Small Scale Military Headquarters

Hello - I've visited this forum a few times for info on 1/18 models but this is my first post here.

Firstly I'd like to say that I'm a scale modeller, not a model/toy collector.
So I apologise if I've shocked any 1/18 plane collectors by dismantling, sawing up and modifying these collectables!

Anyway I've found that the 21st Century/BBI planes make a great starting point for a superdetailed large-scale
model. It is a lot of work dismantling them and removing all of the screw fittings, pegs, reinforcing braces, etc. from the inside of the fuselage and wings, but once this is done there is huge potential for adding internal details -
the models are large enough that (a) the details are easy to see and (b) it's relatively easy to make access panels removable so that the interior can be viewed.

This is a thread on a scale aircraft modelling forum with some photos of my 1/18 Corsair rebuilt from the 21st Century model: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index ... e08c3c8905
The interior detail is scratchbuilt, using a few original parts such as the seat, instrument panel and headrest.
So far the fuselage interior is complete (minus the fuel tank and engines), and I'll soon start work on the
wheel wells, gun/ammo bays and engine area. The finished plane will be painted in a fairly standard USN scheme, not sure
which one yet.

I'd be very interested to know if there are any other modellers out there who have "customised" one of the 1/18 planes to this level? (or even at all?) After much searching on the Internet, I haven't found much so far.

I also have the P-40B, Ju87B, Fw190D and P-47D Razorback stored away for future projects, and have my eye on the P-51D,
Zero and forthcoming Avenger - though I probably won't buy these for a while.
Unfortunately these 1/18 planes are expensive and hard to find here in the UK, even on eBay, so it usually takes me a while to track down the plane I want at a reasonable price!

I'm also a fan of large-scale tanks and military vehicles and am currently working on customising the 21st Century Tiger I (also with a full interior). I also have the Panther, Bradley, LAV-25 and a cheap Power Team Elite M1 Abrams, as well as a few large-scale model kits.

EP:

Your pics are awesome.

Yes, we do have some customizers hidding in the woodpile. I've seen some of their work and am in awe of the talent you guys have. For myself, every time I get my hands on glue I end up with my fingers glued to my head.

I don't know about planes, but we do have armor customizers. With all the plane guys on this board, having customizers is a given. They have to be out there.

Welcome and keep up the very nice work.

TTT

EP, welcome!
I concur with TTT - very nice work

We don't see many plane customizations, but yours is inspirational.

Anyway I've found that the 21st Century/BBI planes make a great starting point for a superdetailed large-scale
model.

This quote is exactly right - I have a bunch of Panthers in line for customization, and I look at the base piece as a HUGE $40 pre-made model kit. If you think about what you are getting, and don't think about what you aren't getting (ie skirts on your Panzer IV), all these pieces are a steal really.

Keep up the good work, and cruise the BST forum for your next warbird.

I do customs too.
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos? ... ity=tmhRQK
I'm working on Charlie Bond's AVG P-40B right now. (#5, 1st pursuit)

future projects include:
P-47D- "Trouble in Mind" from Harding Field in Baton Rouge LA. in 1944.
TBM-3E- Marine Torpedo Squadron 132 from the escort carrier U.S.S. Cape Glouchester (CVE-109)
P-51D- "Detroit Miss" Ben Drew was assigned to 375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group based at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire. 

Rogue, your link takes me to the general page. Do you have another link? Thanks!

Look under Kustoms. 

http://community.webshots.com/user/rogue_le
There is a FAA F4U-2 and a Suisse Emil right now.

That is some fine detailed work!! I guess that's one reason I prefer armor cause it's easier to customize especially if all you're after are dirty and battle damaged units.

Great photos EPinniger.

I just finished up detailing my BBI P-51D. Nothing big but I'm satisfied with the result. As for the Corsair I have which is the BBI version the only thing I removed was the Marines Dream artwork and applied the skull and cross bones insignia of VF-17. I also replaced the wheels on it with spares I had from a 21st Century Corsair and thats about it. The detail on the BBI Corsair is very good with no upgrading needed in my book. Yours though is coming out very nice. Make sure you post photos of it when your finished.

I too build scale models as well as collect these 1/18 military toys. I am not nearly the scratchbuilder that you are. I mostly just like to build kits pretty much straight out of the box. I did do a repaint on my P-47 bubbletop. I changed it from the Eagleston to the Big Ass Bird II.

pokeyjtc,

Nice P-47!!! Did you make the decals for that bird yourself? Or did you have someone do them for you? Either way though excellent job buddy.

PokeyJTC, Very nice custom job on the P-47. I'm also curious as to how you did the "Bad Ass", Decal or free lance?

I'm curious to know how much you would want for it.

Thanks for all of the compliments. Here's how I did it. I only had to repaint the fuselage. I sanded off all the marking except the national insignia and the invasion stripes. I chose to keep these so I wouldn't have to make decals for these. I masked them and then primed the fuselage. Then I applied a gloss black base and then sprayed Alclad polished aluminum over the black. Next I masked and sprayed the olive drab anti-glare strip and then maksed and sprayed the nose Testors gloss red. That pretty much covered the repainting.

The markings for the Big Ass Bird lettering, the aircraft serial, the squadron markings (4P and S ) and the tail stripes are all decals that I made. I scanned the Aeromaster 1/48 scale decal set for 'Big Ass Bird' and then enlarged them until they were the right size for 1/18. I then printed the markings on either clear or white Testors decal paper and applied them just like any waterslide decal.

After the decals set for a day, I reassembled the plane and that was it. The Alclad polished aluminum I used for the fuselage matches the silver of the wings very closely. The only thing I would do differently is paint on the tail stripes instead of making a decal as I think they would be a bit brighter in appearance.

As far as selling it, I probably won't right now, but I could make another one if someone wanted to buy it. If you are interested in a custom paint job, pm me and we'll talk price and see if it is something that is within my abilities.

So those decal sheets work well?

The P-40 mouth is eating my lunch, but I have the decals in 1/48th.

Nice by the way!

EPinniger

Call yourself what you want, In my opinion you are an damned talented artist. That Corsair is awesome.

I got as far as tearing apart my 21C Mustang and got stuck.

I wish I had your talent.

Please continue to share!

Rogue wrote:I do customs too.
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos? ... ity=tmhRQK
I'm working on Charlie Bond's AVG P-40B right now. (#5, 1st pursuit)

future projects include:
P-51D- "Detroit Miss" Ben Drew was assigned to 375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group based at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire. 

I'm already working on that one based on the BBI "Killer" P-51D.



I have also detailed the P-38J D-day, P-51D "Laura Michelle", and the P-47D "The Blond Angel."

Pics of all of them here:
http://www.hostdub.com/thetatau87_album08

Nice work tatau.
Welcome!

Good looking work. What are you using for the bare metal? I prefer Alclad II.

digger wrote:Nice work tatau.
Welcome!

Thanks, but it's "Theta Tau" not "the tatau." Those are the greek letters for the professional engineering fraternity of which I'm a brother. I just found this forum today. I can tell already I'll be spending a lot of time here!

pokeyjtc wrote:Good looking work. What are you using for the bare metal? I prefer Alclad II.

I used Testors spray enamel 1246 Metallic Silver. It's a near perfect match to the existing bare metal finish. I will weather it to match the unpainted panels with an airbrush. I just need to get some practice with the brush before I trust myself working on the "Detroit Miss."

I live just outside Detroit and I built 2 1:48 scale Monogram kits of this paint scheme when I was a kid. That made the choice of paint schemes an easy one. I also have a limited edition print "Two for Drew" of Urban Drew on the day he downed 2 Me-262's. I plan to display the finished model below the artwork framed on the wall.

That looks awesome!

Looking forward to seeing the finished result, keep us updated.

I starting to do several more customs, we'll see what comes out of Propwash.

Rogue wrote:That looks awesome!

Looking forward to seeing the finished result, keep us updated.

I starting to do several more customs, we'll see what comes out of Propwash.

Hopefully this forum will get me motivated to complete it. It only took me a couple days of work to get to this point. Now I'm kinda stuck on the airbrushing and custom decals. Both are things I've never done before. The model has been sitting unfinished for months now. It's time to get that airbrush out and start playing with it.

There is now a sticky thread in the Reference Room for posting pics and links to pics of custom work.

Thanks Andrew!

Hope more folks will take on a project.