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Monogram 1.48 P61 Black Widow


TonyW

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My local model club has a P61 group build running that ends in a couple of weeks. Up to now, I've resisted the temptation to join in as there are a few kits backing up in the building line at the moment.

However, one of our members brought along a 1.48 scale Monogram P61 in a beat up box that he picked up at last weeks Shuttleworth show. £15 later, I'm in the group build! If you sold a P61 at Shuttleworth to an American guy, this is all your fault. 😄

 

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I like Monogram kits a lot. This is my first P61 from the company. Fortunately this one is a later boxing and a bit bashed up to boot. Had it been an earlier white box Shep Paine era one the collector in me would have been unable to build it. Happy days.

 

A start has been made today with a bit of paintwork on the interior parts. With only two weeks to finish the thing, I had better get a move on.

The mould is showing its age a bit with some trimming needed here and there and dry runs reveal a bit of fettling needed to get things to line up as they should. 

 

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A base for the model would be nice. I've made a start on a couple of likely lads, both made out of picture frames picked up for a quid each at a local charity shop. The backing boards have been removed, coated with PVA and sprinkled with a bit of ballast and building sand borrowed from some real world construction going on here at the moment. I'll be trying out each base to see which size suits the plane best.

 

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As far as colour schemes go for the plane, I'm aiming at a Pacific build with very faded olive paintwork and a heavy dose of weathering, much like this example...

 

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The actual plane is as yet undecided, but once I've sorted out decals I'll know where I am with the build. I'll be replacing the rather basic turret gun barrels and treating myself to new decals. That's as far as I'm going with aftermarket stuff, looking at what's available could easily push the build cost into three figures if I don't show a bit of restraint!

 

More as it happens.

 

Tony.

 

 

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Ive got a fully loaded with extras P-61 planned for the kids build here as well.

Lots of fiddling around and making sure everything joins up with that lovely lady I'm sure.

I'll be watching this with great interest.

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Be careful! Not my scale, but I believe the 1/48 Monogram P-61 kit can be built as either an A or a B;  the one in  the photo you posted is a P-61A-1. The difference being the B has an 8" longer nose than the A, and the main landing gear doors on the A are both  open when the gear is extended, and on the B they were only open when the gear was cycled, with a small "L" shaped strut door being open when the gear was down- like the same arrangement on the B-25. We had a long discussion on the A B, and C models a while back when the 1/72 Hobbyboss kits were released, with a lot of photos, drawings, and links, so you can do a search for them. IIRC, the Monogram kit has both the A and B nose sections as well as the option to do the A or B landing gear arrangement; you can also delete the turret to do an A, as all but the earliest A's had the dorsal turret deleted. With some work, a pretty good model can be done, but the fit is not the best. I have attached a link to a kit review that explains the options in the  kit, as well as a link to descriptions of the variants and serial numbers. I hope they are useful. Either in gloss black or olive drab/neutral grey, it's a beautiful beast!

Mike

 

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/rm/kit_rm_7546.shtml

 

http://www.skylighters.org/special/night_fighters/p61info.html

Edited by 72modeler
corrected spelling
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The real world has got in the way of the P61 build this week, although some progress has been made. The interior parts have had a second coat of green, followed by a thinned coat of Tamiya clear yellow in an attempt to add a bit of depth to the mouldings. Underside parts have seen a bit of grey primer and the topsides some Tamiya Olive Green. Trial fitting shows a lack of Monograms usual fine engineering and I've read a few warnings posted about the poor fit of the clear parts. Mine are still sealed but I'll take a look tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow will also hopefully see a bit of detail painting take place and a few pictures added here. It's freezing outside at the moment and my shed is at the bottom of the garden. I'm too much of a wimp to leave the warm and wander off down there to take pictures now.

 

Ebay has provided a set of decals in the form of a Printscale set, 48.035, P61 Black Widows. The only olive green version on the sheet is Midnight Mickey, out of Saipan 1944, and that's the one I'm going for.

 

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The same seller also listed an Extradecal sheet for 1.72 scale B24's. It seemed a bit wrong not to add them to the decal files as I have a Liberator in mind for them later. Queen of Hearts out of Attlebridge, Norfolk will be the version used.

 

Tony.

 

 

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A fair bit got done today, wheels painted, undercarriage legs sorted and quite a bit done paint detailing the cockpit for a start...

 

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Loads to do yet, but things are moving in the right direction.

 

I tried out the canopy on a dry run. Gulp! There's going to be a bit of modification needed here for sure. The fit of the front part is good. The back end is a different story, with it being a mm or so short towards the rear and a bit more than that from the roof line to the lower sill. This is not the Monogram I know.

 

I'm more than a bit fond of the very early efforts from the company. I loose interest a bit when Mattel got involved. The P61 dates past this period and there's a bit of a negative reaction from me as far as quality goes. Ejector pin marks on gluing edges and way too much flash don't inspire confidence in buying more of the companies products. Having said that, all the faults are fixable, it's just that I'm not used to doing remedial work on Monogram kits.

 

To give Mattel their due, they soon acknowledged they were out of their depth with model kits. The company knew the toy market, not the model kit one at the time. The problem seems to have been that although they soon gave the model makers free reign again, they had lost some of the original toolmakers. The company tried really hard, with the Peacemaker and other big kits but something had been lost along the way. Bringing Shep Paine along, with his fantastic diorama models, got a bit of the old fire back, but it was an uphill struggle. Speaking of struggles, I can never think of this P61 as anything other than a Monogram kit, regardless of the name on the box!

 

Tony.

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I've done a few rounds with the P61 today, and I think I've just about won on points. Everything you have read about this kit is true! 

 

A couple of happy hours were spent this morning on the fuselage interior.  Bulkheads painted, weathered a bit and glued into place. Cannon painted and installed, Engines painted and assembled. Nothing fancy, all out the box stuff. So far, so good.

 

The first hint of trouble came with fitting the engine and bulkhead into the boom on the port side. Fit was somewhat loose and the undercarriage kept popping out of one hole or the other. Fixing that would see the engine shift and fixing that would pop the undercarriage out again! I ended up fixing the tail of the boom with superglue and poly glue and spreading the front portion once that had set. I could then glue one side of the undercarriage and dry fit the other while it set. The engine really pushed its luck by refusing to locate properly. Monogram provide alignment pins on one side of the boom for the engine to slot into. The problem is the lack of anything on the other side of the boom.  I thought it was me doing something wrong here and I must have had the engine in and out a dozen times until things lined up as they should. I'm used to Monogram parts fitting perfectly. This kit has more than its fair share of dodgy fitting parts!

 

The Booms, port and starboard. finally gave in and were set aside to dry, then it was the turn of the wings. I went for flaps down to add a bit of extra detail to the build. The fixing lugs didn't fit too well into their designated positions and a bit of trimming and filing was required. Then the wing halves were glued together, which revealed a bit of a gap on the outer edge flap fitting on both wings. More trimming resolved that. Having to fix the flaps before joining the wing halves also means that the seam on the wing, in front of the flaps is on show and difficult to fill or work on. I decided to live with the seam.

 

Turning to the fuselage next, more trouble reared its ugly head. The upper gun turret was assembled and glued and clamped into place. Once that had set, I checked the instructions in case I had missed anything and moved to join the fuselage together. The instructions clearly state: Fix both fuselage halves in place, then add the front undercarriage panel through the gap on the underside. I fixed both halves and was less than amused to find the undercarriage panel would not go through the gap! Everything had to come apart and the panel fitted, then everything closed up again. This was the only time I followed the instructions so far in the build, and they led me astray.

The nose cone got filled with as many crushed airgun pellets as I could get in there and then the whole lot got clamped up to dry overnight.

 

Moving back to the wings and tail booms, fitting them together revealed some very un Monogram like gaps both fore and aft. There's a gap between the front upper boom edge and the wing, then another at the trailing edge! A test fit of the wings to fuselage joint reveals yet more work needed. This might sand out, I'll find out tomorrow, but I suspect filler will be needed here as well.

 

Here's how I've left it this evening...

 

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I'll be back on its case in the morning.

 

Tony.

 

 

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Hey, I recognize some of those guys beneath the hobby knife!  Quite a few of those blokes live in my display cabinet too.  😄

 

As the Secretary of the Interior told the Indian chiefs, "Endeavor to persevere." (Outlaw Josey Wales reference😉).    Lead the way brother, my kit needs attention, lol😀

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53 minutes ago, Gary Brantley said:

Hey, I recognize some of those guys beneath the hobby knife!  Quite a few of those blokes live in my display cabinet too.  😄

 

As the Secretary of the Interior told the Indian chiefs, "Endeavor to persevere." (Outlaw Josey Wales reference😉).    Lead the way brother, my kit needs attention, lol😀

 

Well spotted! The good old Monogram B17 donated those guys. I'm not sure which ones will be helping the P61 build yet. The guy with the clipboard and maybe the one pointing are favourites at the moment.

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Things are moving forwards at a steady pace now, with the airframe all in one bit. As dreaded, the fit is less than good and filler will be needed at every joint. I left the plane clamped up for the day to let the glue set.

 

A quick trial of the plane sat on its undercarriage showed that despite me cramming the nose full of airgun pellets, it was still a tailsitter!  Adding a tin of paint on top of the nose just about held it down. Fitting the wheels temporarily helped a bit by changing the sit of the plane, but more weight was needed. The only place left was the starboard engine cover, which I had fortunately not yet fitted. Another load of pellets were inserted and they have proved to be just enough to hold the nose on the deck. Phew.

 

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The very poor canopy fit has been addressed by adding a plasticard frame around the cockpit edge. It's slightly oversize so I can sand it back to fit the canopy. The frame will need to dry rock hard before I attempt to reshape it. I will also be re fitting the flaps in the up position as I can't get on with the look. From most angles the plane looks like half the wings are missing. That can be taken care of later though.

 

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To finish for the day, I posed the plane up on its intended base, just as a moral booster. It's getting there.

 

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The base got a coat or two of Tamiya Olive Green as the original dark wood dominated the plane a bit too much.  Now it's coming together a bit, I'm starting to enjoy the build. The model certainly shows well the sheer size of the brute. I think it worked as a night fighter by taking up so much sky, the enemy had no room!

 

More as it happens.

 

Tony.

 

 

Edited by TonyW
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Good progress Tony!   I like the build-up around the canopy, that's a great plan, imho.  Love that base too!  For years,I've been using 2-part epoxy to stick spent bullets into nose cones or any forward located voids in order to weight down the front end of tail-sitters.   I pick them up from the berm at my shooting range on my farm.   I realize that due to UK laws, that may not be an option for you, but surely fishing weights are available still.  The spent bullets work well in the usually "pointy" shape of nose cones but fishing weights would be easy to hammer into shape too.   My current project, the Revell 1/48 F-84E, had no such nose cone but I was able to epoxy in a 5.56 bullet above the intake splitter and a 7.62 bullet under the cockpit.  

 

Man, your WIP really does encourage me to dig the P-61 out of the locker and take a closer look.  It's been languishing there since about 1989.  I hope plastic fatigue hasn't set in.    Keep 'em comin' Tony!  😀

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Fishing weights would work better than the pellets Gary but the airgun ammo is all I had ready to go. I'll get some weights for future projects though.

 

Digging out those extra figures brought the B17 they came with out into the open. I see a Flying Fortress in my future...

 

I forgot to mention, I added decals to the prop. The Printscale sheet had the Hammilton badges and a bit of yellow script for the base of the blades. The decals were a nightmare to use. The slightest hint of moisture and they were off the sheet and all they wanted to do then was curl up into tiny little balls. I fought the company logo's into place but the scripts defeated me. One prop has wonky yellow decals on it, the other one, tiny bits of yellow paint doing the same job. The wing walks should be great fun!

 

I'll have a go at printing my own here as I think the red supplied by Printscale would have faded away pretty quickly. The same goes for the red tail numbers. In the photo above, they have shifted quite a bit from red. I'll scan what I have and change the colour in Photoshop. Red fades anywhere from pink to pale brown with many shades in between.  I'll run off a few different takes on the subject and give them a go. If the prop decals are anything to go by, I'll be needing some spares here!

Edited by TonyW
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Sunday saw me attending the Peterborough show, so no work done on the P61. I tried to make up for it today, retirement comes in very handy on these occasions.

 

First up, trim and sand the strips of plasticard I fitted around the canopy opening and check out the fit.  Port side pretty much good to go, a slight fettle and it's a done thing.

 

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Starboard sits a little high but a couple of minutes sanding will get that sorted as well.

 

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On to the tail transparencies.  I didn't have time to check before Sunday and taking a look today was a bit of a fright!

 

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How on earth this passed quality control is beyond me.  I've added a bit of plastic card to the gap and it's drying as I type.  The other side fits OK. Compared to the front end, this will be an easy job.

 

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Last job in the shed today was to remove all the flaps and re fix them in the up position. The plane looks so much better for it. 

  I've also shoveled on far too much fine Milliput for a kit of Monogram heritage, but it's done now and should be dry enough to sand in the morning.

 

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I'll be masking up the clear parts indoors tonight as the Wednesday night model club Group Build display is approaching a bit too fast for my liking.

 

Tony.

 

 

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Well, I made the GB final more in spirit than anything else. A full days modelling today didn't see the plane completed, although it has come on leaps and bounds. 

 

I spent best part of today weathering the finish to get a bit closer to the picture at the top of the thread. It's getting close. It's all brush painted, with layer after layer of various shades of olive green and tan scrubbed over the original dark green. Panels were taped off, scrubbed with more near dry paint and then sat on a radiator to speed dry. Decals were the aftermarket ones I bought for the kit. The stars and bars went on fine, the wing walks needed a whole lot of care and attention. I overpainted the red of the wingwalks with a mix of red and tan to fade them back a bit. There's quite a bit more to do yet and I'll be addressing that during the week.

 

The clear parts need a bit of careful fitting and painting and there are some extras I ordered for the base that have not turned up yet. Close, but no coconut!

 

I took it along to Mildenhall Scale Model Club anyway and displayed it in its current state.

Here it is, sat next to the winner, a very well finished black version. Seven P61's were on show, with mine being one of three not completed.

 

 

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I'll be completing the model for the next club meeting, in two weeks time. Progress will of course be posted here.

 

As something to aim at, here's a couple of shots of the GB wining model. Well done Nigel, it's a stunner.

 

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Tony.
 

 

 

 

Edited by TonyW
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for showing the solution to the canopy fit problems. I have that kit, given to me by my brother-in-law and had heard it's not an easy build. Your work is an inspiration.

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