Thanks guys. From the start with their first kit ZM had a vision of what aircraft kits should be and they learned fast about what can and can't be done and what customers wanted from a large scale kit. Thay are not cheap and you should certainly look and think closely about the actual colours you are going to use.

I always go with authentic chipset colours from Vallejo and their model air range, and not the political corectness equivalent of scale correct paint.

The reason why is that while recovering from battlefield injuries in hospital I had a very long and interesting discussion with an opthalmic surgeon about just how we actually see colours and shades and what our subconcious brain element does with colours. He did a little demonstration and ever since that I have not used brands that have this element of scale correct paint unless there is a colour that I have to use.

Contrary to what these brands say about light reflectivity, it reflects the same off any object and it is our subconcious that interprets what we see and like photoshop depending on distance lightens and darkens colours to define detail.

Don't believe me? get a A4 paper in a medium blue colour and draw a simple square with a thick black marker pen and look at it at your normal reading distance. prop it up and walk away about 25-30 feet, turn around and look at it again. The square will still be black, but the blue will be either lighter or darker depending on the light level around you at the time. but that colour can't have physically changed... IT'S YOUR BRAIN!

With a ZM build you seem to be building small bits and pieces for quite a while as well as going blind painting all the small details and swearing at the airbrush when it clogs at a crucial moment!

However, all of a sudden this aircraft take shape!

Main undercart built, painted detailed and added.

Tail wheel installed. Almost no need for glue!

Firewall installed.

Upper wing and undercarriage housing/nacelle added as well as the wing root fillets. There was a slight fit issue on the left side upper, but that was my fault and I had to remove the upper wing root fillet and place it in seperatly. There may be some remedial work needed there, and a repaint! The lower ones clicked into place without any glue!

All of a sudden it looks like an airplane...... but wait, there's more!

Oil coolers added to both sides

Engines added.... now we are getting somewhere!!

37mm cannon mount added

nose dry fit. It has been primed with metal silver to bounce light around the inside to hopefully get a better view of the 37mm from the port side.

What's under there? This!

There has been some dry fitting of various canopy sections and from all the little bit spread around the bench, suddently an aircraft appears!

masking tape not covering clear items removed. She's grown up and is getting close to looking fearsome! a repair paint job down the fuselage is needed.

next time it's engine cowling fitting etc!

Comments and questions welcome

James

I actually thought that this would be done by now but social engagements etc do cut into build time.

At this time of year, well from Christmas Day for 12 days I have a challenge to build a kit from start to finish. This year I have chosen Trumpeter's 128mm Kanone 43 bzw.44 Krupp.

I call it Snaps' 12 days of Christmas build and this year I will put it up on the appropriate forum. Anyone can join in with their own.

This does mean that there will be disruption to the Nick build, for which I do apologise for in advance.

James

AKA Snap the Mad!

Ok.. on with the build after the Christmas break!

Most of the build is complete, but there are still parts to add and it is time to do some work on the exterior and add the camo scheme.... well the masking for it!

First, though, the engine cowlings. Pay special attention to the fit. I had to make a couple of very slight alterations, but it was minor stuff and easy to do.

That's all for the moment.

Questions and comments welcome.

James

Extraordinary amount of detail in your build of this kit. You're doing a LOT of modeling work on this puppy!!! And doing it well.

On one of the links you provided (I am interested in a 1/32 kit of the Arrow) the price equates to about $154.00 but what is the "fee" they mention? Is it the shipping cost?

Hi Mike,

the "fee" is either shipping or tax.

the two main contenders are Zoukei-Mura and HK Models and you have a few variants to choose from.

the builds of these and detail are very similar and not much in them but you should be aware that ZM does not have any nose weight in the kit and doesn't profile space for one. You have to fit in 80-100g around the cockpit and engine where you can.

HK, however include a nose weight in the kit and it is hidden in the front engine. Both companies produce spectacular builds of the Do 335 with ZM requiring more thought and enterprise to making it sit correctly where HK make it easy!

both companies kits sit easily side by side and as these were very late war and limited numbers, it opens the way for Luft'46 camo schemes.

Hi Clint,

Good to see you nosing around and that you are still interested in the Owl.

while 1/48 is your main sphere and you say that 1/32 is too big for you, I think you mean storage/display wise.

sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone and tackle something bigger or smaller to challenge ourselves and to increase our skills and provide the occasional problem solving exercise.

ZM's Uhu has attracted your attention and it builds up into a big kit which will give you pause to where you can put it when done. I would go to ZM's website and download the PDF instructions for this bird and look at the build with a view of making the wings removeable and so being able to store it in a suitable plastic box and bring it out when you want to.

You can make your own display case for this if you feel so inclined, but I am saying that your ready interest in this aircraft and ZM's kit will produce a stunning build and I'll support you all the way.

James

Looks awesome James! Love those pre-cut masks for the camo!!! 

Still haven't ordered my kit. They were out of stock on them when I went to order. Now they have them back in stock but I spent a lot of money on other stuff and think I should wait a little. Hopefully not too long and miss the boat. 

That's amazing James. You're doing that beautiful kit justice. Very precise, very smooth. =]. Keep it coming!

Gamera, those camo masks are hand cut

It's a case of Tamiya masking sheets, pencil, sharp knife, first aid kit, music and karaoke!

@bvallot.... thanks man! I hope everyone can see what can be done with these kits and there's more suprises to come yet!

you should note, that there is no AM stuff at all in this build at all. I was going to add some 0.2 or 0.3mm brass wire to the engine for the HT leads and although the spark plugs are obvious, where the leads go back to wasn't so I didn't bother!

The build itself is quite pain free although you should consider how you want the aircraft to look BEFORE you start and work backwards and make notes on which variant and clear or normal styrene fuselage/wings. You should note that it is ok to mix and match.

Coming soon and this year, ZM's first kit, the Shinden, HK's B-17F and Lancaster all in 1/32 scale! There will be some Armour too, but that's not for this section! LOL

This build is insanely good, or just simply insane! Major kudos for hand cutting all those masks. Not sure how you would acheive that camo without it though. Can't wait to see the finished model

Hand cut, WOW!

Stupendous!!! Awesome job!

Thanks for the posetive comments guys. 

These builds when logged right can teach others and show techniques and alternative ways to get stuff done!

Here's another update. It doesn't seem to have progressed much, but there has been quite a lot of work.

The pilots gunsight has been painted and built and added

This means that we can add the windshield and the upper gunsight for the "Schrage Musik" gun installation behind the pilot. The interior was cleaned with some washing up detergent, water and cotton bud to remove any grease and fingerprints etc!

Also added were the rear gunner cockpit canopy, mounts etc with cleaning done as above proir to fixing.

Camo masking can now proceed down the fuselage. Some of the canopy parts are dry fitted so that accurate masking can take place by moving the parts as needed and then painting off the model and added in the correct opened position so they might look a bit odd, but they do match up!  :idea:  :idea:  :idea:  :idea:  :D

The canopy part that covers the "Schrage Musik" is dry fitted as once painted the windows can be fitted from the inside and there's no need for masking. Sometimes working backwards and making plans means that while moving forwards can take a while, some things become easier to deal with!

There are some parts to deal with underneath but the main painting needs to be done first.

This will look very different next time!

Questions and comments welcome!

James

She's coming along great James! Love the camo masks you've made. I think I'll try the same next time I try to paint that sort of scheme. I have two Ki-45s already in 1/48th- the Nichimo and Hasegawa kits. 

Thanks for the comments guys.

When I picked this up at Telford show I was able to talk to the guy that does their display models and the way he painted their display Nick and he told me that he did the upper surface freehand and it looks fantastic but the lighter base colour, in my own personal opinion suffers from overspray and to an effect that it tones down the colour difference between the two contrasting colours.

I wanted to do the same camo type but have a definite sharp edge finish as I have seen on some period photos and so after thinking carefully I decided that to get the light base colour and dark green hard edge patches you actually have to work backwards with the dark green being the base coat and masking off the patches then applying the light colour. Once the masking is taken off the light coat becomes the base coat!

with these kind of kits that have so much detail and display options it is quite often best to spend a long time with the instruction manual and the parts and decide just how you want the finished thing to look, then work backwards but build in some flexibility to the plan.

There will be some fun when it comes time to do the decals..... I won't be using some of them and to paint them on is going to take some creativity!

FYI, the exterior colours are chipset correct (I have deviated greatly from the colours in the manual) and are from Vallejo's Model Air set Japanese army Air Force colour set. The interior colour matched to Afrika Korps RAL 8000 (71.116).

James

Here's another update.

There has been a huge change in the look of the Nick!

All the time I have been a little worried about just how the outcome of my endeavours would be and I had an image in my minds eye. Much work and Tamiya sheet masking paper has gone into this (and we are not finished yet).

I don't know if I can finish in time for  the Huddersfield/halifax model show on the 10th February and I am not going to rush the job and this stage has taken longer than I thought it would.

Choosing the pale green to be the "base" coat is a very big contrast to the IJN Dark Green. In my mind there is an image I am trying to get!

The coat is now done and it is time to remove the masking using a cocktail stick and some.... Beach Boys music!!!

There are some parts and areas that were masked off from the beginning as I wanted the viewer to be able to see some of the interior components.
 I am really pleased with the result although there is some touching up and paint tamage to repair which will be done with a paint brushas I don't want the feathered edges that an air brush will do.

What do you guys think of this??????

Now it is time to work on the national insignia and PAINT that on!

James

No problems, Clint. I guess all my years and training in the Army allows me to think problems through and also consider stuff from outside the box.

The trick is to make people believe that what the base coat should be and that the blotch pattern was applied after. Sometimes you have to work backwards to get effects.

I am thinking that the Stork you are doing is of Afrika Korps colours.

If so then you should consider these Vallejo colours:

71.101 RLM 78 undersurface

71.278 RLM 79 upper surface base coat

71.265 RLM 80 upper surface blotch 

These are chipset correct and will make your storch exterior look fabulous.

However, note that hard edge patterns were not done in the desert. they were all soft edge mottle patterns.

snapdragonxxx

No problems, Clint. I guess all my years and training in the Army allows me to think problems through and also consider stuff from outside the box.

The trick is to make people believe that what the base coat should be and that the blotch pattern was applied after. Sometimes you have to work backwards to get effects.

I am thinking that the Stork you are doing is of Afrika Korps colours.

If so then you should consider these Vallejo colours:

71.101 RLM 78 undersurface

71.278 RLM 79 upper surface base coat

71.265 RLM 80 upper surface blotch 

These are chipset correct and will make your storch exterior look fabulous.

However, note that hard edge patterns were not done in the desert. they were all soft edge mottle patterns.

 

I was thinking of having the edges of the mask pulled up some to give them that soft edge. I got the Vallejo colors and I love them for brush painting figures but it's always a fight trying to airbrush them for me. I have the Lifecolor colors I need for this project they are as easy to use just like Tamiya and are really good matches for RLM#, but I am replacing them with mission model as I run out. I'm still keeping Tamiya around for my armor projects. Any way don't want to derail your great build here anymore than I alreay have. 

Model Air for airbrush. It goes through fine in mine with both 0.4 and 0.2mm nozzles at 18 psi.

I find that mission models RLM colours are way out from the chipset. This scale conversion paint idea is really corrupting our hobby!

Great looking paint job. Guess I need to add some Tamiya masking sheets to my shopping list!

Thanks for the comments guys.

Over the past couple of days I think I have learned much about painting insignia on.

This is the image I found and the decals in the kit cover this squadron

Rather than start playing with some huge decals I have decided to paint them on. White and red are colours that are not east to deal with and paint on but it was preferable to me rather than go down the gloss decal, solution, matt coats road.

Maketar do Japanese insignia masks so bought a set and using cut out decals I started setting out the white base. I looked for a reference point to start from and the masks gave me this by starting with the aileron wing trim tab as my anchor point.

The same technique was used on the fuselage, but having to cut a curve was not an easy task and it turned out nearly right.... close enough anyway! My point of reference was the navigation light on the upper fuselage

There is another white band to do just forward of the tail, but I think that I will use the decal for that. Also the red and white fuselage stripe will not be easy and I will use the decals for the tail as I just can't produce a mask for that!!!

I add the masks for the wing insignis using the 1300mm masks from the Maketar set. I looked carefully at the colour profile in the build manual and decided the anchor point would be the inboard edge of the white panel line that intersetcs the wing and the alieron.

This put the "meatball" right on the spot from the colour profiles in the manual. I was concerned that I might have to spend ages measuring and marking out!

Plenty of masking tape to catch overspray. I have been caught out by this before and I do work very close to minimise this also!

I am using Vallejo 71.102 Fire Red for the insignia It is a little darker than the RAL 3000 red I was going to use, but the white background and the pale green of the base coat will make our brain lighten the red!

I am not going to remove the masks just yet as I can see a difference in the red paint and so once it dried properly I will check it again as it might need another coat.

This has made me think that doing insignia like this on top of the camo may not be a good idea as colours underneath (despite the white base) will change the shade. Maybe it is a good idea to do the insignia ditectly onto the primer and then mask that off until the camo coat is done. That way the colours are not prone to blotch shading.

I will welcome thoughts, comments and discussion on that.

James

She looks amazing James!!! 

The masks worked out great!!! I hate the things, I always get some bleed no matter how careful I am. 

More work has been done.

Painting on the insignia is something that maybe I didn't think or plan for properly despite using kit decals as templates when it comes to the fuselage. Nothing seems to fit or look right or join up where it should. I am sure that it is me... but there again I am not sure!

After masking the fuselage everything comes together... I think!

Now it sooks ok. there has been some bleeding so further remedial work is needed.

After careful looking, I decided that although a temple was made from the decal, the white background edges needed attention so the area was masked again. Also the red/white stripe was fixed in place for marking out and it didn't fit according to the paint/decal profiles in the manual as far as it going to meet the white band.

It was the same on both sides!

My immediate question was why?
The white stripe was applied according to the manual using the upper fuselage navigation light as the anchor point and the decals as templates... The curves on the outside of the template were not perfect so I am wondering if the decals were not quite right or I have just messed up big time, but it still looks right!

Corrections to the red meatball bleeds and I redid the edges of the white background. It has the unfortunate effect of making the white fuselage band look a little odd as the meatball is now a little off centre.

I decided to mask off the stripes by no.1 eyeball using the point under the canoy as the snchor point and run them down to the white band as close to the original as I could get them

to produce the white border 0.7mm tape will be used to mask inside the current masked off area

Ok. the white is done. I need to leave this overnight to make sure the white is properly dry!

more next time.... will it be a success or....

James

Hmmm, could the red stripe be off a little but will fit once it goes around the curve of the fusilage? I'm probably wrong - just thinking out loud... 

Personally I think she looks friggin' fantastic! I don't see much bleed anywhere, I'd love to have mine come out as well.