[Summer project Kawasaki KI-61, Tamiya 1/48]

2 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Looking good Rob, thanks for the tip on the black base, the P51 is next for the booth and I haven’t thought about sanding it……..

Thanks Phil, given the slight tackiness of the black base, which didn't cure properly after one and a half day, I have to say, that I will use gloss black Tamiya lacquer color next time. As much as I like the Extreme Metal colors, I start to distrust their black base.
It was the first time, I sanded and airplane after priming. I liked the result with an ultrasmooth surface, but you have to take care not to remove all the primer with too much abrasion. 4000 followed by 8000 grit was perfect for me with only slight pressure and water.

2 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Yikes, you’re simply doing a killer build and my same feelings about the issu with the canopy mask set. 
the AK gloss black base looks perfect - smooth as glass❗

Thanks Peter, yes the finish of the black base is good, but the lasting tackiness made me think about durability and compatibility. Next time, I use Tamiya's gloss black lacquer.

Cheers Rob

[Summer project Kawasaki KI-61, Tamiya 1/48]

On 8/8/2021 at 9:18 PM, harv said:

Nice !!.....harv 

Thanks Harv.

Some more work got done. I added the engine cowling and radiators, which don't need a PE substitute, because, thanks again to clever engineering, the plastic part very thin, which is not shown very good on the pic, because of the angle.

The canopy got masked, using HGW's kabuki set, which fitted better, but not perfect, than the vinyl sets, I used from them. Two panes needed additional masking, which to me is a mistery, as Tamiya supplied pre-printed, but not cut masks, with the correct size. No biggie, but hey, they should do their homework.

After a final check, the spraying fun begun, first with the interior color over the outside of the canopy, the radiator inside was airbrushed in grey and after some masking, I primed the model with AK's Extreme Metal black base. 

 

I spare you another picture of the black bird after sanding with 4000 and then 8000 grit wet sandpaper. The surface is near polished now and should be good for a coat of polished aluminum. The black base still has a slight tackiness, after 24 hours of drying, so I will let the Kawasaki dry for some more time.

Cheers Rob

[Israeli Mirage III C with Atar9C]

Like Gaz said, very nice detailing, which will add to the beautiful paintjob.

Cheers Rob

[Israeli Mirage III C with Atar9C]

Sweet finish and only some tiny steps ahead. The Mirage looks fantastic Kai.

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

(I picked-up 10 Kgs following your build and have now exhausted the Portuguese popcorn production capacities )

You could easily switch to Pastéis de nata Hubert. Much more effective and tastes way better than Popcorn. I used to eat some, when I was surfing in Ericeira and other places near by. They are like a Duracell and I miss them here in Spain. There is not a lot of tempting bakery here, compared to Portugal. Maybe it's better for my health and weight .

Cheers Rob

[Tamiya F-4B Phantom]

49 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

DN has new paint masks out for the ZM Kai Phantom - they do look mighty good. I have ZM's new F4E and it is on my build schedule hopefully for this.

Thanks for the info, but I plan to use the Cartograph decals, if this doesn't work, I have the DN-masks in mind . The glitter blue would be hard to mix with an airbrush.

Cheers Rob

[Tamiya F-4B Phantom]

Hehe, I like, what Tamiya is doing to us. They've developed an image, where they come away with flaws, because everybody thinks, they made the mistakes themselves . That's where quality pays.
The message is,  even Tamiya kits are not perfect, but the are up to a very high standard, as I could see with my KI-61 build and the recently finished Ford GT.

Anyway, your painted finish looks ultra smooth and clean and will look perfect in the end. As you said, the burnt NMF parts will be fun, I look especially forward to this part with my soon to start Kai-Phantom build too.

Cheers Rob

[Fw190 A5]

10 hours ago, harv said:

Well I was planning on doing some AB work today, but one step outside told me no. Missouri heat and humidity 😩. But I did bring my AB in and will give a good cleaning......harv

Why not airbrushing, more humidity means less dust mostly, guess how I know.

Cheers Rob

[Bronco Marder II]

Good to see you back on the Marder Gaz. After the maybe disaster with the 109, it should be good for some breathing room. There seem lots of tiny parts involved and being open topped, there will be lots of detailing, but going through it will pay in the end.
I like the Blue Tack idea and use sometimes adhesive tape for the same reason, which works even better with PE-sheets, where tiny pieces also have the tendency to go airborne while cutting.

Cheers Rob

[1:32nd scale Junkers D.I]

Again an exceptional build Mike, the Junkers looks great in NMF and the figures bring life into the scene. You chose exactly the same plane, I planned to build, because the natural aluminum finish, is the only way to show the appearance of this revolutionary design properly. Only a few were built, but this plane was ahead of it's time by far and a milestone in plane design and construction. I can't explain, why I waited for some time to buy the kit, but was lucky enough to score a 'last minute' purchase when WNW ceased to exist.
Thanks for the tutorial, which I will download and read in preparation for my build, when time comes

Cheers Rob

[He-219A-0 UHU]

Looks really good. These are brass barrels, right?

Cheers Rob

[Summer project Kawasaki KI-61, Tamiya 1/48]

46 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

I'm blown away - awesome work on the front office, seat belts do look mighty good and the kit itself - amazing work and know way are you going to convince me you aren't hanging out with John B

 

40 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Rob, that is one speedy build…….I’m glad I am not the only one who thinks the Look IP’s appear “toyish” ……if fact IMHO my verdict is having lunch on all the new printed IP’s…….looking forward to the camo scheme…….

Gracias Hombres, today I masked and glued the canopy (The HGW Kabuki masks fitted mostly for a change) and built the well engineered belly radiator, which means, I'm closing in at the fuselage painting stage in NMF. I hope the best for the camo wet transfers, if they don't work, I'm in deep trouble and have to spray a million tiny blobs .
The IP is really not that great, hidden under the closed canopy, it will be sufficient. I build up the kit supplied one with decals and it wasn't looking too bad, but needed more work to finish it. I like the Quinta stuff and PE-IP's from Yahu, these are all better than Eduard printed ones or Löök resin.

Cheers Rob
 

[Eduard P38 + Brassin]

1 hour ago, Bomber_County said:

If you want I’ll give you a list…

Thanks Phil, as I have all the AM, I plan to use, I wouldn't need that list .

Cheers Rob

[Summer project Kawasaki KI-61, Tamiya 1/48]

Hola Señhores,
last week, I had enough from all the summer distractions, like work in the house and garden, having friends visiting me, barbecues, swimming and used some rainy days, to start a hopefully fast in- between project, the Tamiya 1/48 KI-61, added with some Kabuki masks from HGW, Brassin barrels, which got lost , an Eduard Löök resin IP and seat belts and last but not least, HGW's camo wet transfers, which I want to try with this build.

After some enjoyable hours, I finished the cockpit, which is a lot brighter, than the dull German fighter pits. The fit was Tamiya like, flawless and I really liked the seemingly new designed seatbelts, made from printed PE, which came with Eduard's Löök instrument panel. The PE is ultra thin, compared to other sets, I used in the past, folds almost like paper and have tiny holes in the belts, très cool. The IP itself, is color printed on cast resin and looks a bit toyish for my liking, but as I planned to have the canopy closed, with the pilot sitting in, I decided, it's good enough.

I managed to close the fuselage, with the simple engine inserted, which will not be seen with the cowling closed, so it got only a coat of black and an iron pigment rub.
The whole cockpit is inserted, after gluing together the fuselage halves from the underside and fitted without problems.

I added the wings and the tail in a breeze, with no gaps to fill and no extra work needed. After the detail painting of the cockpit, everything is speeding up with this build, exactly what I hoped for.

The only letdown, is the pilot figure, which I intended to use. After some basic painting, I stopped, when I couldn't find the eyes in that blob like face and decided to put no further effort into that bownish smurf, oh my, Tamiya, what have you done with this figure.

Cheers Rob

 

[Eduard P38 + Brassin]

Good to see her in color Phil. It's such a beautiful plane and your OD looks spot on. I have the Academy boxing with a lot of extras from Brassin and the Tamiya one, so I'm naturally interested, how both of them build up.

Cheers Rob

[Revell 1/48 PV-1 Ventura]

Good to see you back on this one. It's a beautiful plane and should look great in your skill full hands.

Cheers Rob

[P-40 / Kittyhawk Mk I 112 Sqn Neville Duke - GA-V / AK578]

Interesting clinic for the use of oils Nick, thanks for that. I use oils more and more, be it for figure painting or weathering effects. I even plan to paint a plane exclusively with oils as an experiment. 
Your dabbing techniques are the way to go, mostly. When it comes to panel accentuation (like your spent charges panels), I use a slightly different approach. I dab on the darker oils only to the borders of the to pronounce panel and draw the oils inwards with a synthetic flat or saw brush until I get the desired effect. The benefit is, a clear visual separation of the panels.

Cheers Rob

[Fw190 A5]

Wolf beat me to it. These German engineers had their ways to get the planes turn tighter . 
If there is no way to remove the cowlings, without colateral damage, I would drill a hole from the underside, where the engine mount should be, big enough, to insert a glue brush. Filling the hole is the easier part then.

Cheers Rob

[Mengnut Wings Fokker Dr. 1]

The result is well worth the temporary twitch of an eye Wolf. Bummer with the rigging nightmare, but luckily there isn't a lot of it on the DR.1. Your Fokker looks so good, that I'm tempted to pull my Roden one out of the shelf, congratulations.

Cheers Rob

[RFM Panzer IV Ausf H (Early)]

Excellent progress Phil, the interior should not be closed, as it looks absolutely real. You should consider at least a n engine maintenance dio, hint....

Cheers Rob

[He-219A-0 UHU]

Great work Mark. I sometimes spend a lot of time on some never seen again inner details, with the argument, at least to have some pics afterwards. Honestly, I have never viewed the pictures except, when questions arose here on LSM. It just feels good to do things right.

Cheers Rob

[Gottfreid Weiroster Bf 109G6 R6 Revell 1/32]

I like the look of the figure, no strange hue on the pics to be seen, at least to my eye. Colors tend to change a lot under different lighting conditions and even more when photographed. There is no digital true or false to it, it's always an interpretation.

Cheers Rob

[Israeli Mirage III C with Atar9C]

Wow, the Mirage is looking great Kai. Are you planning a panel wash? I could imagine, a heavy black wash could give a bit too much contrast.

Cheers Rob

[What is on your bench right now ? Share a picture :)]

Sweet, Happy birthday Carl.

Cheers Rob

[Soo.... What did you just get???]

7 hours ago, harv said:

This FINALLY came here today. I'm very excited about it. Also needing to order a bunch from Adriatic.

Now for the rant. I ordered this kit from KITLINX. It said available. I also had a $19 credit from my Whirlwind order. So, I ordered ir. That was a month ago. After many emails, with a very sparse reply, and a notice from PayPal that store hadn't claimed my shipping payment yet, more emails. This hole time the kit was marked "on hold". So sent more emails explaining they never accepted the money from PayPal. Well, last week they finally received the money and emailed me it was shipping. But for 5 more days it was still on hold. So now I have the kit and I will NEVER order from them again......harv

 

I had this this in my shopping basket many times, but than I saw Sharks build here. It still attracts me, but...

Cheers Rob

[Z-M A-1H Skyraider]

7 hours ago, Bill_S said:

Progress has been slowed by a camping trip - but I'm back at the bench for a little before I head to NY for a wedding.

You are too diverted for serious modelling, Bill . Honestly, for me it's the same in the moment. Short vacations, visiting friends and construction working around the house, I have to rethink priorities .

Cheers Rob