Battle of Britain GB 2008 - 21 June to 31 Oct 08

The yellow appearing as red is due to the use of orthochromatic film.

There are a couple of great pics of a Fw190A in Brett Green's Gotterdamurung, one taken with orthochromatic, the other with panchromatic film, and you would swear they were of different machines, so differentlyis the yellow rendered in each frame.

Steve, great job on the Kondor and the Emil. 

With the paintwork on the 109 bear in mind most Emils we repainted from 70/71/65 to 71/02/65 in the field. This included raising the upper fuselage camo demarcation line from very low on the fuselage, to very high, to better suit the conditions in France and the UK.Often the paint was applied with brooms, rags or sponges, hence the less than straight demarcation lines.

I know what you mean about tape usage, I used shed loads on the He 111!

The Hurricane is almost done.....

...aiming to finish off both this and the 111 tomorrow.

Only one cock up on the Hurri, I managed to apply the wrong serial number, don't know how, but I did. Luckily it's obscured by the squadron codes.

Karl

Great looking Hurri, Karl. Looking forward to seeing your 111 too. Interesting about the colour changing on B/W photos. Id swear that was a darker colour.

...Guy

 Good Stuff Karl! That looks sweet! I'm starting to like Hurricanes but don't tell SC.

Polish pilots had a reputation of dare devil heroics and skill.  The Poles were credited with over 126 German aircraft definately destroyed! One squadron which is incredible! Especially when you consider the tough crediting system as portrayed in the movie. ( " a third of a kill son, a third!" )

Guy ! You just want an excuse to paint a red Me-109.

Things are getting a bit rough for the Dorniers.

The Hurricane is looking great Stan! I layed down the sky underside on my Airfix kit tonight. It looks like the Hurricane is going to be well represented in this build!

                                                                                      Soulcrusher

Steve -- you've done an a amazing job on the classic Condor, she's looking formidable!

Karl -- another superb Huri! The subtle weathering and paint finish are top notch! (Which kit is this one???)

Mike/TB379

Hi guys,

Progress report! First look at the Emil -- I've been doing some prepainting the last few days and have done the first subassemblies today. First the pit:

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I decided to keep it simple, as this is my first 1:48 in a loooong time. Scratch PE, this is OOB. I did what research I could and got it together. Minimum weathering, scratches on the floor and front of the seat will suffice. The RLM 02 doesn't show too well against the gray plastic in these shots, but it's there (MM enamel). The panel is painted, there was no way the decals would lie down over the relief molded in so I abandoned that idea quickly. The guages are white, drybrushed with black then blobbed with clear gloss. I didn't have 66 available so used panzer gray. Heck, the only color photo of an E-3 pit I found on the web was a gray so dark it looked black, so this'll suffice.

And the wing assembly:

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The wheelwells are 02, and the recesses for the rads are blown into 65 (along with half the wing, it was that or toss the paint, I hate mixing too much!) inside are the front and rear faces of the rads brushpainted aluminium, and the inside of the cowls are sprayed 65. The flaps are also assembled and 65'd. Note the under-engine rad scoop, also airbrused internally and assembled.

Well, install the pit and close the fuselage next...

I was going to do some more spraying today but it rained this afternoon -- I've promised the family I'll AB enamels outdoors! In the next session I need to re-do the front face of the prop blades, plus do the props for the Dornier, do the inside of the engine cowls and last cockpit parts (02) plus line up the engines for the Dornier, and radials for my entries in Corsairs and Seaplanes and get them all into dark metalic. I can do their props in the same round also.

Cheers,

Mike

Guys, glad you like the Hurricane.

So far I think the Hurricane is proving the 'top scorer' of this GB, which is weird considering how many Spitfires and 109s you usually see.

Mike, this is the ancient Airfix kit. 

Nice progress on that Tamiya Emil.

Karl

Good progress on the Emil.  Keep on truckin.

Regards,  Rick

Karl -- Airfix? Wow! I especially like the preshading of the panel lines, it has a very realistic feel.

Thanks for the comments, guys! I have a question for those who've built the Tamiya Emil:

The upper engine cowling doesn't fit quite right at the back, it sits a little high. I've sanded the fit on the bottom but there's no way to make it be any more snug against the exhaust units without getting real serious with the file. The inconsistency falls on a natural panel line, so what's the best thing to do? Ignore it as the eye expects to see a division, or fill it and rescribe the line? Or keep hacking at the bottom of the part until there's no step in the upper cowl profile?

I fitted the cockpit and joined the fuselage last night, then added the chin cowling assembly and did some dressing work on the leading edges. I can probably do all major structures in the next round, and dress the fuselage joints.

Cheers,

Mike

I've built several of the Tamiya 1/48 Emils & never had a problem with the fit of the upper cowl.  In fact, I usually assemble it after painting, especially on a yellow nose, to simplify masking.  I never assemble the exhausts until all else is done, so possibly you're getting a slight interference with the exhausts.

Regards,  Rick

Thats unusual there T-bot. I finished the Tamiya 1/48 E3 which I beleive they are the same kit and i had no fit issues with the cowl. Are there any aftermarket goodies under the bonnet?

I have the Airfix kit all painted up and waiting for a coat of future. Here is a picture of her. This plane is camoed in reverse mask. The painting guide that came with the Aromaster decal sheet was a little off and it just didn't look right to the eye beside the fact they give you no right side view for the camo! Well I remembered saving the instructions for the CA kit and the painting guide was much clearer and looked more correct to me so that is what I used for a guide. What is with the reverse masking? Was itdone on purpose or just a case of the factory reversing the masks by accident. After just completing three of these masking jobs i can tell you for sure it is very easy to reverse mask these complex camo jobs. I did it several time while masking and caught it only because i keep double checking myself agianst the drawings till it finally matched the instuctions.

                                                                                       Soulcrusher

Hi Rick & SC --

Hmmm, maybe it's something in my example... The exhausts fit into the rectangular receivers, I'll leave them out until after painting, but the receivers form the base for the cowl to fit down onto, and I have a slight step on the upper line when the cowl is down and tight... Let me look at it again. I confess to being surprised this inconsistency would exist. Maybe my eyes were tired last night!

SC -- on the reverse masking, I remember reading somewhere that it was a ministry standard. The RAF hard-edge camo was sprayed through masks made from large rubber mats, and they could be laid down either way, creating variety in the schemes. The green and brown areas could be reversed, and the pattern mirrored from right to left, so you'd get four possible scheme interpolations from the same set of masks. The scheme alternated between right- and left-handed with each plane going through the paintshop. I believe that was mentioned in Alex Henshaw's book Sigh for a Merlin, though I can't be positive, it's many years since that bit of info lodged in my brain.

Cheers,

Mike

Thanks guys for the superfast answer. I only noticed it now that I have my own Hurricane squadron! If you really study it it an exact mirror image. on the wings not a reversing of colors just fliping the mat upside down and moving to the other wing. Cool! Even after 35 years of building and studying WWII aircraft i still learn something new almost every day on these forums. There are some awesome people her especially in this group build.

                                                                            Soulcrusher

Looking good SC, camo is spot on and loks the business.

Steve

SC -- glad to hlp!

Okay, here's an update -- talk about a kit that builds itself! I'm building this one while thinking about the next round of corrections on the Dornier.

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And like so...

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Do you see the slight step behind the cowl in the second photo?

I was going to paint props and engines today but discovered they needed work first. Flash to remove, and I found the Matchbox propellor hubs had great sinkholes to be doctored. So back to the superglue and knife. The Emil is about as far along as I can go at this point, there's just the leading edge slats to do before I put it aside for a while. I'm waiting on clear parts cement, and I just ordered canopy masks for her, plus the Do 215 set to see if they'll at least help on the Do 17.

Luftwaffle -- the Matchbox plans seem to be saying the gear wells of the Do 17 should be RLM 65, while the struts should be 02 -- how does this gel with your own perceptions? I guessed they would all be 02...

Cheers,

Mike

SC and Karl- Hurris are looking good!

Steve- Galland's aircraft went through a few changes during the BoB, I believe one of the variations had an RLM 70 base plate for the propellor.  The yellow was field applied so it wasn't always consistently applied to replacement parts.  Nice work on both of your projects.

Mike- AFAIK the wheel wells should always be RLM 02 just like the gear 

Mike -- thanks for the steer, I'll go with 02.

I did some masking tonight, prepping the Dornier gear wells for spraying. I'll get a photo up tomorrow. I was going to doctor that prop hub but all my tubes of superglue are stopped up solid, I've only got a tiny bit out of the last three before they seized up, dangit...

I can get the Emil's wells masked too, while waiting for the clear parts glue and canopy masks to arrive. There's another seven weeks to go in this build so I'm pretty confident I'll get both subjects finished comfortably and collect my badge.

Is there a BoB GB each year? It's a marvelous way to fill out a collection!

Cheers,

Mike

Karl, SC, you guys are banging out those Hurricnaes faster than the Luftwaffe can shoot them down.  Just like the real BOB!!!  Great work guys.

Mike, I'm liking the Emil.  I'm still working on my 1/72 scale version so hopefully we'll be able to put up some resistance to all these new Hurricanes and get your Do 17 safely through.

The current round of renos is almost complete and I'm starting to get back to my 109 but I'm finidng it really hard to find my grove again.  Anyone else have this problem after a lay off and has some advice to offer I'd be happy to hear it.

sfcmac wrote:

Guy ! You just want an excuse to paint a red Me-109.

You know me sooo well.. LOL.

Thunderbolt. The colours look spot on to me. I too have used Panzer Grey as an alternative for RLM 66. In future, try micro sol or similar for the dash decal. Ive had some good results with the stuff. If you dont have it just use a blade and slice off the raised detail on the dash and apply the decal as normal. Great job so far though. Just what we need to bolster those dorniers.

...Guy

Dave I have been there too. I find it is usally because i have taken on a very time consuming and difficult build. These can really suck all the pleasure out of model building. I found the best thing to get me motivated is to build a nice simple well fitting single engine plane. Something like a 1/48 Tamiya or Hasegawa Me 109. The parts count is low the fit is awesome and the choices for markings are unlimited. plus they really boost your ego when they come out looking great! Hope this helps you buddy.

                                                                                Soulcrusher

Razor  -- Thanks! I'm always interested to compare the scales, I'm really liking the Tamiyas and can see myself building a fleet in future.

Lufty -- Microsol was what I used, it seemed to have no effect at all! I considered filing away the detail so the decals could lie down, but the relief was itself very realistic so I decided to go with paint. It's not too bad a result...

SC -- I know what you mean about long builds sapping your creative energy. Last year I finished an SF scratchbuild (of a 1:72 plane) that took me three years to do, 205 hours work spread over that time, and it's taken me a year to get back in the saddle on the concept of SF scratchbuilding, despite there being a mag in the UK waiting for articles. It can be soul-sucking!

Mike

Another quick update on my builds. The 109 is moving along quite nicely and looks like it will be finished soon. Some gloss coat and decals applied tonight. So it looks like Galland is almost ready to enter the fight soon. I will finish off the 109 and then put the push on to finish the Fw-200.

Stay tuned for more updates. I too want to do a 109 with a Red nose, that would be way too cool.

Steve

Nearly there, Steve, nearly there!

Lucky Model just delivered, I have my clear parts cement and Promodeller weathering wash.

Cheers,

Mike

Sidure, thats looking way cool. I love the mottling. Not long now.

Thunderbolt, you wont rgret the Promodeller wash, its great stuff. The future of weathering IMO. Check out thier videos on thier website for tips and tricks.

...Guy

Looking good Steve.

Regards,  Rick

Hi Lufty -- yes, I watched he video on the site and it looks great, I can't wait to give it a go!

I did some work on the Dornier tonight, preparing the gear bay covers for painting along with the masked wells (cleaning them up and filing away part numbers and ejector pin marks on the inside surfaces). I need to de-flash the main gear struts and prepare them for painting in the same round.

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Got a prop to deflash, a hub to fill and smooth... I checked the vacform canopy set, it looks good. Hopefully the masks will fit at least some of the panes. I have the cockpit mostly assembled, such as it is, and will spray up that plus the engine cowl interiors all in the 02 round to come.

For my 'fun' experiences with a Hobbycraft FG-1D, see the latest page of the Corsair build. You know, I think I'll be less critical of the Matchbox product...

Mike

Looks like good progress Mike.  Well done so far.

Regards,  Rick