo on that one

[Adam Maas]

Looks like a nice option, the art on 315 is rather unusual and interesting.

I'll warn you off the German Bright Camo Green, it's definitely too vivid for Interior Green. If you take a look in my build thread for the Hawk P-51D, I used the GBC Green.

[Foxbat]

Looks like a nice option, the art on 315 is rather unusual and interesting.

I'll warn you off the German Bright Camo Green, it's definitely too vivid for Interior Green. If you take a look in my build thread for the Hawk P-51D, I used the GBC Green.

Thanks for the info.

Went with Xtracrylix XA1117 interior green in the end as it claims to be the right shade and is readily available mail order. Should be able to dive in when I get home tomorrow.

[Foxbat]

Well, so much for diving in. After seeing some of the early builds here, I wasted two months and no small amount of energy wishing the ICM bits would magically transform into a 1:32 Tamiya Stang. Last weekend I realised that if I didn't get my finger out they wouldn't transform into anything. Fired with enthusiasm I wafted paint and glue in the general direction and came up with what I choose to call a cockpit:

I looked at adding seatbelts and doing some more detail painting on the instrument panel and sidewalls. Then I looked at how much can be seen when everything is buttoned up and thought "Naaaa...". So the pit went into the fuselage thusly:

Pleased with my progress, I threw the other fuselage half into action in a classic pincer movement, and that was most [1] of the cockpit surrounded and trapped forever:

Note the high-tech clamping solution, courtesy of our postie [2]

The obvious thing to do at this point would be to complete the major airframe assembly, then stop for a well earned cuppa and consider painting and finishing. So I stuck the wings on and started to experiment with brushing silver. I had a plethora of Vallejo Game colours close by, so I grabbed a handful and went for it. Gunmetal (as used n the engine panels and wheel bays/undercarriage) goes on really smoothly and gives a wonderful finish. Chainmail on the other hand dries as it is leaving the pot and goes on like silver artex. This is a bad thing [tm] as any fule kno. Plain old fashioned Silver goes on much better, though still not as well as the darker metals, but it has allowed me to get to here:

Hope to get construction just about done tonight, leaving next Saturday to finish paint and decaling. No pressure then.

Andy

[1] The seat unit has never been entirely convinced and jumped out again as I was taking the photos. Sanctions are in progress as we speak.

[2] We get lots of the standard pink ones too, but SWMBO has commandeered them for purposes too terrible to contemplate.

[Foxbat]

Well that's it from me. Given more time there's things I'd like to do and defintely some tidying up that could be done, but the alarm goes off in 6 hours, so I calling it a day. Couple of pix here, I'll stick some more in the gallery later.

Big thanks to mine hosts for hosting. I've had a hoot, learned loads and broken into a whole new genre of modelling.

Andy