*** DONE Italeri 1/48th scale Boston IIIA Group Build.

[Airframes]

Thanks Dan and Paul. As I'm 'retired' from 'normal' occupations now Paul, I have lots of time to spend on modelling - unfortunately for some reason though, most of it seems to be in the stupid hours of the night recently!!

 

[javlin]

First poke in Terry and it is really looking good I wish I had some time You have really taken to the scratch with some nice effects.Cheers Kevin

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Kevin!
I got some more done last night, and the first coat of paint has been applied.
The gun blisters, bomb doors and small, oval, rear fuselage windows have been fitted, and the model cleaned and polished, and then masked. I decided to fit the cockpit and gunner's canopies later, so these areas, along with the nose glazing and the nose hatch, were masked with Tamiya masking tape (the framework on the nose transparency will be painted later). The oval windows and the reccesses for the underwing landing lamps were masked with Humbrol 'Maskol' liquid mask, and the wheel wells and engines packed with damp tissue. Kitchen foil was used to wrap the landing gear legs. Holes have been drilled ready to accept a few scratch-built bits and pieces such as steps, aerial wires, beacons etc.
I had intended to use Humbrol matt enamel 'Sky', with the addition of a touch of yellow, as the current version is a little too blue for the period being modelled. However, when I opened the tin, I found the paint had gone solid, even though it was only purchased about two months ago, and only used once!
So, I found a 20 year old tin of Xtracolor 'RAF Sky' gloss enamel, last used around 1992, and checked it out. It stirred well, and thinned easily, using white spirit. I've only ever used Xtracolor enamels for brush painting until now, but I have to say that it sprayed beautifully, giving a smooth, even, gloss coat, perfect for decals - not that there'll be any on the underside.
Unfortunately, I can only obtain Xtracolor paints by mail order, so I'll have to use the Humbrol matt enamels for the rest of the paintwork. But I have a feeling I'll be stocking-up on Xtracolor paints in the future!
The pics show the paint, the masking and the model so far, and I'll get some more pics posted soon.
Thanks once again for your support and interest.

 

[Heinz]

Looks great Terry. The Xtra colour tins are very popular with the model railway crowd.

Cheers

 

[109ROAMING]

With Alex , coming along great mate 8)

 

[Vic Balshaw]

It's looking good Terry. Cant' say I've had much luck with the Xtra colours, got a whole bunch from Hannants some years back, cheap and all have proven to remain quite tacky for days.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks guys.
Vic, I had that problem when I first started using it, as I said, 20 years ago. But, I was brush painting with it at the time, and only using maybe 5% thinners if any. In fact, that's probably why I stopped getting it from Hannants. Now that I've tried it through the airbrush for the first time, I'm impressed. It still has a slight tackiness on the wing leading edges after about 8 hours, but only just. I vaguley remember that the other, darker colours I used back then took a day or two to dry fully though. I've still got a number of other colours, (no RAF Dark Green left though!) so I'll try some out and see what happens. Overall, I'd prefer to use matt paints, in order to do various weathering effects etc, and for the quicker drying, but if Humbrol (or whoever really makes it these days) continues to go downhill, I might have to change over to Xtracolor.

 

[lesofprimus]

Lookin good so far Terry, color seems spot on....

 

[B-17engineer]

Cool Terry!

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice Terry! At the pace you're going, you could submit 4 entries into the HH Group Build!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps. That's the plan CR, although I doubt I'll get them all done, and one kit hasn't even arrived yet, due to Postal disputes here in the UK. I'm planning three, 1/48th scale types from 2 Group, Bomber Command (later part of 2 TAF), and a 1/72nd scale Lancaster from 625 Sqn. Apart from the Boston, the others are a Mitchell III (B25J) of 180 Sqn, and a Ventura, probably from 21 Sqn. Thought I'd do the three which did fantastic work, but aren't seen as much as the 'heavies'.

 

[kgambit]

Looking good Terry.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks chaps. That's the plan CR, although I doubt I'll get them all done, and one kit hasn't even arrived yet, due to Postal disputes here in the UK. I'm planning three, 1/48th scale types from 2 Group, Bomber Command (later part of 2 TAF), and a 1/72nd scale Lancaster from 625 Sqn. Apart from the Boston, the others are a Mitchell III (B25J) of 180 Sqn, and a Ventura, probably from 21 Sqn. Thought I'd do the three which did fantastic work, but aren't seen as much as the 'heavies'.

Wow, looking forward to those Terry! I wish I had the time to get that much done. I mightget a second entry into the HH Group Build but that would be pushing it for me. A Revell 1/48 Marauder did catch my eye last time I was at my favourite hobby store.

 

[B-17engineer]

Funny Andy you say that! A 1/48 Monogram Maruader caught my eye on ebay for 14 dollars. Still thinking about it.

 

[Airframes]

It builds up nice, the Revell/ Monogram Marauder - go get 'em!
The Dark Earth and Dark Green disruptive pattern camouflage has been sprayed free hand, with a very fine soft, almost hard demarcation. I always think these colours look cr*p when first applied, seeming to be too vivid and the wrong shade, but I've learned, over the years, to leave them to settle down. I know they'll be fine once dry and the clear coat is applied.
Masking the areas around the wings to fuselage joint and the cowlings seemed to take forever, but was neccessary, as the upper surface colours extend, along the fuselage, under the main wing and tailplane. The masking was removed immediately the painting was done, to check for any paint bleed or overspray, and I'm happy to report there was none. The remaining masking will, of course, remain until the gloss and matt clear coats have been appplied, with the gloss coat being the next step before decalling. Then it'll be time to make the hatches and other bits and pieces.
Thanks again for your interest.

 

[Heinz]

Looks great Terry!

 

[109ROAMING]

Agree with Alex

 

[Lucky13]

Almost finished and I haven't even finished my spot of tea yet! Jolly good show old boy! Carry on!

 

[rochie]

yeah Dogsbody give us a chance, my Ju 88 isnt out of the box yet !

i do like the look of what you've done though might have to invest in one !