Peterpools

Thanks Gaz Going to be playing with the area again and will add a bit more soot and grime Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Rob I'll be doing a bit more weathering after all the decals are on and everything is sealed. Keep 'em comin Peter

Ernie I did an earlier post today asking if anyone might have some inside information but it appears we're all in the same boat and will have to just wait and see. One thing for sure, if the new kit(s) are going to be up to the standard of WNW, they surely won't be $99 each. Quality costs and I'm all in. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kotar, a new upstart model company from New Zealand and they are working on two new 32nd scale WWII aircraft kits. Could this be part of a WNW rebirth? Richard Alexander (formally WNW) is the general manager, Darren Mildenhall (formally WNW) and Jason McAdam (formally WNW) are on the Kotar Team as well. This is the link to their website: www.kotare-models.com Does anyone have an inside scoop or information? Keep 'em comin Peter

Dennis Perfect purchase - save those knees and legs plus helps organize the stash Keep 'em comin Peter

John Absolutely! Your mark: speed and perfection Keep 'em comin Peter

Hubert Surely hope so and the juices start flowing again Keep 'em comin Peter

John Smooth as silk - love the free hand cammo. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Decal look perfect - amazing work. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Thanks so much. I should have done what you did and masking would have been a zillion times easier - live and learn. Your masking on the Tail End Charlie of your F4 looks perfect. A few hours ago I finished glossing the undersides with Mr Color Clear Gloss #46 thinned with Mr Color Thinner - smooth for sure. Tomorrw I'll be doing the uppers and sides and then hopefully by Wednesday, it's decaling time. Keep 'em comin Peter

HI Rob - Much appreciated. So far, I have the Tamiya decal set with a load of stencils and two complete sets of Furball 48th Scale F4 Bravo Mig Killers - long story and the stencil data is complete on both sheets as well. Just a matter of deciding whose decals to use and I'm leaning towards the Furball sets right now as the screaming Eagle colors seem to be a bit more vibrant. I bought both Furball sheet a few years ago for the Academy kit which I never built and bought another set not remembering I had already had the sheet and cut a few decals here and there. Better to have too many sheets then search for a sheet that's out of stock or out of production. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Harv Now the real fun part begins ... decaling. Keep 'em comin Peter

TAIL END CHARLIE 8/16/21 Work this past week has been dedicated to the exhaust end of the BIG F4. I’ve looked at loads of photographs, my reference books and the exhaust area look different from F4 to F4, so some artistic license could be safely used. My goal is only to be representative and after spending a lot of time masking, painting very lightly staining, the burning effect was lighter then expected but I can play with it down the road a bit. For starters when I do my next Tamiya F4, the stabilizer assembly will be added after painting, no matter what. I used mountains of Tamiya masking tape, Post Its and 3M masking tape and spent hours trying to get it right. Masking and painting around the stabilators took an easy job and made it anything but simply because they were already glued into place. I’ve already had to go back and donate more then a few hours to touching up some bleed throughs and actually twice in some areas as one touch up created a few more bleed throughs, where none were before. What I didn’t want was an overly shinny metallic finish as the heat did its dirty work very quickly and the key was the gloss black base. The area had been already primed with MRP Light Gray Primer along with the fuselage, so I was ready for the gloss black base, which almost always is Tamiya but this time around I used MRP Super Gloss Black. It dried smooth, but nothing like Tamiya for me. The two main metallic colors used were Alclad Steel ALC 112 and Alclad Dura Aluminum ALC 102. For the individual panel staining on the lower exhaust area, I lightly airbrushed on vertical passes Tamiya Clear Blue and Clear Yellow, then another light overlay of Alclad steel and lastly hand painted some very diluted Clear Blue, Clear Yellow and Clear Red. My first time out of the box and I hoped the effect to be of a low time airframe and the beginnings of heat discoloration - still not there. The outer halves of the stabilators both top and bottom are gloss white and needed some tricky masking to replicate the NMF boarders as they do not go edge to edge and have some wickets jogs to them as well. I was pleased on how it turned out and decided to added the burner cans at the end of the build; right now, they are just being test fitted and need a a lot more work. I’ve been using my new Infinity Cutting Mat and OMG, it’s pure magic – can’t recommend it enough. Next up, it’s decaling time and was I surprised when I started … News at eleven Thanks for checking in Peter

Phil Completely agreed - my favorites for sure. My only problem is, over the past few years, I've bought AM decals for the Academy F4B and they are the same scheme and stencils galore. I'm only planning on using the major stencils or I'll be applying them for years. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Gaz Paint work was finished up yesterday and I'm finally ready to start the decal portion of the build and being a Phantom, there are loads of decals and stencils to play with. Keep 'em comin Peter

Oliver Brilliant work and progress as always. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Someone has to grab the ball and run with it, testing the waters and your build goes way beyond that. I just appreciate the thorough build testing, show the pluses and minuses. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Just read your other build thread post and thank goodness you an NFL Footbal diehard fan! Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Nice work on replacing the brass rocket launcher wires with copper wire sounds like the trick as your so very satisfied with the results. I watched the NY Jet - NY Giant preseason game last night and even though the Giants lost (my Team for a lifetime), just great to have football back. September 9th is the 'kickoff' of the season and I know my building time will be cut as I'll be in front of the TV for all the games I can inhale each week. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Sherlock should be your middle name. The Lady is now up and walking on her own legs and the stance of the gear is perfect. Wouldn't it be nice if the manufacturers would design kits that angle the gear position as part of the assembly? Wait, I'm talking about Italieri and after all the work you went through correcting their issues and goofs, having all the parts in the box is a win for sure. Perfect work and looking so good 👍 Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Nice work on the PE parts ... a true test of a steady hand and a good pairs of eyes. Being on my side of the pond, not sure if you are talking about preseason NFL Football of soccer. I did watch last night the NY Jets beat the NY Giants and I'm a Giant fan all the way. 🏉 Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Awesome work and you hand painted the model when only 19! The modeling gods knew for sure what was waiting in the wings. The oldest model in my collection these days is from about 15 years ago when I took up the hobby again: 1/32 Trumpeter F8F Bearcat. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob So very much appreciated you diving in and testing the waters. I'm wondering if this type of decaling might work better with dry transfers? But you surely tamed the beast ad the cammo decals look awesome. The second set of decals for a Me-BF 109 G2 from Heinrich Bär looks like a nightmare to do by air brush and Kai's hand painted Me110 cammo scheme of 40 years ago is oh so similar and looks the part for sure. Keep 'em comin

Rob Looking so good and thank you for your warnings when using HGW wet decals. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Drop tanks and pylons are looking mighty good. Meticulous work Keep 'em comin Peter