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UPDATE COMPLETE! - Hasegawa 1/48 Arado Ar-234B-2/N Nachtigall


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Almost time to start another one.

Though this time I'm going to have everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it!!

I'm going to build the Hasegawa 1/48 Ar-234B-2/N Nachtigall, I have always wanted to build this beasty so I'm really looking forward to this one.

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Plus this will be another to add to the collection of nightfighters, maybe 25+ and counting, still mostly packed away as I don't have space or shelving to display! This will be the 5th 1/48 nightfighter I have and will join the; Ju-88G6, Ta-154A-0, He-219A-7, and P-61A.

I'll be doing it in the alternate RLM81/82/76 colour scheme of 140145, one of only two that are recorded to have flown, plus the splinter camouflage will be a nice change from the more normal (?) RLM75/76(/66) colour schemes of German nightfighters.

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As you can see I'll be throwing all sorts additions onto it as I go along, other than engine, they are;
Aries Cockpits set & wheel bays
Aries Wheels & masks
Eduard Cockpit masks
Eduard PE set
Master Model FuG 218 Neptun antenna set
Squadron Crystal Clear canopy, to replace broken item!
And anything else I might find on the web!

I love the Master Model antennas, they're just so fine and detailed, much better that the PE ones included in most models and reasonably priced if you get them from Hong Kong!

Well this should keep me busy...now just waiting for starters orders then the fun starts! :frantic:

Edited by trickyrich
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arr thanks, it should be too easy!!! :D

 

Mmm well not really, am a bit nervous on this one, as it has to be one of my all time favourites. This aircraft seems to be always forgotten about when people start talking about the first operational jet aircraft in WWII. The Arado was almost perfect in its role as a bomber (ok range wasn’t that great) and as a Recon Bird (perfect in this role), so it could almost be considered the genesis of the modern strike aircraft (told you I was fan!).

 

Was almost going to build the Recon version flown by Erich Sommer, but do have a soft spot for nightfighters, so maybe next time?Am very lucky to have a print of his aircraft done by an Australian artist, which was also signed by Erich shortly before his death, it’s a beautiful portrait of the aircraft in flight.

 

Hopefully I can do this forgotten aircraft some justice in this build.

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Ok, here we go, sorry no pics at the moment.

 

Started by going over everything and just having a good look at what I’ve gotten myself into!!!

 

I’ll use a mix of the Aries and Eduard PE parts for the cockpit as some of the Eduard bits look fantastic, especially the rudder pedals. Plus the bomb sight has to go, it's replaced by a small panel (have no pics of the panel just the frame) so a wee bit of surgery is required there.

 

The broken cockpit....i may just cut out the hatch and only replace that, will leave a tiny crack, will see.

 

Reckon I spend nearly an hour just removing the resin plug from the bottom of the cockpit!!! Started with the saw but eventually got the sh#ts with that, so out with the Dremel, sorted, then 15 minutes to clean up mess!

 

Still not a 100% convinced that the gun pod is correct, all the drawing I can find show a different shape, plus for some reason Hasegawa has omitted the Naxos radar antenna off this model, is included in later release, will have to scratch build this......

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Ok this will be my final update for a couple of weeks, back on shift!

 

I haven’t done too much to this, really only just started due to the fact I am going away again. Just started the slow process of removing all the resin pieces from their mould blocks, which was a job and a half. Plus also started to put together some of the easy main sub assemblies, one of which did give me some issues.

 

Glued the lower wing sections to the main upper section after a quick clean up, thinking everything was ok! Next morning noticed the trailing edge was so thick in real life it would have been 8â€+ thick!!!  :angry:   All I could do was cu the trailing edge open with a razor saw (glue had well and truly set) and carefully thin it down, not 100% but ended up much better! Was almost going to consign it to the box of doom and start again!!!

 

Added the new PE bits the rear engine fairings

 

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With help for some kind folks here I was able to get some pics of the interior of the B-2/N, main cockpit and radar operators box! The main cockpit photo showed that the bomb sight was removed and replaces with something else, photo only showed mounting bracket. So I added something to replicate this. Oh and the carpet monster tried to eat these bits multiple times!

 

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The main wheel wells required some modification, though the Aries instruction didn’t show this, so there was another hour spent sorting that out, plus a litle extra bracing.

 

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Didn’t go too much done, was a bit busy on non model activities, which included a music festival in the old Olympic site, though that day the temperatures there was 49°C (120°F), and 45.5°C (114°F), in the city by the harbour, hottest day on record!!!  :boom:  :jump_fire:   Needless to say lots of beer was drunk.......only to keep cool of cause! :cheers:

 

Plus spent some time on other projects......

 

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Ju88C6 (possibly C7) with FuG 220d Morgenstern 2/3x2 oblique inclosed,

 

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Ta154A1 (possibly /U4) with wing mounted FuG 218 "Neptune" radra antenna.

 

think they are a wee bit past the 25% rule...... :P

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  • 3 weeks later...

ok finally managed to get back to this....

Has been a pretty eventful period, managed to get cut off at site for 10 days due to heavy floods we had there, eventually had to be flown from site by helicopter due to roads still been cut 9 days after the rains. Closer to the coast they had 28” of rain in 24hrs!! :raincloud:


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Plus had a couple of odd jobs to do at home once I was back, even managed to buy and build new shelves to store/display stuff........was a bit amazed to find some stuff I had forgotten about in the box (es) of doom, may get to finish them one day. :whistle:


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Ok back to the subject, started work on the cockpit, this will be the major part of the build as this will be the most exposed part. Only managed to lose one PE bit to the carpet monster, though have to admit is was probably the smallest bit of the entire set, and unless I mentioned where it was you’d never miss it, so no major loss. The PE bits are really doing my head in, so far there is about 6-7 hours spent on the cockpit! :hypnotised: Though am nearly finished, probably another hour or so to go, am happy with the results so far. Have to admit though I am sort of enjoying it.....have really gone mad! :mental:


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Still have to do the harness on the seat.

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Aries instrument panel detail set.

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The main reference book I have been using is Aero Detail #16 - Arado Ar-234 Blitz, it has some great details photos of the cockpit and undercarriage.

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just a few touch ups here, nearly there.

Have used a mix of the Eduard and Aries PE sets to detail up the cockpit, looks pretty nice so far. Even managed not to loose those tiny red T handles either!!


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Have added some extra panel details to the side walls, but this section is pretty much hidden once the the rear canopy is fitted, still have to build and paint seat and side walls again.

Am toying on the side with the idea of using to original damaged upper canopy section and having the door open, that way only using the door section from the Squadron set. Not sure yet, but with canopy open at least you’ll be able to see all interior detail.....will think about it. :undecided:

Whilst away bought a 1/48 Gomix Ar234 B-2, not sure if I’ll have time to build it for this GB, but have stolen the gun pod. It’s exactly as all the drawing I have for the gun pods fitted to the two nightfighter versions (it's on the right, Hasegawa one left), so it’ll be pressed into service. Just have to tidy it up a bit so it fits correctly and add a bit more detail.


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This picture is not the correct one for the nightfighter version, but you get the idea.

The Gomix kit itself is nice but there are quite a few issues with it, namely the overall dimensions, too small, and the shape of the cockpit area. Probably too much to fix, but you could still probably produce a nice model, will use all the left over bit to pimp it up.

Plus have also bought (spend lots of time on eBay when onsite and bored!!!) a flap set for it as well, once they arrive they’ll be fitted as well.

Next up though is the main undercarriage bay, luckily this is not quite so detailed!!!.


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thanks guys....

ok to progress or lack of it!!!

Was meant to be a day where I finish the cockpit and pretty much the main undercarriage as well.

But Mr Postman (well actually Miss Post-lady) delivered the flaps for it this morning. So was out with the razor saw and off go with the flaps.......

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You know the saying “measure twice cut once........” well............ :banghead::weep:

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As can be seen the flaps are a wee bit small (first thought they were for 1/72!), and would probably more suit the Gomix model and not the Hasegawa one (this photo was after deciding to cut the rest off).


Needless to say I wasn’t that happy :fuyou_2: , so seeing I had started it was off with the rest and custom building we go.

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Needed to make new sections for the flaps to go in as well and new faces for the flaps. Was planning to cheat a bit with the outer flaps, but decided to do them properly.

After numerous hours have almost got them finished, and reluctantly have to admit they probably turned out a lot better than I thought. But still was a lot of time a effort I wasn’t really planning on. Plus the reference drawings of the flaps and the actual Hasewaga wings don’t actually agree, so a bit of artistic license was required!

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Just a little bit more to go, will leave them off until it's painted which will make life a bit easier!

Hopefully tomorrow goes a bit smoother! :pray:


Think this Gomix model is going to be a bit of a problem child to build as all the measurements are a bit off, no wonder they're "rare", scattered in "boxes of doom" throughout the world no doubt........though it may become the basis of a Turbo Prop version for Whatif GB III. :evil_laugh:

Edited by trickyrich
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Ok today’s instalment/saga.....

Well the flap saga was pretty well done yesterday, but looking over the work this morning things just didn’t look right. After lots of trolling over drawings I worked out that it was all a bit wrong!!! :doh:

There are two things wrong with the Hasegawa model with regards to the flaps, first they are two wide and second the actuators for the outer flaps are wrong.

The widths of the flaps are too great and when down around 20° they would foul on the engines, both inner and outer. This didn’t seem right and drawing and photos agree though I couldn't find if they actual cleared them or not, photo's nad drawings were a bit unclear with this point. Secondly the actuator axis points are in the flaps and not in the wing as the model portrays.

Both were not show stoppers, but as I’m trying to do this right (after the initial stuff-up) they needed to be fixed. So a few hours later here we are, very nearly finished and happy with the results.

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This is the outer flaps with the actuator covers in the correct position, in the flaps with small fairings coming out of the wings.

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Completed flaps now the correct width, had to remove the extensions I previously added to the flaps and add them to the wings each side of the engines. This brought them back to how they should have been per the drawings. The flaps will now happily drop to about 60° without fouling, this may not be 100% correct, but it's much better than it was originally.

In-between all this work I managed to almost complete the cockpit, just a couple of things to finish, namely the seat belts.

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Am really happy with how this looks through the cockpit glazing, just need to get the seat belts sorted out detial/painting wise, wish they were pre-painted like the new Eduard stuff!


The main wheel wells are nearly there, just some tiding up of the detailing and finishing sorting out the main gear. It's a pity though that the majority of it will be hidden due to the main gear doors being closed......but I know it's there!

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Once that done I can button up the fuselage, which will be a milestone.

From there the rest of the build short be straight forward.....until the antenna array, which will be fun, its sooooo delicate!

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Been slowly working away with this, though had to have yesterday off, thoughnot sure what’s so important about the 14th of Feb!!! :P

Noticed it was a bit quite around here! ( :chair::fuyou_2: for those who forget the flowers and bubbles!)

The cockpit is finished and assembled, still haven't finished seat yet, hate painting seat belts.

Main undercarriage is just about there, just a couple of things to do, then I can button up the fuselage. Build the main undercarriage doors and played around with a few other PE bits.

Wings and flaps are done.......finally, and look great, was worth the extra time and effort.

Hopefully things will now progress a bit quicker, would like to have it done and dusted before I go on holidays. Photos tomorrow.



Edited by trickyrich
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Ok update time....

Haven’t really progressed too much when the photos are looked at, but a lot has happened behind the scenes. Major drama was that I dropped the cockpit, with additional lead weight attached foot peddle first on to bench while test fitting! Luckily I only managed to break off both foot pedals, still took ages to fix....needless to say i wasn’t happy! :doh::weep:

Finally managed to close the bodies, wasn’t very happy with the fit at all on the front sections of the fuselage. Plus wing gaps were horrible, a bit of reshaping and plugging later the wing joints are now ok but still had to do more filling on the front section than I thought I would.

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Cockpit and glazing ready for assembly. Upper section was originally broken in half. Bough a replacement set from Squadron but really wanted to use the original somehow. So reglued broken bits and cut out upper hatch, and replaced with hatch from Squadron set, looks ok, just wee line across one of the upper windows (sorry camera is a bit old and won’t show clearly), if at the end it’s no good then still have complete part from Squadron I can use.

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Last time this area will be seen so clearly...gosh what a cave the poor guy had to sit in, must have been a tiny guy to fit! :mental:


Shaped and assembled main gear doors, plus started to look at antenna assembly.

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They do look good, that's just a dirty smudge on the LH door, just need to be primed.

This is a Master Model set to replicate the FuG 218 Neptun antennae and boy is it fine. Had to cut off old parts and drill new a hole for main mast, recommended 0.3mm and even that was too big, may have to go to 0.2mm! You may not be able to see it in photos but brass masts have small holes for the antennae....this will be fun, but boy they look nice!

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No nothings glued yet, just looking at how much will be involved in the assembly.....lots! And yes those antennae are tiny....can hear the carpet monster licking its teeth already! :yikes:

While I was procrastinating over this build did a bit more to another project that's been sitting around (for about 2 years), hopefully will have the two finished at the end on the build (I know this one isn’t eligible, but will still be nice to have it finished). It’s done up as a Wing Staff aircraft with 1 Gruppe NJG 3, it’ll have wing mount FuG218 antennae, a bit whatif’y. But this antennae arrangement was shown for use (may have even been used) on this aircraft, probably to help reduce drag, plus these aircraft were to be assigned to this Stab and Gruppe.

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Any way was a good break from the beast, next update should be ready for the paint!!!

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