Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

Darn it... changing my plans re the Airfix Fw-190... i can't find the clear parts sprue anywhere!!! My guess is that i lost it a long time ago cause i can't remember where i put it... maybe it's inside some other box but i don't have the habit of storing parts in other kits' boxes...
Already sent an email to Airfix costumer support to see if i can get just that sprue from them...
That means that i have one less model to work on till i get an answer from Airfix, so i'll work on the other 3 i've got on the bench at the moment...
Today i've already removed the Italeri's Bf-109 canopy, without further damage, cleaned it up the best i could and painted the seat, which i'd left unpainted when i built the kit back in 2014.
Now it's time to mask the canopy and paint it, scratching up a WWII pilot(or just a similar shape ) to put inside the cockpit cause this was built "in-flight", as were all of the 18 models built back then.
The YF-23 and the F-35 will be getting some attention later in the afternoon...

[TheChronicOne]

Although that particular 'Baby Raptor' hit a few branches on the way down out of the Ugly Tree...
But not as many as Boing's X-32...


Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?
Ooh, looky - someone's lit the pilot light...   

"Puttin' out Fires with Gasoline...."

Yeah that things looks like some sort of angular beached whale. It's funny... if you type in "Boeing x 32" into google, other than the lone phrase itself, the very first search prediction suggestion is "Boeing X 32 ugly".   

[TheChronicOne]

Well, i guess i'm in over my head but what the heck, i've had 20 unfinished models before so 4 is not a big deal... And they've been on my mind for quite a while now, might as well just get on with it, right?

20??!  Good Lord!    And yeah... best time to strike is when you're motivated!! That's how I look at it. I'm like that... I'm not always motivated to work on the defunct projects but when I DO get the mojo for them I try not to ever waste it, even if I have an exciting "current" project to work on.

The F-35... i really like it despite all the controversy....

I thoroughly enjoy watching all the internet pissing contests over this airplane. Some people get downright HEATED over it all!     (PILOT LIGHT?! )   I've never really formed an opinion either way, myself. I like it more now than when I used to...   like I mentioned earlier.. when I first saw one I thought it was just a baby raptor so... like... I didnt care much for that idea. I figured it was like a hamstrung Raptor that was being made because it would be cheaper. Of course, now I know a lot more about it and I know it's a different system so it's grown on me over the years but it still resides in that grey area of "take it or leave it." I don't hate it, I don't love it.... I'm not bothered by it but I wouldn't put it my top 10 of fighters, etc etc..  pretty neutral on the thing. Normally after years of witnessing an internet pissing match I generally take sides one way or the other but I've Switzerlanded this bad boy. 

[DogfighterZen]

  20??!  Good Lord!    And yeah... best time to strike is when you're motivated!! That's how I look at it. I'm like that... I'm not always motivated to work on the defunct projects but when I DO get the mojo for them I try not to ever waste it, even if I have an exciting "current" project to work on.

That's what i'm trying to do, mostly because i don't like leaving something unfinished, same with my songs, even if they're 10+ years old... Of those 20, the Bf-109 and the Fw-190 were built when i had no idea of what i really wanted to do with my modelling so they were built in a rush, just to have the shapes of the planes i like but as time went by and i learned a bit more, left them aside cause they are badly built and i wanted to move on to new models on which i could do a better job. There's still 3 of them that i've been reconsidering, the Airfix Zero and 2 ZTS Plastyk Migs, the 17 and 19.
They'll never be nice models but i wanna finish them anyway, just to get them off the Shelves of Doom... 

I thoroughly enjoy watching all the internet pissing contests over this airplane. Some people get downright HEATED over it all!     (PILOT LIGHT?! )   I've never really formed an opinion either way, myself. I like it more now than when I used to...   like I mentioned earlier.. when I first saw one I thought it was just a baby raptor so... like... I didnt care much for that idea. I figured it was like a hamstrung Raptor that was being made because it would be cheaper. Of course, now I know a lot more about it and I know it's a different system so it's grown on me over the years but it still resides in that grey area of "take it or leave it." I don't hate it, I don't love it.... I'm not bothered by it but I wouldn't put it my top 10 of fighters, etc etc..  pretty neutral on the thing. Normally after years of witnessing an internet pissing match I generally take sides one way or the other but I've Switzerlanded this bad boy. 

Switzerlanded... Excellent!!
It's a source of hate for a lot of people and the internet arguments can get so ridiculous and hilarious... i can understand that the price the people are paying is very high indeed, and by that, it generates so much controversy when there's a problem found on it... but just look back at the US aircraft development history and you can find a lot of similarities with many of the fighters that when they became tested and proven in combat, became the public/enthusiasts' favorite thing.
Re the looks of the thing, it could be prettier but i like it anyway, but as i've said before, the C variant is my favorite because of it's bigger wings, i think they make it a more balanced design, the A/B wing is a bit small for my taste. At first, i also looked at it as a baby raptor and as i've always liked the raptor's design, i liked it from the beginning, specially when comparing it to the "angular beached whale"...  But to each, it's own...

So, i got the canopy of the Bf-109 masked and painted, scratched and painted up something barely resembling a pilot figure to put inside the cockpit, i couldn't have an in-flight bird with no pilot at the commands...



And to give you a better idea of how the whole thing is now...



I sprayed it freehand last year, while practicing my airbrush skills, and also, because i didn't wanna waste thinned paint from other projects... I started looking at it again a couple of months ago and thought of how i could fit it in my alternative history for the PoAF. As it looks like the camo that Portuguese Spits and Canes had, i'm going to finish it as one of 3 Bf-109 F-4 delivered by the Luftwaffe for evaluation by the Aeronáutica Militar, the predecessor of the PoAF, at the end of 1941... Portugal had a few German aircraft in reality, this could've easily happened too... Although this is just a minor detour of the scenarios i've had in mind for a long time...

I've had a few different scenarios in mind, inside my Portuguese armed forces' alternative history, on which, one will see the Portuguese joining the Axis because of the Allied invasion of the Azores archipelago in the summer of 1942. This would've happened because of good business relations that the Portuguese dictator Salazar had with Hitler, and from ignoring Churchill's call for help, breaking the Windsor treaty. That's where the Airfix Bf-109 E-4 and Hobbyboss Fw-190 that are still in the stash, will come into scene...

The other scenario will have the Portuguese involved in the war just after the fall of France in 1940, where Salazar will respond to Churchill's call for help, and Portugal would join the Allies from then on. That will include a couple of slight whifs, where Portuguese pilots would fight in the Battle of Britain, flying the Spitfire and Hurricane, which in reality, the Portuguese received in 1942/43.
This scenario will also include other planes like the Typhoon, Defiant, Tempest, etc., and also, American planes, of which, i've already built the Mustang and Thunderbolt, which are D variants.

Well, after the canopy is glued on, it's just minor detail painting and the 109 will be ready for a gloss coat, then decals so it's not that far from being finished, which should happen during the next few days.

[TheChronicOne]

Lil Homie looks good to me!

I agree the bigger wings on the C Lightning II really helped matters. More elegant and less uhh..... chubby and compact looking? 

I like the sound of the Portuguese joining up with Hitler. I kind of like to see the world burn . . .  in my mind I've always considered y'all to be the good guys and stuff so it's more interesting that way. So that gets my vote. 

So just how long have you been building?? I get the impression you got started recently like within the last few years or, like myself, got started again in adulthood after stopping for awhile? It was one year ago just a couple weeks or so back since I got started again after stopping for 20 years. Basically zero skill after that long. lol  Not to mention when I quit I was 15 so wasn't skilled anyway.

[zenrat]

...Re the looks of the thing, it could be prettier but i like it anyway...

They are all designed by computers these days.  There is no human sat at a drawing board with a pencil and a french curve putting their own design flair* into the overall shape of the aircraft.

*or not, in the case of Blackburn.

[DogfighterZen]

Lil Homie looks good to me!

I agree the bigger wings on the C Lightning II really helped matters. More elegant and less uhh..... chubby and compact looking? 

I like the sound of the Portuguese joining up with Hitler. I kind of like to see the world burn . . .  in my mind I've always considered y'all to be the good guys and stuff so it's more interesting that way. So that gets my vote. 

So just how long have you been building?? I get the impression you got started recently like within the last few years or, like myself, got started again in adulthood after stopping for awhile? It was one year ago just a couple weeks or so back since I got started again after stopping for 20 years. Basically zero skill after that long. lol  Not to mention when I quit I was 15 so wasn't skilled anyway.

Thanks, it's ok for a pilot with no arms...
Re the F-35C, i'm almost 100% with our fellow Kit on this issue, bigger wings can make almost any aircraft look better.

They are all designed by computers these days.  There is no human sat at a drawing board with a pencil and a french curve putting their own design flair* into the overall shape of the aircraft.

*or not, in the case of Blackburn.

Yup, totally right... but i do like the Firebrand and can even call the Buccaneer interesting...

The Portuguese in the Axis idea came from the fact that Salazar was also a fascist dictator so, not very far from Hitler, although he didn't like Hitler because of his anti-Semitic ideals. You can say that most Portuguese are good folks but don't forget who started the slave business back in the maritime discoveries epoch... i've always thought of that as my people's darkest days, not proud of that at all.
I built(more like, destroyed) about 4 or 5 models(not really sure) between my 8 years of age till i was around 12 or 13 so, no skill at all... I didn't even paint anything... canoeing, bmx and drawing took over from then on, then i got back into modelling in the end of 2013, when i was recovering from the first 2 surgeries on my broken wrist.
After watching "Top Gun" for the 1000th time, i started missing aircraft in my life again so, the next day i went out to my local LHS and bought a Revell 1/72 F-14D Tomcat and that was it, hooked ever since.
Just a couple of days later, i went back to the store and bought another 3 models, the 1/72 F4U-4 Corsair, the Bf-109 and a Spitfire Mk.IXC, all from Italeri... And now, the 109 made it's comeback!!
Somehow this poorly built and painted 109 is getting all my attention now, and after dinner i've managed to paint the exhausts, guns, pitot and wheels so, i'm calling ready for a gloss coat. Although i'm going to finish it, i'm not wasting much time trying to make it the best i can, it's just to get it out of the way to keep on going but still, i think it'll end up looking cool with Luftwaffe inspired Portuguese markings so, more on this tomorrow.

[PR19_Kit]

Re the F-35C, i'm almost 100% with our fellow Kit on this issue, bigger wings can make almost any aircraft look better.

Now you're starting to think the right way. 

Yup, totally right... but i do like the Firebrand and can even call the Buccaneer interesting...

I notice the lack of the Beverley in that short list........... 

[DogfighterZen]

Now you're starting to think the right way. 

...I notice the lack of the Beverley in that short list........... 

Thanks to your words, oh Large Wingspan Master! 
Well, re the Beverley, i had to be enlightened by Google of what was the Beverley... and wow... what a flying whale!
I'd never looked into Blackburn aircraft very much but the Firebrand sure looks good, too bad is wasn't a very good performer.

So, as i worked on Saturday morning, today i took the afternoon off and i'm down in the cave, ready for some modelling!

[PR19_Kit]

Well, re the Beverley, i had to be enlightened by Google of what was the Beverley... and wow... what a flying whale!

Yes indeed, the Beverley has been likened to a 'block of flats with wings' in the past. 

[DogfighterZen]

And rightly so!
Ok, decal night ahead of me, the 109 has been glossed and it's dry, so ready to become part of the  Aeronáutica Militar Portuguesa.

[DogfighterZen]

And it's almost done, just the data stencils to go...



While i was going through several documentaries about the 109, i found out i was making the mistake of calling it an F-4 when it's really the F-2... i've always liked to see guns sticking out of the wings on most WWII aircraft so i assembled this kit with all of the guns available but on the 109, the guns on the wings were discontinued on the F-4 variant so, this is in reality an F-2... just comes to show how little i know about WWII planes...

[DogfighterZen]

Well, just received a response from Airfix saying that the clear parts sprue for their 1/72 Fw 190 are not available at the moment so no help from them... Guess that model will be used for something else like parts donation or something... unless i find that damn sprue in the near future!
No modelling today as i just got home and gotta hurry to go have dinner with my parents, and after that, rehearsal with the band, got a good gig coming up so gotta get my vocal cords back in shape for a 50/60 minute concert.
Tomorrow i'm taking the day off work because a friend needs some help and i've still got a few vacation days from 2016 to enjoy so, as real life matters will be dealt with during the morning, i've got the afternoon all for myself...  will try to finish the 109, get something done on the YF-23 and also try to make a start on the Italeri F-35... if nothing changes my plans, that is...

[NARSES2]

Re the 190 canopy. The 1/72 Eduard kit I have has 3 different options for the sliding part of the canopy but only 1 windscreen 

If one of those will help you though let me know

Chris

[DogfighterZen]

Re the 190 canopy. The 1/72 Eduard kit I have has 3 different options for the sliding part of the canopy but only 1 windscreen 

If one of those will help you though let me know

Chris

Thank you, Chris but i'd need both the windscreen and sliding part... I think it was during that kit's build that i realized i should stop all the builds and actually start improving my skills a bit cause i wanted to get better results so, i stopped it before i attached the clear parts, engine and prop.
But guess i can try something to fit some other

Well, only got to sit at the bench right now, after a very hot day... gonna finish the decals on the 109.