Greif

I've watched your video and I'm very impressed by the Arado, excellent build, congratulations Martin! I've noticed that you use Matt varnish for the general finish of the aircraft... Many modelers prefer to use the satin one. I used to think that the Matt varnish tend to flatten to much the structure, but I must admit that I've changed my mind seeing your Arado. I have also noticed your airbrushing technic with deeming the color a bit to already highlight panels; tricky with nice result. The Mistel will wait quietly inside her box with her Fw190 because she's only number 3 on the assembly line! I'm proceeding my Me109 1/32, but pushing forward there's a CMC 1/48 Heinkel 177.... Have a nice build! Cheers Erik

Thank you Jessica for the reminder, but I think my friend will already be happy with his OOTB Connie.... I've always been surprised about all these kit "mistakes", but it's true that this kit is quite old. Instead of a Warning Star, I prefer to concentrate on my Heinkel 177....RLM power! Cheers Erik

In fact Ray, the Connie has a beautifull line, and I think that the triple fin lay out adds something also.. a kind of strange and technical beauty. I prefere the EC 121 Warning Star, especially the scheme with red nose and tail... I think that it's due to my military tastes... However I can't wait to see her finished ! My friend has already identified his next "victim" (the modeling virus is really alive) : a DC-3... lovely choice...espacially with the invasion marks ...ok ok I stop with this military versions! Cheers Erik

Lovely Concorde ! I have the same kit in progress..actually this kit is nearly in the "I give up with it" phase due to issues with fitings and gaps; it will be a nightmare of putty and sanding to bring her on the right path. Maybe one day I will re-open the box and finish her. Congratulations for the build! Cheers

Very nice! What a beast in 1/32! The kit seems to be nicely detailed... I have always a doubt when it's time to buy a Revell kit... I remember a Concorde in 1/144 which was a nightmare! I've a Ju88 mistel 2 to build... I will follow this big 88 to so how she's coming! Enjoy your building! Cheers

Thank you Ray! Well, my friend 's idea was initially a TWA scheme. But when he saw the box art he decided to do the Qantas version. Unfortunately, the decals have turn to yellowish, which is a big issue especially because the overall paint is white and natural aluminum. So I've searched on internet and found another aftermarket versions like Lufthansa (my favorite one!!! ), Air France, Pan Am and I think also TWA and also minor companies. Now the choice is up to him... At the last news, he was divided between Lufthansa and Pan Am. I've suggested a nice RLM Camo scheme but he disagreed.... Strange!!!! Cheers! Erik

Here we are! The 109 proceeded this week end : The paint job in the cockpit has started ! I 've been surprised by my RLM 02 which is expected to be a greenish grey.. but mine is defenitely green. I don't know if it's normal or a mistake from Life Color. I've also seen on internet many cockpits of restaured Me109 then look more like RLM 75... so I went for this color... but I'm not sure to be 100% history accurate. I've done some test with the canopy on to check the correct positin of the instrument panel. And I couldn't resist to put the Db inside! And the fact is that it seems that the engine fits not ! The supercharger is interfering with the MG ammo boxes... I need to check this more accuraletely with the spinner and the mounts on! Cheers !

Thanks a lot for all the posts ! I'm happy to see that Connie is still inside people's heart. Well nothing new : 2 days of drying to be sure the fuselage will not re-opened when I remove the mummy bands; I 've re-gue the nose area forward of the canopy...now it's ok. I've realized that the nose cone of the Connie fits perfectly with my Dornier 335 luft 46 project... When I've explained the signification of the word "cannibalization" to my friend, he strangely tells me no ! Here's a picture with half wings and stabs on (not glued) to make you wait until wednesday... Cheers.

Absolutelly true, the inner fuselage have the "Heller" brand scribing.

Very nice result ! I'm actually dealing with a Matchbox E4 at the same scale, without big issues for a so old lady. Cheers

Good job ! I like the scheme, very colorfull!

Waow!!!! I love it, amazing job. How big is she in 1/48 ?

Very nice build, congratulations. The painting method is very interesting, I will try it on my He177. The 555 is a kit I would like to do in the future, it leaves a lot of space to imagination and fantasy. I am a big fan of NIgel 's 555; I ll' look forward to see yours finished. cheers

Well, at least I'm a little late about this WIP....here' s the story: A good friend of mine, during a dinner in the end of 2015, confessed me that he used to do models when he was kid and that he would like to start again with modeling. He is more civilian aviation oriented than me; I 'm defenitely military oriented. And then, the revelation: his dream has always been a Super Constellation model. He's never actuated anything due to, as he says, "my crap capacities in modeling".... Everything was here, and my little (very little) brain was already overrunning! I managed to find an Airfix 1/72 kit on internet. Strangely, it seems that this kit is very appreciated by modelers, and it was not so easy to get one. I gave the model as a present and we've started last year. We go very cool on the building( one evening per week, for nearly two hours); I give him a hand for tricks and hard steps... But I'm happy to sea that we are enjoying very nice moments. He's already thinking about the next aircraft...meaning that the modeling virus is alive! OK, let's start with the kit : typical Airfix vintage boxing, with typical simple instruction sheets, a very large decal sheet (infortunately they turn yellowish), and the sprues : white and metalic grey plus the clear one. Many parts were already detached from the sprues, but with no damage. Construction is simple, and we start over the fuselage at first (not folowing the instruction though) with windows masking and cockpit/front wheel well assembly. In the meantime, two engine nacelles and the stabilizers were assembled. Yesterday night we were ready to close the fuselage.... I don't know what happened during the kit molding but the two halfs were twisted and the fins were not in contact with the fuselage closed. We preceeded by steps and with patience, glue and kilometers of tape we manage to assemble the fuselage! Here are some pics, enjoy !!

Very nice job! Ilike also the painting scheme you've chosen. I didn't know about this "royal" kits from Eduard. I look up for wip. Cheers

Well Jean, deviant art can be considered: "An empire of mostly average art, though there are quite a few that are good. Sadly, this empire is overruled by fanart rather than creative, original art. Anything else other than fanart hardly ever gets noticed." Nothing to see with deviant internet site cheers Erik

Hi Britmodelland ! Few updates about the Me109... I finally managed to finish the cockpit; now it's ready for primer and paint. I could have done more, but I'm happy with it this way. I had an issue with replacing the wing MG FF barrels...and in the end I had to re-open the wings to do correctly the job ; next time I will plan my upgrades better! I like the result. Cheers Erik

Very nice job! I love the unusual scheme...it could be an idea for a futur kit to do. Cheers

Hi everybody, I didn't manage to do much this we... my wife has an incredible power in filling every single minute with stuff and so interesting activities... Well I managed to work on the 109 few hours yesterday, still dealing with the cockpit and how to fit PE normally intended for the Hasegawa kit. Things are not going that bad. The right side is nearly ready for primering; I still need to had a few wires and that's it. I've replaced the yaw pedals with PE and the result is nice. Now I should concentrate on the left cockpit side and there are more things to do. I must create the gas and thottle control handle housing because it's complitely missing with the Matchbox design...not a big issue, but I don't know the dimensions of this component, I will improvise basing on pictures (thx Googles!). The next step will be the flap control with its three chains and the control wheel...this is going to be a little bit more complicated to make everything fit in the correct points. I've also corrected a problem with the instrument panel; now it's look good. in general, I feel I need to close the two half fuselage. I got to a point where I need to see a result...if it last more I will get bored and start something else, so the target for the week is to finish the cockpit primed or ready for. Of course, comments are more than welcomed. Me109 rh cockpit Me109 instrument panel corrected A good week to everybody! Cheers Erik

I love it!!!!!!! Very nice paint. Congrats!!! Erik

Here we are ! Db603 Senza titolo Senza titolo Original instrument panel Senza titolo with the Eduard upgrade... stil to work on! Senza titolo Propeller...need touch ups... The new decal sheet with the markings : Yellow 5. Propeller was not so easy to assemble : it's made out of to half hub one in black plastic, the other one in dark brown plastic and the blade in beige plastic... three different sprues. I don't know why, but the black plastic is reacting badly to the glue (tamiya classic), resulting in very long time for drying. I've already observe this on the other black parts of the kit. Anyway, I did it the same!. More to come. Have a nice day.

Hi everybody! More than one month without posting....and things went forward for the 109. The Db603 is now painted. It still needs few touch ups, but it' s on its way. Wings, elevators, rudder and propeller are now assembled, waiting for the fuselage to be closed. In the end, I've decided to upgrade the cockpit details which were really poor...but remembering the kit is from the 70', I don't complain. So I'm upgrading the cockpit with an Eduard kit (normally for the Hasegawa 109) which is not adapting that bad. Thanks to this, there is a real instrument panel plus some parts forgotten by Matchbox such as the armored plate in the canopy. Getting the PE for the cockpit, I couldn't resist to the temptation of replacing the gun barrels... So I got a mastermodel set with the Mg17 tips and the Mg FF barrels....only issue is that I havn't planed this replacement, and the wings are already assembled! It's gonna be fun to fit them.... Another issue is with the original decals: due to their age, they have turned to yellowish. They still stick perfectly, but their color is definitely bad....so I got a replacement kit as well. I'm realizing that I've made very few pictures of the WIP. I'll post all that I have tomorrow. Good night!

Being far from home for business for two weeks, and so, far from my models, I've discovered this masterpiece!!!!!! Just one word: fantastic! I wish I could get this kind of result. Now actually, the He 177 is the next to come on my workbench; still the MPM in 1/48, but the basic model with very view resin adds-on (4 to be precise) and its famous no-location-pins-on fuselage and wings... I'm happy also because I was uncertain about the application of the big ED kit....you know, the question that says: does it really worth all the time and patience....will it be visible? I think the answer is yes, meaning this Greif will be a yearly project for 2016... Cheers

Well, Jim, I don't really think this colour scheme has ever been painted on a 109... I found it by chance, searching on Google for an inusual camo scheme for my 1/48 Dornier 335 A-12, that I've planned to do as a "Luft 46" or a "what if" project. In the middle of the answers given by Google, there was this strange pattern... actualy it was on a deviant art forum. I really like the mix of elegance, origanility and colours... so I think I will do a sort of Adolf Gallant deviant Me109... I know that some purist won't appreciate, but I will do this way. I'm just afraid about the aluminium rendering due to the very basic and deep panel lines on the fuselage...I sould not exagerate with weathering. Cheers Erik

HI everybody, finally I'v finished the engine upgrades, removed more molded fake cables and replaced them... timing shafts, magnetos connections, ignition cables, oil lines, oil scavenging and pressure lines, etc... the result is better than the basic engine. Still have an issue with the supercharger that refuse to go in the correct position... I finally must wait to try the complete engine mount inside the nose before gluing the lower carger pipes and the oil cooler to be sure everything match with the fuselage! Next step, paintjob! Anyone has a spare instrument panel decal please ???? Enjoy! cheers!