1/72 Airfix Do17Z & Defiant Dogfight Double - or A Rake's Work in Progress - Pic Heavy

[Stew Dapple]

I saw a man in a cowboy hat within thirty seconds of getting off the plane, and I am now the owner of a complimentary bolo tie, so it's everything I imagined it would be, so far.

Good news! In my distant and barely-remembered youth we always called those things bootlace ties, I had to look up 'bolo tie' and it turns out they have their own website... rockin'!

Believe it or not, postage to the US from Europe, particularly eastern Europe, is fairly reasonable...

I regret, Casey, that I emphatically do not believe it; postage, like beauty, must be in the eye of the beholder or something; I just sent a couple of small kits from the Airfix website to the USA and the postage... well for that sort of money I assume they are not actually being posted at all but escorted in an environmentally-controlled module by at least two high-end armed bodyguards, who are on unlimited expenses

On the other hand I just ordered a couple of reasonably cheap Hasegawa Hurricane I's (my insurance for if/when Airfix let me down with my delusional imaginary tin-wing Hurricane surprise release this summer) from South Korea with free air mail postage...

It's a mad world I tell you or else it is swings and roundabouts

Cheers,

Stew

[rob85]

Looks like another cracker, especially if your last to are a benchmark... no pressure.

This landed (get it!) At my local this weekend and have to say if I was not now fully resigned to getting the dfd 1/48 mess/spit I would have snapped this up.... I will just have to wait and comfort myself my pulling up a seat (again) to one of your builds

Cheers

Rob

[Navy Bird]

Regarding postage to the US from Eastern Europe, I bought a few MPM/Special Hobby kits off eBay from a guy in Poland, and the postage was $6.00 USD per kit. I thought that was pretty reasonable, but I have no idea if the seller was subsidising some of the postage in the kit prices. But then, the kit prices were reasonable too. Who knows?

I've been watching for this Dogfight Double set over here, but it hasn't shown up yet. I agree with those who prefer the markings that come with the set. Please, Mr. Airfix, soon!

Cheers,

Bill

[Tempestwulf]

You forgot that your maiden was waiving a white hankie what flutters away in a stiff wind.

A metal wing Hurricane would be nice admittedly, they'd only need the wing...right? The Hasegawa hurri is still pretty good but way more expensive >.<;

[Procopius]

I agree with those who prefer the markings that come with the set.

My dream is that someday somebody will do a series of decal sheets called "Made in Germany/Italy/Japan, Finished in X", entirely of Axis aircraft shot down in various theaters.

[06/24]

I've just bought vols1-5 of the Luftwaffe Crash Archive for that very reason. I already have the Airfix boxing with a BF109 that was well photographed after arriving in the UK in an unintentional fashion, and I would like to model it in as downed condition.

[Stew Dapple]

Looks like another cracker, especially if your last to are a benchmark... no pressure.

This landed (get it!) At my local this weekend and have to say if I was not now fully resigned to getting the dfd 1/48 mess/spit I would have snapped this up.... I will just have to wait and comfort myself my pulling up a seat (again) to one of your builds

Cheers

Rob

Thanks Rob You move between scales? How deliciously perverted of you!

Regarding postage to the US from Eastern Europe, I bought a few MPM/Special Hobby kits off eBay from a guy in Poland, and the postage was $6.00 USD per kit. I thought that was pretty reasonable, but I have no idea if the seller was subsidising some of the postage in the kit prices. But then, the kit prices were reasonable too. Who knows?

I've been watching for this Dogfight Double set over here, but it hasn't shown up yet. I agree with those who prefer the markings that come with the set. Please, Mr. Airfix, soon!

Cheers,

Bill

Hi Bill yes, my mini-rant was really about the (still so-called) Royal Mail which has enthusiastically introduced a series of price-rises since privatisation, whereas both you and Casey were referring to Eastern(ish) European post generally. I've received stuff from Europe (and Central Europe in particular) with very good value post and packing. Of course I never get to send stuff through the Polish postal service so their cheap prices only benefit me when I receive goods.

I would imagine that the Dogfight Double set can't be too far from your shores, do you know what the usual wait is? Even if they send them by ship they must be getting close to the US now I would have thought.

...A metal wing Hurricane would be nice admittedly, they'd only need the wing...right? The Hasegawa hurri is still pretty good but way more expensive >.<;

Sadly the sprues of the Airfix Hurricane are not laid out in such a way as would be logical if you wanted to produce a tin-wing version - it doesn't mean they couldn't, but if they were going to then logic would dictate a different sprue layout. I don't much like the back end of the Hasegawa Hurri, the rear fuselage looks like a starved and maltreated pony, but I got one a few weeks back for £8 I think it was, and these two from Korea were £12-odd each which I don't regard as outrageous (a bit stiff assuming that a new-tool Airfix one would probably go for between £5.99 and £7.99 though).

My dream is that someday somebody will do a series of decal sheets called "Made in Germany/Italy/Japan, Finished in X", entirely of Axis aircraft shot down in various theaters.

I am surprised that no-one has actually done this it's a brilliant idea whose time is still waiting to happen; I trust one day you will see it.

[Stew Dapple]

I've just bought vols1-5 of the Luftwaffe Crash Archive for that very reason. I already have the Airfix boxing with a BF109 that was well photographed after arriving in the UK in an unintentional fashion, and I would like to model it in as downed condition.

Damn I am jealous now, I'd love a flick through those; let me know what you think of the books when you have had a look at them please

Cheers,

Stew

[Harfoot]

Just got the splendid Dornier kit, can you tell me where you got the canopy masks from please?

[Stew Dapple]

Just got the splendid Dornier kit, can you tell me where you got the canopy masks from please?

Hello mate, I got mine here but they appear to have sold out - if you email Hannants they might be able to let you know when they expect some more in; alternatively if you don't mind importing them they are in stock here

Cheers,

Stew

[06/24]

Damn I am jealous now, I'd love a flick through those; let me know what you think of the books when you have had a look at them please

Cheers,

Stew

They were an impulse buy but having got them now I don't regret it. They are quite simply superb. Lavishly illustrated, with much intriguing detail, and clearly written with modellers as well as historians in mind. It felt strange to spend so much money on Luftwaffe subjects, given that I've never built one yet, but they were worth every penny. The Publishers have a deal where you can get the first five for the price of four, well worth it imho

[Stew Dapple]

They were an impulse buy but having got them now I don't regret it. They are quite simply superb. Lavishly illustrated, with much intriguing detail, and clearly written with modellers as well as historians in mind. It felt strange to spend so much money on Luftwaffe subjects, given that I've never built one yet, but they were worth every penny. The Publishers have a deal where you can get the first five for the price of four, well worth it imho

Yes, a definite investment, I should love to get the set but I suspect I will always find something else just slightly more necessary...

Cracking on, the two sets of canopies are masked:

So now begins the construction proper. The first thing you have to do is assemble the framework for the pilot's seat and rudder pedals, and the instructions are a little ambiguous; don't glue the seat support frames to the side-frames of the 'floor', there are slots and pegs for the frames underneath it:

When that is all assembled it looks very 3-dimensional and busy; here is the port side:

There is a choice of pilot's seat, one with a squared-off back and one more rounded, the instructions merely point out that there is a choice but do not recommend one over the other; I therefore used one of each. Here is the starboard side:

The fit of the crew seats is a little unconvincing - they fit on a couple of prongs projecting from the fuselage side - but I think will be okay once the glue sets.

I'll leave those to set now and see if there is anything else I can assemble prior to giving the internals and clear parts a coat of RLM02.

Cheers,

Stew

[PlaStix]

Lovely progress Stew. I do like the look of those cockpit areas although I would have been painting all the separate bits for ages before assembling them! Looking forward to seeing what you do with them next.

[Harfoot]

Hello mate, I got mine here but they appear to have sold out - if you email Hannants they might be able to let you know when they expect some more in; alternatively if you don't mind importing them they are in stock here

Cheers,

Stew

Thanks Stew, i use Hannants alot, excellent company. Will email them. Enjoying whatching your progress

[Stew Dapple]

Lovely progress Stew. I do like the look of those cockpit areas although I would have been painting all the separate bits for ages before assembling them! Looking forward to seeing what you do with them next.

Hey Stix, yeah normally I would be doing the individual bits separately, but I'm becoming increasingly partial to spraying stuff in situ and doing the detail painting afterwards (my construction technique generally being a bit lacking and my painting technique reasonably comfortable) - if I was more certain of the stability of those seats I would have left them off until after painting too, but I think I can paint round them more easily than I could glue them after painting with any confidence.

Thanks Stew, i use Hannants alot, excellent company. Will email them. Enjoying whatching your progress

Yes I use them far too much but I would be lost without them.

Cheers,

Stew

[FZ6]

Those masks look great I might have to add them to my watch list. I'm still waiting for the master .303 gun barrels to come back into stock. I wonder if modellers wanting to build Defiants have cleaned them out?

Look forward to seeing how you get on with the camoflage masks. I have some to try on a Lancaster.

[Stew Dapple]

Hi Mark,

I'd hope they could get the canopy masks fairly quickly if enough people ask for them, it would be daft not to. I've got a few sets of the Master barrels 303's, it didn't occur to me to use them on my Defiants, I wonder what I thought I was saving them for?

I've used the camo masks before on a Bf110 and they work well - I believe if you have trouble getting the vinyl to conform to some of the trickier curves you can use a hairdryer to soften them (if you have one, I haven't) and that they stick well if you dip them in warm soapy water before you apply them... but I didn't do that either, and they still worked fine for me. The big selling point for me is that if you remove them carefully afterwards you can use the masks more than once... although that is a questionable benefit in your case unless you are planning on building more than one Lanc (which of course you could do)

Cheers,

Stew

[Ray S]

I bought the RAF set for my Defiant nightfighters; the Luftwaffe paint sets... well what can I say, I like buying paints and decal sets and stuff which absolutely does not count as stash and I wanted some acrylics to lower the environmental smell as far as possible.

I also got these:

Stew

Hello Stew, looking forward to this too. Now a silly question (possibly). Are those paints okay for brush painting or just airbrushing? I am looking for a decent acrylic system too, mainly for the quick drying (and the pong-reduced thing too), and had a bash with the limited Revell range which I found brushes ok, my good lady wifey has just bought me some Humbrol acrylics for Valentine's day (was a pressie that is - she must love me!) so I hope they will do. I don't have an airbrush and rely on the hairy stick.

The Peewit masks look the bees knees as well.

All the best, Ray

[FZ6]

Thanks for the heads up on the masks Stew. I had no idea they were reusable. I would like to build more than one lanc as well.

I'm in no rush for a set of masks for this one. I'm currently going through a night fighter phase and think that I'll end up building my Italeri Dornier 217 night fighter before I get round to this one.

[stevej60]

Hi Stew just caught up with this one,really looking forward to it too and a good start already,are you displaying wheels up on the stand?

[Stew Dapple]

Hello Stew, looking forward to this too. Now a silly question (possibly). Are those paints okay for brush painting or just airbrushing? I am looking for a decent acrylic system too, mainly for the quick drying (and the pong-reduced thing too), and had a bash with the limited Revell range which I found brushes ok, my good lady wifey has just bought me some Humbrol acrylics for Valentine's day (was a pressie that is - she must love me!) so I hope they will do. I don't have an airbrush and rely on the hairy stick.

The Peewit masks look the bees knees as well.

All the best, Ray

Hi Ray,

The AK paint notes on the box that they are for brush painting and should be thinned for airbrushing, the Hataka sets don't mention it, but I touched up a bit of the interior of one of the Defiants I recently finished and it brushed on fine so I'd say they are okay too. The Peewit masks are good, the tape is I think slightly thinner than that Eduard use for their masks, but it doesn't seem to make a difference to the results.

Thanks for the heads up on the masks Stew. I had no idea they were reusable. I would like to build more than one lanc as well.

I carefully peeled the mask off after spraying and stuck the mask pieces back on the vinyl backing sheet. In some respects I am surprisingly profligate with my money, in others remarkably tight

Hi Stew just caught up with this one,really looking forward to it too and a good start already,are you displaying wheels up on the stand?

Hi Steve, nice to see you mate, yep, the Dogfight Double pair will be fully closed up, but the other Dornier all hanging out

Cheers,

Stew

[moaning dolphin]

Hi Stew

Just stumbled across this thread of yours, looks like an interesting combination. I did go down to my local Nova Scotian Hobby store over the week end and they had those Hataka paint sets. I looked closely but wasn't sure of the quality. I shall watch closely to see how it goes, now if they only did a Fleet Air Arm set as well!

Cheers now

Bob

[rob85]

Thanks Rob You move between scales? How deliciously perverted of you!

Hi Bill yes, my mini-rant was really about the (still so-called) Royal Mail which has enthusiastically introduced a series of price-rises since privatisation, whereas both you and Casey were referring to Eastern(ish) European post generally. I've received stuff from Europe (and Central Europe in particular) with very good value post and packing. Of course I never get to send stuff through the Polish postal service so their cheap prices only benefit me when I receive goods.

Well one has to be adventurous some time dont they? I have not dabbled outside of 1/72 apart form once when I was 9. like a couple's first swingers party it can only go one of two ways no?....or so I'm told.

ROYAL FAIL are dire and very overpriced I can get something from korea for less that I pay to send something recorded to London.

The ac interior looks cracking especially for the price! Be good to see how you pull it off. Also I see you `swollowed your frog` buy getting the best job out the way...masking all that glass lucky boy.

Keep up the stunning pace

Rob

[CedB]

Hannants are out of the Peewit maks - rats. Must be all the BM readers stocking up!

[Stew Dapple]

Bob, I think the Hataka paints are pretty new... they only just released the RAF & Luftwaffe North Africa sets, so there may be an F.A.A. set along sooner or later.

Rob, that cracked me up, thanks It is clear to me that there was a different design philosophy at work on the Dornier compared to the Defiant - the Defiant was made to be a simple kit and easy to put together quickly; the Dornier is cramped, crammed and crowded with details; twice as many engines but about ten times as many parts. Not sure which I prefer, but as Lou Reed said, since I don't have to choose I guess I won't. It's interesting to compare them though. As for the masking; yep, sooner that is done the sooner I can stop worrying about it

Ced - yes, I saw they had sold out earlier; email them and ask when they will have some in next, if you want one. If they know people want them I'm sure they will get a move on.

Well I reached a point where I thought I had sorted most of the internal stuff that needed spraying RLM02 and I mixed up a paint-cupful using 50% Ultimate Thinners as recommended on the Ultimate Thinners chart:

I hate to disagree with them, because we were getting on so nicely, but I think 50% thinners is waaaaay over the top for Hataka paint. It came out thin and watery and not much fun to spray, I added a bit more paint so that it was more like 66/33% and I still thought it was too runny, though it was better:

... but I was still not really happy with it. I wondered if I had somehow contributed to the problem, but unless I had not shaken the paint enough before mixing - and I felt like I had spent most of my adult life shaking it - I can't really see how I could have done anything to affect it. Anyway as a result I will need to have another spray session tomorrow and this time I will try approximately 75% paint to 25% thinners and see how I get on with that.

I wasn't really in the mood for any heavy work after that, so I de-sprued, assembled and undercoated the crew:

They are a bit of a disappointment after the excellently-sculpted Defiant crew figures, but I think they will paint up okay and will suffice. The undercoat is a Citadel acrylic called rather charmingly 'Ratskin Flesh' but it does provide a good base for brown, yellow and the skin shader and lighter tone to follow.

Cheers,

Stew