2014 BRAILLE SCALE (UPDATE)

Yeah it is nice...though with a kit like this I was a bit wary...from what I've read this is of one of the preproduction aircraft...the german markings are for DA1 (if my memory serves correct) which was the first prototype and was german...The paintings are spot on though from some pictures I've seen so I'm quite happy about that....it breaks up the monotony as well. Since it is a pre-production plane though I'm not going to weather it and I don't think I'll put any of the weapons on.

Deattilio- that thing is look sweet, I'm with Chris, the little bit of color will make it even better.

Hey all, thanks so much for letting me join!  As promised here are some WIP photos from work today:

The actual kit.  It was such a nice day that I took my stuff outside and worked until my patio was in shade, then I went back inside for better light.

Completed most of steps 1 & 2, just left off the smaller parts until later.

The suspension was a pain.  It was very fiddly with very small parts.  Each bogie is made up of nine parts, including the hull mounting plate....whew!  Cleaning up all those tiny parts was NOT fun!  I'm glad I was able to do most of it in bright sunlight.  BTW,  I left off the outer roadwheels to make painting easier later on.

As you can see I'm having a hard time getting the wheels to sit level.  Its not a simple matter of pressing down on the hull to get them straight; the mounting section is so flimsy, a touch of pressure causes the entire bogie assembly to bend upwards! 

Anyway, after the glue hardens a bit I might be able to get them straightened out. 

Heres a pic of the M4A3E8 with a Dragon M4A1 that I started a couple of years ago and never finished.

Ernest, yup, Dragon models, eh? Fiddly parts and sometimes complications like your bogies. I've done several and have noticed the same. Anyway, great to see the progress thus far!

Thanks Rob!

The work week means I can only put a couple of hours an evening into this, so I managed to get a bit more done.  From now on I'll be jumping around the steps, working on certain parts and assemblies out of order.

Added the fenders, radio operator hatch, glacis bolt strip (hidden in photo) and dry fitted the lower glacis armor plate add-on.  I thought I would have problems with the fenders with their support arms, but they actually went on without much problems!  Then I assembled the main parts of the turret and stuck it on to see how cool it looked!

The surface texture of the turret was pretty smooth so I simulated a cast texture by brushing on Tamiya Extra Thin Liquid Cement and stippled it with a brush while still wet.  I did this heavier on the sides, a bit lighter on the top and just a bit on the mantlet.  I lightly sanded the surfaces to cut down the gloss, but its still hard to see in these pics. 

I still need to clean up the turret seams and perhaps tone down the cast texture.  I got a bit heavy handed on the right side of the turret and over did it!

More to come!

yeah, that stippling looks good, eh?

So, as it's a holiday here in Quebec, I had the day off, so, I got the Gloster J-8A finished (after 14 days of work on it). It was a challenging build. The front cowling was fiddly and required some extra work to fill and sand. Also, the ski landing gear is quite weak. The large skis are held in place with very thin connectors, which, if you know Airfix plastic, is very soft, thus care must be taken during construction. I went with stretched sprue rigging painted with Vallejo metallic grey. I chose to go with the alternate option of a fighter from Flygflottilj 19, Finnish Air Force, Kemi, Northern Finland in 1940. But, overall, as one of Airfix's new tooling line, the detail and finish was the usual 'excellent' for the price point despite a few building 'glitches'.

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Wayne I'm calling my Braille Scale German Tiger done. I tried to copy Dragon's box art and I've really enjoyed working in this scale.  

Ernest

        The Sherman is coming along nicely, and quickly.  The texturing on the turret looks really good too.

Rob

        Another excellent looking build, those skis give the impression that it is wearing a pair of oversized clown shoes.

Jibber

        Nice looking Tiger, especially the camouflage given how tiny those patterns are.

Rob and Jibber fantastic builds you have made.Ernest that Sherman is looking pretty good too....I would have to do a double take if I did not know that was 1/72 scale...it does not look like it.

Here's mine all finished up...

Forgot about these two..

Josiah...very cool Eurofighter. I especially love the 4 country roundels on the right wing and fuselage. My only complaint: She's not armed LOL...gotta get some missiles on 'er, eh?

Terry...Great Tiger..she looks right and ready for action!! Well done. Keep up the good work guys!!

Rob thanks, I really enjoyed this scale. I think I'll pick up a few more.

jibber

Rob thanks, I really enjoyed this scale. I think I'll pick up a few more.

JIBBER - i don't feel so bad now. i fear i am embracing the tiny dark side a bit too. mine started with getting modern bundeswehr vehicles that weren't in 1/35. of course than i found most of them at vendors and stash sales but still. maybe i need to pull out a BIG 1/72 to feel comfortable, something like an FW-200 CONDOR or DORA RR GUN.

JOSIAH - very nice EUROFIGHTER, clean crisp lines smooth paint job. i agree with your decision not to weather it.

TERRY - very nice TIGER. did you airbrush the camo? if so how did you mask or was it freehand with low pressure?

ROB - perhaps the only upside to having your frau based someplace else. same question on painting. i really like doing the odd camo patterns and markings. maybe that is why i have a few UN vehicles. and you sprued the rigging? wow. i would probably have gone with EZ Line.

I did consider EZ line for a bit, then decided to go with the stretched sprue. The plane was just so tiny it would be difficult to work with it, so, I went back to basics. I reserve the EZ line for the big 1/32 scale builds where I can really stretch it out.

Whoa whoa whoa??? What's going on here?  Three completed builds all on the same day!!!

Rob - that rigging looks fiddly on 1/32 aircraft, i can't imagine trying to test my patience on 1/72.  It looks fantastic.

Jibber - great looking Tiger. I've never built a 1/72 armour. The detail looks terrific and you must have had a steady hand for that camo job.

Josiah - beautiful clean build.

Ernest - very clever with the stippling. I'll be stealing that tip for any Shermans i build in the future (just need to add one to the stash first).

Thanks guys.

Rob, this version of the eurofighter wasn't operational, however, so the missiles would have to be painted as dummy/test rounds which I believe would just be white? I think I'll just keep em in the spares bin for a 1/72 what if'er of a european fighter that comes naked.

Wayne and Chris, thanks, I'm quite happy with the "cleanness" as well

Managed to get a little bit more done on the F4U.

Have put down the top coat and painted the prop.  In the pics, it is just placed on the model. I'll need to finish it off before attaching.

Next steps will be to finish the landing gear and lay down a gloss coat.

Also managed to get a little bit done on the A-7.

Have laid down a primer coat of Tamiya neutral gray (XF-19), followed by some pre-shading.

In this pic you can see where i've plugged up the intake with the cosmetic sponges i spoke about in a previous post.  Hopefully it will leave a nice clean mask line.

Wayne, I airbrushed the camo pattern at low pressure, somewhere about 15psi. I have a few different airbrushes and for the very fine lines I found that my Sonar works best. I'm certainly going to find a few more 1/72 armor kits, I didn't know if I would enjoy it but I found different problems from 1/35. Such as the track cleats didn't fit between the double wheels, it just wouldn't set down in there so I had to do some trimming and glue them in place. Thats something you would never give a thought to, anyway I keep saying I really enjoyed this GB and thanks for hosting Wayne that front page is going to look real nice.  Terry  

Chris...OK, I get it with the sponges. VERY cool idea. Gonna arm myself with these as they are easily available from the local dollar store. I love how you have two builds going at once. Have yet to do that, but, if I keep signing on to GBs I may have to!! And what a way to do it: before and after Corsairs...lookin`good buds!!

Cheers, thanks Rob.

I always tend to have 2-3 builds on the go at any one time. I've also got a 1/35 Panther on the go too. I find there is too much down time when i just do one at a time.

Oooohhh those look real nice!

I will probably have two on the go soon. As I`m using artist`s oils for weathering on my Sci Fi build, I will get another on the go with the lengthy drying time of oils.

cml

Cheers, thanks Rob.

I always tend to have 2-3 builds on the go at any one time. I've also got a 1/35 Panther on the go too. I find there is too much down time when i just do one at a time.

only 2-3 at a time. right now i have about 10 in various stages. of coourse as soon as i get through my painting block i will have a bunch done.

@Josiah - thanks mate. Hoping to get the camp on the A-7 this weekend.

@waynec - I wouldn't trust myself with that many kits on the go at once. I'd probably get so overwhelmed I'd come to a grinding holt!

Hey guys!  Been busy all week working on some of the problems I'm having with the Dragon M4A3E8 Sherman.  I'll post an update in a bit, but right now I want to comment on some of the great work recently posted!

Rob - beautiful Gloster!  You can tell how much work is put into it, it came out great!  I don't even want to know how hard it was to do the rigging on that little braille scale J-8A!!

Terry - being an armor nut myself I can definitely appreciate your Tiger!  Very, very nice sir!  The painting and weathering are fantastic and that's hard to get right in such a small scale!  I hope my armor offerings in this GB are half as nice!  and yes, 1/72 has some different challenges than, say, 1/35, as you've commented on.  I've had to deal with those myself on my Sherman...

Josiah - One of these days I'm going to actually build a jet fighter and when I do, I hope its as nice as yours!  That's one sweet looking Eurofighter!

Chris - the two Corsairs are coming along great!  Love the preshading!  Its so cool that you decided to build two builds of the same NAMED aircraft, yet of totally different eras!  Looking forward to the finished builds!

Wayne - 10 builds in various stages?  Dang!  I get antsy when I have 2 uncompleted!!  If I had 10 that I was actually working on in different stages I think my head would explode!!

I'll have that M4A3E8 update later today.

Ernest thanks, the Sherman is really shaping up. I really like that kit with the cast turret.

Ernest, thanks dude!! Yeah, the rigging was actually not all that bad I gotta say.....

Ernest - thanks, i thought it would be a nice 'comparison' of the two eras. However, it was more dumb luck the way it turned out, they were both on my "build next" list and it wan't until posting in here that it dawned on me they were both Corsairs.

Looking forward to your Dragon Update.

As for me, have 1/2 finished glossing the F4U. Am in the process of laying down sandy brown on the A-7.

Hope to post updates later tonight.