Clunkmeister

I’m calling this one done. I have not weathered it at all, nor have I bombed it up. Yet. Pearl Harbor aircraft were basically new, or next to new machines, having seen no combat before that fateful day, so I will give it some basic exhaust and oil staining, and possibly a bit of minor salt staining. I’m placing it on a table at the IPMS US Nationals tomorrow, and this is as far as I’m willing to go, today. It looks good, alignment is decent, and it’ll give a good account of itself tomorrow and Saturday. It’s not a Nationals winner, but it’s a decent and straight build. This aircraft was the flight leader on the first wave of dive bombers, and sortied from the carrier Shokaku. The special color was for formation assembly after the attack was completed. Ill add some better pics in a bit

Looks much better now, no doubt

Yep, I caught it in the picture last night. It’s fixed. It turns out the issue was the walkway, not the orange. The starboard side was too far outboard. So I added a bit on the inboard edge, and removed the same amount on the outboard edge. Fixed

Yep, I caught it in the picture last night. I’m going to see if it makes sense to try to spray it in. It’s yellow/orange after all, and it might be tougher to do right than it looks. But I’m going to try to fix it. The Orange was apparently applied on ship, which is pretty cool. Also, the early war Japanese equipment was built pre war, so the finish was much tougher and less prone to peeling off in sheets

Well, I changed horses mid stream… These are the brand new Art Scale Kits decals that I received quickly, before they’ve been released, with a promise that I will give an honest review after the Nats. So I have applied the scheme I like the most: the attack leader from Shokaku.

I’d be open to suggestions regarding picking winners. I use the kids in the neighborhood because it’s pretty much independent from me. I do make sure to exclude “cute” builds like AEG planes, etc, as they’d obviously win, but if y’all want to toss it around some, after all, I just facilitate the GB. Y’all are the ones who make it happen with all y’all’s amazing builds. I think two fine models won, so I’m good here either way.

I’m not quite that charitable. I think someone just didn’t care one bit.

And now for a slightly less enthusiastic concern. FYI, I’m NOT a builder of Trumpeter’s kits, so I have yet to experience many of the letdowns and pitfalls others talk often about. Until now. I’m a believer in putting your mind to everything you do, and whatever it is you attempt, you give it ALL you have. Slacking off or failing due to improper prep is nobody’s fault but the person who failed. Trumpeter apparently spent the best part of two decades to get this kit right, and in fact, the plastic appears good. But then I run into crap like this…. And in case you don’t know, this is Trumpeter’s offering for airframe stenciling. I actually feel like they slapped me in the face. Chinese lazy workmanship on display for all the world to see. This garbage has soured me on their entire attempt here, a d now, I remember reading about how Trumpeter’s decals SUCK. I now wonder about the accuracy of all the decals. But, it’s an OOB build, although this garbage will be nowhere near my model. Yes folks, that is Trumpeter’s idea of airframe stenciling. I’m actually offended at their total lack of respect towards all of us.

I will certainly give Peter with many of my dollars for several copies of this set. Amazing stuff!

Aaaand like a fool, I put the wing meatballs are too far inward. Respraying. 😂

Some meatballs and stripes courtesy of the trusty DSPAIE circle cutter. Thats about as fancy a mask cutter as I’ve ever used.

The few minutes spent on it makes all the difference.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Well, I’m relieved. It appears my source had a case of fumblethumbs. Nobody’s immune from that!

Will I need my decal stretcher?

In 1/33 scale. Thats how I received the notice, so maybe this is one of those “almost fits” sheets? But I hope Dr Eli is up and feeling better.

Peter, come to think of it, YOU’D look real good in a 1:1 scale T-Bird. They’ve come WAY down in value these last few years

Yep. Against my grain it is, but this will be part of an in depth review so yes, it’s 100% OOB. However, I just HAD to attack that oh-so-wrong windscreen, so what you see here is the Windscreen, Cloudy Edition. I’m up to 8000 grit so far.

Mighty cool. A buddy had his 57 out tonight.

PW, please send me your address. Thanks!

They are both great kits, and although the Val is a bit more of a technical and involved build, they both build up nice.

Hah yep. But I’m trying to do a 100% OOB build, and this makes it pretty tough to do.

I asked them why they chose the F-14, and duhhh, the answer I got was “because Maverick flew one”. It being a first class build didn’t hurt, either. But they loved that little Zerstorer. I think most here would agree.

Honestly Carl, it’s simply a matter of sanding (trueing) the surfaces until you’re happy with them. If you build resin, you’re already familiar with the process. Generally, on a flat wing you can use a 8 1/2 x 11” piece of sandpaper and drag the entire part across, but pay attention that you don’t put too much pressure on one area. Go slowly, evenly, and carefully. Once you’re close, finish with sanding sticks. But check your progress regularly. You DON’T want to go too far. You’ll be surprised at what you find. On short run kits, most likely you’ll see the sandpaper hitting the trailing edges about 1/2” inside the edge. Seeing that for the first time is a sobering experience, and ignoring it will cause unfixable gaps on the trailing edge. All the clamping in the world won’t help you there. Your only hope is to fix the problem first. By trueing the surface. After that, thinning the trailing edges is simply a matter of going a little bit farther until you’re happy with the thickness.

Got this in the mail today, a gorgeous prop hub, 3D printed by Mike Swinburne. HUGE improvement over the soft kit part. This may be a new Bareacuda piece…