popeye the sailor

your off to a very nice start OC cockpit looks really nice! I do agree........quite a few planes listed for this kit.....the decal sheet must be huge!!!

looks great...very nice start

very nice looking model I tried making a couple of the Metal Earth butterflies, but fails miserably......not for me I guess

I had to see the doctor today...the referral to that vascular Dr. basically there is a one way check valve in the vein to my leg that need to be closed off. not to worry........there are two other veins that do the same job. as a matter of fact....if they need to transplant a section of blood vessel anywhere in the body, this is usually the vein they use easy procedure.......done in-shop. won't be until six weeks......until then, I need to wear a compression sock. more as it happens...... anyway.......I did another dry fit before I left.....thought you might like to see it. yea......the fuselage got a case of the measles........haven't done the wings yet. .......and yes, I goofed again. the panels should have been the raised panels rather that the flush mount windows. I could change the starboard window since I have it out, but the overall plane wouldn't look right. so I'll put that one back on. I'd rather get another kit and start from square one. I did add one more decal to the mix.......below the port gun window, there is a single swastika that was not on the kit decal sheet. I have the letters and numbers sheet and it has bomb run markings and kill stats.......got it from there. if I get another kit, I'll re-decal this one to an unnamed bomber......but that's the future after some cleaning and trimming, the window panel was cemented back in place......looks much better. ...and with the decals restored..... the Norden bomb sight was put back in place... the nose has also been cemented in place. the repair work is done.......mov'in on

not at that time though.......and remember that the D VII was rejected before the F 1 came out. I've built quite a few Dr1's and D VII's.........I built a Guillow's D VIII and that was my best flyer but yes.......wind tunnel testing had come into play around this time period......but I don't believe the Germans were actively doing it until a bit later. they had started to work on jet powered planes, and this required testing the air frame to be sure it could withstand the forces. to me.....I don't think it was important to them......these planes didn't go very fast and the war was on. after what they learned about the Dr 1....handling and such, it likely became common practice for future planes.......the D VII & D VIII. Fokker took some of his planes with him to the Netherlands,,,,they didn't get 'em all

the gate is a model all by itself! awesome work my friend.........I recall back when you first brought it out...just the church. it has grown so much!

I think that's why he hyphenated it Carl....probably thought that it all wouldn't fit there. from the sites that I read, it was though that he had been wounded and kept out of the sky for a bit.........it would take finding out what plane he flew before the Dr 1 to put any validity in that statement. the Hobby craft model was worse than this kit, in building it........very thick plastic and nothing really fit well. the center wing root and the top part of the fuselage was assembled differently than the Roden kit, although, there was still somewhat of a 'top' for the center wing root. rigging it was easier though.......I was able to run the 'cables' through the holes before assembling the wing....all the holes being pre-formed. I don't consider the model to be a true representative of the Dr 1 due to the raised rib lines....looks to klunky. not to say that other nations didn't revere their pilots, but the Germans perhaps went a little overboard with their adulations. the color red was a badge of honor...how much one had on his plane, denoted how fearless he was. injuries were common with these early planes........either by becoming wounded, or too rough a landing {these planes were not kind to their pilots}. German pilots who performed well in battle also got free reign on the camo of their plane.......most came off the assembly line already decked out in military camo.......some four color camo, some with five color.....the speckled lozenge was particularly interesting. one must remember too, that these planes were not tested as they are today.........they would likely fail a wind tunnel test.....or even be torn apart thanks to all who commented.......you all have the patience of a saint. thanks for the likes as well. to go a bit further on this build, I took a look at the underside of the top wing. the holes for the cables were drilled out, and the same wire I use for the landing gear will be used. the hole on the fuselage were also drilled out. the cabane struts are removed from the sprue and cleaned up.........note the absence of slots for them on the top wing.....just those four pins {?} I have no clue what they were thinking here. the top root of the strut does not fit in between them. I've yet to dry fit the wing again in place and attempt a dry fit of the struts...that will be my next step. I still need to add the levers for the ailerons and elevators.......go from there

there was a sense of doom of late for our great war bird. I decided to try and tidy up the nose panels. the first problem was the decals........I looked through the 'now' immense collection of 1:72 B 17 decals I've acquired during the B 17 glut.......and I don't have another pair of 'babes' in the event I can't save them. so I tried.......got a large piece of used decal paper from the trash and got it wet, hoping that there is enough adhesive on the paper to be able to put them back on with no trouble. this part was relatively easy...they came off even though they have been on there a while. I don't have the ball turret guns or the tail guns in place yet, but the waist, nose and top guns are there........just waiting to be knocked off {Murphy waits with bated breath}. the port side was a no go for the removal prospects.......it was firmly cemented in place. what I did was scrape down the edges that were raised......to my shame, there was even some flash that I had missed. sanding it down to make it look better, it was touched up with paint.........I tried putting more along the top to fill in the thin gap that is there. it didn't totally work, but it does look a little better. the decals are back on now and there is some improvement the norden bomb sight fell victim to brash handling.......knocked out of place. I also noticed that the bombardier's seat was at an angle too...looks as though it got pushed by the port gun when the halves were cemented together...had to fix that. I wasn't going to do much with the starboard side panel........thinking that it would be impossible to remove as well. but I tried anyway. all went well until I got to the lower corner aftward....the panel snapped off leaving it there I wasn't going to try to remove it, but I did and......of course Murphy saw his chance..........it popped off onto the floor! I searched for a while.....not having much success. then things got a little more complicated.........Gibbs came over seeing his chance for a 'cuddlefest'. we had given him a bath the other day, so { as all American Eskimos are} he was 'extra' fluffy. this is bad, because if he lays on the floor, the I fear all will be lost! the part may stick to his fur, and god knows where it will end up! but Murphy miscalculated the telemetry of the flying part.........it had landed on my seat cushion...between my legs in the picture to the left, the broken piece is the triangular looking blotch next to the other olive blotches. apparently, the big difference in the many variants of the B 17, is this starboard side window arrangement. I dug out the other variants and noticed that they are all shaped the same way. the gun cold be centralized as I have it here..........or it could be centrally raised, or raised toward the front of the panel I put on the maskings when I did all the other parts....guess that was smart on my part I'm going to confirm that I'm using the right panel.........but in the meantime, I will repair the one I took off.

sweet look'in plane Carl most war planes were not very glossy to begin with.....come from being shot at all the time nicely done!

I've had models that were a joy to build.........and I've had some that were a down-right bear. some could even go farther with detail........limiting how much molded detail, which would up the parts count. accuracy could be better too. but it is what it is.......it's up to us to make it what it is how much further you want to go with it is up to you.

I did go a little bit further........adding the machine guns to the model. I did start to think about the HobbyCraft model.........I put the two side by side. I fitted the top wing on to get a better idea....... these models are quite similar, with a few differences.......the raised ribs on the HobbyCraft wings.......the machine guns........the one thing that the HobbyCraft model has over the Roden model, is that the cable holes are exposed. I have had to drill out all the holes for the Roden kit. the decals are in tough shape.........note the slot in the upper wing for the cabane strut. the wings are thicker too.........

I started the decal process by applying the bottom wing fields. I will need to trim them. the upper wing was done next, while the bottom wings were drying........the insignias were added, as well as the name graphics. the top wing was trimmed before they had dried.......there was minor chipping. with that.......the bottom wings were trimmed, and the insignias were added. the wing skids were added next. where I left off on this bird, was at the middle wing. there are two decals there that are a phrase: Kennscht Mi'noch? looking up the meaning is a bit confusing, because it appears there is a word missing, but it translates to "do you remember me?" more to come.....I trying to get up the gusto to paint the stabilizer and rudder. the bottom of the stabilizer is flat black.........I tried to brush on the upper paint { flat white} and what a mess I made! as you recall, the other stabilizer was ruined by paint thinner. the other stab was sanded along the leading edges, flattening a curvature, so it could be used. once I gt over that hurdle, the cabane struts will be the next big one. it seems there are no slots for the struts in the upper wing. I can't wait to see what I'll have to do with them

OK..........in keeping our wits {and digits}............the flying x-actor finger of fate fell on this model this morning { actually yesterday}. first thing I wanted to do, was put the decals on the interplane struts before cementing them in place. the model was front and center...... choosing and cutting the decals needed for this model, I noticed in the scheme, that there were white fields behind the insignias. I actually should have painted these fields on before assembly....I came up with a quick solution. I still have the decals for the HobbyCraft Dr 1...that model had a decal sheet that covered several planes! among these decals were the white fields, as well as olive green and red fuselage fields. I was surprised to also find a face!.........I have one in yellow too the wing fields are larger than the wings........I began to wonder if they didn't belong to the 1:24 scale D VII I built {Revell kit}. no matter.......I can trim them down now........I'm sure you can look back when you were young, building the older models. the decals were kinda thick, with flashing around them........sometimes this needed to be trimmed off. I remember that it was nothing to take a razor blade and skirt along the edge, a good blade produced the best job. just hold the blade at a slant, moving downward as the blade was slid along the edge. most decals we work with today are much thinner, with next to no flashing around them. this can be bad, especially if the decals have some age on them. tearing and chipping often occurs....and of course, Murphy is sitting on your left shoulder that is what happened here....there is some chipping that will need to be touched up.......I usually use paint {sparingly}. so I did the fuselage fields first, adding the insignias afterwards. the decals were added to the interplane struts........and then they were cemented in place on the bottom wing only. I will wait till later to cement the middle wing. now........we'll get on with today's progress

thanks Jav.........and all who are following along. I'm gonna try and do something I haven't done in a long time. I've done some painting..........kinda bland, but the plane is totally green {going by the suggested paint scheme}. I'm sure everyone love to put in the small windows ....personally, I hate 'em. before I started to use window maker, they always ended up cloudy looking.......a result from using cement. the window maker doesn't do that......but I read that it could be used to fill in the small windows as well. since this is a menage of small windows, I thought it would be a good practice to try. these weren't too bad.......I have a little touching up to do. I did the other side and had a terrible time.....I had to remove a couple. it could be a slow process. I looked for a video on this, but I wasn't satisfied with the method shown. I should have more on this soon. thanks for the kind comments and for looking in

oh...oh! the human race has gone and done it now!!!

...and you only had one change to get it right great outcome!

I've heard of blue tack, but never tried it. normally, I use masking tape cut into shapes, or strips cut in curves and such. rattle can will do as well as an airbrush, but knowing the temperment of whatever you use will determine what outcome you'll have. with the tape method, light coats are a must........rattle can must be done in quick passes. it's sometimes good to let 'em sit.....you'll come up with a plan of attack. don't change it just yet

thanks all for the kind comments and the likes I haven't done much other than add a few more decals. I hope to have more soon!

looking really good KP...the scratch building is amazing

I'm just trying to get to my first one......got two and a half years still. I like toying with the idea.......gives me something to look forward to there's really not a lot of parts to the model.......bet this would make a neat paper model. thanks for the suggestions...I'll check it out. and thanks for the kind comments and likes. gotta hit the rack.......work tomorrow

agreed on the awesome color choices........the detail is amazing!

thanks Ken....welcome to the log. the fit is so-so........I've had to shape some of the parts. no real secret Jack........I wake up in the morning.......grab a cup of coffee........then it depends on what part I pick up first. of course, I've got this dream of lining the spare room with one continuous table....all around the room I'd be all set then ohhhhhh.....and retirement would be a nice touch too welcome Ed........there not a whole lot of parts to this model.........that and it seems smaller for a 1:72 scale model. paint will be relatively easy........two, perhaps three basic colors. welcome Harley....that's the basic information I have here. I tend to think the plane is a bit unstable.......it's service life was a little over ten years, but in those ten years it went through about 185 different modifications! I agree that it was likely a power issue that limited her ability to stay in the air when crippled. there is one option for this model.......it can be built with or without wheel fenders. I'm going to try and build it with the fenders. after drilling out the tires because the existing hole was too small a diameter for the axles, the inner fender halves were cemented on the struts. any protrusion of the axle / spindle was trimmed to accept the wheel, being a tight fit for the wheel inside. I did a dry fit to find this out. as for the fuselage, I managed to fit the nose turret platform in place. other than paint a few parts, I've done nothing else. errands and keeping Gibbs at bat for the refrigerator repairman took up most of my time. it's been a strange three days off. I had my physical on thursday..........I'm as healthy as a horse in spite of my eating habits. he still wants to do that inspection of my 'lower' G.I. {I keep refusing referring to it as 'holy grounds'. the only thing I had there was a boot........and that was from my father many.....many years ago he also wants to do a cancer screen.......sure....I'll let him win this one by now he must know my love for doctors, 'cuz he kept asking me if he was going to see me again

thanks all......it's been some good progress moving forward. at the moment, I'm trying to get more decals on her. I'm finding the areas in question easier to handle. looking in further on the vertical stabilizer, I've yet to find another picture showing that painted over blotch. I got a copy of the documentary {or the air force release} along with the Memphis Belle movie......I've yet to pull it back out to review it again. I'm certain though that it was the 'A' code letter though.......there were a few planes to sport it along with the Bomber Group triangle. the correction on the port letters...... I was able to remove the decals and reposition them. the glass parts were added to the top of her nose......there were other versions in the kit. it looked terrible.....took a bit of work to get it straightened out. I'm still not completely happy with those side panels........terrible fit. the insignias were added to the wings you might see other small decals her and there........there are quite a few to go yet. her number was added to the vertical stabilizer. I added some decals at the nose.........I may remove the panels and try to repair them. I've compounded the issue though.... a little more was done on top of the nose....after touch up paint, I added the silver rectangular decals.......not sure what they are for.........fake windows perhaps. more soon......thanks for look'in in and the likes!

seriously nice work on the Jeep ensemble........looks ready to run out to the field very nice detail!

good to hear you finally got your parts