Up for some model airplanes? Finished my first one in over 15 years...

The last time I finished a 1/72 aircraft was well over 15 years ago. It was amateur at best. Although I did do a 1/48 F-102 Delta Dart about 3 years ago, it doesn't really count as it basically a giant triangle (no motor, no props, no real cockpit work, no armaments, etc).

It took almost 6 months off and on, but there's maybe 8-10 hours of total work into it. It's a 1/72 scale Hasegawa A6M2 Zeke. Main color is rattle can by Testors, all other colors are hand-painted Taimya or Testors Acrylics. No modifications, even the decals are right out of the box.

Nice! That looks fantastic man.

I spent much of middle and high school building scale models. I recently picked up a Tamiya kit of the Jaegermeister Porsche 934, I just need to get a couple more colors of paint before I can start.

Nice. Hasegawa has always made some of the better, more detailed models.

I haven't done one in a while. But I did have to do a few jets (F86 and F104) somewhat reacently when I discovered the technique of covering models with aluminum foil. Makes for a nice effect. Example (not mine):

Very cool. I used to have a small indoor workshop at our old home with a small indoor spray booth. (You can work miracles on models with an airbrush) When we moved about 8 or 9 years ago, I lost the shop and have never really gotten back into it. Its on my "someday" list to set up a similar shop at the new place and start building again.

Nicely done. Even after working in hobby shop for 10 years, I never did have the patience for plastic models. Hat's off to you sir.

Thanks!

I have an airbrush, but I'm still too chicken to actually use it a lot.

I haven't built anything in years, but I've got a mostly finished B-25H sitting right where I left it when my attention got pulled away. For completed stuff, I've got two display cases with maybe 30 1/72 aircraft and maybe a dozen armored vehicles in the same scale. I really want to finish up the Mitchell this winter so I can start fresh on a series from the same era, either the Spanish Civil War or the early Cold War.

Nice! I haven't built anything in a long, long time. I think the last I did was a Piper Cub in 1/72. I usually prefer 1/48.

You don't need an airbrush to add some weathering. With a little dark grey on a wide dry brush, you could add some exhaust stains right around the back side of the cowl. Another thing I've found effective is a little dark grey/brown streaking down the front part of the belly, for oil leaks. That's expecially realistic on British planes...

This thread got me thinking about modelling again, so I pulled a few out of the case. I really need to get back into this.

Nice models, everyone! I'm taking a break from my 1/48 jet habit to go on an airliner binge to finish my 1/144 Piedmont collection.

These flyable balsa models from Guillow's intrigue me! Anybody ever built one?

http://www.guillow.com/p-51mustang.aspx

1988RedT2 wrote: These flyable balsa models from Guillow's intrigue me! Anybody ever built one? http://www.guillow.com/p-51mustang.aspx

I've built a couple of these models from Herr in the recent past. Going from the old die-cut balsa and glue to laser cut parts and superglue (cyanoacrylate) is a real eye opener.

Link for catalog: http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/IndexAircraftF.html?E+Sig

In reply to 1988RedT2:

Yea, this thread got me looking at http://www.towerhobbies.com/ again......FML

I do sometimes miss flying rc planes, and they aren't very hard to build from a kit.

Part of me wants to do an actual mid engine P-39 Airacobra eventually, but that balancing would be insane.

Javelin wrote: Thanks! I have an airbrush, but I'm still too chicken to actually use it a lot.

Its sort of like race tires in autocross, once you try it . . .

Here's a cool little tip for canopies. Mask out the frame by pressing scotch tape into all the open/glass areas, shove the edges down tight and then cut out and remove the sections over the "framing" of the canopy. I used to use just an exacto blade (no handle) for this because you can cut really precisely. I also worked once "pane" or section at a time, since scotch tape doesn't like multiple compound curves. Then paint over the whole outside of the canopy with the interior color (usually a black or a green, depending on what you're working on). Leave it masked, spray the exterior color of the plane, then pull the tape off the "clear" sections. Any part of the canopy you see inside the plane is interior color, any part you see outside is exterior color, just like it should be, but you only have to mask once.