Reich Defenders V: Hunters of the Dark

Thanks Mike.

Just a quick update. Got the cockpit fitted and the fuselage and wings all attached. Still have a littlebit of sanding to do and a few small bits to add before priming.

I also got the 2 crew painted and fitted. I used the shoulder parts of the PE belts. they look a bit big here but they are not quite as bad in the flesh, though i thnik the figures are a little on the small side.

One slight problem with the kit is this grove on the lef under the pit.

This is were the access ladder folds up into. Its a really nice idea by Dragon, but it would have been nicer if they had actually included the ladder. So i either have to scratchbuld one or put some styrene in here for a closed ladder. In this kit, i am going for the latter.

Thats all for now, should have the primer on in a day or two.

I got all the construction finished tonight so my 219 is now ready for painting. For some reason i neglected geting an Eduard mask. So i did it with masking tape but was not to confidant in the result. So i ordered an Eduard set Wed and it arrived today. Once that was done, i got the antenna's added and she was ready.

I filled the groove for the ladder with some strip styrene.

And i really like the look of this aircraf from head on. There isjust somthing about the shapeof that canopy.

As soon as i took this, it was off to the spray booth for a coat of RLM 66 on the canopy. Tomorrow it should be ready for primer and then paint.

Looking good, Bish.

What would we ever do without Eduard Mask? For me, it's practically a necessity and I chicken out when it comes to homemade masking.

I may have missed it, but what scheme are you going for? I found pics of the last 219, from a museum over on your side of the pond. It looks like it has that elusive late war RLM 84 on it. I've been trying to isolate that color and have come up with a lot of options. It seems to be a various of duck egg green, with a slight khaki tone.

http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=489

Thanks panzer. I am the same when it comes to masking. I can't recall why i didn't get them for these, but i am glad i did now.

I have decided to go for the overall blue. But i must stress thats not normal for the 219. This is a pre production aircraft.

That Museum He 219 is not in not over here, its belongs to the Smithsonian and is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles airport. Its the only 219 on display anywhere in the world, though one was found in the sea off Denmark a few years back and is being restored.

The offical colours for 219's was over all RLM 76 with RLM 75 mottling. On a few occasions they had black undersides. I have never read of them useing 84, but i guess nothing is impossable.

Well, here she is all finished.  I have to say that this kit was an absolute blast to build.  The only major problems (other than painting that camo) was trying to get the front antenna array to line up and not droop.  But after it's all said and done, I'm proud of this one.  Sorry about the quality of the photos, my cell phone was fighting me on taking decent pictures.  On to the next!

Posted! SB, you have the seventh completion of the GB!

M/TB379

Right, its that time again.I had a few days delay as i was waiting on some decals, but more on that in a bit.

So after the last up date, it was time to prime and paint. I still struggle with seams and joins, the tops of fuselage and canopiy joins especially. becaus eof the light mono scheme i really wnated to get this as good as posable. In some places it took 3 attempts at painting, filling, sanding re painting before i was finally satisfied. I still do need to work on my seam technique.

I know some would use colour modulation on a scheme like this to liven it up a bit. But those who know me will know thats not my style. So while it might be un interesting, i figured as thats what the real one looked like, thats good enough for me. Filling in the panel lines will be as artistic as i get.

Now, those decals. From the star i knew the kit ones would not work. Apart from there not being any swastika's, there was also no double chevron. And many of the other markings just looked wrong. The black line son the top wing crosses were to thick and the green F's had a black out line. I thought i could cover all those from my AM sets and spares. Then last weekend i realised that despite haveing more swastika's than i have kkits, i did not have any black outines in the right size. So i ordered some from Fantasy Print shop. But then during the week i made anotehr realisation, i don't have the right double chevrons. So after a quick search, tehre was nothing for it bit to order a set of He 219 decals from AIMs which include ,arkings for this aircrfat, with the correct chevrons and swastika's.

So, that was a fun week. And after all that, the AIMs set did not include the wing crosses. But the decals are now on. The two markings for the foot holds come from the kit, the only ones i used from tehre. The wings crosses are from the decal stash and everything else is from the AIMS set.

Next thing to do is exhaust stains and the panel lines and that will be about it.

Hi guys -- okay, first look at the Dragon 262 which is starting to take shape. I have the prepainting well underway and am working up the etched parts for the landing gear well, after which I'll be able to pre paint all the natural aluminium areas. Here's the box art:

And here's the etch I'm working with:

The kit comes with two etched frets but the harness I'll leave aside and use Eduard pre-coloured sets from the many Luft frets I have in hand. The pilot seats are sprayed 66 and the backing pads will be painted leather. The instrument panels are base sprayed and will get the standard drybrush and Future treatment. The cockpit tub is into 66 and its outside goes into NM. Landing gear will be an intresting job, as the wheels are engineered in back and front halves intended to trap real vinyl tires between them. The halves are sprayed satin black, I'll top coat the tyres in off-black as the natural vinyl is nowhere near realistic.

More as we go,

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Nice camo Silent Bob.  Your bird really came out nice.  Keep up the great work.

Bish.  Yours is looking great as well.

Keep up the great work guys

Kim

Work is progressing on the 262. The seats are painted, including the leather backings, and the Eduard harness sets are presently in prep. The bare metal interior of the main gear bay, bay doors and exterior of the cockpit tub have been oil wash weathered, the intention being to reflect runway dirt blown up into the interior of the aircraft. The instrument panels are moving along nicely via drybrushing and Future.

I'm hoping to have a progress pic or two in the next day or so.

M/TB379

Well, here it is. After the last update i did a neat panel wash with Flory washes, i wanted a nice clean finish for a change. Exhaust staing was done with Tamiya smoke, including on the tail as shown in the crash pics. Then the wheels were added along with clear pars for the lights and the antenna.

And still my favorite view of the aircraf, though i imagine not one many RAF bomber crew would want to see.

And once fitted to the base, i added 2 PE wheel chocks and a couple of figures. I wanted a nice simple dio showing the aircraft about to star its engines prior to its one and only operational sortie.

And there you go, my first ever He 219. I can now scrub this off the top of my loist of stash kits i most want to build. I still have 3 more Dragon 72nd kits plus the Revell 32nd in the stash, so it won't be the last.

Mike, a big thanks for giving me the chance to build this. And for letting me back in.

Please feel free to pick which ever pic you want for the front page.

Bish -- excellent job! I love the clean presentation, the fine rigging, the exhaust stains, the clarity of the canopy -- in all ways an excellent project! I have a dragon 219 in the stash, one day it'll get the treatment!

Page 1 is updated, yours is the eighth completion, I believe. Thanks for being involved, it's always great to see what you build!

Cheers, M/TB379

Progress on the Dragon 262. I've been working on several areas:

There's the main gear bay and underside of the cockpit, with etched parts, airbrushed aluminium and oil wash detailed for grime. next is the cockpit so far and interior of the fuselage:

And lastly, the engines, aluminium for the cold end, aluminium with a faint red hue to simulate heat-stained metal at the other end:

Hopefully I can start main assembly shortly. The etched parts are being fiddly in the extreme, I'm not having much luck with them right now...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks guys.

Mike, I was really please in how the canopy came out, I think that's a real stand out feature of the aircraft. I only started dipping in future recently, they really helps. Will look forward to seeing you build yours.

Nice work on the 262.