P-61 completed…….after 20+ years!!
While helping take care of my Dad these last six months I've spent a lot of time at my parents house. I managed to find my Black Widow that I started somewhere between middle school and high school in the late 80's early 90's. I painted it with fla white, masked the stripes and painted the flat black out of a fizz can. Add a liberal coat of glosscoat and orange peel abounds! So I shelved it for 20 some odd years. Rediscovered it a couple of months ago, cleaned it up found the box with most of the remaining parts (still missing the gun bay cover.) The main gear wheels came from my first P-61 from my elementary school days, still in my parts box!
I put the flaps up and decaled it right over the orange peeled paint and dull coated it to mask the bad paint. (Should've at least went with a semi-gloss!) I finished it just to have something to do, had I known it would turn out half as good as it did, I would've cleaned up a few more seams and touched up the paint! (The seam around the nose is where I cut the A nose off and put the B nose on. I'll probably clean that up and give it a coat of semi-gloss and some exhaust staining!) The drop tanks were finished during completion and I just brush painted 'em with MM acryl. I was my first time using it and you cant tell I didn't spray them, it levels out really nice!
I did buy a new P-61 with the intention of doing an F-15 Reporter, but since the LSM conversion isn't currently available, I just started another P-61! This time it'll be OD and grey. (I'm tempted to do a bare aluminum one to reflect MAAM's black widow project). I'll post a few pics together when I get the new one done to provide a then and now comparison of how building and finishing techniques grow and get better over time!
P.S. I was totally thrilled at GWH's new Black Widow release. For almost $100 it better be darn near perfect, but it's not. Normally I don't gripe about shape and scale differences, but in this case I think since Monogram's $25 kit builds into such a fine model , I'll take one, and build an A-26, B-26 and B-25 to boot for my $100!
fine looking model josh
Congrats on completion 🙂 . Nice Black Widow Josh.
Nice build Josh, a blast from the past you could say.
Well done Josh.
Better late than never. Good job.
Thanks guys! I gotta say it builds up into a real nice model OOB! (I think all of Monogram's twin engine kits from the late seventies are awesome!)
Great job, Josh! And don't feel bad, it took me eleven years to finish my Monogram A-26...
I finally picked up an A-26 kit this year and am currently about ready for paint. It's a very nice kit (great cockpit) and I would like to find the version with a glass nose to go with it. Do you have any pictures of yours on here?
As a matter of fact... 🙂
Josh,
Congrats on redoing this model and bringing it back into the fold.
Josh, here's another vote for Monogram, and "Amen"! You are totally in line with my feelings about kit prices nowadays, compared to what Monogram did years ago, and they are still good!. Thanks for a great job, and many years span, on a classic Monogram kit. That airplane is a favorite of mine from when I was a small kid in San Gabriel, CA, during WW2, and saw them fly over. Many thanks!
Hopefully it won't be too much longer and you will get to see one fly again. The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum is getting very close! (There's is taking about 20 years as well, but it's real!) I just hope they fly it for a while in natural metal because it looks so good all polished up! Check out their web site, they have a photo chronicle of the recovery and restoration!
Nice story, Josh, with a very happy ending.