Gentlemen, you have a race! - Finished

[uncletommy]

I’m sure everyone who enjoys aviation is familiar with the name R. A. “Bob” Hoover.  I’ve been fortunate enough to see him fly at numerous airshows over the years.  His Rockwell Shrike Commander routine is probably one of the best know aerobatic shows of all time.  Over the years, Hoover also had two P-51’s he flew.  His original one was N2251D which was destroyed in ground accident when an oxygen bottle exploded.  North American Rockwell purchased his second P-51 and he named it “Ole Yeller”.  This second P-51 has worn several liveries of the course of the years.  Most people are probably familiar with it either in the Rockwell livery like @azureglo showed with his shelf picture, or with race number 47 as it now has in it’s current home at the Legacy Flight Museum.  But for a time, N51RH carried another livery.  One that you don’t see very often.  This other livery will be the subject of my entry to this group build.  Here's what I’m shooting for:

 

 

This is the Evergreen International Aviation, Inc. livery that N51RH used for a time.  I’ve had the Red Pegasus decals for several years now and had always wanted to do Ole Yeller in this livery.  Never got around to it until this group build came along.  I thought that would give me a good excuse to use the decals and would also light my fire to get back into modeling after a very long absence.  Unfortunately, Red Pegasus decals are no longer available due to the death of the owner Keith Davidson.  I hope I can do this build justice.  We’ll see.

 

Wish me luck!  

[uncletommy]

I'm afraid I've been somewhat remiss in photographing my progress.  However, I'll post what I do have so you can see where I am at this point in time.  I'll forgo the various failed attempts and broken control sticks that have occurred along the way.  Suffice to say that since this has been a reentry to modeling exercise, two additional kits have given up their lives with various parts (including the problematic control columns).  The good news there is that now my extra parts stash has enough P-51 pieces to build an F-82.  

 

In any case, I'll start with the requisite basic kit picture:

 

 

From that I managed to get some parts primed which yielded the following:

 

 

Note the cockpit floor in the above with it's lack of radios and/or fuel tank.  Since N51RH is a Cavalier conversion, instead of those things. it gets a second seat so that the GIB (guy in back) will have somewhere to park his fanny.  That also explains the two seats in the lower right hand corner of the picture.

 

Confession time.  At this point in the build, I got so involved in getting little bitty things like filling, sanding, etc. that I failed to photograph anything along the way.  Some of the delay was that I had used Perfect Plastic Putty to fill the wing panel seams.  In retrospect, I wish I had used something like Bondo spot putty.  Since PPP is water soluble, trying to wet sand the seams resulted in losing some of the putty so it's been a battle trying to get them smooth enough to satisfy me.  Live and learn.  I like PPP and it has it's place but not for this type of thing.

 

The next thing I remembered to use my camera on are these:

 

 

and

 

 

I originally planned to use Tamiya XF-3 for the yellow followed by a coat of Future/Pledge for a clear gloss but after getting the yellow on, I thought the Tamiya a bit too lemony (is that a word?).  Of course that could be my old eyes.  I'm also somewhat shade blind so trying to match paint can be an exercise in frustration.  In any case, I felt the Tamiya was just a bit wrong.  In an attempt to correct that issue, I decided to try Mission Models yellow and overspray the whole thing.  Wish I had used this Mission Models paint from the start.  I love this stuff! It even forgives my airbrush ham handedness when I get too much paint in one place and spider webs somewhere else.  Just leave it alone, let it dry, and these little boo boo's just seem to disappear of their own accord.   Did I mention that Mission Models paint is now my new best friend?

 

So, that's where I am right now.  I'll be clear coating today so that in the coming week, I hope to be able to get this on:

 

 

Stay tuned.  More to come.  

[azureglo]

Interesting choice for yellow, you got one of Keith's good decals prior to his illness, BTW there a whole build and RFI thread on my Ol' Yeller here. What are you doing for the prop, it needs an uncuffed one?  I mentioned in my original thread that there was a movie being made back in 2015 about Bob, its on Amazon now, well worth a look for anyone interested in the "the greatest stick and rudder man who ever lived"

 

 

 

[uncletommy]

29 minutes ago, azureglo said:

Interesting choice for yellow

 

 

 

I know... I went with what I had available.  Also, since I'm shade blind to some degree or the other, I make no representations about it's accuracy or lack thereof.  I'm just lucky I didn't make it red and call it a day.  

29 minutes ago, azureglo said:

there a whole build and RFI thread on my Ol' Yeller here.

 

 

 

Oh, thanks!  I'll check it out.  

29 minutes ago, azureglo said:

What are you doing for the prop, it needs an uncuffed one?

 

 

 

Stole the uncuffed one and the longer spinner out of an F-51 kit I managed to get my grubby little mitts on.  

29 minutes ago, azureglo said:

I mentioned in my original thread that there was a movie being made back in 2015 about Bob, its on Amazon now, well worth a look for anyone interested in the "the greatest stick and rudder man who ever lived"

 

 

 

What a delightful coincidence.  I've just joined Amazon Prime so I'll get to see it for free!  Thanks for letting me know.  

Edited September 9, 2018 by uncletommy

[FortyEighter]

Your yellow finish looks good - interesting that you seem to be a recent convert to Mission Models paint, I was just looking at their advert in the Airfix magazine and thinking "that might be worth a try"

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

[uncletommy]

2 minutes ago, FortyEighter said:

"that might be worth a try"

 

Oh it is!  I'm having to fight myself just not to throw all my other paints in the trash and just start over with the Mission Models stuff.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Happy you decided to post this Tommy. I had the pleasure of seeing Bob hoover perform his Commander Routine at Oshkosh once. I am still of the opinion that was probably the best flying I've ever seen in my life. 

[uncletommy]

15 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Happy you decided to post this Tommy. I had the pleasure of seeing Bob hoover perform his Commander Routine at Oshkosh once. I am still of the opinion that was probably the best flying I've ever seen in my life. 

Thanks Dennis!

 

I saw him a couple of times and agree with you completely.  I don’t think there’s ever been a finer pilot or a nicer gentleman.

[uncletommy]

Well... that was almost a disaster!  

 

Late yesterday, I was doing a few chores on Ole Yeller at the workbench.  Needed a little CA on something.  The way I use CA is to put a few drops into a beer bottle cap and then dip my Glue Looper into the little puddle and use it to dispense just the tiniest amounts of CA wherever I need it.  At least that's how it's supposed to work.

 

So, got the CA bottle open and when I turned it over to dispense into the beer bottle cap, the whole top of the CA bottle came off and dispensed a small lake onto my work surface!  Horrors!  I thought sure I was doomed and going to have a nice yellow P-51 more or less permanently glued to my work surface.  So, I started picking the various airplane bits up one by one just waiting to see which one wanted to pick up the work surface too.  As I think about this today, I'm still amazed.  The CA didn't get on any part of the aircraft at all.  Nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  I was stunned.

 

So, I got all the pieces of Ole Yeller off the work surface and then had to face the daunting task of how to get this CA lake off.  Evidently, I was living right yesterday. As luck would have it, at the time this happened, I was working on a piece of glass that I normally use when doing decaling.  I had been too lazy to move the glass off my work bench when I sat down to do those little tasks I had planned.  So, since the CA lake was on the surface of the glass, I hit the lake with some accelerator and then used a razor paint scraper to scrape the whole solidified blob off the glass.  Easy peasy.  Like it never even happened.

 

I'd much rather be lucky than good!  

Edited September 10, 2018 by uncletommy

[uncletommy]

Still plugging away at this.  Masking and trying to get the front portion of the canopy painted has been giving me fits.  So far, I think I've stripped the silly thing about six times.  I'm told persistence is a virtue.  At this rate, I should be quite virtuous.  In any event, I shall persevere and hopefully will have something done by tomorrow.  This bit is the only thing that's holding me up at this point.  Sigh... 

Edited September 16, 2018 by uncletommy

[azureglo]

On 9/16/2018 at 8:31 PM, uncletommy said:

Still plugging away at this.  Masking and trying to get the front portion of the canopy painted has been giving me fits.  So far, I think I've stripped the silly thing about six times.  I'm told persistence is a virtue.  At this rate, I should be quite virtuous.  In any event, I shall persevere and hopefully will have something done by tomorrow.  This bit is the only thing that's holding me up at this point.  Sigh... 

One of the joys of owning ones own cutter, my Eduard masks were dubious especially the sides of windscreen, I knocked out resized ones in 20 minute then my beloved Mr Hobby colour decided it would like a day to dry not the usual 20 minutes...I'm struggling as well for the deadline as well and we've got "interesting" decals, take care with Red Pegasus decals , they're ALPS of course but some were clear coated and some weren't...

[Col.]

Cracking choice of scheme, being executed well, with a bit of drama thrown in for good measure. What a thread!  

Such a pity the decals are no longer available as I'd love to have a go at that machine as well.

[uncletommy]

On 9/18/2018 at 3:20 PM, azureglo said:

they're ALPS of course but some were clear coated and some weren't...

Mine have been well and truly clear coated with a shot or two of gloss lacquer.  I learned that lesson long ago while making my own inkjet decals.  Suffice it to say that my learning experience there was truly ugly.  To see the beautiful decal I had created gently run down the side of the model in little rivulets made me a believer in clear decal coating.

 

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Cracking choice of scheme, being executed well, with a bit of drama thrown in for good measure. What a thread!  

Such a pity the decals are no longer available as I'd love to have a go at that machine as well.

Thanks for that.  Yes.  It's too bad.  I notice Draw Decal has some of the other "Ole Yeller" liveries like the Rockwell one and the current race number 47.  Don't know how good they are compared to the old Red Pegasus (maybe the same since Draw does print on demand).  In any case, it's a shame they don't also have the Evergreen livery.

 

 

 

Well, some progress.  I think.  I've discovered the joys of Parafilm!  

 

Took more tries than I care to count but I think I've got something passable now.  I'm not terribly happy with the way it's come out but it will have to do I think.  I'll call it a learning experience and chalk it up to my amateur ham handedness.  

 

This is such a neat kit, I may build another just to see if I can get the masking perfect enough to satisfy me.  Not an easy task but with what I've learned on this one, I'm certain I can do better.  Course, if I were to do another one of these, I'd have to steal the prop off this one unless I can come up with another Airfix 1:72 F-51 kits (or 2, or 3, or...).  I wonder if Airfix still has the uncuffed propellor sprue from the F-51 kit still available?

 

There's a remote chance that I may get this thing done before the deadline.  If I can just quit fiddling with it.  Anyway, here's how far I've gotten:

 

 

 

There may be hope yet!  

[Hockeyboy76]

Loving the yellow. Which one did you use?

[uncletommy]

21 hours ago, Hockeyboy76 said:

Loving the yellow. Which one did you use?

It actually started as a coat of Tamiya XF-3 over Stynylrez white primer.  I had figured I'd overcoat with a gloss clear.  But the Tamiya just didn't look right to me so I shot a coat of  Mission Models yellow over what I already had.  I think it looks better.  It'll still get gloss for decaling and then a final gloss coat over that.

 

This was my first use of Mission Models paint and I'm now a convert.  It's great stuff.

Edited September 21, 2018 by uncletommy
Maybe I'm a covert convert.

[azureglo]

On 9/20/2018 at 2:53 PM, uncletommy said:

.  I notice Draw Decal has some of the other "Ole Yeller" liveries like the Rockwell one and the current race number 47.  Don't know how good they are compared to the old Red Pegasus (maybe the same since Draw does print on demand).  In any case, it's a shame they don't also have the Evergreen livery.

 

 

 

Drawdecal uses a totally different system to an Alps, I'm guessing its Roland Versaprint that is quite soft and and the decal sits as a visible layer on the carrier when you get them. To get them to work you use the standard solutions to soften/hide the decal film under the decal but need seriously hot paper towels to make the decal conform. They worked fine on my my Ol Yeller build and look painted on, the thickness seems to magically disappear if you use enough hot water, and I mean hot

 

I also use Peddinghaus decals and they are identical in their look and behavior and state that they use a Versaprint.

 

Overall the Drawdecals work really well and their beautiful solid colours outweigh any sharpness-  the naked eye wouldn't see the difference only a macro lens. Seeing as you get cheap local; USPS, give 'em a try, plus Greg is a really nice to do business with!

 

Lastly keep going, all these camo warplanes need something to show them what pretty pony really looks like!

[uncletommy]

 

17 hours ago, azureglo said:

Drawdecal uses a totally different system to an Alps, I'm guessing its Roland Versaprint that is quite soft and and the decal sits as a visible layer on the carrier when you get them. To get them to work you use the standard solutions to soften/hide the decal film under the decal but need seriously hot paper towels to make the decal conform. They worked fine on my my Ol Yeller build and look painted on, the thickness seems to magically disappear if you use enough hot water, and I mean hot

 

I also use Peddinghaus decals and they are identical in their look and behavior and state that they use a Versaprint.

 

Overall the Drawdecals work really well and their beautiful sold colours outweigh any sharpness-  the naked eye wouldn't see the differnce only a macro lens. Seeing as you get cheap local; USPS, give 'em a try, plus Greg is a really nice to do business with!

 

Lastly keep going, all these camo warplanes need something to show them what pretty pony really looks like!

Thanks for the info on Drawdecal.  Your post is quite timely considering I'm currently waiting for seven sets of decals from them to arrive.  Six of those are all for "go fast" ponies and the other one is for the Smirnoff Bearcat.  I'll check out the  Peddinghaus ones too.

 

The way I figure it is, what the heck, why be normal?  Everybody does WW deuce birds.  It takes a special brand of nutcase to want to do ones that go fast and turn left.  

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by uncletommy

[uncletommy]

Time grows short.  I better hustle.  Clear coat is on and cured.  Today is decaling day.  Hopefully they’ll cooperate.  We’ll see.  That will leave tomorrow morning to get a clear coat on over them.  And then... fini.

 

Time to get my boogie on!  

Edited September 24, 2018 by uncletommy

[Col.]

Best of good luck but please don't rush if there's a risk of spoiling this one as it is looking great so far.

[azureglo]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:54 PM, uncletommy said:

 

Thanks for the info on Drawdecal.  Your post is quite timely considering I'm currently waiting for seven sets of decals from them to arrive.  Six of those are all for "go fast" ponies and the other one is for the Smirnoff Bearcat.  I'll check out the  Peddinghaus ones too.

 

The way I figure it is, what the heck, why be normal?  Everybody does WW deuce birds.  It takes a special brand of nutcase to want to do ones that go fast and turn left.  

 

I kind of have a fondness for Drawdecal  as they actually feature my build on their site, BTW I did a little bit more than just take a picture of a model on a shelf as you suggested in your original post...if anyone's interested here's a link to the Drawdecals site about my build here , 😉

[uncletommy]

13 hours ago, Col. said:

Best of good luck but please don't rush if there's a risk of spoiling this one as it is looking great so far.

Thanks @Col.  I don't think I'll have a problem getting it done without rushing.  I only have 2 or 3 minor things left to do and then it's picture time.  I'll post here first before I update the gallery.  Stay tuned to this station for further updates.

 

This is of course assuming I don't spill and entire bottle of CA at the last moment.  😱

 

13 hours ago, azureglo said:

I kind of have a fondness for Drawdecal  as they actually feature my build on their site, BTW I did a little bit more than just take a picture of a model on a shelf as you suggested in your original post...if anyone's interested here's a link to the Drawdecals site about my build here , 😉

I can understand why you might like Drawdecal.  I'd be immensely flattered if anyone used one of builds as an example of excellence.  Usually, my builds have historically been shining examples of what NOT to do.  As far as your picture is concerned, please accept my apologies if using it as I did has offended you or annoyed you in any way.  At the time I posted it, I was unaware of your build thread and the fact that Drawdecal had used your build as a prime example of excellence.

 

 

[uncletommy]

Finished as it were!  With time to spare.  

 

I'll post the pictures in the gallery momentarily.  t's not a complete hash but it could have been lots better..  It's not bad for my first shot after being absent from modeling for the past 20 to 30 years.  I have learned a lot from it however and I'm grateful for that.  Some things I learned.

 

1. Assembly order is rather important.  Think before glueing.
2. Another coat is not necessarily good.  To many make the finish overly thick.  Light coats, layered on is the answer.
3. Too much paint can ruin the landing gear geometry.  Witness the knock kneed stance on my effort.  
4. CA is not necessarily your friend.  
5. Patience is a virtue.
6. I'm normally a 1/48 fan but this has taught me that 1/72 can be fun too.  At least as long as my eyes hold out.  

 

In the meantime, here's a peek.  The rest will be in the gallery.  Thanks to everyone who followed along on my re-introduction to modeling!

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by uncletommy

[Hockeyboy76]

Nice build, welcome back to the modelling massive. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Glad To see a Bob Hoover Plane in the Build. She turned out really well. 👍

Edited September 23, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[uncletommy]

1 minute ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Glad To see Hoover Plane in the Build. She turned out really good. 👍

 

Thanks Dennis.  I appreciate the support.  There are several things on it that I could have done better if I'd stopped and thought about it first.  But this'll do for a first go at it in so many years.  I'll probably do another and try to get it even better.  Like with straight landing gear.