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As my D.I is going together reasonably well so far I thought I may as well start the D.II in parallel. I won't bother showing the sprues as they are identical to those of the D.I boxing. After a short production run of D.I, Albatros responded to complaints from the pilots about poor upwards/forward visibility by lowering the upper wing and moving it slightly forward. They did this by replacing the original triangular cabane strut arrangement with splayed out "N" struts and brought the wing closer to the top of the fuselage. Early versions as the one on the box art retained the Windhoff radiators on the fuselage, but I will be building the later version with the aerofoil section Teeves und Braun radiator mounted on the top of the upper wing on the centreline. The kit provides two variations of this radiator, the other presumably for the Austrian Oeffag built version, which Roden released as an alternative boxing. Pete
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Slight change of plan as I am postponing the Albatros D.I, so instead I will build this (hopefully) and get my hand in for Roden's delicate biplane kits. A rather cleaner moulding of this plane which is perhaps less well known than its Albatros contemporaries. The kit contains parts for both the D.III and the D.IIIa, and unlike the replica flown by George Peppard's character in the Blue Max film which was lozenge painted I seem to recall, this kit comes with a selection of rather more colourful markings. I always wondered why the producers of the film chose to have Pfalz and not Albatos replicas made Many years ago I bought a vacform kit of this but like all of the others I bought it never got built. Pete
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Last year in the "Not my Comfort Zone" GB I built a Halberstadt D.II which was probably the first purpose built fighter aircraft used by the German Airforce in WWI. It did not serve for long as it was outclassed by the more heavily armed Albatros series of single seat fighters, so to complement it I thought I would build this. The sprues contain parts for several versions as we will see later and there is a surprising amount of flash, which could be problematic given how fragile some of the parts look. I was also a little surprised by the lack of cockpit detail from a kit first released in 2002, so I may have to do a few improvements. Depending on how this build goes I will probably also be building their D.II which has a few subtle differences. The only other Roden kits I have built so far were of German armoured cars, and whilst they were good, the were fiddly with fragile "scale" parts. At least they did not need rigging!😄 Pete Pete
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My initial thought for this GB was a Spit, everyone loves a Spit particularly an early mark. I have an Eduard Me109E "in the stash"but I didn't fancy modelling the "bad guys" this time. I took a bit of advice and settled on a Gloster Gladiator. 247th Squadron flew the Gladiator in protection of the SW ports from a pretty rough strip near Roborough (also known at one time as Plymouth Airport) (More history of the site here). The strip was unsuited to more modern monoplanes at the time so the Glad was deployed having moved the squadron down from Sumburgh in Shetland where they were tasked with providing cover for Scapa Flow. Since deciding on the subject of my model I have done some internet research and I will add more of this as I add to this thread. So this is the kit (love the pixie boots!) Contents of the box... And these are the add-ons I have chosen I decided against the resin engine and cowl as they almost doubled the cost of the build and I'm not particularly fond of working with resin. So I have the Yahu etched instrument panel a set of turned brass gun barrels (as I more often model armour plastic bun barrels seem, wrong) and then we have the real challenge of this kit... rigging on the recommendation of another Glad builder I have chosen this elastic material. Wish me luck! One thing that does concern me is the decals. I am told to expect these to be a pig to work with. I will try the Finnish swastikas to see how they handle. If they are as bad as people suggest I will be looking for alternates and would welcome pointers as it looks like I will be buying multiple sheets. This is what I hope to model.
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Hi everybody, For starters, i conflated the H.P. Victor with the VC10. It was the Victor that was called the "Iron Duck" , and not the VC10. I have flagellated myself appropriately, and made the corrections where needed. Most of you know that i recently finished my first airliner- the Roden 1/144th scale Super VC10. For those of you who want to go directly to the end result, go here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235113603-iron-duck-final-report/#comment-4467887 And for those who wonder about how i go about building an airliner model (badly 🤣), go here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235103625-iron-duck/#comment-4279708 So Anyway....as G-ASGH was approaching completion, i went and did a thing. Yes, i went and started another Roden Super VC10. Some of you might be asking, "David in the name of God, WHY??" Well the reason is because over the course of the build, new information came to light on the VC10 that was received too late to implement on -ASGH, and there were some techniques/aspects to the build that i was either not satisfied with, or not documented appropriately at the time. So, this thread won't go into the mind-numbing detail of IRON DUCK. Rather it's intended to expand on just the places where i (think) i can do things a little bit better and cleaner. It won't have quite as many photos or quite as many updates, but i think the information will still be useful. The first thing that i decided to tackle were the fuselage windows. As some of you know, they were something of a disaster on the first model, using the kit windows and then puttying over them with Tamiya putty (which then pulled out during the masking and painting phases). On this second model, i attempted to fill the windows from the inside using epoxy with tape on the outside to hold it in place. Sounded like a great idea in theory, but in practice i was left with numerous air bubbles which needed to be filled with CA after the tape was removed. The windows are now all filled and they are all flush... but i am still searching for the best, most perfect, most-can't-fail-sure-fire-way method to fill the windows. Next up was the vertical fin. As with -ASGH, the halves were flat sanded on a piece of wet 320, but i was still left with gaps at the trailing edge of the rudder which were filled in by ramming strips of .005 sheet into the gaps with CA, and then block-sanding everything straight, thin, and flush. I'm still looking for a method to "nail" the alignment of the stabilizers. This time i glued just the lower halves to the fin, turned the whole thing upside down and taped the stabs down onto two pieces of wood of equal thickness, assuring that the surfaces were at least on the same 3-dimensional plane. Once dry, i added the upper halves. Next up came the engine nacelles. I learned too late in the game that the inner engine inlets were staggered slightly forward of the outboard ones. Not a huge amount, but enough to notice on close inspection. At the time, i felt the engine pylons were a little too thin in cross section, so i tried to thicken those up with a piece of .015 styrene. The end result of that wasn't very noticeable and it required slicing partway between the lower engine/pylon piece to fix some fit issues. I would not do *that* again. However, extending the inboard intakes was worth the effort... There's still quite a bit to be done with respect to panel lines and vents, drains, etc., but the major re engineering is all done. Next up came the wings. Again, i cut off all of the locator pins and flat sanded the surfaces on wet 320. The leading edges come together just fine, but we still were left with the gap issues on the wing trailing edges... However, with time, patience and the right tools, the trailing edge can be successfully rehabilitated and made presentable. Fabricating the wing fences came next. This time, i made the saw cuts in the wings before gluing the halves together... The fences are removable and can be left off the model until the painting stage. No longer in the way, where my fat fingers will blunder into them. I used the same method of re-doing the wing attachment as on -ASGH, though i went with somewhat beefier rods in the rear spar area. One of the things i learned late in my first build, (and i was not happy with either) were the gaps at the trailing edges of the wings at the fillet fairing. When the flaps are down, the innermost flap segment actually incorporates a small portion of the wing fillet, and there should not be any gaps there. Since my last major forays into gap filling with CA, i've expanded the technique somewhat to incorporate dental resin acrylic powder mixed into the CA. Trust me when i say that the resin/CA composite sanded away quickly and easily. That's all for the first installment. I'll report back when i'm finished installing and blending in the windscreen. I'm about halfway though that evolution right now. Maybe i'll work on that Phantom for a little bit.....
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I don't learn of my mistakes. I was stupid enough to build the He111C and later stood in the hobby store holding a He111B but then remembered what the kit was like and decided on not to build one. Now some years later I am sitting here with a kit anyway. Let get in to the misery. It's no big secret that the box for the landing gear is too high to fit inside the wing halves. The sides of the box were this time built together without the "ceiling" and glued in place. Then the sides could be cut down to the appropriate height to fit. I used the Dremel to deepen and extend the recess for "the roof". Of course I sanded through the plastic as it became too thin. I think it would have been easier to skip" the roof" and glue some plastic strips directly into the wing instead .The upper half of the wings need to be thinned out at the rear to get it right. My earlier build:
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#7/2024 So, here´s my dad´s latest completion. Typical Roden kit so it didn´t turn out "perfect". Markings with Iliad Design decals. Seems nobody knows the Chinese camo colours, if they had any specific ones. Usually in kit and decal instructions you only read dark green and light grey. Painted the model with AK RC AII Protective Green and Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey. Used 0,4mm plastic rods for the rigging. Buid thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235135968-sino-japanese-war148-beechcraft-d17-staggerwing-chinese-nationalist-airforce/ The Chinese Airforce used a bunch of Staggerings as Air Ambulance during the concflict with Japan in the 40ies. Found no pic of the original and have no idea how the interior of these planes looked, so built it according to the instructions. DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0022 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0023 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr
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Hello to all! here my last work... an Air America PC-6 C/H2 from Roden (one of the most challenging kit that I ever faced). I converted the base kit to a "no car doors version" adding a new and corrected vacuformed windshield. Pilatus_15 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_100 by Valerio, su Flickr I also used some aftermarkets like Quickboost propeller, corrected nose and exhaust, Eduard photoetched set and Wolf3Dresin.com main wheels and tail wheel 3D resin parts. Many other parts has been scratchbuilt or made by turned brass. The model has been completely riveted with Archer positive rivets. Pilatus_130 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_132 by Valerio, su Flickr Decals from Mike Grant's, except for the registration marks painted using home made plottered masks. Hope you'll enjoy! Pilatus_END 1 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 19 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 18 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 6 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 4 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 17 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 20 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 5 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 16 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 14 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 15 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 13 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 12 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 11 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 10 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 9 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 8 by Valerio, su Flickr Pilatus_END 7 by Valerio, su Flickr Cheers from Rome!
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I'd forgotten all about this one, but chatter around the Baby Boomers GB stirred my memory and in turn the stash. Too far over the 20% for that GB but I'm feeling it for a KUTA. No pics until phone broken, but gone backwards a little for starters as tugged the fuselage apart to rework it, and add more ballast. My main incentive is to get to the KLM 40th anniversary decals from F-Decal. Before that, I see a lot of struggle and pain.
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From what I can see this is the first time an NB-36H has been posted in the RFI section and my first ever experiance with a Roden kit. So here is the Roden NB-36H nuclear test aircraft an aircraft well worth reading up on as not only was it a test for the use of reactors in the air but also for the use of potentially powering an aircraft with a nuclear reactor, its self a worrying concept with todays knowledge of radiation etc. Extract from wikipedia for info on the conversion of a B-36H into the NB-36H "The original crew and avionics cabin was replaced by a massive lead- and rubber-lined 11 ton crew section for a pilot, copilot, flight engineer and two nuclear engineers. Even the small windows had 25-to-30-centimeter-thick (10–12 in) lead glass.The aircraft was fitted with a 1-megawatt air-cooled reactor, with a weight of 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg). This was hung on a hook in the middle bomb bay to allow for easy loading and unloading, so that the radioactive source could be kept safely underground between the test flights. A monitoring system dubbed "Project Halitosis" measured radioactive gases from the reactor." With this being my first Roden I didnt really know what to expect beyound what was told to me by one of my fellow IG modellers. So what did I find?....Well the plastic varies between parts, the fuselage being quite thick and hard the wings being thiner and softer. Overall fit was ok a little filler needed on the fuelage half seams and a little extra on the wing joint (wing goes onto fueslage not slotted in) the worst fit was with the engine intakes of the wing leading edge this needed quite a bit of fill and sand fill and sand to get the smooth look of the real thing and the prop spinners needed some work to get a flush fit with the back plate. Overall surface detail is good just could do with being a little deeper. Biggest faults with this kit is 1- the decals lots of edging that I couldn't cut off on the paper as it seems to tare the decal (I had to trim some once dry on model), 2- Instructions the decal numbers are wrong in quite a few places following them aimlessly I ended up with the fueslage striped on the engines and the next day the engine stripes on the fueslage. Yes the engine stripes where too long but I thought they where just longer then needed. So a little dive into the spare decals and a bit of air india 707 spare trim cut to size fixed that. 3- The nose weight needs more then stated, I had to remove the cockpit glass and slip in some lead strips and pva glue to stop it nose bouncing (it didn't tail sit but did hover.) 4- The holes in the wheels for the axel is far larger then the axel size resulting in a hard time getting a non cambered or loose wheel. 5- The decals unfortunatly are out of alinment when printing resulting in that staggered annoyance. Would I make another Roden?.. Yes but I would ceratinly look at the instructions much more closely. Built OOB using plastikote mettalic silver, plastikote brilliant metallic silver, Revell 90, 99, 91, Humbrol 15, 24, 33 So here she is the "BMF" NB-36H (taking the pics I noted the tail reg slipped on one side!)
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Back in December 2016 I started o this, the Heinkel He 111 from Roden. The kit from Hell. Totally unbuildable and other things have been said about this kit. I told this to Jonas in the club and he said that he would build one. I replied if he did I should start on mine as well, and Olle said that he would join in. Stupid of me but it is plastic and I thought that it couldn't be worse than some of my conversion I have done. The cockpit walls looked good I thought. I had read that the clear part was to wide so I started by adding a 0,25 mm plastic strip between the cockpit halves. The same was done at the forward part of the roof. No big problems so far. Then I turned to the interior. Multiple parts and as it turned out not one single bulkhead fits inside the fuselage. They are to wide, to high or just the wrong shape. They need to be cut, filed sanded to fit. Luckily there were "only" five. The fuselage are in multiple parts and when I tried the bottom it showed that the interior floor is to wide at the rear. Also that it was to long. I don't think that the instructions tell you to build like this but I found it easiest to glue the interior to the cockpit halves and then add the fuselage bottom to this. It gave a sturdy part that could be joined with the rest of the fuselage later. It will also ease the painting of the interior I hope. I am a bit worried about the wings. I have read some bad things about them. Things ain't getting better. The box for the landing gear looks nice. But when mounted in the wing it is to high so the wing parts can't join. As it turns out the rear is at least 2 mm to high. So I cut down the sides and thinned down the "roof" as well. But that wasn't enough to make it fit inside the wing. The recess in the upper part of the wing is to short so the box don't fit in it. So I brought out a chisel and made the recess longer and deeper. Not a beautiful work. Finally it fits inside the wing. The rivets are very nice and it is sad that this plane didn't have metal wings. The wing tips should be rounded as well so all of that nice details have to go. I have a feeling that this can be a weak spot when joining the front and rear fuselage. I added plastic strips to strengthen that joint. The seats in the second class had arm rests included while the first class seat didn't have any so I added these. Looking at pictures they were of another type which made it rather simple. The wing tips had to be altered so I removed part of it and glued some plastic card on instead. Then it was reshaped into the rounded type. Well the wing wasn't metal on the first planes and on some pictured the rib pattern is visible so I started to add plastic strips following the rivet pattern on the wing. This is a part of work where the whole build might stall. I guess I will get very bored before I'm through with both wings. This is probably the worst kit I've ever built but so far it has been fun. The work on the wings slowly continues While the fuselage is almost ready to close up. This was how far I came before giving up after one week of building. In June 2017 I decided to restart on the project. I must say that the engines are over engineered. 12 parts for one gondola! Just to make things more fun I used wrong parts so I had to bring out the saw. Of course the engines didn't fit either. One pointing upwards while the other pointed downwards. But I managed to get them in place at last. But I wonder why they did make these parts as separate pieces when one of the hinges is not made to be "movable". Once again the project went to sleep. It had been sitting on the desk accusingly for three years I decided to have a restart. I found that the canopy had gone missing and I searched for a long time without luck. One year later I reached out to Roden asking to buy a new one. They sent me a complete clear sprue for free. Then the next incident happened, one of the passenger windows came loose. One of the openings in the fuselage was to large so there wasn't enough surface for the glue. It went back on the desk for a couple of month before I decided what to do. I cut the door open hoping to be able to reach the window through the opening. I managed to mount a new window but there were much damage to the door and opening that I needed to fix afterward. I added plastic strips to the large window hole to make it fit the window. Hopefully it will stay in place now. This operation meant that I'm doing something I hardly do building planes. I will leave the passenger door open. I never build with open hatches or an open cockpit but I'll go the easy route this time. I might build a passenger stair and place the air hostess from an Airfix DH Heron on it to cover the opening. This kit will not beat me. Here I was happy thinking that I was on the home stretch with all problems behind me. As nothing has been easy with this build, why should the landing gear be? I have the gear from Airfix as a back-up if things don't work out. But looking at parts I will have a go with the Roden parts as I think they look better. I might mix and match between them. But I think that I can see the finish flag in the distance. But I doubt that the landing gear should point outward like that. I have a back up plan though and if it doesn't work, I've got a sledge hammer. In the end so I used most of the landing gear from the Airfix kit. The gear might lean backwards to much but that isn't quite as visible. I'm rather fed up with the kit so I didn't want to cut the doors for the landing gear apart so I used the Airfix parts instead. As the warning of the landing gear was correct the decals now scare me. My sledge hammer is 200 km away so I opted for the airbrush instead. In November 2021 I got a first layer of paint laid down. In July 2023 I decided to repaint it. The grey that should have been semi gloss came out flat and when I looked at pictures I got the impression it wasn't grey at all. It look very shiny and the fuselage seems to be in metal with fabric wings. I have been warned about the decals being prone to dissolving so I made masks for most of the markings. Painting the markings went well. Better than I could hope for. I destroyed the mask for the swastika so I took the decals from a Matchbox He115. I reckoned that the Lufthansa text on the nose and the small logo on the fin tip would be to small for masks so the decals from the Italeri Ju86 was used instead. I even managed to paint the Leipzig text even though I thought that it was to small. It has been fighting me to the end. The final part to be mounted was the clear cover over the landing light. It was not to be found in the box. I started to think of alternatives when I remembered that Roden sent me a complete sprue when the canopy had gone missing. Problem solved I thought but I had forgot what I was dealing with. The clear part was about 2 mm to long. So I had to bring out the saw a final time and fix this. I put in a lens from Resicast to hide the hole in the wing so I now declare it finished. I have mixed feelings of the result. It isn't as good as I hoped for but I guess it is better than I should expect. But at least I managed to get it together even if it took seven years. I just had to win over the kit. There is a device on the IPMS Stockholm front page that says "We don't do inbox reviews. We build." Must live up to that and so we did. Jonas finished his and Olle built two, so we got four of the unbuildable kits built. Here are the other three: The kit from Jonas. The kits from Olle.
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Roden's O-1 Bird Dog in 1/48 scale is not the most straightforward kit. But with the right attitude (not all kits are Tamiya kits!) the experience was pleasant in the end. Big parts went on well mostly and it was the small parts that required some extra attention. Biggest flaw with the kit is probably the clear parts which are quite foggy. And my careless glue handling skills didn't make them any better. But given the subjects down-to-earth attitude, I didn't go the extra mile trying to make them clearer. Only thing that I spent quite a lot of time improving the cockpit with some greenstuff, lead wire, plasticard and brass rods that majority of them is not visible. But atleast I know they are there! And I did leave the door open. Other than the cockpit, I only added the 'Remove Before Flight' labels on the rockets. Kit was painted with Vallejo acrylic paints. Decals required some extra attention with some varnish, sanding & polishing & painting. Not all came out perfect but atleast majority of the big ones came out OK. Weathering was done with enamel products mostly. First, dark gray panel line wash, followed by Vallejo Premium satin varnish. Then some more localized weathering like muddy wheels, exhaust stains and engine grime. O-1 Bird Dog presented here is a forward air controller plane in Lai Keh, South Vietnam in 1966. They were called in by ground forces to scout out the enemy forces and mark them out with white phosphorus rockets for the fast movers like F-100 Super Sabres. This required some slow & low flying which suited the plane well and it had excellent visibility. Only thing that it didn't have much in the way of defense, just the flak vest that was not worn, but instead laid flat on the seat and sat on! Oh, and you could use your CAR-15 rifle by reaching out the side window, far enough that the hot shell casings didn't fly into the cockpit, While flying the plane _below_ treeline. Crazy stuff! WIP here:
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First I was gonna do Fujimi F7U-3P Cutlass as suggested by @gingerbob but then I saw @robw_uk is already working on the kit (build which I'll be following closely!). Now while it really isn't an issue multiple people doing the same kit, then I found this great article with brilliant photos on the O-1: http://modeltalking.hobbyart.sk/?p=5575#more-5575 http://modeltalking.hobbyart.sk/?p=5639 And that got my inspiration through the roof so I will be going to tackle Bird Dog first as proposed by @Col. Here is the kit: No aftermarket stuff, sorry. But this is a multimedia kit after all, kit comes with metal antenna Those brilliant photos on the website really make me want to do some interior scratchbuilding. I will see how far the kit parts will suffice and if there's something that I can or be able to add. I rarely work on 1/48 kits so this extra level of detail is quite new to me. Let's go!
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Roden is likely to release mid 2022 a 1/32nd Sopwith One and a Half Strutter kit - ref. 635 Source: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=11367.0 V.P.
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Boeing 720-048 Aer Lingus early 1960s Roden 1/144 kit with Welsh Models resin engines (kit engines are far too big - a shame because they are nicely moulde Twosix decals Paint finish - Halford's Appliance White + AK Polished Aluminium with Xtracrylic grey panels
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I model aircraft, but I've been thinking a truck of some sort to complement some of my 1/72 Gustavs could be nice (see my Minor Gustavs project) . This GB seems like the opportunity! I have this kit to use with both a fuel truck and a Schwimmwagen (not sure how that translates...)... and what's that little cart thing next to them? Probably a loader of some sort, I would think... Maybe I have a transport, a loader, and a carrier all in one box here!
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Here are some photos of my recently completed B-36, representing a plane (01086, “Miss Featherweight”) based at Carswell during the early 1950's. This model was built using the Roden 1/144 kit, with a few scratch built details. I used an aftermarket decal set from Caracal, because those that came in the kit looked very blurry. I also purchased a wide-base display stand from Academy in order to represent the plane in flight. My additions were the gun barrels (tungsten rod, in place of the kit plastic), rigging (using UNI-Caenis thread) and a very basic set of crew figures (created from Milliput). The kit comes with no interior whatsoever, and I felt that it would look silly to have plane flying with no one inside. There was also no provision for representing the plane with the undercarriage retracted, so some of the wheel bay doors had to be created with Evergreen sheet. This was not an easy build. Cutting a very long story short, basically every single step was accompanied by a lot of filling and sanding to avoid unnatural-looking seam lines and mould sinks. If you are interested I have shared pictures of some of the worst offenders in my web site (https://www.marcellorosa.com/1-144-b-36d-peacemaker), but here today I am celebrating the end of this saga, so I will concentrate on positives! This was my first experience with attempting a natural metal finish. It was a steep learning curve, not helped by the fact that I chose a complicated scheme that combined the metallic surfaces in most places, with anti-flash white in some parts of the bottom surfaces. This meant a lot of masking, particularly keeping in mind that even at 1/144 this B-36 model still manages to be longer, and to have a wider wingspan than my 1/72 Privateer (Itself an elongated version of the B-24 Liberator). Just shows how insanely large the B-36 was, for its time. An entire roll of Tamiya tape was used in this "mini-scale" model... The anti-flash white bottom surfaces were painted with SMS white followed by a bit of insignia white. Panel lines were suggested by running a fine pacer along them, before the last coat of white paint was applied. Pictures of the B-36 suggest two main characteristics of the metallic finish. 1) The crew compartments (aluminium, front and back) look more reflective than the middle parts (magnesium), and 2) there is some variation in shade and reflectiveness between panels. I tried to evoke similar impressions by using different Alclad paints, and by using different final coats after the decals (Vallejo semi-gloss for most of the wing and fuselage, very glossy floor polish for the front and back crew compartments). Weathering was kept to a minimum, with most of it happening "organically" by not becoming too fanatic about cleaning and fixing every little speck of imperfection in the paint. I found trying to weather a 1/144 model surprisingly hard, since everything I did looked like a huge smudge in the plane. Surely, the crew chiefs would not allow that much to stay. Little bits of oil stain were added where I saw in them watching the movie "Strategic Air Command" multiple times. I really wanted a B-36 in my collection, and the Roden kit did provide the materials to build a correctly shaped one - albeit almost driving me crazy, in the process. Unless you have the real estate required to accommodate one of the increasingly rare 1/72 Monogram kits, and the willingness to splash money in the litres of metallic paint required by that kit, the Roden is the best option available. Just don't think it will be a quick and relaxing build. If you are planning to build this kit, feel free to enter in contact using the email in my signature panel, I will be happy to give more details.
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Fokker DVI Jasta 80b Bavarian Home Defence 1918 1/72 Roden I brought this off eBay on a whim for a fiver as it was part started. The build it’s self wasn’t too bad but the markings turned into a nightmare. Typical Roden decals which despite coating with decal film still insisted on breaking up (but not disintegrating completely thankfully) - in the end I’ve had to effectively touch in every lozenge; hours of fun 🤪 As a plus though not much rigging on this one just a few control cables 😊 happy with the final result though
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Hi all, is there any aftermarket stuff out yet to pimp up this kit a bit?
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Hi, About time that I start a thread for my RB-36H. I'm using the Hobbycraft B-36D because it has the neccesary blisters for a recce B-36. As far as I know Roden have not done a recce version of their B-36 yet. I will use option 1 from the Caracal sheet: RB-36H 51-5754 of the 72 nd BW at Ramey AFB. There is also a second option for an RB-36E of the 72 nd BW, but that's a bit more bland without the SAC and wing badge that my RB-36H will have. Today, I glued the wing together and airbrushed the props black. Cheers, Stefan.
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Due early May https://modelsua.com/boeing-rc-135v-w-rivet-joint-c-135-1-144-roden-349
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Hi, this is my first time posting in the non-military vehicles RFI forum as I am, characteristically, an aircraft modeller. But I simply could not pass up the opportunity to make this spectacular bus kit by the Ukrainian company Roden. The "Straßenzepp Essen" was a small series of luxury truck bodies (about 10 vehicles) produced by the workshop of the Ludewig Brothers in Essen. It was used for inter-city travel, day trips, and for transporting athletes and guests at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. The propaganda value of such elegant art deco styled buses with streamlined hoods and aerodynamic fins helped to announce the rapidly developing German auto industry to the rest of the world. Interestingly, not even these artfully designed buses were able to escape service in WWII. At least one was provided to the Luftwaffe for personnel transport duties. Of note, these buses had seats placed at 45 degrees to the window. So you didn't need to twist your neck to look out those big panoramic windows. A feature we've lost in the name of economy... As for the kit, it was difficult to assemble due to the body being moulded in separate roof, sides, and rear panel sections. It took quite a bit of filler and sanding to get some semblance of smoothness, and I think I did a decent job with this for such a small model. The diorama base is the Flyhawk French Streetscape kit. The tree and hanging sign are scratchbuilt. So without further ado, please enjoy the pictures! I should stop by this corner of the forum more often.