discussion P61 Black Widow

[Dave W]

Thanks Gents.Trey,I also managed to fold a piece of PE for a crew step aglue it inside the rear compartment.And when i looked this morning it was still there!!.

 

[Dave W]

The wifes gone to Wembley to see 'Take That' with here mates tonight.So ive had a three hour modelling session this evening and made quite a bit of progress with the build.Still some filling and rescribing to do but its looking like a widow now.Still havent fitted the shoulder harnesses to the seats.Actually,im not expecting the wife back till after 1am so will go and fit them now.

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[Ian M]

Looking good Dave. I see that Great Wall are puting the widow out, also in 1/48, I might just be tempted after seing this build. Even if it does not fit in with any of the other aircraft that I have!?!!?!

Hmmm a what if Widow. FAA paint??? Nah that would be silly.

Ian M

 

[Dave W]

Ian.If Great Wall are doing it that should be a pretty special kit.The Monogram kit is one of their better efforts.It has a detailed no.1 engine with open engine cowl option.Also reasonably detailed cannon bays again with open panel option.And the cockpit detail is good despite my ham fisted attempt at painting it.Ok,the fit of parts isnt exactly Tamiya standard,but i personally dont mind a bit of filling and sanding.I looked at the resin canopies you suggested and they are fantastic. But the kit ones look pretty good now ive coated them with Klear,so im going to go with those.

 

[yak face]

Top stuff dave, keep at it. The old monogram kits were very good detail wise, and always made an impressive build, i remember the 1/48 b25 mitchell i built years ago,it had full interior details all through the fuselage! Cant wait to see the p61 in paint, cheers tony

 

[Dave W]

Thanks Tony.I built the 1/48 Italeri Mitchell some time ago.I wasnt mega impressed with it considering it cost me £35.Ive seen it since in my local hobb shop for £57!.Reckon i could have built something just as good out of the considerably cheaper monogram offering.

 

[Dave W]

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Some more progress today.I cut a piece off a sheet of lead flashing,rolled it up and bashed it to shape with a hammer.This piece weighs 50g (or one and three quater ounces to the senior forum members).I put this in the nose radome and glued it onto the model.Its more than enough to make the model sit on its nose.I also managed to superglue another PE grill to the underside of an engine without sticking my fingers to it or getting glue everywhere.I found a wooden toothpick very useful for final positioning and holding down whilst the glue set.Done some more filling and scribing.Also fitted the flaps (before the nose weight) to make sure it wasnt going to be a tail sitter.Still havent finished those seat belts.

 

[Guest]

Nice work Dave, glad to see the old squadren Green in use, i love this stuff it is the best filler i have found to date.

Keep up the good work.

Andy

 

[Dave W]

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Here are the pictures that should have accompanied my last post.I really must spend some time on the computer sorting out my posting problems.

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[colin m]

Looking good Dave. A very useful first pic - nice reminder, I'm off to weight some lead ! How is the black plastic to work with ? I've bought an F104 tiger meet starfighter for No1 daughter, it's in yellow plastic !!

Colin M........

 

[Dave W]

The black plastic is pretty good to work with.It glues and sands really well.Ive half built an Airfix Spitfire 5b and im not keen on the softish plastic they use.I love these old Monogram kits.Ive only got two left in my stash.Will have to get some more.

 

[Guest]

Great looking progress Dave. I'm going to get that great wall Widow when its released !

 

[Dave W]

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I've spent the last couple of evenings masking and fitting the canopies.Some of these parts dont fit very well.The rear compartment hatch is particularly bad and i've had to add a strip of plastic card to two sides so it will fit the gap.I'll have to paint the interior edges of these green or they will show up like a sore thumb.The main canopy isnt too bad.I've only needed to add a strip of plastic along the rear edge to fill a gap.That main canopy took me almost an hour to mask.Its not perfect but i've decided it will have to do.There are two more hatches to mask and fit then i can start painting the model.

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[Guest]

Great tape job,one of my least favorite things to do!

 

[Dave W]

Thanks Trey.I dont like masking canopies but the effect after painting is worth the effort in my opinion.The two semi circular screens were a pig to mask.

 

[Dave W]

I've been having a go at spraying different shades of black in the centre of some panels to break up the otherwise total black paint scheme.I said i would post the results good or bad,so here they are.Apart from the starboard wing i was reasonably happy with it.Until i took it out side that is.As you can see from the photos, i've over done it.And it really shows up in the photo taken in daylight.Not the subtle difference in shades i had hoped for.So im going to respray it black and start again.

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[Ian M]

Dave, instead of spraying it black and starting again, why not try to save it by 'post shading' with the black in the areas that you think are to light. You have nothing to loose, if it goes pear shaped on you you can just spay it over. Might save you a total respray...

Ian M

 

[Dave W]

Good idea Ian.I will try that first.

 

[Ian M]

You might of figured this out already, but try to paint it in natural light.....

Ian M

 

[Dave W]

I've finally found the time to continue with this build.As you can see i've added PE parts to the rear hatch.I've also redone the paint job and got a much more subtle effect than my first attempt.I then put three coats of KLEAR (the new version) on the model.Only used this once before and it wasnt a sucess.But having read all the threads on the stuff i decided to give it another go.Partly because of the overwhelming evidence that the stuff works.And partly because im tight and didnt want it to have been a waste of money!.Anyway,i brush painted the stuff on giving a days drying time between coats and it seems to have done the job.Im now in the middle of applying the decals.The Microscale decal sheet contains a lot of stencils.Unfortunately you cant read most of them and they are not numbered.So in most cases its impossible to tell which ones go where.So im resorting to using the original Monogram decals.The red wing walkway lines predictably broke up so i may paint them on or not bother.Havent decided yet.

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