popeye the sailor

I wasn't kidding when I told ya Lou..........for a 1:72 kit.......this is amazing. it's a far cry from 1989. I even measured the fuselages just to be sure. the date stamp is located inside one of the rudder 'fins' of the fuselage...Revell Germany 2010. I made a mistake on the one for the Wulfe Hound....the box says Germany, but the date stamp is located inside the upper starboard wing half......says 1989 Revell USA. it is interesting to note that a second set of molds were made for this model.....likely that Revell Germany found that the US molds were outdated or worn. I'm not sure yet OC........the Nine and the Wulfe Hound are olive drab........it would be neat to break up the manotany with an aluminum paint scheme. the Sentimental Journey has some drab areas and a blue stripe on the rudder fin. not sure, but I think the Shamrock Special was olive drab. another contender is called Sweet and Lovely......she's olive drab, but has some red and white stripes around the waist gunner's windows. of course, we all know that the Memphis belle was olive drab. it's still up for grabs

thanks Lou and Jack........I got the second section in place. just need to touch it up and paint the end post. should have more to show tomorrow thanks also to those who looked in!

the case in point......... for as long as I can recall, I have complained about molded detail in model kits. I fell victim to quite a few times.........see a kit that looks really cool, only to find a few parts in the box, with whatever existential detail molded to the parts........some poorly at that. true........as time went on, the kits became more sophisticated to the taste of the builder. car.......and aircraft kits got the biggest boon I think......engines, chassis, and suspensions were molded less and increased the parts count of the model...........engines, ailerons/flaps, and cockpit detail respectively {let's not forget the planes} when I purchased the Lindberg B 17 kit......I have to be honest........I thought it was more of the same. even the decal led to be desired....but hey! tweak the subject, and look what happened........I'm a happy camper with how it came out the subject is huge.......enter the world of the B 17, and you see more candy than at Willy Wonka's! B 25's and B 24's are no exception { can you tell I like bombers}. during the project of the Nine o Nine, I stumbled on pictures of the Wulfe Hound..........the more I looked into the idea of the captured aircraft......the more I wanted to build it. I put in my Christmas wish list, and in it was an 'already started' kit of a B 17.......not much of an investment for the joy it will bring { my list was all at the same place }. Lou.........you have a big heart........but you out did yourself. one look at the kit you sent me, and there was no way I was going to blow it on a whim. this kit is way to special....it totally blew my mind, as well as my thoughts of what I would expect in a kit. the kit I got for Christmas will more than suffice, for what will be the Wulfe Hound. the kit you sent me deserves to be special, and I do hope I can pull off a very attractive piece of Air Force hardware. both of these kits that I speak of were produced by Revell Germany......the one for the Wulf Hound was produced in 1989. the one that Lou sent me was produced in 2010.....and for a model kit that is 1:72 scale, the details in it, is extraordinary. pardon if I seem startled by all the bells and whistles, but I'm not accustomed in seeing kits like this. for what the 1989 kit has in it, it only has 82 parts {it was a sealed kit BTW}. the 2010 kit more than doubles it, with a parts count of 235 pieces. the instructions is not a folded up 'road map'.......but a booklet! there are eight sprue sheets housing the parts.......there are a few extra parts for different variants. I used to like that with car models.......I bought the three in ones exclusively just for that reason. the decal sheet has all the decals for the Memphis Belle and another named plane called the Shamrock Special. sorry for the blur...... detailed engines, cockpit, ball turrets, and more! ...and the main event... the interior detail is amazing....little flash, but I can deal with that......trust me the fuselage together as a dry fit, shows the emphasis of the nose and tail.......there is another variant for the tail, as well as the cockpit housing. it has a sophisticated design for the wing roots, and yes.......the ball turrets are not built up, as in the 1989 kit. thumbing through the instruction booklet, one can see how much R&D was put into this kit. if anyone is looking for a good replica model for a B 17, this is the kit to get. another feature of this kit is the intake inlets located on the underside of each wing.........they are not 'dummied'. the bomb bay doors can be done open or closed........they will be open in this project. which brings us to the bomb bay itself........there is one being the first page, this is where the fun starts. step #1 is done.........I also assembled the bombs, but failed to get a picture. no worries, you'll get to see them later this kind of came off as a review........guilty as charged. it's nice to be able to show a good example of how the kit {in general} has evolved. some manufacturers {mostly overseas} have been producing complex kits all along, while some still chose to simplify their kits with the molded detail. it's a toss up as to whether their goal was to cut cost in R&D, or to satisfy mass appeal. I think that with the emergence of PE and resin, it's spurring the evolution of the model kit, as we once knew it. I haven't seen too many 1:72 scale this complex.......usually larger kits were more involved....1:28 was my go to for planes. for the time being, I will leave it as the Memphis Belle, but after receiving the decals for the Wulfe Hound, I now can go for three different planes........the Memphis Belle, the Shamrock Special, and the Sentimental Journey. once I can decide on which way to go, I will change the title accordingly

we're com'in in too fast Capt............trim the pitch or we'll shatter the rotors!

white decal paper is one of my cheats. when I did the decals for the Andrea Gail, I changes the background to Emerald Green....that allowed the name and stern placard to be printed. don't know what happened to the numbering.......I think my black was running low. as long as you can stay with the color spectrum and can match the paint your using, the cheat works great. using odd colors is a lot harder, unless you know the pigment measurements. another problem is putting the decal on a darker surface........all colors are made up of at least three common colors {can be any three colors}. in school, you must have learned about two color mixes....blue and yellow make green.....etc. the transparency occurs when the decal containing like colors is place on a surface, the surface color possessing one or more of the same color combos. the decal disappears I think I have it right........hope I'm making sense. it all boils down to the DPI level and the fact that printers can't print white. there are printers that can........but I can't afford one

whole heartedly agree........I have always thought, believed, complained, kicked a can, that there are too much detail lost by molded plastic parts. I have the perfect case in point.........and as I recall, you had another project where you cut back on the PE use, due to the part being better than adding the PE. this kit is really nice.........for the scale, it ought to be personally, I'd do the seat belts rather than add the figures. logic being, that if the figures are use, the model should be in a flying pose, on a stand.......gear up. parked, one looks in the canopy and sees the seat belts {dunno.......I'm just nostalgic that way } but your the commandant.......I know you'll do this one the justice it deserves!

I'll give it a shot if you'd like........send me what you want. as for lettering, they do sell sheets of letter/number decals like I purchased for the Nine.........in a number of scales. as Alan mentioned, decals can be made with any photo shop program, but is not set up for the size of decal paper. you have to figure out where to position the decal paper. I have the Testor's 'decal it' program by sure thing.....it's formatted already. after printing, decal bonder must be sprayed over the image to seal the ink......else will be destroyed when placed in water. it's not a perfect program.......it seems to have a transparency issue, but I don't use it a lot, so nailing down a solution is an ongoing process. I tried to find out if there was an update for the program........and I bought what they offered, but all it was was an extension of the decal options and choices. it is nice, because I can import images into it and manipulate them to my liking. it expands the subject matter......a big plus for me.

we've been wanting to trek up the coast line.......always seems to fizzle out when we get to Hampton. I recall an invitation I got back when I was doing the Gundalow. time being what they were, I never made it out there. been kinda bee-bopp'in around the projects today........spent some time with the light house. I had the railing PE sitting on my desk, along with the posts....tiny little wooden things. now that the walls are cemented in place on the lower platform, I felt it was time to get them in place, before I lose them or something. starting with the shortest segment, to the right of the boat launch, the end post was created and the post {only one} was added to the railing. once it was assembled, it was off to the paint booth to paint it black. the second segment is a few sections longer...added three posts to it, and it too was taken to the paint booth and painted black. the first segment was dry by now and could be cemented into place. the second segment will need the left side end post. the third segment was made ready.......it needs five posts. once these are painted and ready........I can put them in place. got to run to the store..........Pffffffff!

that's quite a bit of detail..........do you think it needs PE? ICM does models to this degree..... gonna be some super camo. front row!

prolonging the war wasn't a good idea either. they had my vote on Nixon's impeachment, even though I couldn't vote. you may have to improvise on the decals. try Tom's, Eduard's, Scale Hobbist ..........there are many out there.

time will be a factor as well.........are you going to suspend it by two or three attachment points? looks awesome! from my constant browsing on the old model kits site, I've noticed an increase of missile and rocket models. they just received one of the older Mercury kits it even comes with the Mercury and Gemini detail sets

time to start back on the light house. I was going to put the two sections together for a shot, but found that I didn't cement the walls to the upper part. kind of a good thing, 'cuz the tabs weren't going into the bottom holes very well. so I cemented the walls in place on the bottom section. I'm still planning to trim down the center tube.......this way, all of the electrical parts can be inside the house {not sure where they are per the instructions}. I bought a couple of red markers Jack.......I think this will remedy the dilemma of the tinted windows.

some of them did terrible the way you boys were treated coming home.

thanks everyone I still remember the hobby shop that used to be Manchester, when I was a lad.........the 606. it was a huge shop......dealt with everything hobby...trains, boats, planes....cars. you name it. now we're down to a couple small shops....craft stores make up the balance of the supply train. I wish I could say that I was that crafty.......but the blotches are gone. as mentioned, I have a lighter shade for the ailerons, so I need to do them over again. this paint came out totally dead from any sort of sheen {even flats can have a dull sheen to them}. I think wiping them down and over spraying them with a second coat might do the trick. the pains is also rough, which is why I will wipe them down......it's a bit grainy. this comes from being in that evaporated state for so long. so much thinner was added to make it viable, that it expanded and lifted the masking tape after it dried. this concerns me, since I want to do that thing with the call letter 'B'.......I shudder to think what it will do to the decal. kinda sad really......this color looks really good. I was going to give it a shot of dull coat afterwards......now I wonder about that too. the decals are nice........would have been better if a few other markings were included. I have the other sheet, so I can add some. as for the white masking tape......I really don't need to add it, since the plane was marked like that for a short time....only for training purposes. you might notice that they included some extra insignia letters........they weren't sure if there were any on the upper surfaces of the wings. all of the pictures I've seen, I haven't noticed any, so I won't need them. they added the prop decals, but I won't need them either, since the only thing I saw about the props were the white striping a few added markings other than the black strip walkways: here is a preliminary peek at my first stab....making a stand for her... I may stick with this one, but I have another design I want to try. I inserted a brass rod to strengthen the base/shaft connection. if I use the hole where the belly turret was located, that will put the balance off because the model will be too far forward. looking at the location on the Nine o Nine, the slot for that stand is just aft of the bomb bay doors. so, if I want to go with that positioning, I will need to install what I'll call the rod root....subsequently drilling the access hole for it before the fuselage is put together. either hole I choose, I will be adding the rod root. the root will act as a guide for the rod that will be added to the base. if I don't, the plane is liable to tilt and do strange thing when placed on the stand. the Nine O Nine stand utilizes a button root, cemented into the bottom of the fuselage. I may also concave the mating surface of the shaft, so the fuselage will rest in it firmly. more to be done today

interesting! I ask because at work, we have been fitting new GPS units on our trailers, and they use magnets to keep them in an inactive state until they are installed. the magnets are 1/2 in in diameter and 1/8 of an inch thick they look like what your using, although yours do look smaller. they are strong little buggers...I will say that superb job on the model so far.......I really like the way your going to anchor the model to the stand.

glad to see you started your project as well Mark looking at that base, it would be interesting to see a diorama, but at that scale, it would be huge! I know your not planning anything like it, but it does make for an interesting observation I look forward to your progress.

stinks when that happens.......... beautiful bird though.......the paint is awesome and decals are going to amplify to no end!

awesome so far Yves! I do wonder about the magnets though, since it will be suspended on a stand base. are you going to cement it all together, or are you going to have parts of it undocked from the station?

very happy to see the start of your project Lou! as I mentioned, I dealt with the place your getting the decals and parts from. I pretty much had to prod the heck out of them........and them having the brass to ask me for a review afterwards......nawwwww, they would have deleted it, not only that, I didn't have the order yet! I'm sure I didn't mention it, but they also asked me to send them pictures of the Nine o Nine. after almost two months of waiting for the decals, I wasn't about to fulfill that request. give Mega Hobby a try.......I got the Wulfe Hound decals in two working days......ordered them Thursday, the 9th........got 'em on Monday, the 13th! I'm sure they will have what you need. I didn't know what B.S. I'd run into canceling the other order, so I let it go full circle........but I'll never order from them again. your knowledge of this subject will be valuable.......this will be a fantastic read....and project I built a few of the gunships they used in Nam Ken........they are some of the meanest pieces ever created!

sorry to hear of your cousin...condolences to you and your family plane's look'in really sweet.........panel lines are awesome!

thanks Ken....I hope there's still a little fading...I haven't had a chance to look closer. I have never see Pactra sold in that size of bottle......always saw it in the "Testor's" size bottles {.25 fl oz}. in my younger days, I used it often.........good selection of colors. now a days, you hardly see it.........same with Humbrol. I have one more day of work............but we have a line of nasty weather coming. we just had two days of temps over 50 degrees........it's gone downhill since

I had to thin that white down a bit Ken......it's part of the older paints I got from Lou. he mentioned earlier that the plastic looked like it was black. it's actually a very dark green. the last B 17 I'm going to do next is in white plastic, so it will be easier to deal with. sometimes colored plastics can be a problem. welcome to the build Kevin looking at pictures...and there are quite a few of them, I get the impression that there is a reproduction of the plane, like the Nine o Nine { either that, or someone build a large R/C model of her}. in any event......they made a goof. the ball turret was destroyed when it belly landed in the field. the Germans never repaired it, and so it was removed and patched over. I've seen pictures of this plane with the ball turret. note under the fuselage......and the glass in the waist gunner's position. the markings are positioned around the window........some show parts of the letters missing. there is also clarification as to where the antenna wires are run. the ball turret again.......now you see it........ ...now you don't. .......just silly thing......not trying to be picky it give you an idea of what's out there. wonder what the dealio is with the port nacelles? after I made the revelation that I indeed DID have olive green paint, I decided to check out to see what was viable. I have three shades of the White Ensign paints, which I will use the lighter one to highlight the rudder and ailerons. then I stumbled on this bottle of Pactra paint... the paint was very thick........and it took an unusual amount of thinner to make it viable again. I had to add a bit more thinner on top of what I already added to be able to spray it. the end result was good...it's still a little blotchy. I didn't mind the blotchy-ness........it would have added to the fading. now that the paint has fully cured, it all gone! so much for that thought......... I think it was Thursday when I ordered the decals for her.........I got them today. I'm beginning to really like Mega Hobby

super job on your progress! the detail looks awesome

nice paint job Craig

hull is coming along really nice Peter the dry fit looks awesome!