Look what arrived finally.

Well, it’s taken a few months – literally, but it’s finally here – the Flite-Metal. I have 3 rolls of the stuff and a few “tools”.To be honest, at first glance I’m not sure what’s sitting here is worth $165.00, but we’ll see as time goes on. I do know that the “tools” are not worth what I paid (A Sharpee, a Brillo-pad, a couple of burnishers and a tool for rivets). However, we’ll see. The disc is a cd-rom with 3 .pdf files on it – about 6 letter pages, single sided – LOL.

If I was building a shiny-chrome-polished models, I would be a bit upset with the quality of the metal. The first 18″ or so of each roll are very scuffed, and the tape that is used to hold the rolls closed will peel up the metal from the backing. Luckily for me, the finish of the Wicked Wabbit is very scuffed, so I should be able to use this as well as the better looking aluminum which is hopefully wrapped up inside.

Pro-Mark DVD.

Besides the really cool graphics, Jerry also sends along a DVD showing a lot of different phases of his process, as well as how to apply and take care of them. I made a quick rip of the first chapter which shows how he makes the graphics. It’s a lot different than I thought. Its’ about a 5 minute tour of his operation.

Click here for the movie in Quicktime format.

Click here for the movie in Windows Media format.

More goodies arrived today.

While I’m in a bit of a hold pattern, a nice surprise arrived today – all the Pro-Mark graphics I ordered. Nice looking stuff and I can’t wait until I’m far enough down the line to start using them.

Both bombs painted.

Finally have both bombs finished off. After playing around with various masking techniques, I decided to make the proper sized hole in a bit of heavy chip-board I had. I taped a few “fingers” on the back so I could hold in it in place, and sprayed away. Worked pretty well.

The paint is Testor’s Model Master olive drab and yellow. Then then have a complete coat of flat clear. Hopefully that will keep the paint on for a few drops.

The arming fuses are in place and the little propellers even spin. I know they won’t survive the first drop, but I have a screw in place to quickly change to new ones.

One note I did find on the bombs: they just under an inch too long. Should have done the work before hand, but I’ll just go with them and see what happens. They won’t bump into the ailerons or flaps, so no worries there.

Pro-Mark Graphics

I’ve been in contact with Pro-Mark about finishing. They have bery good rub-on graphics and can do custom work. I’ve worked with them in the past, as they have purchased a few of my Aero-Pacs to make custom artwork for their clients.

In looking at their site I found that they have an in-stock items that will solve one of the biggest problems I thought I would have. That would be the nomenclature all over (NO PUSH, CAUTION, GROUND HERE, etc.) that peppers the plane. Well, they have the perfect solution, as well as a few other things – 3D panels and prop decals for my static prop. Very cool stuff.

I’ve sent him high-resolution files of the larger graphics (nose art, insignias, #44, etc.) and he should be able to make either rub-ons, or paint masks to help even more.