ScottsGT

WOW! Looks completely different off the bench. Well done, Sir! Hope mine comes out half as good. That’s something to be proud of right there.

Love my lacquer paints! Mr. Color offers more bang for the buck and you can use them for brush painting on small areas. MRP’s advantage is just shooting straight from the bottle. I have a well stocked stash of both. When I started switching over I actually looked at my stash and bought accordingly or put on my wish list for when they came back in stock.

To quote a syfi character from a different TV show from the same era…..”Oh the pain, the pain, the pain of it all…..” Talk about a fiddly cockpit build!

Ok, now you have piqued my curiosity. Not about the P-40 or the story behind it. But how in the H - E - Double hockey sticks do you find time to read and build all the models you build? 🤪

Ok, I’m amazed. This is stunning.

Makes one wonder what else is being held as “classified” while not giving credit where credit is due.

Well, it is Kitty Hawk. As Ernie has mentioned, there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than we know about that KH was not happy with.

Some amazing “clean up” being done here. Keep it up.

If it gets wet……. In for the adventure!

I’m hitting the stage where this thing is kicking my butt! As any huge styrene kit, minor warping has occurred after production. But even worse, the design of parts fitting without gaps is non-existent. I’m having to add sprue goo filler for the gaps and differences in parts thickness. Might just have to jump over to Tamiya putty for these larger joints where they transition. It may not look bad in this pic, but there is a big difference in the “body line” where it joins together. I’ve already done three applications of sprue goo just to get it to this point. And the gap between the body and the prop housings or sponsons is pretty nasty. I’ve dabbed in one filler coat of sprue goo. I need to add more and hope it levels out better. Might need to make a thinner mix. Hmm, I wonder if I could apply with a syringe and an 18 ga. needle?

Mark, here’s a roundabout way of getting the info you need. I went to scalemates website, did a search for MH-60 and found the instructions for the MRC/Academy kit. They have all the paint callouts. Here you go…. https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/4/0/1/540401-81-instructions.pdf

Have you followed Mike Rowe and his story? I was surprised to hear his life story that started with Barber Shop Quartet singing in high school. He says it’s why he is where he is at today. My wife had me listen to one of his podcasts on a trip one time. I was hooked on his stories.

Yea, it was a big Baptist church in Goose Creek, SC where I saw them. Funny thought. Every time someone asks me what my first concert was, I always say Mothers Finest and Molly Hatchet. I had completely forgotten about mom dragging me to the Oak Ridge Boys when I was 10 or 12.

Well, I’ll give ‘em credit. No walkers or wheelchairs up on the stage. But my God, I had no idea those guys were still performing! That is awesome. I’d love to see them live, again…. OK, just did a Wiki look up. Looks like it’s a band that has morphed with new members over time to keep playing. I saw them when I was a wee little lad when my mom dragged me to see them when they were a gospel group in the early ‘70’s. Looks like y’all had a great time.

Wife just got home from work and wanted a nap. Cat thought that was a great idea.

Is it just me, or does this thing remind you of the Batmobile? Think about it, same era TV shows.

Another angle…sorry, great memories came flooding back when I saw this.

Here it is!

This is in a friends bedroom….He restored it from ground up.

We have a show here in the states called Pawn Stars. Family that owns a pawn shop in Las Vegas. Lots of cool facts, interesting things brought in. Latest version is the Pawn shop crew traveling to different cities and people bringing things in to sell, etc… Last episode they did in NC at some place that was either a community center with collectibles or staged to look that way. But behind one of the guys in the background was a mint condition 1972 50cc Honda Monkey exactly like I had when I was a snot nosed kid. Started thinking about that this morning that if I had one, I’d probably hang it up on the wall too. Pure nostalgia, but those things are wayyy too expensive now to have as wall art for me. And to valuable to let the grandkids on it!

Speaking of nail shops, my paint rack is built for nail polish bottle holders. Again, not my idea. Just another tip I found on one of the modeling sites or YouTube. But they do come in two different depths. Amazon, of course!

Saw a YouTube last week on Tamiya cement and their airbrush cleaner. Basically the same stuff. Guys are now refilling their cement bottles with airbrush cleaner at a fraction of the cost. Expect the airbrush cleaner to go up now! There was something like only 1% difference in one of the chemicals. If I remember, only two chemicals make it up. The YouTuber pulled the SDS on it. I’ll see if I can find the link. Here it is

Well, I’m digging this one up before I forget about it. Just wanted to report back that since I’ve been following this new cleaning procedure my airbrush has been working flawlessly for me with the exception of one tiny lesson learned. I was doing my typical cleaning and the shoot a drop of clean lacquer thinner through it and I was getting bubbling in the cup like I was back feeding it with my finger. Closer inspection revealed that there was a buildup of paint on the body of the airbrush in the tapered hole up front where the brass nozzle sits. It would not seat into the taper. Quick dab of lacquer thinner on a pipe cleaner fixed it. Clean up time has been cut in half now that I have this technique down pat and no more slow build up of crud due to pulling the needle out the back. I still need to get some of the micro cleaning brushes though. I do know I have some paint build up behind the cup where the needle goes through. I still have not pulled the ultrasonic cleaner out of storage.

Ernie, did your airbrush explode in that last pic?

I just dab it on and let it fill the gaps. Too thin and it will run right through. Too thick and you have to push it around. The beauty about making it is you can taylor the viscosity to your liking. If you go thick, might not hurt to hit the area with Tamiya cement first to pre soften the area. But probably a wast of time and glue.