**** DONE: 1/48 B-25 - Aircraft Nose Art GB.

[dneid]

Hey, Guys,
Thanks for the encouraging comments. @Bill, just send me a tracking number! I used to use preshading all the time all those years ago. it does demand a careful touch on the flow control. One thing I really love about my Paasche Millennium brush is the ability to set and lock the max pullback (paint flow). That saved my bacon with this finish so far.

Ok, I have the basic painting done. I am letting her setup right now. I will do a final look over later tonight and touch up anything that needs to be corrected. I did get a little "carried away" with the weathering on the vertical stabs. But, I like the look. I will probably leave em as they are now.

I am hoping to get the clear gloss down tonight before bed. I am going with MM's Clear Lacquer to same time. I just do not have time to use Future and hit the deadline. If I get lucky and get the glass on tonight, then I am decaling tomorrow after work. Final clean up and matt finish by Saturday and Sunday for wrap up and posting the finished pics and thread. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Pics:

Regards,
Dale

 

[Airframes]

Looking good Dale - and don't rush it, there's an extension to the GB deadline, which now ends on Sunday, 8th December.

 

[dneid]

Hey, Terry,
Man, thank you very much for that information on the extension! That just made my night. Now, I do have the 1st coat of gloss down. Got the top and sides done and everything is looking good. I hope to shoot the belly before bedtime. All in all, progress is being made.
Dale

 

[fubar57]

Great paint job Dale. If you haven't already started them, I'll see what I can dig up on bombs.

Geo

 

[woody]

Looking really good Dale.

 

[dneid]

Hey, Guys,
Thanks once again for the comments. George, if you can find some references I would most appreciate that. If you can't, don't sweat it. I have yet to decide if I am gonna stuff the bay with ordenence (spelling?) yet. It will be a damned tight fit getting the bombs glued into place.What I am thinking is maybe a diorama display sometime in the future with the scene being a pre-mission loading.
Ok, gloss is on both top and bottom and dried. I have placed one single decal on the upper right wing. Waiting for the Micro-Sol to works it magic. I do have one question for you all. Fuse, left upper wing, and lower rgt wing have paint covering the original US insignia then the Russian Red Star over that. Anyone have any idea as the radius of the US emblems? I know I have seen it somewhere, I am just too focused on getting this wrapped up. Yeap, being lazy and asking you guys for help. More pics tomorrow evening all.
Dale

 

[Gnomey]

Nicely done so far!

 

[fubar57]

These are Russian bombs. The part of the book that mentions colors and markings says the bomb color is dark grey but as you can see, the caption under the bomb just says grey, also, no markings....

And as Terry mentioned, the possibility of using U.S. bombs.

Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Dale: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aircraft-markings-camouflage/united-states-aircraft-markings-9315.html

 

[dneid]

Hey, Guys,
George, Andy, thank you both very much for your help. I do appreciate you both taking the time.

So, more progress today. Gloss coat was put on last night. BUT, I completely forgot to do the leading edge boots. So, I taped those up this evening and got those shot. I had a bit of pull off of the gloss coat. I decided to try a tad of dry brushing over that and a lil more to make for a maintenance kinda thing. VERY easy on that. I got the US insignia cover painting on the wings and both sides of the fuse. Gotta love those various drafting templates ( I used the 1-1/16 inch circle from the collection of circles templates with all holes masked over minus the one I used). I used the template directly on the two wing over paint) one on top, one on the bottom as you would expect given the std USAAC markings. For the fuse, I used the template to cut out a mask with a few pieces of Tamiya tape overlapping.

pics:

Thanks for looking in, guys.

Dale

 

[Crimea_River]

Excellent!

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff.

 

[Wayne Little]

Done Good, Dale!

 

[dneid]

A quick update or note for you all. The Authentic decals are sure thick. The 1st applications took 7 applications of Micro-Sol to get em to lay flat. My LHS advised me to try Solvaset, which I have. only 3-4 applications of Solvaset to get a decent lay down. However, the Solvaset is far more aggressive of a solution. I bolluxed up one of the tail numbers. I think I have an idea to somewhat recover from that. I am going to make some masks out of post it notes and use those to mimic battle damage repair. Probably go with a mix of some in silver and some in a different shade of OD. I have seen pics of this kind of repair and I think this will let me get past the damaged decal. Feedback?
Dale

 

[Crimea_River]

Sounds like a possible solution.

I use solvaset too and find that I need to limit the amount of time I let the stuff sit on the decal. Depending on how sensitive the deals are, I may just let it sit for 10 to 15 seconds before wicking the excess up with a paper towel.

 

[Wayne Little]

Wish I could get more Solvaset down here....Andy is right though you must be careful in how long it sits, better to use it a couple of times in short bursts and keep them paper towels or tissues handy to remove the stuff.....

 

[woody]

Looking good Dale.

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

You're going good Dale.

 

[dneid]

Hey, Guys,
Well, the end looks like it is damned close. I think I will actually get this one done! Just a few pictures of the decaling progress so far. Down to the templates on the bottom of the left wing and the decals are on. Final details and a coat of flat and we should be there. I bet I will be posting my finished pics late Sunday evening.

Pics:

Thanks,
Dale