Empires at Sunset (1/72 -Neu-/Procopius joint build)

[-Neu-]

Looking forward to your weathering Neu! Looks like its getting the full treatment... Fantastic.

Also I really like the idea of the comparison between the ac's the newer look and the used, I think it will make the two very visually interesting to see together.

Keep cracking the wip

Rob

Thank you! I really try to build aircraft that are representative of the conditions they operated in. The history means a lot for me, so building a 248th plane before it departed to New Guinea, or Major Kato's plane during one of his last flights (based on some grainy photos), is what I really enjoy.

Looking very nice indeed, -Neu-. I've heard Aqua Gloss stays tacky for a really long time -- yours settled down nicely, though?

Looking forward to the decals.

It does take awhile to fully set, that's for sure. there still is a light tack to it. However its just so much nicer going down.

The real question is how will it deal with decals. The big reason why I've stayed with Future for so long is that I like how it helps to hide carrier film. However I always find that it has dust and other minute particles in it, which mars the finish. ITs also difficult to get right... it takes me a lot of care and time to get a good coat down... I basically make a concoction with a drop of dishwater detergent and windex or another thinner. Aqua gloss seems to go down the way I want in the first go. However I don't know how it will do with decals, or whether if it will hide the carrier film well.

There was a very interesting article in The Aviation Historian (which I have only recently discovered; hugely recommended) about the technical / engineering challenge of powering / cooling / supercharging those beasts. Not simple, it seems.

No, but its not too surprising. The Wasp Major was originally designed for a conventional prop-> engine configuration, but it was often reversed to a pusher config, like with the B-36 Peacemaker. Moreover U.S. industry had a lot of issues with contra rotating props in general. I've seen aviation historian, and there are definitely some articles I'd like to read... but I can't justify buying more books.

[-Neu-]

Hey guys

A short update, I've been working on the salting, and it seems to have gone okay... Its a bit of a tough method with colour demarcations and markings. For starters, the black anti glare panels are the last thing I have to paint, and I'm not sure how I'l going to do them. That's because I'd like to have a small bit of chipping on it, but some of the salt straddles both sides... which makes masking neigh impossible. Also I don't know how much the identification lines or hinomarus would be subject to chipping. These are all decals, so they will require me to cut them up by hand.

Hopefully I'll be starting to put them on tonight, and maybe, just maybe, I might have this all done this weekend.

Thanks for looking!

[Cookenbacher]

The chipping looks great -Neu-.

[rob85]

What our learnard colleague above said... And seeing his p38 he should know.

Keep at it Neu they are looking cracking.

Rob

[Procopius]

-Neu- is really putting me to shame, but it's worth it to see him at work.

I haven't gotten much done lately, having just run out of Medium Sea Grey while working on a Spitfire XIX, so until that arrives, all I can do is twiddle my thumbs.

[CedB]

Coo, a dove!

Can't wait to see that chipping off -Neu-, oh the tension!

[rob85]

That bird really DOES like you doesn't it...

Rob

[Stew Dapple]

That bird really DOES like you doesn't it...

Rob

Perhaps Mrs P has trained it in precision defecation

Cheers,

Stew

[Procopius]

One of the amazing things I've learned since we got Beck is that apparently doves can be trained, but Mrs. P just likes to kiss and squeeze them, reducing them to an infantile state, like a survivor of a severe childhood trauma. Beck is apparently more or less potty-trained, unlike all the other birds.

[Stew Dapple]

...Beck is apparently more or less potty-trained, unlike all the other birds.

That's probably for the best, if he is going to make your head his regular perch, though I would hope for better than "more or less"

Cheers,

Stew

[-Neu-]

Thanks guys for all the encouragement. I really appreciate it.

-Neu- is really putting me to shame, but it's worth it to see him at work.

I haven't gotten much done lately, having just run out of Medium Sea Grey while working on a Spitfire XIX, so until that arrives, all I can do is twiddle my thumbs.

My chipping work: 3 likes. Birds on Proc's head: 5...I see what gets people going in here. I jest.

On training birds... what I never get is how carrier pigeons do their thing. Like how do they know how to get back to a location... even though they have never seen the path back.

Are you ordering model master paints, or something else?

Anyways, I didn't finish the planes, but I got a lot of work done this weekend. First off I got the anti-glare panels painted.

Pretty simple stuff.... I took off most of the salt in the areas, masked and sprayed. On the bottom right there is one of my new favourite tools. Its a japanese shears for cutting string, which are insanely sharp. I use them for cutting tape the right size... and they are fantastic for getting a straight, sharp cut... instead of laying it down on the cutting board and going from there.

So here it is with most of the salt taken off.

So tomorrow will be a lot of touchup and detail work. In a few places the alclad pulled up with the salt and I'm down to the base layer: I'll use a small dab of Mr Super Metallic to fix that. I'll also introduce some scratches and smaller lines to give it a more granular, realistic sense of chipping. For example the wings look a bit too splotchy: a bit of work will make it look a bit better.

I've basically followed a pattern that would have largely been made by two factors:

#1: general wear by crews walking over the aircraft: so wing surfaces, cockpit and engine panes.

#2: chipping from windblast on the leading edge surfaces, like the engine cowling, wings and horizontal stabilizers.

So tomorrow it should look a bit better.

I also got some decals on the -II, but I think I've encountered a problem. I carved out a landing light to the aircraft, which I used the burindo book on its position (or the aero detail, can't remember). Then I added the identification strip decal on the aircraft, which apparently has a cut out for the light... and its not in the right position. You can see it on the top wing on this photo.

I'm not too sure what I should do. I will probably go back to the refs and see which is right (probably hasegawa, even though I'm almost certain that I cut out the same place as their raised panel lines indicated a lamp existed). Given how far I am into construction, I might have to live with my original plan, and paint the un-decalled area.

Anyways, thanks for looking!

[06/24]

Liked for the progress, not the light problem, on which I shed no, well, you get the idea...

[-Neu-]

Liked for the progress, not the light problem, on which I shed no, well, you get the idea...

hah, pretty good. I went a family dinner last night where a brother in law was on fire with the puns. My father in law was talking about fishing rods and some issues he had -> brother in law got in with "that's not a real problem." Then one of the babies made a scatalogical mess on the carpet. Later my mother in law was asking the other boys who left at stool at the sink, he gets in with "well that's one stool problem you don't have to worry too much about." It was pretty funny at the time... but I guess you had to be there.

Oh and I was totally kidding about the likes. I was making a observation around about what people seem to find more interesting.

Edited June 15, 2015 by -Neu-

[rob85]

That bird did look funny on Mr p's head...

And the above puns made me laugh hard... The stool one got me most.

Again both the birds look like they are coming along brilliantly, but in such different ways! I am very interested to see what you do with the weathering on these.

Cheers

Rob

[Dorbeck]

-Neu- is really putting me to shame, but it's worth it to see him at work.

I haven't gotten much done lately, having just run out of Medium Sea Grey while working on a Spitfire XIX, so until that arrives, all I can do is twiddle my thumbs.

Oh my god... I get major flashbacks now... my parents had a tame lovebird which also liked sitting on my head. Well, it was more of a kind of Stuka attack when I entered their living room. And when I sat down, the bird liked to go asleep in my neck. If I did move, it bit my ear. Or if it heard another bird, it started screeching. No, that isn't that nice is it is lodged next to your ear.Mind you, the dutch name of lovebird is literally translated dwarfparrot. More appropiate, like mini-tyrannosaurus or something like that.

And nobody understands. Try to explain to friends about a bird which flies loose in your house and which lands on your head and sleeps in your neck. The response is always something in the line of: "aaww, how sweet!"

Procopius, I feel your pain.

Although you might feel different in some decades time... a fitting film might be "A Pigeon sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence" by Roy Andersson. ("You, the living" is also a great film by the way)

Birds are quite nice... stuffed.

oh, before I forget: nice work on the spits!

Edited June 22, 2015 by Dorbeck

[Dorbeck]

My chipping work: 3 likes. Birds on Proc's head: 5...I see what gets people going in here. I jest.

hi -Neu-.

Mr. P. getting more likes with a bird on his head than your chipping has nothing to do with your modelling. It all about the presentation!

If you just try this, I'm sure your work will get more likes than the pigeon. Hope the hayabusa's will stick to your head long enough. (Link because I don't own the rights to the picture.)

and joking aside: both your models look spot on. I think the chipping looks alright, having mostly seen pictures of well worn planes. Will be watching with interest how they turn out.

[-Neu-]

Hey all

Sorry for my absence. Work's been killing me, and I had deadline last week + other stuff which just killed my time. Also, there wasn't much in the way to show. I decalled, sealed, added some exhaust smoke, and did some more details on the -I. It really wasn't that much to show. I wasn't too happy with the inside of the canopy... as some dust got in there. Really annoying.

One thing I noticed is that Fujimi now also uses Cartograf decals. Very cool, as they went down really well.

So here is the -I yesterday:

With no flash

Much of the colour variation was using Gunze Chrome silver on top of the chipped areas, and some painted areas to give more variation. I also added a oil wash to create some darker areas as well.Anyway, last night I added the aerial. Basically stretched sprue:

So I need to do the landing gears for the -II. I thought I'd show the wheels being masked. Basically I take tape, and trace out the correct shape with my knife.

The other side, which I'll reuse the mask for.

And that's that for now. Oh I found some cool products from Gunze, which I'd like to show.

On the left, its a studded rubber eraser that helps with creating weathering as an alternative to salt chipping. On the right is thin strips of kabuki tape that are way better for making canopies than my usual method of cutting the strips myself. Maybe I'll use them both on my next model.

Thanks for looking.

hi -Neu-.

Mr. P. getting more likes with a bird on his head than your chipping has nothing to do with your modelling. It all about the presentation!
If you just try this, I'm sure your work will get more likes than the pigeon. Hope the hayabusa's will stick to your head long enough. (Link because I don't own the rights to the picture.)


and joking aside: both your models look spot on. I think the chipping looks alright, having mostly seen pictures of well worn planes. Will be watching with interest how they turn out.

Thanks Dorbeck. I'm happier with it now than I was before.... though the canopy issue is bothering me.

[Procopius]

That's looking mighty nice, -Neu-.

[rob85]

Stunning work neu, she looks nice and weathered! Love it

Rob

[Cookenbacher]

That's looking great -Neu-, the weathering especially.