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

To be honest I think it could Jules.. what with me pondering starting that Bf110 in 1/48 to put with Osher's... there's still a few late comers drifting in as well... we might as well make this a perennial GB... no start or stop date... one years build flows right into the other!

Hmmmm Sounds like a cool plan Tom I'm still working on the Emil but i should be finished before the end date.............
BTW we should all thank Madam De Kremp for the huge number of posts, without her we would probably only made about 1500 posts

that many Jules??? haha... I honestly think it would have been less.. Kremps has a way to get tongues a wagging... (usually it is by holding you by the throat and squeezing, in this case by telling stories!!)

Hi Darren,
I've been around the traps of the Melbourne modelling scene for a while. I know Chris at Toys & Hobbies pretty well, from his old Hearns days. I often go their to talk about Lightnings, Hunters, Jaguars and all that great British post war stuff. In fact, it's lunch time now and I might mosey on down there.
I recently built a 1/72 Lightning F6, mainly because Chris' enthusiasm rubbed off. It will be good when the new Revell Hunters show up.
oops sorry, OT,
Cheers
Tony Mollica

Well it's that time canopy masking just give me a day or so to get past that and i'll start with the upper colours, not long now, and pics shortly

Is there a listing of all the currently active GBs, and when they expire ? It might help me in the decision making process.
Cheers
Tony Mollica

Jules, good luck on the canopy masking, are you using Tweety's Bare metal foil method?

Tony topic, ha we don't need no stinkin topic.
I'm not much of a 72nd scale builder but I'm definitely going to be getting that Revell Hunter, from Chris at Toys & Hobbies, from what I've read it's a really nice kit. Speaking of Chris, when I was last in the store he was busy showing off his awesome Concorde and his Lightning with the hand painted markings. I usually end up there on a Saturday mornings for a chat.

Cheers
Darren

Tony Just click on the GB your most interested in and on page 1 you should see the start and finish dates as well as the guidelines for the build
BTW the dates arn't really set in concrete, every GB that i've been in has run for at least a month after the finish date......

Hey guys, looks like good progress you all are making, and yes I will get done my Hurricane by May 31! I got the canopies done this weekend, not much time for anything else. I forgot how much fun masking and painting them really was...
Sorry, not progress pics, my batterieris conked out and didn't have time to get new ones.
Darren, I periodically look at the first page and wonder what happened to some people/builds too! I guess no BP Defiant this time around?

Jay, I mailed you some decals on Saturday. Don't know how long it takes to get there from here, but you should recieve them in a few days at most.

Regards, Rick

Thank you Rick. I will wait with eager anticipation! This time I will try not to screw up the decals! What do you suggest I now have Super sol, Super set, Mr Mark Softer and Solvaset! One has got to work! I was going to try the Mr. Mark Softer.
I also have to put another layer of future on the port fuselage as I tried to put the custom decal on and both the Super Sol and Mr. Mark Softer reacted and took off some of the future, weird. three tries and each time the decal went funny and didn't cooperate. Maybe fourth time will be lucky (after a second layer of decal sealer?).

I only use the Micro Scale system myself. Micro Set on the model surface, slide the decal into position, let it set for a 1/2 hour or so. Inspect & if it needs help apply Micro Sol sparingly & only on the decal surface. Avoid getting it on the paint as much as possible. If it doesn't need help, leave it alone.

Regards, Rick

Jay did the future turn white (hazy) or did it get rough on you? If it just turned hazy that is normal sometimes.. thats just the future reacting to the solvent... if it actually got dull there as in eaten off.. I would not use that particular setting agent with Future...

the rest is ditto on what Rick said

Progress Report:
I've laid down the Dk Earth on the Spitfire 1a, and should be able to do the under surfaces shortly. Note really worth another photo yet.
The 1/48 109E now has the office closed. I think I will be able to prime it tonight, all things being equal. Given that I like to allow 48hours between colours, and I've got at least 4 to do, I need to keep this thing moving if I'm to make the deadline.
Darren - I went to see Chris yesterday, and managed to not buy a kit !!! He did force me to order two of those Hunters though. I wonder how long before Rewvell or someone else gives us the option of other marks, I don't really want to marry a Matchbox T Mk7 nose to the Revell fuselage.
On the BoB front, and I'm definitely not committing to doing this by end May, what is the best option for a Ju 87B in 1/48 ? Is it still the Airfix kit, or has someone bettered it ?
Cheers
Tony Mollica

Tony,

, every time I walk into that shop I always find myself walking out with something that I really never intended to buy, but that looked really cool oh and don't sweat on the end date for this build, it's not that important.
As for the JU-87B IMHO the best kit out there is the Revell AG JU-87B-2. It's a re-release of the Hasegawa kit so has all the Hase quality at a Revell price. I think from memory it comes in a desert version only, so you'll probably need to look for some AM decals.

Cheers
Darren

hmmm hows the canopy look on that one Darren? I am currently doing a Ju87 R2 for the N Africa build and although there are different planes you can build it as, the markings on the canopy are VERY fine... so fine in fact I can barely get them cut with a new #11 using BMF for the masking... I may end up holding on the kit until I can get it right.. I hate to think of doing it the way my dad did and painting them on..


hmmm... no.. I was thinking about a liquid mask but the problem would be the same... the lines are so close and so shallow the knife blade has nowhere to follow...

Tom I don't own the kit myself unfortunately, I'm just going from what I have read online. The reason I would pick up the Revell AG over the Hase kit is if I was to buy one it would come down purely to price. The Hase kit retails here for about $60AUS while the Revell offering of the exact same kit retails for about $30AUS.
I know what you mean about shallow of fine frames BTW, they might be to scale but they are murder to paint. Have you thought about painting bare decal film and cutting it into strips, or perhaps an AM pre-cut mask?

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal3/2701-2800/Gal2795_Ju-87_delPino/gal2795.htm

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Fea1/701-800/Fea766_Ju-87_Williamson/fea766.htm

Cheers
Darren

Darren - that looks to be the exact same kit I have with a few very minor variations... the decals came with several decal strips for placing inside the canopy but they would be the wrong color for my bird.. I need to sit back and analyze this a bit.. I know there is a way to paint them... and honestly if it comes to it I will hand paint it a millimeter at a time if need be... it really shocked me the BMF didnt work.. maybe I need to get a down home single edge razor blade and tackle it with this... it would be thin and sharp enough to handle the small lines...

Tom, I think very thin strips of Tamiya tape, carefully positioned, is the best way to go. At least that's the way I choose to do mine.

Regards, Rick

I've made a little more progress on my 109E. I've primed using Tamiya aerosol white primer, for the first time, andits good stuff. A little more expensive that the automotive primer I usually use, but it goes on just as well.
At first glance I thought it had primed up OK, just a couple of minor touch ups. THen I looked again, and the wing roots need some serious work. This is going to take a night or to to get right.
On a brighter note, the Spitfire is coming along well at this point.

Darren - I usually go to Chris' shop on my lunchbreak, as I work near Brandon Park and can drive down Springvale Rd. I live at Langwarrin, which is approximately 2 light years the other side of Alpha Centauri, so I usually can't make it on weekends.
Cheers
Tony Mollica

Not much progress lately, The weather here has been really nice lately and I've been trying to get yard work done. This weekend though, I plan on getting the last little bits done. It is pretty much: finish the decaling (still waiting on Ricks mail), recoating with future, weathering and then the dullcoat and lastly the canopy and wires. So close yet so far!

Ahhh Darren & Tom Thats the reason i stopped work on my Stuka, The bloody canopy, it is nye impossible to mask with BMF and i think the only AM masks are for the Has kit....

Anyways here are some progress pics of the 109......

The first one shows the preshade, it's shiny because i preshaded with Gunze acrylic RLM 66 and used MM enamel for the RLM 65 for the undersurface, i wasn't sure how the paints would react so i gave it a coat of Future as a barrier between the acrylic and enamel paint....


The next 2 show it with the RLM 65 on and the RLM 04 nose and rudder...





Now for the upper colours, hopefully i'll have them on by the end of the weekend, just need to go to the LHS and pick up some more Tamiya tape

Looks great Jules. Should be another great little Emil.

Regards, Rick

Nice progress on your 109 Jules, it looks great so far. You must have a really steady hand to get your pre-shades looking so straight, mine always looks like an octopus dipped in paint has crawled across my kit.

Cheers
Darren

Jules - looks great!!! and ditto on what Darren said... only mine look like I tied the airbrush to Rudy's nose and let him do it...

Thanks fellas but the pics don't really do it justice, they're kinda grainy.......
Anyway i should be finished in 2 weeks at the most

Jules The 109 looks great.

The AM masks for the Hasa Stuka will fit the Revell kit as they are one and the same.

That is one canopy I wouldn't want to mask

Darson How come a kit from a company in Germany costs less than one from a company in Japan, which is far closer to the land of Oz????? Especially when they are the same kit!

Jay Go easy with the Mr Mark Softer, as it is vicious! I found the Mr Mark Setter does a better job on it's own, not only setting the decal, but softening it as well.

Progress update

Canopy not going well..............

......I masked both the fixed and sliding portions of the canopy, only to find that when I removed the tape, I was left with dry crystaline marks on the canopy. Now I had this with the PZL P24G I did last year, and I don't understand why.

I always dip the canopies in Future and allow to harden for 48 hours before masking with thin strips of Tamiya tape. I then burnish the edges with a tooth pick, before applying another coat of Future to seal everything. It looks like this coat of Future is leaching through the tape.

End result, I've had to polish out the marks on the fixed portion of the canopy, and binned the sliding vac form section. Now need to order myself a new vac forma canopy.

Other than that, the rest of the build should be complete this weekend.

Karl

Karl - good luck! I never tried futuring over a masked canopy, but good luck to you!!!

Karl why do you Future AFTER masking???

I Future my canopies, apply BMF, spray as required, then finish with a custom Future /Tamiya flat base coat, then remove the BMF mask.

I'm having a little trouble working your way out

Rick, Thanks for the decals! I never expected the whole kit decal sheet (minus the black anit-skid strips). I spent last night taking the old decals off. It left a crap load of sticky stuff underneath that I couldn't remove easily so I had to use some finger nail polish to remove the future, that worked really well. I'll have to reapply the future tonight, then get your decals put on, this time, very carefully and not overloading it with setting solution.

I also put on (with Micro set) the custom RAF code 'J' of the 'YO*J' (for the fourth time). I had printed off some more and did two coats of the decal sealer this time and tried cutting it with a new no.11 blade instead of my disecting scissors. This morning I went downstairs to take a look at it... awesome! I just wish my hand was a little steadier as some of the straight cuts weren't all that straight, it kind of gives it a "field applied" look.

Jules, nice looking 109!, I almost kinda wish I had done one, almost.

Karl, I noticed the Mr. Mark Softer is a strong one, It kind of ate through some of the future in spots. I'll have to be careful with it, thanks for the warning.

I can see a light at the end of the tunnel!... no... wait, it may be a train!!