mustang1989

Great body work there Ira!

Yeah that looks like a well lit, nice and tidy area!!!

That's a good point. If it was something out of the ordinary that makes sense. I've got a 1/48 scale BV 141 that was put out by Hi-PM in about 98 or so. That kit looks dangerous! But like youre saying it is a subject that I'd like to build and I have one of two choices. Build it or get rid of it. I hear ya!

I used to think like that until I opened up an MPM Arado 196 box! There was more flash on those sprues than a nuclear bomb could have emitted!!!

I've got a 1/48 Citroen staff car from them and that thing is a beaut!! It's been around a while though.

Hey everybody. I was thinking about some of the kits I've built and I have my favorites and, of course, my least favorites. Thought I would talk about the everybody's favorite. For starters I build a lot of different kits from a lot of manufacterers as am sure a lot of you all do. So far my favorites so far are late Revell automobile and aircraft kits and with aircraft hands down for me its Eduard. I've noticed that Revell is trying to keep up with the times by some of the new kits and the amount of detail put into their kits. Also the parts count for a lot of kits has doubled resulting in several different options for a kit to be built as and for the extra detail. This whole 1990 Mustang LX kit as well as the 1/32 scale He-219 and Fw190 D-9 kits are prime examples of Revell making a good contribution to the modeling community. I noticed that the parts count for the Mustang was pretty high up there and from what I can see the detail is awesome! The same goes for the He219 and the D-9. The AM world is eating the later two up and this seems to be true of the Mustang as well. I'm definitely glad to see some new stuff come out from them as well as continuing to enjoy what they have put out in the past. As far as Eduard goes I was afraid to build a kit out of these guys at first because I wanted to build an Fw190 and I have seen over and over again the fit problems that can be encountered with that kit.....HOWEVER if proper planning and test fitting is followed the results are well worth the time put into the kit. I'm finding that this manufacturer also has several other kits that are the same as far as fit goes. The parts count is there , the accuracy sure as heck is there and the detail is unsurpassed. Their Bf109 series are another testament to their level of accuracy and detail. I haven't seen them put out a car model so far but if they ever did it would be one for the books I'm sure.

Now THATS an airbrush!!! Tooltruck is coming today and that thing is all mine!!! Thanks for sharing that. I think its just what Ive been looking for in the best of both worlds. .

Ok fellas. Got up this morning and finished up detailing another Hasegawa part for this thing. The instrument panel from the Monogram kit was a decal and that aint gonna work so was kit bashing time again. I took the existing Hasegawa IP and trimmed it to fit into this kit. It's not only got the IP but also the backs of the .50 cal cowl machine guns at either side of the IP. Painted the sides with Zinc Chromate, the center with Matte Black and picked out the details with a white lead pencil. The guns got a shot of Gunmetal. Lots better! Any how here's pic of that mod. Photo bucket was not cooperating very well with me this morning which is why the dang pic is rotated!

Thanks for the encore Wayne! I'll have some progress to post tomorrow. I'm on a mission to complete this thing. I usually spend between 1 - 2 hours on it a day.

I've got two Badger 200 airbrushes that I picked up last year when Micheals had em on clearance for 20 bucks (yep I said 20 bucks)new and still in the boxes . I ordered two quick disconnects for both AB's and THAT made just as big of difference as having an internal mix AB over the BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH Badger 350 AB I started off with! The QD's make things nice for a quick swap out of ABs if one is giving me a lot of static in the middle of a big job. Just switch out AB's real quick and continue working. I also use a Badger 1/6 HP compressor that is super quiet in the mornings (about 4 am) to not wake anybody else in the house. I have had really good luck with the 200's so far. I do have a Renegade Velocity if I get down to the detail work though.

Thanks Ray and Mark! I've always favored this bird. It was never the fastest nor armed to the tee but it's like the 57 Chevy of planes. Whoever designed this aircraft sure knew how to sculpt some cool body lines!!

Here is the cockpit flooring and related parts as well as the gunners ring with the twin .30 cal setup. I first painted the seat with "rattle can" Testors Metallic Silver enamel followed by a coat of Model Master acrylic Zinc Chromate Green. I then took a toothpick and chipped the Chromate as to provide a scratched seat back surface from parachute buckle and seat belt buckle contact for that worn in look. The seat belts were made out of lead foil with PE buckles from Tom's Modelworks. I must have worn that stupid visor for 30 minutes trying to feed those belts through the buckles and through the seat belt end latches! I painted the seat belts a linen color from Humbrol and after the paint cured out hit them with a dry brushing of ground up black pastel to dirty them up. I also applied a black wash to the cockpit tub for the used effect as well. I had to be careful with that because carrier based aircraft are usually corroded and not dirty. The raised detail on the side consoles was completed by using a white lead pencil to bring out the details. The gunners ring , while not totally accurate, at least resembles the reference!!! Seat belts for the gunners seat were made from lead foil as well with PE belt latches/ ends. As you can see, this is a FAR cry from the out of box offering that the Monogram kit offers!! The only thing missing from the gun at this point is the PE gun ring sight and the PE .30 cal ammo leading from the ammo boxes to the guns. Those get installed later.

On to the rear gun and turret assy. This kit was supplied with a rear gun but it has absolutely no accuracy at all. A half moon shaped gunners ring is supplied along with what looks like a modified "potato gun" for the rear firing .30 cal machine gun. The next photo shows that: This is how the gunner ring is supposed to look: I am going with a twin .30 cal setup in the back so heres a so-so photo of that : The next shots will be of the completed cockpit floor and related items and the rear gunner ring with the twin .30 cal set up that I used from the Hasegawa kit.

There's another one completed. Great job and as others have stated really nice stance! I like the decal in the rear window too. Gives a little bit of personalization.

Ok this will be my first official WIP here. This will be the last aircraft I build before I start restoring my 31 year old Monogram Dodge Challenger that has managed to survive all these years relatively in only a couple of pieces. This SBD is going to be a Confederate Air Force Edition Monogram 1/48 scale SBD Dauntless that was boxed in 1988. The only thing different about this kit from prior boxings is the decal sheet really. I decided to take this kit on largely because I built this thing when I was 12 years old, as I'm sure a lot of us have if we are aircraft buffs, using minimal paint which consisted only of "no name" acrylic black and "green apple green" (no zinc chromate but it was real close), silver enamel, acrylic yellow for the prop tips, some enamel red for the dive flaps, and an enamel grey for the undersides, thinner (which consisted of gasoline-hey gimme a break here, my dad was a mechanic) , and basic model glue. I swabbed the paint on the interior (what little it had) and the undersides. No paint on the top because it was molded in blue, didn't paint the tires or the prop(except for the yellow ends and the silver hub) because they were already molded in black and I guess I did try my hand at painting the canopy frames with some blue paint that I ended up with. Back then I was as happy as a clam! By these days standards it was a disaster! Anyways I thought I would show the build here as well using todays skills and some of todays upgrades. These I will cover in the WIP but will tell you that Hasegawa has a hand in this, even though it too has some inaccuracies, because the cockpit is SO lacking. I robbed a lot of parts from this spare Hasegawa kit and will use the decals from it as well. Is this going to be my best build?? No. But I intend to have fun taking a trip down memory lane building this plane. So without further delay I'll begin. We start off with the kit boxing: Followed by the internals of the kit which are molded in blue and black (just like when I was a kid!!) And of course the crappy decals and canopy pieces that came along for the ride too. I'm not going to deviate too much from the "toy like" functions of this model. I am going to be as accurate overall as I can and still maintain the old Monogram intent of the kit. I think the only things that will not operate are the prop and the tail hook. Dive flaps , landing gear and the dropping bomb I fully intend to have working as the original model I built did. Any how here is a picture of the cockpit minus the crappy molded pilot and note its molded in black. Yep this is it folks! All two pieces of it! .............and here are the first of many robbed interior parts from the Hasegawa kit. The pilots seat, control column, rudder pedal pedestals and the pedals themselves. If I were to just add these parts and nothing else to the interior it would be a VAST improvement over the stock Monogram cockpit area. There are some that may wonder, "How come he didn't just build the Hasegawa build?" . The whole point is to take a kit that looks awesome from the outside with all that rivet detail and make it look just as good on the inside. And that's where today's stopping point is. Will resume more tomorrow at some point.

Now THAT is truly remarkable and impressive!!! I'm a little biased because I'm a Mustang fan but aside from that, to get a model car to look as realistic as you have built here goes far above the call here. From the headlights to the tail lights you've really nailed it here Erik. Your photo taking ability is also top notch capturing such a good build at all the right angles Great job man.

Hey man ya gotta hand it to him. Its creative!

Eduard for the most part is da bomb!!! Every time I've used it it's been right on. All of that PE shown above was Eduard. The kits are really killer! They are coming out with a 1/48 Bf109 G6 next year and I'm all over that like a rat on a cheetoe!!!

Somebody else may know besides me but the only one I know of is from Monogram but its a 1993 Cobra. A little tweeking and an LX might be made out of it.

Thanks Mark! I'm anxious to try the German camo that looks like a dang slug left a trail all over the whole plane. Really it aint all that bad though. The mottle effect here was done with a mask. I'm learning that high air pressure (30 psi) , barely, and I mean barely, opening the needle on the AB, really thinned paint and keeping the AB moving are all key elements in applying this pattern. My 190 A8/ R2 was done that way.

Keep using it you'll come to really like it. The possibilities for true detail are endless. I tried my first PE pieces in 1998 when I first heard of the stuff and it was hit or miss. Then I tried it again in 06 with a little resin to go along with it and again it was a limited success. After I got on model forums early last year and started learning how to work with it I got a little better and nowadays although I still have a lot to learn , I feel a lot more comfortable with it. More often than not pure luck comes into play when installing or bending a piece. Particularly pilots seat belts!!!! Yeesh!

Good start Jeff ! And its a Trumpeter!! What's the parts count on that kit anyway? Aww man PE is the best! At first its a little tricky but you learn after a little bit just like anything else. If you don't already have one get some PE bending pliers and the superglue in the gel form. There aint nothin worse than trying to install a little PE part with regular super glue. When I built my Eduard Fw190 A8/R2 Royal Class kit there were 6 sheets of that stuff that came in the box. Example given here: This is truly a kit for somebody who is LOVE with PE!

I usually save them especially if its a kit that 1) already has a lot of "goodies" in it or 2) I purchased a lot of "goodies" for it so I can keep all the spare stuff in a box that I can look at and use stuff from. I have a couple of old kits that I may keep parts of the box for just to cut and put under my glass on my workbench.

I was checking out the parts count in the instructions and I don't remember a car having such a high parts count. Granted some of these pieces are for the police car , but still that's a few parts in the 160 range.

Thank you Ray , Wayne and George! The only downer of the Trumpeter kits is that there are over engineered. I don't know about the smaller scales but the 1/24 parts count is WAY too high. On crazy stuff too like the landing gear. I think each leg was 8-10 parts!!!!