TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 (edited) All: September 30 will mark the 71st anniversary of the last "Vittles" flight of the Berlin Airlift. Yes, it's a year late, but never too late to honor the folks who flew these heavily loaded aircraft under every imaginable weather condition, and in the face of some Soviet resistance, to keep West Berlin (and Western Germany as a whole) politically free and integrated into the larger world economy. My model represents one of the hundreds of anonymous, bare-metal C-54s that U.S. Air Force and Navy personnel flew during the airlift. This C-54G, flown by Capt. Perry Immel, Lts Charles M. Reece and James C. Powell, and TSgt Matthew M. Terrenzi, was polished up for a publicity event to officially wrap up Vittles, which had continued for about six months after the Soviets terminated their land and waterway blockade. I should mention that the UK probably airlifted a quarter of the tonnage to Berlin--an impressive figure considering that the British public was still undergoing wartime rationing. I built the Revell kit, using Scale Aircraft Conversions metal landing gear and a mix of Caracal, Superscale, and kit decals. For the finish I airbrushed AK Xtreme MetalI, Testors, and Alclad 2, overcoated with Alclad 2 clear gloss. staffed the cockpit with a full flight crew, including the flight engineer, who is perched on the jump seat between the pilots. The pilots were re-molds of the Monogram B-36 crew, and the FE was a combination of Preiser and Hasegawa figures. Below are some in-progress photos that show the scale of the model, which fought back hard due to over-engineering (like really? You needed to key the exhaust gas collector rings for right and left?) and overall bulk. Every time I pick it up with care, I need to take full inventory of the many breakables and shakables, such as water drain masts! Below are a couple in-progress photos, including scale comparison with an "Operation Knickers" (aka Berlin Airlift) C-47: Edited August 23, 2020 by TheyJammedKenny! corrections 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 Here are some shots of the final product. Photos are not the best, but I did what I could with the resources I had! 37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roginoz Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 That's a stunning model and a fitting tribute to the many crews and ground crew who, as you note, worked untiringly to ensure that Berlin and the Western Zones of Germany were kept free from eastern domination. You've achieved an amazing finish on the model. Nice one ! Rog 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Great build! Gorgeous finish! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 31 minutes ago, roginoz said: You've achieved an amazing finish on the model. Nice one ! Thanks so much for the compliment! Much appreciated! 11 minutes ago, SAT69 said: Great build! Gorgeous finish! Glad you like it! Metallics are not my favorite. Need something simpler next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Interesting story with it. Yes you could knock off parts quickly. Very nice job. The colour doesn’t hide anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Nice work! And an outstanding tribute, no matter when! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 52 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said: Glad you like it! Metallics are not my favorite. Need something simpler next time. I fully understand. My idea of applying a natural metal finish is using ModelMasters chrome silver over the smoothest finish I can get after puttying and sanding. It's not as nice as what you displayed here but it suits me well enough. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Lovely finish there TJK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Fantastic,absolutely fantastic job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaracalModels Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Simply awesome! Thanks for building this option, I wanted to see one built for a long time.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchem Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Brilliant! You've absolutely nailed that I've been building models for more years than I care to remember, and yet, I'm still chicken when it comes to silver finishes. (May have something to do with brush painting an Airfix Liberator with Humbrol 11 Silver Fox when I was a young'un) mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whenIwereyoung Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Very nicely done and good to see one in plain natural metal finish. Graham 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Lovely work, that's awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 12 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said: Lovely finish there TJK Thanks, RAY! I swore to myself this would be the last time I used lacquer-based metallics on something this big. I'm trying to be better to myself and use Vallejo acrylics. 10 hours ago, Vince1159 said: Fantastic,absolutely fantastic job... Thanks, sir! 5 hours ago, mitchem said: I've been building models for more years than I care to remember, and yet, I'm still chicken when it comes to silver finishes. And I am, too. Believe me! This project took more than two years to complete for a reason. I had to make quite a few fixes and repairs over time. Then, toward the end of the adventure, I found out that the real aircraft had an antenna configuration not anticipated by the kit, so I had to do some additional research. Ended up stealing and modifying a DF loop antenna from an ESCI R4D, and modified a Soviet bomb to resemble an AN/APS-4 antenna (from a TBM). Some fellow britmodellers definitely helped with this! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Hi there Which paints were used where for the NMF and how did you get such a shiny finish over white primer? Curious to know and to learn more. Thanks in advance. regards Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 20 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said: Which paints were used where for the NMF and how did you get such a shiny finish over white primer? Curious to know and to learn more. Thanks in advance To achieve the finish, I airbrushed Alclad 2 black gloss primer over the white acrylic primer without any problems. Later, I had to do some touch-up work on the base coat with Testors enamel gloss black; again, no adverse interactions. I polished both thoroughly. Note in the photo below that I've painted the deicer boots over the gloss black. I also went through two sets of clear part paint masks--changing them out before applying the metalizer to ensure easy removal later. I would recommend against painting Xtreme metal over acrylic paint; others have done it without trouble, but I found that it reacted by bubbling, and needed to be sanded down. To answer your question about paint colors: fuselage and wings: Xtreme Metal polished aluminum wing outer panels top and bottom: Xtreme Metal flat aluminum flaps: Xtreme Metal flat aluminum, clear gloss-coated. control surfaces (simulating doped canvas): Xtreme Metal white aluminum "hot" areas aft of the engine: Alclad 2 steel starboard crew entry door: Alclad 2 duraluminum door surrounds: Xtreme metal white aluminum cabin heater panel on port side: Xtreme metal white aluminum cabin heater panel on roof: Alclad 2 duraluminum oversprayed gradually with Xtreme Metal polished aluminum various panels: Alclad 2 duraluminum oversprayed with Xtreme Metal polished aluminum to lower contrast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Excellent subject matter, excellent build, excellent finish. Cheers Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Thanks `TJK` for the detailed NMF explanation. Does the Xtreme metal Polished Aluminium resist finger prints better than the Alclad version? I have both and have used Alclad for a few years. regards Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 2 hours ago, Pete in a shed said: Excellent subject matter, excellent build, excellent finish. Cheers Pete Thanks, Pete! Much appreciated. 2 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said: Does the Xtreme metal Polished Aluminium resist finger prints better than the Alclad version Xtreme metal is more robust and better resists lifting when masked, but I'd be careful just the same. Probably if you use flat aluminum you'll avoid leaving fingerprints. I always handle this model with cotton gloves. If I mar the metallic areas, I can gently polish out small marks and blemishes using plastic polish. Under the worst case scenario, it's possible to gently polish a local area down to the primer, then re-spray with excellent effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 That is one awesome C-54!! You have really done justice to a very nice kit. I'm so glad Revell tooled it up for us. Your natural aluminium finish is first class! It's cool to see some aircrew in the cockpit too! 👍👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted September 3, 2020 Author Share Posted September 3, 2020 16 hours ago, kapam said: cool to see some aircrew in the cockpit too! So glad you liked it! Monogram's B-36 crewmen are absolutely the best 40's - 50's figures for 1/72 aircraft of the period. If you can get your hands on them, make resin copies! Mine are wearing the olive green uniforms that were still very much in use in 1949. Copilot is wearing the baseball cap that was standard issue to WWII bomber crews, while the aircraft commander has an overseas cap I fashioned for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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