ScaleAutoSport

Tamiya just released this great kit of the Aston Martin DBS.  It’s their first road car in a long time, and it’s a great subject!

Four of us from the model club have this same kit, so we’ve agreed to work on it for the July (or maybe August) meeting.  It’s a typical Tamiya ’shake the box and it falls together’ kit. Great engineering and the level of detail is fantastic.  It comes with a photoetched fret with various grills and things and the AM logos and mirrors are metal transfers.

Most of the color choices - if you go with ‘factory’ colors - lean towards conservative blues, greens, and silvers, with a bright red and yellow thrown in for variety.  However, there is a special edition DBS that was done in a bright orange, so that’s how I’m going to paint mine.

So far, I’ve got the body primered, the bottom pan primered and painted gloss black (ready for alclad aluminum and carbon fiber decals), and the interior tub painted flat black.  I was going to try to spray the orange today but the weather went south and it was too humid to spray lacquer.  And once the wife gets home it’s out of the question because the smell bothers her too much.  There’s always subassemblies to work on, though.

Well, I was in a real hurry to try and finish this little model for the May club meeting, so I got impatient and in a hurry.  Let this be a lesson learned.

The little kit went together wonderfully. Sorry, no photos, was in a hurry to get it done. The only fiddly bit was my usual problem area, the canopy. But no worries, after some effort all was well.  The paint went down smoothly, and the decals went on great.

Doesn't look that bad from this side!

The thing is, the Blue Angel aircraft was not a ‘flat’ blue, but rather a glossy blue - it was a showpiece, after all.  So I wanted to give it a bit more ’sheen’ so decided to give it a coat of clear semi-gloss lacquer.

So far, so good.  The problem with the semi-gloss was it wasn’t drying as fast as I wanted it to.  So, I thought I’d put it under a warm light to help cure the paint a bit faster.

You know where this is going, right?  I got tied up and didn’t get back to it as quickly as I should have.  By the time I got back…

This side is wrecked!

Bottom is worse!

So, lesson for me is, don’t get so impatient!

The good news is, I have enough decals to do one more plane, and of course since the kit came with two I’ll be able to build it.  A friend from the club gave me another one that I’m going to do as the F6F that’s on display at the Pensacola museum.  This time, I’ll take my time…

I picked up some decals for doing a 1/144 scale Blue Angels F6F Hellcat. I already had the beautiful little Platz kit in my stash so I thought it would make a nice, fairly quick build. Platz is a Japanese company similar to Sweet, and their models are just as nice. Very good quality, and nicely engineered for a good fit. Like Sweet, they include two kits in the box.

I’m going to try to finish it before the next club meeting, which should be doable since it’s just an all-over sea blue with some really simple decals.

Earl Petrikin and I made a pilgrimage to the heart of Naval aviation in Pensacola over the last few days.  Our plan was to spend two days at the National Museum and then an additional day at the Battleship Alabama memorial in Mobile. Unfortunately, the weather was not kind and we had to hightail it home on Saturday, leaving the battleship for another trip.  But we were able to make the most of the two full days at the Naval Aviation Museum - we took the first day to leisurely peruse the exhibits, taking them in, reading the placards, ogling the great models they have on display. We saved the photo taking for day 2, and it worked out really good.  Usually I only have a day to take in a museum like this so I end up rushing through taking photos but not really seeing much.  This time,  I got to see stuff and then spent the following day taking my time and photographing the subjects that most interest me.

These are not beauty shots, but rather close-in detail photos of warbirds for the purpose of detailing a model. Since my interests tend to lean towards early aviation - biplanes through WWII, with a few early jets thrown in for good measure, that’s what the photos are focused on.  If that’s you cup ‘o tea as well, I hope you enjoy these photos as much as Earl and I enjoyed taking them.

A6M2b Zero	AD-7 Skyraider	BF2-C Goshawk
F2H Banshee	F3F-2	F4B-4
F4D-1 Skyray	F4F-3 Wildcat	F-4 Phantom II
F6C-1 Hawk	F6F-3 Hellcat	F7C-1 Seahawk
F7F-3 Tigercat	F7U-3 Cutlass	F-8A Crusader
F8F-2P Bearcat	F9F-6 Cougar	FF-1Fifi
FG-1D Corsair	FJ-2 Fury	F2F-6 Duck
JN-4 Jenny	MIG-15 Fagot	Miscellaneous
Models	N1K2-J Shiden	Nieuport 28
OS2U-3 Kingfisher	P-40B Tomahawk	PBY-5 Catalina
SB2U-2 Vindicator	SBD-3 Dauntless	TBM-3E Avenger
TV-2 Shooting Star	-	-
-	-	-

Decals are on, case is wiped down and closed up.  All that’s left is to put it in the box and do my best to package it so it will survive the delivery to Birmingham!

Done except for the decals, which I’ll add this evening after all the paint and glue has completely dried.

Guns, guns, guns, and more guns.  I’m going blind gluing itty-bitty guns onto the ship.  It certainly give me some appreciation for the awesome firepower contained in an Iowa-class battleship.  Capped off the top decks and added the masts.  And did lots and lots of touch-up and detail painting (and still have a bit to go). All that’s left is the catapults, the crane, and the radar.

I found a neat new base while I was in Georgia last week. It’s a perfect size and has a clear acrylic cover, which should help prevent any dust from settling - ’cause dusting this thing would be nearly impossible.  I also ordered a nice little graphic for USS Iowa, and the enamel pin will go just to the left of it.  And the case came with a mirror for the base, which I’m going to adapt for the back.  It should make a very nice display.

And yes, it really is 2:30.  I lose track of time when I’m doing this stuff…

The deck color was way too light; I had an email exchange with a friend who pointed out that for Measure 22, ‘deck blue’ is really, really blue.  So I did some masking and resprayed it.  I still have some touchup painting to and minor assembly, but it shouldn’t be a problem finishing it in the next couple days.

No model updates in the last few days because…. well, I finished the exterior of my Mustang this week. Added the rocker panel graphics and the Bullitt chin spoiler.  So the final tally…

• Repainted in Sonic Blue (factory color) and a painted white LeMans stripe.
• Added Mustang graphic inserts on rear bumper.
• Bullitt-style grille delete kit (floating pony).
• Bullitt fuel-filler door (billet aluminum).
• Bullitt chin spoiler.
• Rocker panel graphics
• 4.6L V-8 graphics on hood scoop.
• New tires
• New tint on driver/passenger window.

The interior has had a few upgrades as well, a new stereo and billet shifter bezel.  Still need to check on repairing the leather on the driver’s seat bolsters.

Planned mechanical upgrades - cold air kit, strut tower brace, maybe a lowering kit.

Well, the Measure 22 deck blue is not all that different from the haze gray.  It’s very subtle, and best noticed on the turrets.  I masked the lower hull and its superstructure and airbrushed the deck blue, then carefully brush-painted the assorted superstructure components.  At this point, the main parts of the ship are done and assembled.  Next comes a bunch of piddly stuff like the machine guns, life rafts, and other assorted objects. Then a whole lot of detail painting.  I should be done sometime next week, hopefully in time for the upcoming model club meeting and then of course to ship it on to its final destination.