1:48 Revell P-61 Black Widow
imgur.com/a/AQY0E
imgur.comPosted Jun 28, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC
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imgur.comLooks like a really nice kit. The overall paint job looks great too, like an aluminium silver plane painted black, like it's supposed to and like you painted it, I guess! Maybe there are too many chips, but the technique is undeniably convincing.
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Thanks! It went together pretty well considering the mold is from the 70s I think.
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I did this same kit. That canopy was a handful for me. Great job. I wish mine would have turned out this well. Those red lines were a pain. I didn't measure just right and I ran out with about a quarter of an inch to go. I had to take an unused tail number and cut it up to make up the difference.
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Yeah trying to figure out what they were thinking with those lines was like a puzzle!
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Seconding. I built this same kit and the fit on the canopy was very bad. It's like they assumed you'd build it open, and so the fit when closed was really terrible.
I hear there are aftermarket canopies that do a much better job. I'm thinking of building another P-61 for a friend, and if I do, I'd go that route.
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Great Wall makes a much better kit. The only drawback is the price.
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I've heard that as well. I have my eye out for one cheap, but haven't had much luck yet.
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Amazing weathering.
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Thanks!
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I did this kit years ago, one of my first ever. I hand brushed the entire thing and had no idea what I was doing, basically complete trial and error just to get through the kit. I haven't done anything in years, but it was nice to see your progress and end results, much nicer than mine!
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Thanks! Despite being an older kit, it was still fun
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How did you do the chipping? Painting it on with silver paint or salt method?
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It was actually liquid mask dabbed on the silver undercoat and then rubbed off after the black dried. There are a couple of photos of it in the gallery.
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Here, fear not about your weathering! While maybe not super common, your level of paint chipping was not unheard of.
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Cool, that's good to know!
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True, Pacific airfields were built on coral atolls. Supplies were always short, so repainting rarely happened as bombs and food were more important than touch-up paint.
Although it's an old model this was very well regarded at the time.
One niggle: I think (could be wrong) that the upper turret was fixed at '12 o'clock''.
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As for the turret, I think it depends on the particular P-61. The original design called for a 360 degree rotating turret. Some had this, with four guns, some with two, and some had the turret removed altogether.
According to Wikipedia, the differences were due to a shortages of needed parts (B-29s got first dibs on some of the components)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_P-1_Black_Widow#Remote_turret
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Cool info, thanks.
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I suspect that the CBI and South Pacific theaters were pretty hard on these aircraft, as they were on most. By the time P-61s entered service in the ETO the war on the western front had already turned decidedly against Germany. With more mild conditions and less remote outposts, those aircraft may have been better cared for cosmetically.
I like that kit a lot, though I have yet to build the one in my stash. I've actually been on a bit of a P-61 kick lately and recently bought and read the Osprey book about the aircraft. Fascinating mission anecdotes. Been trying to figure out the upper turret situation, myself. Still lots of research to do. I'm thinking about building a 1/72 P-61 I have in my closet (sadly, the Bilek kit which I've IDed as the old Frog kit, a far cry from the more modern Dragon offering). A challenge, but should be fun. Need to finish my B-52 first - I refuse to start another project until then!
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I have the Dragon but sadly it's a long way down the stash... reportedly not the easiest kit but no doubt better than others in the scale.
I love the P-61, too... so big and ugly, and purpose-built for a mission that, by the time it got into service, didn't really exist to the degree that a specialist aircraft was needed... or was too extravagant. The P-61 and Heinkel 219 are sort of in their own class in that regard.
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I have no doubt it's better than the Bilek/Frog kit! Heck, even the Airfix kit is probably better. But I'll take the challenge because it costs me nothing but some fun.
I had little interest in the P-61 historically, but always thought it was "cool" (kind of my attitude toward F7F Tigercats too). But after reading the short Osprey book about it, there's definitely some romantic appeal to the idea of stalking and dogfighting in a P-61 at 3:00am over a snow-covered Ardennes on Christmas. There's some beautiful imagery in the mission logs.
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Really nice work but I agree you may have gone a bit to far with the paint chipping. In this photo and this photo you do not see much chipping although the green one faded quite a bit.
In my experience as an avionics tech on jet fighters and C-130s, only the leading edges took much of a hit as far as chippinig goes. Full paint jobs are rather infrequent so fading is much more common, especially for aircraft parked outdoors in the hotter climes.
I really liked your attention to the detail inside the aircraft, an often neglected area since it's hard to see when complete.
Yep, by the time I realized it, it was too late. Learn something new with every model! Thanks, interiors are one of my favorite parts of the process.
Hell yeah C-130 avionics tech. Former Comm-Nav here.
Electronic Warfare, Special Oops division (MC/AC-130s).
"Special Oops" division is either a hilarious typo, or the best squad nickname ever. Possibly both.
I typed that on purpose. AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command) is 'special' in more than one way. Especially if you've deployed overseas with them.