IDF Group Build Mk. II 2010-2011

White , the level of detail and the amount of work you have put into your M113 Nagmash Ambulance is absolutly amazing , excellent work Sir ...

Mike , that Hobbycraft S-199 seems to have been fighting you all the way , I build mostly in 1/72 scale but every time I visit the LHS , they have the Academy 1/48 Avia S-199 . I've had it in my hands a few times and then put her back on the shelf ; I wonder if it fits better than the Hobbycraft kit ???

Hang in there anyway bud .

                                                 John

Hi all,

With my Fw 190 finally home and hosed, I took a couple of days rest and then thought I'd like to crack on with the S-199 for IDF II. I thought all I had to do was sort out the canopy and get some interior cockpit paint over the masks...

This is a bit of a mish-mash. The Galland Panzer rear armour was cast in clear plastic by Hobbycraft so I cut  Tamiya tape masks for each side and sprayed it cockpit grey. But then it turned out there were no sockets in the canopy into which the pegs on the armour plate would sit. I filed them in, but foolishly trusted the kit plans' suggestion as to where they should go, which was far enough back to obstruct the fit against the scratchbuilt detail of the locking bar.

If this wasn't enough, it turns out the canopy is an attrocious fit, toeing in at the left front by almost the width of the sidewall. I thought an hour's fiddling and I'd have that set of previously-used diecut masks into place and be applying paint to this and two other models, but noooooooo...

I'm thinking of posing the canopy open, that way the mis-match won't be immediately obvious, but it's a whole lot of fiddling in other ways, and the canopy is fragile, the less handling it gets, the better...

Hmmmmmm.....

Mike/TB379

Hi! If you allow Cross over builds, and it is not too late, I would like to jump in here! I am building a F-16A "Netz" and a F-16I "Sufa" for my Viper GB. Please let me know.

Travis

Thanks "Thunder". Guys I have bean working on some othere projects, as well as my MkIV APC/IFV and I will have new photos for this GB with in the next two days.

Truly remarkable work, White -- your skill and patience are outstanding!

M/TB379

Here's some engine photos. Now iI must tell you all I painted every thing in place.

My interior paint work has started.

Now the lower hull. An I like the out come of my work.

Hello all here the finished detailed work on my M113 Nagmash Ambulance before I start the paint process to day.

Looks really good, Mike.

I jumped into an M10 yesterday for another GB,  but I NEED to tie up some loose ends.........

Thanks, RBear -- hey, let's finish them together. And speaking of progress, after the shade and fade coats the other day, I began the pinwash on the Merk today. I did a basic wash on the turret, hull and skirts, and have the wheels to go, then I'll get fancy with the drybrushing and pigments. In places I might tone back the pinwash, after the pristine hull this looks too dirty too soon! Here's the turret:

And mounted to the hull, with the mating surface cleaned up:

Lots more rust and dirt to go. I would not have expected rust in a desert country... Until during ODS I saw tanks splashing through endless mud in the wet season. So I guess corrosion for a hard-used AFV is as much a problem there as anywhere else.

Cheers -- all comments welcome -- Mike/TB379

I was interested in that one also, glad you're back on it. Oddly enough, the Merk2 I had in progress back then is still, yep, in progress. I may actually have that one finished in a while, knock on wood.....

I was happy with the -Gal myself, thanks. figs are almost ready, and a base is started.

WIP to report (no photos yet) --

I've made a start on the Merkava II from IDF 1, going back to the paintwork and doing the shade and fade highlights. I worked out the formula for the color and darkened it slightly for the shadow tint, applied under the nose and tail, and around the running gear, then mixed the fade tint for the topside as Tamiya XF-57 Buff 3:1 with Flat White then thinned it beyond the usual 2:1 and misted it on selectively.

I think this gives plenty of tonal variety to underlie the oil wash weathering which will be the next step.

I'm really glad to be able to complete this project and collect the badge from the original build!

Photos before long --

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Yo, Bondo -- I've been trying to match the shade selection you used to mix the IAF Sinai Gray/48 shade and... it turns out there are THREE Tamiya Japanese Navy grays! XF-12 is the basic type, but they've more recently inroduced XF-75 IJN Gray (Kure Arsenal) and XF-77 IJN Gray (Sasebo Arsenal).

Do you remember which of these shades you used? Also, was the "RAF Buff" shade you used XF-57?

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Stupendous Gal, RBear! I hope mine end up looking so good some day.

Does anyone have a bookmarked link back to IDF 1? I need to check my paint mixing formula for the Merk II and I don't seem to have a record of it -- I must have included it in my later posts on the project.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Happy day! I'm calling my Magach 6B-Gal "done", so next on the bench (in between the various Shermans I always have going) will be my early Magach 6. Whoopie!

The "Gal":

Bondo -- your mix of Tamiya paints looks very good, my only question being which of their shades would be the "RAF Buff"? I'm not aware of an RAF paint of that name, but their "Middle Stone" may be close -- yet it looks yellowish in some ranges.

I just read an interesting colour mix for IDF armor, in FSM's Academy Merk IV review -- Tamiya Khaki for the base, followed by Buff as a highlight/fade color. That's a very different selection to the mix Academy recommended for earlier Merkavas, and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts? I mean, it looks good, I just don't know if it looks accurate for the mysterious "Sinai Gray."

The S-199 is moving along, I've added the tail surfaces, supercharger intake and gun cover blisters (which needed filling around). There's a small intake under the right chin, just ahead of the wingroot and I can't see it in the Khaterim display... But the kit plans are adamant that S-199s would have had either the big chin radiator or the small scoop, one or the other, and D-120 as exhibited at Khaterin definitely does not have the large one. I've sprayed the rear cockpit area and am now at liberty to finish off the coaming and add the canopy. Rescribing panel lines blurred out by sanding will be a major round of work too.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

bondoman

Thunderbolt379:

...my only experiences with Hobbycraft have not been very memorable, but theirs is the only Knife I'm aware of.

 

In 1/72 the AML S199 is a great little kit, with vac canopies, resin bits and a little PE. I liked it.

What's your plan for the green color? That's always a good debate.

(Tamiya) IJN Aircraft Grey and RAF Buff mixed 75/25, looked good to me.

Bondoman , I really like your 1/72 scale AML Avia S-199 .

I just ordered two of them from www.hannants.uk  ; I have Kopro's S-199 kit but I'm not sure how accurate it would be for the IAF ; I also ordered part 1 and 2 Israeli Armour in detail books . I haven't built armour kits in the past , attatching the tracks to all those wheels always seem's to scare me off starting an armour build .

Perhaps the books will inspire me .

                                                        John .

Very nice!

I'm still in limbo......

Hi all,

I've made some progress on the S-199, the fuselage is together and the wings attached. Here's a shot of the cockpit snugged into the right fuselage half:

From there on it was a fairly quick job to close her up, though the seams took some attention, mostly with CA and adzing, though some putty was needed around the wing joints, notably on the bottom. Here's the trailing edge jointline:

And the leading and trailing joints mostly filled and smoothed:

The top wing joints have a small but definite step between the wing and fuselage, but I'm thinking of leaving it alone, as filling and sanding won't change the fact the parts don't line up as closely as they might, and there is otherwise no actual gap.

There'll be a fair bit of scribing to do to firm up panel lines the smoothing has largely blurred out, but nothing too complicated. I ended up scraping away that raised hinge line down the centre of the gun cowl, and flushing the part into the fuselage with CA. I have the horizontal tails still to attach, then return to the cockpit. I've scratchbuilt the canopy locking bar, and need to apply RLM 66 to the rear area before making up the canopy with the armour glass panel and getting all the clear parts into place. I have a mask set for the K-4 that should fit, it looks like the same canopy type.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks, John -- yes, it looks like the hinge line between the engine covers, but rather than engraving the outline of the flush hinge the way Tamiya (?) do, Hobbycraft have molded it standing proud of the surface (withought segmentation). That it appears in their box art suggests they had reason to think Avias showed this detail, as if the Czech engineers redesigned the hinge for some reason. I'm not sure what to do, leave it as is or scrape it away and scribe a plan line... I sure can't scribe the hinge detail, I'll make a mess if I try.

Seam work today, finishing around the gun deck panel -- I did the long side sams last night -- then rescribing panel lines acros the spine and belly, plus a bit more sanding of the wing junctures on the underside. There's a step at the wing root but I don't think it's worth doctoring, it's frankly less noticeable than if I started trying to plaster it over. Then I can add the horizontal tails and get the rear cockpit bulkhead painted and detailed, the canopy locking bar is not there and I could scratch it before adding the clear parts.

Shalom, Mike/TB379

Hi Mike ,

I have the reference book , Avia S-199 in Israeli service 1948-1950 , by Alex Yofe and Lawrence Nyveen .

I'm not sure if this pic from the book is of any help...

There would be a hinge line where the two engine cover doors swing open and up ?

HTH .

Kind regards

                      John .

Jeez, Helo53, that's... Some stash! Some display case! Some passion! I desperately need to build a display case. I'll have a fair few finished items to go into it, and I don't like having finished models hanging around the workbench, they're too liable to get damaged and collect dust.

I'm putting the S-199 together and have a tech question for anyone here. The kit features what appears to be a stiffener along the centreline of the nose gundeck cover, the Hobbycraft artwork shows it but I've not verified it from any of my research photos yet. I'll go on to check late-build Bf 109s of different origin, but I'm wondering if it might be an inovation of the Czech factory (as opposed to a figment of Hobbycraft's research...)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

More WIP shots coming soon.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

I didn't realize there was a IDF GB happening .

I'm a big fan of the Israeli Military...

I have a nice stash of IDF kits ;

I really like the Nord 2501 "Noratlas" in Isreali service , I kindly ask if I may join in with everyone else with Heller's 1/72 kit ...

I already have a Noratlas underway , she will be finished in the Sand/Brown and green camouflage , for this GB , I would like to build and finish one in an overall silver finish with EL-AL markings from the IsraDecal IAF-77 sheet . I do have some IDF and other builds on-going , so it may be a few months before I can get started , with the finish date Dec 2011 this will suit me .

Kind regards

                               John .

White_R34

RBaers I love this tanks weathering as well. I'm dragging my feet right now on my project. I'm going to search my paint boxies so I can mix up some interior color so I can get back to work on thiat project. As for my Heavy APC I'm still asking around for a bit more info before I start on it.

Thanks.

Sometimes I like to make sure I have plenty of reference material also, and give it a good study, avoids errors later on.

RBaers I love this tanks weathering as well. I'm dragging my feet right now on my project. I'm going to search my paint boxies so I can mix up some interior color so I can get back to work on thiat project. As for my Heavy APC I'm still asking around for a bit more info before I start on it.

WIP: The office is now painted and ready for assembly. I checked my references but could not find a cockpit shot of the equivalent model of 109, so painted somewhat from memory. The instruments are brush painted in black, drybrushed in white, and Clear Parts Cement was used for the guage glasses.

Next up, assemble the fuselage.

Cheers, M/TB379

T-bolt, KW, thanks. It's been fun, almost done and ready to  start the "clean" Magach.

Geting the bench prepared, lining up parts.....

RBaer -- STUNNING Magach, maybe in another ten years I'll be building them like that!

KW13 -- the Sufa is moving along, it's going to be a beautiful plane!

Well, I finally made a start -- the kit I chose to begin on is Hobbycraft's 1:48th scale Avia S-199 in Israeli markings. This is my first Hobbycraft project and I began it with trepidation after a  disastrous flirtation with their F4U-1D about two years ago, when I was seriously put off by bad engineering and a tendancy for liquid cement to melt the plastic completely away... This one seems to be a far superior product, thankfully, and I'm already contemplating doing another. Here's the box art:

Hobbycraft had their artist play up the greenish tone of the paint, suggesting the mysterious RLM-68 primer that has been suggested for the colour in which they were delivered. The artist has also mixed and matched research sources, creating an image which reflects D-120 as presented at the IAF Museum in some details but not in others. I picked up Aeromaster's decal sheet, and they depict D-120 with the chin radiator, while Hobbycraft and the Museum display show her without the large scoop (I can't see if she has the small one in the museum shots i have on hand, but I believe it's an either-or situation.) Unless anyone has any suggestions, I'll follow the display aircraft in this detail.

I began construction last night with the wing. It's the first time I've ever sanded the inside of parts... The locator holes for the scabbed-on bulges on the top surface were in the wheel wells, so I sanded the pins down a touch and added the bulges, then filled and sanded the holes so that the wheel wells will have a smooth appearance. It may not be properly detailed but it's better than a peg and hole showing. Here's the wing, with some filler in the leading edge:

The fit was quite good and the plastic seems to be responding well to liquid cement. Another modification I made before assembling the wing was to add the radiator inlet flap pitch jacks, from styrene rod. The box art shows two jacks, but my experience with 109s of all previous types suggests one is correct. I studied the photos of the Hatzerim exhibit and can't truthfully say I can see radiator detail on any of them, but the best photo seems to show one jack, to my eye. I may be seeing what i expect to see, of course, and I have no idea if the exhibit is in fact D-120, or simply an airframe finished in those markings. Anyway, I decided to add Messerschmidt-standard single jacks, thus:

They're an up-detailing -- I just hope they're right.

More pics as the model progresses, Cheers, Mike/TB379

White- NICE!!!

RBaer- Love the weathering. Nice and sutle dust. Finally got some more bench time with this build. Not much to report all still going together nice

Andrew