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

MaxSheridan wrote:

In the end, I'll just have to claim stupidity.

Dont sweat it fella, I have that quote on my passport

...Guy

soulcrusher wrote:

Hey Max I am just finishing up the same kit. My third Hurricane for this GB. I noticed something about your Hurricane. I think you reverse masked the fuselage.The area around the cockpit should be Dark Green If you look at the pic below you will see what I mean. I know how hard they are to mask and not get it backwards I caught myself doing it a couple of times. I caught it by comparing the masked model agianst the pics. Hope you did not get to the decals yet!                                                             Soulcrusher

Doh!

I was hoping no one would catch that!

I actually noticed it before I started painting and thought, "it shouldn't be that noticeable". Well, I guess it is! I'm on a bad roll with accuracy issues, and most of them are stupid mistakes on my part. I've decided to roll with it......my bench time is so limited I want to make sure it doesn't seem like work fixing all my mistakes.

In the end, I'll just have to claim stupidity.

Hey Max I am just finishing up the same kit. My third Hurricane for this GB. I noticed something about your Hurricane. I think you reverse masked the fuselage.The area around the cockpit should be Dark Green If you look at the pic below you will see what I mean. I know how hard they are to mask and not get it backwards I caught myself doing it a couple of times. I caught it by comparing the masked model agianst the pics. Hope you did not get to the decals yet!

                                                          Soulcrusher

Thanks for the instruction sheets amd the welcome.

I'm looking forward to getting into this plane. But first I'm doing a Hs123 just to get my airbrushing and weathering skills a bit more back up to speed. Is there any after market products for it and the Do17z which will improve them?

I'm finally hitting the home stretch on my Airfix Hurricane! I got the camo done the other day. Now I just have to future it, apply decals, weather, and finish all the fiddly bits.

Hmmm....that sounds like quite a bit to do yet! Well, I better get moving!

Here's some pics as it sits....

Enjoy!

Seacondor wrote:

I'm getting back to modeling after a break of many years. So I decided to go back to my old period interest of the Battle of Britain. This time in 1/48. I bought a Classic Airframes Do17z the other day through Ebay only to find that when it arrived it was the Finnish version of the kit. The supplier has said he will get me the German decol set for it as it was his mistake. However I still need the instructions for the correct positions of the decols. I was wondering if anyone has the instructions they could scan for me.

 I did the CA Luftwaffe version for this GB. Saved the instructions in a box some where I'll dig em out in a bit and PM them to you!

Thunderbolt that turned into a real stunner! One 109 to be proud of! Lots of 109 gurus here and I am sure you made the list!

Sidure same to you that yellow nose Mickey  is my favorite Galland Aircraft! Wish I could find those decals for the 1/48 version!

Rick! Your teasing me! Barnstorming that build at crunch time is so cool! I have been waiting to see it the whole GB. You always come up with some serious good looking stuff!

Guy? Well you know.

Sea condor! JUST NOTICED THIS WAS YOUR 1ST POST!  Welcome to the best bunch of fellows on the internet!  I'll post them here and in a PM as well just in case you miss them.

Im sure they would be easy to place really. I would suggest going to www.hyperscale.com and look at a few others for decal placement.

...Guy

I'm getting back to modeling after a break of many years. So I decided to go back to my old period interest of the Battle of Britain. This time in 1/48.

I bought a Classic Airframes Do17z the other day through Ebay only to find that when it arrived it was the Finnish version of the kit. The supplier has said he will get me the German decol set for it as it was his mistake. However I still need the instructions for the correct positions of the decols. I was wondering if anyone has the instructions they could scan for me.  

Sicker than a dog last night..some bug is going around...does not help hitting that deadline...

More work to come

Mark

Mike and Steve, great work on the Emils guys!    Can't wait to see some more pics on that Condor and that Gallahand figure is a nice addition Steve.

Rick and Mark, nice work so far guys.  Looking forward to seeing some more pics.

Strange as it seems with the imbalance of Luftwaffe subjects over the RAF builds.  At the IPMS Vancouver show there were more than two dozen 1/72 allied fighter and only two axis fighters?  Go figure?

Stuka boy here!!  Worked on some painting touchups to my Stuka..painted the nose and bottom wing tips yellow..working on the wheels next and then the canopy....hope to get some pix on tonight...Don't want to rush it too much even though I have deadline of 18 days left in this build..All other builds need to be on hold!!

Mark

SC, Mike, Rick -- thanks guys! The comments, critiques and praise of modellers such as yourselves is a valuable thing!

I'm gonna add the badge!

Cheers,

Mike

PS: Help! What am I doing wrong? I added the badge to my signature line, pulling from Photobucket same as the other, so as to have two badges together. I hit 'save changes,' but the second badge doesn't show up. I went through the process twice, no luck... All advice welcome!

Okay, the third time I got a message, 'max. signature line 512 characters,' so the link for the second badge exceeds that. How do you line up your badges?

Made a little progress on my 109 as well.  Basic airframe complete & seams filled.  About to spit some paint on her.

Regards,  Rick

Looks great Mike.  For all the firsts, I'd say you're a fast learner .

Regards,  Rick

She looks great Mike! I would not go to heavy on the weathering. As you said this plane was factory fresh in delivered in August 1940. from the research I did around a month later he was flying a differnt plane. The yellow nosed one with the Mickey Mouse. So I doubt this plane would have been to beat up to much. Nice job. The panel lines came out great.

                                                                          Soulcrusher

Hi Guy,

Thanks for the pat on the back! I feel I have a long way to go to reach the standard I've seen on the web, but I'm moving in the right direction here. A bit more practice is what I need! There was a time, the early 80s, when I averaged a model finished every six weeks or so, but I quickly ran out of storage space, and got out of the way of building. Lately my completion rate has been low, and Group Builds have very much revitalised my output. Three finished this year and several more nearing completion. I have around a dozen in various stages at this point, with more to begin (I would love to do this sort of treatment on entries for the Corsair, Mustang and Spitfire GBs).

I can't wait to apply the panel wash to a late-tool F-4 or Crusader or any other subject with really competently-done panel lines... A gloss Navy/Marines finish would accept the wash perfectly.

On weathering, I was going to do oil streaking on the underside if I had used acrylic clearcoats, but without the dissimilar chemistry barrier I didn't want to risk the paintjob by applying oils in enamel thinner. She looks pretty fair for a fresh-built plane with access to regular maintenance, and she'll dirty up here and there when I get around to the carbon staining.

Cheers,

Mike

Mike thats a fantastic job, really 1st rate. Im sure Mr Galland himself would be proud to fly that sucker. All those 1st's and you turn a plane out like that. 10 out of 10.

I think maybe i should have a 30 yr lay off, if it means i come back producing models like that. Now just send it this way and ill weather the S#it out of it

...Guy

Hi all,

Well, you can't keep a great pilot down, and Kommandeur Galland is back in August 1940 with a new mount, fresh from the factory and wearing the red griffon crest of 9/JG 26.

She's done! But for a couple of miniscule touch-ups and the addition of carbon staining and an antenna wire, to come later, this one's finished and in the display case. I added all small parts today, got her onto her landing gear and used MiG 'Europe Dust' on the landing gear and a touch on the underside toward the tail. I added a few small patches of bare aluminium on the leading edge and in the boarding area, did final clean-ups on the panel lines, added the prop and mast, and I was ready to call her good.

Here she is in some posed gallery shots:

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There are faults I'm aware of -- problems with alignments/fit here and there (my fault, not Tamiya's), joint lines that were missed, painting that could have been better, decals that could have pulled in tighter. The wheelwells are awfully clean, I might add a little pigment to dirty them up. But overall the effect is a pleasing one, I think.

This model is a lot of 'firsts' for me:

• My first completed airplane in five years
• My first Tamiya 1:48 plane
• My first accented panel lines
• My first use of RLM colors
• My first use of full-on Microscale system decalling
• My first use of Clear Parts Cement
• My first use of canopy masks
• My first Bf 109 in 30 years, and German fighter of any sort in over ten

Well, guys, what do you think? All comments and suggestions are welcome! Do I qualify for my badge?

There are about twenty days left, I'm not sure I'll have the Dornier finished in that time, but I'll certainly continue to post as the job moves along.

Best wishes,

Mike

Love the 109 Steve, the paint job looks top notch. Another fighter in the sky for the Glorious Luftwaffe. LOL.

...Guy

Steve & Mike-

My 109 is awaiting an oil wash and some detail work.  I managed to pull one of the decals off while masking to do some touch-up (and I thought I had Futured..).  On the upside, that gives me a reason to add a Tamiya 109E-4 to the stash on my next Hobby Lobby run and replace the decal at that time.

Cheers

Mike & Steve...Nice work guys .

Regards,  Rick

Steve- Nice job on Galland and his Emil!

Mike- Looking good, you're in the home stretch!

Mark- Stuka is looking great!

Guy and SC -- many thanks, yup, she's looking great. I'm hoping to have her done today, minus the carbon and wire. Okay, I'll push the thinning and keep experimenting with X-22 -- if I can get a reliable glosscoat it'll be great but until then I'll go with the paint finish itself.

Steve -- it really does look like Galland! That's excellent. Great job all round!

I'll have more pics later, hopefully of the Emil essentially done.

Cheers,

Mike

Looks really nice Mike. The panels came ut terriffic, I am going to have to get some of that stuff.

Here are some better shots of the 109 but I am still getting used to this camera. The first one is what I call the man and his machine. Its a Tamiya figure I did years ago and I like to think its Galland.

Work continues on the Condor tonight.

Steve

Looking Great TB, Pro Modeller washes rule. I use it religeously.

As for your X-22 conundrum. Id thin it more, maybe 60-40 thinner to paint or even 70-30. The stuff is the biz. Pro- modeller loves a glossy coat. Dont give up, you wont regret it.

...Guy

Hi again,

Turning in for the night after another round on the washes, and I think the panel lines are done, but for a few touch ups here and there that'll no doubt become apparent when I look at it in daylight tomorrow.

I'm officially sold on the Pro Modeller weathering washes, they make a fiddly job a breeze -- a thousand thanks for putting me onto it!!!

The port side fuselage cross pulled into the paint tight enough for the wash to find the lines, it's not quite right yet but it's almost there.

Tomorrow I'll get to smaller details, tailwheel, maingear, bare metal, dust, I might even unmask the canopy and do any touchups in that area as might be needed. Then paint the fuselage gun muzzles, mount the last few bits, and she's ready for a few gallery photos.

Here she is with the wash applied:

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And here she is with the wash wiped:

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Like I said, a breeze, even without glosscoating.

Cheers,

Mike

Steve -- lookin' good! I'm always awed by the size of the Fw 200, she dwarfs her fighter escort!

Okay, state of play report on the Emil -- after less-than-successful experiments with clearcoats, I experimented with panel wash and found it was fine over the raw paint! The RLMs are a natural satin finish, and while the wash would be easier to wipe away from a gloss, all it takes is a trace of moisture on a clean tissue and away it goes. I've washed the underside, and cleaned up the horizontal tails and starboard wing. This was a few minutes work -- and the beauty is that if you find inconsistencies just add a bit more wash and wipe it away again. I'll have this project completed this weekend with the exception of gun and exhaust carbon (MiG black in the mail) and antenna wire (couldn't afford another $20 at this point to get the EZ-Line.)

Here she is:

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I'll get to those last chores when I can, but hopefully inside the month!

Cheers,

Mike

Hey Guys, here are some photos of my 109. They are not the best quality as my camera is out of action. All I have to do to it is string the antenna wire and I am calling it done.

and one to compare the 109 to the 200. The Conor will be finished very soon. Just some weathering and fiddly bits to finish it up.

thanks for looking and all comments welcome

Steve