Dazzled's Texan **FINISHED**

Aircraft that flew between 1 Jan 1950 and 31 Dec 1959, military or civilian, in markings of that period - any kit/scale otherwise. Helicopters allowed as "aircraft".
GB runs 25 Feb through 2 Apr and your host is Chuck Finley.
User avatar
Dazzled
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9592
Joined: October 1st, 2011, 11:08 pm
Location: Mid Glamorgan, South Wales
Contact:

Dazzled's Texan **FINISHED**

Post by Dazzled »

No, not the chocolate bar but this.

Image


Italeri's 1/48th T-6G. The kit has benn produced in a few guises and this one offers a selection of aircraft in post-war schemes. I want to build an aircraft used by the French during the Algerian war of independence and the kit gives me two options. The box top version is of "Air Pluto" which, although presented as a machine used in 1961, was in service in the region from 1956 with a NMF finish. The other version, and likely the one I'll build is a colourful yellow machine with blue panels each side of the nose representing a machine from 1957. My researches showed that, again, this machine was around from 1956 onwards.

As they were employed in the counter-insurgency role both versions are armed with underwing gun and rocket pods which will make them a little more interesting than the more common trainer versions.

I hope to make a start tomorrow and I'll get some more pictures up soon.
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
User avatar
Chuck Finley
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 2194
Joined: December 20th, 2012, 1:02 am
Location: A Middle School in Gwinnett County, Georgia

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Chuck Finley »

Good choice
On second thoughts, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place!
User avatar
Dazzled
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9592
Joined: October 1st, 2011, 11:08 pm
Location: Mid Glamorgan, South Wales
Contact:

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Dazzled »

Now the Canberra is finally completed it's time for some gratuitous sprue shots ;-)

Just a couple of main sprues with quite nice looking detail.

Image

The clear sprue with that greenhouse of a canopy that's sure to be a joy to mask :roll: and a very nice decal sheet with 6 options.

Image

Big gatefold instruction sheet has just seven built stages.

Image

And lots of marking options.

Image

Image

More colourful versions are on the box side. I'm likely to opt for the first one, a French machine based at La Reghaia, Algeria in 1957.

Image

Image
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
User avatar
Dazzled
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9592
Joined: October 1st, 2011, 11:08 pm
Location: Mid Glamorgan, South Wales
Contact:

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Dazzled »

Long overdue time for an update I believe :)

Other things going on, including a last minute flurry to get ready for the Hinckley show, didn't help matters but I have been making progress. The last couple of days have been better and I have managed a few hours in the Den.

Previous to that I'd done a little parts prep and filled in the inevitable sink marks. It is an Italeri kit after all ;-)

Image


And when I managed to start in earnest, I really got stuck in.

Some preliminary assembly and painting to start with.

Image

The engine is a simple assembly but has some very nice detail. My only complaint is that the exhaust is a solid stub of plastic . Of course I had to open it out.


Pre-painting was followed by picking out a few details, some highlighting and weathering. The real aircraft was, after all, operating in a pretty harsh environment and in quite primitive conditions.

Image

Image


I even managed to get the fuselage buttoned up although this wasn't exactly a piece of cake.

Image


It just didn't want to go together without a bit of fettling and the seams are certainly going to need a little work. Hardly a "filler-free" build I'd say but it's come to this stage in a fairly short period of time. I'm also preparing some lead foil seatbelts to add a bit more life to the cockpit and the engine has been improved with a dry brush and a dark wash.

I'll post some more pics in my next update. Not tonight though as I'm looking after my 12 week old grandson :grin:
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
planecrazyman61
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 1085
Joined: November 15th, 2014, 12:43 am

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by planecrazyman61 »

cockpit looks nice ,good progress being made with the texan got a 1/72 one to do so some more close up's of cockpit detail would be be nice :grin:
cheers craig
User avatar
Old_Tonto
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 8049
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 7:41 pm
Location: Middlesbrough, Peoples Republic of Teesside.

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Old_Tonto »

Great looking pit Daz. It looks like a nice kit.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
User avatar
Dazzled
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9592
Joined: October 1st, 2011, 11:08 pm
Location: Mid Glamorgan, South Wales
Contact:

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Dazzled »

It's not a bad kit at all OT and there's some more progress.

The fuselage is together and the process of filling and sanding seams is well under way. Plus the wings are on.

Image


These were followed by the tailplanes which took a bit of fettling to get to sit straight.

Image


And the engine is now ready to fit.

Image


This is just the standard kit item with some dry-brushing and weathering plus the exhaust opened out.
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
shangos70
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4418
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 11:14 am
Location: Doncaster, Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire.

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by shangos70 »

Great work Darryl, I have an old Heller/ Revell one to do in West German markings.
User avatar
Chuck Finley
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 2194
Joined: December 20th, 2012, 1:02 am
Location: A Middle School in Gwinnett County, Georgia

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Chuck Finley »

Dazzled wrote:It's not a bad kit at all OT and there's some more progress.

The fuselage is together and the process of filling and sanding seams is well under way. Plus the wings are on.

Image


These were followed by the tailplanes which took a bit of fettling to get to sit straight.

Image


And the engine is now ready to fit.

Image


This is just the standard kit item with some dry-brushing and weathering plus the exhaust opened out.
Looks like a great build. Keep it up!
On second thoughts, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place!
User avatar
Dazzled
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9592
Joined: October 1st, 2011, 11:08 pm
Location: Mid Glamorgan, South Wales
Contact:

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Dazzled »

Going to be a bit pushed to get this finished. Being in Belgium at the moment doesn't help.
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
User avatar
Dazzled
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9592
Joined: October 1st, 2011, 11:08 pm
Location: Mid Glamorgan, South Wales
Contact:

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by Dazzled »

Thank goodness for extensions. I bet there were some people who thought that this would be a DNF....me, for instance ;-)

I have been plugging away at the Texan since returning from my trip to Belgium although I have been a bit remiss about updates. Truth be told I've had very little time and I wanted to prioritise the model so apologies for not updating as much as I should but it was entirely circumstantial.

So, here's how it went:

At the last update I had the wings on. After that it was on with the canopy, using Clearfix, and a masking session with Tamiya tape. The canopy needs a bit of fiddling and fettling to line everything up but it gets there in the end.


Image


Then a dose of silver from a rattle can. This was in case I got a bit over-enthusiastic with the weathering. It turned out to be unnecessary but could have been passed off as chipping.

Image


A coat of Tamiya XF-73 (Cockpit Green) gives a good approximation of actual aircraft primer and provides a good base for top coats.

Image

This was followed by some pre-shading. I had a bit of trouble with paint spatter at low pressures but the recent acquisition of a different nozzle guard has improved matters.

Image


The next step was to dust over the model with Tamiya XF-4 (Flat Yellow) until I was happy with the level of opacity. These aircraft had quite a tough life in the Algerian desert so I wanted to go for a well-used look. Also Tamiya Flat Blue was applied to the cowling.

Image


Then it was anti-dazzle on the forward decking using XF-69 (NATO Black) and attachment of the rather nice engine. Also getting in on the act are the flaps, spinner and rudder which had a coat of good old Halfords appliance white.

Image


Then it was on with the cowling.

Image


And, unfortunately, that's where I stopped taking progress pictures. I mislaid my camera :oops:

So, from the last picture; The next stage was a coat of new Klear applied with a wide flat brush followed by decaling. The kit decals are, for the most part, very good with excellent colour density and perfectly in register. The light damage to the roundels was entirely self-inflicted and was part of the weathering process. Unfortunately the big rudder decals weren't up to the job and couldn't be persuaded to snuggle down with any amount of Microsol/set so these were abandoned in favour of painted markings. A first attempt with brush and enamels was a dismal failure so the rudder was stripped back (Mr Muscle oven cleaner didn't touch the appliance white) and Tamiya acrylics through the airbrush came to the rescue.

More Klear left the model ready for weathering and this was achieved using Flory Models washes. Black for the most part with Light Dirt for the black bits and Sand for the tyres. At this stage I lost the tailwheel :roll: ....doing well aren't I? A leftover item from a 1/48th Corsair was substituted and persuaded to fit. The prop and spinner were joined together, quite a task considering that there was no positive location. I resorted to filling the spinner with Blu-Tak to centre the hub then fixing it in place with Zap-a Gap.

The undercarriage is really nice and pops together very easily and the weapons went together with little fuss being painted in rattle can silver and some Dark Star baroque before receiving a dark wash to bring out the highlights. Apart from this there was just 2 Aileron actuator arms, a rudder post and the big teardrop radio antenna which was painted Matt Black before being toned down with sand and light dirt washes. The rudder has a butt joint that I wasn't too confident in so I fixed it in place with a steel pin.

Then it was just an antenna wire from EZ line inserted into two 0.4mm holes and:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image


I'm pretty pleased with it. I got the weathered effect I was looking for and a model suitable for display on the Cold War SIG table. It'll definitely be at the Milton Keynes show in a couple of weeks.

The kit itself is very nice, definitely one of Italeri's better efforts. It does have a few issues but they are just small things and easily fixed. Surface detail is excellent and good major parts fit makes it easy to preserve, and the cockpit interior is very nicely detailed straight from the box. I'd certainly recommend this kit and would happily build another.....the bright orange Italian trainer version is quite tempting 8-)
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
User avatar
DavidWomby
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 11706
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 8:09 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Re: Dazzled's Texan

Post by DavidWomby »

Dazzled wrote: >
I'm pretty pleased with it.
>
and I can see why. That's a terrific piece of work, the paint, panel lines and weathering are superb.

Well done.

David
User avatar
MarkyM607
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9153
Joined: January 5th, 2013, 1:16 pm
Location: Cambs

Re: Dazzled's Texan **FINISHED**

Post by MarkyM607 »

Very nice work.
Hoping to return to modelling sometime this year!! :lol:
Owner of Marky's Model Emporium since 2013!.
User avatar
iggie
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 23360
Joined: July 31st, 2013, 11:04 am
Location: North Somercotes, Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: Dazzled's Texan **FINISHED**

Post by iggie »

Superbly done; an excellent finish all round
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
User avatar
Old_Tonto
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 8049
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 7:41 pm
Location: Middlesbrough, Peoples Republic of Teesside.

Re: Dazzled's Texan **FINISHED**

Post by Old_Tonto »

Cracking build Daren.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
Locked

Return to “Nifty Fifties Aircraft”