Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star

Nathan Dempsey
This was one of those rough days a while back. Had just laid down the Engine Grey color and while trying to get the model situated for drying I ended up dropping it (& catching it and dropping again). Sufficed to say I was extremely frustrated and stopped work on the kit. Well since I'm awaiting parts for some of my other builds I'm going to fix this one up and continue the build. First step was removing the engine grey for the upper "bulge". The Caracal decal set showed this as engine grey, but since then I aquired the Ginter Book and the bulge is definitely white not grey.

Chris Greathouse
That's a fun plane! Is it an advance nav/sonar plane? Just a guess... I Saw a similar plane fly over Boeing Field in Seattle when I was a kid.

Nathan Dempsey
This one was a flying radar station used at the Pacific Missile Test Range. Lucky place to be stationed...

en.wikipedia.org/wik..ssile_Range_Facility

Chris Greathouse
Hey, I got one right! 😄 Thanks for the wiki, good info!

Nathan Dempsey
Well, I removed the grey and repainted the upper bulge gloss white. Now on to remasking and repainting the "engine grey" areas...

Nathan Dempsey
Uploaded a new pic. You can see the new gloss white bulge and some of the repaired grey areas.

Slavo Hazucha
I was looking forward to see the Ice Pirates ride, but this has quite some potential with the color & materials mix - looking forward to see that red/orange! Looks like there is a minor fitting battle to be fought before though...

Nathan Dempsey
Oh yes this kit is super challenging for such a small kit! It was supposed to be a distraction while awaiting a seatbelt set for the #2 Huey (I was hoping for a dual build there). However I am getting some serious practice for masking multiple colors which will help me on some future project ideas.

Nathan Dempsey
OK the International Orange is down. This is the trickiest Model Master Acryl I have ever laid down. It was VERY thin and required many layers. On top of that it changed shades like 3 times before drying completely. It will look great on the Ice Pirates UH-1N build.

Slavo Hazucha
Nice looking orange - looking good on the Connie allready & I am looking forward to see the Pirates ride in this finish! Smart move with the test 👍 but now this little fellow needs care & attention too😉

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Slavo! Yes this test was very helpful. I now know to be very delicate and precise with any preshading on the UH-1N.

Chris Greathouse
The orange distracts from your hairy arm, brilliant! 😛 😛 😛

Nathan Dempsey
Yeah I have to wear arm condoms to keep my fur out of the finish. 😄

Stephan Ryll
Comming along nicely Nathan 👍 very nice orange

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Stephan!

Martin Oostrom
Poor Connie, abused by Dr. Hyde 🙁

Nathan Dempsey
Here's another test. The grey areas on the rudders are hand painted Mission Models color FS16081.

Peter Mollenhauer
Looks great, Nathan! I'm very interested, because I have this kit in my stash, too🙂

Nathan Dempsey
Welcome aboard Peter. I think this kit has tested my paint masking skills more than anything 🙂
Black is the next color to apply.

Slavo Hazucha
It looks fine, the orange coverage is really good & the other colors represent their live-pendants rather nicely 👍

Still testing for the Ice Pirates?😉

Nathan Dempsey
Just trying to get the spirit of building back. My little one got into one of my display cabinets and destroyed around 8 kits. For a while I lost my desire to build and since then I have been trying to salvage a few of the kits and slowly ramp things back up to my former pace. I actually did work on the Ice Pirate at the same time as this kit but just haven't posted any updates.

Bryn Crandell
Looking good so far.

Slavo Hazucha
Oh, I hear you... So far I managed to separate "mine" from "theirs" with the kids... And I find repairs one of the most frustrating tasks - whenever I tried in the past, the spirit of the build never really came back... :/ Maybe cool down till OCT & then unleash with the Aggressor group is the way?

Nathan Dempsey
Oh I'm getting it back slowly but today especially. See my post on the Mirage F.1 Aggressor build...

Dutch
Very nice build, Nathan. I hope to emulate you on my own build.

Chris Greathouse
Something you could do with the eight kits that got destroyed... scratch build what's broken as if in a dystopian/apocalyptic world... Movies like that, people just make whatever parts work for them and their crafts... They always look cool with all the parts mismatched and various wear levels on the different pieces.

Nathan Dempsey
Dutch: Thanks! Your projects are a great inspiration!

Chris: Most of them were put in a parts bin for use on my SF3D Sci-Fi kits, but I'm in the process of saving 2 or 3 of them.

Nathan Dempsey
Added images of some of the black. Still a bit more to go and some areas on the orange were pulled away so that will have to be fixed. Never had that happen with Tamiya tape so it was a bit of a shock.

Chris Greathouse
How do you go about fixing a problem like that?

Nathan Dempsey
Carefully sand down the area to the plastic and repaint. Luckily it's only two small areas otherwise I would have stripped the whole plane down and started over.

Definitely something to think about when applying that orange to my helicopter build.

Dutch
Very nice work, Nathan!

Slavo Hazucha
Tape stealing color is a constant risk in my builds, especially with metallics - I always put the tape 2x on the mat before going on the model now. Often it used to take all incl. the primer down to the plastic, I am washing with soap water or weak bathroom glass-cleaning solution. Anyway, always a thrill pulling the tape off, I go very slow & wit low angle...

Dutch
I use low tack blue masking tape for most of my large area straight lines.

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Dutch and Slavo! I'm afraid the orange paint is just quite fragile as I too give the tape 2X on the mat or pants leg (if I have jeans on). All areas had been primed as well. I'm sure the real problem is my excitement as I have been known to pull the tape a bit quickly to see the results 🙂 No worries though the areas are quite small. Hopefully I'll have time to do more today. This bird has way too many de-icing boots!

Dutch
It's looking so good, I might ask you to build one for me!

Thomas Bischoff
I'll join the show - always wanted to build such a Connie mysrlf

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Dutch, don't make me blush!

I think when I build the Project Magnet Connie I'm going to try cutting black decal film or Black Chrome BMF for all these de-icing boots. Its insanity in this scale trying to tape everything then paint.

Stephan Ryll
Looking very good Nathan 🙂 keep up the good work 👍

Dutch
Nathan, I have seen black de-icer boot decals. Aren't they included in the Minicraft kit? Maybe not all kits, but I am pretty sure they are in the MATS R7V/C-121C, Blue Angels C-121J & NC-121K VXN-8 releases. I will probably hand paint mine on the engine grey aircraft and use the decals on the other engine gray and usaf aircraft gray kits. Or, maybe I will paint them first, then mask them and spray the main wing color. Have't decided yet. R/ Dutch

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Stephan!

Dutch: I just checked and you're right, the NC-121K does have the decals for the de-icer boots. I'm glad I didn't notice it earlier or I may have been tempted to steal them for this build.

Nathan Dempsey
Did a bit more on the tail. I sweat a bit everytime I go to take the tape off. No problems today though.

Erik Leijdens
Good to hear that Nathan! Great work so far 👍

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Erik. I'm hoping to finish it up just in time for the Aggressor Group Build.

Clifford Keesler
I'll watch this one. I have always wondered what that one would be like.

Nathan Dempsey
The paint work is a bear on such a small kit Clifford. Still a fun one 🙂

The last of the tail de-icing boots have been painted. Ready for decals now.

Clifford Keesler
Looks awesome.

Slavo Hazucha
Looks good - the masking lines turned out really crisp 👍 Will be a nice unique Connie when finished!

Stephan Ryll
Great looking build Nathan 👍

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks mates. Finally feel the mojo returning. Just in time for aggressors!

Added a shot of the first decals. Today I will tackle the difficult wing walk lines.

Dutch
Yeah, Baby! Looking fine!

Peter Mollenhauer
I keep following, great build!

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Dutch & Peter!

My day ended up being too busy for the bench yesterday, but I should have time today. This one is getting so close to being done!

Nathan Dempsey
Whew! I did it without breaking them! 🙂

Daniel Klink
Extraordinary performance especially in this scale and with this kit...
Very well done Nathan. The paintjob is extrafine Mate..
I would give you an A for this 👍

Dutch
Ooooh! I really like the engine exhaust stain shading. Walkways look good too! Did you use the kit decals or Caracal? Were they likely to break?

Chris Greathouse
Looking great!

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Daniel, Dutch, & Chris!

I know Chris, this decal was wimpy compared to those massive sets you've done😉

Daniel: That means a great deal to me since your paint work is the top of the mark!

Dutch: The walkways were all from the Caracal set and I'll have to go back over them with a touch of staining. They were just a very long V shape and hard to keep apart. Caracal are extremely nice though. That guy has made me buy more kits than anyone lately 🙂

Stephan Ryll
Looking very nice Nathan 👍

Slavo Hazucha
Agree with Dutch, the exhaust stains make the wing surfaces much more interesting 👍 well done!

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Stephan & Slavo!

Just the props and landing gear to finish up along with a clear coat. Also had to scavenge some smaller black circles from an old Warhammer 40K Tau decal sheet for the smaller windows. Odd that these aren't included in the Caracal set even though on the instruction sheet it shows them.

Dutch
Hmm. Note to self on the small windows. The Willie Victor is looking VERY NICE! This should take the primo spot among your airliners and other kits! I must say, you have quite a nice gallery.

Jim J
Really nice and crisp. And a very attractive scheme.

Nathan Dempsey
Dutch: Thank you sir! You are too kind 🙂 I'd say it is definitely the most colorful of my 1:144 scale kits for sure.
Jim: Thanks! I wasn't sure in the beginning as this started as a test for another project, but once completed it really looks cool.

Peter Mollenhauer
Excellent job, Nathan! My congrats!

Chris Greathouse
The color scheme is really sharp, great job 😄

Nathan Dempsey
Thank you Peter, James & Chris!

Hopefully today I'll finish up the props and landing gear and possibly this evening get some final shots up.

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice sir.

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Clifford. Well I realized an error once the gear were on. Not enough nose weight. So I drilled a small hole in the front wheel well and inserted individual lead pellets from some old "reloading" gear I still have. The repairs will dry tonight and maybe tomorrow I'll get pics up.

Nathan Dempsey
The painting on this turns out to be complicated to the end. Each propeller blade will have 3 colors.

Slavo Hazucha
Looking good - on this plane in this particular pattern, I think 3 colors on the propellers just prove the consequent thinking of the design...😉

Treehugger
If you still have the chance, I would recommende spending just a little time sanding the propeller blades. Just like boat propellers, the molded parts tend to be simplified and too round so I like sanding the edges more sharp. A fun little thing to do.

Nathan Dempsey
I'm hauling this one over the finish line at all costs to get ready for Aggressors!!

Calling complete. Added some Chris-booth photos of the finished kit.

Stephan Ryll
Very nice and colourful build Nathan 👍 I like it a lot 🙂

Thomas Bischoff
Turned out beautifully 👍 👍 👍

Chris Greathouse
That turned out great Nathan!

Slavo Hazucha
Top finish Nathan 👍 Great plane, unique version & pattern - a smooth job all around! Through the line with a fine set of final pics & a few hours cool-down for the Aggressor GB, all flags checked - well done!😉

Donald Dickson II
Totally missed this! I have one in the stash. Looks great!

Jim J
Nice! 👍

Jens
beautifully 👍 👍 👍

Clifford Keesler
Excellent job Nathan.

Nathan Dempsey
Thank you so much for all the kind comments. It was a fun little build.

Dutch
A real stunnet, Nathan! Congratulations!

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Dutch!

Dutch
Sorry, "Stunner!"