Eivind Lunde

She got her final coat of colour now, well if it indeed is the final coat that is. The Vallejo Orange Rust has the absolute worst coverage of any colour I've used so far, yes even worse than yellow, so the picture under is the result of no less than 5 coats! And still the tail is kind of spotty, so it may even need another... But oh boy, what an eye catching colour it is! Too bad they found out that white is even easier to spot and repainted it later, because this by far the coolest colour IMO. Guess I will spray it one last time while pondering what to do with the panel lines, if anything.

Strength gathered, canopy masked, model primed. But I wouldn't be myself without having at least one crucial moment of stupidity. So even if I made a mental note to myself not to prime the canopy before I had sprayed it with the inner colour which looks grayish/silverish, perhaps a sort of primer, I lost concentration and sprayed the whole model with Vallejo white primer to make it ready for the orange final colour. So now the inner frames of the canopy will be white ... I do hope it won't be noticeable since the canopy is very flat and the aircraft has a short, stubby, landing gear, so it should be difficult to see without lifting it up. Even so, if I was to build this model again I would mask and spray the canopy as a separate item and glue it in place afterwards. It does fit pretty good after some filing and testing, even if mine is ever so slightly misfitting, probably because it moved while the white glue I used dried. Oh well, once again a lesson learned that I will likely never have any use for again. I polished the primer with a cloth to make it pretty smooth and ready for the first layer of Vallejo Orange Rust, which should be very close to the original colour. Not sure if I should force myself to complete the landing gear and bays before doing that, since I find that part to be pretty boring, or just go ahead and spray it orange since I may or may not get run over by a train tomorrow.

Well, I'm a slow builder and it will likely take me as long to build this as it took to build the real one. But since I have gotten a bit itchy to start something new, I have gotten at least a little bit of work done the last weeks. The cockpit parts was glued together after adding some wires running the wall underneath the oxygen flask. There are a LOT of visible wires in this cockpit, probably because it is an experimental plane and nobody cares, and because many of the wires are yellow and very visible. I made the shelf over the access door using plasticard and ran all the wires from the back of the instrument panel over it so I had a place to put them. And also because the real thing has a thick cluster of cables running there. I didn't remember to take any pics before I closed the fuselage ( ), so a pretty crappy one taken through the hatch is all I got. But the cockpit ended up looking pretty busy, and there is little to be seen when the canopy is installed anyway. Closing up the fuselage was pretty easy even if the kit lacks any sort of guiding pins. You just have to start with the tailfin, which is easiest part to align, and carefully glue your way towards the nose. I'd say I got it 96% right because I still ended up with some slight ridges here and there, but they were easy to sand off. With a bit of adjustment, both wings and tail planes fit nicely, overall this is a pretty easy kit to build. The only sort of ill fitting parts being the cockpit which needed a piece of plastic card as a shim to fill a gap between the floor and the wall, and the canopy, which I didn't get to fit perfectly as it seemed to be ever so slightly bigger than the opening in the fuselage. But I think it won't actually be visible in the end . Next up is to gather some strength to mask the canopy (thank god masks are included) and then prime it.

Almost a year later I will briefly necro this thread with an update to lay it to rest for good. I had another go at this and found out that the fuselage is indeed warped, but in a slight banana shape as seen from above, and not twisted in profile as I first thought. So I submerged the fuselage sides in very hot water for a minute or so and bent them into shape, which made the wing "shoulder" finally fit properly to the fuselage. I then let loose a little premature "YAY!" and glued wings and fuselage together with a combination of Tamiya liquid cement and superglue in spots to fix the parts. When I returned to the kit the next day, the fuselage sides had bent themselves back into their original shape just like shape memory alloy does (ICM memory plastic?), cracking open the glued joints. And that does it for this kit. I have too many other kits in my stash and even though it is sad to have to toss away a kit I have spent so much time on (very slow builder), I just can't be bothered. I did enjoy it up till this* and learned a lot, and would very much like to have a go at another one of the ICM twin engine kits (please ICM, make a Ju-188!), but that's it for this project. Edit: *Reading through this thread again I can see a lot more swearing than I remember, so I may not have enjoyed it as much as I thought I did.

Sorry about posting off topic material here, but I really don't know where to ask this. But I have been curious as to why short run kits usually, if not always, lack locating pins? Is it something with the injection molding process that makes this complicated and expensive to add?

Thanks for posting the pictures of the sprues, will buy this kit as I've always liked the DH-88. The printed instruments are a bit disappointing as usual, surely it would be possible to get a higher resolution reproduction in 2020?

That sounds like a great idea, but wouldn't they be stiff and difficult to work with if you need to bend them?

A bit more progress. The mysterious circular bump on the box beside the seat has been removed since it is not there on the real plane, and god knows why Eduard wanted to include it. I made the metal plate shielding some cables in front of the steering yoke from a piece of plastic cut and bent to shape, and with an Airscale decal as the placard. In front of that is an old oleo leg from a P-40 kit, cut down to size to somewhat look like the.. err.. thing that is there. I added the very visible yellow cables running down the side of the seat using a Albion metals brass tube as the opening, and some thin stranded wire from an old IKEA lamp. I sprayed the metal with Vallejo primer from a can as I know that acrylic colours do not seem to like metal at all, and the very pleasant AK Interactive pale yellow colour seemed to bite alright without flaking off. The undercarriage retracting handle is just made from sprue. I have ordered the full Flory Model wash set as my MIG enamel washes seem to have expired like milk, and now leaves flakes everywhere . It is going to cost me a fortune (*sigh*), but I hear good things and look forward to try them out on the cockpit parts, to hopefully bring some life into this. To add more detail I made the green oxygen flask on the right wall from sprue, with one of the photo etched instruments from the kit cut to a circular shape and framed by an Airscale brass instrument bezel, and adorned with yet another Airscale placard. I do like how the Airscale decals add some interesting detail, but they do look pretty low res for 2019. Fingers crossed someone will release some new, improved, cockpit placards soon!

Fantastic looking model of one of my favourite aircraft. I wish someone would make an injection model of the HP 42... Come on ICM, I promise I'll buy one!

I couldn't live with the closed boxlike structure, so I traced it on a plastic card to have a pattern for the shelf, took a saw to it and cut it away. After some work I got a shelf glued to the battery box, made a simple rendition of the switchbox located on it and painted it all. I also added the photoetched instrument panel, but decided that just using clear gloss would be enough for the glass, and regretted that immediately. Once you have started using clear plastic there is no going back, it just can't compare. This will just need some semi gloss shine and electrical cables (there are a LOT of those in the X-1 cockpit!) to be ready for use. And I have entertained myself making the door. One of the photoetched handles broke off, so I had to replace them both with stretched sprue. I added an etched part from an Eduard Me-108 which didn't make it and some sprue, to make it more like the real thing. A quick and sloppy (the upper line is not straight ) run with a riveting tool added subtle and nice details. This is the first time I have used a riveting wheel, and it certainly won't be the last! I will need to make a proper door release handle in time. The door is still not totally correct, but at least a lot better than it is out of the box.

Well, have amused myself with some detail work including the photoetched instrument panel. I painted around the details in Nato black since I don`t like the grainy look of the Eduard paint, and I also laminated it as I feel using clear gloss paint don`t really look like a glass pane. The problem is to find clear plastic that are not only thick enough to not crease, but thin enough so you won't get a fat instrument panel that no longer fits! So after trying out different things, plastic lids, blister pack material, my eye was caught by my DVD/BR collection on my wall... EUREKA! The clear sleeve on the DVD cover is perfect! Very thin, clear and easy to cut, it makes a perfect glass pane for instruments: The only problem is how to glue this together. I used super glue, but feel that this is less than ideal for sandwiching photo etched parts together and it doesn't really bite on the smooth plastic surface of the clear plastic. So it took copious amounts of super glue to make this stick good enough, but any suggestions on what glue to use for things like this will be very welcome. As you can see I also took a shot at making the oxygen (?) hose that is so prominent on the instrument panel, it was made with thin wire wrapped with sewing thread and came out pretty convincingly for a first try. The round dial it is attached to is in fact an undersized MG 15 ammo drum from an ICM Henschel 126 kit I cut in half, I just LOVE examining old leftover sprues looking for parts I can use to make something completely different!

Thanks for the info, but the Vallejo olive drab coloured ship has sailed now. I did compare a colour sample to the pictures of the X-1 cockpit on my calibrated TV, and it was close enough for me.

Interior green sounds plausible (and is pretty close to olive drab as far as I can tell), but I read a recommendation made by another X-1 builder who had researched the colour, and he meant olive drab was closest. I have to admit I am on shaky ground here since I am red/green colourblind and some hues of green look grey to me! I was sort of leaning towards Russian Green too, that is a greener hue, but took him at his word when he stated he had put down a lot of time researching it. EDIT: Thank you for the link, that helps a lot!

If I had known about the other detail set they make I would likely have bought that, instead of relying on my meagre scratch building ability. But then again, trying to do this myself rather than using photo etched aftermarket is kinda old skool, and satisfying if I can pull it off.

Yes, and I think that set fixes one of the biggest problems, in addition to the lack of detail in the wheel wells, namely the made up left hand console in the kit. I assembled the cockpit parts and spray them Vallejo Olive Drab, as that matches the pictures pretty well indeed (it is darker in real life), but what does not match the references is the details. This (granted, without photo etched instruments): Does not look much like this (Picture courtesy of NASM): It is obviously just an open shelf without any instruments, so I feel the urge to redo it and scratch build the shelf part of it. A bit disappointing this, one would think it would be easy for Eduard to get this right even 20 years ago.

After having read through some builds of this model I decided to try my hand at some simple detailing of the instrument panel backside, as this should be visible through the cockpit glass. I used one of my fantastic Japanese drill bits and drilled holes in the plastic instrument panel: And filled them with round Evergreen sprue to simulate the instrument bodies peeking out from the panels backside: I will file them down to size and drill a small hole so that each instrument can get its own electrical cable, that should hopefully make the backside more interesting to look at.

After having my last 2 projects ending on The Shelf Of Semi-Doom, I was looking for something easy and quick. And it doesn't come more easy than the Eduard Bell X-1 ProfiPack, if you ignore the etched parts that is. Which I won`t. I don`t think there is any need to give a history lesson on the X-1. It was built to break the sound barrier, shaped like a 0.5" bullet since they knew those were stable in supersonic flight, and it did so in 1947. The Eduard kit is about 20 years old (I think?), and has few parts and pretty rudimentary detail so the addition of the photo etched harness and instrument panel(s) is very welcome: There are no added detail for the wheel wells, but it does come with 3 nicely detailed resin wheels: Since the X-1 is one of the most famous airplanes in history and was put in a museum in 1950, there is an incredible amount of online reference pictures for the cockpit and other details, with the notable exception of the wheel wells... So if anyone have any good pictures of the X-1 wheel wells I`d be happy to see them posted here, or a link provided. I`ll try my best to add some details to this kit, partly because I want to give this important aircraft the treatment it deserves, and partly because I have quickly grown fond of trying to scratch build stuff since I first tried it a couple of models ago. Where there are no details, any added detail is an improvement, right?

Looking good so far! I have one of these in my stash, although in the surprisingly pornographic "Air a cutie" weekend edition livery, so I will follow this with interest.

Is this kit better than the Bobcat kit? I just love these planes, very cool looking! Too bad it is so difficult to find good references on Soviet airplanes, with the exception of fantastic website of Massimo Tessitori, there are just too few thorough books on what is a significant and interesting part of aviation history.

Well, this build has sort of stalled, as happens with almost all of my projects when they get close to completion. I get sick and tired of the busy work that is left and start spending more time rummaging through my stash for my next build, and that is a warning sign indeed. Rigging is not that hard on this plane, but I was dumb enough to glue the top wing on before doing the rigging, so now it is MUCH more difficult since the staggered layout makes it difficult to access the root of the struts where the wires go. I have already messed the lower wing with some superglue, and while difficult to notice it is noticeable to ME! But I managed to scratch build a simple Revi gunsight since there was nothing in the box. I wonder why this piece seems to be left out of all (?) of the HE-51 kits out there? I mean, the guns are there, so how would they be aimed without one? Maybe there is something I haven't thought about, but I find it baffling. Anyho, as I wrote, this kit is now on the shelf until the mojo comes back. Life is too short and I have several kits in my stash I would like to build, and I think I just need something simple I can finish off in a few weeks. The Eduard Bell X-1 ProfiPack kit has next to no parts, no complicated camouflage, and certainly no rigging...

It gets good reviews, and I`m sure the cockpit would look a bit better out of the box with the resin bits included.

I can absolutely recommend the kit, the fit is overall good even if it needs some putty here and there. Add an instrument panel from Eduard or Yahu, and you will have taken care of its greatest weakness. If you are going all in then you`d need to rebuild some of the cockpit tube structure so the upper tube doesn`t show above the door opening, and some other details that are left out. There is no Revi 2b gunsight, but thankfully the windscreen has an opening for it so you can build or use something that fits through it. Pretty weird they made a prominent opening without adding it though, didn`t anyone notice it was missing?

Some slow progress, I have added the swastika and done some washes and weathering using AK Paneliner for grey and blue areas. Very happy that the same colour matches both of the planes colours . The weathering is more visible in real life, but I wanted to keep it down to a low level since this was a peacetime aircraft that would have been washed and maintained. Even so, I think sometimes my weathering might be too subtle so you`d need to watch the model closely to pick it up, as a casual glance wouldn`t. I have praised the Print Scale decals for the way they blend into things with a little solution, but I must say overall I am not happy with them. The decals for the fuselage side are much too small, the real ones looks about 25% bigger and the number 5 should be under the pilots door while the 3 should still be almost at the tail plane. The balkenkreuz is much bigger in pictures too. Not only that, but the aircraft ID should be repeated under the lower wing, and the decal sheet has nothing, not even the balkenkreuz there. But thankfully an Eduard 109 had some correct ones to spare. Please ignore the visible seams and putty, I don`t spend much time on things that will never be seen anyway. Lastly I added the Quickboost resin exhausts. They fit well as long as you thin the inner parts of the shield by quite a bit, and the added detail with the hollow ends makes them worth the £4 they cost. I went over the burned metallic painted exhausts with some AK pigment, as the real exhaust looks kind of overall tan/metallic in pictures. The pigment removes the metal look they had, and looks more tan than rust in real life. But closeups like this reveals all the sloppy work... I need to get more of these pigment powders, they are really useful for a lot of things!

A nice kit, but the rear seat is for the civilian version and needs to be replaced/scratch built since it is facing forward and would make it impossible to operate the rear gun.

Most of the decals are on now, and I`d say they have grown on me. They are thin, reacts to decal solution well, and blends nicely into the background. So with the exception of the slight purpleness of the unit badge, they are overall very nice. I feared the red and white decal that goes on the tail would not work out, but i used some setting solution and a soft brush to brush out the wrinkles and they set very nicely. After 24 hours I cut the rear rudder hinge line with a sharp knife and used a brush with some setting solution to bend the decal around the rudder line. And that worked very nicely. The white circle is slightly translucent, but it`ll work. I wouldn`t have been myself if I hadn`t done some totally stupid and unnecessary mistakes, so I need to touch up parts of the tail with red since I didn`t align the decal with the tail properly, and I also did not notice the werkenummer being a part of the red tail decal, so I cut that away... Maybe I`ll find something to use in the spare decal box.