Thanks Guy. Progress continues with the Blackbird. Cockpit is installed and the upper and lower fuselage halves are together. Doesn't look bad from the top....



The view from the bottom is less than stellar. This is the biggest drawback to this kit. The seam that runs the entire perimeter of the plane. All the detail at the edge will be lost from sanding, but I plan to replace it when I paint. Lots of masking will be required when the time comes.


I added the slot for the stand. It is a large diameter styrene tube that is cemented to the inside of the fuselage top, and around the edge of the hole it is inserted in. I cut the ends at a 45 degree angle to give the plane some character once it's mounted. The clear acrylic rod fits snugly inside the tube so it should be nice and stable, and I can remove it easily enough for transporting etc.

More to follow soon....Thanks, "Q"

They putty dried on the Blackbird and I got everything sanded down. Had to redo a couple spots, but for the most part everything is looking good. I tinkered with the base and came up with the following display for it. Patches will be on either side of the base. I have something else in store for it but need to see how things play out with the patches first. Thanks, "Q"

Wow Matt, That just wants me to go out and get another one to build.

I did start a while back a 'Skunk Works' project and planned on having an SR-71, U2 & F-117 all on a base in 1/72. I only ever got as far as building the SR-71 but I think the rest of the kit are still in the stash somewhere

Thanks Allen. Glad to be of help. I'm working on the base at the moment. I need my patches to arrive before I can do anything else to the base as I have something special in mind, but if the patches are going to dominate the base, I'll have to rethink things. Your display idea sounds likes it would be really cool. You ought to pick it back up. I have a U2 on a stick currently and even in 1/72 it takes up some space. I can imagine what three planes on a single base would be like.
"Q"

Thanks. Well the rules state 'There really is something for everyone here,
not only do we have the fighters such as phantoms,jaguars,migs etc but also bombers,not to mention nearly every airforce in the world had sympathies to one side or another.'
So I'm assuming that my idea of an EAF Su-7 is cool. If not there are other kits in my to-build-pile to choose from for the build.
Nice work on the Blackbird by the way.

I'm making progress with my Mirage IV. The cockpit is done, the fuselage has been stuck together and wings added. There's a ton of weight just behind the cockpit but well forward of the main landing gear, so it's very nose heavy at the moment.
This is not the quick easy build I hoped for! The fit of the parts is generally poor and lots of filling and sanding will be required. I've already started and finished a Spitfire PR XIX during the build and I'm half way through a Spitfire IX! Still the Mirage IV will be a big impressive looking beast when finished.

thanks
Mike

Heres my entry, the VEB 1:72 Su-7 Fitter.
I got this from King Kit a few weeks ago for pennies. I had expected to get a rebox of the KP Su-7, instead I got an East German kit. I suppose theres a lesson in this, ALWAYS look up unknown eastern european kits before you buy.
Despite the initial shock its not actually that bad. A bit simple but everything fits and theres hardly any gaps. It even comes with a stand! Most of the parts had come off the sprue but luckily everything was still here. Should be a quick and simple build and I like the idea of building an authentic Eastern Bloc kit for this campaign




These are the marking I intend to put on it. Spares from the Airfix Mig-23, and arabic numbers from an old misprinted Iraqi set (I think they were from a Hobbycraft Su-25).

The blackbird is painted and I like it. The Tamiya tape I used to replace the triangle areas along the leading edge of the wings worked out well. After painting the plane and letting it dry, I discovered a rather happy accident. When I picked up the plane to move it, I noticed that that paint rubbed away a bit from the handling and the appearance was really cool looking. Almost metallic. I took a semi soft brush and gave the whole plane a wipe down and it came out really nice looking. I masked off all the panel line areas I wanted to hit with paint to bring them out and then using a business card as a template and the tape, I started shooting from the rear of the plane forward. I shot just the trailing edge of the tape and them removed each piece before moving on to avoid excess paint building up on the leading edge of the tape. The results look a little over done at the moment, but once I tone things down with an over spray, it should all tie together well. Gloss coat and decals to follow soon. Thanks, "Q"

Hi all,

I will be doing the Hobby Boss F-105. I am hoping someone might have a copy of the Albatros Decals ALC-005 sheet? I would be very keen to purchase if there is one out there?

Thanks,

Mark

With the majority of the painting on the plane complete, I decided to work on the base this afternoon. I had found a really cool picture of the curvature of the earth and decided to use that as a back drop for the plane. Rather than print and glue it to the base, I tried my hand at painting it. At first I wasn't all that thrilled as my airbrush kept balking on me. I changed airbrushes and things went considerably better. Anyway, here is what the base looks like currently. Waiting on a couple of patches for it and for the gloss coat on it to dry. Thanks, "Q"

OMG, Matt's back and with a vengeance

Simply some stunning work Matt, keep it up

lol...Thanks Allen. "Q"

Here's a shot with the plane mounted on the base. Waiting for the gloss to dry so I can decal. "Q"

Outstanding work Matt. Nice work on what has to be my favourite aircraft of all time. Excellent.
I cant wait to see the images of your Mirage IV Michael, you will have to borrow a camera to take some images. How big is the IV Michael, in cm's s'il vous plait.
All the best.
tim

Thungggk...jaw hitting floor. Q' that is just awesome, really dig the base and your painting skills. Great job all around

Happy Modeling,
Joe

I second joes comment

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Well, we had a minor setback/disaster last night. We had a snowstorm move in that had some seriously strong winds attached to it. Strong enough that they blew in the window insert I had for my exhaust fan on the paint booth. I knew something was up this morning when I came downstairs to my room and it was bitterly cold. The insert had blown in far enough that I had approximately 2" of snow in my paint booth and scattered across a good portion of my build area. Luckily no damage, just a lot of snow to clean up. I used a hair dryer and some bath towels to make quick work of it and should be back in business in a couple of hours. Going to use this opportunity to reduce the size of my booth so I can get to the window easier to close it each night so this doesn't happen again. It was cold enough that the Windex I had sitting out was frozen. Luckily my acrylic paints were across the room in another drawer or they would have perished. Thanks again for the kudos. Hoping to get to the decals today. "Q"

I was able to recover after this mornings snow incident and I now have a more user friendly paint booth and a decaled SR-71. I just shot another gloss coat over the decals which is drying. I should be able to flat coat it here in a couple of hours and then mount her to the base. I have a few touch ups to do on the decals, but for the most part all is well. More to follow soon. "Q"

Why is it that my gloss coats never seem to turn out glossy? Normally just semi-gloss at beast or orange-peeled... Hints please Mr Q... But no hints on keeping snow out of a room..

I shoot Future and do it one of two ways. Multiple coats, or just keep shooting until it gets really glossy then leave it set for 72 hours. The 72 hours will ensure it is rock hard when dry and won't react with Solvaset or other decal setting solutions. Since Future is self leveling it will do just that and you will have a nice even glossy surface to work with. I didn't let mine set for 72 hours this go round, but got lucky with it. Hope that helps. "Q"

Tim, the Mirage IV give or take a few mm is 32cm. It is quite large for what is essentially a scaled up fighter. This build will take time with all the ill fitting parts and filling and sanding that needs doing. As a result, I've started to build Airfix's new tool Sabre, which I have to say i'm reasonably impressed with in terms of how well it all goes together. I'll be entering both in this one.

thanks
Mike

With the exception of a coupe of patches for the base, I'm calling this one complete. I just acquired a book a couple of days ago on the Blackbird and there are some really cool looking markings out there for these things. Might have to find me another one to do some of the more eye catching schemes. Hope you guys like it. It is hard to photograph though.... "Q"

Thats a great set up Q very cool looking.Good job Sir

Thanks Justin. Glad you like it. I bought another SR-71 this evening to do one of the NASA birds in my new book. "Q"

Here's an update, I'm just about ready to paint. As I said it was going to be an OOB build, well I decided to rescribe the kit. The kit went together pretty well; hardest part was masking the canopy pieces.









I should be finish by the weekend.

Happy Modeling,
Joe