1:48 Avenger,Dauntless, plus a Cat

Post by **Always48** » Mon May 02, 2016 5:48 pm

This is the most exciting challenge.

I am planning to do a section of carrier deck commerating carrier aircraft through the pacific air campaign to win back occupied islands.
Its something ive always wanted to do to be honnest, im really pleased a GB has come about to get me butt into gear to do it in just 4 months! its going to be a tight fit for sure and im propper scared as i dont want to bodge it up. Anyways heres the desired aircraft lifted from my stash. ill do a individual breakdown of each kit in seperate posts.

Fingers crossed

Post by **liamconnor15** » Mon May 02, 2016 6:14 pm

It's going to be a close call getting all those aircraft finished in 4 months. Good luck

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Mon May 02, 2016 6:31 pm

Love your idea, good luck building them!

Post by **Lysus** » Mon May 02, 2016 7:56 pm

That's a bold undertaking, good luck to you. I'll be rooting for you

Post by **rodrant** » Mon May 02, 2016 7:58 pm

This will be interesting ...you manage to get more builds that I in one simple build in a GB ...that will be unusual

Interesting to follow this one , good luck buddy !

Post by **Richp1969** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:50 pm

Wow this should be awesome to watch come together. The anticipation is killing me.

Good luck with all those great models.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **Always48** » Mon May 02, 2016 10:21 pm

Thanks guys for the good wishes. i plan to tackle it as one large model rather than individual aircraft. so step one will be getting all 5 cockpits done, my reasoning is if im base coating, detailing, and washing i can do them together thus not killing time waiting so much... sounds good and i hope it works.

Post by **Always48** » Tue May 03, 2016 12:00 am

A breakdon of the kits for those interested
f6 hellcat

probably going to replicate the one on the right

SDB Dauntless comes with PE dive brakes

Wildcat, had some true details wheels with it from a sale on ebay

going with this scheme

The awesome f4u corsair, may leave this one out

Due to the work required on the Avenger

in the grey over white scheme

And ive started yay on the dauntless cockpit! a bit of filler is needed as the seem between bulkheads is a bit sunken

Thanks for popping by

Post by **Vleugelmoer** » Tue May 03, 2016 4:43 am

Nice collection of styrene my friend, at least you didn't set yourself a tough target 5 aircraft in 4 months an a career deck thrown in for the fun as well. Did you actually the of time from work to do this GB or what.

As always happy modeling and keep sticking styrene.

Paul

Post by **Always48** » Tue May 03, 2016 6:20 pm

Vleugelmoer wrote:Nice collection of styrene my friend, at least you didn't set yourself a tough target 5 aircraft in 4 months an a career deck thrown in for the fun as well. Did you actually the of time from work to do this GB or what.

As always happy modeling and keep sticking styrene.

Paul

Well this is what happens when i have all those paint fumes from the last Gb still rattling around the old nogging, i come up with silly ideas plucked out a styrene fueled nightmare and run with them lol
Think i might have to reschedule some holiday though. only joking, I'll see where i get too with the whole build, then panic the day when scoof reminds me times running out

Post by **1001kjk** » Tue May 03, 2016 8:23 pm

Look forward to following this one

Post by **Vleugelmoer** » Tue May 03, 2016 10:37 pm

Post by **Always48** » Tue May 03, 2016 10:51 pm

1001kjk wrote:Look forward to following this one

Thanks 1001, welcome onboard the crazy train

So this evening i have been busy (a must i might add), ive managed to get a coat of stynalrez on the duantless pit. Have to say im excited about this cockpit as its got lots of bulkheads and that equals detail. yum yum.i then moved on with the Hellcats pit which i had base coated last night with a coat of Mig ammo WWII USA cockpit green. this let me get on with the first stage of photoetch. i wont put the levers in till im ready to close it up and the shading is done. i plan on shading the cockpits next week once they are all semi built and base coated.

meanwhile i spent some time getting the engine's of the sprues and cleaned up. plenty of sanding on the eduard one as each cylinder head was attached to the sprue. the rest are not as well gated so they cleaned up far easier. Every block has the same issue with seam lines down each cylinder and some are more mis aligned than others, and some pack more detail than others Tamiya's being the weakest in that respect. well enough writing lets see the pics

Thanks for stopping by

Post by **Richp1969** » Tue May 03, 2016 11:12 pm

The cockpit looks fantastic.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **AndreFerro** » Wed May 04, 2016 5:01 am

Hell'uva work, Man!
Keep following yr thread with great interest!

Post by **Always48** » Fri May 06, 2016 9:15 pm

stage one of engine painting

in each case i started with AK extreme metal gunmetal, then the central fins get a coat of very thin tamiya clear blue. After this i used Alclad sepia on the fins furthermost out. that way it creates a heat soak effect to each cylinder head. Here it is on the Dauntless lump.

Avenger lump with yhe intake manifold in aluminum just resting in place

Here is eduards F6 hellcats motor, ive yet to paint the wiring in a dulled down light brown. im hopeful that the red will lift through to give it depth. the rotor thingy is resting to keep PE in place

both the tamiya engines lack full detail of yhe previous seen. i may insert wires of my own

well thats the pics from yesterday, ill post more tomorrow with the progress. Thanks for looking

Post by **Willem** » Sat May 07, 2016 2:04 am

Damn. I have enough trouble trying to keep on track with two builds at a time!

Looking good so far though. Exquisite detailing on those engines.

Best of luck.

Post by **Always48** » Sun May 08, 2016 6:21 pm

Willem wrote:Damn. I have enough trouble trying to keep on track with two builds at a time!

Looking good so far though. Exquisite detailing on those engines.

Best of luck.

Thanks Willem i am pleased with the way they turned out. Its something i tried from FAQ book and itll be my standard approach with radial engine now. Never tried doing the ignition leads but i hope to this week.
On the number front I must admit im being very careful and not mixing items about. the boxes have everything put back in them afterwards. As for building them together i will admit im not enjoying each indidual build as much as i would if i was on each model solely. I may drop back to doing each one at a time as soon as the engines are done. The wildcat needs more stuff i feel like a wing fold kit and resin engine so i may stop on this one for now.

meanwhile these came yesterday

thanks for stopping by, and all comments are welcome

Post by **Icemannique** » Sun May 08, 2016 8:13 pm

All engines and that F6F cockpit looks very nice ! Keep up good work, you have plenty of that ahead !

Post by **Always48** » Sun May 08, 2016 8:43 pm

Thanks mate, and dont i know it

oh and congrats btw way on the little win

Post by **Richp1969** » Sun May 08, 2016 8:48 pm

Everything is coming along nicely. keep up the great work.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **Always48** » Tue May 10, 2016 10:23 pm

Thanks Richard, a bit more in the way of progress tonight. Over the last few nights Ive managed to get most cockpits base greened. i first black stynalrez everything. Then i used MIG Ammo WWII usa cockpit green. after that ive lightened up with Tamiyas xf3 / xf4 50/50 mix.
So tonight i got stuck in on the F4U-1 cockpits PE. overal im very happy with the results. ive the belts to do tomorrow.

Avenger front end

Avenger non assemble

something daunting ive cut a section out of the engine cowling to show off the engine detail as its very hard to see anything once the cowl is on.

F4U pit

Thanks for pulling in at the hanger

Post by **Willem** » Tue May 10, 2016 10:52 pm

Looking awesome.

Post by **Richp1969** » Thu May 12, 2016 5:35 pm

Fantastic detail. The cockpit looks like it is ready to be jumped into and fired up. Really well done.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **1001kjk** » Thu May 12, 2016 6:07 pm

Good stuff enjoying this

Post by **pir8hntr** » Thu May 12, 2016 11:13 pm

Very good looking builds and very brave for taking on four at one time.
pir8hntr

Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:25 am

Looking great, this is going to be fun to watch

Post by **Always48** » Sat May 14, 2016 11:22 pm

Willem wrote:Looking awesome.

Thanks Willem

Richp1969 wrote:Fantastic detail. The cockpit looks like it is ready to be jumped into and fired up. Really well done.

Sincerely,

Richard

Thanks Richard, gotta love eduards PE and if only all those little bits and pieces operated something that would be really cool.

1001kjk wrote:Good stuff enjoying this

Thank you, and thanks for popping by

pir8hntr wrote:Very good looking builds and very brave for taking on four at one time.
pir8hntr

Thanks man.

well its update time, and have i got some updates

first up i sorted this ejector pin city! as you might be able to see them through the open base of the F4U cocpit.

Then i did the belts on the f4U seat

I moved onto the engine and tried out making up leads for its engine. i drilled each cylinder head and super glued in some solder. after that dried i painted them up

here it is beside the F6 eduards offering

Then i did a whole bunch of detailing up the Dauntless pit

I Then painted up the F4U pilot and stuck him in the F6 cockpit

And heres a shot of them fuselages all together to compare lengths!

well thats it

for now thanks for checking in

Post by **PrivateMansoor** » Sun May 15, 2016 2:31 am

Great work mate.... very productive and pragmatic approach you have there. The detail is very good on the cockpits and engines, you have not sacrificed any detail in your approach as well.

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sun May 15, 2016 9:58 am

Your level of detailing is superb... love it!

Post by **Always48** » Sun May 15, 2016 1:54 pm

PrivateMansoor wrote:Great work mate.... very productive and pragmatic approach you have there. The detail is very good on the cockpits and engines, you have not sacrificed any detail in your approach as well.

fly1ngdutchm4n wrote:Your level of detailing is superb... love it!

Thank you guys

with the bar set very high by the standard of work thoughout this forum i find it aspires me to try harder in all my modeling. So in a way its just a reflection of the skills you guys have shown me.

Post by **Always48** » Mon May 16, 2016 8:05 am

nothing much but a bit of experimental pigment work on the exhausts. i dipped stipple brush in ak rust effect then in some pigment and stippled it on the exhauat headers.... see what you think ?

Thanks for looking

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon May 16, 2016 3:59 pm

Engine looks awesome, great detail paint work

Post by **snappercity** » Mon May 16, 2016 5:27 pm

Great work on these. Looking forward to seeing these come together.

Post by **Always48** » Sun Jun 05, 2016 9:32 am

So its been a hectic few weeks with very little bench time. fortunately I have been able get some of the simpler stuff together and that allowed any spare minute for sanding without getting time committed.

a bit of detailing work on the avenger, more to do with cowlings cut outs, and the rest of the PE to be done.

closed up the duantless wings and fuselage, realised i had forgot to wait till the liferaft had arrived from Australia! so that meant cutting out a panel underneath to install the tube. fortunately that went well and the panel went back in without a trace.

F4u is also closed up and wings built. i corrected the up turned engine that gives the nose up apperance by putting in a small piece of styene sheet, and contour sanded it to shape.

well thats it for now and thanks for looking

Post by **Always48** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 4:51 pm

so my paints have arrived, plus i bought a few little extras to try on this build like a exhaust weathring set and the us ww2 navy weathering set. Another first will be the rigging wire im going to try replicating that radio wire to the rudder as building these without it will look odd tbh.
The Raf set of Ak paints are for a Typhoon that i really want to do next after these 4 are done.

Post by **HIghAltitudeScale** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:06 pm

Nice selection of kits and it looks like the build are progressing beautifully.

Post by **Always48** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 9:38 pm

thetechcowboy wrote:Nice selection of kits and it looks like the build are progressing beautifully.

Thanks Cowboy

Ok ive made progress this week and got the rest of those PE details down. once this was done i sorted out those panels that i want to be removed so that internals were exposed. Seems a waste not to show off all that work ? So looking around the net, i soon came to the conclusion that when any panel is removed it would expose the mountain plate/rib underneath. so i thought id try and recreate this with really thin styrene. so first off i drilled holes every 1mm, then i cut strips and glued then in with extra thin. afterwards I then blew a coat of zinc chromite. Finally then i closed her up and as it stands now all seams done and heading towards a primer coat at last.

The fish gear installed

small glass installed, then ive put vajello masking fluid on...still got to do the greenhouse ontop but that is a nightmare of panels and to be honnest im cacking myself

ok thats evefyone up to speed, I would like to get the hellcat closed up this weekend, but am quite busy so will try me best.

thanks for looking

YouTube · Post by **Skullfish** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 2:25 am

Awesomeness
Jase

Post by **Timmie** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:03 pm

Great build.
A pleasure to watch these come together.

Grtz Arjan

YouTube · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:05 pm

Thats one heck of a bunch of kits, but my word are they looking good so far

Cant wait to see how these come out

Post by **rodrant** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 7:30 pm

Great Work so far ...keeping following this build , looks Great

Post by **Always48** » Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:04 pm

Skullfish wrote:Awesomeness
Jase

Thank you, glad you like it

Timmie wrote:Great build.
A pleasure to watch these come together.

Grtz Arjan

Thanks Arjan its taken so long already! getting worried i won't complete in time.

NorthernModeller wrote:Thats one heck of a bunch of kits, but my word are they looking good so far Cant wait to see how these come out

Thank you

Well some more progress this week im glad to say, firstly ive got the wings on the dauntless. next up i primed and started pre shading the Avenger

i tried out the proposed colours on the folded wing, im tempted to move over the white side to tamiya xf2 as not feeling the of-white. Also the grey call-out from hobby boss is really light.. dunno wether to go for the blue scheme as youll see in a bit on f4u

so onto the f4u, i havnt pre shaded this as i want to play about in the post shade but ive put down the base colours and this is how she looks at the moment

well thats about it... apart from i tinkered with the load out

Thanks for looking and comments welcome

Post by **pourquoi61** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:09 pm

The work that you are doing is of biblical proportion, War and Peace and all that jazz! I have to say fantastic and I am rooting for you.

Post by **Always48** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:46 pm

pourquoi61 wrote:The work that you are doing is of biblical proportion, War and Peace and all that jazz! I have to say fantastic and I am rooting for you.

Thanks man, with 2 months left im going to need a miracle

so small but significant update..... the hellcat is closed up! That makes 4 heading through the paint shop.

he she is with a coat of ultimate white primer. the plan for this is pre shaded underside, green base on worn areas a some chipping after the top coats on and post shaded. so that makes the avenger a pre shaded model, the F4u corsair just post shade, f6f3 hellcat mix of both... the dauntless really dont know as yet lol

post shaded F4U now and glossed

and starts a bit of decalling, as they set i keep a applying neo softner as tamiya decals a bit thick. This will take awhile then ill wash with oils.

well thats a small mid week update

thanks for looking guys

Post by **OliveDrab** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 1:38 pm

Simply superb builds, they ALL are looking amazing!!!

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:05 pm

joy

outstanding build

Post by **Icemannique** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:26 pm

Absolutely nice progress and nice builds so far.

YouTube · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 7:58 pm

Looking pretty

Post by **Novorus** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 8:06 am

Alan, what an amazing build and the detail is just jaw dropping.

I have trouble finishing anything let alone this many builds at once. I completely see why you have broke it down the way you have.

The cockpits and engines are just excellent......