AIRCRAFT - Battle of Britain Group Build (Jan 1st 2005 - May 31st 2005)

Tom-1, Sean-0
(for now!!!!)

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Tom-1, Sean-0 (for now!!!!)

haha I know you'll get me back!

This seems like a good spot to jump in to my rekindled need for build models. My first question is how does a group build work? I see a lot of posts are back and forth questions/replies. I hope I could add a little Canadian content by adding a Hurricane flown by McKnight or Brown in there. I saw that there is a bunch of people already wanting to do 'canes. Am I still in time to add my name ot the list?

Still looking for the right kit. I have my eye of a Gladiator but due to X-mas and all, i haven't been able to get to the shop to pick up up. But i was at Wally-Mart the other night picking up a few last minute things and came acroos the Monogram Spitfire MkII, so at least i have a kit to start the GB with. l might pick up the gladiator some time in Jan, unless somthing else catches my eye.So Darson just put me down as building a Spit and "somthing else". I've been stupid busy as of late, so my P-38 with the Pacific GB is taking longer then i thought but i should starton time. I'll pick a squad for the Spit at some point.
later folks

QUOTE: Originally posted by jboutin This seems like a good spot to jump in to my rekindled need for build models. My first question is how does a group build work? I see a lot of posts are back and forth questions/replies. I hope I could add a little Canadian content by adding a Hurricane flown by McKnight or Brown in there. I saw that there is a bunch of people already wanting to do 'canes. Am I still in time to add my name ot the list?

to FSM and the BoB GB jboutin
Basically a group build is where we all build a model to do with a certain subject such as the Battle of Britain, some GB's are a specific model like a Mustang or a Tiger Tank

Anyway the start date to build is Jan 1st, right now were just talking about what models were doing and what tools and techniques we use and anything else that might pop up like War Movies and Cow tipping eh Tom
So just pick your build and Darson will add you to the listCheers Jules.....

BTW Darson hows that pre GB 109 coming along............Any Pics Yet

went to visit the brother in law today (a really good guy, I am really lucky... my wifes mom is nutty as a fruit cake but the rest of her family is great! <ok her mom is ok too but just has strange ideas>)

Anyway the most favorite hobby shop I could ever wish for is slight blocks from him... I picked up the Bf-110 C/D with the optional if not b#tt ugly belly tank included. So you can add that as a secondary build after the Martlet (also got the appropriate paints for the martlet there)

Best thing is they had tons of built kits around and the wife suddenly oooohh'd and aaaahh'd over the dioramas... I explained to her that if she built the dio I would supply the model for it.... this netted me the AT-6 Texan I needed to complete the Latin American build... and almost an Iwata HP-CR... ***BUT*** this same Iwata was at their shop not 3 weeks ago for 65 dollars, and is now 92 dollars which is more realistically priced for a hobby shop... think the first one was a mis-price... What a woman!!! now not only does she insist I buy more kits, she just bought her first one.. a 1/1200 Scharnhorst (sp) and is planning to buy me the Iwata for Xmas!!!

Can't ask for a better woman... now if I could only train her to take out the trash to the curb on Sunday night!!!

Hang on to her Tom........She sounds like the modellers perfect Wife

Although mine's not too bad, She didn't crack at me yesterday when i walked out of the LHS with that Monster 1/72 German U-Boat from Revell, I've had that bugger on Lay-by for 6 months.........

Half ya luck fellas.

Mine gave me the ominous 'Sideways' look, when a small package arrived for me this morning.

I showed her it was only 3 pots of paint, and 1 eyebrow went up, and she walked away.

It's ok though, I got her sussed.
For Christmas she asked me what I want, and I replied 'Nothing, not even a model'

Then I got her a DVD/VCR player for Chrissy, $600 bucks worth.

What a guy!!
(read-fool)

ahh that's ok Sean, maybe she has something up her sleeve lready for Christmas and when that box arrived she got worried you'd ruin her surprise... I always used to do that to my mom... 3 days before Christmas I would do some last mnute shopping and suddenly come on somthing *I* had to have... I'd get home and my mom would turn red as a beet...

"Thomas I can't believe you did that, this close to Christmas and all"

Oh! good news on another front! While at the brother-in-laws house I asked him if he wanted some planes for his office because I am starting to fill up here... (he and his wife are both dentists) ends up his wife wants to hang them from the ceiling of one of her treatement rooms for the kids to look at while they are getting work done... No more worries about where to put the builds! haha

and if you're a fool for doing that then we all are... it's amazing the lengths we go to for the missus...

Darson, I think for my first project (back into modelling) I'll try a Canadian hurricane, I think from RCAF sqdn 1, operational from mid August 1940 onward.

Anybody know a good kit that someone just getting back into modelling can handle easily? I plan on doing some basic detailing and of course aftermarket decals.

jboutin - What scale do you want to work in? I would suggest checking out this site http://www.modelingmadness.com/ and going to their kit review/preview sections to get a good idea on which kit to get. The Huricane is still on my to do list but I'm sure others here will have some good info on kits.

Welcome again to the forum and to the BofB group build.

G'day guys,

Well I survived another Christmas with the kids and family, so now it's just a matter of cleaning up the mess. I tell you modeling is never far from my heart because as I was cleaning up the wrapping and boxes for my girls presents. I thought man that clear cellophane on the doll's box could really come in handy for modeling so day, I'd better hang on to that, pathetic I know.

I hope everybody had a happy and safe festive season and got some nice goodies from Santa.

jboutin - to the group build mate, I have put you down on the front page for a Hurricane. As for a good kit to kick off with, I would suggest the Hasegawa 1/48 Hurricane Mk.I, but do check out Modeling Madness as suggested by razordws.

tho9900 - Tom, could you give a little in box review of the 110. I wouldn't mind picking up that kit and would love to know what it's like.

j.s.harrison - Jules the 109 was coming along very nicely until I got hit with the festive season. I'll get back into it in a couple of days and hopefully wrap it up.

Cheers
Darren

Darren - I just eyeballed the 110 kit and it actually looks very nicely done (haven't got into it too much but everything looks good)

Nice panel lines, crisp... and the various access panel bolts look appropriately scaled. (dunno too much on how they looked on the real thing but they aren't obtrusive on the kit)

Interior is ok, a bit sparse on detail and the instrument panels have no raised dials and they provide decals for the instrument panel instead. If you want to go all out on it, this would be a big area to go AM parts with. there's two figures included, one had a rather nasty injector pin hole in his chest but it looks like a little putty will have him back on his feet in no time at all.

One strong point is, they provide a full color glossy and rather detailed top, side and bottom view of the paint scheme, as well as decal placement. One is done in late BoB looking camo the other in what looks to be Afrika Korps design, maybe southern italy...

Another thing I liked is there is actually a separate instruction sheet for the C or D models respectively. No having to read fine print at the end of a step for what to change to retrograde it... this one is step by step, one or the other.

The decals look to be good quality, "possibly" a little thick but nothing like I have seen with some other kits, great color to them and they provide both sets of decals for specific versions as well.. in general there was little or no flash so it doesn't look to be a messy clean up just to get to build her.

I'll dig into it a little more tomorrow as I tore one of the decals for my USN Aviation build so am on hold for that till the new ones arrive next week.. will use this as a warm up for the BoB build...

For the $15.95 US I spent on the kit it looks so far to be comparable to a Tamiya kit minus the good interior detail... (Of course I've built a Tamiya or two with similar interiors to this one so I guess about the same)

I'll test fit tomorrow and let you know what any gapping issues look like, hopefully none as all the long pieces (wings and fuselage) didn't appear to have any warp to them and the edges looked nice and straight.

Till then! And a Merry Christmas to all!!

Tom, is the belly tank optional??????

I would really like to build a 110, but the belly tank issue put me off.
Could you let us know if the tank is not fitted, whats the detail like where the tank would have been.

Thanks
Sean

Sean, yeah the belly tank is optional... the fusulage has the same panel lines following on under the belly, and the big tank is a separate add-on that actually looks like it would be a bit of a job to align, haven't taken it out of the plastic bags yet but will test fit the tank just for grins tomorrow to see how easily it lines up and what kind of gaps it leaves...

but to answer your question, without the tank the fuselage looks good, it's putting the tank ON that looks to be tricky!

Thats great to hear Tom.
Thanks

yah Sean and Darren.. except for a bit of a sparse interior (it is gonna be a closed cockpit anyway...) the kit looks really nice!!! I'll take a pic or two tomorow and let you see some of the stuff I pointed out..

right now I am gonna go sleep of a bit of the turkey we had for dinner though..

I built the Fujimi 1/48 Bf-110 kit a few years ago & don't recall any problems with the build. The interior is a bit sparse, but passable for an OOB build, or you can spiff it up to your hearts content. Sorry, I don't have any pics of the model.

Regards, Rick

Disaster has struck I was masking up the canopy for the 109 that I'm building at the moment and I've gone and snapped the rear canopy piece in half
I just can't believe I'm such a putz.
Does anybody know how to order spare parts from Tamiya in the US? I would appreciate any help.

Thanks
Darren

Darren sory to hear about youre canopy, I almost did the same thing on the rear canopy of mine, bent the little bugger right in but it didn't snap......
As far as i know the only way to get a replacement part is to fill in the little form you get with the kits and mail it off but that may take ages to get.......

I built an E-3 a while back and was sanding it in the bedroom while watching TV and the missus decided to rearrange the room and thats the last i saw of it.....
The point is i didn't throw out the rest of the parts so i think i may have a spare canopy around here somwhere.......
I'll have a look when it's daylight and i'll get back to you.....Jules.......

Darren, in case Jules doesn't have what ya need you can call them at: (800) TAMIYA-A

or mail them at:

Customer Service Address:
Tamiya America, Inc.
Attn: Customer Service
2 Orion
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656-4200

I broke the rear half of my N1K1 canopy and called them, it was at my house in about a week tops...

Being in Oz it might be better to email Customer Service first and let them know your situation. They'll need the kit number (usually on the front page of your instructions, "Item No. X" in the top right corner on the two Tamiya kits I checked just then. And also the sprue letter as well. They can't send you just the part you need, but will send you a sprue. I think it cost me $5.00 in the states for mine.. real decent folks on the phone too!

Good luck!

---edit---

here's where you can email them at: http://www.tamiyausa.com/contact/email.php

Darren, sorry to hear that mate.

When I did my Hase G14 it was fitted with the 2 part canopy, so the section you are after I have as a spare.

It looks like it will fit, cause I have the Tamiya E3 kit for this GB and I just compared them and they look pretty damn close.
The differance would be dead easy to rectify with your skills.

If Jules has no joy in finding his, lemme know and I can send it to ya this week

A link I found that may save us from broken canopies in future

http://www.ezmasks.com/index.html

ok.... this is getting crazt.. just reset my post twice!!!!

I did my SBD with those masks and although a chore to get on for these senile old eyes of mine, the end result was brilliant!!! A little off in areas but better than freehand I think...

The jury is out but I plan to get a set for my Bf-110 for a warm up for this build and tell yall how it works!!!

Well, the start date is getting close. May have to take the shrink wrap off the Tamiya 109E-4 & start sniffing the plastic .

Regards, Rick

Tom, whats the frame work like on that 110 canopy?
Raised or recessed??

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Tom, whats the frame work like on that 110 canopy? Raised or recessed??

wierd... it's recessed, I guess I didnt pay attentioned when I looked at it the other day... there's recessed lines on each side of the frames

---edit---

I just went and did a look see on the net and looks like that would be appropriate... not much exterior bracing at all, all looks mostly interior except the windshied area in front....

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Tom, whats the frame work like on that 110 canopy? Raised or recessed?? wierd... it's recessed, I guess I didnt pay attentioned when I looked at it the other day... there's recessed lines on each side of the frames

Each side of the frames??

Do you mean outside AND inside?

Outside is good, makes it ALOT easier for me to do the masking with foil when I eventually get that kit.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tweety1 Each side of the frames?? Do you mean outside AND inside? Outside is good, makes it ALOT easier for me to do the masking with foil when I eventually get that kit.

no I just said that to confuse ya! it's just on the outside as far as I can tell, gonna open the kit up in a little bit and get some pics fo you guys... tape the fuselage together to see how the fit looks and such things...

ok as promised, I will just put the links in in deference to the bandwidth challenged... I was REALLY surprised how well the fuselage fit together... if you see what appears to be misalignment in the pic it's only because it's taped so wouldnt stay aligned... not ONE gap on it! you can also see the forward fuselage where the belly tank would go as well, panel lines there as well... (of course I didn't see the wing root fit... wonder how THEY will be?)

Parts have little or no flash, you can see in the interior sprue shot the pilot that had open heart surgery... (hmmm a diorama of him being pulled from the plane and being operated on? ok kidding...)

I put the canopy over something colored but because I had to resize it you can't see how crisp the recessed lines are...

I ******LOVE****** the way they thought to put the engine nacelles ON the wing... seen a few kits with it as a seperate piece and the gap was HARD to transition into the wing...

---edit--- I forgot to add, on the decals page there is a dark splotch on one of the sheets, I just darkened a reflection off the plastic so it didnt take away from the rest of the pic.. it's not actually on the decals.. also the paint guide has the other version on the back... actually if it didn't have all the color notations on it, it would be nice to put on the wall in the frame..

anyway, I'll let you judge for yourelves...

Without further adieu... Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fujimi Bf-110 C/D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/fuselage.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/nosewherebellygoes.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/interiora.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/intsprue.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/paintguide.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/wings.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/decals.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/tho9900/bf110/canopy.jpg

email me if you want me to look at something else for ya! All in all looks like it will build up nice!