Battle of Britain GB 2006 - 1 May to 31 Oct 06

Wow, cant beleive how much progress you guys have made.

I haven't even opened the box on my 109!!!!

And I still have to find a camo scheme........................might look for something basic, seeing as time is now running short.

Any ideas folks???(nudge nudge)

Tweets - this might suit you!  a few different 1939/40 109's on here in something a step up from just splinter with lichtblau sides..

http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2000/02/stuff_eng_profile_bf109.htm

Tom I'm glad to hear that the ejector pin marks aren't in a terminal location for you.  One of the reasons I replaced Hasegawa's wheel wells with the Ultracast replacement was that the ejector pin marks would be very difficult to remove.

I had a look at that IMPS Stockholm link you put up and it sure has some great schemes and even one that I actually built a couple of years ago.

Progress wise I was fitting and gluing the components on the wheel well to the lower wing last night when I found something that I really hate.  After going through all the hassles of priming and then Alcading the wheel wells and undercarriage parts, I came across one piece that I completely missed .  So out comes the future for primer again and now I will go through the hassle of letting it cure before I can continue.  Oh well at least that means I can get back to the cockpit tonight.

Cheers

Darren - I seem to have ignored a question you posed to me the other day and wanted to answer it before it got forgotten.

On the subject of the IP for the He-111 I plan on carefully untacking the canopy as a unit from the body and gluing it in.. .it's the only practical way for me to do it.  I looked at trying to slide it through the crew access hatch but as I have no use of my left wrist (well I can roll my hand from from side to side with it but it doesn't bend and flex...it's fused together due to an a long story that resulted in many operations, the last one was the fusion) I wouldn't be able to manuever it once inside the canopy.  Definitely a learning situation there.  So once I get ready amd take the masks off I am going to reassess the situation and probably go ahead with it...

That 109 looks nice!!  Is that the one you did for the BoB GB last yr?  That seems like 10 yrs ogo in modeling years...

Not a problem Tom I know how easy it is to pass up a post.

I think you're taking the best option in getting the IP back on.  If you leave the canopy on and try and slide it through the access hatch (your wrist aside of course) and then drop the IP inside the canopy you could be in big trouble.

As a by the by does your wrist have a big effect you in any other way when you're modeling?

Cheers

darson wrote:

As a by the by does your wrist have a big effect you in any other way when you're modeling? Cheers

Darren, the only thing I notice and curse about is using PE and very small parts that require holding part A while you attach part B before gluing it into the fuselage.... again the fine motor movement required to get some of those pieces in confounds me sometimes... I usually come up with a way around it but it certainly is a bugger until I figure it out...

I was somewhat ambidextrous before the accident so I have learned to get around most things I was used to doing with my left hand,  it's things that require dexterity in both hands that get me... I usually figure out a way around them or fake it when I can't.. 

Tom, what did you do to your wrist!

Sounds painful.

BTW, thanks for the link

This'll be my first attempt at stipple camo, just gotta find the HERIDDO decal somewhere.

Never mind, I just oredered the decal set for Yellow 14 from errormaster.

Strange though, the Aeromaster decals show standard mottle camo, but the IPMS site states stipple...............................hmmmmm

Which one????

My votes on stipple, what you guys reckon??

Sean not that Aeromaster would ever make a mistake but I am going to vote for stipple.  Every reference shot I have ever seen of JG2 during the BoB (although most are Wick) shows the tight stipple mottling not the sprayed on kind.  Given that camo was adopted on a unit by unit basis I think stipple is a safe option to go with.

Cheers

Hi all I'm back from extended sick leave and motivation for modeling has returned albite slowly.

Tom & Karl Great progress on your builds.  I have a He 111 in my stash and I'm not looking fwd to masking that green house canopy.

Progress report,  finished filling in the seems & sanding  I'm ready to head to the paint shop.  I'll have to wait a bit as my paint shop has to be moved to the garage by order of a higher authority and I can't set up till the folks comme to replace the garage door, rails and other bits  

Keep up the great progress all.

Cheers

Bear 

Sean - I vote for the stipple too... I have some paint call outs for several 1940 109's and Wicks is one of them... it has the tight stipple Darren talked about.  I'm betting if you found a synthetic material sponge with small enough cells you could use that to replicate the regular stipple pattern.

Darren:  an addendum on things that can be hard to do with my wrist.. Decals.. getting them to sit just right is hard sometime without tearing them to shreds or bumping them out of alignment.

oh yeah.. I started decaling tonight on the He-111..    Like I said I rarely think about it.. it's just your question that made me realize what a pain it was to decal.

Add another vote for Stipple on Wick's bird.  You can buy special stippling brushes at art supply stores if so inclined.

Regards,  Rick

Great to here you're back on board Bear.  I sure hope you're feeling better from whatever caused your sick leave.

Tom, talk about missing questions in posts, the Bf-109 "Black 5" was a warm build for last years BoB GB that I during the Christmas 04-05 period.  You're right you know that does seem like 10 years ago in modeling terms.  Oh yeah and that problem with decals has nothing to do with your wrist, I should know because I do exactly the same thing all the time

Sean I don't know if you guys remember but Tony Mollica (taxtp) did a Wick's stipple camo 109 for last years BoB GB.  Tony used sea sponge which you can buy from any arts and crafts store for almost nothing.  His camo worked out fantastically and he even picked an OOB award for it at the recent IPMS Australian Model Expo.

Darren

Bear - thanks and glad to have ya back!  Hope you're feeling better!

Darren - I though tthat pic looked familiar!!

Thanks Darren & Tom I'm doing very well I was down with Bronchitis & a very bad cold that stuck around for an encore.  I'm still waiting on the garage door guys to install the new door so that I can set up my painting area and practice .  I feel the need to ruin another build with my pathetic painting skills  Have a good weekend all.

Cheers

Marc

oh yeah... I'm doing the finishing bits on the Heinkel... all I need to do is connect the other exhaust, put in the guns and a few nick nacks like that... I was relieved when I took the tape off the windscreen today the window was not too fogged from the CA or had too much adhesive from leacing the Eduard masks on for a week and a half.  I would like to do another of these now that I have some of the idiosynchrasies of the kit under my belt.  This one looks ok except for a nick I took out of the canopy trying to seperate it from the fuselage to attach the IP.  (That's right, this model of the He-111 comes with an invisible IP, I didn't want to mar it anymore than I did)...

I think the next one I will do in black sides and splinter uppers... the majority of the refs show that and I think in retrospect it would have looked better.

Karl - have you built one of the Hasegawa He-111's before?  If not I can give you some pointers on a few things to look for when assembling... I saw you had one a few pages back in the build...

Progress update - I'm making a little head way on my Tamiya 1/48 Bf-109E-4.  I'm just about ready to fire up the paint booth.  I had a Tamiya 1/72 Bf-109E-3 sitting in the stash also, so I decide "what the heck", and decided to build another at the same time.  I couldn't decide what paint scheme and decals to use, so now I can choose two.    I need some PE seatbelts for the 1/48, though.  I'll have to do some looking around.  I need to get the canopies masked for both and get all the 1/48 pieces preped for painting.  At least they are all already trimmed.

Looks like good progress from here Dave.

Regards,  Rick

Darren, can I jump back in here with another aircraft? I really want to build an F4F Martlet after looking at the ones Tom built. I just love the 1:48 Tamiya F4F kit.

-dave

Dave23 wrote:

Darren, can I jump back in here with another aircraft? I really want to build an F4F Martlet after looking at the ones Tom built. I just love the 1:48 Tamiya F4F kit. -dave

That's such an awesome kit isn't it?  Definately one of their better ones, and that's saying something because most of their kits are fantastic!

espins1 wrote:

That's such an awesome kit isn't it?  Definately one of their better ones, and that's saying something because most of their kits are fantastic!

Yep

-dave

Karl - I guess the biggest heads up I can give you is with the canopy... do not follow their directions of assembly (assemble complete cone THEN put on model).  I think the best approach (in retrospect) would be to paint the entire camo scheme first, mask then glue each of the 5 canopy pieces to the body and to each other individually starting with the large upper piece.  Once dry add the next bigger piece to the side and let dry etc... Because of a lot of the assembly in between when you put it on and when you are done painting it left with my masks on for about a week and a half and I was VERY nervous taking them off...  they did ok but next time I won't chance it!

The fuselage and interior fit like a dream, test fit the landing gear and trim if needed once the gear "boxes" are in the fuselage, I had to fiddle to get mine to sit straight...

The wings, if glues properly leave a bit of a gap on the lower surfaces... (hoever with the Do24 under your belt you won't be set back by these at all!  )  My error was in trying to produce two smaller gaps averaged between the top and bottom.  It ended up bing a bit of a filling job on top and the way the wing sits it was hard getting in at that angle to sand effectively...

Good luck!  I look forward to seeing your approach to the kit...

Dave23 wrote:

Darren, can I jump back in here with another aircraft? I really want to build an F4F Martlet after looking at the ones Tom built. I just love the 1:48 Tamiya F4F kit. -dave

Dave - PM your email and I have some more refs to send ya... these are exactly what ya need to convert the F4F over to a Martlet...

Tom

Decals going out in tomorrow's post.

Speaking of stippling, I just did some.  I picked up an Fw190D at a garage sale for like two bucks and decided to just play with it.  I used one of those cosmetic wedge sponges.  Pic's tomorro evening...

Tom, that canopy looks like the single biggest challenge then. Not too worried about the Eduard masks as I've left them for weeks before now without issue.

Do you put a coat of Future over your masks before applying paint? I used to, but get a better result without.

I'd heard stories about the lower wing to fuselage joint before, but based on your experience I'll probably just shim the lower wing where it joins the fuselage.

The Do 24 has certainly provided plenty of opportunity to improve my kit bashing skills. To the extent that I've just ordered the Historex punch & die set.

Picked up the white metal engines and props during my lunch hour from the other LHS.

Karl

Joe - I forgot to say thanks!!!  I appreciate the help!!

-edit-  I'll be wiaitng to see pics of the stippling... that cosmetic sponge idea sounds good!  exactly what I had in mind when I said a synthetic small pored sponge.. I just couldn't think of an example!

Karl - in retrospect I should have used shims but didn't think the result would be that bad the way I did it.. while not a show stopper it did slow me down... All in all the kit is great... actually the glass of the gondola fit in perfectly and didn't even leave a seam!  I was most impressed with that...

Oh yeah I think I forgot to mention, the tail mounted MG would probably be better off being chopped off before you begin building as it will snag everything you get them near.  Mine "kinda survived" but it was a bear to get it back straight... Just glue it back on after the fact or scratch a new one... some small diameter metal tubing would look real sharp in that role... of course the muzzle would have to be made of styrene rod I think and drilled down the center...