Battle For Germany 45 GB Starts Now - 08 May 06

Thanks for the comments, Karl, Boyd, Daniel, Darren and Jules.  I really want to try a 1:48 Dora now so I can do a better job on the mottle. 

I have taking a liking to 1:72, it is also a good scale for multi-engined aircraft, but I think I'll stick to 1:48 for my single seat Canadian fighters.  I'm planning on building a collection of Canadian "Heroes" that include aircraft flown by some of our WW2 veterans.  I have four ac completed now (Hurricane and Typhoon in 1:48, Beaufighter and Bolingbroke in 1:72).  The Canso for the BoA GB is one and so is the Spitfire MkIX for the Allied Aces GB.  Since Canadians participated in most theatres, I can keep building ac for my collection with most GBs (some how I doubt any flew on the Eastern front though...). 

For this build I wanted to build something with a little more flair than always building commonwealth ac!

Bob,  Nice work on the Panther.  Looking good.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Guys I painted the cammo on it tonight I couldent decide which pattern i liked so I incorperated a little from each of the patterns i was looking at .Then i added the Mg42's to the mounts once the paint had set up i plan on decaling tomorrow JEEZ it's 4:32 AM already INSOMNIA STRIKES AGAIN

Karl great looking builds, the Heinkel looks fantastic

Chris don't beat yourself up mate cause your halftrac looks just fine to me, and remember we are our own worse critics

Jay Looks very very cool mate, both of them, and i've had a good look at the airfix 190D kit and i have to say you've done a great job on yours

The Panther is progressing...slowly.  Did the ambush scheme and then did a spray of flat black, earth red & thinner (more thinner than anything)-pleased with the results.  Applied decals after Futuring the limited areas.  Need to do another overspray (with a little more thinner added) after I get the tools on.  Don't think I'll attempt another piece of armor unless I have at least a year!

Chris that half track of yours looks pretty good to me as well.  I'm looking forward to seeing that one finished.

Jay those Doras are awesome, congratulations .  I don't remember who said it on the previous page but you really can't tell the difference between the two different brands of kits.

Cheers

Hey Guys,

Sorry, as always, for my prolonged silence.  Not having a computer is a pain in the !!  I wa a bit overwhelmed at how much I have missed in recent weeks.  Lots o' posting going on.  Just a few quick comments:

Chris:  The 'hacktrack' looks good to me.  I think you are doing a nice job of beating that thing down to 'parade rest'.  Can't wait to see more pictures as you finish her up.

Jay:  Nice pair of birds!  Well done.

Now, as for me, work slowed a bit on the pair of PAK-40's, but I hope to get a big chunk of work done tomorrow.  The Tamiya gun is done, just needs some paint (which is where I was the last time I posted, I think).  The Dragon gun has presented a few challenges.  The kit is the gun with Heer crew, and I found an article that compared it with the AFV and Tamiya PAK kits.  The article points out some dimension problems - specifically that the trail arms are 13 mm (real ones, not scale ones) too long!  I have had to go back and begin a surgical proceedure to remove that extra 13mm, which threw a monkey into my construction timeline.

The Sturmovic also progressing slowly - I was right when I said that it won't be done by the end of this GB, but at least it should have a nice start .

Gonna be borrowing the digi camera from the in-laws agian - hopefully over the weekend, so I will attempt to get some more pictures posted.

Jay, great job on the 190s, they both look excellent.

Chris, looks like you're making good progress on the halftrack.

With regards the matter of scale, just worked out my next 3 builds are all 1/72, and they're all Revell kits to boot!

Progress Update

Decals are all done. Ended up having to make a couple of 3s for the Werknummer as there were none on either the CE or Revell decal sheets! They're not great, but with a little touch up should be OK.

Karl

Thanks Rick, Bob and Dave. 

For the Airfix kit the biggest improvements were the scratched basic interiror so I could add a resin seat and the other was cutting off the molded on canopy and replacing it with the extra one in the Hasegawa Jv44 kit, which also happened to be the right canopy for Michalski's aircraft. I ended up leaving the antennae wire off as I tried both hair and very thin sprue but it just wouldn't sit right and look half decent so I left it off. 

Looks great Jay, on both builds   I can hardly tell the difference between the Airfix and the Hasegawa kits.  Great job!

Chris:  Looks fine to me, glad it didn't meet its pyrotechnic doom!

Chris,  Nice work on the Hacktrack.  Looks good from here.

Jay,  Excellent little Dors.  Very nice work .

Regards,  Rick

Well her she is, I've been talking about her now I can show you: 

My Fw-190 D9 flown by Gerhard Michalski in the Spring of 1945 with Jg4

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And some with the Jv44 build too:

Let me know what you think!

Guys, thanks for the on the 162 to date.

Scott, don't know if you've had a chance to look at your 162 yet, but it really is a great kit. The extra size of1/32 really works well with the 162, and probably with the 163 as well, due to the fact it was so small in reality.

Daniel, didn't mean to scare you, but having attempted the Dragon 190 D9 it has more than it's fare share of fit issues. The detail is stunning, though the angle of the main under carriage legs may well be a little off. Look at some of the problems Sean had with his Dragon 190 earlier in this GB.

Progress Update

Decals are going on steadily. The CE ones are great if not always accurate, while the Revell ones (CE don't supply the stencil decals........cheap in my opinion!) are made of leather. Having said that, with a hefty dose of Mr Mark Setter they settle down nicely.

Karl

Jay - explain to the wife how much money you'd be saving getting the reduced priced models now BEFORE the baby is born... seriously!  That way once the baby is born and all the pediatrician appt's and midnight formula runs start you're set as far as modeling!  In all seriousness it makes sense to do that than deprive yourself into a plastic buying binge later...    ok it sounds good... it might work!  haha

Chris - actually I see nothing wrong with it!  Those road wheels look great and there are no gross seam gaps etc... maybe you're beating up on yourself a bit?  Go with it like it is, and chalk whatever is bothering you up to your 'perfectionist artists nature!'    It looks alright to me!

Ok guys here we go finally some pics of .........The "HACKTRACK"!!!

well I hope the work Saving this thing from a pyrotechnic DOOM is worth it and you guys like it But I still have a ways to go before I'm satisfied

Jay, looking forward to the pics.  I saw your update in the Longnose GB and they are looking great.  As for the wire I use the invisible thread stuff from my wife's sewing supplies.  It's nice and thin like hair but stronger in my opinion.  It will also snap tight when you want it to if you do the blown out match thing to it.

As for why I build in 1/72... 

I'm cheap! Manufacturer's like Academy and Dragon are pumping out some great kits in 1/72 at rock bottom prices (ie: under $20 Cdn).  Of course, I am willing to shell out for something I really want like the new Hasegawa Lancaster.

NO space!  I have 3 kids and no spare bedrooms to display all my models.  I currently work in the corner of my garage.  I also have a fetish for the big heavies (get your minds out of the gutter) and those 4 engine babes take up a huge amount of space in 1/48.

Short attention span!  If a build takes more than 2 months it drives me crazy!

Variety is the spice of life!  I like the fact that I can build almost anything in the same scale.  Aircraft, armor and ships.  Call me neurotic but for some reason having things the same scale makes me happy .  I must admit that the new Tamiya 1/48 armor kits had me thinking about crossing over to the dark side but the other 3 reasons kept me with 1/72.

It's a personal choice though and to each his own. 

Love the new Avatar Chris.  It suits you to a "T" (for tigger...).

Al...most...there!  Tonight I'll be adding the last bit of pastel weathering and maybe some lead pencil on the panel lines then I can put on the canopy (and wire) and she'll be done!

Anybody have a good idea for material for the antennae wire that looks in scale for 1:72?  I heard hair was good.

Pics coming soon (note to self: must remember to recharge the batteries!)  Sheesh, this build felt like it was taking for ever.  I think it was because I started it while working on two other models and I was building it in parallel with the other Dora for the Langnase GB.  I guess if you break it down, it took me two months to build the two so cut the time in half you get one month for each. 

Dave (or anyone else who mainly sticks to 1:72), why do you choose to build in 1:72?  Before I got back into the hobby last year, I had built almost exclusively 1:48 and now that I've done four 1:72 models, I really like them,  they don't take 3 to 4 months to build (well, it depends on how much you put into it), they are easy to detail, and best of all, they don't use up much shelf space! I think I'll be building a lot more 1:72 in the future, mixed in with some 1:48 too of course. 

Chris - looking forward to pics and love the Tigger!

Daniel - that is a bit worrisome when someone with Karl's skills says "you're a brave man, good luck" ..  but based on what I've seen you do I am confident you can pull it off.

Nice work on the He162 Karl!   

I like the way yours looks so much I went and picked one of those kits up over the weekend!  The oddball stuff can be soooo cool  (yes, I admit it freely, I'm a model geek  ).

My FW190 is nearing the final stages, just about ready to seal everything up with a coat of future and get the decals on that puppy!  I'll have some pics this week to share.

Great looking work Karl and I'll join in the chorus with everybody else, I can't wait to see it finished!!!

Cheers