Kansas Tornado II (Academy Razorback)

[amblypygid]

Hi all,

 

I really shouldn't be adding another model to the production line when there are so many already there, but I can't let a P-47 group build go by without trying to contribute something. However, between the other builds and the unfortunate timing (by far my busiest period at work starts now), I'm not going to stretch myself. So I've opted to buy a simple kit in the form of Academy's P-47D Razorback:

 

I've never built a Razorback before in any scale but I have recently built this kit's sibling via the Special Hobby P-47M boxing and found the build to be pretty painless, so I don't anticipate any difficulties with this. My preference is to build "Miss Behave" of the 355FG, but I can't find decals in 1/72, so I'm going for "Kansas Tornado II" using decals from Kagero:

 

 

Never done a NMF finish with invasion stripes before, could be interesting. I believe there's some uncertainty over the cowling colour, but I rather like the idea of a black or blue-black colour as shown in the Kagero profile, rather than the more blue finish sometimes seen. I hope I can do it justice!

 

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Chris

 Very good choice of subject I had built Kansas Tornado II with a Tamiy kit some years ago ..

Enjoy your build ..

Patrice

[Blitz23]

Nice choice Chris I've always liked this scheme!

[amblypygid]

Thanks, both. I think I might get to start on the internals this afternoon; since I'm currently masking up a Bf110 canopy, it'll come as a great relief!

 

Nice to see another Cambs modeller as well, Blitz. Patrice, I really must try a Tamiya Jug one day, they get so much praise.

[amblypygid]

Wow, does this kit come together fast! I think the etch and resin that came with the Special Hobby P-47M substantially extended the build. So quick in fact that I picked up another yesterday courtesy of Creative Models (well, I needed to add about £8 to my cart to get free postage, so it made sense). A cut price decal sheet from Kitsworld also acquired courtesy of ebay, so I might be extending my contribution to the group build...

 

The interior detail is very limited, but since very little is visible once closed up, I've put no more than the barest of efforts into painting the cockpit. I haven't even bothered with a photo as it's so unexciting. The engine is also bare bones, but again little will be visible behind the prop, so I've kept it to a simple metal base, black-brown wash, and a metal drybrush. Casing painted grey. You can also see that I drilled out the gun barrels, though I found it difficult to centre the bit (using my smallest bit).

 

And cowling on

 

 

Ready for primer! Not photographed, but I've painted the wells chromate green (Colourcoats); not sure if that's the correct colour but I have no chromate yellow.

[PlaStix]

Wow! Yes that is fast! Great progress. Hope the primer goes on well.

Kind regards,

Stix 

[TEMPESTMK5]

On 30/06/2018 at 12:01, amblypygid said:

Thanks, both. I think I might get to start on the internals this afternoon; since I'm currently masking up a Bf110 canopy, it'll come as a great relief!

 

Nice to see another Cambs modeller as well, Blitz. Patrice, I really must try a Tamiya Jug one day, they get so much praise.

Good morning Chris

 I know that in Europe the Tamiya kits are expensive I buy them in Hong Kong  ( Hobbyeasy ) or in Japan (HLJ) and I can assure you that you won't be disappointed ..

Cheers

Patrice

[amblypygid]

Thanks, both. I forget about sourcing kits from Japan, but I've put an order in for both the bubbletop and razorback. Since the latter's out of stock at the moment, I don't think they'll arrive in time for this GB, though.

 

Primer seems to have gone on nicely. This is Vallejo's gloss black primer, which I'm not yet totally used to spraying.

[Tbolt]

Nice work, you don't hang around do you?

[amblypygid]

Construction is very quick with just the base plastic. There can't be more than 30 parts in the main construction, and the engineering is very good, so not much in the way of filler or sanding required. With very basic (but hopefully effective given the scale and the lack of visibility inside the airframe) interior painting, it fair hums along. Unfortunately, that means it rapidly hits the bottleneck in my modelling, which is airbrush time (basically some weekends). 

 

Next step, then, is to hit it with a metallic base coat. That'll probably be this coming weekend; Vallejo Metal Color duraluminum should do it, but I've never sprayed it in the heat that we're likely to get. Not sure how that will affect it. Then I'll try using some chipping fluid before tackling the invasion stripes and cowling colour. I'll have to test the finish under varnish as the stripes will need masking and I can't see the metal colour holding up to that.

[Tbolt]

Are you aware that the gear legs need modifying? They are too long and make the aircraft sit at a very high angle.  When I made my last one I just cut some off the top of the legs, I can't remember how much though, think it was somewhere in the region 2.5mm to 3mm.

[amblypygid]

I had forgotten about that, thanks. Reckon I'm a way off dealing with the u/c, so I'll need to make a note on the instructions. 

 

Cheers,

Chris

[amblypygid]

Earlier than expected progress - woke up about 5.30 this morning which gave me enough time to spray some aluminum. Maybe another early morning and I'll have  the base coat done!

The extra good news is that most reviews say that Vallejo Metal Color is very resistant and so I will mask directly without risking a coat of varnish.

 

 

The angle makes that seam in front of the cockpit look worse than it is, though it still might need some work even with the anti-glare OD that will be painted over that area.

[CliffB]

It's a good idea to beat the heat with an early morning start.  I've been struggling with mottling recently and have decided to give up until things cool down - there are plenty of other things to be getting on with

 

Cliff

[PlaStix]

That looks great in it's primer and first coat of paint. The finish to that paint coat looks excellent.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Hewy]

A great looking razor back and no messing about, good job

Glynn 

[amblypygid]

Thanks, chaps. 

 

A surprising amount of masking tape has resulted in this:

 

And this:

 

I forgot to apply the chipping fluid before painting, though! So, plan B is to try out a silver paint pen that was an impromptu purchase last time I went to an art shop,

Next step is to get the black band on the vertical stabiliser painted, since I forgot about it this afternoon, and then tackle the dark blue cowling band.

 

Much happier with the seam on the top after some sanding and a coat of OD.

[amblypygid]

Hmm. I started applying decals last night; the US stars are coming from the Academy decal sheet. I knew that Academy decals have a generally bad reputation, but these are a problem. I think I might have to research some alternatives!

By contrast, the Kagero decals have behaved impeccably, other than a slight tendency to grab.

 

The summer sunshine isn't too flattering to the NMF, either!

 

 

 

Nice and crispy lawn here in parched Cambridgeshire...

[Tbolt]

You Jug's looking great.

 

Fantasy Print Shop do some nice insiginas and they also do a sheet with white backing for them, which is very helpful when decaling over invasion stripes.

 

http://www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk/USA-Stars-and-Bars_B223LJW.aspx

[amblypygid]

Thanks, Tbolt. I'd just hit buy now on some xtradecal. I'll paint over the black of the invasion stripe once I remove the dodgy decal. It was unrealistically optimistic to expect any decal to cover a black/white demarcation. But I'll file the existence of those backing decal sheets away for future projects, that's not something I've seen before.

[Tbolt]

Xtradecals are nice anyway and you can always put a second one over the top if needed.

[amblypygid]

Yeah, I've never had any problems with xtradecals, and there's plenty spare on that sheet. A bit more expensive than the Fantasy Print Shop sheet, though, and there were some interesting Wolfpack decals I spotted on their site.

[Valkyrie]

Even with the dodgy decals it’s looking great and super quick too

[amblypygid]

Thanks, Valkyrie,

 

For all their dodginess, they're sods to remove. I've scraped away the worst parts (losing some paint in the process, of course), and I've stopped there. I could take the risky but easier option of repainting the lost paint and then applying a new decal over the top - if I can position it correctly and it's the same size, then the Academy decal will act as a backstop. If not, I'm back to scraping and all I'll have lost is one of the Xtradecal generic decals.

[amblypygid]

The decal replacement proved more irritating than I'd expected, and I ended up so focussed on covering the old decal area that I failed to notice that the new wasn't quite correctly positioned. The fuselage vent then gave me problems and I now have a rather ragged, touched-up, edge to the decal there. Really frustrated but I can't bring myself to strip and try it all again!

The wheels are now on but after considering the surgery required to shorten them, including the gear doors, I left as is. Most of the detail paint is now done and we're heading towards completion. The prop is push-fitted but not fully painted (or decalled, though Academy don't appear to have bothered with providing prop decals: a blessing in disguise?), and the inner gear doors and main canopy need to be attached. Then some more weathering (all I've done thus far is some gentle chipping).