She is really starting to take shape now , looking good Joel !

Terri

Looks good Joel, as Terri said its taking really shape.

Lining up stabilisers and wings is often difficult and if it sits not correctly some bending will help, after all its plastic and somewhat flexible.

Bernd

Joel love the progress looking really good. Would a quick dip in hot water soften the plastic sufficiently to let you bend it without snapping it? I often use a heat gun to soften plastic to let me bend it without breaking it. Would a judicious application of heat work here?

Agreed Joel it's a matter of applying just enough heat so better to start at a low temp and work your way up. But I think heat is your best option in terms of moving the stabiliser without breaking it. I've also heard that terpineol will dissolve the cement bond that may also perhaps work to your advantage. It will also possibly attack the plastic as well so again care would be needed.

Joel,
Wow, it almost seems a shame to paint that cowling. I'm glad to see the wings on. I'm surprised at how they made the wing joints.

I'm a novice at using bondo type fillers. I've done everything from too much hardener so that it sets up before I can use it all or too little hardener where it never seems to harden.

Gary,
I'm just guessing, but it seems to me that the easiest joint method for a mid wing design is the butt method. I'm sure that if they were designing it today, they'd use a butt with a hooking tongue.

As for the Bondo, what I use is called Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty. It comes in a single tube. No mixing. It's fool proof so even I can't screw it up.

As for the engine cowl, I was really thinking of leaving a panel or two clear. But in the end I just decided that I didn't want to go that route unless I further detailed the engine, which I really don't want to do.

Joel

Your results certainly look encouraging.

Gaz

.... Very night fighter-ish.

Gaz

Joel -

Watching this with great interest - may have to try it myself .

Cheers and Happy Friday Night. ! Richard

I still can't figure out why Trumpeter thinks we want clear cowlings. It's not like their engines are real prizes.



The Canadian issue of the Tamiya 32nd scale Corsair comes with a clear cowling too for some reason. I cannot imagine a tasteful way to utilize a clear cowling.



Oh - the Tamiya Corsair is my next project and build thread (it's already started). With the Brassin cockpit.

Joel, coming along very nice!

Black/Grey/White basing is much better technique than preshading IMHO

Is that Mig One shot primer (Badger)?

Regards,

Hello Joel its great to see that your F4F has entered the painting stage and a well applied primer / shading is a good start.
The large surfaces could need some effects.

Getting shading effects look good ( to the own eye ) takes some time. My first attepts were almost completely deleted with overspraying.
Now i prime my builds in a dark color and then spraying the camo paints carefully on. Works quite good.

Keep up the good work on your lovely Wildcat.
Bernd

Looking good Joel

I just don't get "Black Basing" because to make the effect of the grey squiggles work at all then the paint must be applied very thinly and doing so allows the black to show through, so just darkening any paint!

Grey primer with white motelling may be better but I think that the contrast between the grey and white might not be great enough and that you won't be able to see the white lightening any of the camo colours without the grey muddying them as well. Unless that is what you are aiming for? I'm intrigued to see the results

I use something that I call "White basing pre-shading post shaded" White primer, which allows you to show fading where you want by using very well thinned paint. I pre-shade, along panel lines in a complimentary but darker colour to the camo colours, and different to each colour for multi coloured camo. This just gives a different contrast over the air frame. My friend Ralph Riese was, I believe, the first to do the squiggle thing (ala black basing) where he would use the camo colours but lightened, over the actual colours and then blend them in. Now that works very much better than black basing (IMHO).

Like I say I wait with bated breath to see the outcome. My only reservation is that it looks like you intend to fade the underside which wouldn't fade as it is protected from the elements to quite a degree?

Hey Joel, that looks nice! Leave the camo that way it is now, put red stars on fuselage and wings and you'll have a Lend-Lease Wildcat in winter camo flying on the Eastern Front for the VVS ....

Anyway it's an interesting technic, though it's not useful for my models as they are factory fresh. For me it's also primer time tomorrow on my Peshka, finally after already working 4 weeks on it.

Torsten