jwvolz

Nice start, good luck with your build. 

I bit the bullet and bought the carronades from Caldercraft for my Cruiser Class build. Glad I did. Even if I had wanted to keep the long guns, they are WAY too big, bordering on 18-24 lbers.

Looking very nice Bob!

Very nice work so far John. 

Good move removing the bulkhead extension timberheads.

The plywood is very difficult to work to proper shape and the planksheer is easier to correctly align without them there. They'll all look consistent this way too.

Just love your metal work Richard. 

Thanks Richard, it's an enjoyable build. 

Thanks guys. I'm really enjoying this build. The little details as Bob mentioned make the difference, and 1/48 helps with that.

First update in a while. Once my company lifted travel restrictions, I've gotten very busy at work, which I'm actually quite happy about, but it has kept me away from the bench more. 

Finished the trunk cabin. It's a straightforward build, and the plans are good. The iron bars that make up the skylight framing were a bit tricky. I ended up using small gauge brass rod and they worked out great. It's just tricky getting them all the same length. I ended up sanding to final height with the sandpaper on a piece of glass.  I used boxwood for the skylight, as basswood would have certainly split drilling all the holes for the bars. The porthole rings/frames are not supplied so I fabricated them from appropriate sized styrene tubing. I still need to make the smokehead cover. 

Good move on the fillers. With the narrow deck planks I don't think it's possible to get a smooth run and avoid sagging between the bulkheads without them. 

Don't know how I missed your log, but saw the gallery photos and just caught up. What a great build! I really like what you did with all the weathering. I never really considered building this kit, but you now have me intrigued...

Nice work! And you're moving very quickly too. 

I can vouch for the Chapelle book being a good one for the library Bill. It's been very useful to me so far in my build. 

That's looking very nice David. 

OOO Buckshot is the almost the exact size you need (9.1mm) 

I don't know where you are located, but a 5 round box (8 pellets per shell) is about $7.00 a box in the US. 

I am currently building the Latham as well Bill. Welcome to the club!

Nice work so far. I'll be interested to watch this develop, since as you said there are no other build logs of her on MSW. 

Thanks guys!

Could be a flag halyard. 

Painted the dory and added a few little details. I'll add oars and maybe a few more things later on. 

Fantastic framing work. 

Very nice OC!

The cans get VERY expensive, very quickly.

I've had a no name compressor for about 12 years now and it is still going strong, and I've used it a whole lot in that time. It looks like every no name one you see on Amazon. They run $85-$100 and most generally have very good reviews. 

Airbrushes themselves are a whole different story; you get what you pay for. The one value exception is the Iwata Neo. It's a phenomenal value and I think does just as well as it's expensive big brothers, and I've owned a fair number of Iwata airbrushes. 

3 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Thanks Joe!  After painting, I used Vallejo's acrylic washes which I don't think need to go down on a gloss coat as they aren't enamel or oil based.  I dry brushed a few highlights, but didn't seal with a flat coat.  I ended up gluing in the cockpit last night so might just skip that step.  Good to know that I should do that in the future though.

 

If the cockpit (or other part of the model) is painted a metallic color, would you still spray a flat coat?  These planes were painted aluminum, so to seal the exterior after painting, I was thinking of spraying with a final semi-gloss or satin clear coat.  Matt might dull the aluminum too much, and on the other hand, I'm thinking that gloss would be too shiny.  Semi-gloss/satin might be just right.

Mike,

One of the reasons I use a gloss coat even if the paints are compatible is to aid in removal n the areas where you don't want the wash. Flat paint "stains" and darkens and it is harder to remove excess wash. Washes also flow better around details on a glossy surface. 

You were fine with no flat coat since you didn't put down a gloss.

The painted aluminum aircraft of that era were a lot duller in finish than say a polished natural aluminum late war P-51. The Liquitex is good stuff. I might think satin would be the best final finish. 

Mike,

My typical cockpit sequence is:

paint

gloss coat

wash 

flat coat

drybrush