Miguelito's plane old Blitz attempt - FINISHED -

[Arcwelder]

I love those burly wee fighters like the F4 and the Hellcat. They look like they mean business. as does the build! Good skills.

[mjatx]

After a mid-morning snack of soda and Fig Newtons, I was ready for to spray some white.


Here's the Wildcat with it's white coat. I may have gotten a little too much onto the grey, but that's the dangers of the Blitsbau...no going back. At this point, it was rest precariously on it's landing gear.






I have a new complaint about this kit. The landing gear assembly. There's nothing like trying to force a thing piece of plastic into a tiny wheel well while trying not to over-handle a freshly painted model. If you build this model, make sure to do some test fitting/practice of installing the landing gear through the tiny opening. Hopefully, the kids weren't within earshot, or they may have added a few new words to their vocabulary.


In the end, I got them in and attached without any major damage. Now it's ready for a gloss coat. I'll finish the propeller and then it should be ready for decals. With about 9 hours to go, and only a few household chores/errands to take care of, the finish line is in sight.

[mjatx]

Aaaaaah bacon. Your colors look good to me.

Thanks! Now that the second color is on, it looks better.

Coming on well.
mmmmmm...............bacon buttie

Thanks, Fred. It's funny how the bacon disappears as quickly as I get it on the table.

I love those burly wee fighters like the F4 and the Hellcat. They look like they mean business. as does the build! Good skills.

Have to agree. The Wildcat was known for it's ruggedness and with 4 50 cals in the wings, it packed a powerful punch.

The F4F-4 added two additional 50s to the wings, but kept the same ammo load, which the pilots didn't like too much. Wikipedia has an interesting quote about this:

The increase to six guns was attributed to the Royal Navy, who wanted greater firepower to deal with German and Italian foes. Jimmy Thach is quoted as saying, "A pilot who cannot hit with four guns will miss with eight."

[mjatx]

Gloss coat applied. Just waiting for it to dry.

[mjatx]

The decals are on, and the Micro Sol is doing it's job and drying. Just need to put the antenna, pitot, and propeller on, then spray another coat of clear, then some minor weathering and this one is done.

[jssel]

Home stretch, sir. Going very well from this point of view.

[mjatx]

Thanks, Jeff.

Here it is just before a shot of clear to seal things up.




Then I realized, that I forgot to paint the tail wheel. I knew I'd forget it. Every time I saw it, I thought, I'll paint it later...well, later is now.

Not much left. All the parts are on, the final coat of clear is on, and it's just a matter of finishing it up.

[jssel]

Bravo. A nice completion.

[nashorn]

Well done, a really good job.

Rich.

[mjatx]

After Madonna spent a week at the top of the charts, another song from another movie took the top spot. This time, it was Los Lobos rendition of the Richie Valens classic, "La Bamba" from the movie "La Bamba" staring Lou Diamond Phillips as Richie Valens. This song finished August 1987 as the #1 song according to Billboard's Top 100.


La Bamba was Richie Valens biggest hit and was released in 1958. It was actually a rock n' roll version of an old Spanish song that, even today, is a very common mariachi song, which you hear at the end of the Los Lobos version. It never made it to number 1 for Richie Valens. Although, Richie Valens was a Mexican American, he never learned Spanish growing up and learned to sing this song phonetically. Tragically, he died in the same plane crash as Buddy Holly and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson. When this song reached #1 in 1987 Richie Valens became the third person that died in that plane crash to have written a #1 song.

At 3:04:05pm CST, the Blitz was completed.


This turned out to be a great kit for a Blitz. Not a high part count, good fit, and an easy scheme. Not to mention, it's an inexpensive kit. Of course, there is no cockpit and the wheel fit could go south very easily, but that's what makes it a great Blitz kit. I'll probably pick up another and do a Martlet scheme.

[Arcwelder]

My dad is an enormous Buddy Holly fan (as am I) and I got brought up knowing about "The day the music died".. I was 11 years old when this came out and I loved every bit of it, especially the guitaron at the end..

Oh, yeah, the model is fantactic, too!

[Old_Tonto]

Really great blitz mate. Sorry I missed it.

Love that paint scheme.