neil5208 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 (edited) Been waiting to start this one for a while but now I been moved from my normal work bench into a cupboard I realised just how many kits I have in the stash, 40+ (SWMBO also saw these) and in the move this one came to her attention so she said this should be the next one built. Hobby Boss's P61A Black Widow kit in 1/72, this will be done as aircraft 42-25531 which was the personal aircraft of General Earl W Barnes who was the commander of the 13th Air Task Force, summer 1944. This was the only Black widow to be unpainted if only for 3-6 months before being painted black. In 1/48 decals are available but I couldn't find them in 1/72. I have the Eduard cockpit etch and a decal set for the serials. I have seen other pictures that do not have the art work on the tail but I may try making this as a decal. The Hobby Boss kit looks nice and I will be using Billn53 previous build as reference and other than the paint scheme it should be straight forward. I sprayed some of the interior green at some point but nothing more. Edited May 15, 2022 by neil5208 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Nice kit but with a couple of inaccuracies - like the blunt leading edge intakes. I found the most difficult part was sorting the fuselage seam line beneath the cockpit. It wasn't massive but it was persistent, and I lost a lot of surface detail by filling and sanding. If I were to make this kit again, I would check the fit in this area carefully and, if necessary, try a prop between the fuselage halves to rectify any mismatch. Rgds Martin 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 I thought this was a fine kit, which went together quickly (I built mine OOB in 10 days). The fit along the lower canopy line is problematic, which Martin (above) has mentioned if I understand him correctly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 6 hours ago, billn53 said: I thought this was a fine kit, which went together quickly (I built mine OOB in 10 days). The fit along the lower canopy line is problematic, which Martin (above) has mentioned if I understand him correctly. Broadly, yes. Although my upper and lower fuse halves also did not fit well due, I think, to deformation of the top half. However that deformation also affected the canopy fit. When joining upper and lower parts, if the upper half is propped open until the glue dries, to match the lower half, I think that would fix the canopy fit also. Rgds Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 After Mike and Bills comments I removed the 3 parts that make up the fuselage from the sprue for a test fit. First just the upper and lower fuselage sections. Fit looks pretty good, and then with the lower wing/cockpit floor section added. Again looks ok but there is more parts to go inside and there is no locating pins between the fuselage sections. Another thing I noticed yesterday is that 42-25531 does not have the wing tanks fitted but the kit has both the wing tank and bomb pylon mounts moulded on to the lower wings so some plastic card was glue to the inside and will have filer in the slots tonight. Then I can scrap/sand flush. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted March 10, 2022 Author Share Posted March 10, 2022 Made some progress with the photo etch this week in the cockpit and radar op station. Assembled the tail booms, these quick assemble kits have snap together fittings so line up quite well but there will be some minor filling and sanding. A quick test fit of the booms 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Looking good! The interior PE is a nice improvement, I wish I had had that when I built mine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 Continued with the etch work so I can get the cockpit finished off and closed up. Commander seat belt draped over the arm rest rather than following the seat back. I will give these a coat of Klear, a light oil wash and flat coat and the glue marks will disappear. Wheels made up and sprayed with Tamiya Nato Black Engines sprayed with Tamiya XF56, props with XF1. The spinners will be silver with a red tip on the starboard engine. Sanding on the tail booms went pretty well with just some sprue glop needed to take care of the slight gaps. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 I'm finding this kit infuriating sometimes, some parts clip together perfectly and others have no alignment method such as the two cockpit side panels hence the clips. The aircraft commander seat in position after the oil wash and flat coat. Side panel and IP fitted. Another test fit of the wing and fuselage sections I decided to check the fit of the clear parts. A bit more work on the engines as well. I sprayed the one of the engine cowls with the Mr Hobby metallic 211 but it is not the correct one. I will try to find the Super Fine Silver instead. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted March 23, 2022 Author Share Posted March 23, 2022 I have joined the upper and lower wing sections over the last 2 days and continued with the seams on the tail sections. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted March 31, 2022 Author Share Posted March 31, 2022 I have fitted the lower fuselage and even after trial fitting and use of tape and clamps there is some gaps. Prop spinner and wheel hubs have been sprayed XF16 Aluminium. Lastly I received the Mr Hobby SM201 Shiny Aluminium so I sprayed the second engine cowl, SM201 on the left and SM211 on the right. I personally cant see much difference between the two but will use a mix of both to have panel variation 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 Small update for the weekend. Engines assembled and props dry fitted (tips yet to be painted). Wheels have had an oil wash to tone the aluminium down. Tail booms and horizontal stabiliser assembled. A small amount of filler and sanding on the fuselage join was needed. The radar op's seat has been fitted as well, there's some more etch to go into the cockpits once I'm happy with the seams and then the canopies can go on. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Looking good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 I made the decision to add some nose weight earlier in the week and used sprue gloop to secure, Not a good idea. The sprue gloop distorted the outside of the nose badly so I have had the apply filler to reshape. The front cockpit glass has been fitted with no issue and I started masking this morning (an hour so far) and I fitted 2 of the last 5 pieces of etch to go into the radar ops section. Its currently taped to the spray can so the glue can dry, once the other 3 parts are on the other side I will fit the rear canopy. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy400 Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Looking good. A very unusual plane. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 This is coming along a treat! Forgot I had one of these. This is making me want to start it! Rob 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted April 17, 2022 Author Share Posted April 17, 2022 Last etch has gone into the radar ops position so I took some photos before its closed up. Probably wont be able to see most of it once the rear transparency goes on 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 Put the rear clear part on before I noticed it had a mould seam so I used one of my new Flory sanding sticks to get rid of it and masked up with tape and Maskol. Also finished the front masking. A spray of my interior green mix, Tamiya XF4 and XF1. Mostly ok but found a gap. Carefully fitted the tail boom sections and clamped up. I'll leave that overnight to set and see how much filling the seams will need. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 Been a bit busy the last week but got some bench time yesterday so I removed the clamps to find one of the tail boom seams had split. So the filler came out and sorted quickly. I've got the nose reshaped 95% so that's been fitted tonight, this will need some more shaping but I can do this better on the fuselage. I would like to get some primer on soon so I can see any remaining seams to clean up. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 It's coming along nicely, despite the setbacks and design faults. Umpteen years ago, I managed to melt the nose of an A6 intruder in a similar fashion! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted May 2, 2022 Author Share Posted May 2, 2022 Finally got primer onto the P61 a few days ago, seams are mostly good but the nose needs more shaping and the leading edges around the booms has some filling to be done. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted May 8, 2022 Author Share Posted May 8, 2022 Manage to get a coat of Tamiya Gloss Black X1 on this afternoon next will be the Mr Colour Metal Coat. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 Great build—the P-61 is one of my favorites! I think your photo etch investment is really wise and will pay off with all the glass—you also sorted the nose issue nicely—following with interest—best, Erwin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted May 15, 2022 Author Share Posted May 15, 2022 I did manage to get some of the Mr Colour Super Metallic on but it went completely flat with no shine so I ordered some of the new AK Super Chrome ink. That works much better! Resprayed the engine nacelles along with the under carriage doors. I haven't sprayed the topside yet but I don't want to push my luck with a new paint untill I'm sure its hardened fully. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 I redid a few area's I wasn't happy with on the underside and sprayed the upper side last night. Happy to report that the AK Super Chrome sands with no problems but need to be applied thick enough to be able to shine but if you put to much on can go crinkly such as wing roots. This picture shows the last part sprayed has stayed more reflective that the areas around it but it should loose a bit as it dries more. Next up is masking the canopy frames to be sprayed matt black and the radome in matt white. Then I will start experimenting in panel shading with differing tinted gloss clears 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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