SaminCam Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Things looking up. I borrowed a little water trap off an airbrush at work (and ordered one of my own) and it has worked like magic - no more sputtering and airbrushing has suddenly become a much more enjoyable experience. I'm pretty happy with the wings now and have started to add gloss black to the body. I'm planning to get everything nice and shiny with the same colour (polished Al), give it a gloss coat and then mask off panels and get some different tones of Al airbrushed on 👍 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Great to know that you've sorted out the airbrushing problems and been progressing. Model looking good Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 It's been a little while but have been making steady progress with the Celestial Queen. I've used Polished Al, Airframe Al and White Al to give some variation in the metal tones and it looks ok in the sun on the patio table. Next up I'm going to get the engines sorted and then finally glue on the wings. I'm looking forward to getting some decals on too! Thanks for looking! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Looks very nice! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Nice work on the nmf. Never done one yet myself. Also glad to hear you knacked your moisture problem. I have two traps off my pump but I still get spatters if I spray long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 Been busy with getting married (!) and heading off on honeymoon tomorrow so the Celestial Queen will head into it's 9 month of construction when I get back... Photo here shows where I've got to; I'm pretty much there with painting the fuselage and wings - still battling nmf and I'm just about ready to wave the white flag. I've probably made every mistake in the book along the way from condensation splattering from my airbrush, to finger prints, to masks attacking previous coats, etc, etc. Still, I think I'm getting better and at some point in the future will take on a smaller, "shiny" aircraft (F86 maybe?) and hopefully nail it. The main decals went on with no problems and I've turned attention to engines, props and undercarriage. Hopefully shouldn't take too much longer to get her up on her legs and finished when I get back, we'll see! Thanks for looking! 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Great progress and congratulations. Have fun on your honeymoon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Congrats, Sam. Have a great time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Congratulations!! Oh, and you're getting married now too..? Nice... All serious, good luck and have fun. Play often and love even more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Congratulations mate, and good work on the model, too Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Congrats and wishes for many happy years ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 The finish looks great. Have a good honeymoon (and marriage!). Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 The model is looking very impressive! All the best for your honeymoon and marriage! Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJJunis Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Excellent model of one of my favorites. All the best on the marriage and honeymoon! Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 Evening all, after a bit of a break (including an amazing honeymoon) I've got back to the b-29 in the last few days. First up I built the undercarriage and attached the wheel bay doors. The main part of the undercarriage fits pretty well and feels quite sturdy, however the rest of the mechanism, including the actuators for the doors is a bit of faff and needed a bit of snipping and tweaking to make fit. This was another occasion when I was glad the wings weren't attached to the fuselage so at least things were a bit less cumbersome. It's a hard to see in the photo below but there are some eduard etch bits and pieces which make the undercarriage more interesting. Also sorry for the horrible photos, the light and my camera phone wouldn't play ball this evening... I've then spent a bit of time painting and weathering the wheels. My approach was: prime with gloss black, spray tyres with matt black, mask tyres with masking kit and liquid mask, alclad hubs, gloss varnish, take off the masks, wash tyres with a thinned, white/brown oil mix and then clean most off just leaving the treads highlighted, black panel line wash on hubs, mask hubs, light dusting of rubber black on tyres to tone down the treads, matt varnish, unmask hubs and voila! Phew, wears me out thinking about it, took about 3 days with an hour or two a day - at least I'm quite happy with them! Did some metal work on the cowls as well with polished and airframe Al giving a nice bit of variation. Tonight I've glued the tyres on to the undercarriage (nose wheel as well) and tomorrow *hopefully*, after 10 months, I'm going to glue the wings to the fuselage and once that's thoroughly dried I'll find out if she's going to be a tail sitter or not! Thanks for looking, more to come soon! p.s. I'm not sure about the copper-y exhausts, I'll try to tone them down with an oil wash but might end up going back to silver/Al coloured - what do people think? Thanks! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Photos I've seen have them as oxidised metal, very matte, with a thin band of shinier metal at the tip Glad to hear that you had an awesome honeymoon. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 Aaaannnndddd…. ….wings and wheels are on and it's nose down - but only just! I'll probably put some tungsten shot in the cowls to make sure. @amblypygid the photo of the exhaust above is fantastic and gives a great effect to aim for - will see what I can do. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Looking absolutely great, Sam. It's always good when they stand up! The size must be impressive... Give us something to relate it to. Even a paint tin or a pencil... 👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 What a great build. I built one of these as teenager back in the 70's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 Hi all, have returned to the last few fiddly bits. Photo below shows the turrets and guns in various stages of assembly. The etched barrels definitely improve things though they are really tough to roll into cylinders and I ended up getting them half rolled and then wrapped around the kit plastic parts. These will get a few coats of paint and then they will be attached to the main model, along with bomb bay doors, engines and props. I think the end might nearly be in sight! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Really impressive work! The model looks beautiful with the decals and the gun barrels turned out very well! Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Nearly there! Got the turrets finished off last weekend and applied a bit of weathering with brown and black oil paints (the picture above was really helpful, thanks @amblypygid). I managed to pull my hamstring playing sport yesterday afternoon so not going far today and hoping I'll get the bomb bay doors, chin turret, side windows and props done this afternoon. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 That looks rather impressive. Oh look a at all this lead inside Half a tin can of airgun bullets? Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 @bbudde, thanks! Yep, borrowed a shotgun cartridge from father in law (!!!) with tungsten shot in and packed as much as I could into the hidden parts of the forward fuselage and engine nacelles. epoxy resin is good for holding the shot in place. She's pretty happy sitting on her front wheel now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Bomb bay doors and all the turrets on... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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