9 kits for the year hey?

Well, lockdown has had it's upsides I guess!

Congratulations on another fine build D

Crack open those and commission this great work, but not too many, as you've still got time to finish the Italeri kit off before the end of the year to go the round 10!

The construction side of the Dragon kit is finished now. I still want to do some more weathering with oil paints but that will wait until I get the diorama base made and the little Kettenkraftrad built so that I can weather them all together.







That brings my "Completed Kits" tally for 2020 to 9 (3 aircraft and 6 cars), closing in on my target of 1 per month with as many Hangar and Garage Queens as possible.

I will get back to the Italeri night fighter now and try to get it completed by the end of October.

Thanks for tuning in.

Cheers, D

More work on the Dragon kit tonight. I gave the whole airframe a workover with thinned Tamiya Smoke to increase the variation in tone and I'm happy with how it's looking now. I'm planning to really dirty up the wheels, and also the starboard wing with some oils above the engine line.
The undercarriage is all fitted off along with more of the antennas and wingtip lights.






Not much left to do now. I've also finished and painted up the scratch-built stand, just need to adjust the height to fit once the aircraft is on it's legs.

Cheers, D

Thanks Russ!

Ok, the PLW has been mostly wiped away in the direction of airflow using a Q-tip dampened with white spirits. I've left a bit of streaking to add to the overall war-weary look. I Dullcoted the whole thing after the spirits had dried off for a day or two, then unmasked the clear parts.





Next up is a workover with highly thinned Tamiya Smoke, again in streaking in the direction of airflow and building up some tonal variation in places.

Cheers, D

me likey lots!

A fun little diversion from the kit progress using scraps of stock and spare parts, plus a short length of an old guitar string.



It's taking shape and will look the part once it's painted up and weathered.

Cheers, D

It gets ugly at this stage, panel line wash applied and drying. I will take to it with a Q-Tip and a drop of Odourless White Spirit in the next days or so.



Once this is done it will be shot with Dullcote and then further weathering. This Schwalbe will be dirty!

The other thing I am working on is a set of maintenance stands for this build, as I am telling the story that this is a bit war-weary and sitting waiting on parts beside the strip, while the HB kit (a newer production) is being towed past.


And some rough initial plans to try a test-build.


Cheers, D

Tim, Russ, many thanks as always for checking in! I am playing with thinning ratio, airbrush setup and air pressure to see if I can get a result I like.

Meanwhile, some progress on the Dragon A-2a/U2. This was an exercise in patience to say the least! The decals shattered on contact with water, so I had to cobble together a set of markings using the Dragon set plus leftovers from the Hobby Boss set. I had to apply a very light drop of Mr Mark Setter to settle the decals on to the surface, then delicately apply the Mr Mark Softer with a very soft brush to get the pieces to conform without splitting up.

In the end I managed to get the major markings and the most significant stencils in place, with a few chips and scratches (which actually fits with the story I'm telling here), and once they had cured overnight I gave the whole shooting match a coat of Alclad AquaGloss to seal the deal!








Next up is a light panel line wash and Dullcote, then on to the weathering!

Cheers, D

Gosh Damian... I'm nervous about that paint scheme and I'm only watching

Hi Damian... Yeah I would definitely try to do the Mäander camouflage freehand. Its is the simplest solution if you have a steady hand. I tried a few ways to achieve the same effect on one of my Wildesau Bf 109G's: freehand using a paint brush as well as a air brush, masking tape, blue tack sausages, etc., but I think the best way to achieve it is using steady hand and a paint brush or airbrush.
T

Torsten, thanks for checking in mate! I hope you enjoyed your holidays.

Thanks also for the info on the camouflage pattern options, very interesting to see another "reverse" method of achieving the result. The Blue-Tac worms would need to be very consistent in diameter to get the desired effect.

I'm going to try freehand and see how it looks, after doing a bit of practice first of course.

Next step is decals on the Dragon A-2a/U2 kit, then flat clear and some weathering.

Cheers, D

Just catched up with your builds after returning from holidays. Great progress on those oldies so far!


To me this camo looks a lot alike the Tamiya He 219, which I have in the pipeline soon. Underside black, upperside RLM 76 with RLM 75 "worms". If you're afraid of spraying RLM 75 freehand, you might try to go "reverse mottling". First RLM 75, than cover the lines with thin long "sausages" of UHU Tack or similar and than spray RLM 76. I've seen this technique on a 1/72 Ju 88 with Mäander camo once. Awesome! Never tried it though, I sprayed it freehand some years ago on my Tamiya Fw 190 F-8. Was my first try on such a camouflage.

Some progress on the Dragon kit. First I painted the RLM65 on the underside and pre-shaded the top (using Gunze Aqueous Hobby Colour H67 thinned with MLT).




Next up was a paint mix for the top colour. I used Tamiya XF-64/49/64 in about a 3/1/1 ratio. Built up slowly to allow the pre-shading to give it some variation for a fading effect.


Next I masked for a couple of replacement panels to be done in NMF using the ugly-but-effective PostIt Notes for overspray protection.


And there we are, ready for decals, Dullcote and further weathering.



Cheers, D

Thanks for checking in Richard!



Yeah, I've got to keep you guys on you toes!



Somewhere indeed. I've got 5 more 1/48 kits stashed away, including this one

or does that count as two? OK, I've got 6 more 1/48 kits stashed away, plus 3 in 1/32 scale.

Maybe I could just . . . . . . . no, I won't

Cheers, D

Now you’ve done it - I have not two but THREE to keep track of !
Exhausting ! LOL
Keep at it it and surely you have a fourth one somewhere ?
RT

That lozenge pattern makes even me nervous, and I'm not the one doing it

I need to buy shares in the MS1500 factory!

Dragon kit



Italeri kit



Time to decide on some colour schemes

I'm planning to do the Dragon kit as a bit of a war-weary (what-if) airframe with some mismatched panels and bare metal to display beside the new Hobby Boss build.
The cover art on the Dragon kit shows V555 in what looks like RLM 81 red/brown, but the instructions call for Gunze H304 which is Olive drab!


There is no colour call out or decal placement guide in the instructions for V484, even though the markings are on the decal sheet.

Time for some artistic license, I'm going for the box art colours with the V484 markings. Underside will be Gunze H67 for the RLM65, topside will be version of RLM81 mixed with Tamiya XF acrylics, probably XF64 and XF49 to start with.

For the Italeri, I'm liking the box art scheme with the fine lines all over (a bit scary, never attempted this type of pattern ) but interestingly the instructions don't show this scheme.

In the instructions the #11 airframe has a flat black underside with RLM76/81/82 splinter on the upper wings and stabilizers, and "worms" on the fuselage.

Once again, my artistic license comes out of the wallet and onto the table. Box art it shall be with top sides all RLM65 (Gunze H67) and RLM "Grey" (Tamiya XF-22) squiggles. The MS1500 will remain and get a flat coat for the undersides.

Sorry for the long-winded post, and as always I'm open to all comments, advice and constructive critique.

Cheers, D

Masking done on both the Dragon and Italeri kits, time to get the primer coats finished.




Cheers, D

Russ, I know, outrageous fit issues!

I filled the remaining gaps on the Italeri kit tonight, it's now ready for masking and priming.

I also got some work done on the Dragon kit. As I said in the previous post, the old Trimaster moulds are really showing their age.
There is a large gap between the rear cockpit deck and the fuselage.

Once the glass is installed, masked and painted this will be hidden by the framework, so I'm not even going to try to address it!

The alignment issues and gaps, mostly on the underside, have been filled, cured and sanded.


The 3 clear parts installed on the cockpit.


The fit of the clear parts was quite good, with just a couple of minor adjustments needed, but there is a small short-shot on the rear section which will need a bit of work to neatly fill before I get to masking and painting.

Onwards and upwards my friends, I hope you are all staying safe and well.

Cheers, D

...a 1mm gap! Tut, Tut, Italeri, Tut tut!

but nicely handled, D

Thanks Magnus! Your feedback is very much appreciated.

I got the glass all installed on the Italeri Nightfighter. There was a 1mm gap between the front and centre parts that I shimmed with styrene stock and then shaped to match the join. It still needs a little touching up but it will look like part of the frame once it gets masked and painted.




I'm still working on filling and sanding the joins on the Dragon A-2a kit, the age of the old Trimaster moulds really shows on this one.

Cheers, D

Damian! Really like your take on V555, it looks beautiful!

Ever since reading "Jet Warplanes of the Third Reich" 35 years ago I've been fascinated by all the strange contraptions the Germans managed to get from the 262. I like the V555 the same way I like the P-38 with the perspex nose, it's just so odd adding an extra crew member to a fighter that way!

MPM did one in the 1990s in 1/72, based on the Heller night fighter 262 I think, sadly the transparent parts (the main point with the kit so to speak...) were rather crude so I passed that one over with no regrets.



Magnus

Well who am I to argue with your teachers? Let's go with 3 then!

Lets take a look at the joins around the main assembly now that the wings are on.









Nothing disastrous, but certainly nothing like the fit on the Hobby Boss kit. My biggest headaches will be the starboard upper wing root and the sink mark around the locating pin on the underside of the tail.

Next up will be fitting off the engine nacelles to see what troubles are in store for me there.

Cheers, D

remembering what I was taught at school: you should round up, so I say claim 3 builds!

I'd say 2.5 at best Russ, the Italeri kit is at least 50% done!

I shot some MS1500 Black primer on the Dragon kit today (while I was priming a couple of car builds). The wheel bay, fuselage areas, and about 20 smaller sub assemblies and parts got primed as required.




There was a bit of primer left in the cup, so I emptied it onto the Italeri kit rather than decant it back into the jar. I still need to fit off the canopies and mask up before I prime the rest of the Nightfighter.



Cheers, D