Plastic Modelers in the IL-2 Community

[Vishnu]

Finished. 

[Irishratticus72]

39 minutes ago, Vishnu said:

Finished. 

That tree won't see you through Christmas.

[Vishnu]

14 hours ago, Irishratticus72 said:

That tree won't see you through Christmas.

Looks better in person.   Besides homemade is waaay cheaper than $15 for 3 trees.    Also.   Still experimenting.  Charlie Brown likes it. 

[Heliopause]

Well I started with the He 162. What could go wrong after an intermezzo of some 30 years in model building? ?

I think I aim for a factory fresh example although three JG 1 decals are too chose from.

 

 

 

[Lusekofte]

I say any complete HE 162 should be factory fresh, in order to be realistic.

 

[Birdman]

Tempest progress, it's a nice kit from Eduard:

[Vishnu]

2nd project in 45 years now beginning. 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Vishnu

[Hoots]

3 hours ago, Vishnu said:

2nd project in 45 years now beginning. 

 

 

There's no stopping you now!

 

[THERION]

Here is my attempt some years ago - also Revell's 1/32 kit. Sorry for the picture quality and my stupidity of dusting off my model before taking the picture... 

 

 

Built out of the box, except adding some wiring to the the engine...

 

P.S.: Those who want to build this kit: Don't forget to add a lot of weight in the front of the fuselage to avoid having a tail sitter...

Edited July 30, 2022 by THERION

[Heliopause]

The color RLM 77 "Grauweiss" seems to be used on fuselages of He 162 machines from the Rostock factory (120 000 series).

Anybody happen to know what modeller paint gets close to this?

Thanks in advance!

[XQ_Lothar29]

I am delighted to present this beautiful FW190 A-5, manufactured by Eduard at 1:72 scale.

 

Although these photos are not definitive, since I am creating a base, I wanted to present this little one.

 

 

Fw190 A-5 Major Hermann Graf

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little story:

 

Hermann Graf was sent on propaganda tours across Germany. He was also able to meet the Germany national football team and went to several of their international matches. On 28 January 1943 Graf took command of Ergänzugs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Fighter Training Group East) based in occupied France. Here newly trained fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front received their final training from experienced Eastern Front pilots. The main base was at St.Jean d'Angély 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast although Graf spent most of his time at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. Graf selected a Focke-Wulf Fw190 A-5 aircraft for his personal use and lavishly decorated it. Without the stress of aerial combat, Graf was again able to indulge his other great passion: soccer.

 

 

In response to political humiliation caused by de Havilland Mosquito bombing raids into Germany, Hermann Göring ordered the formation of special high-altitude Luftwaffe units (Jagdgeschwader 25, commanded by Ihlefeld and Jagdgeschwader 50, under Graf) to combat these attacks. In mid-March, Graf was ordered to Berchtesgarden, Hitler's alpine retreat, where he received his instructions from Göring personally. Graf was permitted to choose his personnel. He transferred his old friends, Grislawski, Süss and Füllgrabe, from III./ JG 52, as well as a number of football players serving as administrators in his JGr Ost training unit.

While in Berlin organizing the necessary transfers, Graf was introduced to the young film actress, Jola Jobst, whom he later wed. The new assignment was then delayed for two months for political reasons. Graf was to run one final pilot-training program: the latest draft of Spanish volunteers heading to the Eastern Front – the 4th Escudrilla Azul (4th Blue Squadron). From 18 May to 6 June 1943, the pilots received three weeks of specialized fighter pilot training for the Soviet conditions

 

Full Story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Graf

 

I wish you enjoy

[ZachariasX]

8 hours ago, XQ_Lothar29 said:

Fw190 A-5 Major Hermann Graf

Just WOW! And indeed with that particular canopy, the antenna wire should be straight even with the hood back… Truly impressive work Lothar.

[Birdman]

And the Tempy is done:

[XQ_Lothar29]

15 minutes ago, Birdman said:

And the Tempy is done:

great job on Eduard's tempest MK V.

[Birdman]

1 hour ago, XQ_Lothar29 said:

great job on Eduard's tempest MK V.

Thank you good sir

 

[KiwiMcG]

On 8/2/2022 at 8:20 AM, Heliopause said:

The color RLM 77 "Grauweiss" seems to be used on fuselages of He 162 machines from the Rostock factory (120 000 series).

Anybody happen to know what modeller paint gets close to this?

Thanks in advance!

RLM84 is colour you would be looking at.  Vallejo make this colour and is in their colour set 'Luftwaffe '41 to end of war' as well as individually. 

[Vishnu]

….nearly finished the tank.   Gotta finish the base. 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Vishnu
Had to remove swastika.

[XQ_Lothar29]

4 minutes ago, Vishnu said:

….nearly finished the tank.   Gotta finish the base. 

 

great paint job.
you did a great job especially with the chipped paint.

[Vishnu]

6 minutes ago, XQ_Lothar29 said:

great paint job.
you did a great job especially with the chipped paint.

2nd model in 45 years.   It scares me to post here, but I feel I did ok.  Thank you!

Edited August 6, 2022 by Vishnu

[voncrapenhauser]

19 hours ago, Vishnu said:

2nd model in 45 years.   It scares me to post here, but I feel I did ok.  Thank you!

Please do not be scared to post , your models are awesome, I do not think there has been a negative comment on this thread since I started it years back now.

 

Carry on building,there great.

[Vishnu]

#2 complete today!

[Hoots]

4 hours ago, Vishnu said:

#2 complete today!

 

 

Fabulous!

[No_85_Gramps]

6 hours ago, Vishnu said:

#2 complete today!

 

Wow! Amazing from all aspects.

[voncrapenhauser]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:02 AM, No_85_Gramps said:

Wow! Amazing from all aspects.

Ditto, looks great.

[40plus]

My latest acquisition to add to the queue. I'm quite excited about this one though, from what I've read, the kit is a PITA to assemble.

Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber with two I-16 parasite fighters included.

 

[voncrapenhauser]

15 hours ago, 40plus said:

My latest acquisition to add to the queue. I'm quite excited about this one though, from what I've read, the kit is a PITA to assemble.

Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber with two I-16 parasite fighters included.

 

 

Wow .

I saw this kit a few years back, but I have never seen one built.

 

Look forward to seeing this one.

Should be impressive.

Edited August 19, 2022 by voncrapenhauser

[Birdman]

Back in February I started Tamiya's M10 Achilles, thought doing armor would be a nice change from planes and a good excuse to try my hands at oils. Well, it didn't go well:

 

Was super unhappy with the result on top of the base coat looking way too dark for my taste and it stopped being fun continuing so I shelved the tank and moved on to the Hellcat you all saw recently.

 

Decided to give it a new try this week, I present to you...the disco tank:

 

Don't ask a colorblind person to try and be decent at color modulation I suppose ?

It was a lot of fun though and I didn't mind applying and completely stripping the oils 5 times total lol

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by Birdman

[ZachariasX]

21 hours ago, Birdman said:

It was a lot of fun though and I didn't mind applying and completely stripping the oils 5 times total lol

It looks great! One has to appreciate the journey of an honest effort, and this always sets the result apart from „standard issue“. So far I have not dared using oils, but I am very fond of your final result, really.

 

I have done some Tamiya RC cars with the kids lately (I figured one has to teach them soldering in time as well), but I have the Tamiya Storch to finish. I wanted to do it on my own, but now my younger kid is pestering me to do it himself, as there is still this opened kit on my hobby desk. I figure that anything is better for them than the iPad, so I guess I‘ll let him. Many more parts than with the 1/72 kits, but it will be fun.

 

[Birdman]

22 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

It looks great! One has to appreciate the journey of an honest effort, and this always sets the result apart from „standard issue“. So far I have not dared using oils, but I am very fond of your final result, really.

 

 

Thanks, I appriciate it!

 

This is the final product:

[BornToBattle]

Figured before the new IL2 update drops I’d squeeze in a couple more builds. This time no Model T from 1917, it’s the Jagdpanther the kit being the 1/35 scale from Meng. It’s all stock including the tracks which were a severe PITA to build, let alone assemble. Naturally the aftermarket set I ordered just arrived today which was much sooner than expected, hence the push to use the kit supplied ones. The machine gun port chain was an order item and the bolt heads on the rear engine screens I punched from sheet styrene using the RP Tools punch set (very handy BTW). If I had to do it over again I would back off on desaturating the color a tad.
 

Oh well. Enjoy…

 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by BornToBattle

[40plus]

Lovely work BornToBattle! Do you mind educating me? What's up with the chain going into the machine gun mantle?

[No_85_Gramps]

WIP pic of the two FFG-15's, USS Estocin, I am working on for my son, and son-in-law, who both served on her. Rest of the build will be slow going, lots of little fiddly bits to add. Outside of my normal realm for sure, but a challenge.

 

[BornToBattle]

2 hours ago, 40plus said:

Lovely work BornToBattle! Do you mind educating me? What's up with the chain going into the machine gun mantle?

you know when I posted it was gonna see how long it took for someone to ask - about 2 hours lol! Naw, love the question though..

 

I wanted to venture off and do something a bit different so o stead of installing the machine gun in the port I opted for the optional step - if the machine gun was going to not be in position for a length of time the port needed to be closed so a thick steel plate (being it was facing enemy fire) could be insert in its place. I’m assuming (eh-em) that this was not found on most G.1 Jagds and pictures show a variety of combos for the forward machine gun port. 
 

The option for the this occurs in step 27 of the build. The PE chain however for me didn’t work at all so I ordered the smaller linked chain I could find online which will come in handy as the Maus had one at the rear loading hatch - which is the next build! Hope this helps some and thanks for looking and lovely ships too!

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: Just found this on a model site which adds a bit more concerning your question…

 

An odd feature of this vehicle— when the hull machine gun was NOT in use, you could bring it back inside the hull and put this weather-proof plug into place. Once in combat, you could push it out and deploy the MG… and the chain retains your plug for next time!

Edited August 23, 2022 by BornToBattle

[BornToBattle]

My armor craze continues. This time same scale (1/35) of the kit from Dragon of the German Maus tank. I was going for the German “just crank this stuff out and get it to the front lines ASAP cuz we’re on the cusp of loosing this thing who cares if primer oxide red shows through and tell the crews to stop wasting their time with fancy camo schemes we have a war to fight” heavy industrial kind of look. The rather prominent powder marks on the main gun barrel complete with four airbrushed kill markings shows the ineptitude of the rushed through training of its crew members. Only two were built, and those being prototypes. There’s a lot more info than I can give here on it via the internet.

 

I enjoyed it as it was a “blank slate” in so far as painting it goes since none saw production or combat. I kinda like making the “paper tigers” even if they didn’t exist on the combat field. I added a photo etch kit to this one and am looking forward to making the Grille 17 too. Another monster! For all us model nerds worn effects/chipping was done in two separate stages and everything is acrylic. Flory washes and AK/MIG pigments were used some as well. The beat up looking removable aluminum looking crew/maintenance ladder was made from PE and an aftermarket chain (as seen in numerous pics) was added to the ammo loading hatch. In order to keep the model posable (turret turned to the sides) the thick antennas which aren’t flexible enough made this impossible so I engineered a mini magnet set up inside the gun barrel and tank itself so it’s easily detach/attachable and yeah - kinda goofy antenna placement but the radio operators compartment was due to be in that location and I went by early documentation for placement. Placing one on each side of the back turret to me would have made more sense to prevent the antenna scuffing each time the turret turned and also to gain height for them but it is what it is, at least on this Maus model! I’m taking a “model break” for a while now. In the meantime, as always my friends, enjoy and stay safe.

 

Heres a link that’s pretty in depth if you care to pursue this “what if” model oddity…

https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/panzer_maus.php

 

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by BornToBattle

[Birdman]

Quick palet cleanser before going back to winged things, the old Tamiya Panzer II:

[Wardog5711]

 

This is my scratch-built 1/144 scale U.S.S. Ticonderoga as she looked in April 1945.

 Not exactly a plastic model, but she does have a deck load of plastic kits onboard.☺️

The ship is radio controlled and is coming up on her 28th birthday.  She got a long overdue refit in 2018 after almost 20 years in storage.

 

 

 

[BornToBattle]

On 9/10/2022 at 8:42 PM, Birdman said:

Quick palet cleanser before going back to winged things, the old Tamiya Panzer II:

Nice work! Going back to “winged things”, huh? Funny how us modelers rotate around to different subject matters at times. When I first got back into plastic kits again this year I counted on doing winged things as my primary builds. Now I’m on an armor craze for some reason after building only one plane! Go figure. I guess I’ll burn myself out on armor after a while and go after some planes again…or 1/12 scale F1 cars…or 1/350 scale submarines. No accounting for at what time an individuals taste will shift and for what. That’s one aspect of what makes this hobby great - it’s your time and your build - whatever floats your boat as long as your enjoying it! 

[No_85_Gramps]

8 minutes ago, Wardog5711 said:

This is my scratch-built 1/144 scale U.S.S. Ticonderoga as she looked in April 1945.

 Not exactly a plastic model, but she does have a deck load of plastic kits onboard.☺️

The ship is radio controlled and is coming up on her 28th birthday.  She got a long overdue refit in 2018 after almost 20 years in storage.

 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic job! Looks amazing!

[BornToBattle]

4 minutes ago, Wardog5711 said:

 

This is my scratch-built 1/144 scale U.S.S. Ticonderoga as she looked in April 1945.

 Not exactly a plastic model, but she does have a deck load of plastic kits onboard.☺️

The ship is radio controlled and is coming up on her 28th birthday.  She got a long overdue refit in 2018 after almost 20 years in storage.

 

 

 

Holy crappers…nice! And actually on water! Very nice.

[Wardog5711]

Thanks, carriers were my favorite subject back when RC was my 'main' hobby.

This is the U.S.S Chenango as she looked in March 1944. Pacific theater.