Gunthar Rall 109 G-2; On to the Cockpit!

[GREG DESTEC]

Great update George,

 

I like the paint/weathering, looking good. Painting rubbery bits can be challenging. If you have white craft glue you can water it down and paint it on like a primer. It dries clear. Then apply your chosen paint. I have tried this on the small scale Airfix figures, and its worked. If you have a rubber like sprue test it on that first.

 

Cheers 

Greg

Edited May 13, 2017 by GREG DESTEC
Spelling

[georgeusa]

4 hours ago, Arniec said:

That is a nice looking engine. although I don't know about the light blue. With manny builds I have seen them be painted silver.

O, by the way the cockpit should be in RLM66 color. This is a dark(ish) grey color.

 

I think that a enemel based paint will hold. You can always try to dry brush it on. Then it is  a nice thin coat. If it stays on ?!?! I don't know.

 

Cheers,

I like the additional blue color for the engine. But, as far as accuracy, who knows. Other engines have the color as silver. Not sure what I will do; be conservative and paint the ignition totally silver, or add the blue high lights as per the rather used engine photo?  Thanks for the heads up on the cockpit color. I have trouble remembering when what color changed from what standard on what model.   All I know is that whatever color it is, that it will be the only shade I do not have in stock!

[georgeusa]

3 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Great update George,

 

I like the paint/weathering, looking good. Painting rubbery bits can be challenging. If you have white craft glue you can water it down and paint it on like a primer. It dries clear. Then apply your chosen paint. I have tried this on the small scale Airfix figures, and its worked. If you have a rubber like sprue test it on that first.

 

Cheers 

Greg

Thanks Greg!  I will try that on the spruce to see the results. I have all sorts of different glues, one of them will work hopefully. 

[georgeusa]

Just a little more of an engine update.  Got a few minutes to mess with the kit so did some more engine construction.  First up, the rubber ignition harness was installed.

 

 

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be to install once I realized I had to open up the holes for the ignition wires to enter in the engine block.  Trumpeter, in my opinion, made these holes too small for the rubber wires to enter.  After the holes were enlarged with a suitable drill bit, it was fairly easy to use tweezers to install with a quick application of superglue to hold them in place.

Next up the port side tank was installed.

 

 

Now, I will not try to get to technical here in my descriptions of parts, but from the tank, there is tubing that goes to that little round thingamabob that is just above the front ignition wire.  Trumpeter has generously provided another rubber part for this

 

 

Now, it just could be my construction, but the little rubber tubing supplied is too short to reach from the tank to the round thingamabob.  So, got some suitable wire, bent it to shape, and flattened the end where it attaches to the thingamabob.

 

 

The hole in the tank had to be opened a bit wider, but installation of the substitute tubing went fine.

 

 

Next up was the supercharger was put in place.

 

 

There are some bits and pieces that need to be added to the bottom of the engine.  But of course, they have mold seams to clean up first; a reoccurring, irritating theme with this kit.

 

 

But they are all cleaned up and installed.

 

 

 

 

Since only the port side engine panel will be opened, I am not sure how much of the bottom of the engine will show, so not much effort will be done in this area.  Likewise, I have not detailed the starboard side of the engine as that will never show.  Perhaps the learned members of this web site can answer a question that has been on my mind.  When researching the engine for this kit, it seems 9 out of 10 photos of the actual engine, whether it is stand alone or in the airframe, is of the port side of the engine.  There are relatively few photos of the starboard side in comparison to photos of the port side.  Any explanation?  Seems for a V engine, both sides of the engine would be accessed a similar number of times. What is really odd is that most of the stand alone engine displays are so often photographed from the port side.

Next up is some painting of the new engine parts installed, some more weathering and just a little more detailing of the engine.  I have been experimenting with the port rubber ignition harness on the best way to get paint to stick to it.  So far, it has been resisting efforts for paint to adhere to its surface.  As always, all comments are welcome.

 

 

[vppelt68]

I took supercharger=port side pics of a DB 605 A because the engines were displayed that way in the museums... Probably the non- charger side is less interesting visually, because it lacks the hairdryer, thus they are displayed the way they are?

But your engine build is so good looking  I have said to myself (as a dedicated 72nd scaler so far) I just have to get one larger scale kit just to get to build a 605!

V-P

[georgeusa]

1 hour ago, vppelt68 said:

I took supercharger=port side pics of a DB 605 A because the engines were displayed that way in the museums... Probably the non- charger side is less interesting visually, because it lacks the hairdryer, thus they are displayed the way they are?

But your engine build is so good looking  I have said to myself (as a dedicated 72nd scaler so far) I just have to get one larger scale kit just to get to build a 605!

V-P

You need to succumb to the dark side and do at least a 1/32 detailed kit, like Trumpeter's Avenger, Tamiya's Spitfire/Zero/Corsair, or ZM Raiden/He 219/Skyraider. Or, just go crazy with 1/24 Airfix Typhoon/Stuka/Mosquito or Trumpeter's Hurricane.   Finally, if you want to use up a bunch of space HK's B-17 or B-25. 

 

[vppelt68]

Tempting, but I'm saving space and money for the 1:24 Stratofortress...

Actually there's a good deal for a 1:48 Zvezda G-6 kit including a very good Finnish decal set. 25€ and the kit appears to have decent option for displaying it with open cowl.

[BerndM]

Good work on the engine. Guess getting the rubber harness in place was not too easy.

The well used look is also a nice touch.

[georgeusa]

1 hour ago, BerndM said:

Good work on the engine. Guess getting the rubber harness in place was not too easy.

The well used look is also a nice touch.

It was actually easier than I thought after the holes were properly drilled out. Superglued the main pipe to the block along with the two end wires.  Let those connections dry.  Then it was pretty easy with some curved end tweezers to put each pair of wires into their respective plug location and hit them with a drop of superglue to hold in place. Took about 10 minutes total. Thanks for the compliment on the engine and glad you are looking in on the build. 

[georgeusa]

3 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

Tempting, but I'm saving space and money for the 1:24 Stratofortress...

Actually there's a good deal for a 1:48 Zvezda G-6 kit including a very good Finnish decal set. 25€ and the kit appears to have decent option for displaying it with open cowl.

I personally think 1/48 is a normal scale to build . . . But baby steps for doing the bigger scales. Still think you should try one of the larger scales; warning though, it's addictive. 

[BerndM]

5 minutes ago, georgeusa said:

It was actually easier than I thought after the holes were properly drilled out. Superglued the main pipe to the block along with the two end wires.  Let those connections dry.  Then it was pretty easy with some curved end tweezers to put each pair of wires into their respective plug location and hit them with a drop of superglue to hold in place. Took about 10 minutes total. Thanks for the compliment on the engine and glad you are looking in on the build. 

Sounds promising, may i get that done as well.

[georgeusa]

Painstakingly Painting Engine Update.  Just a few pictures as building a new cattle loading area has taken priority in my time for creative building.  So, most of the update is just more painting and weathering of the engine as it actually grows closer to completion.  I put the base coat on the bottom parts that were added.

 

 

As that dries, I tackle the rubber ignition wires with paint and primer to see if I can get something to stick.  My first attempt with just acrylic paint was a bust as the paint did not adhere and just pinged off if looked at the wrong way.  I then tried enamel paint and it worked a bit better, but still the adhesion left something to be desired.  I then coated the ignition wire with diluted Gorilla Glue and tried acrylic paint again.  SUCCESS!!!!  The blue acrylic paint adhered.

 

 

Because I liked the way Plasto’s engine looked with a serial number stamped on the block, I thought I would try to source some decals from the spares box and make my own serial number.  Now I know the serial number I used probably does not correspond to any engine number in the German Air Force, but I like the look it gave the engine block.  However, somewhere there is a U. S. Navy aircraft, scale unknown, who is missing a serial number.  I added some more pieces to the engine like the engine bearers and bottom shield for the nose cannon.  I did some more detail painting and this is where the engine stands now.

 

 

Next up, the exhausts will be added, a few more wires, a little more oil and lubricant stains and I will call this puppy finished.  As always, all comments are welcome.

[SimonT]

You're right, the serial number is a nice touch, adds an air of authenticity.

[GREG DESTEC]

Looking good George,

 

Glad to hear the adhesive primer trick worked on the rubber parts. 

 

Cheers

 

Greg 

[georgeusa]

5 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Looking good George,

 

Glad to hear the adhesive primer trick worked on the rubber parts. 

 

Cheers

 

Greg 

Thanks for the tip Greg. Don't think I would have thought of that on my own!

[georgeusa]

6 hours ago, SimonT said:

You're right, the serial number is a nice touch, adds an air of authenticity.

It's a spurious number, but it adds something to the look. Once again, thanks to Plasto for the inspiration as I totally ripped this off from his build!

[Ozzy]

Nice job on the engine George, I can't believe your worried about figure painting.

[georgeusa]

57 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Nice job on the engine George, I can't believe your worried about figure painting.

That's only because you have never seen any of my poorly painted pilots in some of my builds.  It's a cross between really bad plastic surgery and very poorly applied clown makeup. It's not pretty. 

[PlaStix]

Wonderful progress on the engine George. Looking very good. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[Ozzy]

2 hours ago, georgeusa said:

That's only because you have never seen any of my poorly painted pilots in some of my builds.  It's a cross between really bad plastic surgery and very poorly applied clown makeup. It's not pretty. 

 

Live got a few like that, I just tend to paint the face in one tone and that's as far as I go.

[georgeusa]

Engine update, who’s counting now!  I’m getting exhausted by these continual engine updates.  And speaking of exhausts, here they are all 12 pieces.  (Only 8 made it into the picture, 4 went for a lark!)

 

 

Now they are pieced together and it seems they are sided.

 

 

Why oh why, when the exhausts are put together, there is not the prevalent mold seam that every other part in this kit has.  I need a mold seam in the middle of each exhaust.  Now, even though I have been sanding off every mold seam on all the parts, I now must create one!  Just doesn’t seem right.

Also, looking at pictures of different engines and looking at the Eduard Brassin engine I have for the Royal “G” boxing, there are more pipes that need to be added.  The first is a pipe that goes from the back of the engine, follows the top contours of the engine mount and goes behind the port tank, loops back under the port tank and then between the 3rd and 4th exhaust pipe.  After much bending and muttering strange sayings I ended up with this pipe representation made of wire.

 

 

And here it is installed.

 

 

The next pipe goes across the top of the engine and attaches to the back side of each engine tank.  More muttering and bending results in this piece of work.

 

 

And here is that pipe installed.

 

 

Finally, there are pipes coming from the tank cap at the top of the engine and curves down behind the engine mount.  Two of these are made, one for each side of the engine.

 

 

And here are all the wires installed and cleaned up.

 

 

I know this isn’t a big update, but you cannot believe how much time it took me to get the wire pipes bent in the correct position; nor the different failed attempts that I made.  Through this bending and fitting of new pipes, I only succeeded in knocking off the port tank once.  I consider that a good situation. Next on the to do list is to get the exhausts cleaned up so I can make a seam down each exhaust’s middle to represent the weld seam.  Then, some smaller wiring has to be done along, in front, and behind the engine support.  Finally, there are some grubbins that need to be put on the front of the engine in preparation for the propeller assembly.  As always, all comments are welcome.

 

 

[GREG DESTEC]

Now that's dedication to details George!

 

It certainly looks busy, and when installed in the airframe will look even better for it.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

[georgeusa]

1 minute ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Now that's dedication to details George!

 

It certainly looks busy, and when installed in the airframe will look even better for it.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

You are more than kind in your remarks; thank you.  I'm just worried that in this scale, if I don't include the details, the engine will just look toy-like and out of place when displayed. 

[SimonT]

That's looking really good, certainly not toy like!

[georgeusa]

7 hours ago, SimonT said:

That's looking really good, certainly not toy like!

I think if I just used the parts out of the box and the simplified painting instructions provided by Trumpeter, it would look very toy like. This isn't a disparagement of Trumpeter's efforts as they provide a good base to build on. Thank you for the sentiment and for taking the time to look at the build.