Reich Defenders V: Hunters of the Dark

Mike, don't feel bad. You wont be the last one finished. I have just gotten around to tinkering with the 110 this past week. Here are some of the larger components of the cockpit.

 

 

 

 

I have also done some work with the wings. I was actually pretty impressed with the way the nacelles fit. Not much work will be required to blend them in. 

 

 

The back part is the worst, but even thats not too bad

 

Thanks to you TB. What's next for RDVI. I was thinking bombers. He111 Do17/217 Ju88 types. John

Well, guys, this GB officially ends in a few days, but I'm always open to those wishing to take a little extra time -- my own entry won't be done in a few days, that's for sure. I've been hamstrung for filler -- the agent who used to carry Squadron stopped dealing with them recently and Squadron products, including their putty, are nigh-unobtainable in Australia at this time, so naturally my tube that I've been using for many years chose this period to finally expire, rock hard... I tried Tamiya white but it's too liquid in the tube and dries very hard, so I'm finding it quite an unfriendly putty to use, which is unfortunate as the Dragon ex-Trimaster 262 calls for a lot of filling. I have the port engine mated to the wing today, but have more rubbing down to do on the starboard before mating up, and then there are more seams to dress, so progress has been frustrating. The cockpit etch has been particularly fiddly too. I can just promise to plug away, a little at a time, and I'll post the results when she's done. Until then, thanks for making this a great GB (eight completions to date) and I hope we'll see just a couple more in the week or two ahead! Cheers, Mike

Ye, there different future in different parts of the world. I have read that the new one here does dry clear, I just want to try it first before I run out of the older bottles.

Thanks, Bish -- I have some Future I got sent over from Sprues Bros some years back, it's the original clear. The Micro Scale clears coats I use are milky in the bottle but dry clear. M/TB379

mike, ye, I would defiantly try it on an old canopy first to see what you think. I need to do that on a new bottle of future got recently. They have changed the formula over here and now its a milky colour. But apparently it dries clear, I just want to test it first.

Thanks Bob and Bish, I'll press on with the pit today.

Bish -- thanks for the info, that's pretty much what I remember reading many years ago -- it sounds like a case of screwing up one's courage and going for it -- maybe with an  old scrap part. I have some Bf 109 canopy parts that were scratched in the box and I'm trying to replace them, I could afford to give them a go and see what happens. Heck, if the Future muted the scratches I could perhaps still use them...

Cheers, M/TB379

Mike, I am not sure how other do it, I have never seen it discussed only people saying they have done it. I have an old Tamiya paint jar, one of the older larger jars, that's filled with future. Its big enough for most of my 72nd pits but you might want something bigger for larger scales. I just grab the clear ;piece with a pair of tweezers, at the edge on the frame if possible, then dip it in, shake off a bit and leave it on some tissue to dry. I leave it in a plastic tub with a lid to keep dust of. Nice progress.

It looks like you're making pretty good progress to me Mike. I really like the detail of the landing gear bays.

Bish -- the old Future dip is a technique I'd like to know more about, it seems like a great trick for clarity! Also, if using decal strips for the framing, it would serve to lock down the decals which at the moment haunt me with visions of them drying out and lifting somewhere down the track...

Work proceeding on the 262: I installed the gear bay components:

Then I was clear to assemble the engine pods. The fit of the old Trimaster parts is actually pretty bad and there'll be a LOT of filler work needed to blend them together and to the wings:

They look pretty good in the pic but in real life there's plenty to do. That also means iIll be proceeding a bit slower than I had hoped, as I've not received the putty I was waiting for and the last dregs of my previous tube (which must be 15 years old) have finally gone rock hard... Hopefully it'll be in the mail on Monday.

Until then I'll proceed with the cockpit and fuselage assembly.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks guys.

Mike, I was really please in how the canopy came out, I think that's a real stand out feature of the aircraft. I only started dipping in future recently, they really helps. Will look forward to seeing you build yours.

Nice work on the 262.

Progress on the Dragon 262. I've been working on several areas:

There's the main gear bay and underside of the cockpit, with etched parts, airbrushed aluminium and oil wash detailed for grime. next is the cockpit so far and interior of the fuselage:

And lastly, the engines, aluminium for the cold end, aluminium with a faint red hue to simulate heat-stained metal at the other end:

Hopefully I can start main assembly shortly. The etched parts are being fiddly in the extreme, I'm not having much luck with them right now...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Very nice bish. The exhaust staining looks right on. John

Awesome job Bish! The exhaust looks great, and the panel wash really helped to break up the scheme.

Bish -- excellent job! I love the clean presentation, the fine rigging, the exhaust stains, the clarity of the canopy -- in all ways an excellent project! I have a dragon 219 in the stash, one day it'll get the treatment!

Page 1 is updated, yours is the eighth completion, I believe. Thanks for being involved, it's always great to see what you build!

Cheers, M/TB379

Well, here it is. After the last update i did a neat panel wash with Flory washes, i wanted a nice clean finish for a change. Exhaust staing was done with Tamiya smoke, including on the tail as shown in the crash pics. Then the wheels were added along with clear pars for the lights and the antenna.

And still my favorite view of the aircraf, though i imagine not one many RAF bomber crew would want to see.

And once fitted to the base, i added 2 PE wheel chocks and a couple of figures. I wanted a nice simple dio showing the aircraft about to star its engines prior to its one and only operational sortie.

And there you go, my first ever He 219. I can now scrub this off the top of my loist of stash kits i most want to build. I still have 3 more Dragon 72nd kits plus the Revell 32nd in the stash, so it won't be the last.

Mike, a big thanks for giving me the chance to build this. And for letting me back in.

Please feel free to pick which ever pic you want for the front page.

moose, thank you. Should have it completed tonight. Mike, look forward to seeing those pics.

Thanks Moose! Can't wait to see more pics Thunderbolt

Work is progressing on the 262. The seats are painted, including the leather backings, and the Eduard harness sets are presently in prep. The bare metal interior of the main gear bay, bay doors and exterior of the cockpit tub have been oil wash weathered, the intention being to reflect runway dirt blown up into the interior of the aircraft. The instrument panels are moving along nicely via drybrushing and Future.

I'm hoping to have a progress pic or two in the next day or so.

M/TB379

Nice camo Silent Bob.  Your bird really came out nice.  Keep up the great work.

Bish.  Yours is looking great as well.

 

Keep up the great work guys

Kim

Hi guys -- okay, first look at the Dragon 262 which is starting to take shape. I have the prepainting well underway and am working up the etched parts for the landing gear well, after which I'll be able to pre paint all the natural aluminium areas. Here's the box art:

And here's the etch I'm working with:

The kit comes with two etched frets but the harness I'll leave aside and use Eduard pre-coloured sets from the many Luft frets I have in hand. The pilot seats are sprayed 66 and the backing pads will be painted leather. The instrument panels are base sprayed and will get the standard drybrush and Future treatment. The cockpit tub is into 66 and its outside goes into NM. Landing gear will be an intresting job, as the wheels are engineered in back and front halves intended to trap real vinyl tires between them. The halves are sprayed satin black, I'll top coat the tyres in off-black as the natural vinyl is nowhere near realistic.

More as we go,

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Right, its that time again.I had a few days delay as i was waiting on some decals, but more on that in a bit.

So after the last up date, it was time to prime and paint. I still struggle with seams and joins, the tops of fuselage and canopiy joins especially. becaus eof the light mono scheme i really wnated to get this as good as posable. In some places it took 3 attempts at painting, filling, sanding re painting before i was finally satisfied. I still do need to work on my seam technique.

I know some would use colour modulation on a scheme like this to liven it up a bit. But those who know me will know thats not my style. So while it might be un interesting, i figured as thats what the real one looked like, thats good enough for me. Filling in the panel lines will be as artistic as i get.

Now, those decals. From the star i knew the kit ones would not work. Apart from there not being any swastika's, there was also no double chevron. And many of the other markings just looked wrong. The black line son the top wing crosses were to thick and the green F's had a black out line. I thought i could cover all those from my AM sets and spares. Then last weekend i realised that despite haveing more swastika's than i have kkits, i did not have any black outines in the right size. So i ordered some from Fantasy Print shop. But then during the week i made anotehr realisation, i don't have the right double chevrons. So after a quick search, tehre was nothing for it bit to order a set of He 219 decals from AIMs which include ,arkings for this aircrfat, with the correct chevrons and swastika's.

So, that was a fun week. And after all that, the AIMs set did not include the wing crosses. But the decals are now on. The two markings for the foot holds come from the kit, the only ones i used from tehre. The wings crosses are from the decal stash and everything else is from the AIMS set.

Next thing to do is exhaust stains and the panel lines and that will be about it.

Looking forward to seeing that one. I have the paint on my 219 and got some pics. But I am waiting on some decals as I was not happy with the kit ones. I have ordered some from AIMs which importantly have the correct double chevron. I am hoping they will arrive tomorrow.

Awesome! I can't wait to see some pics.

Well, guys, with a few weeks to go in the GB I am proud to announce I have started the pre-paint on my 262! RLM 66 in the cockpit, a few parts in black (wheel hubs etc.) and a tinted metallic for the hot-end parts of the engines. If I can sort out the metal parts in the main gear bay I'll look at getting the straight aluminium areas blown into colour too, then I can begin bringing this beastie together. Cheers, M/TB379

Posted! SB, you have the seventh completion of the GB!

M/TB379

My pleasure, thanks for taking part! I'll get that pic up right away. M/TB379

Thanks Mike! That pic is a great choice. Thanks for hosting and getting me a little outside my comfort zone!

Bish and Silentbob -- awesome work, guys! I'm away a couple of days and there's an explosion of creative talent! Sweet builds both -- SB, which pic would you like on the honour wall? I'm leaning toward the second last, the plane looks really mean! Mike/TB379

Well, here she is all finished.  I have to say that this kit was an absolute blast to build.  The only major problems (other than painting that camo) was trying to get the front antenna array to line up and not droop.  But after it's all said and done, I'm proud of this one.  Sorry about the quality of the photos, my cell phone was fighting me on taking decent pictures.  On to the next!