shortCummins

The front opening was masked… …as was the cockpit assembly as these panels are on the exterior of the suit… …MrSurfacer 1000 mahogany primer 50/50 MrLevelling thinner was then sprayed onto all of the exterior pieces… …legs… …feet… …arms… …front hatch… …panels… …I also gave the fuel tank?, a coat of primer. I’m quite happy with how the roughcast texture looks under primer, here’s a couple of close-ups… …”next time” I’ll be more mindful of how diluted the putty becomes, the more diluted the smoother it goes on and that, sort of, defeats the object of the exercise? Next I’ll be starting on the camo’ until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

At this stage I could start painting the exterior however having watched Nigh Shift and Lincoln Wright’s videos I want to have a go at making rough cast texture as I think it will make the armour look “heavier” than without? I’ve not tried anything like this before, not a lot of roughcast texture on aircraft, so this should be interesting. Lincoln Write has a slightly different method to Night Shift insofar as he firstly applies Tamiya putty directly from the tube with his finger, then he applies Tamiya putty diluted with extra thin via a brush. Night Shift applies diluted Tamiya putty with a brush and then “polishes” the dried putty, no finger use. As this is my first time I’m going to opt for Night Shift’s version, it appears to me to be more controllable? Before starting on the roughcast I added the base(s) for the smoke dispensers, I've drilled some holes in the bottom of these to accept some lead-wire later in the build. Tamiya putty diluted with extra thin was stippled onto the exterior and then lightly rubbed over with a 2400 grit sanding sponge… …the “feet” had been previously sprayed with the hull red/yellow green mix… …the arms… …legs… …various panels, the rear of these panels were also painted with the hull red/yellow green mix. I'm very happy with these results, the one thing I'd like to point out is that the putty/TET mix is very smelly, after 3 or 4 minutes I opened a window and put on my respirator, next time I'll wear my respirator from the start! Next I’ll be applying the primer until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

that's a good idea, too late for this build however if/when I build another Mk44, there are a couple of different options, added/omitted (as I have done) panels, only one set or no of smoke dispensers etc. I'll remember to keep the engine for spares. Or maybe add to the engine compartment and have the engine panel removed for maintenance? there's quite a few options and as I'm really enjoying this I'm sure I'll be revisiting this kit again, possibly after I've built a couple of other MaK subjects, the Camel, Falke and Gustav (I'm taken with robw_uk's build) rgds John(shortCummins)

looking good, I like the raised lettering on the rear of the suit, that's a nice touch by whoever designed the kit rgds John(shortCummins)

The “inside” of the compartment was painted with a mix of 10 parts XF9 hull red and 1 part XF4 yellow green… …the engine and exhaust fitted to the back of the cockpit… …and the rear cover “press fitted”… …as I suspected not a lot (nothing) of the engine can be seen, the exhaust can/will be covered by a separate plate that clicks in place. The same colour mix was used to paint the rear of the armour plates that may be visible after assembly? This is roughly the pose I want for the cockpit. (once its on its legs) Next I’ll be starting on the “exterior” of the Mk44 until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks Yg I really like the effect you've achieved and your explaining of the technique is most welcome 👍 I had planned on added weathering to the engine however I've now added the back panel/engine cover and nothing is visible of the engine (see next post) so I'll leave it as it is. rgds John(shortCummins)

I’m not sure what, if any, of the “engine compartment” will be seen, I’m assuming that some of it will be visible so it’ll get painted as if it is “fully” on show. Both the power plant(?) and exhaust(?) were given a coat of LP-11 having previously been painted with MrSurfacer 1500 black primer… …I brush painted the inner ridges and top of the power plant with MrMetal color 219 brass… I think this is quite a nice "Steam Punk” look? …for the exhaust I wanted to practice a rusty look, I purchased a “rust set” from AL, 3 gen acrylics AK11605, and started by applying AK11107 dark rust with a sponge… …followed by AK11103 medium rust… …and finally AK11105 light rust… …the “ends” had some 502 Abteilung ABT005 smoke applied… …this is what they look like assembled. Next I’ll be finishing the “engine compartment” until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

a quick shout out to Martin at air-craft.net... I dropped my airbrush and managed to break the trigger... unfortunately spare triggers for Harder & Steenbeck Infinity, no idea why I guess H&S haven't produced any for "older" models now that they'll released their 2024 range? anyhow I emailed Martin to ask when he would estimate getting a re-supply and he told me approx 6-8 weeks however he told me that the Evolution 2024 trigger would fit. so I placed an order and it arrived the next day! fantastic customer service, if you need any airbrush supplies please have a look at air-craft.net rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks for the link Yg 👍 adding arms from the standing figure to the "seated" pilot would be an interesting solution and one that I'm very tempted by. the pose of the Mk44 I'd envisaged would be something like Lincoln Wright ended up with for his Axeknight @Pete in Lincs I note from Lincoln's model that he positioned the gun resting on the ground, I'm guessing that having both the cockpit and front panel open would cause the model to tip forward? my "other" option was to close the cockpit and open the front panel, as George Collazo has on his Mk44 I'll have to see how brave I feel when I decide on surgery for the standing pilot or not? it is very tempting rgds John(shortCummins)

this kit offers two options for the pilot, either in the cockpit or standing by the side it looks as if you can place the pilot in the cockpit after the suit is complete? if you don't have him in place the "floor" of the seat is solid, I've painted it black as I'm not sure if I want him included, my figure painting needs a lot of work, I plan to build and paint both figures and decide which, if any, to use rgds John(shortCummins)

After the cockpit had been sprayed with a coat of Alclad II Klear Kote gloss, I used some Tamiya panel liner dark brown, black and grey, and then the excess was wiped off with a cotton bud… …and then given a coat of Alclad Klear Kote flat followed by various MrWeathering colours, multi-black, multi-grey and greyish brown… …”front” of cockpit, I intend to pose the finished model with the cockpit “front” open so this area will be visible?… …cockpit “front” press fitted, just to see what it looks like… …seat added. Recently I’ve been using these MrWeathering products “in place” of panel liners as, in my opinion, they can provide a far more subtile effect however, I’m not sure how much will be visible when the cockpit is enclosed so I think the “starker” contrast offered by the panel liners will show up more? Next I’ll be turning my attention to the “engine compartment” until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks Carl I can highly recommend Mak, this is my first build but won't be my last! if you have as much enjoyment from your Lunadiver as I'm having with this Ammoknight you'll be hooked! rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks chaps this is the first time I've tried layering, I think with (a lot) of practice it will be a very useful skill to acquire, I've a long way to go but having said that I'm really happy with this result rgds John(shortCummins)

The frame was painted with Tamiya XF76 gray green(IJN) and then the seat back and headrest were hand painted, in thin layers, with vallejo 70.871 leather brown… …the front cushion was also painted in the same fashion… …in order to suggest some wear, the top of the cushion and headrest was “sponge chipped” and scratches were made with vallejo 72.763 dessert yellow… …a couple of 502 Abteilung oils were used as filters to change the tone of the leather, ABT006 burnt umber… …ABT005 smoke was mixed with the burnt umber and blended along the creases and the bottom of the cushion and headrest… I’ve left the base of the seat area black, I may opt to have the pilot figure posed here, otherwise the black represents the hole where the pilots legs would go. Next I’ll be I’ll be weathering the cockpit until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks for the link, really interesting and inspiring 👍 thanks James I'm really enjoying the larger scale as well as the subject i can see many more of this type of build in my future, I'll just have to build more from my stasch as i'm desperatly trying to adhere to not buying any more kits until i've built existing ones, for example i have (at least) 7 Spitfires to build, so I'll build a couple of aircraft and then have a look to see what's available. rgds John(shortCummins)