Reich Defenders V: Hunters of the Dark

Bob she's looking good mate! I think the gear bays look just fine. There's enough there to make it look right.

Thanks!  When I saw how bare the kit parts were, I knew I had to add something.  Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of pictures of the bays so I had to wing it.  The kit also give me the option to pose the flaps up or down, and most of the pictures I've been able to find show them up when the plane is landed.  However most of the modelers that have built this kit (that I've seen online) built it with the flaps down.  Decisions decisions...

Hey Bob... I haven't forgot about you. alas... its kind of like you said, Not a lot of pictures on this birdie, as beautiful as it was ... If I'm not mistaken, I believe I read there were less then 200 actually deployed? Not good odds for pictures.

Yeah, not a whole lot of them made it into action.  A lot of the pictures I've seen are of bombed out birds.  Too bad they haven't attached the wings on the one at the Smithsonian's hanger yet...

Hey Bob looked in my Luftwaffe Camo and Markings Vol II and the only pic of an owl is with flaps up and it looks to be in a hangar. I think with most any aircraft, unless maintenance was being done on the flaps or their mechanisms themselves, they remained up for ground safety reasons.

Thanks simpilot. I think I'm going to be doing it with flaps up.  The pictures show it that way and like you said, makes sense from the safety standpoint. Plus, with the flaps up it will be easier to paint the camo on the upper surface 

Looking forward to more pics!!

Not a huge update, but the major assembly is done, now I just have to mask and prime it.  After that preshading...

It's always great to see a model reach this stage, Nob! Nice work, and you just know she's about to "come alive" when the paint hits her!

M/TB379

Agreed and specially such a grand old aircraft, and one that is way under represented in the modeling community.  I know that alot of the "uhu" kits are kind of expensive, and are not as common as some kits, but to me thats what makes them such a treat to see. I bought a RMX 1/32 He 219 on sale one time and it was still a pretty penny.

Doug

Nice work Bob!! When the paint goes on it starts to take on it's own personality!! Then when the decals go on itm has identity! :)

Thanks guys!  I know I've been quiet for awhile, but things are moving along.  I preshaded all the panel lines, and then looked for my cockpit masks to start painting only to realize I never ordered them.  So I had to wait for them to show up.  Then I realized I somehow lost the spring for my airbrush, so I had to wait for a replacement.  I was able to get the RLM 76 sprayed down as a base coat once I had everything.  I spent yesterday and today cutting out stencils for the camo from the large reference sheet Tamiya included in the box.  I'm hoping to have the painting finished by the end of the week.

Well, I was able to shoot the RLM 76 Lichtblau and it looked great.  I spent some time cutting masks for the camo out of a full-size sheet Tamiya included in the box to make all those splotches look good.  I started spraying the 75 Grauviolett on the wing, left side of the cockpit and vertical stabilizer, only to realize I have some major overspray and coverage issues that were not repairable.  So I'm going to respray the 75 and try a different way to mask the camo pattern.  If that doesn't work I think I may switch schemes to an overall 75 top with squiggles in 76.  I'll let you know after I get a chance to paint it again this weekend.  Argh.

This has been the most frustrating paint job I've ever done.  I'd spray, have some type of problem, try something else only to run into another problem.  I finally went back to my original idea of using the paper masks and not caring too much about getting soft edges to the camo.  It isn't perfect and may not be too accurate, but it's as good as I'm going to get it.  There are a few mistakes, but you'll only see them if you get real close and know where to look.  I'm going to let the paint dry and tomorrow I'll shoot a glosscoat on it and start getting ready for decals.

I know I haven't been in here much, but I may have a solution for you Silentbob.  =] Come back with the original color that's underneath your camo and thin it down considerably.  When you back off the pressure for your airbrush, you can get in real close and work the edges down slightly a little bit at a time. It will no doubt be quite tedious, but not impossible.  Just don't feel rushed.

With that said...I've been watching along in my emails all the posts that have been going on since the beginning of the GB and it's been real nice seeing all of your builds. I learn a little something new with each one.  =]

Bob -- I can understand your frustration chasing a scheme in circles as you have to fix one problem after another, I've encountered it myself on occasion and it's the pits. The finish you've developed here may not b eperfect t oyour eye but, wherever the problems are, they are gidden safely amongst the complexity of the pattern. If I were you, I would not feel obliged to pursue the paintwork any further, unless after sleeping on it you feel you can make any further progress, such as the freehand method bvallot suggests. To my eye, it looks pretty darn good as it stands, and, under a clearcoat to help draw the scheme together, it should be impressive as it stands.

Cheers, M/TB379

Mike, i am going to be a real pain in the butt here. Could you put me back on the roster. I have been able to get on really well with my other GB's, i really wnated to get in on this and now i will be able to. I'd like to jump in with a Dragon 1/72nd He 219A-0. I have been itching to add one of these to the built collection and now i finally can.

Thanks.

Thanks guys.  I'll take your advice Mike and sleep on it. We'll see how I think it looks in the morning.  Will be good to see you back here Bish

Thanks Mike, i will be able to start in a couple of weeks.

Well, that was a longer break between updates than I would have liked.  Between a sinus infection and getting things ready to start teaching again my time at the bench was pretty limited.  I got the decals on, which didn't take too long as there aren't that many markings.  It took me a little while, but I finally finished the panel line wash.  I used acrylic craft paints, and combined burnt umber with black.

Next is the landing gear and then the fiddly bits.  I seem to have accidentally thrown my B sprue away which had a couple of small antennae on it, but I don't think it will be too hard to scratchbuild a couple of replacements.

I guess its about time i dived in here. I started my build last Thurs and this is my progress up to Monday night. have done a little more since then but will add that in my next update.

So, for this i am doing the Dragon 72nd he 219A-0 V9. I have all the Dragon 219 kits in the stash, but have not built any of this tyoe before and decided to start at the begining. I am building the aircrfat flwn by Werner Streib on the night of 11/12 June 1943 when he shot down 5 lancatsers in one sortie.

Of course, i started with the pit. But most of the detail tehre is pre coloured PE, so i painted it before adding anything. Blackprimer follwed by Xtracolour RLM 66.

Undercarrage was also assemebeled, quite a bit of PE in this, and then painted.

Next up for the pit, the PE and some dtailed painting. Also did somelight weathering by useing a dry brush and flory black wash.

And the undercarrage also got the same, still need to clean the wash up here.

Now,i have a bit of a problem and i want to see what you guys think. The Dragon instructions call for over all RLM 76 with no mottling. A colour plate in an Osprey book supports this. But two others in different books show very light mottling. One of these books is the Kagero Monograph 49. But in the same book it has some pics of the aircrfat after in crashed returning from that sortie. To me,it looks like tehr eis no mottling. But i just wanted to see what you guys think.

From looking at tehse, i can only conclude that the mottling is so light it does not show on B&W pics and so Dragon and Osprey have assumed there isn't any.Or Kagero and otehr sources have assumed that seeing as other 219's had motling this must have had but its very light.

Would live to hear what you guys think.

Thats all for now.

Looks like you're off to a great start Bish!  The PE really makes the cockpit pop.  Looking at the photos you have there and the other sources I wouldn't worry about trying to do any mottling.  I don't see anything in the pictures.  If it really is there and is too light to see in the photos, would you still be able to see it in 1/72?  Of course, I might just be saying that to help keep you from ripping your hair out trying to paint it that small .

I was able to assemble and paint the landing gear.  I gave them a light wash and drybrushing to help bring out the details.

I also finished the exhaust shrouds.  I stole a technique I saw online somewhere when I was doing my research.  I painted them with Model Master acrylic rust to start.  Then I scribbled on some sandpaper with a pencil and rubbed my finger in the pile of graphite dust then smeared it on the shroud.

I attached them all to the plane and added the props.  Here's how she sits now, hopefully I'll be able to get this finished within a week (if life stops getting in the way).

We were probably looking at the same site, but I couldn't tell you which one it was.  

I'm making slow progress.  I added some soot for the guns and some exhaust streaking.  With any luck I'll be finished by the end of the month.