Me410 B6/R2 ProModeler (Completed)

Fine, fine job Brandon.  

BTW I used your fishing line antenae wire idea for my latest build and it came out great.  Thanks for the tip.  I moved to Florida and now I have a use for that ice fishing line I just happened to keep.

Thanks guys, I really enjoyed this kit and it turned out pretty decent.

Very nice, Brandon.

Gorgeous Brandon.  Thanks for taking us with you on the build.  

Joe

I use fine fishing line, clear, and then a permanent marker to make them black. I attach them with CA and an accelerator.

Interestingly enough.  I didn't have near as much trouble with the radar as I figured. The canopy was what gave me the most fits. I even had little trouble with the spiral prop decals. Those usually cause some creative cursing so that's a first for me as well Brandon if you don't mind how did you do your antenna wires. Like the rest of the plane it looks fantastic

Great job, Brandon! Always liked the looks of the Hornet.

That's come out real nice Brandon.  I've been following along several GB right now but unfortunately I haven't been able to partake just yet.  I have an Fw 190A6 that was a night fighter planned...I just need to get this Hawk off my desk.  =D lol.

Real glad to see all of this come together.

Gentlemen, thank you all for the kind words on my build. They are appreciated. We all know that some of these kits really test our patience. Fortunately this one was a gem to build. Thanks Again,

Brandon

Greatmaker

Ugh I'm on the bitter dregs of the process.. In the two years of putting together 43 planes. This one had many firsts. First one with so many PE parts. First one I had to use a vice grip on to get the fuselage halfs.  It was like the cockpit was too wide for the body. I put the canopy on tonight.  Definitely would recommend putting it together on the plane and painting it on there.  I always paint the canopy first then put it on, but even with test fitting the canopy supports were too high.  Made the canopy about 2mm from seating on the fuselage.  Did some fast trimming but I must admit this is the worst looking canopy I've done.  Started on the radar array. That should give me a few more gray hairs. Looking forward to putting this one behind me

Geez Brandon, she looks great man!   Your paint work is first class, really well done.

Gary

SWEET!!!!!!!!

Ugh I'm on the bitter dregs of the process.. In the two years of putting together 43 planes. This one had many firsts. First one with so many PE parts. First one I had to use a vice grip on to get the fuselage halfs.  It was like the cockpit was too wide for the body. I put the canopy on tonight.  Definitely would recommend putting it together on the plane and painting it on there.  I always paint the canopy first then put it on, but even with test fitting the canopy supports were too high.  Made the canopy about 2mm from seating on the fuselage.  Did some fast trimming but I must admit this is the worst looking canopy I've done.  Started on the radar array. That should give me a few more gray hairs. Looking forward to putting this one behind me

Way to go! That mottle pattern looks sharp Brandon! I'm the same way with my builds. Once they are built they remain untouched for the most part. How folks transport these things to model shows I'll never know.

bloody awesome!

Wow amazing job If mine turns out even a 1/3 as good as yours I'll be happy

Well boys and girls, I'm calling this one done. The fine details and small parts on this kit will drive a sober man to drinking. It seems over the last few sessions I had at the bench were bathed in hatred. Every time I would touch the kit I would break off something and spend hours getting it back in place. This is one delicate kit to say the least. 

It went together well enough but be warned, the small pieces are numerous and just looking for a reason to get knocked off. This is a tricky kit to handle once all the fiddly bits are added. I even kept the photos at the end to a bare minimum to avoid breaking it for the millionth time. It sets on the shelf where I am scared to death to even look at it cross eyed for fear of something falling off. Whew, its done.

All in all its a good kit and fit was great. I really had no assembly issues at all. The only hard part really was doing the front radar antenna. That was tough. But superglue and some accelerator, a stack of objects to rest the whole thing on while I worked and a great deal of patience made it come together. And that radar assembly is small and very, very, very delicate and bends SOOOO easy its just nuts.  

Since I really was unable to find any photos of aircraft that were dirty or heavily weathered I kept it simple and did a simple oil wash for the small details and added some soot for the exhaust stains. Dirtied up the flaps a bit and sealed it all in with MM clear flat. I am especially happy with the paint on this one as it came out great and was my first attempt at mottling.  I hope I have covered enough but if not just ask. Thanks for looking.

I don't know why the photos are rotating. They were not taken that way and don't show up in my photobucket like that. Stupid internet. 

Greatmaker

I just starts this monster this morning.  First impressions of this kit are I picked a bad week to give up drinking.  Did you use superglue to attach all the photoetch parts? I just couldn't get them to stick so I tried some Elmers glue to tack them in place and when that dried I re-enforced with superglue.  It seems the instructions on this kit are pretty vague especially in the cockpit construction.  Did you find any better instructions for this kit?  Thank You

I used think CA glue and accelerator for the antenna wire and the radar antenna. Once I had the basic shapes built for the array I built a small platform to set at the nose of the plane and used it to rest the array on at just the perfect height so I could attach it to the support piece that went on first. Then, once all pieces were aligned to my satisfaction I put CA glue at the joints and hit them with some accelerator to speed up the curing time. It worked very well and the array is pretty secure, if not terribly delicate. Hope this helps.

As far as instructions, I felt they were a bit vague as well but I test fit and trialed all of them as I went and looked ahead in the instructions to make sure nothing was going to give me problems as I worked along. The kit went together very well and was a pleasure to build. Except for the small bits I kept breaking off near the end other build, but that's just me bumbling along. Good luck. 

I just starts this monster this morning.  First impressions of this kit are I picked a bad week to give up drinking.  Did you use superglue to attach all the photoetch parts? I just couldn't get them to stick so I tried some Elmers glue to tack them in place and when that dried I re-enforced with superglue.  It seems the instructions on this kit are pretty vague especially in the cockpit construction.  Did you find any better instructions for this kit?  Thank You

Decals are going down. I am about 75% done with them. Then a pin wash and final assembly. This one is really coming out great. Very happy with this kit all the way around. More pics once it's complete in a few days. 

Thanks for the tips!

Gary

Texgunner

Your paint work looks great Brandon!   I noted your comment about the Sotar 20/20.  I have as brand-new one that I've never used yet; do you have any observations/critiques/suggestions to make about that AB?  Thanks, Gary.

I would say that this little guy loves lower pressure and sprays best at the lower pressure. It is made for super fine, hair like detail work and pushing it to do larger scale work is frustrating. That is why I use it for panel lines, small details and now mottling. It excels at it and really shines. I have found that it can even repair chips in the paint from tape pull off without masking due to its up close ability. I found that I can even work along a hard paint line with it up close and personal and not get overspray over the line. My Iwata does the heavy lifting but the Badger rocks the small stuff. 

I also found that it comes with two shields for the tip. One protects the needle and the other leaves it exposed. For some odd reason I can't get it to spray well with the shield on, so I run it with the tip out there where it can get damaged and it sprays very well. Not sure why that is, perhaps its just me. I am just super extra careful not to hit it or catch it on anything. 

Your paint work looks great Brandon!   I noted your comment about the Sotar 20/20.  I have as brand-new one that I've never used yet; do you have any observations/critiques/suggestions to make about that AB?  Thanks, Gary.

Looks great !    TY for posting the air comp. settings etc. for the motling.  I am no longer afraid to try this because of your explaination.

Had you not said anything , It would appear you were an old pro at this. Nice job.

Hey Brandon, your mottle job looks very good!  It's easy to over do it on the mottle but yours looks just right.

Steve

Sweet!  That looks fantastic!

Groot

Today was a banner day. I tried my first mottling job. I have had NO practice I just read some forums, watched a few vids and set to work. I first disconnected my Iwata hp-cs and hooked up my Badger Sotar 20/20 which has an extra fine needle. I turned down my air pressure to about 8 psi and thinned my Mr Color paints until they would spray at that low pressure. It was almost effortless using that combination. I actually enjoyed the process better than regular air brushing. I am very pleased with the outcome, especially since I've never done this before and I was quite worried I would botch the whole thing up and flip out.

Here is the before and after the color change shots I spoke of last time.

It's difficult to tell by the photos but the colors are quite different. The second shot is the final color. 

Here is how the mottling turned out.  It's nearly there now.

I was just beside myself with disgust at how the colors turned out on this so I am respraying the whole thing with new colors. I think these are a better match than before. I have two of the three down and it is looking more like I had intended. Here is the before and after shots of the underside.