Axis Aces Sep 2006 - Jun 2007

and also chris   NICE job on weathering on the side of nose by exhaust pipe,   how do u do that?  im still little awakard on it but im getting there

Darren-nice progress.

Chris-outstanding job!

Thanks bobbaily!  I appreciate all the comments!! 

Silentmodeler, for the exhaust staining I start by airbrushing 2 colors (by colors I actually mean tinted thinner...thinner with only a drop or 2 of color)...first an earthy brown then black.  I build up each color very slowly until I get the look I want.  I then brush on a touch of rust (or a shade of orange) pastel from immediately behind the exhaust going only a little ways back.

I'm sure if you did a search for 'exhaust staining' you'd find a better way to do it.  I'm kinda new to this hobby and am learning everyday.  Most of the tips I got were from this forum and Floyd Werner's DVD.  I can't wait to see your progress.  Don't forget to post pics ASAP!!!

Scott, please put me down for another contribution to this awesome build:  1/48 Bf109 F-4Trop 'Yellow 14' Marseille.

Aloha,

Chris

I'm done.  The Hasegawa kit was a mixed bag-a lot of good detail & fit, but too many cross-ap's, i.e., one kit for many variants.  The gun holes had to be drilled out, the underwing gunbay doors had areas that needed to be filled & sanded (which I didn't realize until the underwing was painted.  At that point I decided to cut my losses....).  Also, the left (port, starbard, whatever) wing walk decal shifted a bit on me....Also, the landing gear was a bear!  When all is said & done, I would build the same kit again...next time a little more alert.  However, the new Eduard A-5 is setting in the stash with no 'cross variant' mods necessary....

Anyway, any & all comments are welcome.

Scott-thanks for running this GB-it's been fun. 

Wow! some great builds Mokulele and Bob.  I finally have some progress pics, they've been on my camera for the last two weeks and I finally got them off.  The actual builds haven't progressed much beyond what you see here as I have been trying to finish a Spitfire Mk9.  Have a look see anyway. This is a Bf-109G I will be doing as one of Hartmans.  The other one in the double pic is a Bf-109B I am doing for the Spanish Civil War GB.  The only thing I added to this little kit is the tape seat belts.

WOW...I step away from my computer to make a Home Depot run and all these update pics!!!  I'm blown away!  Amazing 190 bobbaily...and jboutin, incredible progress pics...please keep us posted!

Aloha,

Chris

FeldMarSchall, Jay & Chris-Thanks.

Jay-nice work on the 109's-I especially like the tape belts.  What do you use for buckles/hardware?

Darren-Thanks.  I used Model Master Acrylics, thinned with Testors Acrylic thinner, Future & Model Master Acrylic Flat.   RML 74/75/76 w/Krylon white primer.

I'll take another top shot & post later this week.

Thanks Bob, the reason I asked is that I using mostly Gunze acrylics these days and was curious to see if you were using the same as I like the level of contrast you get between the RLM 74 & 75.

Cheers

Wow, I disappear for a day or two and so much happens!  Hopefully I won't miss anything here in my post:

Chris - again, outstanding work on Hartmann's Bf109G-14, I saved your pictures to use as a reference for mine, if you don't mind.    I'll add your Bf109F-4 Trop "Yellow 14" Marseille to the front page, as well as a link to your finished build.  Is your f-4 the Hasegawa kit?

Bob - wow, awesome job on your FW190!  Your paint and finish are superb!  I admire your perseverence with all the extra work!  Great job! 

Jay - your 109 is coming along nicely!  I'm getting 109 fever again and will work on my G-14 for this build while I also build my Bf109D for the Spanish Civil War build.  Glad to see you're back in action here, looking forward to seeing more updates amigo! 

Lot's of great work here gentlemen, and thanks for participating. 

p.s. Silentmodeller - Yes, that kit will work fine for this build.  I have some great references on German Aces (especially 109 pilots) so as soon as I get done doing a couple of things for my lovely wife, I'll post I'll dig up what I have for you. 

Silentmodeler - this is what I came up with for the three aces you listed from your 21st Century Toys kit.  I used this site to get the statistics, great list. It is unreal how many high scoring Luftwaffe Aces there are....   

 http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7886

Frank Liesendahl - 5 kills

Max-Hellmuth Ostermann - 102

Viktor Bauer - 106

I hope that helps. 

Thanks for the comments guys, Darren, I had the same reaction to the resin tail (what the fa?) To make a long story short, Last Nov, I was given the kit *free* by the local LHS owner but it was an unboxed kit he had just bought as part of a collection (I guess he was feeling generous).  The collector had bought a resin tail for it to replace the kit tail but he had totally removed the kit tail from the rest of the peices so the LHS owner also gave me the resin tail so I had a complete kit.  It is supposed to have a more accurate shape.  In the long run I ended up accidentally breaking off the trim tabs so it isn't very accurate any more!, resin is soooo delicate!  As for the kits, the G is the 1:72 Hasegawa G-6 with Hartman decals, Barkhorn decals and one other ace.  The other is the very nice 1:72 Heller Bf-109B/C.  It actually had side wall details where the Hasegawa didn't!. 

Bob, for the seat belts, I used masking tape and the hardware/buckles are actually just pieces of tape painted darker with silver pen for the metal look. I used this great article from Hyperscale.  http://www.hyperscale.com/features/maskingtapeseatbeltsrf_1.htm

Hey guys, I've updated the roster on the front page to include a hyperlink to the page with your completed build pics on it. When you get a chance, double check the roster to make sure I have your build listed correctly and that I didn't miss any completed builds. 

I was thinking about adding a page on my website for this GB (similar to what I'm going to do with the Panzer Aces GB).  Does anyone here NOT want pics of their completed build posted on my website (full credit will be given with whatever information I have for you to include your name as listed here and your screen name.) If you only want your FSM screen name listed for privacy reasons, that's ok too.  Let me know what you all think. 

espins1 wrote:

Hey guys, I've updated the roster on the front page to include a hyperlink to the page with your completed build pics on it. When you get a chance, double check the roster to make sure I have your build listed correctly and that I didn't miss any completed builds.  I was thinking about adding a page on my website for this GB (similar to what I'm going to do with the Panzer Aces GB).  Does anyone here NOT want pics of their completed build posted on my website (full credit will be given with whatever information I have for you to include your name as listed here and your screen name.) If you only want your FSM screen name listed for privacy reasons, that's ok too.  Let me know what you all think.

Scott can you do me a favor and change my build from the Heinz Bar 262 to a Heinz Bar Fw 190A-7 Red 13.  I'll still try and finish the 262 by build end date but at least I know for sure that I finish the 190.

I've got no probs with any pics that I post ending up on the website.

Cheers

Darson, updated the front page.  Is your FW190 Tamiya, Hasegawa?

Hi Scott, my kit is the Tamiya Fw 190 A-8 backdated to an A-7 variant.

Cheers

Darren 

darson wrote:

Hi Scott, my kit is the Tamiya Fw 190 A-8 backdated to an A-7 variant. Cheers Darren

Thanks.  I'm looking forward to seeing your A-7!

Darren, per your request for a better overhead of the Model Master Acrylics:

Bob, thanks for posting that shot 5the camo looks excellent; you must be very pleased with the overall result

On the progress front things have finally started moving again with the humid weather taking a break for a while.  Even with a moisture trap on the compressor my a/b was still spitting great blobs of water onto the aircraft after only 5 minutes or so, which made painting all but impossible.  Last night however after two weeks of frustration I was finally able to start the spraying on the main camo on the wings of my 190  

Cheers

Darren-you're welcome and thanks for the kind words. There are areas that I know that I need to focus on next build. And I have the Eduard FW-190A-5 sitting in the stash awaiting a good GB 'fit'...

Glad to hear that the humidity broke for you.  We have had bad humidity here lately....in the form of snow & ice....but spring is just around the corner.....

OK time bump on this thread and a little progress update on my Fw 190A-7.

First off this is Heinz Bar's Red 13 Fw 190A-7 that I am trying to reproduce in 1/48

The underside was pre-shaded with RLM 66 and then painted with a couple of different shades of RLM 76 so that it wouldn't have a monochromatic look.

My first two tries at mottling on this beast turned out horrible IMHO so both were over sprayed. This is attempt no 1 which was the better of the two aborted attempts, but still looked nothing like what I wanted.

Here is attempt no 3 with a pic of Bar's aircraft behind it.  The mottle is not perfect by any means but I am happy enough to not bother trying again.

The RLM 74 & RLM 75 were both painted free hand using a thin mix at about 12psi to avoid overspray.  All the paints are Gunze and the RLM 75 was lightened with a touch to provide a little more contrast to the RLM 74.

Next stage will be some post shading with the old trusty Iwata.  Once that's done I'll post another update.

Cheers 

Darren:

Wow! what an outstanding job with the airbrush so far! The 190 is looking terrific so far. Dressed up for the kill with markings, she'll be stunning.