Joel, if it makes you feel any better, I had the same problem with the fuselage top on the old Airfix 1/72 kit. It may be a geometry problem with the mold flow...

Are the numbered masks part of the kit, or your creation?

I lucked out and got my Waldron punches years ago when they were a bit cheaper~ $60-70 for the pair. I think they may be exclusive to Roll Models in MN, USA now. But that JMC set looks a lot better.

Mark, The masks are from the kit. Most will be replaced as even with more tack, they still don't conform all that well to convex surfaces, nor is the accuracy of the complex shapes very good. To big on one side, and to small on the other side. They're on the thick side, so I suspect that is part of the problem.

Not sure what the issue is other then that the tops of both halves curl downward. They lined up ok, but the issue showed it's nasty head when I started the glass work.

Sure wish I had bought the old Waldron punches. But as usual I let it slide till I was out of modeling till now. Just have to pay the piper, and be done with it.

Joel

I will be tossing the mask in my kit and will op for Tamiya tape . Not going to go through all the trouble now that I know they ...well are worth it .

Is the punch for doing instruments only or will you use of other applications as well . A leather hole punch will also work and can be use on sheet stock as well up to .20 thou . Any crafting store should have them even Walmart and they aren't all the expensive .



Terri

Terri, the punch set will be used for scratch building and detailing, as well as for IP gauges.

Joel

I thought the GWH kit was superb right out of the box, but all of that detail you have added is really impressive Joel. I'm going to have to use this as a guide when I get up the nerve to start my B version. Keep it up!

Paul,
Thanks so much for the positive comments. And yes, the kit is well detailed straight out of the box, but I just can't seem to help myself these days with adding this and that, which causes me to add something else, and so on.

After this build, I'm going to do my 1st jet in more then 40 years: Academy's 1/48 scale F4B. And It's a straight OOB build with maybe the exception of two resin seats.

Joel

Decided to stop working on the engines for a while as I really needed a break from them. So I started the long painting/decaling/weathering process. I primed the P-61A-5 with Tamiya Gray primer, and had way more corrections to do then I thought was possible. Major work was needed on those front sheet plastic steps I made for the front windshield. I must have re-worked them 3 or 4 times, as well as the wing engine boom roots. Got it as best as I could, but far from perfect.

My original concept was to go with the Olive Drab/Neutral gray scheme. But somewhere along the build process I decided that I would do the all night black scheme instead, as this just might be the only model painted all black in my collection. With that as my goal, I didn't want to do just a all semi gloss paint scheme, but rather one that has been operational, and therefore showing some weathering in what my brother termed as "used but not abused". To me that means some upper surfaces fading, some paint chipping, and some discoloring of the paint in high wear areas. So the final finish would be matt, but closer to flat then semi gloss. Well at least that's my goal.

The 1st few coats were Tamiya X18 Semi Gloss, followed by a mixture of Semi Gloss & Xf20 mid Gray applied in a blotchy pattern to the upper surfaces, then a few light mist coats to blend and add a little overall fading . When dry, I airbrushed on several coats of Pledge, so that I can start to apply the decals. Then I'll seal the decals with more pledge, and finally the weathering process (ok, experimentation) can begin. I'm planning using a few new techniques I've seen here, including those from Jean-Luc Formery's excellent 1/48 scale Eduard Spitfire Mk. lX build.

I've replaced the kit turret assembly as it's completely wrong with one from the old Monogram kit, that is pretty darn close. My sincere thanks to Jessica for donating the turret assembly. For the life of me, I can't understand how GWH could get this so wrong, when they went to such lengths to get the other details right. Just makes no real sense.

Here's a few pictures of the Black Widow ready for decaling.







Each wing has two air intakes for various cooling systems. The kit parts were just shallow plastic backs with small fins that barely were above the base. They just didn't look anything like the real deal. Rather then trying to duplicate all the various duck work, I decided to lengthen the deflectors with .020 sheet plastic to the wing's leading edge. Here's a picture of those intakes. I still need to airbrush them flat black, then paint the deflectors dirty, faded, and chipped Yellow Zinc Chromate. I've seen pictures of them from black, to yellow Zinc Chromate, and even natural metal, which I'm going to assume is just having the paint worn off.



Joel

JA
excellent progress on the P-61. from the photos, the step is front of the canopy can;'t be seen at all the the wing roots fare in very well. Base black looks smooth and should be ready for gloss and decals. How could GWH make such mistakes, it's easy, they were out to lunch with HB who made as many compromises on the Big 32nd scale kit, combining both A&B version parts. Maybe they were thinking of making another version and wanted to do as few changes as possible.
BTW, I'll need to see how much weathering you use, as to whether or not it meets my standards for :Used but not Abused"
Looking real good
Keep 'em coming
Bro

You are making really good progress Joel . The nose area turned out really well , can't even tell that there was step . The top turret is a let down considering they correct other areas within the kit but they leave the turret .





Terri

Bro, thanks for the comments. You already know how much effort I've but into this build. So the weathering as to be better then what I usually attempt and end up with.

Checkout Jean-Luc's 1/48 scale Eduard Spitfire IX build. The weathering is simply amazing. He's shown us a few new (to me) techniques that I really want to try.

Joel

Terri, thanks for those positive and encouraging words. That step was a major deal in blending in the cockpit glass. I was quite surprised at the general poor fit of the glass considering how well most other parts fit. I did have issues with the wing/engine boom joint, but I'm sure most of that was caused by my detailing the wheel wells.

IMHO, they really let everyone down with their design of the top turret, as it's not even close. If Monogram could get it right more then 40 years ago, it should have been a no brainer for them with todays computer design programs, and mold cutting programs. Back then everything was done by hand.

Joel

Your welcome Joel .

One of the LHS has this kit priced at $139.99 . Personally I wouldn't spend that this kit . Come to think of it this is the first build I have seen . Lost of talk about the kit , but no build blogs ...than again been out of the loop for so time will I was building WW 1 aircraft .

I'm not going out just to get the Monogram kit for the turret so will build it out of the box .




Terri

Terri, Welcome back to the WWII forums. Your LHS owner is nuts to try and sell the kit for $140. I got mine from Sprue Brothers for just $60 plus shipping which is a wash with local sales tax.

As far as the turret goes, I suppose you can modify the kit one, which was my original idea until Jessica came to the rescue. Baring that, using the kit turret as is isn't a major issue. After all, how many modelers would know that it's wrong?

Joel

It looks like all your hard work has paid off Joel I'm intrigued as to how you will weather the decals to give the same "used but not abused" look?

Thanks Mal for those positive words. The decal weathering will be done as I weather the model. Hopefully that will blend then in. Right now they are way too bright, and shiny to be effective as part of the painting of the real aircraft.

Going to seal the decals in a few coats of Future. Then the following weathering steps:
1-Enamel Pin wash
2-Over all acrylic Sludge Grayish/Black filter to bleach and age the surfaces from the tropical sun and salt air.
3-Random botchy applied lighter Acrylic Gray/Black wash
4-Random botchy sparing applied darker Acrylic Grayish wash
5-Seal with Future
6-re-apply pin wash as needed
7-Chipping & staining very lightly applied
8-lighter shade of dark gray/black applied along heavier wear areas as in Jean-Luc's Spit IX
9-Airbrush a light overall coat of Sand/light Earth.
10-Seal with a few coats of Testors Dullcoat.

Since the painted surface has been completely covered in weathering media, I'm thinking that the overall paint finish should be almost flat not semi gloss.

Joel

Decaling is now done, and the Widow has another 2-3 coats of Future/Pledge to protect the decals and prepared for the weathering processes.

I must admit that I was more then a little concerned about those red strips on the tops of both wings. I've always had issues applying them. GWH did a spectacular job of designing the decals where each set is comprised of 5 sections that line up perfectly, resulting in a painted on look. On the 1st wing I didn't do the decaling in a sequential sequence as I was worried that the end vertical strip would be misaligned. It's just not the case. The only error was a very small gap that was caused by my misalignment of the two main sections. A very small amount of red paint repaired this issue. For the other wing I followed the sequential sequence, and the results were dead on.

The decals are a little on the thick side, but lay down perfectly with a few coats of Micro Sol, and even settled in to the recessed panel lines.

The "Virgin Widow" decal curled on me in the warm water bath, and that caused some cracking. The application of Micro Set followed by Micro Sol repaired the decal where those cracks aren't really visible.

I decided rather then follow my usual practice of cutting out each number and applying them separately, to just applying the whole decal. With a good gloss surface, there is absolutely not a drop of silvering, making the alignment of each number that much more precise.

Next step is weathering using reverse shading colors of light rather then dark. You can see the real life effect as the light reflects off of the edges of the recessed panel line edges. At least that's my justification for using shades of gray for the pin wash.

Joel

so what's your secret for airbrushing Future/Pledge? Last time I did it the finish looked more like a dirty floor.

JA
Fantastic job on the decals ... they look absolutely perfect and the red stripes look straight as an arrow. Looking forward to the weathering and then the home stretch to crossing the finish line.
Bro

Bro, thanks so much for the encouragement.

Mark, I don't dilute the Pledge. I use a #3 needle & cone, which is the standard size for Paasche external guns. I have tried with the larger #5 and you end up applying way too much. I set the compressor to 20 psi, and apply a few very light mist coats. I give each one just a few min to tack up. After 3 mist coats, I then apply a few heavier coats, but not to the point of where they looks wet.

It the paint surface is flat there are hills and valleys that will always make the gloss coat look ruff. This was another reason why I opted for a semi gloss acrylic black. When I air brush on flat paints, I give the surface a very light polishing with wet 8,000, then 12,000 polishing pads. Makes a big difference.

Joel

Thanks, Good stuff. Don't have much pressure control on current compressor, but I'll give it a try on my Chipmunk, it has an all gloss finish.

Mark, if you have a continuous running hobby compressor, you'll have some issues as it doesn't put out enough PSI for applying anything neat. If there is somewhere where the standard psi of your compressor is listed, it's an important number to know. If the compressor is putting out 12-15 psi max, I would thin the Pledge with Windex. That should compensate the lack of psi. Which sounds like that could be your issue.

Joel

Thanks, my other compressor is a DIY type unit that I do have good pressure control on. I may have thinned with water and used too high a pressure last time. The hobby compressor, constant running, I have down here isn't as well controlled, I'll check the rating 2night.

Mark, just re-read my post, and I clean the gun with Windex-D. I've never needed to thin it, but it's best thinned with Iso-Alcohol not water. You need to keep the gun moving and stay within 6 inches so that the Pledge doesn't dry before it hit the surface.

Joel

That is looking nice Joel, good work with those ******

Looks really nice with the first paint/decals on Joel!

I'm always really happy to get to that step as all the hard work starts to pay off with something looking like an aeroplane

Doug