So I've been doing some reading for my AR-234 build and am stuck on what to use for the bomb.

Do i just make up something that looks like your atypical a-bomb, or do I go with something like a mistel/parasite remote control bomb much like the ones used for anti shipping and bunker busting or a modified version of say an AR-381.

Thoughts?

Bish would that break the rules?

Nothing there breaks the rules. If you go for the usual A-Bomb look, it would of course have to be smaller than what was actually used at the time. I think the max load was about 1,500 KG. And i would see it as delivering more of a tactitcal Nuclear weapon rather than the larger bombs dropped by the US or under my Arado.  I like the sound of the ARE 381, does your kit come with one.

Excellent!
I was leaning more towards the ar-381 as well or something of the like. The kit doesn't come with one. I was looking at the Anteres resin cast but it's $40 alone for that tiny guy so the thought had crossed my mind to scratch build one. It's a pretty simple setup so I don't see it being that hard. I might make a mockup and cast one of my own or rather call in a favour from a buddy who has a casting setup. I reloaded his pc a few weeks ago and he said let him know when I need something cast.

I do like the idea of something mounted on top of the ar-234, the ground clearance is pretty low on the 234. Something like this image but with a smaller payload instead of this high altitude job. Side note, that looks like a great build to do.

Sound slike a good idea. I have the Dragon 72nd 234's. One of those comes with a 381 which does underneath. But another carries a V-1 which was carried on top, so that could be another option.

Hey Bish,

The Arado looks great, cool camo scheme. The diorama and vehicles have come up really well.  Like the look of the 381 - do one of them!

Dan the T34 is a great build. I like the restrained colour variation and weathering. And yes, the painted number does look good.

The MB5 is coming along slowly - so far all I am doing is scribing back all the raised panel lines. It gives me something to do in the motel room at night...

Looking forward to all the builds...

lostagain,

Looking forward to seeing your work in progress on your MB5. I've never seen a vacuum form kit built. I'm very interested.

Bish

Sound slike a good idea. I have the Dragon 72nd 234's. One of those comes with a 381 which does underneath. But another carries a V-1 which was carried on top, so that could be another option.

 

Ohh neat, maybe that will be a good option, a top load payload. I just love the look of it.
I can already see a whole shelf of mistel aircraft from both sides in my office, possibly the den. 

hogfanfs

lostagain,

Looking forward to seeing your work in progress on your MB5. I've never seen a vacuum form kit built. I'm very interested.

 

Me as well. I've never seen a full build of one. Eagerly waiting to see this go together.

The thought of doing an entire build myself just makes my hands shake, after many critical mistakes cutting out vac-canopy's for rubber powered stick and tissue models.

Colin: Now that's interesting! 

LA: Same here, I've used vac-form parts but never an entire kit. I've seen a few kits I thought about picking up but haven't had the guts to try one yet. 

lost, thank you very much. I really enjoyed doing that build.

And i am looking forward to the MB 5. I had thought vac foarm kits a think of the past, so nice to see you reviving them.

qlabs

 

Bish

Sound slike a good idea. I have the Dragon 72nd 234's. One of those comes with a 381 which does underneath. But another carries a V-1 which was carried on top, so that could be another option.

 

 

 

 

Ohh neat, maybe that will be a good option, a top load payload. I just love the look of it.
I can already see a whole shelf of mistel aircraft from both sides in my office, possibly the den. 

 

 

Not sure if your able to find a pic of it, but the V-1 option has a sort of cradle device which lifts the rocket up and away from the aircrfat for launching. Its hard to see on most pics, but this shows it well.

This isn't mine, i just found it on a search.

I love all the work being done in here.

Bish - great job on that. I like the subject, and I love the way you displayed it with the base and bomb and vehicles. It looks really cool, and especially after having just finished Man in the High Castle, it's a little chilling to think of what might have been had the German atomic program not been shut down, and had the war gone on another year.

I'll be jumping in soon with my He-163. I got started on it and got the wheel wells and cockpit mostly together. Pics will come soon.

-BD-

Thanks BD. That series looks interesting but i have not been able to watch it. Is it any good.

Looking forward to seeing those pics.

Meh, I wanted to like the series, but I found myself not caring about the main characters, and I only continued watching to see what the world was like. The series starts in 1962, and the U.S. is divided between Japanese and Nazi rule, with the latter having nuked D.C. There is someone making movies that supposedly offer a ray of hope, but the series does a bad job explaining what that hope is, and I thought it was pretty weak overall.

Once I'd finished the first season, I just bought the book and read it, and it makes much more sense in the book, as it's more believable, and not quite so random. I think the series tried to do too much without really explaining the people's motivations.

-BD-

Thnaks. Sound slike a good story but could have been made better. Maybe i will just get the book, don't have to pay a subscription for that

Bish -  I apologize in advance for this post.

As tomorrow marks the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire, I decided to build my 1/48 Special Hobby Seafire as my first entry in this build. Unfortunately for Bish, I also am building it alongside two Spits, and they're in the pics...

So far I just have the cockpit 80-percent assembled, and I'm looking forward to getting primer and paint on it. It will be in the box art markings of a Seafire Mk.III of the French Aeronavale. These saw combat in Vietnam in 1946.

In all pics, the Special Hobby is on the bottom.

Thanks for looking.

-BD-

Cool, Brandon! Looking forward to seeing all three built!

BD, i have no idea what you are getting at, really i don't.

I like how your doing this, its good to see the differance, and similarities in the kits. The SH kit, am i right in thinking those parts are resin.

Haha, no I must be going crazy... 

The Special Hobby kit is mostly plastic. There's a small PE fret with the IP, belts, some details and the strenghtening parts on the fuselage for catapult launches. There are also some vinyl parts dor raised detail on the fuselage. No resin in this one.

-BD-

I just woundered. The 72nd kits i have done both had resin in and i thought that bit on the right looked like a resin part. I notice the similar lok in the sets of the SH and Eduard kit.

BD: Whoops I already commented on your Spitfire trio over in the Aircraft forum so I'll just say COOL again...

I've got a paperback edition of 'The Man in the High Castle' around somewhere. Probably over a decade since I read it. I thought is was kinda so-so, then again I've read about a half-dozen of Phillip K. D i c k 's novels and wasn't all that impressed by any of them. Always seemed odd to me Hollywood keeps filming his stuff when there are much better SF novels out there- then again YMMV! 

I don't remember there being much of a plot to it, I remember it being more a mood type piece on what a US divided up by the victorious Axis powers would be like. Haven't seen the film version yet.  

Thanks guys for your comments, using a tooth pick I added a little flat black to the inside of the exhust.

Looks good! 

Nice detail, Dan. I love the weathering.

-BD-

Looks very good there Dan, even in the close-up!

Well, I finally got the Chi-Ri primed over the weekend. I did a little pre-shading and highlighting. As Bruce pointed out this was both the primer and the base colour over which the camo was applied so in the desperate fighting against an Allied invasion of the home islands the tank probably wouldn't have gotten any camo beyond this. Still I like the camo and think it's one of the things that make Japanese tanks interesting to me. So I started applying the Silly Putty for the camo painting.

Looks real nice G. Be interested to see that camo scheme.

Cliff,

Wow! She looks real good. The modulation is outstanding! It does look great as is, but, I feel the camo pattern will make it look even better!

Thanks guys! 

And looking forward to seeing more of yours Bruce. 

Thought i better bump this up, see how you guys are getting on.

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of updates I got a little sidetracked painting a Wildcat and then was busy away from the bench.

This is a quick update on the wing of the Special Hobby Seafire. I knew that given it's a short-run kit, it wouldn't fall together like the Eduard and Tamiya ones. So I spent some time sanding, clamping, filing and filling. In the end, I had to file the surface where the wing meets the fuselage, then sand the top down to eliminate a 0.5mm step that would be a pain to fill later. Also, the ailerons were noticeably thinner than the wing, so I added 0.010" styrene sheet to the bottom and rescribed the panel lines. I also sanded and filled the seam on the oil cooler scoop. It took quite a bit of work, but it's ready for primer.

Next up is the office work.

-BD-