Moments of Zen

[TheChronicOne]

That could've ended much worse, Fred. Glad it didn't get you too hurt or in trouble. And your boss is right, insurance is payed for the accidents and machines can be replaced.

I have read that the brass gatlings can be quite a pain to build right... That's one of reasons why I'm not sure about it. They're cheap so I guess I'll try my luck. The worst problem is that I'm also not sure if the size will be correct to fit the Kit's part....

Per the rest, seems you're smitten with helos BIG TIME.   

I am indeed, they're a part of my childhood and also a big part of my love for aircraft. When I was around 5/6 years old, my dad took me to the PoAF's show in my hometown. It had a static display with an A-7P and an Sa-330 Puma chopper and that was my first time inside an aircraft and a cockpit.  Sweet memories... i've bought almost every chopper model i wanna build so it's time to get them done.

Yeah damn straight!  Dive on in. I have a soft spot for Hueys and Chinooks. A lot of the Vietnam left-overs were constantly flying our skies as I was growing up so I saw them all the time. I still see Chinooks from time to time but never see Hueys any more. 
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[DogfighterZen]

Yeah damn straight!  Dive on in. I have a soft spot for Hueys and Chinooks. A lot of the Vietnam left-overs were constantly flying our skies as I was growing up so I saw them all the time. I still see Chinooks from time to time but never see Hueys any more. 
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I already have, and there's no stopping now! 
I have been checking the cockpit parts of the Blue Thunder before i spray any paint on them to see if there's anything missing or that needs some work to better represent it like the "real" Blue Thunder was. I think it's only missing the fire extinguisher on the rear wall/panel.
The deal  with the gun is that the kit's part doesn't look that good and the gun being one of the main features of the BT, i think it should be well represented so i wanna check all options before i spend money and end up with something i won't be able to build properly.
CA is my least favorite glue to work with and i have used PE cockpit parts before but, although they do make a difference, it can also be frustrating to get them assembled cleanly, without any excess glue covering up detail or simply looking bad. It's not rocket science so i think that with practice i should be able to learn how to do a decent job with different materials.
I have quite a few kits in the stash that include PE fret ands turned brass pitot tubes so i have no other choice but to try to learn so i can make those kits look as good as possible.
No real issue but it is a skill set i want to acquire so, i'll just take the bull by the horns and deal with it.

 

[DogfighterZen]

So, i hope everyone's had a good xmas eve and day, and had many presents under the tree. I didn't get any modelling related presents but milady did get me something i wanted for years, a telescope.
I love looking at the sky at night but never did get the urge to buy one but since we moved into our home, i've found my backyard to be a great place for star gazing, something that is hard to do under the city lights where i used to live. Now i live in the countryside and there's no city or light concentration near my house so it's perfect for this activity. 
Modelling related news aren't many but i did buy another model today... Found the old Italeri 1/48 AH-1Z kit on ebay for a good price so i bought to do what i didn't on the 1/72 AH-1W kit.
When i built that kit, i had to scratch a lot of parts and modify the kit's parts to make it closer to an early prototype of the AH-1Z Viper before the big doghouse and the chaff/flair dispenser fairings on the sides of the fuselage were installed. With the 1/ 48 kit, i think it might be easier to scratchbuild those parts and make them look better than on a 1/72 kit so, i'll still have to, either find a cheap donor kit of a helo that has a suitable fenestron tail rotor or simply scratch one up like i did for the 1/72 version.
The work will still be less than what i had to do on the 1/72 kit cause i'll already have the 4 blade rotor on the box so that excludes the need for a second 1/48 AH-1 kit to steal the main rotor from and all the work of the conversion.
This also means i'll keep the Kittyhawk Viper kit to be built OOB as a real world bird and to be a guide for the building of parts for the Italeri kit.

Regarding the Blue Thunder, i've began work by filling a couple of gaps on the co-pilot's computer screens and now i'm scratchbuilding a fire extinguisher for the back wall of the cockpit, pretty much the only noticeable detail missing on the kit's part. After that's done, it'll be time for paint and assembly of the whole cockpit.

Still want to go on with the F-16W but it will have to be put on holed until i finish the Blue Thunder cause i already have a few F-16Ws and no BT so, the helo comes first.

 

[DogfighterZen]

So, here for another one... Happy new year, everyone!! Let's see if life can get back to a more normal condition...
I've been lazy... the xmas festive season hasn't been very productive in terms of model building but i did spray some XF-66 on the Blue Thunder's cockpit bits and covered some gaps with Sprue Goo(SG for short, ok?) on a couple of parts of the computer screen and another panel insert.



Then i noticed the switches with safety covers on the real BT, that are simple round protuberances on the kit's panels so i just glued a tiny strip of styrene on top of the correct ones, according to pics of the real BT's instrument panels. May not look much nin the pics but it will make it easier to paint these details so, imho, worth it.





Also scratched up a fire extinguisher, which was very visible inside the cockpit on the back wall. Two round ends of a bit of sprue with appropriate diameter, were cut to the desired size, glued together and the seam was filled with SG. Sanded it back to round and glued a few more bits of styrene to make the handle and lever...




Then it was time for the XF-66...



So, let's see if i can make some progress on this during the weekend...

While looking at P-51 Mustang racers, i remembered that i wanted to do some changes to a Mustang so i ordered the 1/72 Airfix Mustang and while looking for that one, i came across the Xtrakit F.22... it was so cheap that i just had to add one to the basket... but, as Spitfires are beautiful and i especially like the Griffon-engined variants, i also ordered the Academy 1/48 Mk.XIVc kit just cause it was selling for 12€, shipping included on a Portuguese online modelling store.
This Academy kit is one that i wasn't thinking of buying cause i've got most 1/48 models in the stash that i really wanted but the Spitfire is my favorite prop fighter and i may have to buy a Mk.I and a Spiteful to have all my favorite variants of the Spitfire lineage, in 1/48 scale.
I like the size of 1/48 kits of WWII fighters and ever since i built the Monogram P-40B a few years ago, i decided that i wanted to have my favorite WWII prop fighters in that scale. Still missing a Corsair on that list and the new Modelsvit P-51H is also very tempting...
Anyway, going back to the whiffed P-51 i have in mind, i've had that in my mind for a long time so i'm afraid i won't be able to resist and get it on the bench as soon as the kit is delivered...

 

[NARSES2]

Neat work 

[DogfighterZen]

Neat work 

Thanks, Chris! 
Going to start painting the rest of the interior now and i think i'm gonna use some of my colored pencils again, they're a nice tool for small details.

[TheChronicOne]

Fancy pants, look at you go!

[DogfighterZen]

Fancy pants, look at you go!

  I am going... slowly, though... 

[DogfighterZen]

Finally got some modelling done after losing my mojo for a bit... I wanted to have at least one pilot figure in the Blue Thunder's pit but i've been having a hard time finding suitable ones for Frank Murphy and the original J.A.F.O., Richard Lymangood.
I may have to find the closest ones, buy them and then modify them to represent the movie's crew.
While going through pics of the real choppers used on the movie, i've found that the cockpit has different instruments and screens so i believe the Monogram kit was based on the TV series' ship, which was modified.
Doesn't matter much, just had to choose the right pics for painting reference.









The fire extinguisher hasn't been painted yet cause i still have to add a couple of details but this is almost ready for assembly...

 

[PR19_Kit]

I love the way it has an old style IBM PC on one side. 

This was before Windows of course, so it doesn't have a mouse on the desk as well. 

[zenrat]

I love the way it has an old style IBM PC on one side. 

This was before Windows of course, so it doesn't have a mouse on the desk as well. 

That takes me back.

[PR19_Kit]

It may even be a Commodore 1512 of course. 

[DogfighterZen]

Those screens do bring back some memories of the computer classes i took back in 1989/90. 
The Amstrad pc 1512 only came out in 1986 and the movie is from 1984 so, it probably was an IBM PC/AT. 

Well, got some little things done on the Blue Thunder, got the fire extinguisher finished and then, it was time to decide if i'd leave this one without crew figures or choose one of two other options which were, either buy aftermarket resin figures for more euros than i really would like to spend on such items, or find them one some other kit... I really don't feel like shelling out almost 60€ for a couple of 1/32 scale figures and the option of buying another kit which has the figures is also an expensive one so, i was left with the last resort option, which is, to sculpt the figures out of styrene, Magic Sculp two part epoxy putty and normal Tamiya grey putty.









Started with the head to get a sense of the size of the figure itself which should be around 54mm for a person who's around five foot six. got some fat chunks of sprues for the main body structure and i'm going from there. After i get the legs and arms in place, epoxy putty will do the rest... i hope! 

Also got a bit more of Sprue Goo on the F-16W's wings last night. The poor thing as been neglected long enough so i'm making and effort to get it going again to see if i can gather some momentum and get a bit done everyday on at least one of the projects on my bench.
Been writing down a few other ideas for whiffsome of my latest stash additions will probably be involved in one or two of this list...

 

[TheChronicOne]

FULLY on board with this. By God, go for the gusto. This is an awesome idea and one hell of a crafty solution for such a problem.  👏👏👏👏

[DogfighterZen]

FULLY on board with this. By God, go for the gusto. This is an awesome idea and one hell of a crafty solution for such a problem.  👏👏👏👏

 
It's something I've done in 1/72 so why not try it on a bigger scale? I know that it's going to need a lot more work to make something acceptable but there's nothing better than trying to know if you can make it, right?
I was thinking of buying a couple of remedial figures but they're so expensive... And there aren't many suitable options in 1/32 besides their figures so, instead of spending a bunch of money I could spend on kits, I'll try to improve my sculpting skills while saving that money.