SPA Modeler

It's not great but I thought I would share my Matchbox 1/72 Grumman F9F-5 Panther with you - just to show I do actually finish things.

It's not a bad kit as old kits go - I added a resin nose, exhust and wheels to jazz it up a bit. The finish is Humbrol Gloos Sea Blue (18) with Humbrol Matt coat brushed on. The decals are from the kit - old but usable.

The build has many flaws - I can se them all, but any comments welcome. I think I've learned a few things on this build. I spent a lot of time and filler on the seams and on getting a good coverage with the Rattle can finsh (which I then Ruined with the brushed varnish ). I also got a bit more experience with Resin and how to fit it using a grinding tool - so not a total waste of time. I'm hoping my next Panther (a Hasegawa 1/72 kit) will look a lot better than this one.







And with the other two USN builds I've completed this year - Happy 240th Birthday USN!!





note; I've no idea why my pic's keep displaying as Thumbnails - they don't on the other forums I post on - but feel free to click on them for a larger image!

Cheers

Stuart

Congratulation on the build, Portman. So, what's the story on the resin nose... what happen to the kit's nose...

Well done Portman. I didn't see any flaws myself; in fact, I think you did outstanding in fusing that resin nose to the rest of the model. I can't see anything that would show where they were joined.

Thank Gents,

The nose - ah the kit one was ok, but how the guns were fitted was awful - so I went for a resin one that had better detail - which I ruined by accident, when I slipped with sanding stick removing two of the barrels

It took a fair bit of blending in - six rounds of filling and sanding.

The Panther look just great Stuart!

& a nice USN collection, all belonging to your favorite ones I guess ?

I am not sure if I have seen, since the WIP earlier this year, any final completed pictures of the Wildcat ? Love the finish of it, perhaps some more close-ups, if I may ask...


- Kari

Duke Maddog wrote:I didn't see any flaws myself.

Lol - My poor photography hides a lot

KSaarni wrote:The Panther look just great Stuart!

& a nice USN collection, all belonging to your favorite ones I guess ?

I am not sure if I have seen, since the WIP earlier this year, any final completed pictures of the Wildcat ? Love the finish of it, perhaps some more close-ups, if I may ask...


- Kari

Thanks Kari!

Have I not? Ok I'll give it a go - as it's you I'll dig my DSLR out of my camera bag and try for some better pics! I should be doing that anyway, I only use the phonecam because I'm lazy!

I mainly build RAF/FAA stuff - that's my 'favourite', but the USN has operated some cool aircraft so I started building a few for a bit of a change.

Cheers

Stuart

l

Test shot (can someone explain why this is a thumbnail? - used the img link in photobucket?)



Here you can see the issue I had with the matt coat.

Taken with a Cannon 350D & 50mm f/1.8. Um hand held at ISO 1500, f/16, custom WB - not brilliant but can't seem to find the tripod at the moment, and have found my flash is u/s...

nice lineup !
I think the panther looks great , nice work !
gino

So the folding mechanism was included in the kit option i guess?