jackroadkill

A little treat from the big H arrived yesterday:

Would you like to hear a joke about sodium bromide? Na BrO.

I'm probably splitting hairs here, but bear with me for a minute. I got an Airfix Club kit (now unavailable new) from a popular online auction site for the princely sum of £6.50. They seem to go for about £20-25 plus postage, but nobody bid against me and I gave the starting price. I also have decals left over from another project that would work nicely with it, but they weren't purchased with this particular build in mind. Would this be eligible? If so, then please could I sign up?

Hmmm, I might be able to build my Vampire in between sessions of farm-working....

Just had a good read of that and it looks like a very good solution. I'll have a think and see what I can come up with.

Your wish is my command! I don't have a great camera or a photo box, so they're a bit jerry rigged.

I'll see if I can get around to taking a few later. For some reason all the ones I took last night were pretty close-in. I hope so, but as references are few and far between there's not a lot to say how far wrong or right I am! Thanks Jeff; I try and learn as much as possible from each build and apply that to the next one.

Hi all, I didn't WIP this build as I was unsure as to how it would turn out, largely due to the paint scheme I chose to go with, mainly to avoid brush-painted mottling for a change. The summer of 1942 saw I Gruppe JG51 equipped with the new Focke Wulf 190, called the Wurger, or shrike, by the Luftwaffe. I./ JG51 were moved back from the Russian front to re-equip with a mixture of A-1, A-2 and A-3 aircraft before returning to Russia, this time based at Ljuban, some 85km from St. Petersburg. This was the first A-3 to be lost from 1./JG51, on September 29th 1942, over the Russian front. The pilot, Unteroffizer Erich Pflaum, was injured but survived. His aircraft, Wk. Nr. 2278 was painted in a non-standard scheme and there is debate as to what the colours actually were. I managed to find some pictures of the aircraft but I'm not sure whether they've been colourised. One discrepancy with the paint shouts is the ident panel under the nose; Eduard claim it to be an orangey yellow but the pictures show a dark salmon pink. The main colours were RLM 70 and 71 on the upper surfaces and the ubiquitous RLM 65 underneath. This example also seemed to be short on some of the stencilling found on aircraft with regular paint schemes, for example the undercarriage fairings were bereft of stencilled information. There was evidence of overspray, as seen at the narrowest point of the fuselage where the original this yellow Eastern Front band can be seen under the camouflage. This was the first Eduard kit that I've built (also the first FW190, come to think of it) but it won't be the last. The kit went together beautifully and had no hidden pitfalls or blind alleys. I didn't weather it much, largely because the aircraft was still pretty new when it was lost. I used Mig's panel line washes for the first time on this one and am very glad I did, as they've brought some life to the model. All painting was done with a brush. If I have one complaint it's that the 70/71 choice is a little too close. If I revisit this aircraft in the future I'll mix the paint differently to show more contrast between the shades. The kit was built OOB apart from the weapons and pitot, using the PE inside the cockpit, not that you can see any of it, and the kit's own masks, which performed very well. Decals were the kit's own. So, some pictures. The eagle-eyed amongst you will see that the pitot head is missing; I took the pictures and realised that the paint on the pitot is still drying in a lump of Blutak on my shelf as I type this.... You'll just have to imagine it in place! All in all I'm not to unhappy with this one at all. I feel that it represents more progress as I make my way along the path to being a decent model builder. I'm not there yet but I hope to get there with some work. Thanks, JRK

Thanks for the kind comments, chaps. @stevehnz I'll have to check out one of those. A better kit with a conversion might well be the way forward.

I'm sure many of the BM reguLars know more about this aircraft than I do, but here's a bit of backstory: Spitfire Vb (EN830/NX-X) was captured by the Germans in November 1942. On November 18th P/O Bernard Sheidhauer of the Free French Air force got lost following combat and pancaked in Jersey. He was taken prisoner and ultimately murdered by the Gestapo during the Great Escape mass execution. EN830 survived in reasonable shape and was taken to Echterdingen without guns and ammunition, with the gun ports closed. The radio equipment had been replaced with ballast, but it still had its original Merlin 45 engine. Several flights were made by Daimler-Benz pilots before conversion was attempted. German 24v electrics and instruments were added, as were a carburettor intake and airscrew from a Bf109G. The aircraft preformed very well, showing several aspects of its performance to be better than those of either the Spitfire Vb or the Bf109G in their usual forms. It was said to be a favourite of the German test pilots who evaluated it. Eventually th 8th Air Force destroyed it in a raid. Anyway, the kit was atrocious (see WIP: I got it together eventually but am in no rush to do it again. It was a diverting build but I'm a 1/48 man at heart and the agricultural nature of the kit meant that it was never going to be a thing of beauty. It's an interesting subject and one I'd love to revisit in the future with a better quality kit, should one ever appear. Not too bad for a brush job ( I really must get around to building a spray booth and buying an airbrush). Mig Ammo panel line washes were my friends by the end of this one. Here you can see the slot I cut for the stand; the wheels-up attitude was the only option given the joke which was the undercarriage. I haven't weathered this one much, mainly because it didn't see front-line service with the Luftwaffe. Also I just wanted to get it finished... Comedy-thick front canopy section. The main sliding element was borrowed from an Airfix mk1 Spit. I've just noticed the paint on the port forward edge of it.... The rear section was cut from an Italeri canopy that I had lying around. There has to be a joke in here somewhere about being glad to see the back of it, I guess. I've also now noticed how wonky the elevators are. Sheesh....

Okay, this one is done, at last. I'm not wildly chuffed with it but am also not disappointed, either. Here's a taste of it: RFI here:

I'd tell you a joke about noble gases but unfortunately all the best ones argon.

Yeah, go on then. It's an itch I'd like to scratch a bit more deeply than I have in the past.

You would if you were Russ Abbott.

Cheers Chris. The pilot's got a bit of rehab to undergo as both his legs were amputated below the knee, but other than that he's fine. The decal is another story and will need extensive plastic surgery before it's fit for purpose.

A small update; decals are done, but not before I sodded two of them up. I'm in the process of rescuing them with paint, so not all bad. The decals were of a different scale size than suggested by the instructions, such as they were, on the box, so a bit of interpretation was required. The "Y" on the starboard wing dissolved so it's in line for some TLC. Otherwise, not too shabby. It's coming along now. With a bit of luck I'll have it finished in the next few days.

They're looking great, Tony. I wish I had the patience, dexterity and eyes for 1/72.

Always great to see and Emil, and especially one that looks this good!

That's lovely. It's a great advertisement for brush-painting, I must say. Another thing to aspire to!

At the risk of making a glaring new-boy error, is a blitzenbuild a very quick make-what-you-like type of affair?

What should you do if you see a spaceman? Park in it, man.

Well, that looks pretty damn nice to me, kit flaws or not.

I've just found this thread and read the whole thing carefully. This is a lovely job; the kit looks really nice, and the job you're doing of it is exceptional.

One of these arrived today. This has got to stop.

It's certainly an education - I hope it turns out okay. I'm learning a lot and no mistake. I've done a bit of filling this evening. The first of many attempts, I think. It drank my Zap-A-Gap and bicarb like a thirsty sailor on shore leave. Thanks Craig. Yes, the few pins on the kit are all in the wings and none of them are the same size as the sockets or in anything like the right place. Still, it's very good fun and I'm really enjoying the kit. (you may need to remind me of this at a later date). I think it might end up not looking too bad (again, I may need to be reminded I said this) but it seems to be riddled with measurements which don't add up. How accurate it will be will be anyone's guess.