Max Headroom Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 That looks superb. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Absolutely lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Only just seen this. Lovely build and the finish is great. She is going to be a stunner once finished... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks, mates! I'm thinking now about how to reduce the starkness of all that white. I may have a go at some judiciously applied Tamiya Smoke to tone it down a bit. Of course, I'm out of Tamiya Smoke at the moment, so Gunze Clear Grey will have to suffice. That, and some pastels, I think. Â Regarding the canopy, I agree that it has a much better shape than that on the Academy kit, which I have in my stash so it's easy to compare. It might be a wee bit too tall, but it fits quite well. Won't be too long before that goes on. Â Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH93 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Wow Bill, Just caught up and have to conclude that this a truly epic build Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blikkey Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Stunning !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) I`d always shied away from the old Revell Liberator as I`d thought that it looked a bit strange in some way,...however you have done a remarkable job on yours so far and I really love the colour scheme! I`ve been watching this one from the start and I`m very impressed, keep up the good work, Cheers Tony Edited January 21, 2014 by tonyot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Quick update - I mentioned earlier that the vertical tails were missing some characteristic panel lines that are quite obvious on every B-24. These are the radial lines that run around the round edges of the tail. I thought earlier about scribing them into the plastic but decided against it. I'm a terrible scriber. I have 47 cumulative inches of scars to prove it! (Well, OK, some of those scars are from my nine back surgeries. But I'm sure some of them came from scribing!) Instead, I decided I would use a pencil and just draw them on.  Using Tamiya tape as a straight edge, the vertical tail from the Academy kit as a guide (gee, never thought to check if they got it right!), and my trusty Pentel 0.3mm drafting pencil, I had a go at it. You can see a pure, unadulterated vertical tail in the background.   I think it will suffice. As usual, it looks better in person than it does in the photo. Well, that's it for now, time to go do the other three!  Cheers, Bill  PS. I'm also cheating by using the pencil to fix some of the "non-contiguous" panel lines. But only because I wanted to use the word non-contiguous in a sentence.  3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 That looks a lot better! I have to confess that, until you pointed it out, I had not noticed it myself. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 This really is a masterpiece! Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hi mates!  I spent some time today poking around the 4 x 1, mainly with some weathering and adding some fiddly bits. For the weathering, I used Gunze H95 Smoke Grey to add some additional post shading, and then I got out the pastel box and lightened some panels on top of the wings to simulate paint fading. I tried to go as easy as I could, as I usually overdo it when I weather a model. Plus, the photos show that these birds in Brazil weren't weathered very much.  Here are the wings and spine:    I added the radome and tail bumper (the post shading shows up better on the white for some reason  )    Underside of the port wing:   Weathering on the fuselage side, plus a look at the finished panel lines on the tails, added with pencil.   I used the main gear doors from the Eduard PE set, but it's devilishly hard to take a picture of them!   Yikes, I hate magnified shots like that! I like shots like this one:   That's better!  What else did I do today? Oh yeah, I painted the yellow tips on the props, so they're just about ready to go on. But first, I have to mask the canopy, paint it, and get it on the fuselage and blend it in. Then, the turrets have to be finished. I'll add the antenna on the bottom of the catwalk, and that should finish the underside. Then the turrets will go on, and the long antenna wires added. And I think that's it. I think...no doubt something else will come to mind. With this kit, it's important that I finish all the fiddly stuff on the bottom before we switch to the top.  Well, off to mask the canopy. Oh, joy! I'd rather do just about anything else!  Cheers, Bill  PS. The gun barrels and cooling jackets! I knew I'd think of something. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Fabulous job Bill really bringing this old kit to life and shows what can be done with some dedication and great modelling skills 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 It looks better and better! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 That is a great looking build. The weathering is spot on. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 She looks just magnificent.. Do you seal her after pastels and dust in any way??? Or is that it .....a touch later it and it's gone?? Winenut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Absolutely delicious Bill, loved your build every step of the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 wow it looks amazing, realy great. the ammo belts are awesome, the interrior, the undercarriage.. and nice job on the weathering. can i ask you, how are you doing the panels lightening with pastels? like dry grated pastels or mix with water? using proper colours or just white? i m sorry, i m using pastels and pigments only to make black/grey/brown dust/smoke, but dont know how i would do for example the blue so if it didnt bother you much to tell it here, shortly ll be ok thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 On 1/25/2014 at 21:29, martin hale said: It looks better and better! Martin  Well, I don't know about better, but it's sure getting older! This build is taking forever...  On 1/26/2014 at 07:02, Winenut said: She looks just magnificent.. Do you seal her after pastels and dust in any way??? Or is that it .....a touch later it and it's gone?? Winenut On 1/26/2014 at 09:08, Wolwe82 said: wow it looks amazing, realy great. the ammo belts are awesome, the interrior, the undercarriage.. and nice job on the weathering. can i ask you, how are you doing the panels lightening with pastels? like dry grated pastels or mix with water? using proper colours or just white? i m sorry, i m using pastels and pigments only to make black/grey/brown dust/smoke, but dont know how i would do for example the blue so if it didnt bother you much to tell it here, shortly ll be ok thanks  Thanks guys. Regarding the pastels - first, the paint must be matte finish. Pastels don't stick to gloss. For this effect I used a light gray (really!) pastel powder. My pastel chalks are solid sticks, so you need to use a razor blade to scrape the sides which gives you a pile of pastel powder. Using a small brush, I place some of the powder on the panel I want to lighten. When you place the powder on the panel, don't rub it in a lot. Just very lightly spread it around and then blow the remaining powder away.  At this point, I just take my finger (cheaper than those fancy Tamiya sponges) and gently rub the pastel that remains (and it doesn't have to be much) around the panel, first in the direction of airflow, and then in a circular fashion. The trick to this is simple...PRACTICE (preferably on another model first, one you don't care about)! If you use too much pastel powder you end up with a big spot of grey (or whatever color you're using). Since I rubbed it in, it won't disappear and doesn't need to be sealed as long as you're not handling the model a lot. This is a delicate technique. And I'm sure I'm doing it incorrectly. I know this because I never follow directions, just ask my wife!  So, one step forward, two steps back. After I had the canopy all masked and sprayed, I realized that Revell had been up to their "fictional framing" game again. Different than the nose, though, which had framing missing, the canopy had framing added. Arghhh. I really should have been paying better attention, but like a dummy I just blindly masked away without looking at my references. I forgot that whole measure twice, cut once thing.  Long story short, I stripped off the masking, removed all of the paint with mineral spirits, sanded off the frames that shouldn't be there, and set about micro-meshing. Then, at 2:00 AM, I re-masked and it's ready for paint. Live and learn - I won't make that mistake until until my next kit. Experience is what we call learning from our mistakes so we can recognize them when we make them again.  Cheers, Bill  PS. Aha! I knew I'd remember another thing I've forgotten about! The wing flaps! D'oh!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 looks brilliant. Amazing what some people can do with old "unbuildable" kits Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 nice, thanks bill for quick tutorial about the pastels for lightening up the panels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I'm loving this epic! Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 it looks beautiful Bill, I am still amazed at how something so old can be given new life....but there again the skills of the builder makes the difference! It really is wonderful to watch the progress, plus the memories it brings back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Great work as usual Bill, more so considering the age of the kit you're building Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Absolutely stunned by your work Bill!!! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Oh, bother. It was one of those days if you know what I mean. I had the canopy all masked and painted for the second time, when I again took a long look at it and said "no, that's just not right." It doesn't say PB4Y-1, or even B-24. Â So I went back to the books (you do know that all the photographs of the canopy framing are either taken from the ground or from directly above - there just aren't any good views) and made a new course of action. Â So, all the masking tape came off again. A quick swipe or two of the mineral spirits and the paint was removed, followed by a nice bath in Windex to remove all of the Future. Then some more sanding to remove the raised framing in the area where I want to make an adjustment, some frantic Micro-Meshing to polish it back up again, and finally a new Future dip. And that's where we are, letting the Future dry overnight. Â I hope this is the last time I mask and paint the canopy. Notice the circled area in this picture: Â Â You'll see the the frame that runs along the top of the side window is at a different angle than the frame at the top of the windscreen (the effect is exaggerated from this viewpoint). The way the framing was moulded on the kit, these two frames were essentially at the same angle. The result was the the center windscreen wasn't tall enough. I hope you can understand what I mean. A little change like this makes a big difference, in my opinion. Â We'll see what happens tomorrow! Â Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now