elger

... and really done RFI thread here:

oops. double post.

Here are the RFI photos of my little Messerschmitt project. I used the Tamiya kit and the wonderful AIMS G-5 conversion set. The vehicles and the figures are also from Tamiya. Painted with Mig Ammo acrylics thinned with Hataka, and finished with Vallejo clear flat. Background and build here: Thanks as always for looking - comments and feedback is welcome. - Elger

To finish off the project I'm adding some accessories, also from Tamiya Because they're Tamiya, the vehicles just fall together: And the figures: Base coat on the Kubelwagen: ready for weathering and finishing: and done: I painted the figures with a base of acrylic, but then added highlights and shadows and blending the colours with oils. I've done better faces in the past in 1/48th scale, but they'll do: Thanks for looking, the complete project will be in RFI soon! (comments and feedback are always welcome)

Hi all, A while ago the forum was very helpful in getting some information regarding the size of aircraft launched mines I've just started work on the ICM Beaufort and I'm planning to convert the supplied torpedo into a mine (the diameter will be slightly too big) but I was wondering if the mine would be suspended by the same mechanism as a torpedo (since they were similar in size, especially the diameter) - or if there was a different suspension / cradle system for the mine all together. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

... almost there!

2 lights on early Mosquitos, (like IV and VI), 3 on later types (like the XVI). That might help your search for more information!

that sounds like a cool project - I'll be following it. I've wondered if the upper cowls from Trumpeter would fit and fix the look of the Revell G-10 kit without resorting to a resin replacement nose.

Thanks! Which kits are you going to be building?

getting there. what a difference a coat of clear flat always makes thanks for looking - c&c is always welcome

decals on: I had been planning to use the yellow 12 - markings from the 109E-1 sheet from Avalon Aircraft decals because I liked the proportions, but when I put the decal on it was translucent. I resorted to numbers from the Kitsworld generic Luftwaffe numbers sheet and although they're a little too big for my liking they performed very well. The other markings and most of the stencils came from a Barracuda 109G sheet. So: Avalon decals are not recommended.

The Night Bombers documentary has some good descriptions and visuals of day-to-day operations of an RAF airbase - including a Matador refueller.

Main camouflage on. Painted with Mig Ammo thinned with Hataka. Finished with a coat of AK third gen clear gloss and their thinner as a base for the decals. I went for the Erla saw-tooth camouflage on the wings and large blotches on the fuselage sides, based on G-5 photos and photos of JG 3 aircraft from that time. Thanks for looking!

FWIW - I wouldn't worry about the accuracy of having flaps up or down. There are so many things that won't be accurate the way we tend to model these aircraft: when parked, wheels would have been covered by a tarp, the guns would have been removed, and the bomb sight was probably removed when the aircraft was not in operation just to name a few things. The only way you could have a bomber type the way we usually build it accurately is the moment right before the crew enters before takeoff. But where is their equipment? Guns are there, but why is there not a bomb load in some examples? Why are the bomb doors even open if they're about to take off? Where are the wheel chocks? Are all the levers and switches in the cockpit in the correct position for this moment in time? My point being: you're working on a representation in scale of a real thing that existed at some point. With so many moving parts on this real thing it's impossible to say whether it existed in the exact configuration -up or down, open or closed - of these moving parts ("at 2:04:53 PM, June 3rd 1942, the flaps of this aircraft were definitely down while all the guns were fitted and all tarps were removed from the aircraft but the crew was not in the aircraft for some reason"). But what would be the position of each of the propellers in this scenario?? Unless you're recreating the exact configuration based on a photograph you'll never reach complete accuracy. It's not the same as striving for the overall accuracy of the configuration of the hardware - your wonderful turret being a great example of that. We can and I think should strive for accuracy in that area. Was Aircraft X fitted with Aspect Y is one of the most fun bits of research in this hobby, speaking for myself. You're working on a piece of painted plastic with some resin and metal parts that looks like a Lancaster reduced by a factor of 48. Real Lancasters had flaps that could be up or down. If you like to show the flaps in the down position on your model, I say go for it.

I've been thinking about the same things. Haven't found any rivet plans, but there are good walk around photos that will be enough to get a good idea of the fuselage and the undersides of the wings (few that offer a full picture of the tops of the wings). There are maintenance manuals of the Beaufort online as PDFs that include images of the fuselage that show the rivet lines very clearly.

Painting has begun. Haven't taken many photos of the process because I've had little time to work on the project - work and an increasingly demanding 3-year old. My wife took the little guy to the pool this morning though so I had a nice painting session. No photos, but I started with a black base with black One Shot primer. I then added a marble coat with Mig Ammo white. This was followed by a thin coat of Mig Ammo RLM 76. I noticed that despite the wonderful engineering and fit of the kit there was a bit of a seam at the rear base of the wing that I decided I couldn't live with, so I filled those with some Mr. Surfacer, which I carefully sanded. This morning I resprayed the area with RLM 76. I would normally assemble more of the kit before I start painting, but the engineering of the kit is so that it allows various details (exhausts, flaps, radiator insides etc.) to be painted separately. I'm going to finish those details, while also painting the other main colours of the aircraft - RLM 74 and RLM 75. As always, thanks for looking!

Maybe worth checking those chips - the 4-blade Spitfire prop was made of wood so it would not have metalic chips. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spitfire_944_fest_poster_a.jpg#/media/File:Spitfire_944_fest_poster_a.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Crashlanded_Spitfire_of_No._485_Squadron%2C_1943-44.jpg (And I think the yellow tips are too big)

epic stuff!

The windscreen does look a bit chunky but I see what you mean about it having the right shape. Could it be from an early mk.I Spitfire kit? Does this link work for you? This is a PR.IV windscreen posted by the folks restoring Spitfire AA810 on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SpitfireAA810/photos/pb.100063595990930.-2207520000./3081306885426361/?type=3

I've seen it in real life - got a personal tour by Norman Groom. It is a thing of beauty. I sat in its pilot seat and asked if I could get one of these cockpits for Christmas

good stuff!

Looking forward to this one! I built an aircraft like this from the Airfix kit a while back. Photos are no longer available because they were on Photobucket, but perhaps some of my research will help you: With the exception of the propeller (if I recall correctly) from the box this kit builds into a type 390 - the actual, proper PR.XIX. I'm interested in building one of the early PR.XIXs, which were sort of rushed into production, officially designated the type 389. Ted Hooton describes these as a "panic conversion" based on F.XIV fighter airframes. Supermarine built 22 type 389s in April and May 1944. The first operational sortie with a XIX was on May 24th, 1944 The main difference between the 389 and 390 was that the latter was pressurized. For modeling purposes, this means a few modifications to the Airfix kit: On the exterior, the air scoop on the nose on the left hand side needs to be removed. 389 aircraft also had the cockpit side door. The 389 had 4-spoke wheels, and fishtail exhausts. Since the cockpit wasn't pressurized, the aft bulkhead was also standard, not a closed off bulkhead. To make these changes, starting with the cockpit interior, I've cannibalized an Eduard Spitfire IX overtrees kit I have in my stash for some parts. I'm using the Eduard seat and the aft bulkhead which fits the Airfix kit perfectly (I just had to cut off a little from the bottom to make the shelf with the oxygen tanks fit). I left off any parts that are connected to the pressurization system. I wasn't sure about the temperature gauges fitted to each side of the cockpit sidewalls so I did install those. Some emergency plastic surgery was needed at the rear section of the canopy. As I'm backdating the 390 to the 389 I discovered a bit too late that the rear section of the canopy is like the standard fighter version. I can use the clear part from another kit without any major fit issues, except that the fuselage sides have to be built up. That's what's going on in this photo: I've glued a piece of plastic as a strip on top of the sides, and I've covered it with plastic putty. When this is dry, it can be sanded and hopefully everything will just blend in. Here's a photo of my completed model; I am now doubting about the armor plate configuration (doubting if it should have any) but that should be a fun thing to figure out.

Work continues, slowly heading toward the painting stage. Once again, the cockpit, now enclosed in the fuselage: I added a resin tailplane from Barracuda with slightly dropped elevators: I had bought Eduard Brassin exhausts for this kit, but they're slightly bigger than the kit pieces. They're not quite as big as the ones from the 1/48 Eduard kit, but still somewhat ruin the overall look of the model (giving it a kind of 'buck teeth' look). In fact, the main reason for choosing Tamiya over Eduard for this build is that the exhausts of the Eduard kit are so over scale. Anyway, I spent a while carefully hollowing out the kit exhausts and I think they will look quite acceptable: Painting is coming up - updates will follow. Thanks for looking!

very nice!

it's such a joy to work on