Grover 27

Well I think your rather close! But look at ground level, not sky. For a small country hiding plane’s at ground level was top prior to survive and camouflage must be suitable for it . The military strategy, in case of war broke out was to move planes away from regular airports and hide on numerous secret airstrips and country places. (Also saving some money by skipping the grey paint for the bottom should have contributed to this decision, I guess). The aviation company (het Luchtvaartbedrijf, LVB) performed services for the armed aviation forces “the Aviation department” (de Luchtvaartafdeling, LVA). It also tested and gave instructions for the paint scheme to be used on military planes. The brown, green and beige camo was, by 1338 the common standard for all fighters and bombers. The aviation company instructed Fokker to paint the G.1 Mercury’s equal to Fokker T.V with brown, beige and green paint from Sikkens. (Sadly the Sikkens paint and colour information is lost during WW2). The G.1 aircraft were entirely sprayed in brown and then over it applied with a green and beige pattern. The beige and green colours were swopped halfway through production series as, again instructed by the aviation company. Here in the Netherlands there is still much debate about the LVA camouflage. However this concerns more the colors instead questioning the illogical brow on the underside. The brown and green is now fairly well known thanks to preserved wreckage. However the sand or beige paint was not presented on it. Only in recent years the conclusion became that the sand colour must have been (more) beige tinted. So, if you planning to build an accurate G.1 model use recent reference. As older kits, manuals or paintings are often presented with the wrong sand tint. The Douglas DB8A’s ordered in America were painted with (preserved) FS numbers. We may assume that those FS numbers approached the standard LVA colours and were close by (not equal) the original Sikkens paint. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235016419-douglas-db-8a3n-attack-bomber-mpm-172/&tab=comments#comment-2627014

Ah.. still alive and well. Apologies for the mixed threads. We are still talking about the construction of a Noratlas here. Most busy with building new house and all things around it. Have patience please ..

Thanks for the comments. A quick reaction on reteip9: Yes. Locally organized (and no match compared to the big Scale Model Challenge event) ca. 30 modellers, small sales and little children making models for free. But (and I bed you will be surprised) it was held in Hurdegaryp. http://www.dehuisaanhuis.nl/nieuws/64781/modelbouwers-tonen-werken-in-it-maskelyn/ http://www.plakkers-inc.nl/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3040&start=80 I never suspected I would build a model with snow. The idea and setup was born during the actual build. But you should definitely give it a try. It's totally different then mud or sand diorama's. Kind regards

Mengs 1/35 scale King tiger or Bengal tiger as the correct translation from German word Königstiger. And that animal name was the reason to start this. As “Beast of Nature” was the subject for a scale modelling show in Friesland and also for the upcoming IPMS euro scale modelling on 25 November. However my last tank build experience was over 25 years back. Thought it would be an relative easy build. I was totally wrong! By that I meant the painting and weathering job. Not the superb plastic fit. Only one intervention was needed to align the suspension (those axis were the wheels are mounted on). From late 1944 the Tigers camouflage scheme were (factory dilivered) hard edged patterns. At SennelÄger (Germany) Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 509 (sPzAbt 509) received their new Tigers ausf. B in the last months of 44 till January 45. It was then hastily send to Hungary where they were partly white painted for the operations in winter conditions. From 18 January to 9 May 1945, sPzAbt 509 was continuously involved in offensive fighting in Hungary and (until the surrender to Americans) in Austria. So instead of using simple hand airbrush spay technics a lot of effort was done to simulate the hard edge pattern. To give the model more colour appealing I did not paint the tooling on the hull sides white. But I suspect that in real those tools were also white. The tracks are from Dragons mini tracks series and the tank crew figures from MiniArt. The display is made from wood, filler and bakers flour. Some steps from the construction process followed with final outdoor photographs . Thank you for watching.

Nice Build. Good paintjob!

Adrian, thanks for attending that to me. Otherwise I should have missed that detail completely. So many thanks. I found this example on the web. Clearly visible just before the number "1", the light switched on. Wez, I am not aware of French aftermarket transfers. But I do not use the Heller decals from this kit. If you want the Heller deals just sent me a pb. Apologise for the slow build progress here. As other stuff took time from this built away. But intended to try to finish the Nora before the start of the F-15 group build here: http://wstill ww.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234993661-f-15-eagle-stgb/& The clear plastic parts are now glued on the fuselage. I managed to pollute the rear windows inside with glue... (stupid me). And I started with the boring but necessary work. Masking the round windows with tape. Also necessary, to mask the clear parts - fuselage aligning faults. I use water based filler and so residue can easily be removed. Even if it is dried. I started with the front. It looks messy at this stage. Yes very messy... and only halfway the filling stage yet... a lot to do more... And doubts, seeing this picture about the little square windows in front.... As Adrian mentioned I try to create the little lights in the fuselage with Micro kristal Klear. And with that also replace, those small rectangular plastic for window forming liquid. Regards Rudie.

Tony, Both are nice planes. But compared to Noratlas the CL-215 is some easier to build. Also the CL-215 need some weight in the nose. But I constructed it in flying position.Therefore the landing gear has to made some longer. As it is visible beside the fuselage. Again some CL 215 construction photos what will show what I try to say. Back to the Noratlas. Tonight I made some wiring on the left-main gear. But have some doubts. The copper wire I used is rather thick. I used this picture as reference. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234963557-nord-noratlas-n2501/ Only two copper wires were used? Ore should I remove the copper wiring?

Aha! Yes Adrian that is a special one. And indeed a clever way to store some weight. In 2013 I have build a Heller CL215 and converted it into a Italian version, (Just before Italeri made their version). For the radome I used a plastic pencil. The photos will show it better (I used a red pencil in the end): But first finish your Stratojet. Regards.

Thanks gentlemen for all your likes and your motivating replies. I agree with that it’s a very tough looking plane. This Heller kit needs some extra attention to build. Well perhaps the Revell or Airfix manufacturers see this and decide to develop a future model. This plane deserves it. Totally agree Adrian I will be interested in your future build of this nice plane. "Please don’t ‘forget to put extra weight in the nose, (more than the instruction says). Furthermore, it seems necessary (to me) to strengthen the main wing. Maybe even more than I have done." And yes, you have a nice work space indeed. So.. time to share the latest weekend progress. A lot of sanding and filling. But sorry I have no photos from that intensive work.... As answered to Adrian special care is taken to prevent a tail sitting model by adding additional 60 gram weight in the nose. Combined with the extra weight of the profile in the wing I thought it was better to strengthen the landing gear and the inner bay also. First by adding a simply sprue construction to compensate for the upwards force. So that this brass replacement will be well supported. I hope I do not disappoint you all but I completed the wheel bays with some phantasy. The same is done to hide the aluminium profile in the wing. This time by adding a styrene base and copper wires. Again it's some phantasy and not correct compared with a real plane. An overview of the landing gear reinforcement work. A brass support with a pin hole connection. And a Messing o,8 mm axis for the future wheels, (More on that later). Alignment of the opposite side with help from very advanced equipment. Except that the plastic is relatively soft, it was also somewhat bent. This front view shows that the left wing tip hangs down and to the right is pointing upwards During the gluing of the two wing halves I failed to noticed that. Also the stair profile Is not filled complete in the wingtips. Have needed some thinking time to this. But ultimately this bother me too much. I needed some medieval torture equipment or so...... And in no time the victim was already strapped! Engine and wing disconnected and filled with styrene. The intended effect, it is somewhat lifting upwards the wing. The (left side on the photo) tip is also disconnected and re-glued under pressure. With a reasonable result. So, the right wing undergoes the same torture treatment. Not perfect, but a satisfactory compromise. I hope to you viewers also. These are the wheels of the old model. The idea is to slide the brass tubes in the wheels and then over the brass pin at the landing gear. Idea seems to work at first sight. A little bit off on the right side. But I leave it as it is. Curious about the work result for the overall impression. With loosely wheels, cockpit loose and the old engine (wrong placed, as the orange is on the inside but this way it remained without falling) and propeller. The next phase is to fit the windows, a overall cleaning job and the application of the specific details. As the mysterious black bumps on the roof. As well as the two pitot tubes on the roof. The antenna etc.. These details are not included in the kit. Thanks for looking.

Thx gents. A small construction update. The reconstruction of the headlight behind the glass in the nose and the strengthening of the main wing. I used a screw. The head is drilled and then a little rose painted. Then it is covered with a clear lens (from the sparebox). The pictures do not show it super clear. But I hope that after the painting of the nose section the headlamp is noticeable better. I also mounted an aluminium profile from the hardware store on the roof. Because of the large wing span and on top of that, the weight of the tails. The impact is huge. I am happy with that.

Thanks for the encouragement guys! Some people find kits with raised panel lines by definition not worth to buy. In itself, I'm not that one. In fact if you compare the overlying panel lines of the kit with photos of a real device then Heller has done it very nicely. Try comparing this: and this: With the plastic: It’s not even wrong in my opinion. However, the disadvantage of those small rivets and raised panellines is the vulnerability to filling and sanding. Restoring raised panel lines is very difficult. That's why I want to avoid that as much as possible. And like the photos of the real machine a smooth surface is also not my intention. Hopefully this tactic works for me. So not really a big update yet but an important one as a proper construction minimizes sanding an filling. The wing root on the body with adequate strength to prevent seams. In spite of the clamp (and my good intention to prevent) there is a seam along the length of the fuselage. So work to do. First protective tape for the rivet and the raised lines before filler was applied. This is the result after a putty and sanding. As said compared to the real plane not quite 100% tight and smooth. But still having the details in place. The two cargo doors are a different story. The bulging of the doors at the top and bottom are not equal with the fuselage. The pencil line shows where what needs to be sanded down from the surface of the door. At the lower side of the fuselage the bulging is increased with putty to get equal with the doors. Again, the panel lines are protected with tape. Glued additional are plastic strips In the doors to improve the positioning to each other and the fuselage. Because of weight savings in the tail, I I have deliberately not placed the floor (part 34). And this is the result. There's quite a stress on so I leave that to cure for a day. Deliberately not quite seamless nevertheless the cargo doors are aligned and pretty reasonable with the fuselage. The reinforced landing gear of the previous kit can be re-used. It had already an additional reinforcement. On top of that I made an extra brass tube as a hinge due to the high weight.

My first “work in progress” here is the Heller 1/72 Nord 2501 “Noratlas”. The Noratlas is a French military cargo plane from the 50s, including the German and Israeli air forces had placed orders. The later version Nord-2501 Noratlas looks similar to the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar. The Noratlas wil be build in the colors of the Luftwaffe. What attracted me were the versions with a white roof. A mix of the standard green-gray camo, orange and white panels, resulting in a striking color palette. Something like this example from FSX Flight Simulator: On youtube there is a corny instructional video "Sicherheit im Lufttransport Noratlas". You can study the Nora from all sides despite the black and white images. A device with registration GA + 253 or 252 is in my opinion possible with the decals. The Luftwaffe decals I have purchased from “HaHen Aircraft Accessoires”. http://www.hahen.de/ Within two days they were already here. Properly packaged in a sturdy cardboard envelope. It is Immediately a bit of an unusual story because it is my 2nd attempt to build this nice beast. In the end phase of the previous one the paint job protested by many difficulties and side effects.So I decided to start all over again. Some components of the first attempt can be reused. An example is the engine with the propellers. So the second attempt begins with washing the sprues. The cargo plane has a lot of length behind the main landing gear. From experience I know that a lot of weight should be mounted in the nose section. The 20gram as shown in the construction manual seems too little to me. But there is also little room for the placement of weight in the nose. In my sprue spare box I found a box that fits exactly between the two partitions. Which is filled with lead and closed with styrene. The last time I had filled the wheel bays with tin cubes. These blocks are now clamped next to the wheelbay. In case of emergency I can always later fill the wheelbay. In front there is a 2nd box filled with lead. And the total looks like this. 60 gram weight in the nose section. Three times as much as the instruction recommend. The doors are precisely aligned with the outer side and fixed with additional styrene. The access stairway door is filled with styrene to eliminate a seam. And under a colour coat it looks already quite different. Thanks for watching.

Very nice built! Clean paint job. Did you really use wooden propellers?

Thank you all for your nice comments. It is motivating. Hopefully you will forgive my grammar mistakes. Then I also dare to post my new built in "Work in Progress - Aircraft" topic. As I just (re-)started working on a 1/72 Heller Nord Noratlas in German Luftwaffe colors.