Plastic Modelers in the IL-2 Community

[Buglord]

Thanks guys . It has been tricky working on this as some of the parts are that small i could only pick them up with blue tak . using tweezers is too risky as it took me half hour to find 1 part that had pinged across the room ?

[Feathered_IV]

15 hours ago, Buglord said:

Thanks guys . It has been tricky working on this as some of the parts are that small i could only pick them up with blue tak . using tweezers is too risky as it took me half hour to find 1 part that had pinged across the room ?

 

Oh, I found a way to beat that.  When I'm assembling the really fiddly stuff I just get down on the floor to do it. 

[Feathered_IV]

Upper wing cockades added at last. 

 

I originally planned to mask and paint them, as I was lead to believe that that Fe2, A857 had blue/white/red markings on the upper wings.  However at the last minute I discovered that it actually had the narrow 2-inch white outlines around the outer edge too.  This information came via the volume 3, number 2, 1972 issue of Cross and Cockade journal which has three photos of the machine after it came down on the sausage side.

 

Wingnut Wings suggest that A857 should have plain cockades.  However by importing one of the images into photoshop, I was able to fiddle with the contrast and levels until the ghost of a white ring appeared where the outside of the cockades would be.  This was a blessing and a curse.  A blessing in that I could get the right style of cockades (and steal the march on the big boys), but a curse in that I only discovered that after I'd just masked the bastard things.

 

Here's one of the three circle cutters.  There's one for the outermost circle, and two for the inside and outside of the blue.

 

 

I paid a quick visit to my local this morning, and managed to get a packet of plain white decal paper.  The first cutter was used to do the outside circumference, and these went on pretty well.

 

 

While that was setting I went out to the balcony and sprayed a bit of the white decal with some Humbrol 60 and a slightly lightened version of their 25 blue.

 

 

Back inside, I let the decal sheet dry for a little while then cut the outer and inner rings for the H25 portion to create a pair of little blue donuts.  I notice that the circle cutters do a smoother job of external rings than inner ones, so I'll have to try to solve that problem next time.  The red dots were too small to cut, so these were die-cut by sharpening the inside of a piece of 2.5mm brass rod until it was razor sharp and pressing it into the decal film.  The red and blue bits were then applied over the white and jockeyed into position with a fine brush and some setting solution.

 

Not too bad.  I've never tried this before but it looks like it will save me a fortune in decals from now on.

 

 

It's a long weekend here, so I was able to get out and spray the wing with a top coat of clear.  Then miracle of miracles, get the upper wing glued into place... 

 

[Hoots]

Simply stunning feathered! 

[STN]

Unbelievable. How do You keep Your builds so staggeringly clean in this scale?

 

[Rolling_Thunder]

I think he has a really big match.

Excellent skills.

[Feathered_IV]

6 hours ago, STN said:

Unbelievable. How do You keep Your builds so staggeringly clean in this scale?

 

 

I think it's a combination of things.  I use 4.5x & 6x magnification non-prescription reading glasses that I bought online.  It takes a little while to get comfortable with them, but it gives you better than human vision.  Better than mine anyway! 

I wash my hands frequently as I go, and take care not to touch my face or hair or whatever.  I often have a small bowl of water on hand to dunk the tips of my fingers into to make sure there aren't any oils or grime on them.  I also wet sand everything with 1200 grit, and never apply putty directly from a tube.  It always gets thinned down and applied with a brush so that there is minimal cleanup. I also use digital calipers for measuring and cutting which is a huge help.  Plus I do my painting outside.  There seems to be less ambient dust floating around compared to indoors.  The other thing which helps are sharp cutting tools.  I'm a fanboi for the red label Swann Morton 10A scalpel blades which I buy in boxes of 100.  These get used for just about everything and give the very best results on small scale work.  

[STN]

Thanks for the explanation. It may not sound that way, but that is a lot of effort. You leave nothing to chance.

 

P.S.: interior parts of the Bristol.

[Buglord]

Looking good guys...

Not too far to go on the Scammell still a fair bit to do. ... not even touched the trailer yet ...

 

[voncrapenhauser]

Looking good there Bug.

 

E Type update.......

 

Doors on,check,wipers on(all three),check,Dashboard and steering wheel,check, modified Tax disc,under bonnet  decals and finally the bonnet.......

 

Buggered up one roof trim, gotta repair that and I will clean off the greasy finger prints lastly.

Edited June 20, 2019 by voncrapenhauser

[Feathered_IV]

That looks brilliant VC.  The 1963 registration sticker on the window is a beautiful touch. 

[voncrapenhauser]

Thanks Feathered .  Tax disc, chassis plate and under bonnet decals make a more realistic representation as They're not supplied by De Agostini in the kit which is a real shame for a kit in this scale .

[STN]

I swear, there will be a global filler shortage until I am done with this one T_T

 

 

[Hellcat4280]

[Feathered_IV]

Ho hum.  This is probably the last that any of us shall see of my little scratchbuilt 1/144 Mercedes D.II engine cylinders.  Now well and truly lost to the carpet. 

[voncrapenhauser]

Oh crap!

[Hellcat4280]

Trumpeter Bf109 K-4 Finished Work: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/6186786722

[sallee]

Don't know how I missed all this activity.

VC, she looks gorgeous. The tax disc is a lovely touch. I was remembering a case some years ago where a bloke had made a fake tax disc by cutting it out of a stern poster on the side of a bus warning of the illegality of driving without road tax....

STN, that looks great. I'm doing the Airfix HP o/400, so that putty and filler shortage is likely to last some time.

Feathered, just listen out for the sound of the carpet mites starting her up.

Hellcat, lovely 109s.

[Buglord]

On 7/6/2019 at 11:01 AM, Feathered_IV said:

Ho hum.  This is probably the last that any of us shall see of my little scratchbuilt 1/144 Mercedes D.II engine cylinders.  Now well and truly lost to the carpet. 

 

 

Iv`e done the same thing with a hinge for the scammell trailer , was on the floor for about an hour with a torch but my room has floorboards so looks like iv`e lost it to the crack of doom ? just scratch building one now .. so same boat it seems. ?

[Uufflakke]

On 7/6/2019 at 12:01 PM, Feathered_IV said:

Ho hum.  This is probably the last that any of us shall see of my little scratchbuilt 1/144 Mercedes D.II engine cylinders.  Now well and truly lost to the carpet. 

 

 

An old trick to find tiny objects lost to the carpet.

 

 

[Buglord]

That`s a very good idea Uufflakke. I will remember that one.

[Sokol1]

Interesting diorama

 

 

https://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=40153&d=1563165418

[voncrapenhauser]

Cool diorama ._.._.Reminds me of the opening of  Apocalypse Now. 

[STN]

After 1 month of filling and sanding, I just gave up and decided to continue....

[Feathered_IV]

New engine in the works.  The old one was a little too tall anyway.

 

 

And something to eventually put it in. 

 

 

[Diggun]

@Feathered_IV, do you cut precious stones for your day job? serious question!

[STN]

A bit of colour finally :)

[sallee]

Wow, Feathered. From the sublime to the ridiculous. Lovely Pfalz. Colour scheme in mind? 

 

STN she's looking good. Could you have saved time by using red filler?

[Feathered_IV]

39 minutes ago, sallee said:

Wow, Feathered. From the sublime to the ridiculous. Lovely Pfalz. Colour scheme in mind? 

 

If all goes well I'm hoping I can make a mould of this one and cast it in both the D.III and D.IIIa versions.  I thought the yellow nose/green tail aircraft flown by Hecht for the D3, and the all silver one with the club shape flown by Buddecke for the D3a. 

10 hours ago, Diggun said:

@Feathered_IV, do you cut precious stones for your day job? serious question!

 

I have done, but not very often.   I do a lot of finescale work in precious metal though.  

[STN]

5 hours ago, sallee said:

Wow, Feathered. From the sublime to the ridiculous. Lovely Pfalz. Colour scheme in mind? 

 

STN she's looking good. Could you have saved time by using red filler?

 

Yes, maybe. But then I couldn' t whine here like a crybaby :)
Anyway, update after weekend. I wonder what surprise the landing gear has in store for me.

 

[STN]

Finito. As good as it ever will be. Phew!

 

Bristol Type 72 Racer

1922

 

Avis 1:72

 

 

Lots of inaccuracies compared to the real thing. The worst one is the non existent ridge behind the exhausts. Just did not have the strengh to correct it anymore.
Colours might not be correct, it is sort of my assessment how it could have been.

[sallee]

Looks as if you did very well in an uphill struggle! What an unlikely looking contraption.

[STN]

Started another odd bird. This one should be much easier.

 

 

[Hoots]

You do pick some esoteric subjects! No idea what it is but it’s another that looks lovely

[Cybermat47]

Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf-109 E-4 with Techmod decals

I accidentally broke some of the more delicate decals and parts, but overall I’m really happy with how it turned out.

 

[Feathered_IV]

Nice work on the stippling on the fuselage.  I like it a lot.

That's Helmut Wick's aircraft isn't it?  I think he may have killed a relative of mine.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Feathered_IV

[Cybermat47]

18 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Nice work on the stippling on the fuselage.  I like it a lot.

That's Helmut Wick's aircraft isn't it?  I think he may have killed a relative of mine.

 

Thanks! Yep, it’s Wick’s aircraft as it was in October 1940.

 

Sorry to hear of your relative. It’d be interesting to hear more about them.

[Feathered_IV]

4 hours ago, [Pb]Cybermat47 said:

 

Thanks! Yep, it’s Wick’s aircraft as it was in October 1940.

 

Sorry to hear of your relative. It’d be interesting to hear more about them. 

 

Yeah, there's not much that I know beyond a conversation I heard when I was very young.  I'm guessing it was Hubert Adair, as my grandmother was talking about someone in the family who flew in the BoB and was killed.  The only clue was the last name which is relatively uncommon, and she said his nickname was "Bertie, where's your horse?" because he was so into riding.  I've never followed up on family history as we lost contact with our lot after emigrating, so it will probably remain a mystery.  I looked up Hubert though, and he was a Hurricane pilot who was credited as being shot down and killed by Helmut Wick.  A flamer too, poor bugger. 

[STN]

This build is a breeze compared to the previous one :)

[Blitzen]

Just finished the big 1/24th scale Ju-87D with a 28" wingspan(!) I did say BIG! I'm generally positive about the results although I must say for the price it doesn't quite measure up to its previous Messerschmitts ,Spitfires & Hurricanes or for that matter the 1/24th scale Airfix Ju-87B.It has the feel of being scaled up from a 1/32nd kit or maybe even a 1/48th version ( the same as the 1/24th scale Swordfish of a few years back...) It all fits together all right but there is a bit of gap filling necessary esp around the fuselage.It lacks quite a bit of interior detail & exterior modelling we have come to expect.The engine is completely sealed off with no chance of seeing the work that goes into building it. The instruction book is adequate but lacking in most painting instructions and the decal sheet offers only two variations on the Stuka theme & neither is very interesting , to me, visually...Finally the kit includes parts for three different payloads including the cannon packing G model BUT there are several missing parts most notably dive brake supports ...I don't know why they are missing from the kit & the instruction sheets(?)

BUT it is the Dora & that has a real attraction I couldn't pass up! I got the kit at a pretty good discounted price which helped BUT after buying after market CAM decals to supplement the kits paltry ones ,the Montex X supermasks for the fuselage snake , paint colors i didn't have on hand, and finally safety harnesses ( because they weren't included in the kit , the total price had gone into the red zone. You go to hell in small steps,I guess...

  So I guess you could say this offers real possibilities for those modelers who want to super-detail & have those sorts of abilities...I don't so this is a straight from the box build, with apologies to the Berta stuka that originally had these markings.i stole the idea from a skin found here in Battle of Stalingrad ...

Edited August 11, 2019 by Blitzen
misspelled words