Stew Dapple Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 1: Introduction/Justification For a long time now I have limited myself to building only aircraft from the mid-1930's to the early 1940's; partly because the colour and marking schemes interested me more, partly because that is the period of aviation and of the war than I find most interesting, and finally partly because time and money do not permit me to build models of every single aeroplane ever built and flown. I have noticed over the past year or so a change in my modelling habits, in that the construction of the kit has become as great a source of enjoyment to me as the painting and finishing and I think this has been largely due to the new releases by Airfix this year - I know that some of my forum-peers have had various issues with some of the kits and in particular the quality control (or perhaps lack of it) regarding the clear parts, but either I have been extremely fortunate or the majority of kits sold do not have these problems, in any event I have not had any cause for complaint. I recently found myself buying and building a couple of the new Beaufighters (even though I had made blood sacrifices to the Dark Lords to get a Mk.1 made and not a TFX) just because it looked like it would be a really nice, interesting kit to build, and it was. Around the same time I wandered even further from my usual areas of interest and got the Wildcat/Kate Dogfight Double set for the same reason, because the kits look interesting. Here's the box: ... here's what you get in it: ... instructions and transfers: 2: Mission Creep As usual rather than do any actual work and risk making a mess of it I'd rather get someone else to do it right. Not having any Pacific War colours in the paint stash - despite its embarrassing and ever-spreading bulk - I put an order in with Sovereign Hobbies for the relevant Colourcoats paints - n.b. do not use this picture as a guide to what the colours actually look like, they don't, the picture was taken under very bright lighting. In the instructions Airfix specify the Kate interior colour as '86' which is 'Light Olive' and is included in the little pots of paint that come with the set; however I was sceptical and ordered a set of AK Japanese Aircraft colours which includes one specifically named as Nakajima Interior Green: On opening up the box and shaking up the paint in question it reveals... ... actually a pretty close match to Humbrol 86 Light Olive. I regret nothing. Paint doesn't count as stash anyway. 3. Constructus Interruptus As the instructions start with the Wildcat, so did I. Here's the bits: I did some basic assembly, most of the parts just click together so I sprayed them assembled but unglued with US Interior Green: Then I read this... So Interior Green is probably not a good choice for a Midway-era Wildcat... fortunately Sovereign Hobbies do include both the Dull Dark Green and the Bronze Green 9 amongst their US colours so I put another order in and will have to do a respray when it arrives. On the plus side, slightly irritating though it is, at least I didn't read up on the colours just after I closed up the fuselage. 4. Displacement Activity In the meantime I have time to devote to painting the crews; here is the Wildcat pilot: I modified his footwear a bit by scraping off as much of the boot detail as I could; US Navy pilots wore shoes, boots being of questionable value on an aircraft carrier deck or if you are shot down into the sea. The rest of the painting was cobbled together from a google image search for USN pilots. Hopefully I'll start on the Japanese crewmen tomorrow. Cheers, Stew 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Steve, what a conundrum? Which colour to go with ? Looking forward to your choice. Got the Kate for the good lady, so will be interesting how she goes together. Simon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Good looking pilot, if slightly miffed looking. Perhaps he liked his boots. I bought these two kits recently, so shall follow this intently. Will you be doing the wing folds? Sean 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Wow, hard top believe your Wildcat pilot is 1/72, looks much more like 1/32. The goggles and the tie alone are a hit, how did you do this ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Hi Steve, BTW I checked to see what colour I used on my Hellcat I built. Interior Vallejo Model Colour 70923 Japan Uniform WW2. Simon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Nice choice Stew,looking forward to these builds,the Wildcat I,ve built so I know you,ll enjoy,the Kate I know nothing at all about so specially interested to see how she builds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Hi Steve, BTW I checked to see what colour I used on my Hellcat I built. Interior Vallejo Model Colour 70923 Japan Uniform WW2. Simon. Sorry Stew, brain was not fully into gear. Simon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Steve, what a conundrum? Which colour to go with ? Looking forward to your choice. Got the Kate for the good lady, so will be interesting how she goes together. Simon. Hi Simon, it's Stew mate, Steve's the other bloke - I think I'll wait to see how the paints look in the pots, but probably either would be better than the interior green - especially in a closed cockpit with the pilot in the way 70923 for the Hellcat? Isn't it a bit brown? Good looking pilot, if slightly miffed looking. Perhaps he liked his boots. I bought these two kits recently, so shall follow this intently. Will you be doing the wing folds? Sean Thanks Sean, I'd be a bit upset to trade a pair of iconic RAF flying boots for a pair of brown shoes too... I think the wing fold is a nice inclusion in both kits but personally I wouldn't ever build a kit that way (despite the obvious potential savings in shelf space). My original plan, which I hope I will stick to, is wheels-up on the display stand... but having seen how nice the Wildcat landing gear is I'm tempted to build both wheels-down... Wow, hard top believe your Wildcat pilot is 1/72, looks much more like 1/32. The goggles and the tie alone are a hit, how did you do this ? Thanks very much Martin, the tie was done with a 5/0 detail brush, quite short hairs and not many of them. I had to retouch the collar a bit where I went over the outlines. The goggles were completely painted in black for the rubber rims and then a little blob of the helmet colour added to each lens -this is much easier than trying to paint the goggle rims themselves. Finally a small blob of Micro Kristal Clear was added to each lens to make it look glassy. Hope that helps. I recommend good light, magnifiers of some type and steady hands too Steve - thanks, your Wildcat was part of the reason I bought this set - the Kate looks lovely, packed with detail, I think it will be an interesting build (well, the sort of build I find interesting anyway!) Cheers, Stew 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Maybe Stew, also the Hellcat was a later build. Simon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Maybe Stew, also the Hellcat was a later build. Simon. Yes, the later timeframe did occur to me as well - as I said all this is unknown territory for me but I don't know why I should be surprised to find that the interior of Pacific War aircraft could be as complicated as for European War aircraft Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 I'm curious about both of these kits and I'm sure many others are too, so you're doing a public service here Stew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Greggs Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Wow stew you are a machine, churning out models!!! I think you have an army of minions! ;) seriously, keep it up!!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 Thanks Cookie, my motivations are purely selfish I'm afraid but it's nice of you to find an altruistic angle on it Thanks Noah, yes I expect to beat last year's build total (in fact I might have done already) but that's mostly due to spending the first five months of this year unemployed (which has its downside of course but does leave a fair amount of time for modelling which I have been missing ever since) - also since joining BritMo my build rate has remained fairly consistent, because aside from the encouragement and feedback you get for your own builds sometimes reviews of kits, or other people's in-progress or finished builds can trigger an enthusiasm that you might have lacked otherwise. Cheers, Stew 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Looking forward to these builds. Keep going. Cheers, Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Looking good so far, Stew! Watch for one of the figures on the B5N. The one for the bombardiers position (I think) may have a badly moulded face, judging from my example and what I've seen online elsewhere. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Hi Stew, hope you don't mind another gawker coming along for the ride. I have both of these kits in my stash (although not as a dogfight double) and it will be interesting to follow your build. Since you've done such a nice job on the Wildcat pilot, will you be posing the canopy open? Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 Looking forward to these builds. Keep going. Cheers, Michael Thanks very much Michael, will do Looking good so far, Stew! Watch for one of the figures on the B5N. The one for the bombardiers position (I think) may have a badly moulded face, judging from my example and what I've seen online elsewhere. Mike. Thanks Mike - and you are right: An Imperial Japanese Naval Airman walks into a bar... and gets his face flattened - it was an iron bar* I don't think it is so much a case of mould damage as either an incorrectly made mould or else a foreign object lodged in it preventing the proper flow of plastic... it does appear to be widespread too, in any case it is not pretty but being a resourceful sort of a cove I used a replacement head - see below... Hi Stew, hope you don't mind another gawker coming along for the ride. I have both of these kits in my stash (although not as a dogfight double) and it will be interesting to follow your build. Since you've done such a nice job on the Wildcat pilot, will you be posing the canopy open? Cheers, Bill Bill I would be honoured by your presence; I am not surprised that a man of evident taste such as yourself would have these kits in the stash. The canopy question does illustrate my dilemma: to build it as a Dogfight Double where, realistically only the Kate's gunner would have his canopy open... or to scrub that idea and build them both wheels-down and with 'all the windows open'? It's difficult, I really want to do both, I'll have to mull it over but I am open to suggestions. So I replaced Mr. Frying-Pan Face's head with that of a sunken-chested Defiant gunner who was actually the same figure. I took the opportunity to reposition his head slightly to differentiate him a bit from the other crewman: ... still needs a bit of a tidy here. Most of the differences in equipment between the RAF figures these originally represented and the IJNAF crewmen they are supposed to represent can be taken care of with a little research and a bit of deft paintwork, but I used some Citadel Liquid Green Stuff to paint on the distinctive rabbit-fur collars on the flight suits and to attempt to make the gloves look a bit more like the standard-issue gauntlets: ... and then I painted them: It's not my place to judge an alien culture from a previous time by my own criteria but I do find it interesting that of all the combatant nations only the Japanese seem not to have gone for high-visibility lifejackets; perhaps because if you were shot down and lost your aircraft the Emperor was very angry and you did not deserve to be rescued, or perhaps the Bushido code held that it is cowardly to want to be rescued if you are shot down and shamed... but then why give you a lifejacket in the first place? Anyway hopefully the Colourcoats paints will arrive today - when I shall be at work of course - but if they follow the pattern of last time the postman will leave them at the nearest post office and I can pick them up tomorrow... in which case I can resume working on the Wildcat. Cheers, Stew * with apologies to Tommy Cooper 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Greggs Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 It's difficult, I really want to do both, I'll have to mull it over but I am open to suggestions. Buy two!!! ;) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Neither type particularly appeals to me (although I do have a habit of buying models simply because they're 'nice' kits), but your figure work... outstanding. Do you do commissions? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Have to agree: absolutely awesome figure painting in 1/72. I wouldn't have been able to achieve that even with a 15-year-old's eyes. You weren't thinking of burying them inside your aircraft, were you? What a waste! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Great looking figures! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 2: Mission Creep As usual rather than do any actual work and risk making a mess of it I'd rather get someone else to do it right. Not having any Pacific War colours in the paint stash - despite its embarrassing and ever-spreading bulk - I put an order in with Sovereign Hobbies for the relevant Colourcoats paints - n.b. do not use this picture as a guide to what the colours actually look like, they don't, the picture was taken under very bright lighting. In the instructions Airfix specify the Kate interior colour as '86' which is 'Light Olive' and is included in the little pots of paint that come with the set; however I was sceptical and ordered a set of AK Japanese Aircraft colours which includes one specifically named as Nakajima Interior Green: On opening up the box and shaking up the paint in question it reveals... ... actually a pretty close match to Humbrol 86 Light Olive. I regret nothing. Paint doesn't count as stash anyway. Cheers, Stew Funnily enough I advised Airfix on the interior colour - it had to be the closest Humbrol paint - and I provided the original paint swatches for the AK set! The IJN aircraft carried high visibility dinghies - either yellow and orange or red and white. Some aircraft also carried orange yellow inflatable lifebelts. Aircrew were rescued from the sea wherever possible, including those who had been shot down. Very nice paintwork on the crew. Nick 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Stew you really must have a crack at some larger figure,s there,s definitely a talent there,superb painting on these little chaps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin56 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) The crew are as always beautifully painted. great work Stew Edited November 2, 2015 by Gremlin56 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 It's difficult, I really want to do both, I'll have to mull it over but I am open to suggestions. Buy two!!! ;) Jings young man! You might just be onto something there... Neither type particularly appeals to me (although I do have a habit of buying models simply because they're 'nice' kits), but your figure work... outstanding. Do you do commissions? Rob, it was the same with me, the kits looked so... enticing... what could I do? Thanks for that, but I couldn't do commissions because you need the discipline and business nous as well as the painting ability - JimHead23 of this very forum actually makes a living doing it and really it just sounds like too much stress to me, but then laziness is my religion. Have to agree: absolutely awesome figure painting in 1/72. I wouldn't have been able to achieve that even with a 15-year-old's eyes. You weren't thinking of burying them inside your aircraft, were you? What a waste! Thanks mate, I do use a pair of 3.5 mag reading glasses for this sort of thing, it really does make a difference when you can see what you are doing. I don't know what I am going to do about displaying the kits/pilots yet *sobs* Great looking figures! Thanks very much Martin Funnily enough I advised Airfix on the interior colour - it had to be the closest Humbrol paint - and I provided the original paint swatches for the AK set! The IJN aircraft carried high visibility dinghies - either yellow and orange or red and white. Some aircraft also carried orange yellow inflatable lifebelts. Aircrew were rescued from the sea wherever possible, including those who had been shot down. Very nice paintwork on the crew. Nick Thanks Nick, and thanks for confirmation on the colours and for the info - I thought it was odd to have such dull coloured life preservers but combined with brightly coloured rafts it makes more sense. I forgot you were credited in the Kate instructions, I would have been a bit more confident in the colour call-outs if I had remembered. Stew you really must have a crack at some larger figure,s there,s definitely a talent there,superb painting on these little chaps. Thanks Steve - PM sent ;D The crew are as always beautifully painted. great work Stew Thanks very much Julian Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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