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Italeri 1/72 Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant


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It's alive!!! The Gigant is back from the dead. Well perhaps from suspended animation, it was never really dead. If you check back to 2013 - 2017 posts on this site, you'll the 

beginnings of this thread. After a two year hiatus I decided to revisit the Giant. There was too much work done on it to abandon the project. To refresh your memory, the Me 323 V-14 was a four engined prototype for the ultimate six engined Giant. Several variations were tried, but I liked the looks of this one, which used four Jumo 2111 power plants. These engines came from two Revell Ju 88 kits. This necessitated some adjustments, which can be found in the original thread. Anyway, back to the present.

Here is a photo of the wing just set in place with an engine is taped on. I'm trying to plan the logistics of painting the thing. The cockpit has been glued in but I did not yet

realize at this point that there was problem with the primer. When I sprayed the Mr. Surfacer 1000, I didn't notice that it went on much rougher than usual. After applying the RLM 71 dark green to the tail feathers, I was appalled at how bad it looked. The choices would have been  to live with it (uh-huh), keep spraying Gunze lacquer paint until things it smoothed over the surface (epic fail), beat it to death with a ball peen hammer (thought about it) or buff the whole thing down with my trusty Nubar Magic Buffer. I chose the latter. It took the better part of an evening and I had to snap off two support struts for the horizontal stab to get to everything. I also inadvertently knocked off five bell cranks, but that was necessary collateral damage.

 

I have to say that smoothing this out, and essentially saving the build, was one of the more satisfying things I've done in all my years of modeling. It seems minor, but I would never have put the model on a contest table in that condition.

 

 

46354820614_9f489fdc35_c.jpgIMG_7047 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

Here the tail has been completed. Given the number of times I have banged the fuselage against my table light and bench, there is no way this model could be painted after assembly. 

 

46354820224_32909a3221_c.jpgIMG_7050 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

46354819474_9795b64d09_c.jpgIMG_7056 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

 

This is one of those occasions where no paint goes to waste. During a normal build, particularly a 1/72 Bf 109, you only need a few drops of any given color of paint. On this beast, any residual paint is sprayed on the wing and flaps, giving me a running start on those components.

 

46354819784_6372648a0a_c.jpgIMG_7055 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

The wing will likely get serious attention next, followed by the fuselage. Then on to figure out how to securely attach the wing. It feels good to be back with this one.

Edited by 109 fan
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Thank you, Phoenix. I just about have room in the case for it.

 

Painting of the wing is essentially finished now. There will be touch-ups and the area where the wing joins the fuselage will have to be dealt with near the the end of the build. 

 

47141511001_62fb32b0fc_c.jpgIMG_7072 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

The next major challenge is the landing gear. This is an inherent weakness of the Italeri kit. The model is a tail sitter, as was the real aircraft. Only when the plane was loaded with cargo did the center of gravity shift forward and it then sat on all ten wheels. Unloaded, the plane rested only on the four rear main wheels and tail skid. But the very complex (and prototypical) main wheel assemblies are intended for the loaded configuration. I don't know how much weight would have to be added to the nose to accomplish this, but I suspect it would be enough to crush the rather fragile gear. After cogitating on this for some time I decided to cut four of the six struts on each gear "truck" and bend the forward section upward. This is typical of the actual aircraft. Although I flattened all six main wheels they are free to rotate and I will fix the flattened section of the forward wheel under the LG fairing where it will not be seen. The angle of the assembly will also have to be adjusted. Italeri would have you butt-join the the wheel assemblies to the fuselage. I inserted two pins on each frame and drilled corresponding holes in the fuselage. Since I now want to rotate the gear (downward to the rear) I'll probably enlarge the forward hole, allowing that pin to move higher on the fuselage.

 

That's the theory anyway.

 

 

47141512441_27691d4301_c.jpgIMG_7065 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

The tailskid was also a fragile affair. I replaced the vertical strut with brass tube and drilled a hole through the leather covered spring, then threaded it on the tube. It is long enough to reach the top of the fuselage and was secured there with superglue. There will be some doodads added to the strut assembly, but this photo shows the basics.

 

47141512701_b95f5d3168_c.jpgIMG_7064 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

Just by dumb luck I added this item to a Hannants order a while back. It came with the Black Dog resin set of German fuel cans. I had no immediate plans for them at the time, but it is a Godsend now. Me 323's were frequently seen with the tailskid propped up on one of these cans. Black dog has even added a dimpled lid, which would make sense if a 323 was leaning on it. There is an added benefit in that since the tail will now be higher, the gear won't have to rotate as much. Let's hear it for impulse buying from Hannants!

 

47141511961_8c70357236_c.jpgIMG_7066 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

That's all for now and thanks for looking.

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Looking great Barry, I'm impressed & not a little envious, I've long lusted after a 323, I'd be happy with a cooking 6 engine jobby even but by the time I discovered a need, they were, thankfully?, unobtainium, now, due to the size of them I rather fancy one of the 1/144 ones that is rumoured. I think they're a fantastic aircraft & I've long admired the poor buggers that had to fly them & did so to their doom in so many cases.

Steve.

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17 hours ago, stevehnz said:

due to the size of them I rather fancy one of the 1/144 ones that is rumoured.

Rumour no more, both Great Wall Hobby and Pit Road released it last year (I think it's Pit Road's mould).

 

 

Beautiful work Barry, this is a brave conversion but you're doing an excellent job. It looks gorgeous.

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Thanks for the kind words guys! And thank you, Toby, for the tip. I've noticed the ledge under the canopy due to the fuselage being a bit wide. I'll adjust this before attaching the canopy. There will definitely still be filling, but hopefully not too much.

 

Well, she's on her own 10 wheels now...or rather 4. I've come up with a solution for the landing gear issue. Instead of enlarging the forward hole I moved the rear hole higher. This rotated the three wheel truck and allowed the fuselage to lean backward.

 

32271842287_8b10b531cf_c.jpgIMG_7075 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

Here is a test of the alignment.

 

 

32271842617_7a0ce3daec_c.jpgIMG_7074 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

That seemed to work so I glued on all of the landing gears, also rotating the front set to a more realistic and candid position.

 

 

32271842027_2f3ec0b928_c.jpgIMG_7078 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

The wheels have also been tacked in place with diluted white glue. this should be enough for the six wheels that will be off the ground. After I'm positive of the wheel alignment, I'll permanently glue the rear wheels in place. You can see the tiny oil drum under the rear skid, doing its job of slightly raising the nose. Next will come the wheel covers, them on to more painting of the fuselage.

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Thanks, Gents, for the compliments.

 

I've finally gotten the landing gear covers on. This took waaay more time than I expected. Since the basis for this model, and the real aircraft, was the Me 321 glider, there were major differences in the window configurations. Also these gear covers appear to have been more shallow than the typical Me 323. This all resulted in much sanding and reconfiguring. (I'm actually looking forward to making a "standard" Me 323, which should go together much more easily.) After tacking on the forward covers with white glue for positioning, I attempted to do the same with the rear sections. But there was no way they were acceptable. So off they came. They were then sanded to reduce their height, repainted and reattached. They were finally fixed in place with 5 minute epoxy. With that out of the way, I resumed painting of the fuselage. I will try to nearly complete the painting before gluing on the wing and canopy. Here's where she stands at the moment.

 

 

40278340653_321dc63ea3_c.jpgIMG_7082 by Barry Numerick, on Flickrr

 

 

40278340433_74270c29c7_c.jpgIMG_7084 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

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Fantastic work and thank you for sharing it with us. I built the glider many years ago and it was huge! Even now it seems incredible that these aircraft ever got mainstream injection moulded production.

 

Keith

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Thanks, guys, I really appreciate the feedback!

 

The painting of the fuselage is virtually complete. Looks like I can't avoid gluing on the wing for much longer. The one existing photo of the Me 323 V-14 doesn't show much regarding the paint scheme, but you can see the arc of the camo over the nose and that the demarcation line of the dark greens and RLM 65 is mottled. I used photos of similarly painted aircraft as a guide. 

 

47210381312_46e3fb8ed2_c.jpgIMG_7091 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

47210381772_aa2970a5a4_c.jpgIMG_7087 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

47210381552_780833e0c6_c.jpgIMG_7089 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

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They probably needed that third engine on each wing so that it would turn when on the ground! Fully laden, on wet grass and mud it would be a struggle.

I too looked at getting one of these years ago, I don't know where I would have put it though. Great paintwork,Barry. Should be an epic end result.

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Thanks, Pete.

 

A major milestone was passed this weekend. I attached the wing. I had some trepidation about this. But this morning I grabbed the Tenax 7R and jumped in. The Tenax was used on the rear joint but all the rest of the gluing was done with 5 minute epoxy. I glued one side at a time so the alignment could be adjusted. Here the left side is glued and some weight is put on that side to level things out.

 

33399186188_f475fcdcfb_c.jpgIMG_7094 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

The rest of the wing/fuselage joint was done in stages; five to be exact. The bond is actually stronger than I expected and feels very solid. There will be some filling and sanding behind the wing trailing edge but I'm hoping that the blended epoxy along the rest of the joint will not need attention. The canopy has just been set in place to check the fit. Certain areas of the inside of it were sprayed RLM 02.

 

 

33399185958_dc310229ce_c.jpgIMG_7097 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

32333033577_652aaf39c5_c.jpgIMG_7099 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

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Very impressive work on that Gigant! I have one out in my garage (the kit, not the actual aircraft - I'd need a garage the size of small town for that!). I have no idea where I'll put it if I ever build it, but looking how great yours looks makes me glad I have one to build someday.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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Thanks, Jason.

 

I've been working quite a bit on the Gigant, possibly just because I want it off my table. Much of the work at this point was simple blocking and tackling; putty, sand. prime, repeat. At this point much of that is behind me. Here was the latest challenge, fairing in the canopy, which I might add, is a lousy fit. I thinned down the cockpit sides in anticipation of this, but not nearly enough apparently. Much of the canopy part as molded is actually metal. I painted this section on the inside with Gunze RLM 02. This acted as a guide for masking the outside. After several sessions trying to tidy up this area, I met with marginal success.

 

Here is her state before the final painting.

 

 

33457395038_723d76a97d_c.jpgIMG_7104 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

You can see that there are only two small dots of Mr. Surfacer 500 to sand down. I used most of the putties on my shelf, A&B epoxy putty, Nitrostan automotive glazing compound, 5 minute epoxy, you name it. It was then primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000.

 

Then came the final masking and painting. There will be touch ups, but I'm glad this part is done.

 

 

33457394818_036578cc54_c.jpgIMG_7106 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

 

33457394578_128738403d_c.jpgIMG_7108 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

Edited by 109 fan
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On 21/02/2019 at 18:10, stevehnz said:

Looking great Barry, I'm impressed & not a little envious, I've long lusted after a 323, I'd be happy with a cooking 6 engine jobby even but by the time I discovered a need, they were, thankfully?, unobtainium, now, due to the size of them I rather fancy one of the 1/144 ones that is rumoured. I think they're a fantastic aircraft & I've long admired the poor buggers that had to fly them & did so to their doom in so many cases.

Steve.

Steve,

             I have one of the Me 323 in 1/72. I also have a 1/144 coming right now. You can get them from Plaza Japan at a reasonable price. Like you I feel the 1/72 is too big for my space, but I like having the kit anyway. 

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Decals are on and she's all glossed up. Future this time. Because I only have a few ounces of Gunze GX-100 but a few quarts of Future. I tried a number of different application techniques with the Future. First I applied it using a Q-tip. It's not as hard as you might think; the entire wing top was initially done this way. Then I tried a broad brush, again not bad, but I was concerned about putting on a too-thick coat around the window masks.  So I broke out the airbrush and used it to finish up, eventually overcoating those areas that were Q-tiped and brushed for the sake of uniformity.

 

 

The decals came from a number of sources. First I tried the AIMS Me 321 set. There were some size issues, at least for this particular bird. Then some generic Hakencreuz, and finally fuselage and wing crosses from the most recent Italeri release of the Me 321. I'm guessing these were made from Cartograf, but this is not noted on the sheet. For the first time in years I used Solvatset, which from this point forward I will refer to as "Decal Napalm". Aggressive? Yeah. Think of the creature from the movie "Alien". I exaggerate of course; but only a little. After I removed the horribly deformed underwing AIMS cross, I returned to the Cartograf sheet for replacements. BTW, Solvaset, I mean Decal Napalm,  is also an excellent decal remover.

 

 

46640964644_d9c95b3f7c_c.jpgIMG_7110 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

46640964504_4bdb3e0b8a_c.jpgIMG_7113 by Barry Numerick, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking.

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