Me410 A-1: To The Finish! 11/7/10

Luftwoller wrote:

...I see it looks like Fritzi has a wound badge on her tunic? Show us her scars, would ya?  ...Guy

 I bet it was for a broken heart...

Breathtaking work Chuk!  BTW, could you PM me Fritzi's phone number?  I, um, have a question for her. LOL...

Seriously, I look forward to your update every week.

Great stuff as usuall Chuck. This weeks piccy is tail related, seeing as thats what your attacking this week,

I see it looks like Fritzi has a wound badge on her tunic? Show us her scars, would ya? 

...Guy

chukw

I have seen some detailed work in the past but this takes it to a higher level!! Your work is simply outstanding .......................... 

Progress is going well.

I'm about to work on the flight surfaces of one of my aircraft so the timing couldn't be better.

Eric... 

The perfect end to the day- a chukw update. 

Very nice, sir.  Very nice indeed.  

The best part, I think, is that most of the things you do aren't really that complicated.  It just involves an amazingly anal attention to detail, no matter where it is.  I've seen scratches that you've spent and entire update filling (okay, a bit of an exagguration) that I would've probably just hidden under a coat of primer.  Bravo, sir (if it hasn't been said before).

Many thanks, guys!

Guy, you know me by now!  If you can open it up and add a bunch crap you know I'll do it!  Let's just say the wells are open for inspection.  Great pic- keep 'em comin!

Thanks, Kielers- I use a CanonPower Shot SD1800 IS with macro, digital zoom- and the key element- steadicam function. I take these shots under my Ott Lite single handed, no tripod. 

NH, they gave me one of those loud shirts, too!

Soulcrusher, P-Shop just takes practice- but a good IT dept doesn't hurt either...  ;D

Scorpr2- glad you noticed the plane!

Jim, I'll look for those brand X swabs- these things do leave a lot of fuzz.  I don't use 'em for cleaning up wash anymore, but at this stage they're still okay, I guess.  Thanks!

More to come, Drew- stay tuned!

Thanks, Matt- I feel like I've gotten over the hump. 

Not too much time at the bench this week- lots going on!  I'll let Fritzi get you caught up on our progress- I'm off and running!

Great techniques on how to get the rsin inserts in without much fuss.  Thanks for th update.  You are at the stage that I love in building, when the kit first starts to look like an airplane!

Matt

New Hampshire wrote:

Chuk has gone BIG TIME!  I see he now has sponsors and is subtely inserting them into his work!  Good to see Trader Joe's supporting Chuk's endevours! I can see the commercials now Chuk: "The other Day Lil' Chuk and Pfennig were having a disagreement about which brand mozarella cheese is best, and Lil' Chuk agrees only Trader Joe's all natural brand Ovoline Mozarella made with whole milk will do.....mmmm mmmmm just taste that freshness!" Brian

Gee, chukw didn't even leave any cheese for us?!

Seriously, gluing the fuselage together is always a big step forward! That's the moment when a model plane starts to look like a plane and not just a pile of parts.

I'd be a bit concerned about the Q-tip leaving fibers behind, though (although they're great for cleaning the ears). But my ex-roommate in California gave me a large box of cheapo cotton swabs (not the true Q-tips name brand) that aren't that great for cleaning the ear but are perfect for the workbench. They don't leave as many fibers as the real Q-tips and even the rather flimsy plastic stick comes in handy when you cut off one end of the swab.

I love Trader Joe's! Seriously though that is some nice work there Chuk. Everytime I read another one of your updates it makes me want to learn how to use Photoshop so bad.

                                                                                         Soulcrusher

Chuk has gone BIG TIME!  I see he now has sponsors and is subtely inserting them into his work!  Good to see Trader Joe's supporting Chuk's endevours! I can see the commercials now

Chuk: "The other Day Lil' Chuk and Pfennig were having a disagreement about which brand mozarella cheese is best, and Lil' Chuk agrees only Trader Joe's all natural brand Ovoline Mozarella made with whole milk will do.....mmmm mmmmm just taste that freshness!"

Brian

Chuk,

Here you go again, another awesome build string.  I have to say, I look forward to your updates for two reasons now, first, to witness another great build and pickup some tips and techniques, and second, to see more of your great characters, they're awesome. 

I want to also ask what you use for your photos?  I can't seem to get good, clear close shots like yours.  I use the macro setting but my camera might be a little lacking. 

Thanks for posting.

Steve

Another stunning instalment Chuckster. Out of interest, what do you use to polish the scratches out of the engine nacelle. It looks very smooooooth.

 When i built mine i looked at the wheel well inserts. I was put off by the fact that theres no pics of them open. You will get away with it perfectly as your opening up the engine. The doors were hydraulically actuated and if the plane was stood for a length of time, i.e engine work, they would drop down. They do look gorgeous.

This weeks pic might give you some inspiration for access equiptment and wheel chocks,

...Guy

Thanks, everybody!  I'll answer all questions in due time- but go right ahead, Irish!

 It was my sweet little wife's birthday yesterday- we had a nice dinner out and walked the dogs at the beach.  I got to model some, too- she's very supportive of my weird hobbies.  She even brought me a nice, cold one while I was writing up this post- cheers!

Man, you are truly inspirational. Thanks for sharing. 

Jim

Chuck once again you have produced another great installment. Even the small ones are enjoyable.

I love your artwork, and if you had a book of the stuff, id buy one for sure.

This weeks pic is a favourite of mine. It shows a 410 doing a pass on a B-24 from the 388th BG. I think they can count thier lucky stars that the 410 missed with that cannon!!!

...Guy

leemitcheltree wrote:

Without doubt, his threads are the most enjoyable I've seen on this site - his models are fantastic, but mix in all the extra work he does, and it's the reason I hit the aircraft section first time, every time, just to see if there's another installment.

 First off, once again, wonderful work, and another example of why We follow these builds. You are absolutely amazing. Not just in your builds themselves, but in your presentation, and in the very obvious time, effort, and love you put into what you are doing.

I was wondering if I might have permission to print this out so that I might frame it and hang it on the wall of my war room/modeling room?

chukw wrote:

LOL... Chuckie, Randy's got a pretty good point - I'd buy a book of your shtuff, and I'm sure a hundred others would, too...and another bloke (Chris) made another valid point - you throw a whole bunch of extra work into your threads...not just the plastic stuff, but Lil' Chuk and Fritzi as well (is it wrong of me to find a cartoon disturbingly alluring?)...maybe I should seek treatment.  But Fritzi's hot...

And Chris, you're right - there's a whole bunch of work that goes into the stuff Chuck does in 2D...I've been fortunate enough to see some of his original 2D artwork first hand...and lemme tell you, it's amazing stuff.  To think he does all this to make his threads more enjoyable says a bit about the guy...either he's a raving egomaniac (which I doubt), or he cares..which I think he does.

Without doubt, his threads are the most enjoyable I've seen on this site - his models are fantastic, but mix in all the extra work he does, and it's the reason I hit the aircraft section first time, every time, just to see if there's another installment.

Chuckie-boy, thanks a bunch for sharing so much with us.

By the way, I hope you don't mind...I saved the "Lest We Forget" artwork to my hard drive...I'm going to print it out and laminate it and hang it up at work...most everything we make at my work  is defence aviation based, so the sentiment will fly there.

Chukw This is the second build of yours I have followed, and I wanted to thank you for all the time and effort you put into them, I have been very entertained and look forward to your weekly installments. Because I have been following your builds and learning from them my detailing skills have improved by leaps and bounds, I actually built one I was pleased with and have another on the bench.

Maybe as was said you should consider putting your builds in book form, I for one would stand in line for one.

Well it might be a quick update but I notice you did give us two full shots of pure artwork, so while the 3D world may have been a little slow, looks like you got a lot of 2D practice in there as well!! Always a fan of the artwork and photo combination you've got going on here. As an ex comp.graphic student with a low end WACOM tablet and an older Photoshop CS, I can appreciate all the added time to a simple WIP all this is, definitely rewards those that follow.

Can I momentarily derail your thread and ask, do you use many layers? Or does an old pro like you do it all at once? I usually paint from the back to the front, but illustrate on the computer from the front to the back, making the outlines, then filling in using a layer bellow etc. Just curious, I'm pretty self taught and I'm sure there's plenty of ways to do things, especially when it's one's job. Feel free to PM me, don't want to distract and take too much traffic away from your great build!!

(even if you are just a little bit crazy for wedging in details that a judge would have to use some form of a Dr. Seuss mirror array to detect )

In the end I guess you have to model for you, and at least you're leaving a great photographic record of your secret details and hidden gadgets that take up the voids- I agree with some past posts that you should publish all the WIP photos/cartoons in a big old compellation book to display with your models/take on the road to contest judges to guarantee victories! (Do they put you in your own category? Or up against real 1:1 planes or something?)