Matchbox Heinkel He 115 (Revell Rebox) [***Finished***]

[Chief Cohiba]

50 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

Don't forget that the carpet Monster has a friend in Murphy, who can apply his laws at the most inappropriate times.

 

His favourite trick being to make you drop your almost completed kit onto the floor - thus feeding his friend at the same time, as all your little bits ping off....

Well, uuhm, I think this is the very way Murphy (with strong support from my own hands' clumsiness) did contribute to this. But the front floor panel being the only thing that fell off I'd say, this went out to be rather robust. I wouldn't have thought that.

So, here's the state since yesterday evening, I'll keep it in this Schrödinger-like state for a little more while until I dare to take these off. But looking ok to me, these gaps (think of what i stuffed in there) look manageable.

 

 

 

In the meantime I have noticed to have lost the decal sheet somewhere in the middle from moving around my various workplaces - contacted Revell already.

Also, I found out the Propellers suffer some more serious mold issues, and as I didn't want to start major 3D corrections, I found myself on the Hannants page. No 1/72 He-115 resin propellers available, but ordered a set for the Ju 88 (look similar) and two sets for Ar-196 (same engine). And, a set of MG 15 as well. Oh, boy...

[modelling minion]

Looks like you have got her together very well, those small gaps should be easy to deal with.

[Chief Cohiba]

True, I've seen much worse than that, and I think we all have (and I'm not necessarily talking strange short run kits).

 

I must admit this might not be the most detailled kit out there, but fit quality is really good.

[Chief Cohiba]

Back after some days off the bench, I sanded down the joint and added a bit of random structure on the closed part of the cockpit. As usual, no claim for any kind of accuracy, but oriented on the bigger brother from SH, which seems to be a fairly good model, btw. Just a bit too large for my limited space here. 

Here's the state so far:

 

 

 

A few flaws though, which I might not 100% fix; most of all I did not manage to create an 100% even wall behind the frontgunners and the main cockpit, which I might just leave like it is and hope it's hidden behind the front parts. We'll see...

[Chief Cohiba]

Hmmm, not happy, I think I give the cockpitwalls another round of filling and sanding. *sigh*

 

Also, I finally started with the one piece I of work I really tried to procrastinate as long as possible.

See:



It's a first for me, so any hints, ideas, word of wisdom and encouragement are more than welcome. My guess so far is , this will not be my most favourable part of modelling... 😉

[Jinxman]

45 minutes ago, Chief Cohiba said:

It's a first for me, so any hints, ideas, word of wisdom and encouragement are more than welcome. My guess so far is , this will not be my most favourable part of modelling... 😉

I can only advise - take your time, it's a slow process.  If you nick a part or damage it slightly a rub down with micro mesh, 3600 - 4000 - 8000 - 12000, and then some Tamiya polishing paste on denim will sort it out. And a dip in Klear will make it shine as well. Other manufacturers products work just as well as the ones mentioned. 😀

 

Good luck!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

5 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

It's a first for me, so any hints, ideas, word of wisdom and encouragement are more than welcome. My guess so far is , this will not be my most favourable part of modelling... 😉

Myself i score around the actually canopy and leave a bit of extra plastic. Or i use scissors to do the removal. Once thats done then I file and/or sand away slowly till I get a fit that suits the build. 

[Chief Cohiba]

Many thanks for your remarks and support, but honestly I am not 100% sure if I will go this way on the Heinkel.

Of course a bit due to the amount of work - which goes on quite good, better than expected - a fine and precise pair of scissor does the job. But I've noticed that the shape of the vacuform is rather different to the Matchbox shape (though I'm sure much more accurate). So it would require a lot of scratchbuilding to fit - especially at the front section, which needs to be cut open and replaced by the vacuform. This would destroy all the structures done so far, right now I'm  not sure if I'm willing to go the way.

In addition the mask I bought will not fit, as the shape is different - ah, I've already said.

Haven't decided yet, but maybe I'll skip this and go on with the original sprues. Haven't decided yet.

 

[modelling minion]

Your He-115 is looking very nice indeed, the extras you have added to the top of the fuselage add interest.

Can't help with the vac canopy as I don't use them,

[Chief Cohiba]

43 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Can't help with the vac canopy as I don't use them,

Hmmm, seems to be the way for me to go as well, from my current state of mind. I guess I've got an idea how to use these, but will likely not use this in this kit. Also, here's where I would definitely "build as a kid"-path, so there's even an excuse for that. 😉

[Chief Cohiba]

So, as I think I won't find that much time to invest in our glorious hobby in the near future, everything that saves a little time is welcome. This includes the standard canopy, as this fits so much better;

 

 

 

Not to mention the addional work with the masking, as I have the Eduard Masks ready at hand.

 

But in fact it is very foggy, so any advice and tricks how to improve this, would be much appreciated. I will polish it at least on the inside with 3200grid up, but I've often heard of something that's called "Future", being sort of a  sealant, providing a glass-like surface?

I'm afraid we don't have something like this here on the continent, and comparable stuff like Glänzer seems to be significantly different, so your advice is much appreciated. Or am I aiming in the totally different direction?

 

[modelling minion]

I think you are right to stick with the Matchbox canopy, even with it's huge framing.

There is something else which has the same effect as Future/Klear and I believe it is made by Pledge, although I may be wrong. I'm sure someone who does know will be along very shortly.

[Chief Cohiba]

This kit is about reviving childhood memories, and on thing I did when I was the kid - I guess around the same age when I first build the PK 401 - was doing jigsaw puzzles. Nothing overly complicated, some 500 parts maybe, but it could keep me busy for a sunday afternoon or so.

 

And that's something that build here can do for me as well; spending an afternoon or to, with some unclear original pictures I try to recreate out of a large amount of tiny pieces that don't seem to fit in any means. Yes, I'm talking masking the canopy and other clear parts. 

 

Here the pieces:

 

 

And of course I must admit that the Eduard masks are great and hugely time saving, compared if I cut all of these with a sharp knife on a wobbly vacu underground. I feel just better this way, especially if I look at anything build velocity. 😉

[modelling minion]

Good luck with the masking, there are a LOT of parts for it aren't there.

[Dansk]

That’s not a 2 minute job, but it’ll look great after paint.

[PeterB]

Hi

 

Future was an acrylic varnish sold for use on wooden floors. Over the years it has changed its name and perhaps formula several times and over here in the UK is currently sold as "Pledge floor polish". However I came across an artice on You Tube a few years back where the presenter was scathing about the "Future Myth" and said ordinary clear gloss acrylic varnish works just as well. I remember that for a number of years Hannants stopped selling their Xtracolour Gloss varnish because everybody was buying Future or equivalent as it was much cheaper, but I think they did start selling it again, though by now most people seem to be using the acrylic version.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Pete

Edited July 11, 2020 by PeterB

[Chief Cohiba]

14 hours ago, Dansk said:

That’s not a 2 minute job, but it’ll look great after paint.

Not quite, it was more on the 2 hrs side, to put all the mask on the various pieces, but went rather well I must say. There are a lot of those tiny pieces - and a good set of tweezers is key - but once you've understood the logic behind the arrangement, it's rather easy. Eduard did a good job here.

What is a real issue, though, is fit quality of the clear parts, especially of the large main canopy. It's rather warped, and does not really want to bend. Here's how it looks now:

 

 

Major gaps. I tried first the usual poly fill, then went for gap filling CA, first without then with the help of some accelerator. Did pop open again.

I give it a last try, after some cleaning and without accelerator, but with a different CA.

Current state:

Let's see how this works. But expect some work here anyway.

[MarkSH]

Wow that is a lot of work on the clear parts alone! hopefully you can get a finish on the canopy that you're happy with. Great work on a really interesting looking aircraft.

[modelling minion]

That canopy really is putting up a fight isn't it.

Looks like your clamping will work and I really hope it does as the canopy is such a large feature of the aircraft.

[Chief Cohiba]

2 hours ago, modelling minion said:

That canopy really is putting up a fight isn't it.

Looks like your clamping will work and I really hope it does as the canopy is such a large feature of the aircraft.

The clear parts are really the challenge here - large, warped, brittle, and fit is really poor, while the rest of the kit is rather good. It's a pain in the backside, to be clear about it. But I've started it, I'll finish it, and there has been obstacles...

 

I've removed the clamp already and seems to hold. Whish me luck!

Already doing the blaster part, where's not that much so see, will post pictures when there's a stage achieved.

[Chief Cohiba]

It's the putty and sanding part, that never seems to end. But let me predict; this will not turn out perfect...

😉

[modelling minion]

2 minutes ago, Chief Cohiba said:

this will not turn out perfect...

You haven't seen some of my builds!

It doesn't matter if it is not perfect, we are all really happy that you decided to build this Matchbox classic of a fantastic looking aircraft and join in the fun of the GB.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

You haven't seen some of my builds!

It doesn't matter if it is not perfect, we are all really happy that you decided to build this Matchbox classic of a fantastic looking aircraft and join in the fun of the GB.

Yes What he said ! 

[Chief Cohiba]

Guys, many thanks for your encouragement, it's much appreciated!

After a few days of sanding, closing some more blowholes, sanding again, and back to the start, I think I've come somewhere where I call it done. It's a bit late now, so will post pictures tomorrow, but there's time to draw a bottom line, and move on to some larger chunks of works. 

 

Btw; has anyone of you guys ever tried to pront decals on their own? If so, hints are welcome...

🙂

[Jinxman]

9 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

Btw; has anyone of you guys ever tried to pront decals on their own? If so, hints are welcome...

I've done some - the decal sheet with white background tends to be thicker than the clear stuff.

Where are you getting your artwork from? If you are scanning from a kit sheet I usually tidy things up in Adobe Lightroom before printing. 

I also have a list of settings I use with the printer, things like print speed, paper quality on so on. It always seems to be a bit trial and error.

You will also need to coat the decals with a top coat/varnish if you are using inkjet - I airbrush 3 or 4 thin coats of Alclad satin clear coat, which seems to do the job.