Jump to content

Iceberg and After


Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Thanks Cookie for that info, I confess that one has flown under my radar. A page here with links to some reviews on it show it to be a mixed bag as we've come to expect from Cyber-Hobby, the IPMS/USA review is fairly thorough & objective I thought. To someone of PC's  modelling prowess, it should be a walk in the park though compared to the Matchbox kit. :)

Steve.

I don't think it can be used, actually -- the Helldiver I has the other style of canopy, with little windows just abaft the front sliding hood.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

I guess it's possible for an aeroplane to have superior performance in important areas, but not be as beloved as its predecessor. I think I remember reading something similar about the Zero when it first entered service as it wasn't as nimble and fun to fly as the A5M.

Some of it is nostalgia for / memory of the first aircraft you flew.  My neighbour flew Sea Vixens and still swears that the FAW1 was “more fun” than the FAW2, but when pressed on why eventually concedes that the Mk.1 was prettier (which is definitely true) and “just that little bit more of a 20-year-old’s hot-rod”.   Similarly, many of the guys who taught me to fly the Sea King had been Wessex 3 pilots when young.  The Sea King was an infinitely better aircraft in almost every respect, but you’d still get the occasional “ah, the Wessex was a proper aircraft” - just the hint that only real men flew single engine night ASW...

 

Sorry; thread drift.  Helldiver.

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Procopius said:

Phwoaarrrrrr! Those stencils really do add something to the look.

 

17 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

Your Helldiver is progressing nicely - the little stencils definitely do add to it - and I guess you could almost assemble a Tamiya Corsair blindfold by now?

 

16 hours ago, Bungalow_Bill said:

Nice work with the stencils.  Monochrome schemes always look better interrupted.

 

14 hours ago, giemme said:

Agreed 100%! :clap: 

 

Thanks everybody, I managed to get the rest of the stencils on, except for the canopy rails and prop blades. I really do like the result and a the mild satisfaction of doing some 'proper' decaling. Pics soon.

 

17 hours ago, Procopius said:

I don't think it can be used, actually -- the Helldiver I has the other style of canopy, with little windows just abaft the front sliding hood.

Phooey. Matchbox it is!

 

16 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Some of it is nostalgia for / memory of the first aircraft you flew.  My neighbour flew Sea Vixens and still swears that the FAW1 was “more fun” than the FAW2, but when pressed on why eventually concedes that the Mk.1 was prettier (which is definitely true) and “just that little bit more of a 20-year-old’s hot-rod”.   Similarly, many of the guys who taught me to fly the Sea King had been Wessex 3 pilots when young.  The Sea King was an infinitely better aircraft in almost every respect, but you’d still get the occasional “ah, the Wessex was a proper aircraft” - just the hint that only real men flew single engine night ASW...

 

Sorry; thread drift.  Helldiver.

Please drift away! This is great stuff and I'm sure all of us would like to hear about actual pilots flying actual Sea Vixens, Wessexes, and Sea Kings as much or more than the goings ons with 1/72 versions.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Similarly, many of the guys who taught me to fly the Sea King had been Wessex 3 pilots when young.  The Sea King was an infinitely better aircraft in almost every respect, but you’d still get the occasional “ah, the Wessex was a proper aircraft” - just the hint that only real men flew single engine night ASW...

Well, I mean, just look at it; it's one of the most delightfully goofy-looking aircraft ever conceived, second only to the mighty Floh. 

 

 

4-EF304-42-PB29.jpg

 

 

  • Like 4
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steady progress there, Cookie - love all the stenciling :clap: The two F4 are also coming together properly - and I keep thinking of the 1/48 Tamiya F4-U1 I have in my stash ... :hmmm:

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your Helldiver is looking great Cookie,  I've a boxing of this on the way to do a VB-84 one, the white stencils against the gloss blue really do set it off well, something for me to look forward too :unsure: ( says I in resigned stencil hating tone. ) :)

Steve.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/16/2017 at 12:57 PM, giemme said:

Steady progress there, Cookie - love all the stenciling :clap: The two F4 are also coming together properly - and I keep thinking of the 1/48 Tamiya F4-U1 I have in my stash ... :hmmm:

The 1/48 Tamiya Corsair is supposed to be an all-time great kit (the 1/72 is a pale comparison). When you do build it, I'd encourage you to take advantage of the flaps down option (not available in 1/72) - the Corsair looks great parked with the flaps down. This is one of the main reasons I want Airfix to come out with a new tool 1/72 Corsair; if their recent releases are any indication, it would probably have foldable wings, flaps, gear up option and FAA wingtips and vents.

 

On 11/16/2017 at 3:23 PM, stevehnz said:

Your Helldiver is looking great Cookie,  I've a boxing of this on the way to do a VB-84 one, the white stencils against the gloss blue really do set it off well, something for me to look forward too :unsure: ( says I in resigned stencil hating tone. ) :)

You won't regret it, the kit has few, if any, vices (the difficulty with the PE flaps is my own inability - I'm sure they're on par with any other manufacturer's  PE parts). The VB-84 markings are iconic, and you may need to complete the CAG-84 set with an Avenger, Hellcat and Corsair! The stencils weren't so bad - this boxing has decals by Cartograph, and they lived up to their reputation.

 

On 11/16/2017 at 4:42 PM, CedB said:

Great work on the stencils Cookie - your poor eyes!

Nice progress from the temporary (hopefully) bench.

Thanks Ced, I have admit that there was a bit of eye strain involved!

 

On 11/16/2017 at 5:25 PM, Bedders said:

Great job on the stencils. Probably easier to see on the model than on the paper. And those Corsairs grow tastier by the day...

It's true Justin, I had to wait until they were on the model before I could see what they said.

 

On 11/16/2017 at 8:28 PM, Stew Dapple said:

At the risk of simply repeating everyone else, your Helldiver is looking really good, the stencil data has definitely made a difference.

 

Corsairs are coming along nicely too B)

Thanks Stew!

I haven't done much more with these except give a final gloss coat (Future knocked down with a few drops of Vallejo matt varnish) to the Helldiver. I also matt coated the walkway stripes and anti-glare patch ahead of the cockpit (which I also painted Non-Specular Sea blue). For some reason, my lungs have a terrible time with water based matt varnishes - even if I'm wearing a mask, and just brushing it on. It's so strange, I can spray lacquers and enamels til my heart's content (wearing a mask of course) and have no troubles at all. I used Vallejo matt varnish over the summer with no troubles at all, but my lungs are much more sensitive this time of year (even the asthma inhaler causes attacks - the doc says it's merely the particle size that does it)-  so maybe that's it. I don't mean to bore you good folks with this, but it's frustrating and any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I'm off tomorrow to Arizona to visit friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday - so updates will be spotty next week.

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

The 1/48 Tamiya Corsair is supposed to be an all-time great kit (the 1/72 is a pale comparison). When you do build it, I'd encourage you to take advantage of the flaps down option

The only other 1/48 Corsair I built was an Hasegawa F4-U4 of the French Navy (post WWII) and it had lowered flaps - very cool! :Tasty: As for the Tamiya boxing, I merely had a look at the sprues when I acquired it, and my mouth is still watering at what I saw!

Too many kits, too few time .... :(

 

Ciao

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well, back home and back at it - painted the prop tips yellow, and used the leftover in the airbrush cup to paint the fabric portions of the Corsairs. I painted the canopy rails a non-descript light green and then randomly applied it to portions of the airframes.

100_0827

 

Then I added some black to the canopy rails and "pre-shaded" a little.

100_0829

 

The main goal was to increase the opacity of the clear plastic canopy rails and to provide a black base to mask off the walkways on the wing.

I don't think my messy pre-shading will make a lick of difference to the final coat of Glossy Sea blue, but I couldn't resist another experiment. It's just as well, the black paint was spattering and spitting during the process, until I got it dialed in while practicing after doing the pre-shading. Probably should have done that the other way around! I painted a sign in the 'hangar' to remind myself to practice first next time.

100_0834

 

A bunch of props.

100_0832

 

Oooh, I should mention that all the airbrushing during this project has been with this guy.

100_0835

 

My regular airbrushes (an Iwata Revolution and Thayer & Chandler Omni both with 0.5 mm needles) are both packed away with everything else, and this was on sale. It's an Iwata HP-B Plus with a 0.2 mm needle - I was debating what to do as I didn't want another 'general purpose' airbrush and the price was right. I was really tempted by the Harder & Steenbeck Evolution 2-in-1, which probably would have been a wiser choice as I'm now stuck with a tiny nozzle, which is amazing for small work, but kind of a pain for larger stuff, like an overall Glossy Sea blue scheme.

 

Edit: I believe the paragraph above has set you up nicely for some double-E's Ced, I know you've been trying to quit though.

 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good progress Cookie B)

 

I recently bought an Iwata HP-BR for an almost suspiciously low price, I've hardly used it though, as I am just more comfortable with my old Badger 150 - that said I haven't had to do any freehand work or mottling yet (which is what I bought it for) so I will wait and see. Some practice before I start would probably serve me well too.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work Cookie - the new airbrush is certainly doing good things in your hands and, like Giorgio, I'm interested to see how the pre-shading comes out.

Thanks for the setup. As you say I'm trying to give up after some gentle kick back, but I can't resist a little titter :giggle:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/13/2017 at 7:52 PM, Procopius said:

Afraid not. They were used operationally over Sumatra during Operation COCKPIT (seventeen aircraft from 812 and 847 NAS on HMS Illustrious), but were replaced for Operation TRANSOM against Surabaya by Avengers from 832 and 845 NAS, owing to the Barracuda's short legs. The Barras were used again in Operation PEDAL against the Andamans. During Operation BANQUET against Padang, HMS Indomitable flew off 19 Barracudas from 815 and 817 NAS, and then also during the abortive Operation LIGHT A/B against northern Sumatra and the Nicobars. During this operation, recurring range issues with the Barracudas meant the Admiralty decided to dispense with them for operations in the Pacific with the Americans, and so Operation MILLET in October of 1944 was the type's last combat service with the Eastern Fleet prior to its passage into the Pacific. David Hobbs's book The British Pacific Fleet is a great reference, though  weakened by the fact that it uses no Japanese sources, archival or otherwise.

Not strictly true- post-cessation of hostilites, HMS Venerable used her barras against Japanese boats that were feared would launch a suicide attack on allied targets in Hong Kong harbour on 31 Aug and 1st September 1945.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, 85sqn said:

Not strictly true- post-cessation of hostilites, HMS Venerable used her barras against Japanese boats that were feared would launch a suicide attack on allied targets in Hong Kong harbour on 31 Aug and 1st September 1945.

Neat! I either didn't know that, or completely failed to recall it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/27/2017 at 10:01 PM, Stew Dapple said:

I recently bought an Iwata HP-BR for an almost suspiciously low price, I've hardly used it though, as I am just more comfortable with my old Badger 150 - that said I haven't had to do any freehand work or mottling yet (which is what I bought it for) so I will wait and see.

I'm curious to hear how the two airbrushes compare in your opinion Stew. I may have succumbed to a sale on an Iwata Eclipse. Well no 'may' about it, it arrived today! I knew that no water based acrylic would go through the HP-B Plus for more than a second or two without clogging, and the Eclipse was apparently designed with heavy acrylics in mind.

 

On 11/28/2017 at 12:54 AM, giemme said:

I'm curious to see what the yellow and green preshading does to the glossy sea blue :popcorn:

 

On 11/28/2017 at 1:54 AM, CedB said:

Nice work Cookie - the new airbrush is certainly doing good things in your hands and, like Giorgio, I'm interested to see how the pre-shading comes out.

Thanks for the setup. As you say I'm trying to give up after some gentle kick back, but I can't resist a little titter :giggle:

Giorgio and Ced, I don't think the pre-shading will make much difference, but the WWII version of Glossy Sea blue is known for its slightly green tint, and I thought that the yellow and green pre-shading may bring it out in different ways.

Excellent self-control Ced, you're a new man - I posit that a Spitfire flight could be a life changing experience!

 

2 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

Wow! You did ALL the stencils! I'm part way through and on the verge of knocking it on the head, I'll blame the stencilling guy's spray-gun packing in!

I don't think the stencils make much of a difference on a tri-color scheme like yours - the nicely feathered demarcation between the two blues that you've achieved is what catches the eye. For the single Glossy Sea blue scheme, the stencils provide about the only variation.

 

2 hours ago, HOUSTON said:

Absolutely EXEMPLARY. 

 

Fantastic workmanship..

Thank you Houston! :lol:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/28/2017 at 6:48 AM, 85sqn said:

Not strictly true- post-cessation of hostilites, HMS Venerable used her barras against Japanese boats that were feared would launch a suicide attack on allied targets in Hong Kong harbour on 31 Aug and 1st September 1945.

Perfect, I can include a Barracuda with a clean conscience - thank you 85sqn.

 

I think that the Academy Helldiver's main shortcoming is the landing gear: the gear legs attach to a small 'shelf' cantilevered out into the wheel bay. You can see it jutting out just behind the cannon in the pic below.

100_0836

 

It's a little precarious, and I manged to snap off the one on the other side. The only way I could think of attaching the gear leg and not having snap off again was to build a 'pedestal' out of sprue (no yogurt cup yet Giorgio!) for the platform to rest on.

100_0838

 

Here it is re-attached to the gear bay.

100_0839

 

Phew.

 

Gear on, bomb bay doors attached, and aileron joints painted blue.

100_0841

 

The beast on its feet.

100_0842

 

I used red poster paint to show the red interior portion of the dive breaks through the perforations. Just slathered some on (as seen on the right wing) and then wiped off as seen on the left.

100_0843

 

It shows up a lot more in the pics than in real life, I may need to tone it down a little with a grey wash or something.

 

Of course, the antenna post belongs right on top of the '15' on the nose. I had to carefully match it up with some white paint.

Also, reference pics often show a little chalking on the Non-specular Sea blue non-reflective patch in front of the windscreen, so I applied some pastel chalk there, and to the walkways.

100_0846

 

Antenna attached. It's Uschi 'standard' line, and the insulators were fitted afterwards - I tried to add them 'in line' at first, but that would require three hands.

100_0848

 

I think it's done, but suggestions welcome.

100_0856

 

On to the Corsairs!

  • Like 16
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...