Warhawk War Paint

We put most of the decals on the P-40 as the uneasy relationship between the allies continues.

The decals are a mix from Academy and Roden kits.  I'm not trying to represent any particular historic aircraft. I want to go for a more generic representation of a well used fighter with plenty of wear with the aim of building skills in applying washes, and weathering techniques.  The only tricky part of applying the decals was I had to trim the first aid kit stencil since I forgot to put it on first before the red 35.

I put red stars where they would have replaced US stars.  I may add another star on the underside and/or topside of the wing since I'm thinking this would be standard (If the Red Air Force had any such thing) markings.  I still need to put decals on the propeller blades before I install the prop and hub.  Also, I want to use Micro Sol on the decals to make them really snuggle down.  I'm hoping to achieve a painted on effect with them.  I'm out of Micro Sol so I'll need to pick some up tomorrow after work.

More soon.  Ya'll be safe.

Another Day at the Work Bench

Actually I love the LaGG-3.  I think it was an innovative answer to a very serious question: How do you mass produce a modern fighter when your country has a serious shortage of a key material (Aluminum)?  The answer the design team came up with was to use a strong innovative plastic impregnated wood for structural parts of the airframe (wing spars, etc...) and cover most of the aircraft with thin plywood that was doped and smoothed.   An elegant answer that used the abundance to wood (think Siberian forest) available to the Soviet Union and reduced the demand for Aluminum.

That being said the LaGG-3 was in many ways a hard luck ship.  Rushed into production before many of the problems with the aircraft had been worked out led to a disorganized production program (not helped at all by the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the need to relocate factories) full of constant revisions of production plans.  Eventually, the LaGG-3's problems were solved and the aircraft transformed into the excellent La-5 and La-7.

Sadly my efforts to build this LaGG-3  model have mirrored the production difficulties of its' real life predecessor.  But I refuse to give in and quit.  I am not going to add aileron detail.  My efforts looked amateurish and I was totally dissatisfied with them.  So I'll save that for another project.  Now I'm going to smooth those over and get back on track finishing this great piece of Russian aviation history.

In other news, I  did some touch up painting and sprayed the P-40 with a gloss coat in preparation for applying decals.

Also worked on my Airfix USAAF figures and the bomb cart and bomb.  Checking the dimensions of the bomb and converting them with a scale converter it measures closest to an AN/M-64 500 pound GP bomb.

I found an excellent reference on WW2 US aircraft bombs, TM 9-1980 Bombs for Aircraft (1944) here:
http://www.lexpev.nl/manuals/unitedstates.html

Airfix WWII United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Personnel

You may have noticed a couple of new figures have made it into the past few posts.  I had previously picked up this box of Airfix USAAF figures at my local hobby shop.  I've started painting one of each of the figures and the neat little M1 Bomb Lift Cart and bomb (I think it's an AN/M-65 1,000 pound GP bomb or AN/M-66 2,000 pound GP bomb. Sorry no picture yet).

According to the Plastic Soldier Review website (http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com)
these were originally produced in 1974 and are one of Airfix's better figure kits.  I like them a lot.  I take 2-3 to work with me and paint them during breaks and at lunch time.  I find it very relaxing.

This little gem of a figure is the pick of the lot for me.

Every time I look at this little asbestos suited fireman I'm reminded of a scene from the movie 12 O'Clock High when ground personnel race to aid damaged B-17s returning from a mission.  This little guy could be from the movie.  I just can't get enough of him and am trying to think of ways to include him in a diorama that doesn't set off a smoke alarm.

Taking a couple of days off from the LaGG-3 and P-40 since my work week started and time is limited when I get home.

More soon.

Eagle Day

Finished up the F-15 Eagle today.

Applied a wash of Dark Gull Gray mixed with a little Flat Black.  I'm not totally happy with the results but attribute the problems I had with it to my hasty decision to brush paint the Eagle which made the panel lines shallow in spots plus I think I waited too long to start removing excess wash after I had applied it.  But enough of my grousing.  I'm happy to have completed a model and tried some new techniques and diorama building for the first time.  Plus researching stuff online about Sparrow missiles, Kadena AFB, and the 18th Wing was fun and informative.

Once I got the wash applied and dry I loaded up the AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.

Some lessons learned:

•  Don't be hasty and impatient.  It only causes problems and ends up added more time and effort to the build.
•  Try to plan out exactly what you want to accomplish during the model build.  i.e. what new techniques you want to try.  Not having a good plan going in leads to snap decision making which can lead you to running down rabbit holes (wasting effort/time).
• Don't get discouraged.  If you need to, take a break and regroup, then come back to the model with a better outlook.  Plus it gives you an opportunity to visit with your family and friends who haven't seen you since you've been tucked away model building;-).

More to come soon.  I've got to get out of the box I feel that i'm in on the LaGG.  The P-40 is coming along nicely as the inaugural finishing models already started project.

Warhawk Spray Job

Worked some on the Academy P-40E.  I'm building the Warhawk as a Lend-Lease aircraft for the Red Air Force.

I masked using a blown up camouflage pattern that I cut out and glued down with rubber cement.  I followed the directions in Paul Boyer's Painting and Finishing Scale Models to accomplish this.

Once I had the masks in place I air brushed on a coat of acrylic Testors Model Masters RAF Dark Green.

Removing the masks revealed.

Also finally got F-15 Eagle's tail fin decals put on and a coat of gloss lacquer over them.  Ready to start weathering tomorrow.  Yeah!

Scribe Time

Short post tonight.  I got a good amount of work on the LaGG-3 today.  I decided to scribe in panel line detail and the wing strap detail so I can keep moving on this project.

The LaGG-3 was built mainly out of wood.  Metal was only used where absolutely necessary in order to save on scarce metals and use something the Soviet Union had an abundance of - wood.  This does have the benefit of limiting the number of panel lines on the model.

The main area on the LaGG-3 where metal was used was the engine cowling.  I started there scribing on panel line detail.

They look a bit on the heavy side, but this is the first time I did this, so I'm happy to have detail where none existed before. 

Then I scribed in the wing strap detail.

I can move forward on the LaGG-3 from here.  Still have to work some on the aileron detail and cleaning up the panel lines.

Just got to keep banging away on this.

One lesson I've learned from this project and the F-15 is that I need to have a clearer idea of what I want to accomplish on a model before I start building it.

More to follow soon.

"These are not dark days..."

Kind of a hodgepodge of a day modelling wise.  It was full of highs and lows and to be honest I could feel that I didn't make much progress today.  But I've got to remember that some progress was made which is much better than NO progress at all.

This was the starting point with the F-15 Eagle missing a decal and some prep work for painting on yellow tail stripes done.

I bought another F-15 kit from Hobby Lobby to use the decals.

Getting the decals was a definite plus for the day.

Got the tail stripes painted on.  Another point in the plus column.  But, removing the tape after painting further damaged/removed the remaining decals and even removed the paint down to bare plastic.  Grrrrr... :-(  2 points in the minus column.  I had to walk away for a little while after this and go do some yard work for a few hours to clear my head.

When I came back I removed the remaining decals and starting repainting the tails.

So that's where I'm at with the Eagle today.

I did get a great surprise in the post today.

The A-10 kit I had ordered through Amazon arrived from the UK today!  Hip! Hip! Hooray!  This was double plus good.

Working on the LaGG wasn't a good time today.  Installing one of the wing straps I had cut out showed that what I thought was an good job of cutting was actually horrible.  I am so embarrassed by it that I didn't take a picture of it.  I'm going have to rethink this.  Using Evergreen plastic card might be a better option.  Sanded the wings down to remove some inaccurate panel lines and the remains of glue.  I am going to try scribing the aileron's fabric and trim tab detail.  I was depressed by the failure of my efforts and left the shop and went back into the house.

Where I was greeted by wonderful smells of baking.

My oldest daughter had made some awesome blue berry and peach with cream cheese pastries!  This was exactly what I needed to improve my mood ;-)  The blue berries were fresh, picked from my mother-in-laws blue berry bushes today.  They were really sweet and were complemented perfectly by the tangy cream cheese and flaky texture of the pastry.  Reinvigorated by this tasty treat I returned to the shop.

Where the army men and I were able to finish out the day successfully by masking and painting the first of my uncompleted models with a coat of Dark Earth.  This Academy 1/72 P-40E is going to have a British camouflage scheme.

The day did not go like I had envisioned but I was able to make some progress.  So as Winston Churchill said, "These are not dark days; these are great days..."  More tomorrow.

Wings of Victory

Started added strap detail to the LaGG's wings.

Determined the LaGG's 1/72 scale wingspan and reduced drawing down to correct size.

Then I cut out a wing and taped it down over a brass sheet.  Using a new sharp Xacto knife blade and a straight edge I cut out the strap shapes.

As Ivan said, the first one I cut out came out fine.  The second one I got in a rush to finish and I'm probably going to have to cut out another one if I can't trim it down.  I actually feel better good about this.  It is the first time I've tried to add some scratch built metal detail like this. My plan is to file/sand the metal straps smooth and super glue them in place on the wings.  Once I've got them into position I'll add a little rivet detail with a drill bit or needle in my pin vise.   I'm hopeful that it's going to turn out ok.

Also, removed the tail strip decals from the F-15 Eagle

Photo is of Micro Set loosened tail strip before I used an old brush to remove decal.  I also managed to destroy one of the decals under one of the strips because I got impatient and put masking tape down on unprotected decals.  When I lifted the tape the decal stuck to the tape and came off.  Despite my best efforts the decal disintegrated when I tried to carefully remove it from the tape. After this I sprayed on a coat of gloss lacquer to protect the decals

 I get very mad at myself for getting in a rush which invariably leads to disaster.  I'm going to check at a local store to see if they have another Eagle kit I can buy to use the decal out of.  Or I may try to contact Academy to see if they will send me a replacement.  More to follow.