The Ostfront (eastern front) GB 2010/11

DoogsATX – nice Lav so far, look forward to the rest! Look forward to your Yak; I have that kit in the stash, have read many good things about it. I usually build em’ couple at a time, different markings or whatevers, saves time on the painting stages, which is my bottleneck. And GREAT photography, may I ask what is your photo settings?

Kermit – nice job on the IL-2… look forward to the rest! And thanks for the welcome! Ill post more WIP pics once I finish cleaning up and drying my workbench/basement, we had a minor flash flood during the recent NE (NY/NJ/CT) micro storms.

Johan – nice little info blurb!

Aaron – Sweet Mig!

Jeff – Welcome!

Cheers all   GO NY GIANTS BIG BLUE

JMart

DoogsATX – nice Lav so far, look forward to the rest! Look forward to your Yak; I have that kit in the stash, have read many good things about it. I usually build em’ couple at a time, different markings or whatevers, saves time on the painting stages, which is my bottleneck. And GREAT photography, may I ask what is your photo settings?

Thanks man! My photo setup is pretty simple. Two of those clamp-on worklights with 60W daylight bulbs and a posterboard. The camera is a Nikon D300s with a Nikkor 35mm lens.

As for settings, I shoot in full manual at ISO 200. Aperture and shutter speed shift a bit, but I'm usually shooting around f/5.6 and 1/60. I don't really worry about white balance, since I'm shooting in RAW and tweak that on the back end. 

Hopefully I'll be back to the Soviet birds tonight. Had a second really bad encounter with Tamiya white primer on the Wildcats last night, and I'm not sure if I'm up for hours of wet sanding tonight!

Hey look! I got something done!

Seatback padding is made from the Yak-3's box lid. Belts are Tamiya tape w/ Eduard shiny bits.

I've been busy on the FW 190 GB, and man there has been lots of progress on this one! Great work everyone!

Kermit: nice IL-2!. Again, lightening speed build! I am going to do mine in a winter whitewash- will try the salt trick for chipping

Doogs: How many builds do you have on the go? I thought you had some planes on the NMF II GB? I tried multiple builds, but don't have the bench space to do it. I really like the La-5 with all the piping.

JMart: nice tanks! What did you do for the fender damage on the T-34, melt them?

Rob

maxfax

Doogs: How many builds do you have on the go? I thought you had some planes on the NMF II GB? I tried multiple builds, but don't have the bench space to do it. I really like the La-5 with all the piping.

Four...which is really three more than I'm comfortable with. My preferred working style is knock out one project, move on to the next. But the Wildcats I'm building for NMF II got snagged waiting for paint and canopies, and now by rain. So I started the La-5, then went ahead and kicked off the Yak as well since it shares the same cockpit and underside colors.

I'm wrapping up the MiG but I just ran across a Zvesda P-40 I bought last year (I think its actually an old Italeri kit). It is a fairly basic kit, but matches up well with the Academy P-40 in size and shape. Since it looks like another pretty painless build, I think I'll get started on that once I finish up the MiG. The decals are not very good so I'll probably use the left overs from the MiG. From what I've read so far, many of the first Soviet Tomahawks came from the British, so were probably painted in Curtiss' approximation of British colors.  

Finally got a good base of white onto the Wildcats' wings last night, then decided to spend a little time with the Yak. Lots of painting the bigger fiddly bits in the cockpit (IP, seatback, control stick...) then waiting for them to dry. One cool little detail I discovered - a first aid kit, complete with a red cross on it, molded into the sidewall. Not much that's picture-worthy until I get further along with the cockpit...but here are a few of some random things.

A few pics - first up, the Yak next to one of the Wildcats. 

Next - learned my lesson from the Wildcats and did some canopy test fitting. First thing that stuck out is how much of the cockpit you can see, even with the closed canopy. The second is that the open canopy pieces are too thick to actually be posed open. Ugh. Haven't read about this anywhere else, so I think I might keep playing with them.

Lastly - did some of my first non-seatbelt scratchbuilding last night! The Eduard kit lacks splitters in the air intakes, so I cut some leftover PE fret to about the right size and shove it into the openings. 

DoogsATX – Thanks for the info on the photography! I will tell the Boss and house photographer and owner of the camera (wife) to set it up for me. Cheers

Sweet seat by the way… I also have multiple builds (yes, NMF II too lol), held up at the paint stage since my spray booth is in the garage. In terms of canopies, I have fallen in love with Squadron canopies.. very delicate, but THIN and look much nicer.

Maxfax – For the fender damage, I used my Dremel with a sander on the INSIDE of the fender, slowly shaving plastic from the inside and moving forward (NOT in circles; straight back and forth). By the time you get to the front, you have thinned enough that it “feathers” out. I then put the fender next to a heat lamp for a few seconds, and use small pliers to bend/fold the plastic. I enclose another pic that shows a better view:

For the back fenders, I tried something else. After some heat-deforming, I placed couple drops of Tenax on the fender, softening the plastic and getting a different “damage” texture:

Hope this helps!

JMart

I also have multiple builds (yes, NMF II too lol), held up at the paint stage since my spray booth is in the garage. In terms of canopies, I have fallen in love with Squadron canopies.. very delicate, but THIN and look much nicer.

The rain has been BRUTAL here! Second wettest September in recorded history, and we still have what, another week? But it's been doing this rain during the day, go clear at night thing, so it's that annoying middle ground between paint/no paint. 

As for the canopies...I'm actually very impressed with Eduard's clear parts. Very thin, very clear, especially next to the Hobbyboss glass. But something about the shape of the center and rear canopy is keeping them from being positioned open. Weird since I see them positioned open in a lot of online reviews. There's no Squadron canopy for the Yak-3 in 48th, so I guess I'll keep investigating. I could always go with the one piece and shut everything up, but I have to drill through the back to route the antenna wire, and I'd much rather do that with the three-piece canopy...

JMart: Thanks for the tip! The damage looks realistic and is much easier that what I did on my T-34. I cut off the fenders and cut an aluminum pie plate to create new fenders with some damage- looks great but took alot of time to do.

Put some more time in on the Zvezda La-5 last night. I have to say, this is definitely a kit that asks you to pay attention, but as long as you do, oh man! 

As I've said a few times about this kit, it's not quite like anything I've ever built before. And I still think that's totally true. 

Last night I attached the cockpit/engine mount structure and cockpit floor to the wings. It DID NOT fit at first, but a few pokes with a toothpick got the structure's tabs to drop into the locating holes. This is definitely a case where Zvezda's soft plastic is an advantage. It allowed the structure to bend instead of break (or have pieces break off).

The other awesome discovery of the night was the fuselage fit with the cockpit structure mounted. Held together properly, there's pretty much no gap along the fuselage/wing seam.  Held together with a single piece of tape along the top of the fuselage, the entire thing is structurally sound. The weirdest thing was that, during the test fit, everything's kind of awkward until the fuselage halves locate on the structure properly, then everything just clicks into place. The engineering on this kit is phenomenal, when you consider all that could go wrong with the complexity they've baked in. 

Okay, enough blabbing. Here are some pics. Hoping to decal up the gauges in the next day or so, then finish up the weathering and get ready to close things up.

That kit looks great. I have never tried a Zvezda kit-it looks as complicated as an Eduard one, but seems to go together easier. I think I have to get me one!

Rob

Some nice work going on here guys. Hopefully my kit will come in tomorrow and I can get started soon.

I'm in the same position as you are Doogs with too many on the go at once. really need to keep it down to two kits - one in construction phase and one in painting and finishing.

I'm trying to finish up my 1/72 Airfix Horsa Glider. Just have the top side camo to paint, decals, and the flat coat then I can move on to my first group build project.

Jeff

maxfax - Yeah it's a sweet little kit. Not sure which Eduard you're referring to, but then the only one I've played with beyond drooling over the sprue trees is the Yak that's on the bench right now, and I'd argue the wing/fuse seam is as tight as the one on the La-5, if not more so. Still, the Zvezda is a very pleasant surprise. If their BF-190F-2 builds anything like this, man I can't wait!

bouttime - I'd have to agree. Two is probably about the limit. It just so happens that these kits have a lot of similar things that have to happen. The Wildcats don't really diverge until it's time to lay down the metal finish, since I'm doing one in Alclad and the other in Talon. And the Yak and La-5 have common cockpit and underside schemes, so it made sense in my head to pair them at least that far. But trying to work on four, there's always that feeling that I'm neglecting one of the others. Guess I should take this as a sign that two kids is plenty!

I got the canopy on, so just need to put the dull coat on and do some minor weathering, then I'll be on to the P-40.

and the Zvesda P-40, I don't particularly care for the white washed scheme and the decals don't look that great so I'll be doing it dfferently from the box art.

Aaronw

and the Zvesda P-40, I don't particularly care for the white washed scheme and the decals don't look that great so I'll be doing it dfferently from the box art.

I saw a set of decals the other day - AML maybe - that covered US aircraft in Soviet service. I know for a fact it had the P-39, P-47 Razorback, and P-51A, and I think it had the P-40 as well. Might be worth digging up.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep my eyes open for that sheet. As far as this one goes the Soviet P-40 B/C Tomahawks seem to have had pretty simple markings since they basically came off the ship painted in British brown and green or US Olive drab and went right into service after getting red stars and minimal ID markings (easy things to come up with for decals). The Soviets worked them hard and spare parts had to be salvaged from wrecked P-40s, so they didn't last very long. The later versions (P-40E onward) start to have regular Soviet camo and markings so there are many more interesting options for the Kittyhawks.

The wing leading edges on the kit don't match up that well so I'm thinking about removing the wing guns. The Soviets frequently removed the .30 wing guns on the P-39 and P-40, the remaining nose guns still provided similar firepower to Soviet built fighters of the time. Removing the guns will make fixing the wings easier and make it a little different from British and American P-40s.

Doogs,

You are doing great work on the La5! Love your little seat scratching. And i don't know if it is your photo taking skills (mine suck LOL) but that canopy looks chrystal clear.

Definately want to have that kit in my stash now. You sold me

My sturmovik is waiting for the canopy to be masked and fitted before it will hit the paint booth. I am kind of at a loss there as the rear gunner has an open canopy. Still figuring out wether to install the glasswork and plug the hole for painting or leave it off all together and try to mask off the entire pit...

Richard

kermit

Doogs,

You are doing great work on the La5! Love your little seat scratching. And i don't know if it is your photo taking skills (mine suck LOL) but that canopy looks chrystal clear.

Definately want to have that kit in my stash now. You sold me

Thanks man! The La-5 is definitely a pleasure of a kit. I was all geared up to push ahead on it and the Yak some more last night, but was so exhausted when I got to the bench that I couldn't see straight! 

The canopy is actually the Yak's canopy. And yeah...if this is the standard for Eduard kits, I'm in for a treat when I get around to the Hellcat. I also figured out the problem with the open canopy. I was placing the main canopy backwards! Der!

...but was so exhausted when I got to the bench that I couldn't see straight!...

I am totally with you there Doog. It should be against the law to have work interfere with the hobby! Had a particularly tough week at work myself, screwing up the bench time for a large part.... Ah well....

Just dropping by to announce the exciting news that i have sprayed on the underside russian blue this afternoon. I decided to mask the pit area using tamyia tape and silly putty and install the glasswork after the painting stage.

Getting closer to finishing up the sturmovik i would like to announce i am starting my second build: Trumpeter's '39 model KV2:

Really felt like doing an armor build again...It has been awhile and i have had a very good time with their later KV2 i did for the soviet GB earlier this year. Instructions call for just one possible version but the decalsheet provides you with options for three builds. Not sure yet what to choose:

For just about twenty bucks (17 euro's) you get alot of bang for buck. These trumpeter kits are cheap but nicely detailed and molded:

As far as armor kits go i would like to classify the kit as a hobby boss is for the aircraft section. If you can live with a few minor flaws, especially considering what you pay for the kits, you really can't go wrong in a big way

Hope to cut sprue in the morning

Richard

Looking forward to the KV-2, the Tamiya KV-2 was one of my first kits when I got back into models, I've come close to buying the Trumpeter version several times, as it looks much nicer, the Tamiya kit is one of their older kits designed to be motorized. The KV series was just so chunky and mean looking with big slabs of armor.    

Seen a picture of a russian soldier posing next to the turret. His head did not reach the top of the turret. Imagine a german grunt seeing a squad of those juggernauts closing on his position....

The crews that manned these beast were generally less than adequately trained though. But still

Richard

kermit

 

...but was so exhausted when I got to the bench that I couldn't see straight!...

 

I am totally with you there Doog. It should be against the law to have work interfere with the hobby! Had a particularly tough week at work myself, screwing up the bench time for a large part.... Ah well....

Dude, tell me about it. My boss got laid off a little shy of two weeks ago, and in addition to stepping into her role, I've also been bombarded with projects. And a sick kiddo at home. Sucks when I'm too exhausted to model, since it's basically my decompression time, and without it I'm a giant ball of stress and grumpiness the next day.

As far as armor kits go i would like to classify the kit as a hobby boss is for the aircraft section. If you can live with a few minor flaws, especially considering what you pay for the kits, you really can't go wrong in a big way

Hope to cut sprue in the morning

Richard

First - I demand pics of the Sturmovik! Thinking about picking that kit up myself. 

Second - Trumpeter and HB are owned by the same company, so it makes sense. I agree with your assessment of HB. Funny thing though, is that, at least until my P-47 Razorbacks arrive, the HB Wildcats are the most expensive kits I've purchased...

I demand pics of the Sturmovik! Thinking about picking that kit up myself

You will get your pics I didn't figure i had much to show with just the blue sprayed on but after i spray the first of three topside colors i will shoot some. And if you like accurate miniatures, you will definately like this italeri kit. Same mold, different decals.

Richard

Been cutting cleaning and gluing for a morning now and this is what i came up with sofar, about to start on the suspension:

And the il2 received an initial coat of future last night. Think ill do another coat as i plan on leaving it masked until the upper camo is done. Would hate to have paint peeled off...:

Forgive the poor lighting conditions... just slapped it in the photobooth and rushed some pics.

Richard

OK Richard i'm here...The Fw190 GB is coming to an end so i might try my hand at armour, I think maybe a 1/35 Panther....

Welcome Julez! A GB wouldn't be the same without you LOL. Glad to have you participate buddy. Lemme know what you decide on and i will put you on the roster ASAP Never see you build an armored vehicle so it would be interesting to watch.

Richard

Haha i've never seen me do one either LOL But i think it would be a nice change from wings and props, and very few frikkin decals to drive me crazy...I've always liked the look of the Panther i just need to find a good kit without individual linked tracks.....

Hmmm, maybe the tamyia would be the one for you? Not that i've ever done that kit but usually the tamyia's (as well as trumpeter btw.) offer both individually linked tracks and vinyl tracks.

Can't wait for the Aussie panther!

Richard

I think you may be right Richard, i've just been over at hyperscale checking them out and the Tamiya one looks like the best kit for a 1st armour build...I'm gonna have fun with that freehand camo, can't wait