elger

Painting is coming along. I followed Eduard's suggestion for how this aircraft was camouflaged in the instructions of their 1/72 110G kit - although I don't think that one wing was black underneath, and the instructions are incorrect in saying that when the aircraft was coded DF it was still based in St. Trond - the aircraft was recoded from EZ to DF (and the chevron was added then, too) when Schnaufer took command of IV/NJG1 in March 1944 when he was stationed in Leeuwarden. In St. Trond, and the first weeks in Leeuwarden, the aircraft was coded EZ. I primed the model with black Mr Surfacer 1500, followed by MRP RLM 76 on the underside, then MRP RLM 74 and MRP RLM 75 in a splinter pattern on top, which was then partly covered with a thin mist/mottle of RLM 76 again. Needs a few touch ups but pretty happy overall. For the code letters EZ I copied the old PD decals and made masks of them. Thanks for looking - comments & feedback is welcome of course.

Lancaster exhausts patterns seem to go over the wings mostly, except for the outer exhausts on each outer nacelle. So the left outer nacelle's left exhausts will go below the wing, and so will the right outer nacelles's right exhaust. Some photos:

Lovely!

Work continues. I'm going to be using the propellers from Revell-Monogram because I like their shape a little better. Photo for comparison - the RM blades are lighter plastic. Details added from the Eduard detail set to the external fuel tanks: With the nose glued temporarily in place, the aircraft is masked and is ready for paint: Thanks for looking!

Update on the wings and engine nacelles. Aims' elegant solution of making the engine cowls clear so that the triangular windows can be added generates a problem: something can be seen through them - it would be sill to have nothing in there. On the real thing, there are engine instruments in board, but on the outboard side of each engine you can just see the engine bearer and part of the engine, as can be seen in this photo of the beautifully restored 110 in the museum of technology in Berlin: My solution is to add the kit engine instruments decals to a piece of black painted styrene for the inboard sides, and to create a fake bit of engine by gluing some left over engine bearers from ICM's Dornier 215 to some more sheet styrene that I painted black. Wing/engine assembly completed. I've applied some filler and it will need some more before I can start sanding it: Radiators and oil coolers painted: Landing gear leg with some wiring added: Completed landing gear bay and enlarged radiator housing from Aims: Thanks for looking!

Don't normally like what ifs, but that's gorgeous!

I'm 99% sure that the Special Hobby X kit is indeed based on MPM's XI. The sprues look the same, judging from images available online. (http://www.internetmodeler.com/2000/april/first-looks/mpm_spitfire-prxi.htm for the XI; https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Spitfire-Pr-Mk-X.html for the X). Scalemates also indicates the Special Hobby X is based on the MPM XI kit: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/112501-special-hobby-sh72037-supermarine-spitfire-pr-mk-x Based on the images on super-hobby.com, I would say that the Special Hobby kit only comes with 2 vacuum formed fighter canopies, not the PR canopy. Direct link: https://www.super-hobby.com/zdjecia/4/8/4/1334_1_SPH72037_2.jpg

I didn't have a problem but I did not strictly follow the instructions. I glued the upper half to the fuselage first, and added little tabs to the section where the lower wings meets the fuselage. Attaching the lower wing was not a problem after this/ You can see the upper wing and the added tabs it in the picture below:

I've started on the nacelles and the wings. This is where the Aims correction set really comes into play. The set features clear resin replacement cowls, which are an elegant solution to the problem of Eduard's cowls not having a transparent triangular window. I've added some parts of Eduard's 110 detail set - mainly the ribs. There's 16 of these: I'm also deviating somewhat from the build sequence: I've assembled the nacelles and attached them to the lower wing section, so that I can easily paint the interior. Once the interior is painted and all the remaining parts fitted, I'll add the upper wing half. Also notice the Aims resin piece that replaces a section of the right wing nacelle. The Aims part fits perfectly! Thanks for looking!

Here is some more! https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/airfix-blenheim-iv-nacelle-mods-completed-t477388.html

truly magnificent!

There was a post on FalkeEins' blog back in 2010 which provided some info on this - I knew I had read it somewhere: "An RLM report of 16 June 1944 indicated Schnaufer's dislike of the MK108, and that he was using only MG 151/20s for his forward armament at that time" (http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2010/04/heinz-schnaufers-bf110g.html). My impression is that Schnaufer, like the other Experten, played around with different configurations. This is why I think it's possible that during early 1944, he might have flown with the 4 MG nose (perhaps getting rid of the forward MGs all together at a later date, as the report cited on FalkeEins' blog indicates).

Several NJG 1 Experten were not too keen on the heavy cannons featured on most standard G-4s - they preferred the 4 machine guns. I thought it was possible that during the winter of 43/44 and early spring of 1944 Schnaufer might have also retained the 4 MG nose that was also standard for earlier 110Gs.

I don't remember the name of the guy who sent me the decals back then - it wasn't you, was it?

A little while ago I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who's into Warhammer figure painting (and I've been joining him and some other friends on some painting sessions which is really fun). The conversation went like this: BUT LO AND BEHOLD IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! (The Aires set for Revell-Monogram fits Eduard!)