kwaterous

Unfortunately, no. I moved away to uni shortly after this thread went the way of the dodo - haven’t really managed to set up a cave ever since, though I do still lurk from time to time. Cheers, K

Ahhh hadn’t realized it was quite so far off, but I might just do that starter kit trick - thanks for the idea 😊. K

I’ll be relegated to lurking this time around sadly - the stash (and the several qualifying builds in it) are 3000km away for the foreseeable future. Best of luck to all, and I’ll be sure to pay attention to the space once this one gets going. Cheers, k

It’s back (in black 🎸) This Kit comes with what I believe is supposed to represent the exhaust system, but it’s 100% wrong and gets in the way of putting a more accurate version in place. So it had to go Original on left, new on right (obviously) That leaves space for the exhaust pipes to come through Although it is still a rather tight squeeze. 14 pinned and superglued exhaust pipes later.... my eyes and fingers are both sore But it does look promising 😁 Even more so when I test fitted the front cylinder bank (And I only broke one of the tubes off to get this picture 😒) Next step: The collectors ring Drilling 14 evenly spaced holes is remarkably difficult Why couldn’t designers be nice and make it an even 16... Also among things remarkably difficult: getting 14 little bits of sprue to sit at the same angle. Seen here just started and here completed, This showed me that the spacing on several of my holes was off. But I’m not in a mood to do this part again 🤷‍♂️ (Too bad I’ve only done one engine so far) I also threw a base coat on it to see where needed work, answer: pretty much everywhere I will be concentrating on how it looks from the front though, (not opening the cowlings) so I’m not going to any extremes with this. Also looked at the cowl flaps and decided they were far too thick. So now they aren’t 😁 This is made so much easier by the use of a Dremel.... Anyhow - I’m quite enjoying this fiddling about with the engines... we shall have to see if I’m as enthusiastic about the cockpits when that time rolls around. Cheers, K

Another day, another bit of work done on this beastie. Started by trimming/cutting the filler I’d applied to the inside of the cowlings until it was generally the shape I wanted - since I’d done such an awful job of applying it the first time, more filler was needed. Exhibit A. I used real green stuff this time... After doing this I realized I needed the space near where the exhaust exits the ring to be filled too, so I glued a couple chunks of sprue in there then added a smear of my special formula filler (in grey this time 😮) Step 1: Happy accident; the tail ends of the sprue will work a locating features later on. Step 2: Next order of business was to figure out how in the world I can make all of those exhaust tubes. For this I had a couple of options: 1. Stretched sprue, which doesn’t work because I’m cr*p and can’t get the thickness consistent 2. A weird flexible material I’ve got in the bin - it’s the right thickness but I’ve never worked with it before (I think it comes from a ski pass..?) This calls for some testing 😊 Namely, how the heck do I glue it to anything? And, can it be sanded? (it had mould lines) The glue answer is, quite predictably, superglue, as nothing else will touch it Even with superglue this bond isn’t particularly strong 😒 As for sanding, the answer is no. But it can be melted a bit over a candle to get rid of the seam lines. This has the added effect of making it even more flexible; I can’t decide if this is a good thing or not. Next test will be painting it 😬 With those tests figured I thought I should put some though into how they attach to the cylinders. I’m going to have to pin them to make sure they stick so an ungodly amount of holes were in order This is 1/4 of the cylinders banks and it has 14 tiny holes 🤯 Last bit of work was the cowlings. And here is where I really regretted picking a 1970s Kit. These cowlings really made me appreciate the 3 piece ones normal in short run kits. There are 5 bliddy pieces per side. And none of them fit. And they’re all covered in mould imperfections and flash 😪 This is after 20 minutes of fettling and swearing. And the fit is still rather awful. Anyhow, reference photos (thanks Chris) advice or just good old banter are all appreciated and enjoyed 😜 Cheers, K p.s. Is it just me or is glossy black plastic really hard to get good pictures of...

Wow fantastic references Chris - those will be quite useful, although I’ll have to debate on how much detail I actually want to add. As for general society; I don’t have the luxury of avoiding people most days, and haven’t even really entered the workforce so retirement is but a distant dream. 😦 Cheers, K

Well; I’ve returned from the abyss. More than 2 years since I did any real modelling, and now I’ve got a month or so to play with before it’s back to school. I figured that I could do with a real KUTA to get he mojo going again; once that was decided it was just a matter of which build to resurrect. Looking around the workbench i came to the rather alarming realization that i have more started builds than thinstarted kits in the stash 😮 (time for a shopping trip methinks I eventually settled on the one build that I have absolutely no chance of completing before I go on my next hiatus: the Big Beau. aka. The old Revell 1:32 Beaufighter being built as a nightfighter. State of play as of today; That is to say; cockpit put together with some PE thrown at it, bulkheads cut down (but not replaced) engines base painted, one exhaust collector painted the wrong colour, one resin exhaust painted and fettled and the canopy has been masked. This was all done almost a year before I left (that’s 3 years ago now) and much of it will be re-done. First up: that one painted exhaust collector ring. Now there are 2 in the same state. Consistency is key after all. A brief look at photos shows that these need to be much thicker. Challenge accepted. The filler used for rounghing out the shape started life as a tubed wood filler: it has found a new purpose as my cheap green stuff alternative. Challenges to overcome in the next few weeks will include: - my previous ham fisted re-scribing attempts - the fact that this kit comes from the 1970s (it’s 20 years older than I am... 😬) Anyhow; I’m not likely to finish this one this time around, since I’m on the other side of the country as of January 3rd but I’ll do as much as possible, and enjoy myself as I go along. As always, any advice or commentary is appreciated - especially links to, or photos of builds where others have done similar work with this old kit. Cheers, K p.s. KUTA XII anyone?

I'm home from uni for a total of 18 days. So of course I decided to start a project I have very litttle hope of finishing before I have to jet across the country again. ahhh... the modelling itch can be a b...itch anyway. None of the kits in the stash were doing it for me. So I raided the spares box, and a few days later, came up with this: (I hope this works-used to use photobucket) its mostly parts from a rare-plane 1:72 IA-58. Except that it has the inner wings of 1:48 Bf 109G-10. And the nose and canopy of a 109E-2. And I moved the tail planes around. And the wings aren't in the same spot. So so I have no idea what it is, what to call it, or what to do for a backstory. I'm just building it for fun ideas for painting it/backstory would be appreciated cheers, K

Got this kit stalled, part built and in a box somewhere, will watch to see how you get on with it K

Now for paint. Layer 1 Layer 2 Quasi-mottling Somewhat later Quite recently Cheers, K

Be that the story post is out of the way, it's time for the photo update Fuselage together and armour applied with Alu tape. Underside showing quite a few mods. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure them out, as I don't remember them all Engine prop rudder and gun pods Armour plus rivets, and plane plus radio Belly post paint job Engine plus radiator thingy and exhaust stacks. Also a painted gun pod. And that all for now. Hope to get this finished as my last pre-uni build--it'll be the last one for a long while likely :/ Let me know what you think, or the story or the build, and feedback is always welcome. Cheers, K

So this one has been sleeping. This is both due to my being away, and preparing for university this fall, and due to the plane suffering from an identity crisis. I have eventually come up with a solution. The AM-35 that I have from the Mig-3 looks quite similar to the AM-38 found in the IL-2. It stands to reason that both engines were quite durable. (I hope) Germans, at the squadron level, were frustrated at losing large numbers of stukas in the attempt to destroy soviet tanks. During the many soviet armoured advances in early-mid 1944. The fighter units also had a few, mostly damaged, early model bf109s left from the beginning of the invasion. There was several cases of mechanics making modifications to existing aircraft in order to make them more capable in combat. The most extreme case of aircraft modification will be modelled. This included: An early model Bf109E A replacement of the engine with the larger, more durable, although heavier one from a soviet aircraft. Reinforcements to most of the frame Armour playing being riveted to the sides and top of the aircraft to increase protection. Thick armoured glass windscreen. Extra machine guns fitted to the wing root Stuka style heavy cannon inter the wings. And a powerful radio receiver able to listen to communications from german tanks. Performance was severely lacking when compared to other fighters, however it was still better than that offer by the Ju-87. This aircraft, and others similar to it, could be found desperately fighting on the eastern front up until the end of the war. Hopefully this is at least mildly believeable, and I'm doing it even if it isn't Cheers, K

Both look very neat, however neither tail looks right to me somehow. Wings on the other hand, look awesome Cheers, K

Lots of interesting information coming to light here guys, thanks for all the expertise. I'm torn on how to paint/decal this one as I'm not sure if it would be more likely in german or Russian hands. Will have to think on it. Thanks for the info about engine weight, this could look cool with a bigger tailplane. Cheers, K

Hmm interesting about the Russians having their own 109s. Did 109 vs. 109 ever happen I wonder? I'm pushing on with this, even if the realism isn't really there. Step 1: No more german engineering up front. Step 2: beginning to assemble the Russian replacement There seems to be many different colour options for an AM-35a so I'm following the ICM instructions. New engine will require a new firewall This is the first try, might make another one later. Step 3: Engine painted and together Fit is iffy in a few places-espescially the front tanks. I couldn't resist: Looks neat with the spinner too, but that fell off right before the photo Cheers, K