Reich Defenders IV Group Build: Strike From Above

A little progress, I airbrushed the wheels for the Stuka using the Eduard mask set, hubs in satin black, tires in off-black. (I found references to Stuka hubs in natural metal, semi-gloss black and camo colours, so for simplicity I went with the black, they're barely visible when the spats are on... The spats are cleaned up ready for assembly and the stubs for the sirens removed (they were molded for the early mark dive bomber and easy enough to trim).

My next update will hopefully feature the completed landing gear, radio boxes installed, canon gondolas completed (they almost are) and maybe canopy masking underway.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Looks like I have to throw this kit in then!

I love the look of the 410...

Clemens

Nice work Mike. I went for the usual RLM 02 and your right, you can hardly see the wheel hubs.

Mike. put me down for the 1/48 Hasegawa Hs129B. John

Done!

My Zerstorer came in the mail yesterday. I finished the cockpit in a night and pictures will be posted soon. It looks like an excellent kit!

-Jasper

Finished the whole cockpit in one night?!! A Bf110 pit?? This I gotta see. How did it go?

I started on my Thunderbolt today. I'll put those belts in at a later stage...

That Tamiya kit is awesome! (even better than their Bubbletop version)

I'll put some pics up on Friday.

Cheers, Clemens

Great work happening as this GB gathers momentum! I look forward to seeing the new projects!

A little progress on mine, the landing gear has been assembled and the joints dressed, the radio boxes are painted ready for fitting and the canons are looking good. The Academy detail is must better than the Fujimi parts -- enough so that I find myself thinking I should build one of these as a companion piece.

Defense guns and canopy next...

M/TB379

Looking good, Mike!

The Cyber-Hobby cockpit, while complex, was very easy to assemble because of excellent fits and good engineering. All the paint dried very quickly because of the heat, which is good in this case.

Looking good Mike. I know what you mean about those cannon. When I compared them to the resin ones, there was very little between them.

OK, Got a bit more done yesterday, For the most part, its been a pretty good fit so far, I won't be able to  "model" too much this weekend so I'm doing what I can now. Got the pit installed and some of the wing work done...Again, very little fit work problem and no gap that a little correction fluid (white out) wont handle.

Looking really good, Doug!

I have to get some paint for my Jug and respray the whole pit.....

Luckily I haven't glued it all together!

I used the wrong green: Most US planes were Interior Green, but I forgot that the Thunderbolt's cockpit was painted in a darker green. I made that mistake on my first P-47 model as well.

So I'll have to get me another color for the tub this weekend... Any tipps on the cockpit color? (a Gunze paint number would be nice)

Cheers, Clemens

Nice pit Doug. Is that a trumpy riveter in the background? You gonna add some detail?

Clemens, try adding some black to the gunze interior green, or some H312 as well.

Hey Nathan... LOL, Thats what it is, I was just replacing the rivits thet were damaged in the joining of the halves. I'm going to do a little bit but most of this build is OOB. There is a little resin in the pit and I will be using some aftermarket decals and dry rub ons but other then that I'm just going to hope my paint and finish can carry it. I wanted a 1/32 like I usually do so I could go all out, but that thing is HUGE!  So when I do the larger aircraft I have to consider space, I'll be re doing the exterior of the house this year and the inside of the garage, so maybe when I get the new shelves up???

Thanks

Doug (RR)

RR -- looking great! That's going to eb one impressive model!

SS -- correct on the interior green, but check carefully, I've read there was more than one P-47 interior green used, depending on the production line. One was refered to as a bronze-green and might have been slightly metallic -- memory plays tricks, so do your research!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Yeah its a good tool, hard to use in some places because the end is sort of clunky, thats when I bring out my RB tool like I did for the Ki-100. Don't be afraid to detail out 1/48, they like the extra love too, and I find it looks real great in that scale as well, no such thing as too much detail. But-Bring on the space buddy! I'm almost to the point where I have to build shelves or buy a cabinet, or just box up my done models(which I'd hate to have to do).

Its been slow going but progress has been made. After a lot of chopping, filling and sanding, its finally ready for some paint.

The bomb aimers compartment only included his pad to lay on and bomb site. So I spruces it up a bit with some panels and PE levers and belts from the spares box.

I got the first got on last night and so should have the second on over the weekend, so hopefully some more pics early next week. 

Looking nice, Bish!

I got myself some darker shade of green: Tamiya XF-26 "Deep Green"

So I should be able to paint the tub this weekend.

I just found out that I wasn't using Interior green on any of my US planes.  The paint bottle was labelled wrong and I used RLM82 instead of interior green.

But I think it looks a lot better this way than in interior green.

Cheers, Clemens

Oh, and I bought the Me-410 today as well, so count me in on that one too!

Looking good Bish!

Looking great, Bish! Not the freindliest of kits, but you're taming it!

M/TB379

Sorry I haven't been updating. I've been spending all my time building instead of taking pictures...

I've been making steady progress. The fuselage is closed up and I'm almost done with one wing. I've had a few problems with fit, but those may have been self-induced as I am an armor modeler and this is only my third aircraft model, and my first plane of this level of detail and complexity. My background in armor definitely shows in how I'm going about painting my model, as I'm used to building as much as I can before painting. This usually turns out well.

Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

-Jasper

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Here is a bit more progress ...I'm sorry, I'm having a terrible time with the "New Photo Bucket" site What a joke, any way, for some reason I cant seem to get the larger images to post any more, and PB wont respond to my pleas for help. Until I find and learn a new site since we cant just post from personal albums here I will have to post the smaller images, go figure, it posts smaller ones just fine but not the larger ones. Again, sorry...

Doug

Sorry, my posts haven't exactly been synchronized with my build progress.

She's about ready for paint now. There are a bunch of small details to be put on after the rest is done, but the vast majority of the build is done.

This may not be the prettiest unpainted model. There are still some gaps to fill and some sanding to do, but that has to wait until the primer is down. I am very sure that this kit would look much better in the hands of a more experienced modeler than myself. Keep in mind that this is only my third aircraft build, the other two being a Revell F-15E and an Airfix Spit.

-Jasper

Doug: As far as I can tell from the pictues, your bird is looking awesome!

Jasper: I think that your model looks good! No need to excuse yourself at all. I'm building on my 3rd airplane as well, but I can tell you: It's getting a lot better the more of them you build! I would fill in the gaps between the fuse and the wings and blend the nose  in a bit more before priming it.

Clemens

Nice work there guys. Doug, I know what you mean about the new PB. I am not keen either. But I don't know why you can't post large pics. The one in my post are from PB.

I'll start to repaint the office of my Thunderbolt this week (most likely on Wednesday or Thursday) and glue it all together, so I should be able to post some progress pics next weekend. Sadly I didn't have any time lately.

Cheers, Clemens