PeterB Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Thanks Martin, Whilst clearing a bit of space for my wife to paint, I have just moved the Ju 52/3m up into the roof, together with Revell Ki 21 and Ki 49 and an old LS (I think) Ki 67. These will be followed by Hasgawa Lily, Betty, Mavis and Emily. All of these are on the refurb/repaint list as are my SM 79 and Do 17 E, B 26 and A 26. In the last couple of years I have refurbed my Revell Nick, Frances and Irving, together with a Frog Hornet and my Airfix Lanc and Meteor. It is easy enough if you are doing them wheels up, but I am adding undercarriages where appropriate, which makes it a bit more tricky. By the time I have finished with paint, guns, wheels and decals it is costing a bit, but nowhere near the cost of a replacement kit, assuming you can actually get one. Worth a go! Pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 I agree Pete definitely worth a go Some as you say don't have viable replacements around or cost an arm and a leg . Best of luck with the Do Martin H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 I have not forgotten this but it is taking a back seat at the moment whilst I try and complete my builds for the Spitfire and Seafire GB. I have done a bit more painting but still quite a bit to do. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Right, Having got various other builds finished and out of the way, this is moving again. I mentioned earlier that the engine cowlings were angled up a bit. One was not too bad but when I started putting the blue underside paint on it became glaring obvious that the port one was way out of line, so I bit the bullet and sawed it off. I have filed it down, put in some packing and glued it back on. I will leave it to dry, do a bit of filling and general tidying up, and then I should be able to get the paintwork finished. Hopefully pics in the next day or so. Cheers Pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 Still a fair bit of touching up to do but the main painting is just about finished. I think it will end up as an E-5 from II/KG100 carrying one Hs293 under the starboard wing and a drop tank under the port wing to counterbalance it - it could in theroy carry 2 x Hs293 but this seems to be the more common configuration when operating against shipping in the Med. The E-5 was basically an E-4 fitted to launch and control the missile so no real problem there. Cheers Pete 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Looking really good Pete. Load out sounds good to me with one missile and one tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) Hi, Incidentally, I painted the plane in one of the supposedly "official" schemes as in Ullmann's book. When I found a colour drawing in an old "Profile" book of the II/KG100 machine and decided to model it, I noticed that although they showed the same geometric scheme, either they (or maybe I) had reversed the colours, though in fact they also seem to have shown it in RLM70/71/65, but then it is a very old publication. Too bad, I am happy as it is and in any case I believe the Luftwaffe officially condoned colour reversal! Sitting in my study in artificial light, from certain angles I am hard pressed to see that there are in fact two different greens - as discussed previously it was intended to be a low contrast scheme apparently, and I can certainly understand why some old documents suggest it was just one colour of green. Pete Edited July 24, 2020 by PeterB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafetyDad Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Just returned to this thread after contributing some weeks ago. Jury's still out in my book about the upper surface colours (being maritime or land-based schemes), but hey ho, that's part of the fun isn't it? In the meantime, I wondered if these might help? I'm normally pretty conscientious about recording and acknowledging sources of photos, but I regret to say that I've haven't recorded the source of these. I will of course remove these if asked. Posted here solely for the purpose of discussion. Note two different aircraft, one coded 'H' and is the other 'D' ?? (can't be sure) with differing nose numbers and apparently different coloured spinners. Does that imply different Staffeln? It just might... Also the glide bomb is overall light blue - 76 perhaps? Is it lighter than the aircraft undersurfaces, or is that a trick of the light? The wheel well door next to the bomb looks slightly darker to me than the bomb. RLM 65? Both aircraft have the very front of the Hs293 pylon painted in camouflage, but these are painted differently in each case. The lower wing Balkenkreuz is painted over the pylon it seems. That'll be a bit of a swine to reproduce in 1/72. The front of the 500L droptank is also painted uppersurface green, with again the pylon front being green as well. Hope these help in your build SD 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafetyDad Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Postscript: I've just checked Chris Goss's 'Sea Eagles' and he has the same picture of '54' as I posted above. The aircraft is captioned as 'A Dornier 217E-5 of 6./KG100...'. He is also of the view that 54 is carrying two Hs 293s in this picture, rather than the asymmetric glide bomb/drop tank loadout. I think it's the very front of a drop tank on the port wing, but you decide... Ref: Goss C. (2006) 'Sea Eagles Volume 2 - Luftwaffe Anti-Shipping Units 1942-45' Luftwaffe Colours Classic Publications Hersham Surrey SD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) Thanks SD, Some interesting detail on there - pity there is not a close up of the drop tank as I am still trying to work out which type it is! Far too big to be the 300L version so I suspect it is the 900L one. On the Me 110 that was carried with the tail fin vertical but in your pic it seems to be horizontal. Also, I think it was mounted on the same ETC 2000 XII carrier used for the Hs 293. I have some spare 900L tanks left over from my 4 Fujimi 110's so I will see how they look. The racks and Hs 293 can either come from my old Airfix He 177 or maybe the fairly recent Revell Fw 200. Unfortunately most pics of the 217 show the tank from head on and it is not possible to see the fins! Must do a bit of digging. The kit tanks look like a slimmed down version of the 900L - say about 600L but I have not come across any mention of that size being used - at least not yet! However I have just noticed you say 500L - that might make more sense. Cheers Pete Edited July 25, 2020 by PeterB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafetyDad Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 3 hours ago, PeterB said: Some interesting detail on there - pity there is not a close up of the drop tank as I am still trying to work out which type it is! Far too big to be the 300L version so I suspect it is the 900L one. I think you are correct Peter - that is one BIG droptank! SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) For the record. Kit tank on the left, Fujimi's version of the 900L tank on the right. The cropped fins on the kit version are interesting - with the fins vertical they would probably interfere with the movement of the ailerons, which could be why some seem to be suspended with the fins horizontal, but that probably meant altering the plumbing, though the ETC rack perhaps got round that problem. - back to the research I guess. Cheers Pete Edited July 25, 2020 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 I have to say that i think she is carrying one missile and one drop tank, and that tank certainly looks like the 900L one to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 (edited) Whilst waiting for some paint to dry I thought I might make a start on the undercarriage, I know it has been a while but as you might remember I am using an incomplete Italeri Do 217K kit for things like the landing gear etc, and following the kit instructions it was a struggle. The legs have poorly placed sprue attachments and are very fragile, only being held together by the thin "X" shaped bracing struts, and the one in the foreground broke, hence the "blob" of CA. Got there in the end but if anybody is thinking of building the Italieri kit (probably all of the various versions have this problem), I think it might be safer to actually glue the legs into the sockets at the front of the wheel well first. I know it might make it a bit harder to get at the mudgard and its braces, but at least it will stay in place and hopefully not break. I won't be fitting it for a while as it is rather too fragile to go on at this stage, but at least it is done and the wheel halves and rear struts are painted. Bit more touching up to do and then the decs should go on. Then I can fit the u/c legs, wheels and doors. After that it is just aerials, glazing, guns and underwing payload. Getting there slowly! Cheers Pete Edited July 26, 2020 by PeterB 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 (edited) A bit more progress. I had a bit of a problem with the decs. For at least 30 years I have been using some Microscale sets for Luftwaffe markings, but it looks like I may have to invest in some more. One sheet has fighter markings including various styles of solid and outline crosses and I got the fuselage ones from that. The other has bomber markings, but only solid crosses. I used the biggest ones for under the wing though they have the thin black outline which probably should not be there - the ones without were not big enough. I could not find anything suitable one the sheets for the upper wing white outline cross so used the ones from the "spare" Italeri kit. They worked well enough but an awful lot of what I assume is glue had to be washed off the surface, and they are the matt type which tend to silver no matter what you do so I had to paint round them. Applying them on wet varnish might have worked better. Anyway, they are on as is the canopy. I had to re-use the kit one as the Falcon set is for the Italeri kit and not the right size. As this is meant to be the E-2 version Airfix included the cut outs for the MG 15 at the rear, but it seems they were not used in the E-4/E-5 so I filled them in with Krystal Kleer. The framing and shape is not quite right but it will have to do - the same will apply to the nose glazing. So, once they are dry and varnished I will have a shot at getting the undercarriage on. Cheers Pete Edited July 29, 2020 by PeterB 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 (edited) I said a couple of days ago that I thought it would have been easier to assemble the mudguards to the wheel legs if the legs were already glued in the bay, unlike as in the instructions. Well, I will be doing that for certain when I build the Italeri 217 as I now find that the mudguards are not at the same angle! Oh well, it will have to do. The undercarriage was a bit of a pain but in the end it came out looking pretty good if you ignore the mudguards. Later I will fit the main gear doors and paint them up. Getting there! Cheers Pete Edited July 29, 2020 by PeterB 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 10 minutes ago, PeterB said: Getting there! It certainly is Pete. Despite the decal and mudguard issues she is taking shape very nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 With the undercarriage mostly on, I started looking at the payload under the wings. In the left foreground are the Airfix version of the ETC 2000 racks from my ancient He 177 - probably not very accurate but they will do. I did look at the spare bomb racks on the Condor but they are far too long. Above them are a pair of Hs 293 missiles which incidentally are shown upside down. I was going to use the Airfix one from the 177, which is the greyish one at the top, but decided instead to use one from my much more recent Revell Fw 200 C6/8 kit, as I will not be fitting them - sure it did supposedly carry them but I am going for a normal recce version, maybe with bombs as my original Condor had. Actually, given its age, the Airfix one is very similar in size and shape (though looking at the pic I may have mounted the back end upside down), but the Revell one is a little more detailed. Lastly we have the Fujimi 900L drop tank for under the Port wing. Mating that to the rack is going to be a little fiddly as I will have to modify the mounting/sway brace, but it should be possible. This is turning into quite a hybrid build, with a Revell missile, Fujimi drop tank and cockpit detail, undercarriage, turret, guns radio mast and pitot tube coming from the Italeri kit. There is light at the end of the tunnel! Pete 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Cross-kitting in the best possible tradition - I like it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Nice to see the whizz-bangs underway Pete, I agree with you that the Airfix one isn't that much different to the Revell one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 I have glued the racks on but that is the easy bit! They go across the big underwing crosses and as @SafetyDad correctly pointed out earlier, the racks were painted with black and white to make the cross look continuous from below. So once they are dry I will have to try and very carefully paint them in with a fine brush - that will need a steady hand! Perhaps I should try a glass of whisky to stop the shakes?😁 Bye for now. Pete 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 You will indeed need a steady hand Pete, but I am sure that you are more than capable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafetyDad Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Or a piece of decal the right size? PM me if the idea appeals and you're out of spare decals - I'll have a look in my spares box for you SD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 25 minutes ago, PeterB said: Perhaps I should try a glass of whisky to stop the shakes?😁 The beauty of this highly recommended method is that if it does not go too well, you don't mind in the slightest. 😀 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 (edited) Thanks SD, I did consider decal but there are 2 problems. Firstly the shape of the rack is complicated and then one of the sway braces or whatever is in the way so I very much doubt it would fit. Secondly, that was the last of my really big crosses and I have nothing the correct size, though I do have both black and white decal strip that I could cut to size. Anyway, I have just about managed to paint it though it does inevitably need a little tidying up. Should hopefully be able to post a pic of the result in the morning before it is hidden under the stores. I would hazard a guess that it was a "field touch up" so it might not be that accurate anyway. I have a decent set of fine brushes in sizes 0, 3/0, 5/0 and 10/0, but the trouble is that the very fine ones only last a few paint applications before the bristles start losing shape - probably because they are cheap - less than £2 each. No big problem, I just buy another set! I used to use the very short and pointy type of fine brush (Humbrol etc), but now I prefer longer ones, say 1cm. I have on file a documentary by British Transport Films on the Elizabethan Express in 1953 and in that you see a signwriter lining either carriages or a loco. He is using a long brush with bristles at least a foot long and maybe 1.5" wide with a "flat" profile rather than "round" and he draws/drags it along parallel with the surface he is painting instead of using the point as I always used to do. I have started using the same technique when doing cockpit framing etc with my "new " brushes and it really does work. And yes JM, under controlled conditions i.e not driving or anything potentially life threatening, a drop of the hard stuff can be very good medication for nerves, or so I keep telling myself! Of course if this was on television you would now get a voice over reminding you that alcohol damages your health/ make you impotent and an on screen message with contact details for Alcoholics Anonymous or some such organisation, but at my age I am past caring! Cheers all, and thanks for watching. Pete Edited July 30, 2020 by PeterB 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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