I managed to shoot an enamel coat of RLM 66 on top of the black base tonight which really brought all the molded in details of that resin pit out. Tomorrow I'll mix a slightly lighter batch of 66 to shoot on the high points of the pit to make it pop some more. Will post pictures soon when I have enough progress to mandate it.

Thanks :)

Aww shoot! I already posted something in your WIP. Looks good anyhow Colin!

Ok so be prepared for a word and picture dump, I got a fair bit done today :)

The brake lines are being installed. Holes drilled to accept the solder and then some careful bending and fitting with a dab of glue to secure it.

I used some bare metal adhesive foil to make the hose clamps around the lines and gear.

Here you can see the clamps installed and the lines painted.

After this all of the shiny spots on the gear from the glue got a very light coat of some yellowed dirty thinner as a wash to remove the glaze and give a little extra wear in the crevaces.

I painted half the line red and the other half black to emulate the dual lines on the original. I didn't have any finer solder to do dual lines.

Next I finished off the camera equipment. They were assembled and given a final touch up coat of paint on any sanded areas and to dull out the shiny bit of glue.

Both wheel wells were then installed along with the recessed bomb rack and camera equipment and bulkhead.

Now I was ready to button everything up.

Now I have a fair number of sub assemblies done, it's starting to look like an airplane!

Next I decided to mask the cockpit glass. Talk about nerve racking!
I put some Tamiya tape over the areas to be done and held it up to one of my bench lights to see the lines and carefully trace/cut them out with a blade.

I am pretty pleased with the results.

My only complaint is that the glass is very thick and the nose glass has a mold seam line right down the centre, no realistic way of removing that.
I was talking with a friend who does tabletop gaming scenery about this and it led to us deciding to build a small vacuum forming machine. So I think I'll take a crack at making my own cockpit glass, see how it actually works out.

Once this was done I started on the lines for the instruments, that much to see, it'd be a shame if i didn't add the plumbing for the works.
I took some thin fishing line, clamped it on a shelf and put a clamp on the bottom for weight and gave it a coat of matte white for primer. 
Then I gave it a coat of yellow to match my reference.
I held a sheet of paper behind it to both prevent painting my walls and to see where I was going and actually "hit" the line.

Looking at the reference, it's going to be some wicked eye strain but well worth it :)

Great litle build there Trabi, i like what you have done with that. I have aded you to the front page, and thank you.

And don't worry to much about time, if builds are not done by the time the GB ends, its no problem if you want to keep posting until your done.

Nice progress here guys!

Modelcrazy, Your Eugen is marvelous!!!

Well I think I call my Tiger as done:

I have another kit in my mind to this GB, but let´s see do I found time to build it.

lol. Well......if it equals 10 grams that'll do.

Joe: Thanks!

Mustang: Looks like a very complete cockpit, gonna look sharp all painted up! 

And I wonder if it will be heavy enough to serve as nose weight? 

Thanks Colin and Joe.

I think I’m going to test fit this kit together first to see how it’s supposed to go together and then install my resin goodies here and there. I figure it’ll give me a slight edge when things aren’t going together so smoothly when installing the resin pieces. Painting this sucker on the bottom will be a unique experience for me as I’m used to painting my exteriors with no landing gear installed. Judging by the fit of the fuselage halves together and the wing to fuselage joint I’d say it might be a slight bit easier of a kit than I’d originally thought.

 More test fitting with the Aires interior detail set. Looks like it's going to fit good at the firewall/ fuselage joint. Will have to see how everything is going to behave with the glass installed ..........



This is a fairly well complimented set and I'm looking forward to working with it:

Oooh baby, we have us some lively activity a goin' on here.

Bish, Cliff, Bruce, Brandon & Colin, I thank you all very much for the positive encouragement. As for using Alclad aqua gloss, I like it so far. Now, I've only used it on the Corsair cockpit to this point. Overall, it applies a very nice gloss coat and cures fairly quickly (6 hrs). The one issue I found using it is that it dries quickly, as in, in your airbrush. It has the tendency to tip dry easily and, as recommended on the label, immediately flush with water when done. This helped but, I had to run Testor's acryl solvent through it and then tear it down and clean it with acryl solvent to get it completely clean. Given that, I will definitely use it again.  

Colin, the instrument panel and seat belts are Eduard PE.

Cliff- The figures look fabulous. Good job. Certainly far better than anything I'd be able to turn out.

Colin - That is some really great stuff you have going on, especially in the detailing department. Very impressive. And that is a right nice paintbrush stand you knocked out. Quite ingenious. Unfortunately, I'm very attached to my collection of paintbrush/tool coffee cups and jars.

Brandon - Absolutely fantastic work and finish on the 162. It looks excellent. Congrats on a fine finish and I'm excited to watch your La-7 build.

Joe - So excited to have you choose to come join us. The fact that you are back building a Luftwaffe aircraft simply means that..well.. life is normal again. The fancy car stuff was fun and all but, it's good to have you come back to your senses.. And that there 234 is going to be awesome!

mustang, the goody list is drooltacular. i really can't wait to see that come together.

The goody list:



with a masking set:



and reference material:

                                                                                                                 



and a set of these:

BrandonD, great looking build.   It is odd looking, but in  a cool sort of way.

regards,

Jack

BD: Very sharp work there! Kudos! 

Mustang: Looks cool! 

Well, i suppose i can fit you in . And of course, you welcome to keep posting as long as it takes, i am sure you won't be the only one.

Welcome aboard, Mustang! Glad to have you! That 234 is something I'd like to add to my stash, looking forward to your progress.

Brandon: That lil' Heinkel turned out pretty sweet. Thats one that I need to add to the stash. Nice work.

Bish: If I could, I'd like to toss my hat in the ring with this one. I'll be 90 years old by the time I finish it and be the only one in here building next year (unless there'll be an extension / continuation of this GB next year) but what tha hay....

@Colin,

Some very nice detailing going on there! This build will be impressive when complete! And I like your ingenuity in building the brush holder!

@BD,

Your 162 looks outstanding! I very much like the subtle weathering! Great job!

Love that 162 BD, really nice finish, thank you. Front page has been updated and will be wzthcing out for the La-7.

Some great work there Coin, likeing what your doing here. And i like the idea for the brush rack. I am moving the modelling den son, i might have to pinch that idea.

Fantastic build!
Really nice finish.

Ok, this 1/48 Tamiya He-162 Salamander is done. I really enjoyed building this kit - typical Tamiya fit that made it a dream, with the only real seam cleanup being on the fuselage seam, and that was minimal. I love the inclusion of the steel ball to keep it from sitting on its tail, and I really find the subject matter interesting.

To think that they were able to build so many of these (I think something like 150 actually survived the war), it's just a cool plane.

The paints are Mr. Paint RLM 81, Tamiya Flat Green for RLM 82 and the Tamiya-recommended mix for RLM-76. Exhaust staining aft of the engine was Alclad Jet Exhaust. Aftermarket inclusions were the HGW harness and markings from Kagero. Unfortunately, the Cartograf decal sheet Kagero provided did not include stencils, national insignia or swastikas, so I used the (thick) Tamiya decals for those. It was a little annoying, as I bought the Kagero book and decals to get away from using Tamiya's decals. Oh well, they came out ok, and I was able to score them along panel lines so you can't tell they didn't sink down on their own.

Let's go with the first one for the front page, and I'll get cracking on that La-7 when I get a chance.

Thanks for looking!

-BD-

Thanks :)
Chipping away at it a little at a time.

Colin: Nice work, esp the gear bays. 

And cool paintbrush holder too. 

JOE RIX

Hey Gang. Finally feel as though I have some viable progress to share. The other day I shot a gloss coat on the cockpit parts and fuselage with Alclad aqua gloss in preparation for an oil wash:

I actually got a healthy dose of time at the bench today mainly due to the fact that it was a 102 here and I was none to keen on working in the yard. I applied the oil wash and finished all of the cockpit PE. Thanks for having a look.

 

Joe, looks great!
Instrument panel is fantastic and the belts look the part. What did you use for them/how did you make them?

I've managed to get some more sub assemblies done and well as some fiddly bits.

Engine bits done and ready to be installed.

Intakes in the nacelles.

Everything sandwiched together.

The camera's have been painted after sanding.

Camera mount/frames sanded and waiting for paint.

And with a good coat of RLM66.

Next up the wheels get a coat of semi-gloss.

And now to really dig into the most finicky bit of the whole project, the cockpit.
The "office" glued into the right half so I can get the lines installed and judge the angles of the bends before the glass goes in.

And some hoses cut from some very fine solder for the pedals. Trying to match my reference photo's from the NASM example. I think I might need to redo the main lines as they don't look quite right.

While I've got the solder out I drilled some holes in the gear for the brake lines.

Then measured, cut and glued them in place. Having the holes drilled makes it much easier on placement, you don't need to worry about them drifting all over the place.
Once the glue is good and dry I'll give them some paint and then carefully bend them into place.

And after this I got tired of all my brushes sitting in the old mugs I was using so I made a brush and tool holder from some scrap I had kicking around.
It was a quick and dirty build, not winning any beauty contests but it's functional and does its job :)  ...and it didn't cost anything.

In place and everything a bit more organized.

That's about it for now, hoping to get a little more time this week to tackle some more.

Steve - that ship looks awesome! Some of thos pics made me do a double take, because between the quality of the model and the background, it doesn't look like a model at all. Nicely done.

Joe - great start on the Corsair. That's one of my favorite planes, and I can't wait to see you tackle it.

-BD-

Lol, no worries Bruce- probably the heat, I've been in and out all day and I'm sweating like a pig. 

I think you'll enjoy the Vallejo paint too, it's some of the best stuff out there for brush painting. 

Cliff,

Wow! I'm losing it! LOL! I have a Type 97 at home too, I can check it out tonight. I can't believe I didn't think of that myself, duh!

I will check out the Vision Model sets (thanks for the link!) And there was another company that made metal tracks for the Type 4 name Zitader. But, it doesn't look they are around any longer.

I pulled the trigger on the MiniArts figures. And I have a Vallejo face painting set coming. Really hoping I can bring this all together in a nice dio. Ha, then I have to start the motorcycle for your Japanese V GB!

Bruce: As I've got a Type 4 and Type 97 in the stash I'll dig them out tonight and look at the tracks. Should be able to get back with you either tonight or tomorrow morning. 

BTW: Before you invest in the Fruils you might want to check with the Vision Models set. They're plastic and with a little clean-up around the sprue gates they simply snap together. They're the best aftermarket ones I've ever used. You can leave them loose for workable tracks but the links are a little fragile, it's probably better once you have them the way you want them to flow on a little liquid cement and lock them in place. Still gee friggin' whiz the snap together feature is about a zillion times easier to work with than the normal ones. Only big problem I've seen with them is actually finding them, looks like HobbyLink Japan is out of stock and not many companies carry them. 

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/visionmodels/va9003.html