popeye the sailor

Beautiful, Bob!  You've done an amazing job!  How did you know how to simulate the worn paint next to the cockpit?  It looks so realistic, but I can't imagine how you did it.  

Great work 👍

Superb model. The P-38 is truly a special bird.
 
Yves

Superb job, Bob. 👍

Part 11
 
 
Here is the bottom after a coat of Alclad II Lacquer Klear Kote matt.  The weathering was applied before the Klear Kote.  Wheels were added along with the radio antenna.

 
Starboard Bottom wheels and boarding ladder.

 
Aft view of the weathering streaking back on the booms from the turbo-superchargers.  The heat quickly damaged the paint.  The effect was a freehand airbrushing of tan followed by a light dusting of buff.  Then the heavy staining was applied powders using a brush,  followed by Klear Kote.

Port quarter view.

Focus stack of the business end.

 
Cockpit.

 
Turbo-superchargers.

 
Antenna mount.

 
Starboard Prop.

 
Starboard side.

 
Port side.

 
More to Come
 
BobW
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Congratulations on producing a very realistic looking engine, a credit to uou.

Antique tractors is a big deal here in the USA.... Not publicized much I know, but it is for those who appreciate them....
 
Gorgeous model, wonderous skill on display....
 
Very, Very well done!!!

Nice Model! You just gotta love steam!
 
Some great steam tractor pulling can be found on Youtube:
 
 
Andy

Well, the driver has his tea-break with his emaille-mug, if you look carefully
 
The class Z7 was about the second biggest Fowler made. Their biggest was the Superba - several of them were ordered by the Mussolini-government to drain the Pontinian swamps south of Rome to get rid of the Malaria problem that plagued the city every summer.
 
I think some of the German sets that were custom-build to drain the fen-lands (before they were considered wetlands to be protected) in northern Germany and to allow peat extraction. After the peat was extracted, the remaining moorland was deep-ploughed with a single shear plough in one pass to a depth of five(!) meters. One of the ploughing engines and a plough have survived in the Emsland-Museum close to the Dutch border.

Beautiful work on the tractor and all the details.   I've looked several times now and still see something I missed previously.

I see that the operator had the foresight to put a pot for tea on the boiler casing but I see no cup to drink it from.
 
I have seen a couple of these steam tractors up close  and they are truly massive, although I don't think I have ever seen one as big as the one yours is modeled from.

See  New York Steam Engine Association . Canandaigua is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York State

Antique tractors and engines are still a big deal in the more rural, agrarian parts of the U.S. The town I grew up in has an annual rodeo, and antique tractors are featured every year.

In the UK there is a real steam-engine scene, whole in continental Europe and much of the rest of the World these thingies may be only known as a historical phenomenon. Also, due to the industrial development lagging behind, they have not been as wide-spread, as in the UK. Having had the Matchbox model of a traction engine, I was aware of their existing from an early age on, even though I grew up in Germany, I certainly was not aware of the extensive 'steam scene' in the UK until I came to live there in 1987. I then attended various 'steam-fairs' and it turned out that the uncle of a colleague of mine actually had one ...
 
This model was built around 1989/90. I just got my watchmakers lathe, but building a working model was certainly out of scope at that time. I happened to chance upon the Keil-Kraft kit, which was still current then - the company faltered since then. Just at that time the monthly Model Engineer published a series on building a working model of a Fowler Z7 (HAINING, J.: Countryman‘s Steam - Fowler Class Z7S.- Model Engineer, 5 August 1988 - 1 June 1990.), which came very handy for detail drawings, particularly for the actual steam-engine. A local museum owned a Fowler Class BB1 ploughing engine which I could photograph and sketch for more 'typical' Fowler details - the makers followed their design practices independent of the size of the engine. The visits to various steam-fairs furnished further photographs of Fowler engines.
 

The assembled, but not yet painted model
 
The Keil-Kraft kit was ok with respect to the proportions and the principal structure, but lacked most of the technical details that are very visible on such engines. Most notably, there was big hole, were the two-cylinder compound engine is supposed to be. So most of these details were built from scratch in brass, steel, aluminium, Plexiglas, and styrene. The engine, of course, is not working, but the appearance of the engine, the gearing, the ploughing gear, etc. has been faithfully reproduced as far as it is possible at 1:76 scale.
 

 
Fowler was a very interesing and innovative company in the field and the market leader in steam-ploughing sets. A set consisted of two identical ploughing engines and a so-called balance-plough that was hauled between them across the field. The sets were expensive so that only very rich land-owners with large fields could afford them. Typically they were operated by contractors, who would move from farm to farm. Off-season they were employed in drainage work, pulling tree-stumps and everything, where a strong winding drum with a steel-cable was needed.
 

 
The winding drum has an interesting history and was the key innovation by Fowler. The invention was not made by John Fowler himself, but by a young German engineer, who came to the UK to learn and in search of work. Max Eyth also became an important sales engineer, first helping the Viceroy of Egypt to build up a cotton industry and later in his home country from where he worked also in Eastern Europe. In Germany he also became known as a writer through his memoirs and various novels.
 

Compound cyclinders with their drainage cocks, safety valve, and steam-operated whistle
 
The history of Fowler as a company is written up here:
 
LANE, M.R. (1980): The Story of the Steam Plough Works. Fowlers of Leeds.- 410 p., London (Northgate Publishing Co. Ltd.).
 
Fowler not only produced plouging engines and ploughs, but also a wide range of traction engines, locomotives, and other items.
 
 
 

The clutch-system to connect the winding drum to the steam-engine
 

Two-speed driving gear and clutch and boiler-feed injectors including water-hose
 

Driver's view
 

Driving stand with all the levers, valves and gauges
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Popeye,
The Flyhawk kit was a treat to make; I enjoyed it immensely. Learned quite a lot and I think I am improving; especially with weathering. Again, lots of good advice here
Alan

Gary, this is so much fun watching this diorama come to life as you add each layer of realism, your mastery of detail is brilliant. 

I’ve only just stumbled across this outstanding build log Gary and all I can say is WOW!!! What a superb piece of modelling. Thank you for your detailed explanations of your processes too.

these are the older kits OC.......produced before the change over to uniform scale classification.  basically,  the big plus here is that molds can be sold more readily.......you see,  who wants a bunch of odd scales?  back in the days of Aurora,  Pyro,  LIndberg Line and others who predated the change,  that was all they had and produced.  when the change happened,  new companies sprung up.......AMT,  MPC {to name a few} and other companies like Revell,  Monogram,  Renwall,  Hawk,  dumped some of them and produced within the new scales.  there's a lot more to it.......survivability,  the war {WWII} took it's toll......some survived by using other materials for their kits.  lately,  new companies sprung up........Round 2,  Atlantis.......bought up a bunch of these old molds,  and are now flooding the market with them.  is it a bad thing.......not in the big picture,  but the does limit the availability of aftermarket mods and add ons.  todays models are so much better anyways   
 
so where was I.........oh yes.......how I got hood-winked.   I saw a few other lesser model company offerings......and then I saw this one and bought it.  it stated 1:72 in the description.........I failed to give it a thought   I took a look in the box,  and it was just as described.....bagged and unopened.

here's a chuckle for you all.........who saw these advertisements in their kit and sent away for it?

I did    I got the lunar module and lander!  sent in the dime......got the start up kit,  but when I saw that I had to pay more to get the rest of the stuff,  I canceled out.  I also joined the Revell model club,  but that was short lived too.......kept getting kits I didn't like.   as I suspected,  the decals are useless.
    if you look close enough,  you can see the micro cracking and the gaps from shrinking decal.  I could spray them with the decal bonder,  but the cracking is just too severe.

the good thing about this kit,  is that the rivet detail is not as pronounce,  as what I saw in the Atlantis kit.  the molds were not as old as they would be now.  they still can be seen though...I may try to even them out.

some manufacturers will just create the mold to make the parts that will distinguish one model from another......in most cases,  it would be the fuselage.
   this way,  they can monopolize on molds they have already created to expand the kit selection.  for these two models......there was nothing that needed to be modified.......they are both B 24 J's.  for an example,  those who follow my crazy antics,  read about my future Chevy Impala project.  one kit is produced by Monogram,  and the other is produced by Revell / Monogram.  these two kit have similar parts......the engines are exactly alike....I'm sure there is more.  I haven't checked the sprue ID numbers yet,  but I believe there will be some that match   more on this soon    I will need to cut out the windows,  like I did with the 'Buffalo Bill'.

there are a reasonable amount of loose parts in the bag.  being a kit produced in 1965,  I would expect nothing less.

of course,  nothing is broken.........there's nota lot of flash either.  cleanup will be easy.

I'm gonna try and fudge one of these to the subject.  when I got the kit,  the admiral wanted to see it.......so I showed it to her.  then I told her of the shortcomings.........the effort in getting a kit that will cure all.   I chased my tail........I'm back at square one.......went on a fool's errand.....whatever metaphor you want to hang on it......I'm left with the same dilemma.  while it would be great to stay with the same scale as the Wulfe Hound.....I can't anything more till next week {still deciding}  what to do with these kits?.........crazy thing are forming   for anyone who is not familiar with the difference between these two scales......here is a comparison

1:72 to 1:92.    I'm going to check out the 1:100 scale decals  for anything interesting.   I already looked into the 1:87 scale......all American and very few choices.

one has to ask himself.......how many times can one shoot himself in the foot?  I saw 1:72........I ordered 1:72.....easy.   but I guess you have to take into consideration that the person on the other end may not be as up to speed,  on something so basic as scale.  here is the kit I bought:

this is the other kit........the other 1:92 scale kit!  I can't blame the person I bought it from......it doesn't say it anywhere on the box,  nor in the instructions.
   but I should have been aware of it.......I've done enough research and even looked it up on Scalemates.  the only B 24 produced by revell in this time line, was the B 24D Warbirds 'the Blue Streak',  in 1:72 scale.  the 'Buffalo Bill' and the Pacific Raider's kit were produced in 1:92 scale.  MPC has one in their 'Profile Series',  produced in '73......their first production was in '71,  preceding the Profile Series.  I've got a bit more to show.........the admiral is hungry,  so I'll go cook up some burgers.  it will give me time to think about my war crimes 

waiting for the model to arrive.......passing time by fixing a couple of the chairs in the dining room {the seat pads were coming off}.  there was another one on the front porch that my younger son sat in and it broke.......fixed it with a 'L' bracket and will serve me well at the other table in the spare room.  I also mounted the new crane light on table black.  continued on by browsing through the oldmodelkits website.....couldn't believe what I saw.  I was on page 111,  when I saw a hardware kit for the Dumas PT 109.......3 shafts,  rudders,  support brackets,  and props......3 of everything..........are you ready for this?!?!?!?!   $19.00!!!!  I paid $40 bucks apiece for the single kits!  I guess you know I snapped them up in a hurry!    it may be too late to make any mods on her,  so I'll save them for when I need them.
 
I went in the spare room and painted chromate green on the insides of the wings.  you'll see it in the wheel wells and flaps.  I also decided to put the hatches in the waste gunner's windows........I heard the familiar knock on the door.   the kit is here    
 
I am not totally happy.........more on the 'new meat' soon..........gotta go run some errands

these are the older kits OC.......produced before the change over to uniform scale classification.  basically,  the big plus here is that molds can be sold more readily.......you see,  who wants a bunch of odd scales?  back in the days of Aurora,  Pyro,  LIndberg Line and others who predated the change,  that was all they had and produced.  when the change happened,  new companies sprung up.......AMT,  MPC {to name a few} and other companies like Revell,  Monogram,  Renwall,  Hawk,  dumped some of them and produced within the new scales.  there's a lot more to it.......survivability,  the war {WWII} took it's toll......some survived by using other materials for their kits.  lately,  new companies sprung up........Round 2,  Atlantis.......bought up a bunch of these old molds,  and are now flooding the market with them.  is it a bad thing.......not in the big picture,  but the does limit the availability of aftermarket mods and add ons.  todays models are so much better anyways   
 
so where was I.........oh yes.......how I got hood-winked.   I saw a few other lesser model company offerings......and then I saw this one and bought it.  it stated 1:72 in the description.........I failed to give it a thought   I took a look in the box,  and it was just as described.....bagged and unopened.

here's a chuckle for you all.........who saw these advertisements in their kit and sent away for it?

I did    I got the lunar module and lander!  sent in the dime......got the start up kit,  but when I saw that I had to pay more to get the rest of the stuff,  I canceled out.  I also joined the Revell model club,  but that was short lived too.......kept getting kits I didn't like.   as I suspected,  the decals are useless.
    if you look close enough,  you can see the micro cracking and the gaps from shrinking decal.  I could spray them with the decal bonder,  but the cracking is just too severe.

the good thing about this kit,  is that the rivet detail is not as pronounce,  as what I saw in the Atlantis kit.  the molds were not as old as they would be now.  they still can be seen though...I may try to even them out.

some manufacturers will just create the mold to make the parts that will distinguish one model from another......in most cases,  it would be the fuselage.
   this way,  they can monopolize on molds they have already created to expand the kit selection.  for these two models......there was nothing that needed to be modified.......they are both B 24 J's.  for an example,  those who follow my crazy antics,  read about my future Chevy Impala project.  one kit is produced by Monogram,  and the other is produced by Revell / Monogram.  these two kit have similar parts......the engines are exactly alike....I'm sure there is more.  I haven't checked the sprue ID numbers yet,  but I believe there will be some that match   more on this soon    I will need to cut out the windows,  like I did with the 'Buffalo Bill'.

there are a reasonable amount of loose parts in the bag.  being a kit produced in 1965,  I would expect nothing less.

of course,  nothing is broken.........there's nota lot of flash either.  cleanup will be easy.

I'm gonna try and fudge one of these to the subject.  when I got the kit,  the admiral wanted to see it.......so I showed it to her.  then I told her of the shortcomings.........the effort in getting a kit that will cure all.   I chased my tail........I'm back at square one.......went on a fool's errand.....whatever metaphor you want to hang on it......I'm left with the same dilemma.  while it would be great to stay with the same scale as the Wulfe Hound.....I can't anything more till next week {still deciding}  what to do with these kits?.........crazy thing are forming   for anyone who is not familiar with the difference between these two scales......here is a comparison

1:72 to 1:92.    I'm going to check out the 1:100 scale decals  for anything interesting.   I already looked into the 1:87 scale......all American and very few choices.

one has to ask himself.......how many times can one shoot himself in the foot?  I saw 1:72........I ordered 1:72.....easy.   but I guess you have to take into consideration that the person on the other end may not be as up to speed,  on something so basic as scale.  here is the kit I bought:

this is the other kit........the other 1:92 scale kit!  I can't blame the person I bought it from......it doesn't say it anywhere on the box,  nor in the instructions.
   but I should have been aware of it.......I've done enough research and even looked it up on Scalemates.  the only B 24 produced by revell in this time line, was the B 24D Warbirds 'the Blue Streak',  in 1:72 scale.  the 'Buffalo Bill' and the Pacific Raider's kit were produced in 1:92 scale.  MPC has one in their 'Profile Series',  produced in '73......their first production was in '71,  preceding the Profile Series.  I've got a bit more to show.........the admiral is hungry,  so I'll go cook up some burgers.  it will give me time to think about my war crimes 

these are the older kits OC.......produced before the change over to uniform scale classification.  basically,  the big plus here is that molds can be sold more readily.......you see,  who wants a bunch of odd scales?  back in the days of Aurora,  Pyro,  LIndberg Line and others who predated the change,  that was all they had and produced.  when the change happened,  new companies sprung up.......AMT,  MPC {to name a few} and other companies like Revell,  Monogram,  Renwall,  Hawk,  dumped some of them and produced within the new scales.  there's a lot more to it.......survivability,  the war {WWII} took it's toll......some survived by using other materials for their kits.  lately,  new companies sprung up........Round 2,  Atlantis.......bought up a bunch of these old molds,  and are now flooding the market with them.  is it a bad thing.......not in the big picture,  but the does limit the availability of aftermarket mods and add ons.  todays models are so much better anyways   
 
so where was I.........oh yes.......how I got hood-winked.   I saw a few other lesser model company offerings......and then I saw this one and bought it.  it stated 1:72 in the description.........I failed to give it a thought   I took a look in the box,  and it was just as described.....bagged and unopened.

here's a chuckle for you all.........who saw these advertisements in their kit and sent away for it?

I did    I got the lunar module and lander!  sent in the dime......got the start up kit,  but when I saw that I had to pay more to get the rest of the stuff,  I canceled out.  I also joined the Revell model club,  but that was short lived too.......kept getting kits I didn't like.   as I suspected,  the decals are useless.
    if you look close enough,  you can see the micro cracking and the gaps from shrinking decal.  I could spray them with the decal bonder,  but the cracking is just too severe.

the good thing about this kit,  is that the rivet detail is not as pronounce,  as what I saw in the Atlantis kit.  the molds were not as old as they would be now.  they still can be seen though...I may try to even them out.

some manufacturers will just create the mold to make the parts that will distinguish one model from another......in most cases,  it would be the fuselage.
   this way,  they can monopolize on molds they have already created to expand the kit selection.  for these two models......there was nothing that needed to be modified.......they are both B 24 J's.  for an example,  those who follow my crazy antics,  read about my future Chevy Impala project.  one kit is produced by Monogram,  and the other is produced by Revell / Monogram.  these two kit have similar parts......the engines are exactly alike....I'm sure there is more.  I haven't checked the sprue ID numbers yet,  but I believe there will be some that match   more on this soon    I will need to cut out the windows,  like I did with the 'Buffalo Bill'.

there are a reasonable amount of loose parts in the bag.  being a kit produced in 1965,  I would expect nothing less.

of course,  nothing is broken.........there's nota lot of flash either.  cleanup will be easy.

I'm gonna try and fudge one of these to the subject.  when I got the kit,  the admiral wanted to see it.......so I showed it to her.  then I told her of the shortcomings.........the effort in getting a kit that will cure all.   I chased my tail........I'm back at square one.......went on a fool's errand.....whatever metaphor you want to hang on it......I'm left with the same dilemma.  while it would be great to stay with the same scale as the Wulfe Hound.....I can't anything more till next week {still deciding}  what to do with these kits?.........crazy thing are forming   for anyone who is not familiar with the difference between these two scales......here is a comparison

1:72 to 1:92.    I'm going to check out the 1:100 scale decals  for anything interesting.   I already looked into the 1:87 scale......all American and very few choices.

one has to ask himself.......how many times can one shoot himself in the foot?  I saw 1:72........I ordered 1:72.....easy.   but I guess you have to take into consideration that the person on the other end may not be as up to speed,  on something so basic as scale.  here is the kit I bought:

this is the other kit........the other 1:92 scale kit!  I can't blame the person I bought it from......it doesn't say it anywhere on the box,  nor in the instructions.
   but I should have been aware of it.......I've done enough research and even looked it up on Scalemates.  the only B 24 produced by revell in this time line, was the B 24D Warbirds 'the Blue Streak',  in 1:72 scale.  the 'Buffalo Bill' and the Pacific Raider's kit were produced in 1:92 scale.  MPC has one in their 'Profile Series',  produced in '73......their first production was in '71,  preceding the Profile Series.  I've got a bit more to show.........the admiral is hungry,  so I'll go cook up some burgers.  it will give me time to think about my war crimes 

these are the older kits OC.......produced before the change over to uniform scale classification.  basically,  the big plus here is that molds can be sold more readily.......you see,  who wants a bunch of odd scales?  back in the days of Aurora,  Pyro,  LIndberg Line and others who predated the change,  that was all they had and produced.  when the change happened,  new companies sprung up.......AMT,  MPC {to name a few} and other companies like Revell,  Monogram,  Renwall,  Hawk,  dumped some of them and produced within the new scales.  there's a lot more to it.......survivability,  the war {WWII} took it's toll......some survived by using other materials for their kits.  lately,  new companies sprung up........Round 2,  Atlantis.......bought up a bunch of these old molds,  and are now flooding the market with them.  is it a bad thing.......not in the big picture,  but the does limit the availability of aftermarket mods and add ons.  todays models are so much better anyways   
 
so where was I.........oh yes.......how I got hood-winked.   I saw a few other lesser model company offerings......and then I saw this one and bought it.  it stated 1:72 in the description.........I failed to give it a thought   I took a look in the box,  and it was just as described.....bagged and unopened.

here's a chuckle for you all.........who saw these advertisements in their kit and sent away for it?

I did    I got the lunar module and lander!  sent in the dime......got the start up kit,  but when I saw that I had to pay more to get the rest of the stuff,  I canceled out.  I also joined the Revell model club,  but that was short lived too.......kept getting kits I didn't like.   as I suspected,  the decals are useless.
    if you look close enough,  you can see the micro cracking and the gaps from shrinking decal.  I could spray them with the decal bonder,  but the cracking is just too severe.

the good thing about this kit,  is that the rivet detail is not as pronounce,  as what I saw in the Atlantis kit.  the molds were not as old as they would be now.  they still can be seen though...I may try to even them out.

some manufacturers will just create the mold to make the parts that will distinguish one model from another......in most cases,  it would be the fuselage.
   this way,  they can monopolize on molds they have already created to expand the kit selection.  for these two models......there was nothing that needed to be modified.......they are both B 24 J's.  for an example,  those who follow my crazy antics,  read about my future Chevy Impala project.  one kit is produced by Monogram,  and the other is produced by Revell / Monogram.  these two kit have similar parts......the engines are exactly alike....I'm sure there is more.  I haven't checked the sprue ID numbers yet,  but I believe there will be some that match   more on this soon    I will need to cut out the windows,  like I did with the 'Buffalo Bill'.

there are a reasonable amount of loose parts in the bag.  being a kit produced in 1965,  I would expect nothing less.

of course,  nothing is broken.........there's nota lot of flash either.  cleanup will be easy.

I'm gonna try and fudge one of these to the subject.  when I got the kit,  the admiral wanted to see it.......so I showed it to her.  then I told her of the shortcomings.........the effort in getting a kit that will cure all.   I chased my tail........I'm back at square one.......went on a fool's errand.....whatever metaphor you want to hang on it......I'm left with the same dilemma.  while it would be great to stay with the same scale as the Wulfe Hound.....I can't anything more till next week {still deciding}  what to do with these kits?.........crazy thing are forming   for anyone who is not familiar with the difference between these two scales......here is a comparison

1:72 to 1:92.    I'm going to check out the 1:100 scale decals  for anything interesting.   I already looked into the 1:87 scale......all American and very few choices.