GrahamB

Finally finished this one after lots of hassles with paint lifting after masking, and with the "dry transfer" (CraftComputerPaper) decals for the unit emblem - never again. Painted with Vallejo 897 Bronze Green (with touch of 021 Black Green) for the RLM70, Mr Hobby H73 RAF Dark Green (plus touch of H31 White Green) for the RLM 71, and Aeromaster French Light Blue Gray (with some over spray of Mr Hobby H67 RLM65) for the RLM65. All very good matches for the chips in Merrick etc. Fantasy Printshop Luftwaffe codes for 1R+YH. A decent kit although the undercarriage is a difficult part - I strengthened some elements with bits of wire into drilled holes. The last photo shows the colours too bright and contrasting - the actual model shows the 'correct' low contrast between the RLM70 and RLM71. Cheers, GrahamB

Good job on a tricky subject and old kit. The Ju52 is a kitmaker's (and modeler's) nightmare because of the sheer complexity of the aircraft and its various guises. For example, it is no good a Ju52 being released with alternative rear windows (round or later polygonal) because they are almost impossible to clean up and blend with the corrugations. Just for military versions from the g3e to g14e there needs to be two different port-side fuselage halves (four if you count others with front doors on float-planes and float/wheel convertibles), at least four starboard fuselage halves (and at least two more for front fuselage cabin door), two fuselage tops (with, without turret), two wing types (basic and those with sheathed leading edges receiving hot air from exhausts), three cowling types with associated exhaust fittings, several options for carburettor intakes, air intakes for for hot air production and ventilation, three canopy types (basic, ad-hoc dorsal mg position, and Condor Haube - with and without turret), etc etc. "Definitive" 1/72 kits of Tante Ju have still to appear. The 1/48 Revell/Monogram is excellent but really limits you to the g4e/g6e versions. A really interesting aircraft and deserving of more attention by the quality kit manufacturers. Cheers GrahamB

A lovely build and finish - it does the big ugly bird real justice. My best wishes and condolences from the other side of the world. GrahamB

Great modelling. Still, I'd call that livery "cultural appropriation" along with everything else that NZ has done with the Tolkien stuff. Cheers, GrahamB

Hi, looking to paint some RLM 65 on a FW Weihe I found a jar of Aeromaster [acrylic] French Light Blue Gray that would do the job nicely (matched against a Merrick-Kiroff chart). I would like to tint this with some white to reduce its intensity but am not sure what acrylic ranges are compatible: I have Vallejo, Tamiya, and Gunze whites to hand. Any ideas gratefully received. Cheers GrahamB

Fantastic! Great colours too. GrahamB

Hi Chaps, thanks for the kind comments. It is one of the most beautiful aircraft I've ever built - although not one of the best kits - enjoyable though. As for the real thing, according to Green, there were nine prototypes (V1-V9) built in 1937-1938, some evaluated as reconnaissance models and others as bombers. The V4 (kit subject) briefly held the World speed record for payload (2,205 lb) and distance (621 mile closed-circuit) of 313.78 mph. It crashed after a second attempt. The V3 was the air-frame converted to seaplane configuration (another Valom release). The kit is very nice although as others have remarked, Valom stuff needs care and attention. The undercarriage/wing attachment needs strengthening, the side exhaust cut outs were too large and I shimmed them smaller with 5-thou card - some fettling needed. Take time in getting the large nose canopy assembled and checking fit to fuselage. Also - beware of the small forward instrument-panel fouling the fit of the canopy - check/fit, check/fit etc. Look up in Google and you will see some good builds of the Planet Models He119 - a French builder did some nice cockpit detailing that I attempted to emulate. As a deviation from Luftwaffe I've got the Valom Fokker TV bomber to build next - another of those wonderful aircraft that I first saw in my Dad's Aircraft Of the Fighting Powers Vol.1 - only Aviation USK has done a kit before I believe. Cheers GrahamB

Greetings from Kiwiland. Back to one of my favourite subjects - esoteric and second-line German aircraft, this time the aesthetically pleasing Heinkel He 119. This is the recent Valom release and it is a very decent kit indeed. I did some extra detailing in the cockpit (can't see very well anyway) and had some fun shimming and trimming to get the wing-fuselage fit right. In another life I might fill and re-scribe some of the panel lines that are a bit crude. Used WEM Royal Navy MS3 (grey-green) for the RLM63 as I thought it a decent 'scale match'. Of course the colour may be wrong and should be a light (Civil) grey. The tail insignia provided by the kit's decals are undernourished and I masked and painted the red/white and added swastikas from the spares box. Pitot replaced by brass tubing. Of course, after posting photos I notice some dust/debris on the model that I could have cleaned off and I've still to tart up the exhausts! Some silvering on upperwing decals. Note that the kit provides these but omits them from the instructions. They are correct - photo of the crashed V4 (eg. page 330 of Green 1970) shows the tight spacing of the letters and the outer arm of the 'U' lining up with the inboard edge of the aileron. Thanks for looking. Cheers, GrahamB

Great stuff. One of those types I first came across in a W. Green book in my school library's storeroom in about 1970. Cheers GrahamB

Noice, very noice. Almost as good as Fowler's in Chicken Run. Cheers, GrahamB

So cute! Very nice modelling skills there. Cheers GrahamB

Excellent. I used to live under the northern flightpath to Waddington from 1971 to1978 - these beasts coming and going all the time. Incredible noise but awesome. Cheers GrahamB

Very good - attractive class and colour scheme. GrahamB

I hope to get the Combrig HMS Glasgow done sometime but I'm now deciding whether to build my HMS Good Hope (originally intended) as either HMS Leviathan (as mentioned above) or even a late-war (1917-18) HMS King Alfred if I can obtain the port and starboard dazzle patterns from the IWM.

Thanks all, again. Will - it is a decent kit and not too small a subject. These armoured cruisers (of any nation) do look very tasty. I tend to build anything destroyer-sized and smaller in 1/350 generally. There are simpler 1/700 Combrig kits. The only weakness with them (but the quality of the mouldings is becoming very very good) are the relatively coarse etched parts, no railings, masts and spars in weak resin, instructions vague (and in Russian) and no colour notes. The outcome is up to the modeler - depends on how much extra detail you can add. I've a few Combrig HMS pre-dreadnoughts to do that have exotic disruptive or dazzle camouflage (HMS Commonwealth in progress now). Cheers GrahamB

Majestic. Negotiating all those wavy hull edges for the railings must have had you tearing your hair out. Cheers GrahamB I've a Trumpeter 1/700 WW1 Warspite to do as Barham - inspired by the excellent and compelling book "The Rules of the Game"" by Andrew Gordon.

Not too shabby, not too shabby. A great result. Pity the real thing was a useless piece of c--p! Cheers, GrahamB

Very nice indeed. What a charismatic and busy-looking aircraft and model. Lovely colour scheme too. Cheers GrahamB

Good luck with this one. I built one about 12 years ago and it scrubs up very nicely - the delicate details and general accuracy helps. Cheers GrahamB

Very, very good job on this. Only one thing - check the angle of your 'turnbuckles' - should be in line with the wires. Tricky to get right but not impossible. Cheers GrahamB

Note that the DIII arrangement matches very well the DVa pattern not the DV.

Hi Beardie, it is a mess because the few (contemporary/near contemporary) plans available are at odds with each other. There are no really good side views (photos) that I've seen yet but from a few one can extrapolate the geometry/intersection of the lower wing with the fuselage reasonably accurately. It is significant that there is a clear gap between the port-side footstep and the trailing edge in photos - matching my model's configuration. If you build from box you will see that the trailing edge lines up with the step (and rear of cockpit) - not right, too far back. The wings are fine in the kit for span and chord. Cheers GrahamB

Hi Beardie, I believe that the DR1 fuselage does not work with the broader 2-sparred lower wing and one can see in photos the trailing edge match up up with mid-cockpit as well as the increased gap between the MG muzzles and the engine cowling. The Datafile is simply wrong. It has nothing to do with engine size. Both the German army plan and French report show the perpendicular wing arrangement (trailing edge) - although the former shows true stagger in the plan view! Albatros Datafile itself gives chord upper 1.60m, lower 1.20m, stagger 0.40 m: therefore trailing edges line up. Got the thing out of the box to show you the basic work needed. I'm inspired to get on and finish it now. Doing one of the Austro-Hungarian airframes with the early arrangement of 'cabane' struts. Setting up the wings will be a challenge. Cheers GrahamB

It would still be a very nice model if you built it more or less out of the box. What the heck! Didn't mean to be a wet blanket with this - just that it annoys me when some kit manufacturers etc don't really check before they commit to production. Cheers GrahamB

Hi Beardie, I've had one of these as a stalled project for a couple of years - the DR1 etched is very useful. Please be aware that most published plans of the Fokker D.VI - including the Datafile - are in error re the fuselage and wing configuration. The wings are actually not "staggered' as shown in plans (apart from a builder's version in the Datafile) and most models, but have the trailing edges of the upper and lower perpendicular to each other. The manufacturer's measurements of the upper and lower wing chords and the forward set of the upper plane match.The fuselage needs lengthening by 5-6 mm too (including the top cowl piece) - this is because the D.VI had two wing spars not one as in DR1. The mgs sit in their normal place, so are set back a little more from the cowling - you can see this in photos. You need to get the lower wing fitted so the trailing edge more or less lines up with the slight 'break' in the cockpit-coaming leather. I'll check on my model and give you some more info - I'm just writing this offhand at the moment. Not a simple out-of-the-box build if you want accuracy - but blame the plans. Cheers GrahamB