Bertie McBoatface Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 the colour of the gear bays.Any thoughts anyone? That lime green paint in the second photo extends over electrical plugs and rubber pipe cleats. It looks very fresh and bright. The components in the wheelbay look old, dull and corroded. Bases on that, I think that the lime green has been brushed on as a ham-fisted restoration exercise and then photographed with flash. The first photo, taken from outside the bay in natural light, seems to be more likely to have been the bay colour for an operational aircraft. Well, that's how I'd interpret it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 And for today... I've just about completed work on the bomb bay. I've opted for a very dirty look as I can't imagine that this part of the aircraft would often get too much love... So it was sprayed initially with Tamiya Yellow Green, and then chipped in Silver, and covered with three shades of Citadel washes: Mud, Black and Flesh. I then went over the area with a fine spray of Yellow Green again and added a slight layer of Tamiya smoke. I think it doesn't quite look how I intended it to, but it's getting there. Maybe another day of work ahead?: I've also wired up the front undercarriage bay. It was quite enjoyable actually, I've used various thicknesses of fuse wire to reach the desired effect. The colour is Tamiya IJN Green, sprayed over a layer of silver and with Mud Citadel wash added: The overview of the entire project now: Next up will be the same process for the rear undercarriage bay, and then the tail area, cockpit and then I can start to think about sealing it up and seeing where it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Just been for a run... and on reflection, I don't like the top part of the bomb bay. So it's coming out and I'm going to do it again... and get it right this time!!! Trial and error, but I don't like the roof of the bomb bay at all - there are many different things on it which are taking my eyes, but I think I can do much better... I'll have another go during the day tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) Well today marks a bit of a landmark: I think that scratchbuilding on the inside of the model is complete. Bearing in mind this is the first time that I have ever tried scratchbuilding Having redone the bomb bay using evergreen and sheet styrene, I added various wires to it modelled by using different fuse wires and shaded again in the normal colour process. It's designed to look dirty as (I reckon!) a bomb bay would have looked in Vietnam. I will do one or two more touches up on it - especially on the wires, in order to make them stand out a little bit more though. The next step that was completed was the undercarriage bays. These things are a total mess on the actual aircraft and I thought that I would try and represent this on here. It's pretty much organised chaos in there with all the fuse wires... I'm sorry about the quality of the photos on a couple of these... I enjoyed this bit a lot - it was quite good fun getting the wires into as much a disorganised pattern as possible. The brighter wirse have been washed down since the photos were taken too: As a project overview, she's nearly ready for sealing up now. Shockingly! I'm not particularly looking forward to this bit and sense that it will take a fair bit of nerve and patience and possibly two full tubes of glue! But here's the work so far, next to my Trumpeter 1/24 Spitfire Vb floatplane. Just for size comparrison of course!: So there we go... the work so far. Edited June 18, 2011 by Chris Jephcott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F111Fan Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Very, very nice work there Chris, may steal some ideas for when I get round to doing my Massive-gram D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 And for now: I've cemented the fuselage together. As predicted, it required more patience and filler than anything else. Due maybe the age of the kit, and the internal fittings I added, plus a lack of skill on my behalf, I ended up with a significant lip between the two fuselage sides. This was then sanded down, and I went over the entire seem with white Squadron putty before sanding it down. The fuselage was then rescribed (another first for me!!!), and sanded down. Then work has started on the wings... It finally feels like I'm making some progress here. The big central attention grabbing point on the model is the fact that the flaps can be posed down. In fact, some say that the kit is supposed to have the flaps shown in a down position. With dry fitting, I realised that there was going to be one problem with this. The supplied railings and fittings meant that if I was going to have the flaps down, then the edge of the flap would push the top edge of the wing upwards, making a good join impossible. So my solution was to construct new flap railings out of Evergreen Strip. I also added a bit more detail to the flap bay too: So when the wing is joined up and put together, it looks like this: And from the otherside: I did wonder about the trenches on the flaps, however, I have seen photos of B-52Ds that do indeed have this as a feature... So I decided to keep them as they were. So, coming up in the next few days will be: attaching the wings, tail and tail planes. I'm still working on the best way of giving this beast a decent painting. I'm thinking of doing the majority of the painting with the engines and fuel tanks and bombs off, and then adding them afterwards. So I suspect, this means that I will assemble everything, paint the aircraft and then add on the bits and bobs that are required at the end. Cheers, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F111Fan Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Definitely bookmarking this thread for future reference, excellent work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Chris, I am in awe! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted July 4, 2011 Author Share Posted July 4, 2011 Thank you very much for your comments guys! Just a quick little progress update: I'm moving house on the 20th July, and as such, as of today, all modelling activity has been placed on a temporary hold. I've managed to spray the underside wqith Tamiya Flat black, and now she's in her portable hangar. Ready to be transported to the new destination!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I'm moving house Good luck with the move! See you soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 And finally... work can resume! I've completed my move, unpacked, set up my man cave, decanted the stash (plus a few new additions!) and then I've been able to do this. I've put down an initial camoflage as based on the monogram instructions. It's involved a lot of masking, spraying, demasking, remasking, respraying, redemasking, but this is where it is now: The light seems to reveal a number of imperfections in the finish, which will hopefully vanish under the gloss coat of Varnish that will be put on. This is the underside. I've originally sprayed the flap bays as Zinc Chromate, then dusted over a layer of black, and then the final coat will actually be white, as I've seen in several photos of the B-52D flap bays. The effect should be one of a dirtied look, hopefully! I'm still quite happy with the way that the scratchbuilt bombbay has now turned out: Well... what's next. As you can probably guess... it's the engines. I'll be doing three of the normal pods but I will also have one with the visible engine on display too. I think that it adds a fair bit of interest this way too. That's all for now folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 That's a huge area to spray! I hope you are well ventilated. It's seems to be coming out well, looks appropriately patchy and faded. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 That B52 looks great in camouflage - very impressive Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 very impressive Cliff Yep that's thr phrase I'd use too ! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 (edited) A very good afternoon everybody! Well, I've made some progress now the absolute carnage of moving house is settling down a bit. I've mainly been working on getting the camoflage to have a tired/war-weary look about it - as a bomber build, it would be wrong if the bomber was purely factory fresh, wouldn't it? So I've mottled down the Tamiya acrylics that I've been using with various shades of grey and white to give some tonal variation in the colours. The result is that the bomber does look a little bit more tired and worn out. For the black, I've used Tamiya Nato Black over the panels in order to make the difference stand out even more. The flap bays and scratchbuilt bomb bay... The other thing is that the engines are now done too. This is the most important one as it is going to be the focal point for the wing - the kit is supplied with a visible engine, and so I've decided to have it in an open position, in order to show it off. The shading has been done with a mixture of Humbrol Silver Acrylic spray (initially!), followed by a coating of Citadel Chainmail and Tin Bitz, with then Tamiya Gold and Bronze used to highlight over the details. I've then applied several different shades of citadel wash - including Black, Mud and Sepia. Now, almost the next thing to do is to attach the engines... and here she is, with the engines attached (but not glued!). I look forward to hearing your comments and constructive criticism!! Next up... well, it wouldn't be a bomber if it didn't have bombs would it??? Edited August 5, 2011 by Chris Jephcott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the South African Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Some super work there mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Man, that's coming on strong! (I have no criticism to add.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexwh773 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Beautiful work Chris Bexy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kspriss Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 seconded. great work Chris ...oh if you decide you want a 72nd one Bexy..i know where there is one ..i know how you like big birds like this ..mwahahaha! steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexwh773 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 You trying to get me into trouble Steve!!!!! Bexy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kspriss Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 You trying to get me into trouble Steve!!!!! Bexy who me?... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 Thank you very much for your kind comments! They are very much appreciated! I've had a busy weekend (spent yesterday in Stratford with a theatre trip attached!) - so I'm sitting down to face up to a really dull and repetitive job right now. I'm hoping if I close my eyes and come back to it, then it will be done for me. Horrible! That's 24 bombs needing assembly. I think it's time for some liquid calmer and some classical music. And to wish that the glue fairies would come and do it for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It'sAllGoneHorriblyWrong Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 After sticking that lot together you'll probably have the glue fairies dancing in front of your eyes. Time to open the window methinks... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Awesome stuff: this is going to be a seriously imposing model when complete! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim T Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Great work Chris! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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