Satch and Jeremy looking good, I like the the Canopy frame decals. That part of building is my least favorite masking canopy frames. I have used fast frames and also had success. great WIP pics love too see everyones great work.

Thanks all.  The kit came with decals for entire cammo pattern.  I painted instead except for the canopy frames.

The colors are actually 70/02/65.  I have bottles of both 65 and 76 (Hellblau and Lichtblau respectively) and they look exactly the same.  Here is a reference, one of many.  http://users.hol.gr/~nowi/

A general question.  We assume that WWII aircraft paint was matte to reduce reflection from the sun.  Matt paint is hard to maintain, though.  Navy paint is glossy due to corrosion control.  How glossy or matte were other WWII paints?

I'm calling her done as I am gone to NYC.  Keep building those Hurricanes and Spitfires, Heinz needs targets!

Satch, Nice one buddy she looks good

My own personal preferance is for a Matt finish but i'm not 100% sure if thats accurate, i just like it tthat way....

Satch- Very well done, like this build a lot!  Surprised at how well those canopy decals worked, very nice!

Jeremy- Oh, yes!  Lovely work so far.  That is my all-time favorite kit to build.  Sorry if I missed this, but what markings are you planning on doing her up in?

Satch - I usually do a flat coat also but I really like the way Frank finishes his birds and even though I've asked him 12 or so times, I forget to write it down.

Frank - This is a nice kit. I thought I had a Tamiya to compare it to but I don't see it and I don't feel like digging for it. This is the first "E" I've built as I'm kinda partial to the later variants. Here's the markings she's getting dressed in... #5 at the top.

The reason I picked this plane is because the sheet claims that the cowl and tail are white.   I'm so sick of yellow on Luftwaffe birds..  I need some change!. 

And here's a little progress pic. The hard work is done.

 Now, Frank... was that Pollyscale satin thinned 3 to 1???

Satch beautiful job mate!!!

Jeremy, she's looking good!!!!! Looking forward to seeing some color on her!!!

A friend sent me this link about a new exhibit about "The Few" at Duxford.  It's really worth a look.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267916/Unseen-images-Battle-Britain-heroes-duty.html

Jeremy- OOPS!  I thought you were building the Tamiya kit- my fav.  Have never tried the Hasegawa version, so not sure how they compare.  On the Polly Scale, I usually thin it to about the consistency of skim milk, not sure if that helps.  Probably about 25% distilled water?  Sorry, I have never really measured it.

Buddy- Great link, thank you very much.  Some great photos there too.  I finished reading "Reach for the Sky" last week, about Sir Douglas Bader.  A great read to be certain.  I recognized a few names in those photo captions.

This might interest you:

http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/falco_bob.htm

Daywalker

  A great read to be certain. 

Certainly was!!!! I also recorded the movie made of the same name. Which has genuine article Bristol Bulldog and Avro 504 in it.

Thanks for the links guys, interesting stuff!!!!

I finally got a start on my Me109E.  I've got several sets of markings to choose from, so I'm going to back into  that decision as things progress.  I was anxious to get things going, so I've started the cockpit.  I'm a big fan of the Eduard Zoom photoetch sets, and the 109 set did not disappoint.  I put most of the Eduard set in along with some fine copper wiring to clutter up the space. Eduard also includes a great little seat belt/harness set.  I had a bunch of photos of different cockpits and no two seemed to be alike, so I just took off and painted what seemed to be appropriate German greys.  I really was happy with the way all the little boxes and levers have filled the space.  I have some touching up to do (digital photography is an excellent tool to find mistakes).  And there are still some knobs and levers to add.  So, I've broke the ice and am moving ahead.  Rick.

Excellent work fellas!

I sort of been distracted from the GB sense my Luftwaffe pilot was finished. When I get some more time I will flip through the thread and pick up some of your kung-foo techniques!

Rick, excellent work mate!!!! Well on the way to a masterpiece!!

Great looking cockpit Rick! That Eduard PE is amazing.

Managed to get a little bit done on the Messerschmitt today. I painted and attached the PE armor plate to the canopy. I could have cleaned it up better but me and PE don't get along well... parts tend to launch into outer space so I like to handle them as little as possible.

While the airbrush was fired up, I also painted the prop and spinner. I had a hard time masking the light green but it came out okay.

Maybe tomorrow I can get the canopy attached which means more paint soon... my favorite part!

Guys,

Just got back tonight. Great vacation but bad weather down around Alabama and my head is full of pollen so I cut things short and skipped Pensacola. Yeap Satch I ran down to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama. I've been down to the Kennedy center in Florida but this was my first trip to Huntsville.

At the risk of running off-topic here's your photos Simpilot!

Wait! There's more!!! I'll throw in a Saturn V launch vehicle for no extra charge!!!

Back on-topic- I'm afraid I'll leave some one out so let me just say 'great job everyone!!!' I'm eager to get back to work on my spit...

MMMMMMMMMMM Thanks Mate!!!!!!!! That is a nice shot with the Saturn V in the background!!!back!!!

Hey everyone got the part for my airbrush and have painted the Anson interior looks better now. Here are some pics hope you enjoy.

Nomad glad to see the AB is back in action!!!! Really looking good!!!

Nomad, nice to see you got your airbrush going, that's looking splendid , keep up the good work.

Cheers...

Hi all, unfortunately a computer crash on my PC which bricked my main hard drive has left me on the sidelines for a while, but I'm back up and running now.

I'll go back and review the last few pages later on this evening and fix up the roster as needed.

Cheers

Hi chaps,

I'm afraid all was not well with my Spitfire paint finish and it was bugging me so I went at it yesterday with the Mr Color Thinners and stripped the paint off, I've just put some new primer on and all is looking well so far and hopefully I can make a better job of it this time.

Cheers....

Gamera - Awesome picture with the Saturn V in the background!

Nomad - The Anson is shaping up nicely. Looking forward to seeing it with the wings on.

Mike - Sorry to hear about the paint... what went wrong?   I'm sure you'll have no trouble this time around.

I did some painting and got the white (I used light grey FS36495 instead because it's not so bright) on the nose and tail, masked it and then squirted on some RLM65.

I can't wait to start some more painting but I have a question for ya. The instructions give a callout for RLM02 mottle on the sides but in the picture it looks like RLM02 with the other splinter color RLM71 painted inside the 02 mottling but no mention of that color. How would you paint it?

See how the color fades from light to dark on the sides? Are the instructions just showing fading or should I mottle over mottle?

On a side note, the instructions say that this plane belongs to Hans "Assi" Hahn of I/JG3. I think it should be Hans von Hahn's plane because Hans Assi Hahn was with III/JG2. I'm not a big bugger for absolute accuracy but that seems like a big mistake. Maybe I have it wrong but I can't find a ref for this particular aircraft anywhere but the pilots are well documented.

Thanks for any help with the painting!

Hans "Assi" Hahn served in both.  The following was lifted from the www.luftwaffe.cz site:

On 1 November 1937, Hahn was transferred to a new Jagdfliegerschule at Werneuchen as a flight instructor and Staffelführer of 1. Staffel. He received promotion to the rank of Oberleutnant on 1 February 1939 and was transferred to the Stabstaffel of I./JG 3, based at Meseburg. Oberleutnant Hahn transferred to JG 2 on 11 October 1939. He was assigned to newly formed II./JG 2, based at Zerbst, which was formed using the nucleus of personnel from I./JG 3 and I./JG 2.

I can't see the entire instruction sheet to see if it is accurate or not.  I'm in NY so I don't have my library with me so I'm sure someone else will chime in.

Sorry Satch, I left some info out. The instructions state - Hptm. Hans "Assi Hahn Oct. 1940 France. I/JG3.

No a big deal, as I'm happy to be modeling anyones aircraft! Names and numbers just didn't jive for me.

Thanks for the help Satch!

The mottles would have been a single color as depicted in this profile (I think the instruction sheet was trying to capture a soft edge by portraying it that way):

This was Hans Von Hahn's aircraft, not Hans "Assi" Hahn who was flying with JG 2 during the BoB.

jmabx

Thanks Luftwaffle... that was a big help with the mottle.

If you look at the instructions, they also claim that the scheme you posted (#6) was Assi's. I'm doing #5. I cry foul!

Sorry to rant so much folks.

Great work fellas keep the pics coming....

Spike, sorry you had to strip your build, I hate in when that happens

I have posted shots elsewhere of this build, but not here so far... go figure! anyways this is the very old Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk I. I had been kicking around the idea of dressing up the kit but then a few months back, in FSM Magazine somebody did just that. So I began doing the same myself early this year. First off I added ribs and stringers using strip styrene match against the external rivet patterns. i also had a slight accident involving spilled liquid cement and the radio shelf which in the kit is attached to the back of the pilot's armor plate. Well research online showed me that such location was incorrect, so I cleaned up the error, scratch built a new radio shelf in the proper position and accident/error solved! During the process, I cut out the pilots door and built framework to match the reference photos I have. I also scratch built the two bottles behind the pilots seat using some sprue and a piece of brass wire for the connecting line.

Here are a few shots of the raw work.

And here are a few shots of the interior after a base color of the RAF Cockpit Green. If you look closely at the base of the instrument panel, you can see I added linkage for the control stick and rudder pedals.

And the heart of the Spit... the Rolls Royce Merlin

More pics will be posted as progress is made...

nomad, Jeremy and Carlos- Excellent work guys, keep it going YEAH! 

Spike- Bummer about the paint, but how about this?  The same day you were stripping the Spitfire with Gunze thinner, I was stripping my Tamiya F-16 with Gunze thinner.  Sorry you had to do it, but it is a bit comforting to know I am not the only stripping kits!