Question on the R/M 1/48th P-61 Black Widow

[Night Fighter Nut]

I tried macro but my camera doesn't do close up shots very well. I wasn't building models at the time I got it.

It's also one of the reasons I don't do the group builds. Can't take any decent photos unless I borrow a camera that can take those nice pictures.

 

[Mr. Ed]

Night Fighter Nut:

I thought you might be interested to know that, thanks to photos posted on another thread, I've been correcting the markings for Time's a Wastin'. I noticed, however, that not only are the tail markings included in the Revell Monogram kit the wrong color, but the nose art decal in the kit is MISSING AN ARM! It looks like I'm going to have paint one on freehand.

Your photos and comments on the exhaust stains have come into good use. I've used a combination of airbrushing and pastels.

One of these days I'd like to build some of the German night fighters - some interesting and difficult camoflague schemes there.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Will you be putting on the little red wing thingys on the radar reception antennas like on the second and third pictures of post #10? I made those with regular laminated card stock but you could use styrine.

 

[Mr. Ed]

Are the red thingies a "remove before flight" kind of thingy? I ask because I'm part of the lunatic fringe of aircraft modelers who make "in flight builds".

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

No, I'm talking about the thingys on the return antenna.... see picture below.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Night Fighter Nut:

... but the nose art decal in the kit is MISSING AN ARM! It looks like I'm going to have paint one on freehand.
.

Here is a photo of the actual plane you're trying to do. Hope this is helpful...

 

[Mr. Ed]

Night Fighter Nut,

I appreciate your help on this - your photos have helped a great deal, especially with the exhaust stains (of all things).

Let me tell you, this kit has been one very long slog. Here's a partial list of reasons why:

1) There was enough filling and sanding to provide a veritable education in this aspect of modeling. Of course it didn't help that my fanatical devotion to in-flight builds led me to close the landing gear doors. On this basis alone my model would likely be knocked out of any competition. As much work as I put into erasing the seams I hardly did an exemplary job.

2) The canopy. What a friggin' nightmare!! I spent more time working on that thing than I ever have on any one part of a model and it still looks terrible. Shelling out $30 for a vacu-formed set, when the model itself cost less than $20, would have been worth every penny. At least my ability to work with clear parts has been slightly improved.

3) Restoring the panel lines. Most of them are raised and it was a lot of long, hard work. But in the end it actually kinda, sorta looks all right. For that I suppose I should be thankful.

4) The decals. They're actually decent quality and since the finish is glossy they go on pretty well. But as you've pointed out: the tail markings are inaccurate, and as I've pointed out, the Time's a Wastin' character is MISSING AN ARM! (I managed to paint it on by hand, thankyouverymuch). The tail stripe is red while the real color was blue, and the stars and moons were printed in yellow when they were really white. After being informed of this inaccuracy I felt obligated to correct it. The tail stripe wasn't so hard. I cut out a stripe of white from solid decal film, applied it and let it dry, then cut out and applied another over it in blue. The stars and moons were a different story. Have you ever tried cutting out these shapes from decal film? I found it to be easier said then done. That being said, one of the moon decals refused to adhere to the model.

It popped off. Not once. Twice.

Now, after experimenting unsuccessfully with trying to cut out a mask and paint the moon directly on the model, I cut out a third moon. I painted a thick layer of future on the spot and I'll be applying it to the model and then sealing it with more future this week. If the #@$^ thing pops off again, the resulting scream will crack my basement walls.

In addition, it's not clear to me that the lettering on the engine booms is accurate, but I declined to change it.

So, I think you'll understand why I'm not going to model those red thingies on the radar antenna. I'm also not going to repaint the propellers. Your latest photo shows me that I've painted and decaled those incorrectly. I suppose I should just cut off the blades since the aircraft is supposed to be in flight anyway.

But I'm not. I just don't have it in me.

I may post some photos of the thing around here if I can figure out how to size them correctly, but please keep your expectations low.

I'd have to say the best part of the model are the exhaust stains. I used pastel chalks in addition to my trusty airbrush, and remembered to use white, black, and dark AND light brown colors. The thing is I'm afraid to seal it in with any kind of flat coat because the first time I did that I ruined my work and had to go back and do it all over again.

Now I'll live in dread of dusting the thing off and removing the pastel chalk.

I've now given you way too much information on this build so it's time to stop typing and go finish that thing. I love the monogram 1/48th scale twin and four engine models, but what a truckload of work they are!!

 

[Switcha]

WOW, WHAT A MISSION. It sounds like a great model.......now.
If yo ever can get hold a camera with a macro please post some pic's.

Cheers Switcha

 

[Mr. Ed]

Switcha - I've got a decent camera but I'm not so great at making sure the pictures are sized 600-800 pixels, which I've learned is necessary to post them around here. I'll give it the old college try.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Well I'm currently working on a P-61 for the night fighter build. For the blades in flight, I would suggest ( just a suggestion mind you) of useing clear plastic circular disks to represent blades in motion. I saw the other photo with the arm you were talking about and the only conclusion I can come up with is that the painting was either painted on twice with this plane or there were two "Times' a wasten" aircraft. Which would mean one crashed or was severly damaged at some point. On resizing your photos, if you open the picture to look at it,(I have windows xp but you should have something similar) there will be a symbol on the right side that looks like a picture with a pencil on it. Click on this and it will close the one program and open another that will let you resize the picture. If you want a particular feature to be large, there is a box with dashed lines... click on this and use it to make a box around the part you want to keep large. Once you have done this, grab that piece and put it in the upper left corner. Then click on the pencil picture and go to the bottom right corner and look for the little blue square. Move your cursor over this until you see an arrow. Drag that little blue box up to the bottom right corner of the box you cut out. Now you have only the picture you want to use. The picture you see on your screen should be actual size. If it looks like its too large... go to the top of your screen and click "image" and go to "stretch and skew" this will give you the option to resize your picture. Obviously less than 100 makes it smaller and greater than 100 makes it bigger. Play around with it till it looks correct then save. For decals, if I have one come off, I make a mixture of white glue and water and apply it to the back of the decal. Once it has dried I varnish the snot out of it to lock it under. If you want to follow my build... and I'm really a beginner but with some modelling practice like yourself... I will do my best to do justice to this model.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Of course I also just learned from the two photos I've seen that this plane does not have a turret. AAAHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[Mr. Ed]

Who wants a P-61 without a turret? (Even though I know a lot of them didn't have any). As far as the decal goes, I found that using future as a setting solution, and then overcoating with more future when dry, finally worked. That was my third try, btw, and I actually got worse at cutting out the moons the more I did of them. I've used the circular cut outs of clear acetate to replicate propellers in motion. For this kit, I'd already put so much work into the props that I didn't want to cut them off.

Do you think any manufacturer will come out with a new 1/48th scale P-61 or are we going to be stuck with the 1974 tooling from Monogram forever?

 

[Mr. Ed]

Who wants a P-61 without a turret? (Even though I know a lot of them didn't have any). As far as the decal goes, I found that using future as a setting solution, and then overcoating with more future when dry, finally worked. That was my third try, btw, and I actually got worse at cutting out the moons the more I did of them. I've used the circular cut outs of clear acetate to replicate propellers in motion. For this kit, I'd already put so much work into the props that I didn't want to cut them off.

Do you think any manufacturer will come out with a new 1/48th scale P-61 or are we going to be stuck with the 1974 tooling from Monogram forever?

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

I wish I knew. I guess it would depend on demand.

 

[Mr. Ed]

It's amazing when you think about it: The ONLY 1/48th scale kits of the B-17, B-24, B-29, B-26 Marauder, OSU Kingfisher, and the P-61 are from the 1970's era Monogram molds. I don't think I need to remind you that these are hardly obscure aircraft. Only the B-26 and the Kingfisher have ever gone out of production, and I believe the B-26 is now easily available. Trumpeter came out with a C-47 that costs over $100 and that some say isn't much better than the classic Monogram kit (full disclosure - I have one on my shelf waiting to be built). I guess the problem is that new, high quality kits of these aircraft would be much more expensive, meaning that no one wants to take the risk of making them and hoping that us "serious" modelers will pay up for them.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

I wonder if perhaps the reason they don't make new moulds is current state of the economy and the fact that there may not be a good example left to model from. It also may be that there is not a lot of popularity for this plane. Planes that are very popular have many kits made of them where as those that are not do not.

 

[Mr. Ed]

But what a cool looking aircraft the P-61 is!! And I picked up my kit during a trip to a local craft store - not a hobby shop, but a craft store - with my daughter. This store has always kept the P-61 kit in stock. On the other hand, the P-61 was introduced towards the end of the war and so didn't have the time to build up the reputation that other types have.

Do you know that Dragon has a 1/72 scale kit of the P-61? Looks like a good kit, if you like that scale. Personally I find it a little too small for my tastes.

I'm amazed at the number of obscure aircraft that have come out in 1/48th scale. And some have been night fighters, Mr. Night Fighter Nut! The Tamyia He-219 owl is just one example.

As much as I think we're living in the golden age of modeling, I do wonder about the future. I don't get the impression that there's a new generation of kids getting interested in models. Video games are such tough competition...

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

I know what you mean. I've been collecting the 1/48 scale kits as I find them. So far I have 3 Widow kits, I'm currently working on the second. A Potez 631 French night fighter. The He 219 A7, Pe3 Bis, Fiat CR 42 CN, J1N1 Gekko, Mosquito, and a couple of regular fighters pressed into night fighter service. I still have a few more German, British and American night fighters to collect.

 

[Switcha]

I know what you mean. I've been collecting the 1/48 scale kits as I find them. So far I have 3 Widow kits, I'm currently working on the second. A Potez 631 French night fighter. The He 219 A7, Pe3 Bis, Fiat CR 42 CN, J1N1 Gekko, Mosquito, and a couple of regular fighters pressed into night fighter service. I still have a few more German, British and American night fighters to collect.

Something we all have to ask one day.
Are we model builders or model collectors?

From the size of my stash I'm one of the latter

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

I believe I am both. So far I've built three but I try to take my time. Meanwhile I ensure that I don't run out of kits.