thorfinn Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 (edited) Working on Mirage's 1/48 original-issue Halberstadt CL.II It's the first Mirage plane I've ever built, but I've done a handful of their ships, and the 'big picture' is about the same: mostly really fine molding throughout---plagued on nearly every part by sprue-gates located on the detailed fronts of those pieces, rather than on the rear surfaces where they'd be much easier to clean up. Instructions with vague arrows shooting this way and that...though, in this case, with full-color cockpit and detail phots that give a real leg-up on figuring it all out. All that having been said, it's really a great kit of what I've always considered one of the most aesthetically beautiful aircraft of the era...with useful photo-etch included, to boot. The basic interior assembly. Note the lozenge-fabric-covered upper longerons---as specified in the kit instructions---via decal scraps. The hole visible in the rear-cockpit floor in the last photo was an opening (in the real thing) for a recon camera. Though the kit didn't come with one, I happened to have a resin version in the 'stash'---purchased years ago during Great Models' going-out-of-business sale---so this seemed the ideal opportunity to use it. I couldn't find useful photos of the proper mount, so I scratched up a likely-looking version from rod and strip, fitted to the 'architecture' of the cockpit. And here's the nearly-complete interior with rear seat, camera and kit-included wireless set installed: I used a few scraps of foil data-plates to detail the camera; everything else is detail-painted with the usual washes and dry-brushing. I finally got the fuselage assembled today. More photos when there's something worth showing. Thanks for looking in. Edited April 27, 2018 by thorfinn update title 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 (edited) Back to the mighty Halberstadt after other projects. Fuselage all buttoned up and base-coated with a generic plywood finish: Now for the most interesting part: the unusual and characteristic Halberstadt factory fuselage 'mottle' or 'stipple,' applied using the basic colors of the familiar German lozenge camouflage. Mirage, bless 'em, supplies this as a pre-printed decal on transparent stock: Even looking at the few completed builds visible online, it was hard to get a sense of how these vivid colors would look once applied over a background color. Fortunately, they muted down quite nicely. Since Mirage decals are a bit finicky, I decided to go panel-by-panel. Here's how it looks so far, in mid-job: Looking positive so far. More as things develop. Edited March 5, 2018 by thorfinn 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 A little bit of progress. Fuselage mottle finished...and she's up on her legs. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Looking very fine... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 A bit more of the same...getting her 'tarted up' with a bit of makeup and some of her 'feathers' on. Used thin-diameter solder to sub for the shock-cord on the gear struts: Using old Micro-Sculpt decals for the lozenge camouflage: Her name is 'Marianne': 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Really lovely. A fine build sir! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 This is really good stuff. I love the way you have applied the decals and then the general overall finish. Its splendid. Will watch this one evolve. Cheers Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 That mottle finish looks incredible. Were the originals stippled on over bare wood or was there a base coat applied first? Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 2 hours ago, limeypilot said: That mottle finish looks incredible. Were the originals stippled on over bare wood or was there a base coat applied first? Ian Thanks. Expert opinion still seems split...in seemingly endless debate...since I believe 'restored' examples are all that survive. But if I've gleaned it correctly, the late Dan-San Abbott seemed to think it was applied directly over the shellacked finish on wood parts, and over the standard green-grey-paint---or perhaps an ocher base---on metal surfaces. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) Accessorizing 'Marianne' for her day out One of the fun things about building nearly any warplane is adding armaments. And as one of the first (and most successful) WW1 aircraft to adopt the close-support and ground attack roles, CL.IIs were loaded up with a wde variety of greebles---many hung on the outside, since 'spare' space in the interior was generally taken up by wireless sets and spare magazines for the rear gun. Photos of CL.IIs commonly show fuselage sides and rear deck hung with flares and flareguns used for signalling, the common 'potato masher' stick grenades used by the infantry, and lots of the Würfgranate 15---actually a simple-design spigot-mortar grenade, looking much like a tiny aerial bomb, and prized by the air corps for its effective burst radius and lethal shrapnel pattern. I elected to go with flares and the Würfgranate 15. The Mirage kit includes a band of flares---but with a slightly-mismatched molding, it's easier to scratchbuild a new one than clean up the seams on the kit part. The kit also includes racks for the mortar grenades, but those grenades themselves are offered only in a separate armaments kit. I elected to scratchbuild rather than plunk down the extra for the set...most of which I'd never use. After experimenting with several possibilities, I finally passed on trying to reproduce the shrapnel texture on the shells; nothing I could come up with was visible enough to be worth the extra aggravation. As to the shapes themselves, I figured the best way to go would be a styrene-rod core...easiest to attach the tail fins, made from tiny sections of strip...with inner and outer tubing sections to represent fuse structures and the main body. Here's the assembly line: And here's 'Marianne' with defensive gun-ring in place, and tricked out with flares, flare-gun, and grenade racks: Next up: WINGS Edited March 23, 2018 by thorfinn 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 This is a superb model and excellent job on the armaments. Can we get a close up of the flare pistol? Did that come with the kit or did you scratch that as well? I agree, too, that it is sometimes easier to build something that to buy a set of stuff that you won't ever use...now, if only I could do that with decals... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 7 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said: This is a superb model and excellent job on the armaments. Can we get a close up of the flare pistol? Did that come with the kit or did you scratch that as well? I agree, too, that it is sometimes easier to build something that to buy a set of stuff that you won't ever use...now, if only I could do that with decals... Thank you, John. Here's a better view of the flare gun: The kit does include the flare gun, which the instructions seem to show just glued to the aft decking. I made a 'mount' for mine with a little notched section of tubing, and located it based on this image [a portion of which is reproduced for discussion purposes only - credited to drakegoodman on Flickr, all rights reserved] This image of a Schlachtstaffel 27b aircraft---possibly the oft-seen 'White 2'/Brünhilde---shows the flare gun mounted 'upside-down' in a similar manner. The red color on mine comes from a recalled British report of a downed aircraft, simply noting the red color of the flare gun holder as though it were fairly common feature. It kind of makes sense...an easy attention grabber during the 'pre-flight,' to check whether the flare pistol itself is in place. I confess the lanyard is my own addition...based solely on the supposition that small and easily-fumbled (but critical) objects mounted in the slip-stream might well be attached...just in case. I made mine a little too short for practicality, but there we are. Thanks for your interest and for following along. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Very smart! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 There is some fine work there Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 I'm using Microsculpt's beautiful 5-color lozenge decals for the wing coating, top and bottom. Frequent referencing of assorted discussions on the Aerodrome website guided the 45-degree alignment of the lozenge panels to reflect the way the fabric was applied to the prototype. Microsculpt also did a further embellishment for their lozenge, in the form of semi-transparent decals with a subtle 'fabric' texture. I had used these decals before over clear-doped linen - which was very effective - but had never tried them over the lozenge for which they were intended. Results were interesting, but not compelling; the 'texture' looks very effective close-up, and does help to nicely 'mute' the brightness of the lozenge color - particularly on the lighter undersurfaces - but on the darker upper-surface colors, it's so subtle as to be nearly invisible. Still, I'll go ahead and use it for all the wings, just to see the final effect. Wing setup will be a little more challenging than for most biplanes. The easiest way of insuring proper wing alignment is usually to carefully fix the cabane struts in place, and then position the upper wing 'centered' on the fuselage, and add the main struts. Mirage's curious engineering makes this difficult: the forward 'legs' of the cabane struts disappear into large holes in the decking with no effective structure to support them - meaning that if I get the angle wrong, the upper wing angle may be wrong as well, or the struts too long or too short. The only sensible answer I can come up with is to fix the lower wings and carefully orient the main struts, then 'test-position' the top wing to show me where everything needs to be. Hopefully I'll then be able to attach the cabane struts in a stable fashion...then attach the upper wing, as usual. What could possibly go wrong, right?? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) A mini-update as I plod along on this one. The graceful 'Marianne' now has her lower wings on and nicely 'trued up.' I missed a beat on this one: the kit thoughtfully includes a set of helpful gauges that allow you to correctly set the wing dihedral...but they're designed to be used on a flat surface, before one puts on the landing gear struts. That didn't fit with what seemed to me a more logical order-of-build, so I fell back on my 'tried and true' method: a pair of matching wedge-shaped rubber pencil-erasers, that work a treat for propping up things like long spindly wings to the desired (matching) elevation. (And...since the kit's wing attachment-points are merely two little 'pimples' om each side, fitting into only slightly-defined matching recesses...I carefully drilled and added wire reinforcements to the wing roots.) Anyway, here she is...beginning to look a little more like the sleek thing of the air she's supposed to represent: Just as an aside...Mirage's molding of the wings is really extraordinary and beautifully-done. Subtle structural detail and rib-tapes that are actually sort of 'disguised' under the lozenge decals, and the correct graceful 'wash-out' at the wingtips. One of the most enjoyable (though occasionally frustrating) 'high-tech' kits I've built in a long while! I've already got the three-part upper wing assembled (more reinforcement for rigidity and strength, this time with narrow-gauge brass tubing), and have begun the application of 'fabric' and that lovely mottle to the center-section. Photos as things progress. As always, thanks for looking in. Edited April 14, 2018 by thorfinn 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_t Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Excellent stuff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) Truly impressive when comparing the size of the penny and the plane. It really sets up how small this model is and the detail you have in it. Edited April 14, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, clive_t said: Excellent stuff! Thank you, Clive! 3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Truly impressive when comparing the size of the penny and the plane. It really sets up how small this model is and the detail you have in it. Thanks Dennis! Having cut my modeling teeth on the whole range of Monogram's old WW2 fighters, I'm always a bit startled when I do a WW1 bird in the same scale and see how tiny they are - particularly designs like this that are sleeker than, say, a pug-nosed Camel or a plank-winged SPAD. The detail is just part of the fun...so long as the vision and motor coordination seem to be holding out! Edited April 14, 2018 by thorfinn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twentecable Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 This looks very awsome. Nice coming of a beautifull plane. Greetings TC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted April 15, 2018 Author Share Posted April 15, 2018 4 hours ago, Twentecable said: This looks very awsome. Nice coming of a beautifull plane. Greetings TC Thanks. TC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 (edited) The lovely Marianne is all set for her afternoon's sortie. She has a Morell anemometer... And a pretty machine gun... All togged out and ready to cause a bit of Teutonic mayhem: A really challenging but very satisfying build...of a largely-overlooked but quite important aircraft. Great fun as a project. More photos in the RFI section. Thanks to all who have looked, liked, or followed along. Edited April 27, 2018 by thorfinn 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Superb aircraft modelling! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Absolutely superb. Watching this come together has been a real treat, well done! Will switch over and take pleasure in viewing the full RFI! Thanks for sharing Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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