Ju 87 Stuka GB

Nice work by everyone so far. I have to say this is the best class for learning Stuka facts

Nice scratch work Mustang. In the past I have placed a piece of Bare Metal foil over thin plastic card, punched it out and used it for a landing light. It takes on a concave curve after its punched, so it looks like a bulb sort of. Hows the wing to fuselage fit on that Hase kit?

Joe, no masking, I used a piece of clear acetate to block the spray when working in that area, I do like the spare canopy idea though...

Nathan... Thanks, the dry transfers are from 1 or 2 or both places, 1 is the LHS, and the second is  from www.hobbylinc.com . The brand is Woodland Scenic, and they can be found in a multitude of different styles, colors and sizes, and even combined on one sheet. At LHS they are in the train shop area.

Reasoned And Bish... Thanks my friends... means alot to me,

Doug

Very nice work, extremely realistic looking!

Doug

Hey guys. Not a whole lot of progress to report here right yet other than a whole lot of sanding and polishing right now. You know the deal, wing roots, leading edges of wings as well as wing/ fuselage mating area particularly in the rear of the wing/fuselage fit. It's all good though and coming right along.

 I thought I would get back to the origin of the landing light idea that I implemented a few pages back.I was originally looking for a clear plastic lens and what my thoughts ended up turning to was the model car kit that I have in my stash (Mark Martins #6 1994 Ford Thunderbird and I've had it since 94!!) . Usually the plastic model car windshields have these neat little breakaway tabs on the top or bottom. As pictured here:

I used the one on the right (which explains why its not there...lol) , sanded /filed all the flash away,  rounded it up a bit and got the overall thickness filed down to an acceptable thickness and installed here onto a trimmed-up to fit between the wing halves piece of resin stock I had left over(man that Verlinden update set DID come in handy).

and once the wing halves were installed it looked like a landing light:

Which I'll call close enough to my references fellas.

Awesome paint job there, she is looking damn good.

Great looking paint job Doug!

Doug, thats perfect! Great job on the white coverage. Looks real and worn. What are you using for Dry Transfers?

Nice trick with the hairdryer Doug! How did you mask your cockpit off without jarring anything loose. Still a trick I need to learn. Usually my pits are so packed with PE that I don't want to risk tissue paper "hanging up" on those items. My usual pattern is to tack the "sacrificial" canopy onto the fuselage, seal it and paint the aircraft that way (as you well know from my past builds). Open for new ways though.

LOL... No, Being it was done over two nights it wasnt too bad, as I said, I did each little panel, cover and section individually , 1 at a time. At first it looked a tad too grey, then I went back over a bit heavier with the white and varried the mix and density of the paint and kept adjusting the pressures to suit the need. I went back several times and having to allow to dry (thats where the hair drier comes in handy) so as to see the results when dry. The thing I have to keep reminding myself is that the weathering still needs to be applied and that also will change the appearance of the finish. I guess you just have to envision how you want it to look, then keep at it thinking two steps ahead all the time. ARRRRGH... Now my head does hurt! LOL... Thanks for the kudos... I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best... But so far its looking exactly like I had envisioned it.

Doug

I'll second that "attaboy" on the paint job!!! Lookin' good Doug!!!! 5 hours????? Yikes! Did you have a headache after that?

Looks fantastic Doug!  I love the paintjob on her.

OK my brothers... I was able to get some more done over the last two evenings. I am painting the winter whitewash over the "factory" green finish. Over the last two nights I spent just over 5 hrs doing the paint. I did each section and panel 1 at a time so as to try and maximize the pre shading effect. Any way, here she is for now...

The decal is fine... the wrinkle is just the microset working on it. when dried it was nice and smooth and setteled into the wing panels. I cut the decal in two strips to apply to the dive brake... DUH... not realizing that there are ones already provided on the decal sheet. The upper surface crosses will be painted on and most of the aircraft ID will be dry transfers.

Well , thats about all for now... anxious to get back to it!

Doug 

Now that is something you will have to do a progress thread on. I did find an article on the BBC news website about the convention, but it was a preview of it.

Funny you should say that, Bish! There are some very good models out there these days, resins from garage firms and such (eg. UNCL's excellent range), and finally some greats kits from firms like Aoshima (they have the Mole and a new TB3 in their range, superb kits). I'm presently looking at scratch building Thunderbird 4 in studio scale, 20 inches long. I've done a number of projects over the years and look forward to doing a great many more!

M/TB379

Now that's dedication, travelling all the way over here for a weekend convention. I am surprised that wasn't mentioned on the news, they normally go for that sort of thing. So do you build models from those shows as well. I can't say I have seen many of those eon here, some of those Thunderbirds machines would make great builds. And that could be a GB all by itself.

Thanks, Bish! It was a fast visit, over the weekend, to the first official convention for fans of Gerry Anderson's programs from the 60s. It was a terrific event, I met up with the unspeakably talented modellers who are building replicas of the hardware from the old programs and also working on full scale sets! We went on a pilgrimage to the place where the shows were made -- it's a plastics factory now, fittingly enough! It was a wonderful weekend, and I look forward keenly to next year's event, which will be even bigger!

M/TB379

Nice to see you back Mike, I hope you were looked after over here. Where about did you go.

I started out on a Badger 350 as well! I used it for ten years and got pretty good with it, but it died from lack of proper care and I moved on to a Paasche VL, which I've been using around 25 years now.

Am really hoping to get some bench time soon -- fact is, I've been to England and back since I last posted anything on any forum!

M/TB379

Rigidrider

Hey Bish... You bring back alot of memories... When I was 15 (I think) yrs old I took some of my grass cutting money and bought a Badger 350, with a medium needle and it came with a can of air and an adapter . I never could get the air to last long enough, so I found an old inner tube and screwed on the adapter which would power the brush. LOL Paint would fly every which way at first, (too much pressure) then paint good for awhile, then just sputter and get splotchy as the pressure ran down! At that point I would just pump it up again with a hand pump! LOL...

Doug

PS... I still have that old 350, and from time to time get it out and use it!

I don't recall what mine was. I don't remember being able to change the needle, and I have just checked some pics and I don't think mine was a 350. Heck, it might not even have been a Badger, but it was along those line. I could never get those cans to last either.

Mustang, nice to see the wings on, looking good.

A Badger 350. I have 2 of those!!!!  LOL . I haven't used mine since I purchased my 2 Badger 200 AB's. But hey, I cut my teeth on Badger 350's for years!!!

Hey Bish... You bring back alot of memories... When I was 15 (I think) yrs old I took some of my grass cutting money and bought a Badger 350, with a medium needle and it came with a can of air and an adapter . I never could get the air to last long enough, so I found an old inner tube and screwed on the adapter which would power the brush. LOL Paint would fly every which way at first, (too much pressure) then paint good for awhile, then just sputter and get splotchy as the pressure ran down! At that point I would just pump it up again with a hand pump! LOL...

Doug

PS... I still have that old 350, and from time to time get it out and use it!

You and me both brother! LOL

Joe... 1 problem... Your work area is too clean! LOL... Lookin good! By the way, Ever heard of Bubble Puppy?, maybe the Seagle Schwall Band?How bout Long John Baudery? Am I showing my age yet???

Doug

Hey gang!!! Well I finally went for broke and put the wing assy and the fuselage together this morning. The fit was so-so with just a few minor gaps and will need just a small amount of filler and sanding here to get rid of some minor variations and some small glue trace spots. Finally there's no fit issues!!! lol

Tada!!

and ............

James: She's a real beaut! And it only took you a few weeks! Hell I've just climbed out of the cockpit build and here we have a great completed build already. Nice job!

Phil: I hear you on the AM blues dude! I end up having fun no matter what but this has to be the most work I've had to do so far to get where I'm at in my build.  Good work so far punching through on yours though.

Doug: Now THAT was funny about your wife asking about your model! My wife would be asking the same thing!!! hahahahaha.........

Reasoned: Aint that the truth about the age!! I ran into a kid the other day who had never heard of the first National Lampoon's Vacation. Worse yet I got asked who Van Halen was...............................................................: (

Great stuff so far guys, I'm really enjoying these posts. It is making me a bit twitchy not being able to join in yet, but I need to finish a couple of other builds first.

Rigidrider

Reasoned...LOL, Its funny you say that, I got a call this past weekend and she said "hows the model coming?" What model ? I said... She said well, which ever one your working on now.LOL... Guess she knows by now... LOL

Doug

Ha!

At least you didn't say, "Christie Brinkley" (yeah, I'm showing my age).

Reasoned...LOL, Its funny you say that, I got a call this past weekend and she said "hows the model coming?" What model ? I said... She said well, which ever one your working on now.LOL... Guess she knows by now... LOL

Doug

I think any combination is possible. From what we were able to figure out, the sirens were fitted in the field by the ground crews, and it seems a number of pilots didn't like them so didn't have them fitted. So there's a number of pics of B's with them fitted and not fitted. So anything is good.

Officially, the sirens were no longer fitted from the D-3 onwards.

And thanks for the compliment, but I still have plenty to learn. It took several of us to work all that out.