Christer A Posted October 10, 2022 Author Share Posted October 10, 2022 The coaming is just a piece of etch so it is very thin already. It all started when I saw that the windshield was a bit off center, like this. That's where it started... If I'm able to get it centered than I can fill any gaps with PPP and call it a day. Note to self, don't keep using a dodgy AM-set just because it's pretty. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 1 hour ago, Christer A said: The coaming is just a piece of etch so it is very thin already. It all started when I saw that the windshield was a bit off center, like this. That's where it started... If I'm able to get it centered than I can fill any gaps with PPP and call it a day. Note to self, don't keep using a dodgy AM-set just because it's pretty. Sorry to hear about the problem. The simplest solution is always the best. Adding a strip of plastic first and then some filler maybe would do the trick? I had the same problem once, began to sand and cut and finally had to bin the kit. Fingers crossed. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 you've had some great progress but not without a fight though!!! AS Pat said, it might be easier to just fill the gaps and be done with it. Popping off canopies and refitting/aligning have a notorious habit of breaking or cracking said canopies. It sounds like the issue has been caused by the IP either being too tall or sitting too high. I have had this happen quite a few time and have had to butcher the top of IP's to get them fit properly. Hopefully it's something you can fix without dramas/damage as the work you've done on her so far looks great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 Thanks Rich! I have a feeling that this build is cursed in some way. The windshiled is faired in, all seams are seen to so now it's time to paint. Finally! Starting from the bottom, a nice even coat of Tamiya NATO black was the ide: A clear coat to protect it really darkens it quite a bit, which could help in the next step where I add some normal black to a few panels here and there. Some masking later and the gear bays could be colored in as well. Neutral grey (also Tamiya) seems to be the general accepted truth for camo P-38J so I went with that. The topside got Gunze Medium Sea Grey instead, and a lightened version of the same. The picture of Miss Ann shows a very solid and unweathered finish, but where is the fun in that? Let's just say that this picture shows Miss Ann a few months later... That Panzer putty is really runny though, so one cannot mask it all up, leave for supper and expect to have it stay in the same place once one gets back. For me that usually models at a geological pace this really puts me into overdrive. I still like the stuff, since it's so low tac and does not leave any residue behind. One swift demasking later and this is what I got: I think this "odd panels in blacker black" might work? I do have a P-61 and a NF Defiant that I could test that hypothesis on 😀 But after all this quite nice painting a few things jumped at med. There was still an few places where I needed filler, and once place where the plastic appeared to have melted? 😱 Well, there was nothing else to do but to roll up the sleeves, putty the worst bits and repaint it. Time to clear coat it, so that the stickers can go on smoothly. In my attempts to get a smooth finish I managed to get a tiny drop Self Levelling thinner on the glove that holds the model. Yet another fingerprint!? D'oh! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Sounds like you had some fun & games there, Christer, but the model is looking great in paint James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 Thank James! I had a lot of fun painting it, even tough I did it a couple of extra times. It turned out more or less as I wanted it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 I'm soooooo glad to find out you didn't throw in the towel on this one @Christer A. Seeing the result after the fight, you'll tackle the fingerprints as just a minor annoyance. Lost the gunsight while puttying today but I fought it right out of the maws of the carpet monster. Nice painting. BTW I found info taken from a book about 100 Group that says the planes - after the experimental "intruder" missions - were repainted with RAF colours , medium sea grey (light tone) and dark green. So it seems logical that available RAF paints were used for the "special" camo. Anyways, MSG over NATO black looks good. Good job. Pat 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 That's some interesting info, Pat. So one could feasibly paint Miss Ann as she would have been after the experiment with RAF Dark Green uppers and MSG underside, deliniated as per the standard OD/NG USAAF. Hmm, that's one to consider for the future... James 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 36 minutes ago, 81-er said: That's some interesting info, Pat. So one could feasibly paint Miss Ann as she would have been after the experiment with RAF Dark Green uppers and MSG underside, deliniated as per the standard OD/NG USAAF. Hmm, that's one to consider for the future... James My search is linked to this BM thread from CKW's @ckw (very helpful, thanks to all who shared the infos): Which led me here: https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?topic=404079.0 where there is an excerpt of the book. Still doubts about the scheme during special ops though. A fine day to you. Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 12 hours ago, PattheCat said: I'm soooooo glad to find out you didn't throw in the towel on this one @Christer A. Seeing the result after the fight, you'll tackle the fingerprints as just a minor annoyance. Lost the gunsight while puttying today but I fought it right out of the maws of the carpet monster. Nice painting. BTW I found info taken from a book about 100 Group that says the planes - after the experimental "intruder" missions - were repainted with RAF colours , medium sea grey (light tone) and dark green. So it seems logical that available RAF paints were used for the "special" camo. Anyways, MSG over NATO black looks good. Good job. Pat Thanks Pat! I plan to paint the nose tonight, so that I can put on the stickers during the weekend. Gunsight? I haven't even seen that one on the sprues? And thanks for the info about the 100th Group. It makes more sense then to use MSG as I did 😇 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 And yet more interesting info from @PattheCat! I can forsee an Italeri Miss Ann boxing in my future, with a Mosquito-esque MSG/DG distruptive scheme! (And maybe a couple more in some of the variations suggested) James 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 21 minutes ago, 81-er said: And yet more interesting info from @PattheCat! I can forsee an Italeri Miss Ann boxing in my future, with a Mosquito-esque MSG/DG distruptive scheme! (And maybe a couple more in some of the variations suggested) James Thanks for the kind words @Christer A and @81-er It seems I misinterpreted the text of the book, the DG over MSG camo was put on during april 1944 thus when the aircrafts were in use at little Snoring (march-april 1944) After opening the box I ordered a second kit for a (not near)future build. Now that "PRU blue" is more than probably out of question I'm pondering if I'll still use it for this one. I'm not in the mood for a NMF finish. If I don't go for one of the other box schemes there still is some time to to find another option and order a decal sheet. Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 November hasn't been a good month for modelling 😞 Too much to do with matter elsewhere, so intense that I even forgot everything about the Bunfight for 2023. Oh well, back to the matters at hand. I resprayed the nose, and then took on the decals. Since it was a repaint to test the effectiveness of the colors, I figured that they didn't apply all stencils again. Many of them that I have are black in any case! That brings Miss Ann and Journey's End to more or less the same place: Time for the final bits the, like the superchargers and wheels Funny thing about the wheels, the CMK ones (top two in the picture above) are a bit more narrow than the Reskit ones. On the other hand, the wheel hubs are too small on CMK but too large on Reskit. This will take some fixing to sort out! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Both birds look great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 They're both looking fantastic, Christer James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted December 1, 2022 Author Share Posted December 1, 2022 Thanks a bunch guys! I hope to be able to start weathering on Sunday. That could be fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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