Thank you. Very slowly feeling better. It was a whopper of a head cold that’s for sure. It’s been several years since I’ve been sick, so I guess I was due.
Guess I’m going to do two updates. It looks like I forgot to post yesterdays. Whoops.
Finally happy with the finish, and done with putty, sand, prime, repeat, and all the rescribing that goes with it.
Glued on the wings, and temporarily mounted the engine cowling, and intake scoops for painting. Now is the time I start smacking the wings into everything on, near, next to, or above my work bench.
Another 7 hours at th bench today finally resulted in paint. But before I get to that. I realized last night when kind of looking ahead to things, which I do from time to time, that the kit had the postion of the foot ball antenna in the totally wrong location. So first order of business was to relocate that.
The white spot is where I covered the original mounting hole, quite a ways back is a green mark where I made the hole for the correct location.
I decided I wanted to give a chipping method a try. I usually just carefully make marks with silver paint and a brush. But I figured I would give this a go. I painted on some aluminum, clear coated it, then used masking liquid where I wanted the chips, hence the blue specks.
It worked well in some spots, and others it just didn’t want to come off. Took so much effort to scrap it off that it scrapped of the paint competely. I know about the salt method, but really don’t want that mess in my bedroom. I’m sure I’ll find something that works for me at some point. Maybe I’ll use Elmer’s glue next time. Seems like that would come off easier.
Mini Pratt and Whitney 1830! Fitted the nose case to see how it looked.
The big accomplishment of the day…paint!
I still have a lot more work to do. I am hoping to paint on all her markings aside from her tail number which will be decals. I need to make the masks for the W7, and the 37. Hoping I can accomplish that with my Cricut. I have the Montex masks for the National Insignia, and for the R on the tail. So maybe, just maybe she’ll have some markings tomorrow. The invasion stripes will be painted on with a brush. Which makes me more nervous than masking and painting them with an airbrush. But this one has to be as accurate as I can get it. We recently lost Mr. Lesile P. Cruise Jr. He was a paratrooper on D-Day that jumped from Whiskey 7. So I feel like this will pay a little bit of homage to him and everyone else who served.
Lots of painting done today. Hubby bought me a Cricut for my birthday last year, and I’ve used it a few times, but my main reason for wanting it was so I could make paint masks. Finally got to use it for that purpose today. I had intended to make the W7, and the 37 on the nose. Turns out I needed the R as well. The one that came with the Montex masks was just too small. Took a bit of trial and error to get the right size, and find a text that was suitable. I still had to modify the 7 a little bit with a hobby knife.
National Insignias painted on. Bit stressful for me, but worth it in the end.
Mask for the tail number cut with my Cricut.
All of her markings!
Next up was the invasion stripes, which for some reason I was very nervous about. I used my better judgement and decided to mask off the area for the entire stripe, and lay down some white paint with the airbrush to make a base. Otherwise I’d be painting fifteen layers with a brush. After putting down the base I went in with a brush and painted the white. Then marked out where the black needed to go, and added those.
Really starting to look the part now. Still quite a bit to do. Needs a gloss coat, then weathering, final assembly. Kind of nice not using decals, and being able to skip an extra gloss coat. I usually do a gloss after paint, lay down decals, and another coat of gloss before weathering, and a matte coat.
Thank you! Was actually kind of fun not having to worry about them being perfect.
Only managed a couple hours at the bench today. Had to do “adult” things like laundry, and errands, lol.
I got a gloss coat on between running around. Then after dinner worked on doing some weathering. Panel line wash first, then some grime, and mud on the wing roots from “boots” going up and down fueling and checking oil. Some oil, and hydraulic leaks. I tried to keep the invasion stripes themselves fairly clean. They wouldn’t of been that dirty considering they were just painted on maybe a day or two before D-Day.
Hopefully I can get more time at the bench tomorrow. I’m excited to get this finished up!
Great progress. Close to the finish line now. The national insignia look great - I have yet to try that. And your Cricut seems to be getting put to great use. Life with out decals is tempting…
Hoss WA, Thank you! I think the most annoying part about the seat belts was getting them glued in place the right way, lol.
keavdog, Thanks! That was my first attempt at it. I’m glad I did it that way. I was just going to use the decals, but I worried they wouldn’t sink into the rivet detail, and just stick out like a sore thumb. I’ve always had issues with finding W7 decals. I can find the 7, but not the W. Making a mask by hand with a hobby knife was not fun, many failed attempts. The Cricut was a game changer, and honestly if I can go that route I will. Need to find a pattern for the National Insignia, lol.
After 80 hours she’s finally finished! Not sure if I mentioned it previously, but I did use Quickboost’s corrected resin rudder, and exhaust on this. Overall not a bad kit. Somethings were a bit fiddly and needed fine tuning to fit properly. The instructions suck. So I certainly wouldn’t reccomend it for a beginner. Thankfully I know my way around. Can’t speak for their decals, since I didn’t use any of them. The decals on the prop blades were from an aftermarket set, and the only decals I used on the whole thing.
Enough chatter, on with the pics.
I even managed to get the PE brake lines on there this time, lol. I found glueing them on in increments worked out very well instead of trying to place the whole thing at once, start at one end and work to the other end.
I do love the detail in the gear bay compared to the lack there of in the Monogram kit. A lot easier to install this oil tank than on the real thing.
So this is my little tribute to the men that jumped on D-Day. Including Leslie Cruise, who actually jumped from Whiskey 7 on that day. Unfortunately he recently passed away, and I never got to meet him. It would of been my absolute honor to shake his hand and thank him for his service.
Wonderful job on this historically classic aircraft! Your construction, painting, & weathering all made this kit into a prize winner. It’s a testament to the engineers who designed this plane that so many are still flying today. Here in Oshkosh, WI there is a business called Basler Air where they install turbo prop engines on this airframe. I get to see these classics flying overhead all the time! A job well done!
I did that one along with an original release (from 1978) of the Monogram kit. While the Trumpeter kit probably went together better and had more detailing in certain areas, I preferred the Monogram kit for its instructions alone. In fact, I believe I used the Monogram instruction book to guide for painting the Trumpeter interior because, as you said, the Trumpeter instructions suck. I’ve found that to be the case with just about all of the Trumpeter kits I’ve built.
keavdog, Thanks! I’m debating taking it with me this weekend so the “guys” at the hangar can see it. Nervous about transporting it though.
MR TOM SCHRY, Thank you! I am familar with the Basler BT-67. I think it’s great they are keeping these airframes going, but still prefer the sound of the old radials.
Aggieman, Thank you! The instructions are horrible. From a couple feet away it would be hard to tell the difference between the two kits. You would have to keep up close and personal. Both kits have their downfalls which is normal. I had fun, and frustration building them both.
Shipwreck, Thank you! I’ve thought about it a couple of times, but never thought I had anything good enough to enter. That and having to transport it makes me nervous, lol.
Someone on FB, very politely pointed out something, and I’m glad they did. I had thought about whether or not Whiskey 7 would of been equipped with an SRC-717C radome on D-Day. She is pictured with one during Market Garden. But I’m not that keen on all that stuff. I couldn’t find many pictures of it online either. I moved on and forgot about it. I was told she would of been equipped with it since she was a serial leader. So I spent a few hours this afternoon scratch making one from a cap, and a bit of apoxie sculpt. While I was waiting for paint and stuff to dry I opted to add the tape to the door hinges as well. A detail I forgot I wanted to do.
In her home with Mini Whiskey 7 #2. Mini MMB got booted from the cabinet, lol. The real MMB is no longer at the museum anyway. The owners had her sent off to another museum in California. Bit of a sour taste left in a lot of peoples mouths after all that.
