When adequate has to be good enough.... Condor 1/72 A-36

[mark.au]

5 hours ago, opus999 said:

OD/NG aircraft seem kind of boring at first blush, but there's a lot you can do with color tones and weathering that make them pretty interesting in the end.

I enjoy the challenge of a monochrome finish, there’s such a lot that can be done with it to build interest and in reality there’s no such thing a “one” colour anyway, there’s always variations.

[Tony Edmundson]

If you care to; glue the landing gear doors up, as they were closed and locked up on Allison powered Mustangs.

 

Cheers, Tony

[opus999]

6 hours ago, billn53 said:

I also have been using mottling stencils lately, but never thought of using them for marbling the undercoat. Ingenious! And the final result looks absolutely fabulous. 

Thanks!  I got the idea from @The Spadgent, who used them on his terrific Go-229 build.  He didn't use them in the same way, but it occurred to me that these could replace the time-consuming hand marbling I'd been doing.  I've been very pleased with how well they work!  And my hand doesn't cramp up from the prolonged death grip on the airbrush when I hand marbled.  

 

6 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Your paint technique looks very labour intensive but it gives a lovely result! The real thing in the photo seems more weathered  than you have done so far, so you’ve still got some leeway in the finishing stages.

 

Regards,

Adrian

Thanks Adrian! It seems labor intensive, but it actually goes pretty fast.  Well, all the different colors on the undercoat kind of slows things up a bit, but I think its worth it.  I agree that the photo shows more weathering.  Shouldn't be a problem...  

 

5 hours ago, dogsbody said:

 

American guns were a sort of olive green colour while British weapons were a dark blue-black colour.

 

I've been interested in WWII aircraft my whole life and I didn't know this.  I guess I just never thought about some details.

[opus999]

2 hours ago, mark.au said:

I enjoy the challenge of a monochrome finish, there’s such a lot that can be done with it to build interest and in reality there’s no such thing a “one” colour anyway, there’s always variations.

Agreed!

 

1 hour ago, Tony Edmundson said:

If you care to; glue the landing gear doors up, as they were closed and locked up on Allison powered Mustangs.

 

Cheers, Tony

Thanks Tony.  I'm glad you brought that up -- my plan was to glue them in the "up" position.

[The Spadgent]

Hey! This is looking great! I started reading this back in Feb and thought I’d clicked “follow” alas my butter fingers. 😩 She gave you a bit of a run for your money to start with but wow! That mottling is looking splendid.

Bravo. 🙌

 

Johnny

 

ps. Always prime you’re PE bits. Also if you can bend them first do that. 🤩

[2996 Victor]

Wow! This is looking amazing!

Those stencils must really speed up your marbling process. It's incredibly effective - I think I'd like to give it a try sometime!

[opus999]

Lots going on today, but I was able to sneak away for an hour and put decals on.  There are not many decals, which is nice.  In retrospect it was a terrific idea to paint the yellow and white beforehand because these decals were incredibly fragile.  They look almost like they were printed on a printer.  Extremely thin, they conformed beautifully to detail, but there wasn't much chance to move them into place, so I had to be very very careful to get a decal pretty much in the right place on the first try.  But, boy they look nice!

 

 

Unfortunately, the white backing the red (and presumably the yellow stripes) was off register, making those decals useless.

 

 

So, yes, again I am glad I painted the yellow stripes on.  Still, I will need to paint the red "don't step here" area on the port flap. I already hand painted the fuel filler caps.

 

Still, it wasn't without mishap.  A nervous twitch of the finger and this decal broke into bits that I (mostly) got back together.

 

 

Still not sure how to fix that.  White decals from the spares box?  White paint?  No solution seems ideal right now.  I will need to think a bit about it.  

 

Since these decals are so fragile, I think I will put a protective coat of aqua gloss over them before weathering.  With tougher decals (like Hasagawa), I just weather right over them and usually don't have difficulties.

 

The other accomplishment today was getting the bomb shackles made.  Pretty tedious, but worth it in the end.

 

 

Now its down to the little details!  The one decision I need to make is how to paint the bombs. I've seen a couple variations, yellow on the very tip, two yellow stripes, one yellow stripe... There may not be a definite answer but any help would be appreciated. 

Edited March 21, 2021 by opus999
Y kant I spel?

[The Spadgent]

looking great with the decals in place. 👌 white decal bits or paint work well for fixes but you should always gloss before weathering. Makes me twitch if you don’t. 😄 as for the bombs I went full green on my Jug build. So many choices I’m sure you can’t go wrong. 😀

 

Johnny

[opus999]

I got much less done than I hoped today.  My wife was having problems with the finish on some wood plaques she's making for her "graduating" scouts. In the end we decided that the epoxy that I used on my USS Enterprise build would be the best solution, so she went and got some and I helped her mix and apply it (it is so much easier with 2 people!).  That took longer than anticipated so I only was able to do some little painting tasks.  First up, I had to paint the insignia red "Don't Step" patch on the port flap:

 

 

Then I finished off the propeller tips:

 

 

In both cases I sprayed a light undercoat of my lightest gray Mr. Color.

 

Finally I used the Mr. Color super metallic stainless steel to paint the bomb shackles, after which I glued them on with Micro Krystal Klear.  They didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped, but I think they'll still work out OK.

 

 

I tried to fix the broken decal on the port side with some white paint, but that didn't turn out so well, because (as I feared) the paint is a more pure white than the decal and so now it looks patchy.  I can scrape it off later, since I put an extra thick protective clear coat over it.  I really don't know how to fix this... I may try to go the decal route, but not sure that's going to go well either (or that I have the decals I need).... 🤔

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Looking good--can't wait to the weathering you will put over the gloss coat--the different look of the gloss step always amazes me in relation to the flat finish--best, Erwin 

[Bob C.]

Opus, 

I just found this thread, and read it all the way through start to finish.  You've certainly come out on top with a great result.  Your perseverance is to be greatly commended.  I was thinking at about February 15, I would have said  "Nuts to this, I'm going to do an Eduard FW 190A 5/8 or Spit VIII/IX" (even with about 5 other projects started, I've been fooling around "de-spruing" a couple parts on one of their Fokker DVII).  Intending to do the Sachsenberg  yellow and black checkerboard.  Way cool! 

   I've got that Condor creature, and I'm glad you showed me how wise it is to see if Arma will do the whole early P-51 family.   Thanks for going where no man should go before -- or something like that. 

Looking great, can't wait til the end.  (Not as much as you do though, right)?

Bob C  

Edited March 22, 2021 by Bob C.

[opus999]

  

On 3/20/2021 at 1:42 AM, The Spadgent said:

Always prime you’re PE bits. Also if you can bend them first do that.

Good tip!  I'd never used unpainted PE before, so it certainly was a learning experience (well... there was unpainted PE windshield wipers on my 1/72 Mi-24 I did in High school, but that doesn't really count!   )

 

On 3/21/2021 at 2:50 AM, The Spadgent said:

white decal bits or paint work well for fixes

So tonight I bit the bullet and masked over the "A" and airbrushed it.  Masking over a decal always scares me, but luckily it turned out OK.  Did the old "stick the tape to your hand first" trick.

 

On 3/21/2021 at 2:50 AM, The Spadgent said:

you should always gloss before weathering.

I walk on the wild side.  Point well taken, though -- I put thick coats of protective paint on these decals.

 

On 3/21/2021 at 2:50 AM, The Spadgent said:

as for the bombs I went full green on my Jug build.

I looked again at the picture of my subject that I posted a couple of days ago and it looks like they are full green.  So, I'm running with that.

 

23 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

the different look of the gloss step always amazes me in relation to the flat finish

Yeah... I'm always amazed at the difference.  I always need to keep in mind the differences in appearance; when I got back into modelling, I would get alarmed when some weathering or other paint feature would seem to diminish under the gloss coat, and then it would reappear when the flat coat was applied.

 

20 hours ago, Bob C. said:

You've certainly come out on top with a great result.

Thanks!  I'm pretty happy with it so far!

 

20 hours ago, Bob C. said:

Your perseverance is to be greatly commended.  I was thinking at about February 15, I would have said  "Nuts to this, I'm going to do an Eduard FW 190A 5/8 or Spit VIII/IX"

Every once in a while (a long while!) it's fun to do a kit that tests my abilities to bend plastic to my will.  I did step away and build the quickie Ki-61 in February.  I almost stepped away to do another kit last week, but I'm so close to the end that I kept going!

 

20 hours ago, Bob C. said:

Intending to do the Sachsenberg  yellow and black checkerboard.  Way cool! 

That would be cool to see!  

 

20 hours ago, Bob C. said:

I'm glad you showed me how wise it is to see if Arma will do the whole early P-51 family.

Let's hope that they do!  It would be fantastic!

 

20 hours ago, Bob C. said:

Looking great, can't wait til the end.  (Not as much as you do though, right)?

Thanks!  You read my mind!

[opus999]

Well!  I'd really hoped I'd be done today.  I thought it would be a slam-dunk to finish, but I forgot that every task on this build takes 3 or 4 times longer than on a regular build.  Which is too bad, because I'm kinda done with this one...

 

But first... a catch up on the progress this week.  As usual, I only had a few minutes for little tasks all week.  On Monday I fixed the "A" on the port side, where the decal had torn.  It was pretty straightforward to mask and I airbrushed some off-white on it.

 

 

Tuesday was "wash day"  and wednesday I was able to pencil the panel lines on the bottom.  last night I penciled in the panel lines on the tops of the wings.  I also worked to add a little depth to the ailerons and flaps.  The kit just had scribed panel lines for the aileron and flap hinges.  So it is just a flat surface with a thin line going through it, which just doesn't look right.  I used a trick I discovered when doing my F/A-18 a couple of years ago, because it suffered from the same issue.  I put a piece of Tamiya tape along the hinge line, and then dry brushed black oil paint along the tape edge from front to back.  Clearly you don't want to go all the way back, just 4-5 mm.  Also, this needs to be done after dull coat (it might work on a gloss coat, but it would likely be a lot harder to do).  This is one of those irreversible tasks, so easy does it!  As it is, I might have made it a little too dark... I don't know.  Here's a close up as an example:

 

 

It could represent dirt or oil, or shadow... at any rate, it adds a touch of depth to that area making it look contoured when it really isn't.

 

Today was pedal to the metal thinking it would be all finished by afternoon.  Yeah right.  I penciled in the panel lines on the sides, then did various dirt streaks and exhaust stains with the Tamiya pastels.  A final dull coat to seal those in and it was time to unmask the canopy, landing gear bays and exhaust stacks.  And that's where things went south... First was the canopy.  I thought I was being clever by using bare metal foil to mask the cutouts in the back.  A brand new sharp knife blade and the cutouts were trimmed to shape on the canopy.  Well... taking them off was an enormous pain.  The foil just basically came off in little tiny flakes.  I couldn't peel it off, i had to take a toothpick and carefully scrape it off, which smeared the adhesive all over the plastic.  I was able to clean it up carefully with some Isopropyl alcohol, but a 10 minute task turned into an hour.  Then it was time to take the liquid masking off the exhaust stacks.  I didn't like that I had to install the stacks first and then seal up the fuselage.  I have never been happy with liquid mask as it never seems to work well for me.  But, foolishly I thought this would be a perfect task for it... I figured when I was all done painting I could just roll my finger over the exhausts and roll the liquid mask off.  That's usually how it works.  I even let it sit overnight on a test piece to make sure that the mask wouldn't react with the Testors metalizer.  Unfortunately, the mask was tenacious and clung to the exhausts and just didn't want to let go!  In the end this happened:

 

 

 

Yeah... so the liquid mask is apparently OK with metalizer overnight, but not for a month!  The paint just peeled away.  So an hour later, the liquid mask was all off, the liquid mask bottle was in the trash and I was scraping the last remnants of paint off so I could mask and repaint.  I just realized I didn't get a picture of that.  Well... later.  

 

The final task I attempted was gluing the main gear doors in the up position since they were up and locked on the ground.  Yeah... right.  The manufacturer clearly didn't intend the doors to be in the up position. The doors are too big, and the shape isn't the same as the opening.  I fiddled with it a bit but I don't think I can make the door the right shape to fit without major gaps and since it's the end, filling and painting to match would be... well... very difficult to say the least.  I really wish I'd thought of it before painting.  As it stands I think I will have to put the doors in the down position, even though that's wrong,  which will drive me nuts!

 

I messed with making holes for the landing gears to go in and finally got those to work the way I want. So, hopefully tomorrow I will be able to complete the last couple of tasks.

 

Here's where it's at tonight:

 

 

 

 

[dogsbody]

I can hear the echoes of those softly spoken Anglo-Saxon words.

 

 

 

Chris

[opus999]

51 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

I can hear the echoes of those softly spoken Anglo-Saxon words.

 

 

 

Chris

Very softly!  

[72modeler]

Not me, boy...the hobby room air would be PRU blue with $#@^&+ if that happened to me! I feel your pain! Too late for your build, but using very narrow auto vinyl pinstriping or kabuki-type tape for masking those quarter windows works a treat, as you UK types say. It can be bent into  curves very easily, and then filled in with masking tape. Like you, I haven't had much success with liquid mask, using PVA glue brushed on, but as I use enamels and lacquers, removing it with a brush dipped in hot water gets rid of it without pulling up the paint underneath. I love the effect you got using a pencil to enhance the panel lines, and I think it would have also worked well on the hinges of the control surfaces on your A-36. Are you planning to leave the inner gear doors up or slightly open? 1st off, the Allison Mustang inner doors did not drop open after shutdown like the Merlin Mustangs, and 2nd that will help mask the fact that the rear wall of the wheel bay was the wing spar and went straight across, not angled t match the outer part of the wheel bay. (You do realize, and we will all thank you for it, but as soon as you finish all of the work to make a decent A-36 out of this pig, somebody like Arma or Special Hobby, or  even Tamiya will release a state of the art kit; it's the First Law of  Modeling!) 

Mike

 

Keep going- she's lookin' good!

[opus999]

12 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Too late for your build, but using very narrow auto vinyl pinstriping or kabuki-type tape for masking those quarter windows works a treat

Good info for next time, though!  Thanks!

 

13 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

using PVA glue brushed on, but as I use enamels and lacquers, removing it with a brush dipped in hot water gets rid of it without pulling up the paint underneath.

That's a great idea... I wish I'd thought of that!  I am using Mr. Color Lacquers on this build so it might have worked well.

 

14 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Are you planning to leave the inner gear doors up or slightly open?

Well I wanted to do them in the Up position to be accurate, but this is going to be extremely difficult because of the shape mismatch.  Where I can shave down the door to fit will be OK, but the curve of the door is wrong and will have a substantial gap.  I could leave them slightly open... or would that look totally wrong?

 

16 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

as soon as you finish all of the work to make a decent A-36 out of this pig, somebody like Arma or Special Hobby, or  even Tamiya will release a state of the art kit

That's why I'm doing it!  Taking one for the team!  

[AdrianMF]

It is still looking great despite all the setbacks. I like the aileron effect. Nice save on the “A” too. Party on!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Jackson Duvalier]

There's no workaround to closing the wheel well doors, I'm afraid.  On Allison Mustangs they closed and latched shut once the main gear was down.  Unless of course you want to model an unpiloted A-36, in flight, just after takeoff or beginning final approach.  Otherwise your conscience should tell you fixing it properly is the right thing to do, and repainting some Neutral Grey is easy enough, yeah?  Sometimes you just have to heave a heavy sigh and be on with it.

 

My Hasecademy Frankenstang gave me fantods, masking and repainting and repairing decals and masking and repainting... oddly enough the greenhouse I masked with frosted Scotch tape (and left for at least five and maybe six years) worked brilliantly for the most part, excepting some adhesive residue.

 

I'll have to try the PVA approach on the next early Mustang I build.  I used it extensively on an Airfix B-25, where all the little windows are somewhat recessed inside and out.  It was very easy to fill them with a drop of glue and a wooden pick, and then pop off the scab after the paint dried.  

 

Your model is looking splendid, your sensitive and restrained touch with weathering and panel lines really shines here.  On behalf of the modelling community at large, I hope your efforts provoke the release of a complete family of all-new-and-up-to-date 1/72 Allison Mustang kits!  (I found out Arma was releasing new B/C Mustangs as I was finishing up Leakin' Lizz, so maybe we'll get lucky again.)

[mark.au]

Very nice save on the "A" - that would have tried me sorely....  The exhaust stacks are a pain... your solution in painting in situ is really the only option anyway; seems like you made a nice save there too.  It's almost done, and as everyone else has said, it's looking very nice despite the challenges.

 

12 minutes ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

On Allison Mustangs they closed and latched shut once the main gear was down.

 

I did not know this, thanks for the post.

[2996 Victor]

Hi Opus,

I just wanted to echo everyone else's comments and say that this is an absolute beauty. As always, your lightness of touch with colours and weathering give a superb outcome.

Yes, the canopy, exhaust stacks and inner gear doors are setbacks, and extremely frustrating. But you'll get them fixed and the result will be outstanding.

The aileron and flap hinge technique is excellent, too, and I can see it being very useful for fabric-covered control surfaces where the rib texture needs a little enhancement.

Cheers,

Mark

[Max Headroom]

Terrific build so far. Sorry I’m so late for the party.

 

Probably too late now, but I bought this book for my Accurate Miniatures Mustang Ia

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NA-P-51-Mustang-Part-1-Allison-Powered-A-Comprehensive-Guide-SAM-Pubs-New/163270207331?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=163270207331&targetid=1139674279347&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9046489&campaignid=12126078234&mkgroupid=117237237815&rlsatarget=pla-1139674279347&abcId=9300480&merchantid=7205824&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlYDRlonQ7wIVj7rtCh03BgBSEAQYBiABEgLHivD_BwE&pageci=ea10e311-e59e-405e-938e-37e8a2f67d9f&epid=111685913

 

Plenty of drawings and close up photos.

 

Trevor

[AdrianMF]

4 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

There's no workaround to closing the wheel well doors

I’m sure one could find a 1/72 “crouching mechanic with screwdriver” as a display accessory

 

Regards,

Adrian

[opus999]

15 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Nice save on the “A” too.

 

14 hours ago, mark.au said:

Very nice save on the "A"

Thank you! I really was happy to resolve that -- it was really the only thing still giving me heartburn on this build.  I'm especially happy I didn't pull up any decals while fixing it!  

 

14 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Otherwise your conscience should tell you fixing it properly is the right thing to do, and repainting some Neutral Grey is easy enough, yeah?

Yeah... I couldn't let that go.  It would drive me bananas.  Last night I took a few minutes to look at the problem with fresh eyes, and it turns out that the curve in the door will fit in the wheel bay if I turn it clock wise about a degree. So, out came the files again and I started filing the flat parts so that the angles were correct. To make a long story short, I was able to get the door to fit in there without filler, but it wasn't flush yet and I had to quit because the boys were clamoring to watch Star Trek with dad... so, you know...

 

14 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

I masked with frosted Scotch tape (and left for at least five and maybe six years) worked brilliantly for the most part, excepting some adhesive residue.

wow, I don't think I would've thought to try that.

 

14 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Your model is looking splendid, your sensitive and restrained touch with weathering and panel lines really shines here.

 

14 hours ago, mark.au said:

it's looking very nice despite the challenges.

 

 

15 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

It is still looking great despite all the setbacks.

 

11 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

this is an absolute beauty. As always, your lightness of touch with colours and weathering give a superb outcome.

Thanks guys!  I really appreciate it!  Realistic weathering became a personal goal when I got back into modelling -- mostly because of some of the beautiful work I've seen here on BM!

 

And I have to say, despite the bellyaching I've done, I knew this wouldn't be an easy build and I've actually been quite gratified by overcoming the challenges.

 

11 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Probably too late now, but I bought this book for my Accurate Miniatures Mustang Ia

Thanks Trevor!  Maybe too late for the build, but it's never too late to get a nice airplane book!  

 

10 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I’m sure one could find a 1/72 “crouching mechanic with screwdriver” as a display accessory

 Don't tempt me!

[2996 Victor]

22 minutes ago, opus999 said:

I had to quit because the boys were clamoring to watch Star Trek with dad... so, you know...

Very reasonable, I'd say!

Good news on the inner doors, too!