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Modelex 1/72 Heinkel He 112


gbondoni

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My reference pics show that the pedals for this plane had sheet metal surrounds around them, so I have created them from some thin PS. This now really needs some primer to show where cleanup is required and to even out all the color differences and allow me to work, but I have been procrastinating on getting any pigment on it so far, as I always seem to find more little jobs before priming.

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I also did a CA mockup of how the butchered cockpit fits into the fuselage. The answer seems to be "with rather alarming gaps", so I will work on that next, and then, possibly, apply primer to the cockpit. I am also planning to finish cleaning the landing gear bay and adding some detail (very minor, probably a couple of struts in each bay).

After that, I will sand the wings and fuselage to remove the raised detail... that represents the point of no return, where re-scribing is unavoidable, and I'm more than a little scared of that!

But I'll do it anyway - this was supposed to be about learning new skills, after all.

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I had promised not to keep uglifying this poor model, but the huge gap on the test fit of the cockpit (caused by my modifications to the rear bulkhead) meant that I had to graft yet more different-colored plastic to the back and sides of the cockpit floor. Additionally, I will now need to extend the under-seat fuel tank to the new position. I may need to just build a new one. The sharp-eyed amongst you will also be able to see that the control column has been cut down.

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Better references ave made me realize that the tube on which the control stick is mounted doesn't go all the way across the cockpit, so that needs to be trimmed and detailed.

I did, however, do something that actually made a part better - I sanded the wings to get rid of all the putty and the raised detail (past the point of no return, now!). I will now add some detail to the wheel wells and then, after adequate sanding, etc., prime it!

But the pics will have to wait because photobucket is being cranky...

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Pictures of the sanding finally loaded, so I present them here. Lots more to do, but this documents that the raised lines are well and truly gone! Shiny bits are water - I removed the sanding dust.

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And the bottom:

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Also, have now got a good reference for the seats, especially the shoulder harnesses, which didn't appear in the cutaway I had. Looks like I'm going to need another little belt. Good thing I made an extra length of strap material...

Edited by gbondoni
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You should! I'd love to see your build, and besides, your Couzinet build has me scouring the web for a 1/72 kit of that one that I can actually pay for, so it's only fair to start you correcting the Heller (which is a bit of work!)!

I'd also be interested in seeing how much, if anything, the folks at Modelex changed from the Heller kit they inherited.

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The build goes on, albeit slowly.

I've put some detail into the wheel wells, based on my imagination, as I haven't yet been able to find a decent reference pic of that area of the plane. Nevertheless, I think this will pass muster for the underside. Of course, we'll see how it looks after a layer of primer has been sprayed before taking a decision.

Here's how it looks now:

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Speaking of primer, I bit the bullet and applied some to the cockpit assembly. This primer was new to me, and actually had a little less coverage than I was expecting, but did well enough, as I can now see where I need to do more cleanup. As it's a first usage, I will give the primer a couple of days to harden before I handle it.

Now that I can actually see what I'm doing, some of it needs a lot more work (the edges of the instrument panel are pretty ragged, even for 1/72), but other stuff looks a lot better without the different colors and glue reflections. There's more cleanup coming, but at least it's beginning to look like something that can eventually be a cockpit.

Sharp-eyed readers will note that I discarded the kit seat and built a new one. That is because the original crumbled when I tried to put the cuts for the harness into the seat back. It was easier just to scratch a new one than try to repair the damage. Sorry for the awful pic, but this build is showing me just how much photography isn't my strong suit.

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Finally, also received my Mike Grant decals for the instruments. One often forgets juts how small 1/72 is... until you see the sheer number of instruments decals on a small sheet!

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Next steps:

- Sand the raised detail off the fuselage and tail planes.

- Scribe new panel lines.

Both of these have to happen before I install the cockpit, as once that's in, I'd like to keep violent manipulation of the brittle plastic to a minimum.

- clean up the worrying things I can now see in the cockpit. Soms small-scale filing and sanding coming up.

Following this, I will sit down with exterior references to decide just how much detail I'll be adding. Still a way to go before that, though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So, I took the plunge and did my first ever bit of panel line re-scribing. I created a homemade scribing tool by fitting a sewing needle into a round wooden peg.

Initial results are below. There is still a bit of filling and sanding to do, but I'm actually surprised at how it looks after a bit of cleaning. When I first finished, all the mistakes made it difficult to tell that the basic work was actually OK. My method for scribing straight lines seems to have actually worked, much to my delight.

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I primed in silver because the white primer immediately clogged, and I know this particular silver takes successive coats well. Why didn't I just spray a grey, you ask... well...

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The truth is that, as things currently stand, my airbrush and my compressor aren't talking to one another...

I'll buy the fitting for that and keep trying to unclog the white primer. Hopefully one or the other will work out!

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Well done with the re-scribing Gustavo. Personally, it's a task that I hate and try to avoid whenever possible!

Thanks! I personally might get to that point very soon, but this was the first time, so enthusiasm still reigns.

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I've just found this one and am very impressed, it's coming along very nicely! With regard to the seat, I wouldn't fit a cushion as most fighters at that time used a seat parachute which fitted into the "tub" part of the seat bottom.

Ian

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Well one problem sorted!

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Hopefully that will mean lots of progress soon (currently sanding, and filling... and sanding some more and filling some more).

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  • 3 years later...

Wow, last post almost 4 years ago.  A lot of modeling since, but mainly cars, and this one was locked away in a tupperware container in small pieces for quite a while.  I completed it in Romanian colors with some aftermarket decals and show it here for your perusal.  I did a lot of things on this one that I'd never done before, including applying a matt coat and fitting and tensing the antenna, not to mention an attempt at weathering.  Perfect, it isn't, and the camera does bring out all the blemishes, but it looks great in person, especially beside the shiny cars it shares shelf space with. 

 

Experiments that didn't work on this one were my attempts to reposition the flaps, mainly because reference pics showed them in the original position, so no real need to carve them out- simple panel scribing would have looked much better!  Also, the open canopy looks a bit thick, because I chickened out in the thinning of the old, brittle plastic.  There are other things that aren't quite perfect, but that has more to do with my ham-fistedness (especially at this scale) than with anything new I tried to do!

 

Next restoration (and hopefully a quicker build) will be a Focke Wulf which my brother gave me in small pieces, and which is so bad that I'll need to remove the paint before I can see if the shape is all right or not...

 

Final verdict - I'm happy I did this one.  It turned a piece of trash plastic into something that I'm actually quite proud of and, though it shouldn't win competitions, I'll enjoy having on my shelf!

 

Anyhow, some of you were following and giving advice on this one, so it's only fair that you should see how it turned out.

 

heocEoL.jpg

 

 

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Can't see into the cockpit, but it's as detailed as my eyes could manage at 1/72...

 

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And that Focke Wulf, which apparently has the world's largest supercharger intake (hard to see here because of the crappy phone pic) - if anyone can identify the model / kit maker, it will be much appreciated...

 

hXov43x.jpg

 

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OK, Managed to identify the FW-190.  It's the Italeri 190 D from 1978 moldings.  That's one mystery solved, but the restoration will be something for another thread.  Aiming to improve on my new benchmark for aircraft which is the Heinkel above.

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