popeye the sailor

so most of the modifications were done in the field. not say'in I disputed it, but I am mechanically inclined.......it's functionally impossible to change direction on anything that is built to go only one way.......not without modification. it is after all the mother of invention as for the dorsal gun.......the instructions don't show it, and I haven't seen any pictures of her with one. it wouldn't be hard to change though.......I have the parts for the variant. can't go by the instructions though...they show the wheel covers, but no parts to facilitate it.....ie......a hub cap. I chose the navigator's glass per the diagrams. I do notice though that where the gun would be located, I see the word 'Mom'......noe you have me wondering. I looked again at the site I have on her, and they show the picture of her at the museum if you look close.......there it is {I use the close up mode to really see it}. I also changed the nose glass too, because I felt that the guns were too far apart and not in the correct place. the one I'm using looks like it does in the picture. I see no painted frame either, so I won't do what I did to the original one I was going to use.

no missing fingers here please.........

nicely done!

I recall building the F4B4 as a monogram kit in my school days.......I built a number of those small scale planes. they are delicate, aren't they ?!?!?! you did some very nice work ......please don't be shy next time. we all make our little bloopers.....best is just to laugh and move on it's all we can do really.........any more and it would make one throw in the towel. not too sure you want to go Roden........they are a nice kit, but as I'm finding out, I'm having to fit everything. it might have been different if I didn't get a defective kit. read my log on the Dr 1. hope to see more of your fine work

toodles Ken...........

haven't done anything today.......I dug up the stump, rescreened the back door, put the admiral's flagpole back up {when I originally put it up, a rogue wing gust blew it and the mounting off the house the same day}, and I mowed the lawns. now we are going to go and see the grandkids....after three months of covid rule. we will be outside, so it should be good.........I have a pack of masks in the car anyway, in case we need them. I hope to get something done later on..........I'll post if I do pinkie swear

that was Craig Harley........I did that with some of the glass. I used a poor masking set.......that or they don't work well with enamels. now if you saw when I added the panels on the sides of the nose....they had to be painted with the Chromate first, or the drab would be seen note the open panels at the nose part of the panel can be seen here. it is glossy, but it shows the Chromate as the undercoat. at 1:72......to me, it's not as critical.......but thought does need to be done in deciding where the most probable areas are. then it could be done.......that's what I did here. I believe the Avenger was a 1:48 scale model, and how critical it is to use the method. Craig passed on a very good tip here.....I would never had thought of it.......first time I used a masking set too. a huge thanks! that has to be an oxygen tank on the shaft of the ball turret.........something the kit doesn't show. yea, these are are not staggered windows at the waist. I'm not up on these types of guns, but I have a hard time thinking that the mechanism is universal.......unless the gun is built right or left, the feed would only go in one direction. it would be like trying to feed something into the side that wants to kick it out..........going in the out door. all conjecture aside, the kit had them that way, so that's the way I did 'em. nice pictures though........I appreciate you posting them ........the last photo shows them with attached ammo boxes.......those are left and right handed guns. an interesting note....this kit has an option to add a gun at the navigator's window at the top of the fuselage. if the Belle had it, I would have added it.

could also be considered a pause in the thought process OC..........that's why I make mental notes I put them in a place where they would be safe..........then I forgot what I considered a safe place. thanks Craig.....the new camera? well.....I took two pictures with it just out of the box, and I found them to be a little out of focus. I'll read the instructions now. what I've been using is a Kodak Easy Share, which has auto focus. it's a small camera, and has been very good. it is a little sensitive towards needing the right light, and if you wait too long to take the picture, it will begin to readjust the focus....makes the picture crappy. the new camera is a Vivitar Vivicam XX14. it's a small camera too....I saw it in the clearance bins. it had a price tag of $79.99.......down to $49.97......I thought that was the price. when I got to the checkout, I was told it was half price {ie.....the $49.97.......that's what I thought}. I looked at the sales slip, and I saw that I paid $24.98 for the darn thing!........holy cow! so I haven't used it yet....the batteries I have in it are just some we had hanging around, so it's not fully charged {you can't charge the thing either......I'll be stuck buying batteries for it}. the easy Share came with a charger. so I simply plug it in....low cost. for the cost of the camera, I can't complained, and I had a 32 gig memory card that I put in it.....so I can take pictures galore, until the batteries die. now I gotta buy a pack of AAA batteries, or buy into some I can recharge. it also has a flip viewing screen in the back, so I can take better selfies too! I'm in the BIG TIMES now!!!!!....look out!

thanks Mark..........that's the way the parts were intended. thinking mechanically.....I would think that the mechanism shuttled the belt only in one direction, no matter how the gun was placed. same with shotguns and rifles with auto eject.......you never see a shell casing eject from both sides. I didn't want to change the natural order of things........if that's the way they have it....... it's just nice I could make it work I have two other belts that came along with the kit you sent me.........the kit comes with enough armament. I'll find a good place for the rest of the kit a huge thank you again let's see........I think the only thing left are the two machine guns in the nose {sides}.........the nose glass can be after. I think I can join the two halves together and close her up..........{celebrate like Tom did hee.....hee}. things will move quickly after that I have some chores to do first though.......then fun time thanks also to those who hit the like button!

thank you OC.........my version of a selfie silly me...I was holding the camera and reflex did the rest...I'm usually not that grumpy looking wanna hear how dumb I am.......I thought I had lost the decal sheet for this model. it's almost as large as the box.......for cry'in out loud...........how could I misplace it?!?!?! I looked everywhere!........after a while, I was getting worried......then I found them! they were on top of the computer tower, tucked under the desk top! I felt like an idiot.........un^#@&%believable! I put 'em where I KNOW I put 'em now...........

your giving me fitz!...........she's a biiiig girl now I can't wait to start building mine! I don't think you answered my question at the beginning of this log. in my kit, I got two decal sheets {they are the same}, and two complete sprues of clear parts. is that what you got? here is why I ask...... these two sprues are identical........I have not seen any differences between them. the tab at the bottom of the sprues has the mold number on them, and they are different. easy assumption is that there is more than one mold......but it's a mystery. why the duplications? it is a milestone....I'm about ready to close up the Memphis Belle. heck....I've done it.......close the fuselage and find that I forgot to add the windows! it quickly becomes an art to install the windows, unless you have a tube of window maker.........if the window is large......well, your in for some scratch building. now you can move on to the external good show! ....a more perfect union...... good to hear you have the weight question covered.......I was hoping you had that in mind

I focused a little on the Memphis Belle today.......but I had other thoughts. it was asked, do I intend to rig this model.........and I said yes. if I could rig that hobby craft model, it should be no different to rig this one. I had to do all the things I will need to do with this one.......basically drill holes for the rigging. but the one thing that is different about this model, is the fact that the wings are {for the most part} solid.......there is very little air space inside the top wing, and there is nothing in the stabilizer { it's a thin wafer maybe 1.5 mm thick}. the Hobby craft model had one thing going for it......the holes were molded into the parts..........these aren't. I assembled the landing gear today..........the parts were already pre painted. as I suspected, I had to modify the struts so they would fit into the slots in the top part of the landing gear 'wing'. holes were drilled into the places where the assembly would be located. the struts had pins on each end to facilitate easy assembly via the holes I drilled. once this 'frame was assembled, it was set in place to dry. oops........wrong end of the camera I bought a new one by the way. there we go.......centered, it was left to dry. while this was going on, the axles were run through the wheels and cemented in the slots in the bottom part. I also cleaned up all the logs I'm following in this forum...........paused to go to Michael's {had to buy thinner}........went to the grocery store, where we actually found Coffee cookie crumble ice cream for the admiral {her favorite...she has the knack of liking something that eventually stop being produced}......had supper and watched more grim news......and when I look in, I expect to see at least ten logs with new content. youse folks are too prolific for me.....I have a hard time keeping up ! I tried to phanegle another model, but the admiral wouldn't have any of it {I even tried the medicinal angle......no dice}. the bottom was added to the assembly, two holes were drilled along the inside front area of the struts.......real tiny holes. getting a strand of that thin wire I like to use, pieces were stuck in the holes and glued. the assembly was then mounted on the underside of the fuselage again.......this time, the back strut braces were cemented in place. the thin wire was run into the holes for the front strut braces in an 'X' pattern. with a pair of flat jawed tweezers, the wires were adjusted until they were as straight as I could get them. then the front strut braces were cemented in place. I later painted them flat steel, as I will for all the other bits of rigging....there's really not a lot. there is the cables under the top wing from the fuselage........the two sets above and below the top wing for the ailerons.......... ......the two for the rudder at the rear of the fuselage.......and the two sets for the stabilizer elevators at the rear of the fuselage { I already drilled the holes for them}. the one I'm concerned with, is the one in the stabilizer for the upper elevator cable.........I need to drill this hole at an angle. if I mess it up, it might look weird. we'll just have to see what happens. I finished off this session by cementing in place the tail skid. as you saw with the Memphis Belle, the tail gear root fit into a tab inside the fuselage.........it's the same story here........there is supposed to be a hole inside that I needed to find. the good thing is that there is a pin outside as well, so fitting the outer pin in that hole, made it fairly probable, that I found the hole inside. at least.......in theory......I hope so

nice

well ........ if your going to argue ......... you couldn't be the idiot Elkis........to assemble something like this takes brains. you've done a spectacular job here

feel better Jav.......gotta see where your going with this

sorry I missed it!!! Jack....the dio came out superb in every way! it looks very life like folks in the south can harvest that very moss........grows like crazy around swamps and the glades. we have a variation up here, but you have to look really hard for it. it just so happens that I can find it from an Oak tree that grows in the field across the road. I got some for the B&M snow plow that I haven't finished yet......been a few years. you did a great job....it's awesome!

gee....that would be a super modeling room .....but I can see the draw for the woman's touch. I sympathize......I suggest stuff for her.......she shoots it down that is a very well detailed engine.....even the airframe is intricate looks really nice!

really nice paint job! sweet!

good progress OC..........she's look'in really good

almost like your building a real car looks awesome!

my best car was my Nissan Maxima........man that car would move! got two tickets with it.........no one told me that, the faster you go, the more the ticket was! superb finish on the tank! nicely done.......I'm a little surprised with how few markings on it. a really spectacular job though

I spent the day off {yesterday} on the Memphis Belle. on this model, I have the interplane struts straightened out. I'm sure that the struts for the landing gear will be an ill fit too. so I painted the wheels yesterday {can't seem to get away from the flat black for the tires}, and I'm going to look into the landing gear. taking a moment, I want to show you the two models I got this past week. as mentioned, I've have been wanting to build another Stuka. it would have been nice to build a 1:48 Memphis Belle, but these two will pacify me for the moment......hee...hee..... the Stuka is a 1:72 model..........small.......but Fujimi looks to be a very nice kit for the size. Revell used this terminology for this particular aircraft back in the day........tank buster...they even had a kit by this name. produced in 1987....the decals look to be in good shape! the other model is particularly interesting........a Marcel Bloch Aero MB 200......a collaboration between the Czechs and the French the box looks a bit tweated, the kit produced by a Czech company back in 1984. the decals are yellowed.......I have them in a window to see if the sun will bleach them. the instructions feel like I'm reading a newspaper and all diagrams appear to be hand drawn......kinda comical. there are a lot of parts, so it should be an interesting build. it reminds me of the bombers I bought made by ICM.......that I ultimately tossed out due to the cumbersome nature of the kits.....yea......I bought two of them..........A.Tupolev TB-3 I still have a set of the decals...... the fact that I have the picture of the box, is that I intend on buying this kit again. I'm not in the habit of letting a kit get the better of me, but the kit was so........how do I say it......ridiculous........that I couldn't build it with a straight face. even at 1:72.......this thing was a beast! the wing surfaces were enormous! so before I leave this earth..........I have to make amends and build this kit.

thanks OC..........it is what it is. as I said.......it must have been the brand of masking. I've seen no one else have this trouble, but then again, they aren't using enamels. the thinner is what caused the problem. it is nice that at least I was able to repair one of the pieces of glass as well as I did. live and learn.......always buy the good stuff of brands you've used before. of course this is my first time using them, so what did I know? I did some thinking about the ammo belts for the waist guns.......the port side is an ill fit as well. then it hit me.....Mark sent me those aftermarket guns. the guns and the ammo boxes supplied in the kit are pretty good. so I took my snippers and cut off the belt on the starboard gun. I had to trim the aftermarket belt down, but it worked out very well........took hardly any effort at all. with this a success.......I did it to the port gun too. it's supposed to wrap around the gun and feed on the same side as the starboard gun. the belt was cut off of the box and it was cemented in place.........about the same location as the other one. I didn't need to trim the belt........tried to give it a natural 'hang' again....a big thanks to Mark for sending me those guns............now I'm happy!

one all this was dry enough, the tail gear was cemented in place. good that I did this before the halves were put together........can ya see me trying to find that target?! views of the ball turret are all through these pictures......any one might give you better insight, than the one I posted of it. the next thing was to assemble the top turret. it was confusing figuring out how this part worked in the scheme of things.......I got it though. nestled in the middle of all that chromate I got tired of the ball turret hanging around......so here it is installed into the ship. I cleaned the glass for the top turret as much as I could......still looks as bad as the ball, but I took a fine tipped brush and redrew the frame. is does look a little better. and on the turret I was going to add the control sticks {wheels} before the interior was installed, but what the heck......I did it now. at this point, I'm adding the waist gunner positions.......I did the starboard side first. not really happy with the ammo belt....it doesn't reach the machine gun. heck, it's not even cemented where it is supposed to be located! I tried to get it as close as I could.......but no cigar. I'll do the port side and see how that looks..........I have an idea I'll have more tomorrow.........nice to have a day off I have chores to do though.........I hope they don't take all day

thanks OC........had some damage control with the glass.........some came out good........some didn't. I put some mileage on her today I had done a couple of things before I realized I had a problem with the glass........put the main gear wheels on and painted more parts. I started today with the ball turret......did a lot of cleaning up on it. it still looks a bit off, and I'm not sure how much will show under the plane, but I'm going to go ahead and use it {it's the only one I have. the nose glass I had chosen wasn't a good fit.......the guns would not fit right in it.......so I picked another one {the kit came with three} and drilled the holes for the guns. problem solved......I may try to paint the frame....I may not. the ball turret is assembled....... as a double whammy for the wings, the engine cowls are in place.......... the exterior of the fuselage is now totally painted........top and bottom. I painted the top a while ago....... I even painted under the stabilizers.......like they are supposed to look. once the stabilizers and the tail is in place, it will all make sense. it's the reason why I didn't do it to the other two planes. to really get this build moving quicker in the right direction.....the fuselage glass needed to be installed...just the little ones. with that done, the internals were cemented in place without further ado... from here, the Norden Bomb sight was added......and a couple other parts related to this step. up next........a bit more happiness {no mask required }