Stew Dapple

Thank you all gents for your sympathy and wise counsel Clearly the smart thing for me to do was to step away from the bench and spend a couple of days in quiet contemplation before returning with a renewed sense of purpose and a cunning plan I didn't do that; partly because I am an idiot anyway, but partly because... well did you ever have a toothache, and you kept poking at that tooth with your tongue to make sure it still hurt? That. That's why I did what I did. I soaked a cotton bud in IPA and began scrubbing at the paint under the tailplanes, and the blistered paint started to come off I began scrubbing the fuselage sides... a handful of cotton buds later and I was here: I figured that I could get the blistered paint off but that it would be at the expense of the markings, but the Hasegawa transfers proved to be remarkably resilient against both IPA and scrubbing: Finally, I resprayed with the pre-mixed greenish RLM76 (it now seems spookily prescient that I made it in such quantities originally ) Okay, so I am going to have to do a serious amount of retouching of the camo including doing a substantial amount of the mottling again... but you know what? I'm really happy to be able to try that, this time yesterday I thought that the kit had reached what @Retired Bob euphemistically (and rather delightfully) termed the 'terminal phase' so to have got it to a point where it's likely still a viable build feels really pretty good Cheers, Stew

Thanks Bob, was going for a closed-up canopy but that's still useful intel Well that was a rollercoaster of a weekend and, spoiler alert: it ended on a down. I got the transfers applied (up): ... but they silvered pretty badly on the Braunviolet areas (down): Some quick creative masking with Post-it notes and a respray: ... and it worked (up): So I gave the model a coat of Citadel spray-can varnish prior to adding the last parts and sub-assemblies, and this happened (down): Well. Um. I mean that's quite annoying. I've used the varnish without issues before, and the paint obviously. It didn't affect all the paintwork, just the greenish-RLM76 on the fuselage and the original mix RLM 76 under the tailplanes. Both of these were applied days ago so had plenty of time to cure fully, and I've no idea what could be in an acrylic varnish (even on in an aerosol can) that would provoke such a reaction. Anyway what caused this to happen is rather the lesser of the problems that I face; the greater being what am I going to do about it? My instinctive reaction was that of any healthy male human which is to kill it (kill it with fire!) which may actually be the correct choice. I don't think there's any way of flattening and disguising it, or any way of stripping off the affected paint without stripping off all that paint and transfers and starting again... and I don't feel I've got the energy to do that. I'm disheartened rather than heartbroken so I think I'll put it aside for a couple of days and see if my subconscious (or the Britmodeller hive-mind) comes up with a quick and easy fix in the meantime or whether it would be a better use of my time to put this one down to experience. Cheers, Stew P.S. I MEAN ARGHHHH! WHAT THE HELL?

Thanks mate - I would certainly not have done it if the paintscheme was a bit more 'mid-war standard' but I think it was easier to paint the undersides and wings before fitting than to have to mask everything bit by bit had they been assembled I wish you well with that, hopefully by now you have succeeded beyond your wildest expectations I have found mottling to be perversely difficult in the larger scale, in 1/72 you try to make everything as small and tight as you can, and it's hard to lose that mindset if you go up a scale or two - it was for me anyway, I think this is the first time I got near what I intended in terms of the sparsity and looseness of the mottles Thanks very much Bob, I was hoping I'd got the demarcation within the range that was feasible (or at least not obviously infeasible ) Tailplanes and mainplanes fitted: ... and now it looks like it's nearly finished again Got a bit of sanding and retouching to do along the leading edges though, then I'll get the (few) transfers on - it seems most if not all the stencilling was not replaced after the aircraft was rebuilt and repainted and that's the most welcome news I had in a while Cheers, Stew

Thanks Dennis I may have made that sound worse than it is, it will need retouching - especially along the leading edges and the fuselage underside joins - but 90%-odd of the paintwork is fine and won't need any further work, so on balance I came out ahead Cheers, Stew

Hello gents; as I mentioned earlier I had the good fortune to have a day off work yesterday (my favourite kind of work day ) I started out assembling the various bits for the drop-tank and its mounting: Once I had proper daylight, I began spraying - the RLM81 Grauviolet for the tailplanes: ... and the upper mainplanes: As I also hinted at earlier, I freehanded the pattern on these using the Hasegawa instructions as a guide. There seems to be quite a variance in the pattern itself, I suppose depending on where it was painted and when, I don't know if a pattern as soft as my freehanded effort would have been acceptable at any time or place, but the great thing is that I don't know that it wouldn't have been either and from all I've read and the correspondence I have had I feel it would be a bold individual indeed who could claim to know one way or the other TL:DR - It's done, and I'm not doing it again I also completed the RLM81 on the fuselage, again I thought it would be easier to do this before attaching the wings*. Again, the effect may be a little 'soft' but it's acceptable to me. For the fuselage and the wing camouflage I put aside my beloved Badger 150 and got out my rarely-used Badger Renegade Krome because it is better suited to this sort of thing and you might as well use it if you've got it That was where I was going to leave it, it'd been a pretty successful day and all. but I had a little RLM81 left mixed and since I had the 'fancy' airbrush out, I thought I might as well do the mottling: Finally, for good measure (I somehow neglected to photograph it specifically but you can see it in the background) I attached the upper and lower wing halves. I will get some more done today; I feel that yesterday the model went from being a lot-more-finished-than-it-looked to now being not-actually-as-finished-as-it-looks, but that can be reappraised after a trip with Jack to The Tinsmith for the Full Scottish Breakfast which invariably instils in me a sense that all might yet become well with the world Of course this feeling will be replaced on Sunday with that other great weekend tradition, the vague sense of nameless impending doom and lurking horror Hope you all have a good one gents Cheers, Stew * Regarding painting the various components before fitting the wings... yes, I have been right in respect of it making the painting easier but a test-fit of the wings to the fuselage does indicate that some filling and sanding will probably be required, so some paintwork is going to need retouched. So swings and roundabouts really

Looking good James and coming along nicely Cheers, Stew

Nicely done mate, good work Cheers, Stew

Not all that slow Volker, but definitely steady Cheers, Stew

Nice work AW, getting near the finish line now Cheers, Stew

Thanks Jochen, did you put the sign in your car to freak out the mechanics when you took it in for a service? Thanks James, the food was very good as always, but I stayed on the rum and cokes, as I'm not great at drinking pints when I've just stuffed myself full of food Lovely picture Owen, he/she(?) really looks to be enjoying himself/herself I'm betting that the one running like a loon after 15 miles was not the same one who was carrying the 16 kilos? Thanks Bob Jack's not like any other dog I have known, or even heard of; he is very gregarious and really does find other people far more exciting than me He's been like that since he was a pup, I genuinely don't mind - in fact it's quite amusing - but he is quite restrained in his affections for me and quite extravagant with them with my friends and family Anyway, thank you all gents I haven't done much the last couple of days, I did get a coat of ACLW20 RLM82 applied to the upper-wings and tailplanes: I'm thinking at this scale I may - depending on my spray-fu on the day - be able to get away with freehanding the RLM81 over this; we'll find out I suppose I also made up a couple of paint-kebabs for the little bits and bobs - pitot tube, d/f loop, Morane antenna etc. - that will need to be painted prior to fitment: I don't think I'll get to do any of this today, but a prescient version of Past Me had the foresight to book me the day off on Friday, so hopefully I can get some work done on it then Cheers, Stew

Very good progress Bob Cheers, Stew

Coming along nicely Bob So you currently have 5(?) builds on the go; what's the state of your workbench? Is everything carefully segregated and ring-fenced, or is it a free-for-all pile of sprues, sub-assemblies and parts? Cheers, Stew

That's a real production-line, nice work Jes Cheers, Stew

Thanks Bob, you've been an absolute brick with your advice and help, it's been appreciated greatly Yes I do like to get out now and then, I think it stimulates a different part of the brain to modelling That said, I find modelling is very useful for those times when I need to still my mind and focus on a set of quite specific (and generally inconsequential compared to real-world) problems, but since I can generally do both over the course of a weekend that's no problem. Also the social aspect is just as important for the dog, aside from people we might meet while out walking, he generally just spends time with me and I imagine I'm a little boring to him after 13 years As it happened I managed to apply the greenish RLM76 before I left for lunch; I ended up using 2:1 Sky to RLM76 for the mix but I have no idea as to the accuracy of that, it just looked about right to me. Which is not the endorsement it may seem to be, since I don't know what the original colour looked like I mixed it up (far too much of it actually) in a paint jar, so I have a pre-mixed strategic reserve should any retouching be necessary: Once again, it doesn't really show in this picture, but you can see it a bit better in the last picture of this post. I did the fuselage sides and undersides at the same time: Yeah I know, overspray everywhere all at once But I have to do the RLM81 for the top surfaces anyway so this sloppiness should be disguised later. Finally I unwrapped the wing undersides: You can see the greenish RLM76 against the normal blue type more clearly here. My masking-fu was clearly on top form for this*, as I had no creep, overspray or lifting when removing the tape. It did leave traces of a sticky residue on the bare metal parts which I've not experienced with Tamiya tape before and I suspect has to do with the paint itself, perhaps I didn't leave it quite long enough to 'gas off' but in any event it's not widespread or hugely sticky and I think a gentle wash with some Fairy Liquid should get rid of it. My plan is to build up the wings, then attach them to the main body of the fuselage, if the fit of these two assemblies is as good as every other part of the kit so far, this should be viable Hopefully I'll get some more done today. Cheers, Stew * I hope you'll forgive me blowing my own trumpet there, but I was delighted with the outcome as it was not, to be honest, the result I expected; I was thinking I was going to need to tidy up a lot of colour transitions and retouch etc. so finding out I don't have to do that is a real result

That turned out lovely mate, nice job Cheers, Stew

That's good progress mate, you're getting there 👍 Cheers, Stew

I had a reasonably productive evening; the canopy was fitted: As you can see from the 1cm squares on the cutting mat, the Dora is a lengthy beast. Most of the engine parts aren't fixed, just clicked into place ready for painting the fuselage underside and sides. As predicted, there was RLM76, on the wing undersides: Those flaps? Smooth, with a capital 'smoo'. Either the apparent sink-marks weren't as bad as appeared with the overspray from the Aluminium paint, or my filling-and-sanding-fu was on top form and well done me I did mask the RLM81 sections, because if you do that you won't overspray your intended area, but if you don't, you will. Some of the smaller parts got RLM76'd too; the tailplane undersides, the bomb/drop tank rack fairing and the drop tank itself: I wasn't entirely certain about the presence of a drop tank in March 1945 given the known scarcity of fuel affecting the Luftwaffe at this stage, plus the front lines getting uncomfortably close making long flights perhaps less common than had been the case before... but the kit part is very nicely done and the original drop tank designers clearly had future modellers in mind as they obligingly put a horizontal lateral raised seam virtually all the way around, enabling Hasegawa to split the two halves along this seam and meaning I had no real clean up to do on it, so it felt like it would be churlish not to take advantage of that luck I was thinking of using a mix for the 'greenish' RLM76 on the fuselage, as a): I already know my finished model will not be historically accurate in at least one measure so I might as well enjoy myself; b): it's unlikely that anyone will be bothered enough, or be able, to prove me wrong anyway, and c): it will be a more interesting paint scheme for me to do. I was thinking a 50/50 mix of RLM76 and RAF Sky should be adequate, but I'll see what it looks like when I'm mixing it and might vary the proportions as I find pleasing to the eye. This may not happen today, as the day's entertainments include a curry lunch with a mate from the Highlands, followed by a swift trip back to mine to pick up the dog then an expedition along the route coincidentally following the locations of some of Dundee's many dog-friendly pubs. It's a grand life if you don't weaken Cheers, Stew

That's some lovely subtle weathering there Ray Even your greasy fingerprint on the starboard side I'd thought was leakage from the fuel filler point It's going to be a beauty when it's done Cheers, Stew

Nice work Volker, turned out a beauty Cheers, Stew

Haha thanks for the clarification guys, I feel I learned something today. Not sure exactly what though @81-er James, thanks. I don't anticipate going back to Southend in the foreseeable future - the dog is quite old now, in his prime he thought nothing of spending 9-10 hours on the train without needing a pee. Now, I don't think he could do it to be honest. Still, if I ever am heading back to that neck of the woods, I'll definitely be up for a pint I assembled the honking great air intake on the starboard side and fitted it: Hasegawa moulded the impeller on the fuselage half and under the right conditions you can - just - see it: You can also - under the right conditions - see my slightly shoddy clean-up work on the intake lip, and the sponge stuff I poked into the exhaust openings to stop that getting filled with RLM76 when I spray the fuselage And that time draws ever nearer, but first I painted the outside of the canopy and windshield with RLM81 Braunviolet: So I can fit that and it will serve the additional purpose of saving me having to mask the cockpit opening whilst painting. I also did the gun-cover and the central wheelbay parts: Hmm yes my camera doesn't pick up the subtleties of Braunviolet very well. Finally I did the forward section of the wing undersides: I know this may seem like a backasswards way of doing things, painting it prior to assembly, but I've checked the fit and it's very good; any clean-up will be limited to the leading edges and should be easy to touch up without disturbing anything and this seemed to me the easiest way to paint the multi-coloured wing underside. So RLM76 looms on the horizon, I hope to make some progress today Cheers, Stew

At last Bob, you got to use that title Hope you have a good build Cheers, Stew

Very smooth Bob, tell you what, don't get any fingerprints on that, it doesn't need them, it looks great as it is Cheers, Stew

Got nice coverage on the yellow bits Bob Love that eagle artwork too Cheers, Stew

Haha yes mate, was in Southend about 16 years, lived in Shoebury, Southend itself, Westcliff and Prittlewell in that time. I've still got friends there, but I haven't physically been back for about seven years now, it's a bit of a trek from Dundee @Retired Bob you must have liked Yorkshire to stop there though? As long as you like where you are, that's the main thing I didn't get much done yesterday, my working day seemingly having been organised, arranged and supervised by those dark forces that hate modelling and seek to impede me at every turn in my efforts in that direction. On the plus side, I did get the headrest painted and the little transfer applied: Yes, sorry about the fuzzy. The camera was convinced I wanted a picture of a clothes peg in sharp detailed focus. I've no idea what the transfer on the headrest says, it is almost readable in real life and is clearly a warning of some sort,, presumably a pre-take of reminder to do (or not to do) something, as once you are in the seat the warning is directly behind your head and not therefore ideal as an in-flight reminder And I got the headrest framework installed in the canopy hood. I know I don't need to remind you that if you are masking inside and out, remove the interior masking before you do this For the curious, or the observant, the unpainted disc on the windscreen is where a toothpick was held with a blob of Blu-Tack for ease of painting the framing Cheers, Stew

Coming along nicely and looking very tidy James Cheers, Stew