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Brothers From Other Mothers - Dual Build - Seversky P-35 - Reggiane 2000 - 1/72 Scale


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Thanks all for the kind words. I got the decals all applied this morning while I recovered from my post-thanksgiving-coma...

 

51707537994_175f2f7ddb_k.jpgIMG_3633 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

In an effort to uphold my reluctance to ever build exactly to the box-art, I decided to make my aircraft the Second Section's Number "3", as seen in the photo of the two Re. 2000 GAs posted earlier (the supplied decals depict Number "5"). To do this I turned the Number "8" supplied for the models alternate overall-green-scheme into a "3".

 

I sprayed on a layer of Mr Super Clear Matt, and once that dried, I got to weathering:

 

51707754160_e9fb32eaaf_k.jpgIMG_3645 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

51706867291_81bd81a19f_k.jpgIMG_3646 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

51706079487_5a1291f705_k.jpgIMG_3649 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

My weathering process is pretty straight forward: First, I start with some chipping here and there with a brush and scraps of packaging foam dipped in aluminum paint. This is followed by acrylic washes made from various colors of Vallejo Air paints diluted in water; here I used mostly dark olive brown and dark grey. This is followed by a sparing amount of AK panel liners applied with a fine tipped brush and mostly sopped up again with an ear bud dipped in white spirit. The last step is rubbing on various shades of Tamiya weathering powders to blend everything together, help cover up mistakes and give subtle highlights.

 

With that done, the Reggiane is pretty much complete, save for the last fiddly bits such as the landing gear, canopy, antennae and exhaust. Focus has shifted to the P-35 until it is caught up...

Edited by RainierHooker
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Great progress on both of these!  I've always liked the looks of the Re-2000 over those of the Seversky P-35, even though they share a common base design.  There's something about the main gear rotating 90 degrees, and the lengthened, modified cowl that make the Re-2000 more modern and businesslike.  You've done an excellent job with the weathering.

 

I'm intrigued by what appears to be a jumpseat for a passenger on the P-35. Was this for the mechanic?  It would have been an uncomfortable ride, I imagine!

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@TheyJammedKenny! yes, the compartment to the rear of the cockpit does contain a seat. It was accessible through a Aluminum and Plexiglass hatch on the #2 side of the fuselage:

 

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(photo from https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com)

 

I've read that the seat was for a riding mechanic for long distance flights, or a passenger otherwise. I can't imagine it would have been comfortable, due to the small space and lack of windows other than the hatch. The top of the compartment was fared in with aluminum. It seems that later on most American P-35s had the windowed hatch replaced with a solid one, although the P-35s purchased by Sweden seem to have maintained this feature for their entire service life.

 

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(photo also from the Inch High Guy blog)

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I got home from work this evening to find a wee package on the front porch. Finally, my Twin Wasps have arrived. These Quckboost parts have much better detail than the kit parts, especially on the crankcase. Heres one next to the kit's:

 

51716346696_8b55628981_k.jpgIMG_3742 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

And the other inserted into the cowl:

 

51717006469_0ccbef86b6_k.jpgIMG_3741 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

As you can see it doesn't fit perfectly. However the diameter of the engine itself is really really close. the bulkhead cast in behind the engine is interfering with some locating tabs and the lumps on the inside of the fuselage opposite of the channels for the cowl flaps. A little whittling on the inner fuselage and the resin engine should have things just right. One thing I noticed about the QB engines is that they don't have the pushrod tubes cast in, but they do have holes around the crankcase where they go. I guess I will be making them out of either styrene rod or stainless steel wire. That is in addition to making ignition leads out of fine wire as well. 

Edited by RainierHooker
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'I've read that the seat was for a riding mechanic for long distance flights, or a passenger otherwise. I can't imagine it would have been comfortable, due to the small space and lack of windows other than the hatch.'

 

 

Yes, Swedish mechanics used to routinely ride in that rear compartment. Until the time came to try and bail out of one and the mechanic couldn't open the hatch against the slipstream and rode to his death. Which brought a pretty rapid end to the practice....

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On 01/12/2021 at 01:23, RainierHooker said:

I got home from work this evening to find a wee package on the front porch. Finally, my Twin Wasps have arrived. These Quckboost parts have much better detail than the kit parts, especially on the crankcase.  

Quickboost's engines are sized to fit a particular intended kit, not accurately scaled from the real engines. Thus their Twin Wasps can vary in diameter by up to 3mm (!), depending on intended kit. e.g. those for the Academy B-24 are ridiculously under-sized to suit the under-sized kit cowls. Looks like you have one of the larger ones there. When I realised this, I switched to Vector or Small Stuff, whose engines are precisely sized....

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Thanks @Roger Holden I'll keep that in mind about the resin engines in the future. Honestly the actual engine wasn't really too large, the most interference came from the bulkhead/casting-slug on the rear of it. I have it shaped just about right to fit in the fuselage and locate it in the proper place. I should have enough done to qualify for a proper update later tonight.

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And we have an engine for the P-35!

 

A little thinning of the fuselage and a lot of whittling on the resin engine's casting plug and cast-in bulkhead and it fits right where it is supposed to. I sprayed the engine and the inside of the cowl with black. The cowl will be getting another coat of primer green-yellow and the engine will be getting lots more than that...

 

51721113988_80595ffe34_k.jpgIMG_3766 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

The little R-1830 then got brushed with Vallejo "Silver" on the jugs and "Faded PRU Blue on the crankcase:

 

51721114123_161e0b8c50_h.jpgIMG_3770 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

Then out came a little bit snipped off the end of a length of marine-grade electrical wire, which I have a lot of since I'm a marine electrician. Marine-grade wire has many more finer copper strands than most other wire and all of the strands are individually tinned giving them a silver color. I love the stuff...

 

51721743005_9691b24940_k.jpgIMG_3773 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

Individual strands made up the pushrod covers with a spot of CA at the crankcase and more of a blob at the rocker housing:

 

51720866626_5ddba73b4f_k.jpgIMG_3777 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

Then they were all cut off...

 

51721526589_2171f7d321_k.jpgIMG_3778 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

The rocker covers were then picked out in silver and the pushrod covers in RLM 66 gray. Then I made the ignition harness out of the same wire strands, two lengths per cylinder, and bent around to where the plugs were. The leads were left bare silver. The loom around the crankcase was made from 0.020" styrene rod formed around a paintbrush handle. It was attached with CA and painted "Faded PRU Blue". The whole thing got a quick wash with AK panel liner and... viola!

 

51720901006_ab6a3638f2_k.jpgIMG_3790-1 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

Edited by RainierHooker
better pictures
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Thank you gentlemen. The comments are most welcome and keep me motivated. The engine really wasn't all that hard, the worst part was enduring the wife's consternation at my spending two hours wiring an engine the size of a coat button. I mean its either this, or i work on my "real" projects around the house or in the garage... 🤪

 

Here's the current status; the fuselage joins on the Seversky have been fared with thick CA and then a smear of PPP and then sanded smooth. I'm now beginning to fit the wings. Its also the first time we see the two brothers together and starting to look very much alike:

 

51723852090_dd77a47ac1_k.jpgIMG_3815 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

Edited by RainierHooker
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Wings are glued and tail planes attached to the P-35...

 

51724524402_20907e80a7_k.jpgIMG_3821 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

As I wrap up the major assembly now I have to put some thought into the paint job for our little Seversky. Because of its low production numbers and short service life as a first line fighter, there aren't many options. All of them are rather attractive and none of them will be particularly easy. The entire production run of the P-35 (excluding test samples and P-35A models) was allotted to the 1st Pursuit Group and split between that group's HQ, and the 17th, 27th, and 94th pursuit squadrons. All were delivered in bare metal finish with typical 1930s high-visibility insignia. As I want to utilize the "Sioux Chief" head logo of the 94th PS that leaves me with the aircraft that carried plane-in-group numbers of 70-99. The 94th also used red as their squadron color, so the cowl bands and any squadron leader stripes would be red. This is the sole remaining P-35 in 94th PS markings, as it was before its most recent restoration:

 

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Of course, the last few years before the US entered the war were a time of experimentation for the US Army Air Corps. On their annual trips to Army war games, the 1st Pursuit Group experimented with camouflage on their P-35s (and P-36s too). One such war games exercise was in North Carolina in 1940 and is the source of the inspiration for this particular boxing of Special Hobby's kit. For this trip all of the group's P-35s were painted in a dizzying array of camouflage in green, tan, brown, and gray. All the colors were water based temporary paints brushed on by the individual aircrafts' crew chiefs. Mention is made in three books at my disposal; @Dana Bell's "Air Force Colors Vol. I", Squadron's "P-35, Mini Number 1", and the "Official Monogram US Army Air Service & Air Corps Aircraft Color Guide"...

 

51725987079_a254158549_k.jpgIMG_3823 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

I really like the look of these temporarily painted camo jobs, and so i have to pick one...

 

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(photo from the "Inch High Guy" blog)

 

51725583278_c239b2a468_k.jpgIMG_3825 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

Of course, as stated before, I have an irrational aversion to making any model exactly to the box art. Fortunately, there are plenty of these planes pictured in the few pictures of the event. Unfortunately, very few of the tail-numbers are visible in those pictures. The only ones I can make out are those already taken by the box-artist, and those of aircraft without my coveted Sioux insignia. The one in the foreground of this picture is inviting though:

 

51725986759_a8c9e5bbf2_k.jpgIMG_3824 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

It has got the markings of the 94th, and the camouflage is interesting; at least two darker drab colors in wide bands separated by a demarkation line in an even darker shade. Obviously this was the inspiration for this profile:

 

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...of course we know that it is nominally incorrect since it should display a red cowl band (clearly visible in the photo in the book) and that it cannot be aircraft number "9" since it should fall within the range of 70-99.

 

Thats a lot of words basically coming down to the fact that I've got some serous soul searching (and picture searching) to do while I wait for the putty on the wings edges and roots to dry. 

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Just now, TheyJammedKenny! said:

How about one of the Philippines-based aircraft?  Weren't these painted in OD over silver?  They participated in the desperate air battle over Clark Field.

The Philippines based aircraft were all P-35A's which have differences to the wings and cowl due primarily to different armament. The P-35A was actually the export model of Seversky's fighter and were built for the Swedish Air Force (Swedish designation J-9). When the US placed a halt to all arms export, except to Britain, the remaining J-9s were commandeered by the USAAF and thereafter designated the P-35A. 

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Not much to update, I took the last weekend's modeling time off from this build to do a quick build with the kid. Any time your seven year old initiates, you have to dive in whole hog. We built this little Hasegawa Fw. 190...

 

51735824128_ba7ed562b6_k.jpgIMG_3900 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

...he did subassembly and initial painting work, I did the fiddly bits, final assembly and the paint job. There's more photos in the RFI section.

 

Anyway, back to why you are tuned in here.

 

Since there is really now way around it, at least part of the Seversky must be bare metal finish, so I sprayed on a primer coat of flat a few nights ago. This morning I sat down in my arm chair with the P-35, a selection of sanding sticks, and a cup of coffee:

 

51742671269_c73b3bff93_k.jpgIMG_3959 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

51742266528_5b3a72877e_k.jpgIMG_3967 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

51742914980_40093c5aed_k.jpgIMG_3965 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

I have the seams just about all tuned-up. I plan on trying out Vallejo's "Metal Color" so once I'm done fettling, I'll spray a layer of their surface primer on and let it dry overnight before buffing it and going to town with the shiny stuff...

Edited by RainierHooker
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Looking like excellent progress!  Vallejo's "Metal Color" is good, and I've applied it without thinning it, though others insist upon mixing a little bit of flow improver and even Tamiya airbrush thinner.  Whichever way you choose to go, you are best advised to leave it until after you've applied the camouflage to the top of the model, and then to dust it on gradually, leaving about 24-48 hours between coats, for best results.  It's durable, but does not mask as well as other metalizers I've used.  On the other hand, it's forgiving, so if you need to respray local areas, you can feather it in nicely and nobody can tell that you made a correction.

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I think my process, at least for the undersides which will remain bare metal is going to be:

 

- surface primer

- buffing the surface primer

- metalizer 

- buffing the metalizer after 24 hours

- apply underside decals

- gloss clear coat

- buff the clear coat

 

the top sides will then be done in camouflage over chipping medium over either over metalizer or regular aluminum paint. Then decals. I dunno, make sense to me…

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That sounds like a plan, sir!  The clear coat, depending on what you use, should protect the metallic finish.  I admit I've only "buffed" the Vallejo with a cotton rag on which Novus 2 plastic polish had been allowed to dry.  If you buff it with the liquid, it'll come right off.

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After a day's wait, here's some serious... METAL 🤘

 

51745467983_a4de5a5543_k.jpgIMG_3986 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

Gonna let this one sit and dry for a day or three and then try to buff it to a nice shine with a nice clean t-shirt rag. In the meantime, I'm gonna do an inventory and prep for camouflage. I have settled on portraying this P-35 from the aforementioned photographs taken at the Bolling Field war games:

 

51744413227_5fc6d8b547_k.jpgIMG_3988 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

I am particularly drawn to that aircraft as the camouflage immediately takes my mind to the way many US helmets and gear were painted in the last months of the great war; various drabs separated by stripes of a dark color:

 

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I think it's a reasonable assumption that who ever painted this aircraft may have had the same idea.

 

After pouring over my references I am fairly confident of in the colors used. The main camouflage bands will be alternating Dark Olive Drab 31 and Rust Brown 34 with an irregular stripe of Dark Green 30 separating the two main colors. I'll try to as closely match my paints to the chips in my Monogram Guide, but I probably won't get too pedantic as these were all poor-wearing, inconsistent, temporary paints applied in the field. I still have no idea what the tail number of this aircraft was, but I have a small list of candidates within the 70-99 range allowed to the squadron. If I haven't solved that mystery by the time it comes to apply decals, I'll just choose one at random.

 

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After cross-referencing the colors from Dana Bell's "Air Force Colors Vol. 1" to AK's handy spreadsheet (here: http://www.ak-masters.com/app/pdf/RCEquivalenceDIG.pdf) I have all the colors I need for the camouflage. Here, painted unceremoniously on my worktop are from Vallejo's Air range, Rust Brown (Vallejo 71.293), Olive Drab 31 (Vallejo 71.043), and Dark Green 30 (Vallejo 71.124):

 

51745375921_4f1ea359f1_k.jpgIMG_3993 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

...and in black and white:

 

51746020069_abe6730968_k.jpgIMG_3993-1 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

I think that'll work great.

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