shortCummins

thanks Pete I've an idea things will go a little slower now as I'm working on the resin engine, also I'm waiting for MRP paint, none in the country as far as I've been able to find, I may have to resort to mixing my own from Tamiya but I'd far prefer using MRP for the mottling as the paint consistency is spot on and I find its a bit hit and miss when I mix them myself. I knew the engine life was limited but I didn't know they were that limited, it makes sense though with lack of experienced ground crew, available materials and how new and different the technology was thanks James these masks had notches cut out of them to ease the curves but on close inspection they do look as if they've lifted, I'll press them down again when I spray the final colour rgds John(shortCummins)

My thinking is that it would be unlikely for the ground crew to work on both the engine as I’m going to display one of the Jumos, I'm not going to display the machine guns as they wouldn't be "open" at the same time?, for safety surely they’d work on them separately? Anyhow I want to show the “lines” of the aircraft so I’ve closed the machine-gun bays… These “panel lines” may need addressing, I’ll see what they look like under primer. I’d left the fuselage overnight and the bottom seam “popped” so I re-glued it and strengthened the join with some flexi CA. …these panels were also added… The Montex mask set comes with vinyl masks for both inside and outside of the canopy glass, these were used along with some liquid mask (protecting the glueing surfaces), and the “inside” given a coat of RLM66… …the “inner” masks were then removed and the clear pieces fixed to the fuselage… …the bullet proof glass(?) was fixed to the inside of the windscreen… Next I’ll be work on the Aires Jumo engine. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thank you oh no, I'll not have you saying you're not doing a cracking job, fixing the "clear" issue must be very trying, also I think the Tamiya kit is easier to build? thanks James

After gluing the rear cockpit wall I noticed that the edge needed spraying the same colour as the rest, LP-11… …the cockpit was then fixed to the front and rear bulkheads. I’ve decide to not show the machine-gun bay so I’ve not added any details here. The fuselage halves were then stuck together… …the front landing gear is not stuck it place, I’ll fix it in place later in the build… …it looks as if quite a bit of the cockpit will be visible. Next I’ll be adding the other fuselage panels. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks James these "new" Eduard steel PE are easier to manipulate than their "older" brass ones, I had toyed with the idea of leaving one off until later in the build so it could be draped over the side of the fuselage, perhaps next time? rgds John(shortCummins)

Hannants excelled themselves by getting the “generic” Eduard Luftwaffe fighter seat harness to me in under a week, I really thought they wouldn’t arrive until early next week. So to complete the cockpit subassembly I can add the harness and then the seat, the lap straps were fixed to the seat… …followed by the shoulder straps… After some light dirtying of the straps with MrWeathering greyish brown the seat was dropped into the cockpit. Next I’ll be finishing off the cockpit subassembly and joining the fuselage halves. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

that's looking really nice, I'm also a big fan of MRP paints rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks chaps rgds John(shortCummins)

The foot rest, rudder pedals and side consoles were fixed in place… …the oxygen and boxes were fitted to the fuselage walls. I really should have done this before fitting the Yahu IP however, very small holes were filled into the back of the instruments and then yellow painted brass wire glued in place… …and then the wires were bent and cut to size… I’m not sure how much, if any of this wiring will be seen, but I’d be kicking myself if any of to shows and I’d not done anything. I’d broken off the box fitted to the IP so that was reattached and the panel fixed to the cockpit subassembly along with the gunsight… …the control stick was then glued in place. Next I’ll be fitting the PE harness and seat. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks its now far closer to what I had envisaged rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks Pete if I keep on practicing one day I'll get closer to the result(s) I "see" in my head, still a long way to go but it is fun getting there rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks Keith I've wanted to build this kit for quite a while and luckily I found this group build that gave me the perfect excuse thanks James as well as the paint being rough, I think the first version look a bit too cartoonish, I'm far happier with this effort rgds John(shortCummins)

the variation of the colours does make it look as if she's been used, I agree with both James and Col. that the effect is good and perhaps a gentle rub down will hep with the rough surface rgds John(shortCummins)

So I wasn’t really happy with the way the cushion turned out, so I decided to start again. I think the “problem” was the hairspray?, the paint on the cushion wasn’t smooth and that didn’t allow the washes to “grade” they way I wanted them to. This made the cushion look too cartoonish to my eye. The seat was soaked in isopropryl alcohol, and scrubbed it with an old brush to clean off the existing paint… This time I’m going to paint the cushion first, that way it won’t be affected by any hairspray. After a base of MrSurfacer 1500 black primer, Tamiya XF-64 red brown was used for the base colour of the cushion… …in order to suggest some wear, the top of the cushion was “sponge chipped” and scratches were made with vallejo 72.763 dessert yellow… …oils were used as filters to, subtly?, change the tone, the first tone was 502 Abteilung ABT006 burnt umber… …a little ABT005 smoke was mixed to the burnt umber to make it a darker hue and used along the creases and bottom of the cushion… …ABT092 ocher was used to highlight the top of the cushion… …MRP-125 super clear semigloss was used to protect the cushion… Once the semigloss had cured Tamiya tape and liquid mask was used to mask the cushion, LP-11 used as the base for the seat, hairspray applied, then MRP-59 RLM 66 was sprayed and chipped. I’m much happier with this result, the cushion looks far more like worn leather I had envisaged. Next I’ll be assembling the cockpit. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks chaps in truth I'm not happy with the result, I think that the hairspray effected the paint I used for the cushion making it "rough" therefore not allowing the "washes" to blend how I'd like, I've decided to try again, watch this space... rgds John(shortCummins)

I'd be happy with that cockpit at 1/48, at 1/72 its fantastic rgds John(shortCummins)

I thought I had some “spare” PE seat harness however after looking for them I can’t find any so I’ve ordered a set from Hannants, in the meantime I want to have a bash at painting a fairly well worn leather cushion. The starting point is a coat of vallejo 70.940 saddle brown… …the rest of the seat was masked to try and protect it from overpainting and a thinned mix of Citadel nuln oil and Zandri dust painted over the leather brown… …in several layers… …Citadel Tau light ochre was used for some scratches… …nuln oil to enhance the creases… …all blended with a layer of Citadel mourning brown… Before and after Next I’ll be assembling the cockpit. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

I’ve used a couple of Airescale instrument decals for the part of the IP that the Yahu piece doesn’t cover… …and also on the side panel… The Yahu panel was then superglued to the kit part… …after taking this photo I realised I managed to loose one of the decals… …the missing decal was replaced and the lower part of the instrument panel glued in place. While I was applying decals I added some aluminium strip decals from Anyz to the air bottle… Anyz supply these in different metallics, different colours and different sizes, while they are quite fiddly to use they do give far superior results than I can achieve with a brush and paint. Next I’ll be detailing the leather cushion. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

The dry brushing has made a good start on the weathering, now I want to add some dust, dirt and grime. I’ll be using a couple of MrWeathering products, multi black, greyish brown and possibly white dust (I’ll wait and see how it looks after the black and brown)… …here the greyish brown shows far more than the multi black… …both show better on the LP-11… …here I used the white dust. Next I’ll be dealing with the Yahu instrument panel. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks chaps I'm going to pose the cockpit glass open so hopefully some of this will be seen? rgds John(shortCummins)

To try an make the dark grey interior a little more interesting and add some “wear and tear” I dry brushed first vallejo 305 light rubber and then Mig steel… …these switches were picked out with vallejo 70.957 flat red… …Tamiya says that these switches should be semi-gloss black but I think the steel allows them to be more noticeable even if its not strictly accurate… …the base of the control column was painted vallejo 70.976 buff… …and the oxygen bottle vallejo 70.841 Andrea blue, this is a little “bright” I’ll tone it down with some weathering. Next I’ll be weathering (making it dirty) the cockpit. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

ha ha, I'm not sure about "pro" my approach is more about "how am I less likely to mess it up" 😃 doesn't always work that way though, just weight and see thanks as with nearly all Tamiya kits, I think their Harrier isn't one to wright home about but that's the exception?, the way they've engineered the kit makes its (reasonably) easy to build? rgds John(shortCummins)

Tamiya LP-11 was used as a base for the cockpit and sidewalls. Tamiya say the main colour for the cockpit is German grey, I’m assuming they mean RLM66 so I’ve used MRP-59… …the foot rest and pedals were first had hairspray applied, MRP-59 and then chipped… …the seat was treated in the same manner, with the cushion painted with vallejo 70.940 saddle brown… Next I’ll be adding some detail paint to the cockpit instruments. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)

thanks John I was very, very tempted to make the external tanks "well worn" however as I'd made the aircraft paint very "lived in" I thought having them as "new" would be interesting. rgds John(shortCummins)

Various cockpit pieces were identified, fixed to tooth picks for ease of spraying and given a coat of MrSurfacer 1500 black primer… …most of the IP was scraped off to allow for the Yahu instrument panel. Next I’ll be adding some colour to the cockpit. until next time as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received. rgds John(shortCummins)