The Amerika Fighter

[kwaterous]

BIG update time

I decided to start yet another part of the plane, and did the exhausts. these were cut apart, drilled out, had the weld line added frome plastic cement, were glued back together, then painted and weathered.

Next up, painting the cockpit...

The tub (it looks better when it's not in a closeup photo)

Right hand side. Again, closeup isnt doing it any favours

With the IP and left hand side. Dials on the IP are cut from the kit decal.

In other news... the radar mount has had to be moved iboard to avoid fowling the slats

The circle and other bits of putty are a past battle damage test after being repaired.

Finally, I have decided to remove the control surfaces in order to make the plane a bit more dynamic.

Comments etc. are appreciated

K

[kwaterous]

Few bits done:

Prop finished (one of em')

Wash (it looks like a lot... it isn't really)

Weathering done

finished off with tinted future

And I did seatbelts (masking tape and wire)

they're a little crude but, they'll be pretty much invisible

Comments etc. welcome

K

[Luftwaffe]

Should be enough for the cockpit. When the canopy is on, it will look fine. On the prop it's black i assume? Looks a bit blue on the photo....

[kwaterous]

The prop is very dark green, and the spinner is very dark blue... It is a Whif after all

K

[HOUSTON]

Your whiffer is looking great

[kwaterous]

Thanks HOUSTON

K

[kwaterous]

Thinking about the scheme... Would a squiggle (like the nightfighters) have been. Plausible choice for the camo?

I could to do a dark gray pattern, with black squiggles.

Alternatively. I could do a normal camo pattern, just somewhat darker than normal

Opinions?

K

[penfold]

FWIW I would consider going for the in-flight refuelling solution; Sir Alan Cobham was trialling early set-ups before the War, so totally feasible; just add a refuelling probe.....

[kwaterous]

Well, Fuselage #1 has been stuck together... now, to start all over again...

I REALLY don't want gaps (guess what; I got some anyway)

Next Up... The Other cockpit...

Removed the detail that was there

I got a little overzealous when removing the sidewall detail and had to fill some gashes

I also got the second wheel bay started;

You can also see one of the gear legs that I scratch built

Last progress for this update, the front of the radar dome has been reshaped so that is does not look o much like the one on the corsair (total coincidence ) and glued on.

Fit is an issue...

Comments and criticism etc. are welcome

K

[HOUSTON]

Looks good in MY eyes..

[kwaterous]

Got a little bit of work done lat night:

The pieces of the secon wheel well were glued together.

and from the other side;

Filling and sading next... eyuch

Also started on the horizontal stabilisor. Here I decided that the elevators woud be separate, in order to help out the ailerons and improve roll rate.

more filling and sanding... so pleased...

Comments, questions and whatever else you want to add are welcome

K

[kwaterous]

Quick update: I've done the basic work on the second cockpit.

I've used an old ski pass, brass wire, bits of paperclip an sprue, foil from contact lense packages, a random bit of clear platic I had lying around, and some pencil lead

Commets are, as always, appreciated

K

[kwaterous]

Another Update:

The second wheel bay is finished.

puttied (elmers wood putty)

sanded

Just a little ore sanding on the inside of the bay, then I'll drill the mounting for the gear leg.

Basic painting on Cockpit #2 has also been completed.

(I have also mounted the elevators at a deflected angle using brass wire)

Instrument panel. For some reason, the decal didn't come anywhere close to matching up with moulded circles on the panel, so it was cut into three pieces in order to make it fir better, but, as you can see, it still doesn't fit particularly well.

The last thing I did was to fill the gap around the radome and sand it down

I also drilled a small hole in the front of the radome (don"t ask me why, I don't know that awnser )

As always, comments etc. are appreciated

K

[mike romeo]

Great progress! Looking forward to seeing how this one shapes up.

regards,

Martin

[kwaterous]

Me too mike, me too...

I've built the Pilot's cockpit tub:

I'm not particularly happy with the wheels on the side of the cockpit, but, like everythong else, they'll be practically invisible

I still have a little bit of sanding to do on the seat backrest top and sides in this photo, but that has now been done

Any commentnt are welcome

K

[kwaterous]

This one will be taking a brief (well, maybe not so brief) hiatus from this build, I'll be back, maybe on the Christmas break. I'll update then.

Thanks for the input and support everybody.

Cheers,

K

[kwaterous]

Well, there has been some progress on this one over the last few months, but it has been very slow. I've been taking pictures all along, I've only made enough progress for one update.

I got the undercarriage wells finished, and planned out how the bay doors will fit.

I also finished, painted and weathered the second (pilot's) cockpit

lastly, I made the seat belts for the pilot out of masking tape and wire.

Photos:

gear leg dry-fitted into bay

wheel bay doors, made out of both doors in the original kit

cockpit painting completed

wash applied

lap belts, they look better without the macro mode.

full belts.

I'm getting close to closing up the fuselage, just a clear coat on the cockpit, attach it all together, stick in the seatbelts, then closer-r-up!

then its just a matter of getting the two fuselages lined up, glued, puttied, sanded and the it's time for paint, then decals, then weathering, then its done. Not so far away when you think about it

K

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Love what you are doing here.

Really impressed with your seatbelts, those buckles must be maddening to make!

Have you considered using lead foil instead of masking tape? I find tape to be a swine to work with (and I don't add buckles).

[kwaterous]

Thanks sgt.

I have considered using foil, but the I'd have to paint it and use glue in it...

The buckles were fairly easy, I trapped a piece of wire between two strips of tape, then folded each end over in the opposite direction. And bent using a set of pliers. It only took a couple minutes apiece.

K

[Sgt.Squarehead]

It's the glue on the tape that does my head in, I wind up with the damned things stuck to everything except the model.....Including me!

[kwaterous]

I find that if I stick the tape to my cutting board first, then peel up what I need, it loses some of the stickiness. It also depends on the kind if tape, the stuff I use for this is quite low tack to begin with. It's testors masking tape of some kind, comes with 3 different thicknesses in 1 pack, this is the really thin stuff.

K

[wyverns4]

Hi K,

Just caught up with your interesting WIF!

If I may make a suggestion, to increase the range why not have a towed fuel supply? IIRC the Germans had a working mock-up of a winged fuel tank that was connected to an Arado 234 at the base of the tail???

For the colour scheme how about RLM 72/73 splinter with stripes of 76??? I have done a Ta 183, carrying one of those strange bomb-torpedo thingies, in this scheme and it looks, in my not-so-humble opinion, rather swish! I based the concept on the schemes worn by KG 40 whilst operating in the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic approaches.

Keep it up!

Christian the Married and exiled to africa

[Graham Boak]

I'm sure that you are right that a 109 Zwilling would be based upon the later airframe, but suspect a night fighter role rather than quite such a range stretch. I also feel that a longer fuselage would be necessary. Think F-82. This would of course provide space for extra fuel but I suspect is a little late, for this one at least. The Revell kit does however need replacement props as the diameter is too small.

[kwaterous]

Thanks Christian and Graham,

Christian, that quite an interesting concept, do you know how and where they planned to have it atatched? Or did it never get that far?

Graham, thanks for dropping by, I think it may be too late for both of those fixes, one of the fuselages is already together, I don't particularly fancy cutting it apart now. As for the propellors, I could cut them off and add a shim of round stock, but then they just look odd... Any advice on that?

K

[Cookenbacher]

Glad to see this on back in action K. As mentioned earlier, the seatbelts are particularly amazing.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Cookenbacher