**** DONE: 1/48 Lockheed Ventura - Heavy Hitters II GB

[Airframes]

No thanks Vic - got a big enough job just looking after myself!!

 

[fubar57]

Thanks for the interest everyone. Got some done in the cockpit but nothing worth photographing. All week spent packing, moving, unpacking and dump runs. Packing for camp now and when I get back, it will be a blitz to get the innards done and sealed. Have a great rest of your week, gentlemen.

Geo

 

[Catch22]

Looking forward to it Geo.

 

[A4K]

Me too!

 

[Wayne Little]

You have a great week to George!

 

[fubar57]

Finally something to show. Not much detail on the cockpit sides and I was planning to add some wire and plastic but the few war-time cockpit photos I could find show that there was very little detail.

The I.P. is a decal and looks pretty good for what will be seen once everything is closed up.

The seats have molded in lap belts but the pilot's seat lacked the shoulder harness so I added a photo etched one.

Control columns.

Added a wash to the top fuselage half using Citadel Thraka Green Wash though its hard to see.

One of the things I dislike is adding clear parts before painting however there is no way to get around this. The parts are very clear however, the cockpit canopy has a defect. I not sure if it's a crack or a thin strand of clear. I dragged a toothpick across it and couldn't feel anything. Hoping a bath in Future will make it less noticeable.

Hope to have more posted tonight.

Geo

 

[Wurger]

All looks good. :thnumbright:

 

[T Bolt]

Looking good George

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Geo. That mark in the canopy is possibly a flow mark, inside the plastic - they're a pain. I got one on one side of the F-84 canopy, which is black and looks like a mark from a felt-tip pen. It took over an hour of cleaning, sanding and polishing, before I realised it was actually inside the plastic!

 

[woody]

Looking good Geo.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice bit of progress Geo, shame about the canopy though.

 

[fubar57]

Yea, the Future bath helped a bit, might give it another. While searching for wheel well detail shots I came across this photo from the britmodeller.com site and Harvs73's build. Apparently, this is a manufacturing fault.

Geo

 

[vikingBerserker]

Yikes

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

if the future helped a bit, chances are that the scratch is on the surface. You said you checked for a scratch on one side, did you check on the opposite side? If it is a scratch, I've had a lot of success with soft cotton clothe and toothpaste. Just buff it right out. Nice build by the way.

 

[fubar57]

Thank you NFN. The blemish is almost invisible now and the windscreen has been given a second bath.(the circled mark is just a reflection) The cockpit has been attached to the right fuselage. The wheel wells have a fair amount of detail and I was going to leave it as is until I finally found a decent photo which showed a pipe running from a tank(hydraulic fluid?) so I added this. Searching for a decent bomb bay photo now.

Geo

 

[Airframes]

Nice work, especially on the canopy. That mark I mentioned on my F-84 canopy has had to remain, unfortunately.

 

[Catch22]

Good progress Geo!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good to see the scratch has almost gone and I do like that little piping touch on the wheel well.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good work mate!

 

[fubar57]

The second Future bath has all but eliminated the scratches and only can be detected at a certain angle. Installed the cabin windows(cringe) and am now gluing the 3 piece nacelles together with just two hands. After that it's engine painting time. I've seen photos of the crankcase painting call-out as medium blue or neutral gray. While I have seen color photos showing a bluish color, I'm thinking this is due to lighting. I'm leaning to Neutral Gray but does anyone have any other thoughts? Bomb bay painted and installed, still debating whether to close the doors or bomb it up.

Geo