Reich Defenders V: Hunters of the Dark

Trey I agree with the cowls just seems much easier to fix the minor gaps without the whole engine nacelles in the way.  I still have 2xC-6 night fighters a C-6 zerstorer a A-6 balloon cutter and the P-1

Thanks Moose... I'm doing the weathering now ( pics to follow soon ) but I'm not doing washes like I usually do, In the Bf109 build, I tried using chalks (pastels powdered ) to do the panels and hiliting, and I like them. It takes far longer then washes , but I like the end results. Might be done this weekend... take care,

Doug

Rigid

   Looking great. I love the motling.  Your bird is really shaping up.

Trey

   Two at once, that is crazy.  I would loose half the parts and it would be the same ones on both birds.

Trey... New man cave? Well I believe everything happens for a reason. We may not understand it at first, but...

Man, every time I see your wip I think I'm seeing double, wait... I am! They are looking good and coming along nicely! My hats off to you, doing 2 at a time!

Take care...

Doug

Thunderbolt thanks for the kind words!

Doug that is one clean looking build,the decals are really making it pop too! Yea I cringe when I hear thunder,the plus is theres nothing left to fling around now! I did get a new man cave outa of it so it was'nt a total loss, but dammit what a long road to recovery!

I've found its easier to put the cowl bases on and sort the small fit issues along the leading wing edge before fitting the wings.

As I've found on the earlier 88 builds its obvious by the nice fit of the A-4/6 bits that this is the original mold,and the C/G components are the later add ons with the more ill fitting components. I use gap filling ca and a file to correct the gaps.

Very nice.  The green A just adds a splash of color

Alright friends... I got some more done over the last few days...

The gloss coat was applied about 2 days ago...

Now we have fun with the decals...

Well that's about all for now, they actually went on fairly well and sucked down pretty good with a few applications of Micro-sol. Next the fun part, Detailing and weathering. By the way, I have looked through every book I have and everywhere I could think to google, and I see virtually no examples of stencils on these aircraft, either odd or I'm not seeing.

Thanks

Doug 

Trey -- that standard would be impressive enough on one model, but to achieve it on two, back to back, speaks of an ocean of patience. Great work!

M/TB379

Your doing a heck of a job juggling 2 at a time! You know, after 10 years I'll bet you still cringe a little whenever the skys turn stormy!  I know I would.

Doug

TJ thats coming along nicely!

Doug agree there were a lot of 'mistaken' landings! I had Charlie take out all my pine trees (along with the roof and the shop) in 04;(

I got the landing gear and IP sorted

And gave the office a wash

Ok have some real progress.

Brandon, Johnny, Thanks guys...Shes coming along! I didn't have a lot of time to work on today, I'm having 5 LARGE pine trees removed from the front of my house, and I'm a bit nervous being they almost had to buy a house earlier. 1 tree (after liming) started to twist (which pines are known to do)  as it was about 2/3 of the way cut into and luckily they were able to tie off to another truck to pull away from the house before it finally came down. (WHEW) Any way I've had about all the excitement I can handle for 1 day. Thanks again guys!

Doug

Trey,  nice two at once.  

Doug. That is looking like it's going to be a winner.

Rigid, that is a huge and awesome looking bird. I'm totally diggin' the spot camo pattern. Very cool. Looks really good.

Thanks Trey.... I reread my book(s) last night and found that info, but am still glad you posted info. I would likely have forgotten to. Funny you mentioned that mistaken landing, I also reread that incident and thought that MAYBE... was it a mistaken landing or a defection, or just a dumb azz navigator. LOL... Either way, Thanks again, and good luck with the gears!

Take care,,,

Doug

PS... Seems that the Luftwaffe had a number of "mistaken" landings of that sort. But after a mission and throwing in the confusion that occurs during and after the battle... Who knows.

Thanks TB!

Doug thats looking awesome ,great work on the mottle! The Radar on the wings is the Fug227 Flengsburg same as on the famous(or infamous if you're a Luftwaffe fan) captured 4R+UR of 7./NJG2 that mistakenly landed at an RAF base on july 23 1944. Good luck not knocking those bits off in the final stages! Looking forward to the next update. I've been busy sorting out 2 sets of landing gear,not fun!

LOLOL... Yeah I said the same thing, Wonder how many times I'll knock these off, but so far so good! Thanks Bob!

Looks really good Doug! I'd be too afraid to put the radar arrays on while painting...I don't want to think about how many times I'd break them off

Got some more done this week... starting into the paint...

Primer is done...

I forgot which radar array this is, I will have to re read to name it , but it went along with the FuG220 on some aircraft. I figured , Why not and made some to attach to the outboard leading edge of the wing.

The 76 is done and sealed on the underside...

And the 76 has been applied to the top side and I started the 75 "Spots" But they were too light so I went over with 66 and darkened them up somewhat.

The 66 did the trick and the spots are actually a bit darker then they appear here. I have read but still don't understand the use of 76 on the upper surfaces of a night fighter, I know they didn't want just a black "shadow" which blocked out the lights on the country side below, but light Blue??? 

Any way... Tis all for now, hope to get more done this weekend. Take care all!

Doug

Ill say they do! That's great Trey... That's a whole lot of 88 parts. LOL...

TJ, Thanks for the info, Glad there are folks here that know there 88s, I'm reading up on them but still trying to figure them out.

Doug

Great work, there, Trey -- the harness really looks good! The prepainting stage is a challenge but then she starts to come together and, well, the magic happens!

M/TB379

TJ good call joining up those wing tips and fuse first,I made the mistake of not doing that on my first 88 build and paid dearly for it!

Doug yes I'm building 2 the A-6 & the G-6 the former does'nt qualify for this g/b so i'll try and keep it out of future pics .

I followed  TJ's lead and did the same with the sub assemblies

Got the pe seat belts in

Seats in place I'll now turn my focus on the IP

Theyoung do have annular radiators so they almost look like a radial

Some really great work happening here, guys! Sorry I haven't been around as much as I should -- working, plus trying to get my first 109 done for the other GB! I'll start my 262 in the not too distant future, that's a promise!

M/TB379

Gotcha... I must be looking at the back of the housing, it looks like the rounded nose of the BMW.

Doug doing the G-6 with the Jumo 211

Lookin Good TJ... You doing the BMW engines?

Office space lookin good too Trey, X2?

Got some sub assemblies together. Took some advice and glued nose sections to main fuselage first. Same with wingtips glued them to the respective half of the wing. No step minor gap at join.

Thanks Doug,totally agree theres just something cool about the 88.

I've gotten the basics of the office done,waiting for some pe seat belts to finish the seats

Thanks Trey... I really do like the Ju88... Such a cool looking aircraft. Luck to you and yours, will like watching the progress

Doug