French a/c group build 2012-13

Thanks sub - you're back in the saddle are you?

I'm back!

Vance, great job on a unique subject!

Ahhhh - good to see the little Heller Dewoitine start up!

Hi guys, im back...

So i started on the simpler of the two kits, the Dewontine D 520 by Heller. Progress will be limited, as i have other projects to work on to...

Parts tree layout. The pilot figure is surprisingly well- detailed considering what were typically used to in 1/72 scale 80's kits. There are also a surplus of clear parts... good news...-

initial construction- buildup of the office and adding some details-

Not much done, i agree... but i have to warm back into this slowly. Hopefully more will be done later.

Show's I've never out there before.  I got a deer in my back yard hunting this year.  If I was using my shop to build in rather than storage I could see them run down by the creek.

lol, no, no tundra anywhere to be seen around here, most of the country isn't as "Northern" as many people think. The only polar bears I've ever seen have been on TV, some black bears around here. More likely to find deer & moose in the big-game category. (and if you're 60 miles north of Minni... I'm not much further north than you!  )

Wow, isn't it mostly tundra up there?  I thought I lived in the sticks!  at least I don't have polar bears in my back yard!  black bears yes polar no.

ahhh - well you can't call me "the great white north" quite yet then!! I'm on the east coast , fined Maine on the map & head northeast. We had a little snow yesterday, but it was quickly taken away by the rain that followed.

Vance,

 I live about 60 miles north of Minneapolis, but I work in a suburb of Minneapolis,  we got hit yesterday with a nasty storm, 2 mph on major highways, bad,  makes me want to move where there is no snow, but I say that every time it does this.  More so now that  I'm older.

John

A foot of snow already!!  Where are you located John??

Tony,

  yes, makes it easier to see in the foot of snow we just got! Now I just have minor painting to do, antenna's ,nav lights and the weathering.

John

John,

I note that the blue in your blu tack is far more vivid than the product that is available here. It'll be good to see the paint scheme down.

Cheers

Tony

falconmod... laying down the paint!!! Looking forward to it.

Finally got tho put some more color on my Israeli Mirage.  I used Blu tack for the masking, worked pretty well, I couldn't get silly putty to stay on the surface, but the Blu tack worked great.

John

Looking good Tony, nothing like some paint chipping to help out a 1-colour paint job! Almost to the finish line huh?!? .....

I'm calling mine done! (y'know, until somebody spots something for me that needs another little dot of paint....)

1/72 Heller kit built oob, including decals. Raised panel lines all around but very nicely detailed. The supplied cockpit was basically a lumpy seat, so the interior framework, floorboard, seat, harness etc was all scratch-built. Not award-winning by any means, but much better than what it replaced. Had quite a bit of putty-work at the wing-to-fuselage join & had to replace the most inboard of the wing ribs due to the sanding. Tamiya light gray primer provided a base for hand-brushed Tamiya acrylics (custom mixes all around. Took several thin applications, and I lightened and streaked the colours as I went. Some paint chipping was done with aluminum enamels and a sponge, followed by a few small pinwashes and some attention from a Tamiya weathering pastels set. Still a few things I would have done differently, but happy with the odd little French plane. Comments & questions encouraged!

(Don't mind my little buddy Fuji, he always shows up for pictures, weather it's a Japanese subject or not!)




A little trouble on the striped tail - next time I'd cut it free & apply decals as needed.


The angles of the wheels didn't quite match up, but if I take a pic from an angle, nobody will know. Unless I tell the. Oh, wait....


A little something for scale, for those familiar with French coinage!




From above - can't get the camera zoomed in so well, but a fair amount of the cockpit is visible.

It seems like I've been building this thing forever, anyways, spent some time on it over the weekend, and it's edging closer to completion. The prop is just positioned for the photo, it's not attached yet. I need to add the undercarriage bay doors (again), do the exhaust stain, some wireless rigging, detail the guns and some other minor things, and attach the ordnance.

The weathered appearance is created by scratching the paint to reveal the bare metal finish underneath, and use of chalk pastels for panel shading, although it hasn't shown up well in the photos.

Cheers

Tony

I'll race you to the finish line Vance. The only thing I've done since my last update is touch up the tricolor around the edge of the rudder. Oh, and  forget to clean out my airbrush after spraying the blue, that got a bit messy.

Cheers

Tony

Oh there will be more pics, I just snapped that on the way out of the house as a quick update. HOPING to finish the paintwork tonight.

Would be good to see how the entire camo scheme / decals looks from above Vance. It's an interesting scheme. Looking forward to see it done, so I can see how mine should look when I get to it.

I am so taken with my Corsair, that I've been thinking of Hellcat, Bearcat and Helldiver in the same scheme. Absolutely no chance this year though.

Cheers

Tony

Alright, (most) fiddlybits in place. Just need to add the landing gear bay doors, paint the exhaust stubs, final touchups & weathering...

Nice looking finish on that one taxtp!

I downloaded some free photo zooming software so that I could get a good look at the serial number, and found that I couldn't patch it together from the kit decals, nor any others in the stash, so I've made the assumption that other aircraft from 15 Flotille was also located at the same place in 1952, at least for a while. 15 Flotille was also located in Algeria later in the 1950s.

I got the paint on, looks a bit grainy under photography but it feels smooth enough so I think it'll be fine under a coat of flat. Also got the decals down and positioned the prop for this photo.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Vance.

In researching the stripes, I've come across this photo of an F4U-7 at Bata Airfield in Equatorial Guinea in 1952.

It's a bit late for a change in plans but I'm gonna do it. The weathering is not that heavy, there are no Suez markings, which doesn't hurt my chances of finishing an extra GB before year's end.

There are no real complications, I can cobble the necessary codes from the kit decal sheet, and end up with a model of an aircraft which is not on the decal sheet, which I like to do. It's a really nice photo for the period and I'm glad I bumped into it. I've consumed the evening with research, so spray tomorrow I guess.

Cheers

Tony

taxtp

I have never experienced cold like that. I think I would seize up, as it is, it all creaks and aches once it gets below about 15 deg C.

I'm actually not going to spray Gloss Sea Blue (GSB) tonight, have to do the Suez stripes first of course. So yellow first, then black.

What tips do you have for making sure the stripes are all of the correct and equal widths ?

Short of the old carpenter's rule "Measure twice and spray once", I don't have any. Was thinking of using the decals as a guide to width.

I was also thinking that the yellow will show pre-shading, but the GSB and black stripes won't, as they are so dark,  and that the stripes won't show obvious weathering as they would have been a recent paint application.

Cheers

Tony

lol, well, I hesitate to say I enjoy the temps, but you get used to them. I've also decided that these temps guarantee we don't have to worry so  much about snakes, alligators, poisonous insects etc etc.  Still, makes it difficult for me to play softball in December! ;)

For the stripes, well, you're already aware of the measure-measure-measure method! I'd make spacer out of cardstock or something similar to make sure that the spacing is right, and to make sure the stripes stay parallel to each other as you lay the masking tape down.

I agree with your thinking on the weathering on the Suez stripes, unless you can find period pictures that shows the paint flaking off. Just keep in mind how heavy your salt-weathering showing metal is, compared to paint weathering. (You don't want a bare path of metal on the pilots wing-walk area, if there is no weathering to be seen otherwise.)

I have never experienced cold like that. I think I would seize up, as it is, it all creaks and aches once it gets below about 15 deg C.

I'm actually not going to spray Gloss Sea Blue (GSB) tonight, have to do the Suez stripes first of course. So yellow first, then black.

What tips do you have for making sure the stripes are all of the correct and equal widths ?

Short of the old carpenter's rule "Measure twice and spray once", I don't have any. Was thinking of using the decals as a guide to width.

I was also thinking that the yellow will show pre-shading, but the GSB and black stripes won't, as they are so dark,  and that the stripes won't show obvious weathering as they would have been a recent paint application.

Cheers

Tony

42 C....  I'm expecting -12C overnight tonight... :(

Might do the salt chipping Vance, good idea. I hadn't decided how I was going to get the effect, but that's one I haven't tried, so  I don't think I can resist it.

Did the 2nd prime on the Corsair,.

It looks the same as the last photo, I wonder if anyone would notice if I posted the same one ?

All good to go with Gloss Sea Blue now. I didn't attempt it tlast nightt, as it was 42 degrees celsius here yesterday, far too hot in the garage to spray gloss paint.

Cheers

Tony

I don't know, I just read that, as you, and it still sounded like me. Maybe we sound alike after all.?

Always nice to start laying paint - doing the salt-chipping thing on the Corsair??

Well, i sprayed a dullcoat on the MS.406 last night, didn't think that was worthy of a progress photo though, sooooo look at my previous picture, and imagine it less shiny...

I think I need the audio. Maybe the next version of the forums will gives us that :)

Cheers

Tony

If you wanna try the accent, say "Rise up lights" in your normal accent. You just said "Razor Blades" in an aussie accent. (Kiwi accent isnt a strong normally)