popeye the sailor

be careful.........your skirting very close to her not looking the work boat she ought to be that's what I did with the first attempt on my Lobster Boat.....I added wainscoting and made her look too clean. a little grime will put you back in the subject focus. the engine must have come from a 1:16 firebird model kit, AMT and MPC put one out.....the emblem makes me wanna guess {nice touch BTW}. I read through your last post and the comment on the windows. what I do is save the clear cello packaging from products......most electronic stuff, toys, and household stuff comes in this type of packaging. some of it is thin, while some of it is a bit thicker.......I've even made use of the formed parts....curved, cornered........for instances of the more intricate 'glass' needed. if I want windows that don't 'need' to be see-through, old computer floppy discs work well for this purpose. you can even purchase auto window tinting kits that will achieve the same results. I found mine a year or so ago, while I was out in the field across the road, walking Gibbs {have no idea how it got there}. guess it's the 'pack rat' in me

really nice with the added extras I must have missed it, but I notice that some of the PE doesn't look to be brass.........a different type perhaps?

very nice.........

nice job on the flag bearer! your over the top! {it's an amazed and astounded face} really top notch

are the struts brass rod or paper? great progress......no matter how small looks great!

very nice progress.........the press looks really neat we use to use a couple of those old screw jacks........back then, J.C. Whitney used to be big! I remember the stack of catalogs by my dad's lounge chair.

for clear parts, you can use canopy glue. it dries clear and won't mar the glass. Testor's put out the one I use.

Burkhaulter's staff car? cool!

nice progress

looking really good Alan........the detail on these small models is amazing

quip of the day......... the admiral just suggested she should talk to the doctor about water pills.................I said, "what.....you don't get enough water?!?!?!?!"

so the new {updated} model room is almost complete. I've hung some pictures and added more wall shelving on the back wall. the details of the room switch and move can be seen in my PT 109 project, in case your confused on what I'm referring to. we are in the midst of the heat wave that is affecting the country right now.......I haven't been doing much. there has also been some home renos going on here as well, and that has caused some upheaval in activities. a bit of a story, but I also took Mon and Tues. off from work........the boss insisted so who am I NOT to take it! this gave me the time to go into searching for decals a bit more........that turned to be a huge bust. I bookmarked the Atlantis site.......the Pacific raiders kit isn't available at this time { just what's floating around out there}, but I can order the decals if I want to. nawwww.....I think I'll wait and find the kit I even entertained the idea to locate the old Revell kit and compare the two for retooling and other changes made to the kit since it's initial production........but I think I should get my head examined instead {the admiral would do it for me anyway}. Old Model kits has one for.......get this........145.00! I ordered a decal pack from Mega Hobby.......the Warbirds B 24 lettering and number sheet in 1:72 scale. what I got were these........ these are clearly NOT 1:72 scale..........more like 1:48.......or even 1:32! I am going to bring this to their attention, but won't be asking for any compensation....I'm sure I can use these somewhere down the road. I had the Lindberg "Legends of the sky" Heinkel He111 kit. I trashed it due to missing and broken parts, but saved some of the parts, along with the decal sheet. that kit was in 1:48........the decals being too large to use as well. here are the decals in relation to the Warbirds decal sheet......... other decals to show the relative of scale.........these decals came from the Profile series kit of the B 25 from MPC. the sheet from the Atlantis kit are here too for reference. the Warbirds decals I ordered {I found out later} are part of a set that would depict the 486 BG. there are three parts to this set. it is a compilation of six planes, all named after a Zodiac sign. Virgo, Sagittarius, Aquaria, Aries, Cancer, and Pisces. ........all pretty cool if you wanted to build all six ........Wait!.......seven {let's not forget Leo}. I did a dry fit of the plane, checking the fit of the wings......hard to stuff them in the wing wells. if I were to put this plane next to a 1:72 scale B 17, you would see a significant difference in scale....mainly due to the obvious scale production. I even gave a thought to look into HO scale to see what they have available. my head hurt too bad..........so I abandoned the crusade. my quest hasn't diminished........I still want to do the captured German plane. my hunting did produce a solution.........I won't try to bend the 'will' to me.........I'm going to flank the problem! I ordered this off of Evil Bay yesterday this is a kit in 1:72 scale! I think decals will be much easier to find.........and with a lot more detail too! I got an e-mail this morning.........already sent and I should see it by July 2nd! that's fast.........I got the decal sheet just as fast I like Mega Hobby! admiral's crabb'in............gotta take Gibbs out..............

....as I said to Lou yesterday.........it's just one of my habits I wish I could break my love for older kits will be the demise of me yet! I wracked my brain trying to find decals for this model.........the biggest hurdle is the scale. the major problem in domesticating an older kit is just that.......early model kits produced, were in such odd scales, that it makes it nearly impossible to bash them in this way. even in the after market dept., mods {unless scratch built} are hard to do. I have some pictures from the 17th on the progress of this model.......painting for the most part. after painting the underbelly gray, I got the feeling that I had made a mistake.........most of the captured planes had their under bellies painted yellow. I did find out however, that a few of them retained the gray........so that put me at ease for the time being. I rode a little high on the fuselage, but I think it won't matter too much. the top and bottom of one wing was done........the wheel well is done in chromate green. I still need to do the engine paint, as well as the deicing trim and touch ups. the pilots were molded to the seats......I would have cut them out, if not the fact that I want to show the plane in flight. painted in chromate green too. the stabilizer and rudders were done in the Army green and gray. the malformation of one of the rudders doesn't show too badly, now that it's disguised in paint I also painted the buckets for the turrets......I need to do the glass frames and guns......later to assemble them. our discussion over the phone yesterday actually uncovered another aspect of the B 24, that I had not seen previously........there was such a thing as an assembly plane. this was the lead plane that the others would assemble behind and follow to the mission location. the paint {camo} on these bombers is very reminiscent to planes of WWI there were a few that were even more striking ! here is an idea of what one would look under another banner............... we kinda joked about scale...........I'm sure I'm not alone, but I believe that from one manufacturer to another, there are subtle differences in their production of scale. it may be slight......but it is noticeable.........and once the molds are tooled, there is no going back. just for a laugh, we looked up anyone who made a model in 1:32 scale. think of it.......the model would be HUGE! well......we found one...........Hobby Boss! I found these decals for them.......these are masks to paint the markings on {something I've never done before}. Captured B-24 Liberators Luftwaffe Insignia Paint Mask Set 1/32 un....%#&# believable! but wait!...........there's more!

checking in to see where your at on her Tom..........she's looking great! the sails look very nice....very good progress all around

..........so you've met Murphy?!?! he's well know here on the site......he's always look'in best way to tick 'em off, is to see it through 'an get 'er done! look'in real good so far.........nice bit of detail HEY MURPHY!!!!!!................NO FEAR!>>>>>>>🐯 GRRRRRRRRR!

super nice progress.........the color choice for the deck sheer really gives her that rustic look the engine looks sweet......is there to be a raised dome cover over it? window work is sometimes a pain........the windshield can be done with a full panel to cover all three, but sure......you can get away with just filling in the 'vent' windows, leaving the others open. there are many ways.......slotted frame and slide them in before putting the roof on or create inner and outer edging to sandwich them in. I used it in a few instances, but Testor's makes a canopy glue for plastic models. it dries clear.......won't help you in that situation, but there is a chance it can be saved with water. coming along very nice!

if that were me.........I'da likely broke it off to a great start! looks good!

wow! super nice job on the tender Craig! 👍

thanks Gary sadly no motivation to do too much yesterday......they were painting the outside of the building yesterday, and if I were the customer { I wouldn't pay for it!}. I need to get out there and put the border around the admiral's lily garden....the bulkhead is finally installed. the guys doing it did an awesome job on it........poured the foundation and everything. now I just need to do a little landscaping and put the timber borders back. I will attempt to do something later on.

paint looks very good John 👍 you did a superb job of blending the chine joints. glad to see your taking to the airbrush so quickly

really nice work........you've captured the looks after hard battle you've got some good detail there

the Tender is coming along splendidly Craig!..........great paint and very detailed for such a small model

sitting in as well........this might be the future for the model kit

it is as I thought.......there are no other decal sets for captured German planes......the Wulfe hound was likely the only notable plane. I found that what I have in the pile, are for 1:48.......too large for the model of course, the only German insignias I have are a couple short........they're from that Stuka model. being told that the times not good to order any is also a set back. so I may have to do an about face on the captured aspect and go with the original American subject. I won't add the Buffalo Bill thing ........I should have enough numbers to come up with an unnamed plane that is at least legit. this also changed the paint.......show ya in a bit

yea Ken......injection molding relies on the correct pressure to push the material into the molds...I think it was a bit off I wonder how many kits were produced before they noticed the problem?! when I worked at Disogrin industries, it was one of the things we looked for during our inspection of the parts we made.......flow lines and 'dirt' was other factors. flow lines meant that the material was cooling too fast in the molds.......and 'dirt' meant that the production was moving too slow, or the temp was too high........either case meant that the material was in the liquid state too long and starting to 'over cook'......turning the material brown or {in extreme cases} black. the production stopped at this time and the machine was purged of all the burnt material until it ran clear again. this usually resulted in the operator being written up for slacking off injection molding is a very fast paced job........one had to be on his toes all the time. I usually had 'hot runners' , which meant that these parts were produced at a much faster rate....you couldn't even stop to go pee! that was one of the things I liked about the older kits........although they usually relied on a simple slot method. this is something different....we'll see how this holds up WHOOPS..........right into confession for that guy! sound as funny as the Holy Hand Grenade skit I do recall though building the 'Pacific Raiders' kit, but don't recall the steps I went through building it. the wing roots are a tad too large to fit into the root wells in the fuselage....I'm having to file the edge down a bit {1/16 or so} around the root so they will fit in the wells. the elongated tabs of the wing roots overlap one another inside the fuselage.........but no way to clamp them at all to insure the proper dihedral. I've done one of the wings.........but dummy me painted the undersides without doing the other one first nostalgia.........gotta love it as with the Wulfe Hound, I think it will be hard to find decals for a model of this subject....least I haven't seen any others so far. Blonde Bomber II, a B 24D-1-CO 41-23659, the first B 24 captured, was inspected by the Germans and sent to Rechlin, but there is no info as to its use by the KG 200. Sunshine, as the second plane on record, a B 24H-5-FO 42-52106, was used a had the call numbers A3+FK. on most of the B 24's, the Germans weren't concerned with removing the bulk of their markings, aside from the American insignia. they must have learned from their use of the B 17's, that it was harder for them to infiltrate an in flight squadron, the more they looked like German aircraft {as if the insignias didn't give them away}. I guess as long as it wasn't offensive to the Germans.......like the Wulfe Hound, with a wolf eating a German plane} two other planes, a B 24 G-10-NT 42-78247......given the code CL+XZ, and B 24G-5-NT 42-78106, had the code numbers NF+NL. this plane was destroyed in a raid.......the other plane's fate is not known. by the end of 1943, several B 24's had been captured.......as many as 5 were in service. I haven't done much checking for decals.......I do have the decals for an HE 111 that became botched, damaged and then thrown out. I think the decals are still useable.......I may go with them.