Shake And Bake Pacific Jug

Started by Carl Smoot · 168 · 1 week ago
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    Carl Smoot said 1 month ago:

    Thanks Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb).

    I had a bit of time this morning before my wife woke and before walking the dog so I spent it trying out sanding the bottom side of the Thunderbolt. I started off with Tamiya 3000 sanding sponge which I have always liked for it's consistent sanding finish. However, I quickly found out that sanding Aluminum foil wears out the grit on the sanding sponge quite rapidly, even when wet sanding. It still works, but progressively takes more effort. I also noticed that sanding in one direction on the foil would leave a slightly shiny effect while sanding at 90 degrees to that direction left a flat finish.

    Now, one of the challenges I currently have, and where this rapid wearing out of the sponge comes into play, is that I am almost out of the 3000 grit sponge. That is a fairly pricey product and I am have been searching for alternatives. I recently purchased a bunch of 3000 grit sanding sponges from a different company. At first glance, you would think they should be the same as the Tamiya sponges, but they are a bit more coarse. Not a lot, but noticeable.

    I tried these on a different area of the underside and interestingly enough, this new sponge had difficulty giving a consistently smooth finish on the foil, regardless of how many times I sanded the same area. So I went back over it with the Tamiya sponge and it came out looking more like the wings (which I did only with the Tamiya sponge).

    SO I can extend my Tamiya sponge material by first starting with this new sponge material, but I am still somewhat leery of using this on more visible areas. I also tried 2000 grit wet or dry sand paper which did get a more consistent sanding , but it still needed the Tamiya 3000 grit sponge to look the same as the wings.

    I also first tried sanding the foils in different directions on different panels, but this was difficult to do and get all the way to the panel lines without accidentally touching other panels. So I am instead going to get a consistent sanded finish on the entire model, then use the oil filter washes and clear coat finishes I learned from testing to give the panel variety.

    One other thing I learned in testing, which I forgot to mention, is that anything less than very low tack on any masking materials is at risk of pulling the foil off the model. This happened a couple of times on the test mules. So I will have to be especially careful with any masking I do.

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    Carl Smoot said 1 month ago:

    Sanded and ready for the next phases. I think I will be doing some painting. Of course, the cowling still needs to be foiled and sanded.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 month ago:

    A pity you were not able to find an alternative for the Tamiya sponge yet, Carl @clipper
    Looks pretty nice currently.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 month ago:

    After adding all of the foil, it must be scary to sand the finish of the foil, Carl (@clipper). It looks really nice after it is sanded. Did you get a chance to go to the IPMS show this past weekend? I found some really cool models to add to my already full stash.

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    Carl Smoot said 1 month ago:

    Thanks John (@johnb), and George (@gblair).

    Thankfully, I did some test sanding on the mule first and it gave me the confidence to sand the Thunderbolt. I found that after a while I could get a fairly consistent sanded finish even with my newer (Non Tamiya) sanding sponge, although I still went over it afterwards with the Tamiya sponges I have. I've ordered some more for the future since I use these fairly regularly anyway. I wish they sold those in bulk at a lower price. Pretty pricey at around 8 to 9 dollars each sponge.

    I didn't go to the contest this weekend George. I probably should have gone, but I kind of have a love hate relationship with contests. I don't like to compete because I think it sucks the fun out of building and leads to personality conflicts at times. I do appreciate being able to see what others are doing and gain inspiration from that. It's also nice to socialize as long as the discussions are non competition related.

    I always like looking for additions to the stash, but I am trying real hard to not buy anything else for awhile. My stash isn't huge, only around 100 kits (some would say that is huge). The only kits I am looking to buy anytime in the near future are the upcoming 1/48 Eduard P-40 range of kits and possibly surprise releases (not Kinetic or Kitty Hawk) of aircraft I just have to have (Banshee, Cougar, and Starfire to name a few).

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 month ago:

    Hi Carl (@clipper): I agree completely. I quit building stuff for contests 15 or 20 years ago, mainly because it sucked the fun out of the build. I enjoy things a lot more now. Now we hit the doors when they first open, go through the vendors, take a quick sweep through the contest models (usually not many there yet), and then we go home before the crowd hits. I also really don't need any new/old models, but it was hard this year. There were 2 or 3 guys who just wanted to find good homes for their models. I got several models from one guy who had all the extra goodies in the box with the kits for ridiculously low prices. I got a 1/48 Hasegawa TF-104G with PE, masks, and resin seats for less than $20. Also got a 1/48 Monogram C-47 for less than $20. When we got done, we went to Hutto and had lunch at one of the downtown restaurants, then home by 12. I don't know if I will go to the San Antonio show in January. It is in New Braunfels and I hate the parking situation there. Cheers.

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    Tom Cleaver said 1 month ago:

    @clipper - the KH Cougar is not that bad. I've done two from the new release. It is PITA, but nothing a guy with your experience and talent couldn't think of as a "normal" kit.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 month ago:

    Excellent job so far, my friend @clipper! I am sure you will sort some solution for tgetting the results you got with the Tamiya sponge, but with different materials and/or methods.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 month ago:

    My friend @gblair, I too am not contest minded at all, however I "have" to participate in contests, in order to represent my small local club. A good thing is that my very young sons also "particcipate" in the junior category with models that we sort of build together and they always get a sort of diploma for which they are proud.

    I too have amassed a large number of models, constantly telling myself not to buy more, but, quite often, I am in front of an offer I can't refuse...

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 month ago:

    No contest participation for me either, Carl @clipper, George @gblair. As you said, it takes away the fun in modelling and secondly my models are far off from what is being displayed in contests. When there is an event nearby I definitely go there and enjoy how realistic models can be built, for sure it gives inspiration. Adding some more kits to my small stash, approximately 20, so I would call 100 huge indeed, is another nice thing about visiting those events.

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    Carl Smoot said 1 month ago:

    Thanks George (@gblair), Tom (@tcinla), Spiros (@fiveten), and John (@johnb) for following along and participating in the discussion. Always nice to get a conversation going with other modelers.

    Tom, I think I have shied away from both the Banshee and Cougar Kitty Hawk kits because of shape issues and my experience with other Chinese kits that have similar issues. However, I will look at them again and decide. Certainly, they cannot be any harder to deal with tan other kits I have built. The Hobby Boss 1/48 P-38J kit I built has numerous shape issues and I managed to correct them well enough to satisfy myself (including those atrocious engine cowlings).

    John, I know how you feel about 100 kits being a large stash, and certainly, it can be somewhat ridiculous. My only defense is two parts. I'm weak when it comes to airplane models. 🙂 And too often in the past when I wanted to build something, I couldn't find the kit I felt was the best choice for it at a price I was willing to pay, so I try to hedge my bets a bit by making sure that, I will always have my most desirable subjects available. And as I mentioned earlier, I have definitely put a big slow down on acquiring more. For awhile a couple of years ago, it was a new kit or two every month, but now, maybe 1 kit every six months or more, and only if it's something I really, really want. I'm trying hard now to avoid the impulse buys of subjects that look cool, but don't necessarily fit in my wheelhouse.

    And finally, I got the Tamiya sponge situation figured out. So another problem bites the dust. I should have some updates later on the T-Bolt.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 month ago:

    I won't even mention how many kits I have in the stash, but there are a lot more than a 100. My only defense is that when I was flying C-141s, I would usually crew rest in Japan 3 or 4 times a month. This was back in the 1980s, and you could get Hasegawa and Tamiya 1/48 kits for just a few dollars. They were selling for $25 or $30 back in the US. I would always pick up 4 or 5 each month. These same kits are now re-released for $60 or $70 dollars. I don't get many new kits now and usually just go raid the stash.

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    Carl Smoot said 4 weeks, 1 day ago:

    I remember those good ole days in Japan back in the mid 70's when I was stationed there. You could buy some really nice stereo equipment for very little money. Most of the guys in our barracks had these massive systems, turntables, cassette decks, reel to reels, and big speakers. I wasn't modeling at that time so I didn't take advantage of any model kits.

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    Carl Smoot said 3 weeks, 5 days ago:

    I've been getting small items done on the P-47 and also preparing for painting. I wanted to get the landing gear, drop tanks, engine, and other small parts mostly done so that once the model is painted, I can get it across the finish line fairly quickly.

    From a foiling perspective, I had to do the cowling and the landing gear doors. These were foiled and then sanded like the other foiled areas. When I get to weathering, I will finish the work on the foiled areas.

    I've replaced the kit wheels with Ultracast wheels which are considerably nicer. They even include the air valve stem! I think I mentioned already that I decided to go with the kit engine instead of the Engines & Things aftermarket engine. It received a coat of Mr Color Super Stainless followed by detail colors for the rocker arm caps, rocker arm tubes, center hub, and spark plug wires. Then a wash to bring out the details of the cylinders and elsewhere. The wheels were painted aluminum and rubber black followed by a wash and a light application of dust pigment. The gear struts were aluminum and black details.

    I also got the drop tanks assembled and partially painted with Alclad Airframe Aluminum. I am going to go over it again because I didn't realize earlier that the pylons were separate parts.

    The tail and the wing stripes were masked off and given a white primer coat. This will be followed up with Tamiya Flat Yellow which looked the best in my test samples.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 weeks, 5 days ago:

    Excellent job so far, my friend @clipper!