French a/c group build 2012-13

i have an unfinished ms-406 from long time, nice plane, but the d-520 looks really better in shapes.

Great work Doogs

DoogsATX

Sludge wash for the panels, final matte coat, unmasked the clear bits, started some chipping. Still have a lot of little things to see to, but this sucker's in the home stretch...

Wow - lots of weathering going on there Doogs, but all very subtle. Very nicely done.

Looks great! Can you clue me in a little on how the salt thing works?

sub revolution

Looks great! Can you clue me in a little on how the salt thing works?

Alrighty...I'm calling the D.520 done. This one's been a heck of a fun build, a good training ground to refine some techniques and try some new ones...and an awesome paint scheme to boot! The only thing I'd have liked out of the kit would have been better treatment of the landing gear. Seems there's always one minor letdown in these Tamiya two-sprue wonders...but the rest of the kit is superb.

Thanks Vance for hosting this one. Nice off-the-beaten-path subject matter!

DoogsATX

Alrighty...I'm calling the D.520 done. This one's been a heck of a fun build, a good training ground to refine some techniques and try some new ones...and an awesome paint scheme to boot! The only thing I'd have liked out of the kit would have been better treatment of the landing gear. Seems there's always one minor letdown in these Tamiya two-sprue wonders...but the rest of the kit is superb.

Thanks Vance for hosting this one. Nice off-the-beaten-path subject matter!

Wow - great finish DoogsATX, really itching to break open one of my kits for this GB, trying to finish up other items before getting french! Adding the finished pic to the front page.

Excellent work Doogs 

Very nice work, DoogsATX !  

Here is my SAAF Puma so far. Notice the different shade of paint and the demarcation line not lining up where the tail boom meets the fure. The real helo lost it's tail rotor in field and a new boom was flown in and then manhandled into place.

Theuns

Some nice looking builds going on here.  Thought this would be an appropriate given the theme, it was in a recent Classic Wings magazine with wind under the wings.

www.worldwarbirdnews.com/.../a-potez-63-11-will-soon-fly-in-texas

In Texas of all places?!?! Thanks for the link, will keep an eye on that project.

Hi all. Here is my completed South African Air Force Puma.

Humbrol #'s 29 and 30. Future dullcoat to seal it in.

Theuns

That's a very sharp looking helicopter! Certainly not something you see everyday, nice work!

Thanks for the help Doogs, I will have to try that sometime.

Great work Theuns !!

That's a good looking machine Theuns. (these group builds are a dangerous place to hang out, I keep seeing completed models that make me want to try something new...) I'll add this to the finished list up front.

Looks really good Theuns. I didn't pick it for Humbrol 29/30. It looks more mysterious than that.

Whats the next subject, and where ?

Cheers

Tony

Thanx, no defenately 29 and 30 :-D

Maybe the future matt coat does make it a little lighter.

As for my next (actually busy with) project for this GB is a 1/48 Hobbyboss Mirage 3cz in pollished alluminium SAAF sceeme.

I am also busy with a hasegawa 1/72 IJN "Dinah" for the Japanese GB, that is one cool little kit I must say!

I don't think I have any other French birds in my stach left :-(

Theuns

No more French birds... there are always ways of fixing that! ;)

Looks like I should get two full day's of bench time tis weekend as my brother will be home to keep an eye on the 'oldies' and give me a little break . So I'm aiming to get the fuselage halves together on my Hobby Boss  (H-34A) Sud Est HSS-1 and hofully I can get into the spraybooth and airbrush a few long since stalled builds as well as the interior pieces for the Heller Nord 2501 'Noratlas' .

Fingers crossed for a full weekend of catch-up .

John .

Speaking about the Hobbyboss H-34, I started mine last night but as it will be in Belgum colours it is in no way "French" enough for this GB LOL!

I must say that so far the kit is a bit of a letdown to me, the instrument pannel has no detail or even a decal for it! There also seems to be a hole that will be visable between the cockpit floor and front part of the fuselarge when sealed up, I will have to make something to fit in there.

The rest of the kit looks OK-ish except for large injector pin marks inside the cabin and the wrong direction rotors :-(

Strange as the hHobbyboss 1/72 MiL 24 V is a really nice kit.

Theuns

Hi Theuns , You can't really see all that much of the gap once the blank console is in place . here's a close up of one of my previously started Hobbyboss H-34  with a modified single high stack exhaust for VX-6's deployment in operation Deep Freeze .

I have a spare external fuel tank to hang from the port side but I haven't quite figured out the best way to do it as yet .

Hopfully I can come up with some way of doing it .

John .

I just managed to totally mess up my H-34 , it is cold and rainy here and the paint does not cure well. No problem as I have in the past put the model in the oven that has been heated A LITTLE just to kick start the paint.

I have done this a few times, what could posably go wrong?!

The right fuselarge half has so badly warped that the model is a chuck away deal.

As we say, there is no medicine for stupidity...

Theuns

Theuns

I just managed to totally mess up my H-34 , it is cold and rainy here and the paint does not cure well. No problem as I have in the past put the model in the oven that has been heated A LITTLE just to kick start the paint.

I have done this a few times, what could posably go wrong?!

The right fuselarge half has so badly warped that the model is a chuck away deal.

As we say, there is no medicine for stupidity...

Theuns

WHAT!!! Pics or it didn't happen, time to warn everyone else of the dangers of combining baking and modeling...

It just goes to show, getting away with something a few times will not mean it will work like that every time!

Out of desperation I tried to fix it with hot water (you see where this is going? I tried to boil it into submition this time) only to further stuff it up :-(  

Ah well if you go down, do it well....

What I can however say to you guys who have this kit and want to re-do the rotors that turn the wrong way, I put my indevidual blades into a pot with boiling water and they go flexable enough to be bent the other way without breaking and then cool down to give a sag with them turning the correct way. A little work will be needed to modify the hub, but way less than having to buy the Italeri just for the rotors!

I have now retired this kit until one day I might invest another $14 for a whole new H-34.

Hope this report about the rotors help some of you.

Theuns

Next up: "How to tar & feather a helicopter", by Theuns!

Sorry buddy, we've all been there at some point. I had a Ki61 probably 10 years ago, before I had a proper airbrush. I was determined to do one of those green spots over silver schemes. Tried masking liquid to give me the shapes for the spots. Needless to say it was a disaster, the first and only time I have literally thrown a nearly-complete kit into oblivion!

As I say, no medicine for what I have.

Just lucky it wasn't some very expensive rare model. I think I will build myself a drying box for when the weather is cold and wet.

I was thinking along the lines of a wooden box of say 1.5' by 1/5' by 1' with a 60 watt bulb to heat it up inside.

Theuns

I sorry to hear about  the demise of the Hobby Boss H-34 Theuns  , I do get a little teary eyed when I think about the 'ol venerable Chocktaw going to the 'bone yard' . Just a bit of bad luck I guess . Like Vance say's , we've all had some type of disaster with our own builds from time to time . A couple of years ago I accidently dropped a Heller Nord 2501 Noratlas onto the floor carrying it out from the back room after airbrushing a grey/blue/brown camo finish for the IDF and watched in horror as the wing got completely torn off the top of the fuselage ....."Absolutly Heartbreaking" . I was so angry and upset at the same time but I just couldn't bin the kit , so she currently sits in one of the spares box's in the hope she might be salvagable someday !

So I'm being very , very carefull with my current and next Noratlas builds as I don't wish to repeat the past experience it's just too upsetting

John .

As the French say "such is life"  LOL

T

Alright, pics not forthcoming yet, but I did crack open the box & start thinking about my....

Rockin' Helo 34 comes with lots of great kits 

Vance have good luck with the 406  mine is stopped from '93/94 at this step

is the reboxed smer