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Poles Apart - a PZL 'In Foreign Service' Tri-andem ride for your amusement! *2 down, 1 to go*


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On 5/9/2021 at 6:48 PM, Fukuryu said:

 

You're welcome, Clive. Now, let me tell you... You're a better man than I am! My trio was completed with Heller's P-11c; those kits are long lost, but if I decide to re-stash them, I would go for IBG or Arma Hobby; you went the total opposite direction, and I admire your courage. Mistercraft? That alone would make you elegible for some kind of modelling medal for bravery!

Thanks Daniel (sorry missed your name in your sig from your first comment :) )

 

Yes, myself and Messrs MisterCraft have something of a turbulent relationship, however the chief driver for this particular purchase was the comparatively low price tag - added to which, if I recall correctly I hadn't actually gotten round to attempting a MisterCraft kit at the time I bought it, otherwise I might have considered even £2.99 a bit pricey!

 

Anyway, we are where we are so I shall attempt the best I can with it. In the meantime, the painting of the underside of the Karas is more or less complete now:

 

jRLMIZs.jpg

 

Depending on how I get on with the decal for the yellow fuselage band, I may yet have to break out the masking tape for one last time!

 

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Ahead of attempting any decalling, I felt I needed to resolve the issue of the collector ring on the cowling. This is how it ended up, with first a light over-spray of Tamiya Dark Iron XF84, then a patchy application with a small amount of Tamiya Metallic Blue X13 added to the remainder of the Dark Iron in the airbrush reservoir:

 

x6ZrVAw.jpg

 

Off with the masking tape, to reveal:

 

RwxCIQp.jpg

 

That looks fairly OK to my untrained eye :thumbsup2:

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OK decals going on - these are from the 'correct' set that I had to order last week:

 

qRtPfQg.jpg

 

The yellow band went on a dream, even though my ham-fisted attempts to move it into position managed to tear it partly.

 

The tail stripes on either side of the rudder are slightly oversized, but they are in place now so I will see how it looks tomorrow.

 

Incidentally, these decals are the first I've applied using Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softer, so I await the results with a certain trepidation!

 

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On 09/05/2021 at 19:48, Fukuryu said:

 

You're welcome, Clive. Now, let me tell you... You're a better man than I am! My trio was completed with Heller's P-11c; those kits are long lost, but if I decide to re-stash them, I would go for IBG or Arma Hobby; you went the total opposite direction, and I admire your courage. Mistercraft? That alone would make you elegible for some kind of modelling medal for bravery!

 

I think Clive is very pro-ecological man. He doesn't want waste his resources and reserves. Such attitude is highly worth for warm appreciate and follow, gratulations!

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Hi Michal, thank you for your kind comment, good to have you aboard!

 

I took the liberty of looking at your HMS Jed thread, and although ships are not a thing I build often, your model is certainly very well executed. I was also very impressed with your lad's Wellington bomber which made an appearance part way through the thread - he should be proud of that, I know I would be!

 

Anyways, some more progress last night, and today. Decals for my chosen scheme are now all on, and I have painted and fitted the exhausts:

 

TX2natG.jpg

 

The Mr Mark Setter/Softer combo appears to have been partially successful in settling the decals - my impatience however caused me to revert back to my tried and trusted Micro-Sol (probably all psychological as I imagine that chemically they are the same product, just a different branding).

 

Thanks to the You-Tube channel ('Zabytki Nieba' or 'Vintage Sky') of a Polish gentleman whose name sadly I could not determine, I found some more details that I was able to add, namely the fuel gauge on the front of the fuselage in front of the front wind shield, and a pipe on the exhaust that apparently fed warm (although probably not very pure) air from the exhaust into the cockpit. It needed me to engage the English subtitles, but for all that it was a very interesting and informative video. I include a link here just for information/entertainment in case anyone would care to watch it themselves:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcOfq-ZO88Y

 

Thanks for watching!

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Zabytki Nieba = "historic objects of the sky."  This is looking good.  Only thing I noticed was the dark iron overspray on the wheel pants, which you may be able to remove with polishing compound if you choose to go that route.

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5 hours ago, clive_t said:

Hi Michal, thank you for your kind comment, good to have you aboard!

 

I took the liberty of looking at your HMS Jed thread, and although ships are not a thing I build often, your model is certainly very well executed. I was also very impressed with your lad's Wellington bomber which made an appearance part way through the thread - he should be proud of that, I know I would be!

 

 

 

Thank You Clive for your kind words, my son and me are very happy and proud too. Your Karaś (eng. crucian) with fishbone looks very good despite its age. I follow your topic with interesting. I like very much these Romanian colourful planes, somewhat exotique. May I show another Romanian birdie I did some time ago? Of course I don't want hijacking your interesting thread so once again thank you and good luck with your PeZeteLs!

Best regards,

Michał

 

 

Edited by socjo1
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On 5/14/2021 at 5:19 PM, ModelingEdmontonian said:

I just want to say this is a cool project and I'll be keeping an eye on it with eager anticipation!

Thanks Mr Edmontonian, glad to have you here! :thumbsup2:

23 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Zabytki Nieba = "historic objects of the sky."  This is looking good.  Only thing I noticed was the dark iron overspray on the wheel pants, which you may be able to remove with polishing compound if you choose to go that route.

Thanks, yes well spotted :banghead:

In fact, on closer inspection it wasn't over-spray of dark iron, it was my shoddy work in not fully over-spraying the original flat earth with the light blue!

 

I'm hoping that in the near future I will be able to hide it to some degree by applying some weathering to the thing.

20 hours ago, socjo1 said:

 

Thank You Clive for your kind words, my son and me are very happy and proud too. Your Karaś (eng. crucian) with fishbone looks very good despite its age. I follow your topic with interesting. I like very much these Romanian colourful planes, somewhat exotique. May I show another Romanian birdie I did some time ago? Of course I don't want hijacking your interesting thread so once again thank you and good luck with your PeZeteLs!

Best regards,

Michał

 

Thanks Michal for sharing your work, that was another beautiful piece of modelling!

 

A little more progress today - firstly, I couldn't put it off any longer, I had to finish off the PE on the rear guns:

 

Ci5zGuc.jpg

 

Well they're assembled now, although I rather think the sights on each could do with some re-calibration!

 

I also had a go at applying a panel wash to the overall thing:

 

3XUDY8Q.jpg

 

not my finest moment I don't think, but it's served to dull down the green and the shine on the decals.

 

Getting near to the point where I will have to apply the PE grab handles!

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Quick update on how the underside looked as of yesterday:

 

VMLSXVH.jpg

 

Not sure if I'll have much time for any further progress on it today, I am on 'Sunday Roast' lunch duty and 2 small but very discerning grand-children will be in attendance for most of today :wacko:

 

For the other two models, I did have a cunning plan for the P.11 which would have seen me painting the aircraft with Hungarian insignia, however some subsequent research seems to suggest they only took one such aircraft, and that was a P.11a not a P.11c which the kit represents. The changes needed are (for me at least) prohibitive, so I may just fall back to the OOB Soviet re-badge for this one.

 

Likewise the 37A-bis, where unfortunately most of the countries that ordered them didn't get their orders fulfilled. Even the Soviets and the Germans limited themselves to a small number for evaluation purposes. That said, I am tempted to build the 37 with its single tail (ie a 37A) and give it the Polish livery - it occurs to me that I don't have any aircraft in my display cabinet with Polish markings, so I have a good reason to make this the first one.

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Afternoon all, herewith my latest update on this saga - I have attempted to apply an oil paint dot filter to the upper surfaces and the fuselage:

 

3SPDV4U.jpg

 

This is the result:

 

PaMCQ0f.jpg

 

afFz13y.jpg

 

You may be able to see that I also applied some black weathering powder to the sides of the fuselage to indicate exhaust discolouration.

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What a interesting project!

Speaking about the P.11c - I think that "soviet" marking for this plane is "what-if" rather than real. Possible markings are Polish and Romanian. Nazi-German captured is also possible, but I have not seen firm confirmation.

PZL. 37 Łoś may be Polish or Romanian. At least one flew with Soviet markings but it was twin-tail version (I'm not sure if A-Bis or B).

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16 hours ago, GrzeM said:

What a interesting project!

Speaking about the P.11c - I think that "soviet" marking for this plane is "what-if" rather than real. Possible markings are Polish and Romanian. Nazi-German captured is also possible, but I have not seen firm confirmation.

PZL. 37 Łoś may be Polish or Romanian. At least one flew with Soviet markings but it was twin-tail version (I'm not sure if A-Bis or B).

Yes, you could be right in that as checking the painting instructions for the VVS version there are no specific statements to the effect that it definitely happened.

 

The best defence I can come up with is, that 'on the balance of probability' given at least some examples would have been captured on the ground, that they would likely have been pressed into some kind of evaluation exercise to see what could be learned that wasn't already known about aircraft design. That's my excuse and I am sticking with it :D

 

Anyway, onward with the current bench occupant - the underside was given its own dot filter treatment, and I instantly regretted it! Way too much blue, it ended up looking like the bottom of a swimming pool! Fortunately, with it being oil paint, I was able to wipe the worst of it off and no real harm done:

 

vjiWo8b.jpg

 

I also added my own glass coverings for the search lights and the small signalling lamp on the port leg:

 

dhTmnhw.jpg

 

These were made from small blob of Gorilla Glue Clear, built up gradually to get the desired shape. Before doing so, I used a 6mm drill bit to drill out the recesses where the bulb would go, and painted them silver to act as the reflectors.

 

Getting near to 'grab handle' time, can't put it off much longer! :fraidnot:

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Last stumbling steps before the dreaded grab handle time - the machine guns have received a coat of gun metal:

 

t7sgtnW.jpg

 

Dorsal gun in place:

 

4wBpi3R.jpg

 

Canopy masks removed - eventually:

 

dqJ32JF.jpg

 

Fortunately the paint which managed to creep under the non-sticking bits of masking was removed quite easily, with a cotton bud dipped in WD-40.

 

Similarly the ventral gun was fitted, and masking removed, after a bit of faffing about removing the sponge from the open bit of the gondola:

 

3pOAuHI.jpg

 

I will confess to being somewhat disappointed with how the masking worked out on the gondola - removing it took most of the paint from the frames, thus negating the whole point of my buying the masks! :( Oh well, you never know I might learn a lesson or two from that!

 

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7 minutes ago, clive_t said:

I will confess to being somewhat disappointed with how the masking worked out on the gondola - removing it took most of the pain from the frames, thus negating the whole point of my buying the masks! :( Oh well, you never know I might learn a lesson or two from that!

I hate masking...

 

But, looks great nonetheless, beautiful and inspiring!

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17 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

I hate masking...

 

But, looks great nonetheless, beautiful and inspiring!

Thanks Mr Edmontonian, much appreciated :thumbsup2:

8 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Great stuff! It's definitely been flown hard during the mud season, whenever that is!  Spring?  Fall?

 

Thanks Mr Kenny, rightly or wrongly I am something of a fan of aircraft (or vehicles or ships for that matter) that look like they have done some service. I would accept that sometimes my attempts to get that kind of look can be a bit over-done, but I am quite pleased with this one, which I am now calling done, thanks to this:

 

EnpxMf6.jpg

 

Yes, 3 grab handles all in place! :yahoo: - all it took was some CA glue, the patience of several genuine card-carrying saints, my trusty Anglo-Saxon phrase book and a scanning electron microscope. And yes, in answer to your first question, I did manage to lose one of the only three pieces of PE provided for this purpose... I was therefore compelled to substitute one of the handles designed to be interior grab handles (which I didn't bother fitting as I didn't think they'd be visible) in its place.

 

Some interim 'completed' shots in lieu of an RFI, which will be done when I have the opportunity:

 

BI1d3UM.jpg

 

ba5BjX8.jpg

 

Now, where's that P.11c kit...

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  • clive_t changed the title to Poles Apart - a PZL 'In Foreign Service' Tri-andem ride for your amusement! *1 down, 2 to go*

... ah, here it is:

 

K4DYLHW.jpg

 

Pretty underwhelming really, even allowing for its origins! There's a fair bit of flash around, and it would seem that the moulds were not properly aligned in a couple of areas, particularly the engine. But, I will live with that as it will be mostly obscured by the cowling. The rest will just get cut and sanded out as best I can.

 

Some of the exterior details are a bit gash:

 

ZQr7lBG.jpg

 

... and as for the cockpit:

 

TMIqqbO.jpg

 

There won't be anything to see inside if I leave that as is! That was therefore where my opening salvo was directed - opening that space out to make the eventual internals more visible:

 

e4d1UQD.jpg

 

In the background you can make out the gull-wing, having been cleaned of flash and some very pronounced mould mismatching! That's not all that's wrong with it either - the blobs of plastic masquerading as guns are nowhere near where they should be, indeed neither is the blister where the cartridge ejector would be. In fact, the gun and the blister should be more-or-less aligned, whereas here they are offset by a good 6mm. Add that to the to-do list!

 

Frustratingly, I appear to have mislaid BOTH of my panel line scribers :(

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Nice builds - i have built all of the models in your WIP over the last couple of years (not to your standard though) - The MisterCraft ones can be horrible - interestingly I have purchased some of them while visiting Krakow (Phantom Model Shop) for sub £2!!!!!! The girl in the shop thought I was nuts when she had all these nice IBG & ArmaHobby kits on the shelves!!!!  The Heller Karas builds into a fantastic kit for its age - I have an IBG Karas in the pile to do - will be interesting to see how it compares. 

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Thanks @Savenosouls and @TheyJammedKenny! for your comments, they are much appreciated.

 

Very much a case of 'two steps forward, one back' since the last update. The tools which I thought I'd lost, and spent money replacing, promptly turned up yesterday evening when I was looking for something else... :facepalm:

 

Then this morning I took a closer look at the decal sheet for the kit... to say they are 'somewhat out of register' would be akin to saying Gordon Ramsey has something of an anger management issue. This has caused me to completely re-think how I am going to finish this particular model. I am extremely reluctant to shell out more money for yet another decal sheet, so instead I am going to do this one as a Polish aircraft, and given my liking for unusual subjects or subjects with a particular place in history, I am opting to try to finish it as the aircraft of Mieczyslaw Medwecki. His particular place in history was cemented on 1st September 1939 when in his P.11c he became the first airman lost in combat in what was to become WW2.

 

As far as I am aware, his aircraft carried these markings:

 

N9f1pJd.jpg

 

Unless anyone more knowledgeable than I (not much of a challenge for you, to be fair) is able to provide alternative information!

 

Anyway, that's a while away yet. Here's where I am right now:

 

NR8fYf9.jpg

 

I've applied ribbing to the tail and rudder, I've made the radiator thing on the side look a bit better, I've scribed out the radiator holes in the front of the fuselage (they were just moulded on raised lumps) and finally for now I made the fuselage-mounted machine guns look a little less blob-like.

 

It's my intention to pose the rudder slightly offset from centre, so I will be cutting that off in due course. Similarly with the elevators, and very likely the ailerons also if I still have the will to live by that time.

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21 hours ago, clive_t said:

Thanks @Savenosouls and @TheyJammedKenny! for your comments, they are much appreciated.

 

Very much a case of 'two steps forward, one back' since the last update. The tools which I thought I'd lost, and spent money replacing, promptly turned up yesterday evening when I was looking for something else... :facepalm:

 

Then this morning I took a closer look at the decal sheet for the kit... to say they are 'somewhat out of register' would be akin to saying Gordon Ramsey has something of an anger management issue. This has caused me to completely re-think how I am going to finish this particular model. I am extremely reluctant to shell out more money for yet another decal sheet, so instead I am going to do this one as a Polish aircraft, and given my liking for unusual subjects or subjects with a particular place in history, I am opting to try to finish it as the aircraft of Mieczyslaw Medwecki. His particular place in history was cemented on 1st September 1939 when in his P.11c he became the first airman lost in combat in what was to become WW2.

 

As far as I am aware, his aircraft carried these markings:

 

N9f1pJd.jpg

 

Unless anyone more knowledgeable than I (not much of a challenge for you, to be fair) is able to provide alternative information!

 

Anyway, that's a while away yet. Here's where I am right now:

 

NR8fYf9.jpg

 

I've applied ribbing to the tail and rudder, I've made the radiator thing on the side look a bit better, I've scribed out the radiator holes in the front of the fuselage (they were just moulded on raised lumps) and finally for now I made the fuselage-mounted machine guns look a little less blob-like.

 

It's my intention to pose the rudder slightly offset from centre, so I will be cutting that off in due course. Similarly with the elevators, and very likely the ailerons also if I still have the will to live by that time.

I shall have a search thru' my decal mountain - I have done various PZL 7 & 11's (Master/Mistercraft / Plastyk & Heller) - I am working right now (or supposed to be) - I have certainly done a PZL of some sort with the white "geometric" pattern in your photo above!  Will report back later. For the record I didn't do well with the PZL37 Los (the canopy did not go well)

 

Plus I have the leftovers of a Techmod sheet for a PZL11

Edited by Savenosouls
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1 hour ago, Savenosouls said:

I shall have a search thru' my decal mountain - I have done various PZL 7 & 11's (Master/Mistercraft / Plastyk & Heller) - I am working right now (or supposed to be) - I have certainly done a PZL of some sort with the white "geometric" pattern in your photo above!  Will report back later. For the record I didn't do well with the PZL39 Los (the canopy did not go well)

Thanks, that's very kind of you. No worries if you are not successful, obviously :thumbsup2:

 

 

A bit more progress today, with the rudder removed and stored safely for later reference, also some cockpit side-wall internals from 0.3mm styrene rod:

 

nYHF5h6.jpg

 

... which, thanks to the opening out of the cockpit access, will be at least partially visible:

 

WtD5RWx.jpg

 

All going reasonably well at this stage!

 

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Wee decal update - the geometric pattern you posted - is as far as I can tell on the decal sheet for (wait for it) the Mistercraft Boxing of PZL P-7 "Transylvanian Fighter - I know this because I built one and used the decal sadly. The decal is part if the PZL P7-a 122 Fighter Squadron, 2nd Air Regiment - Polish Air Force, Krakow Balice, 1935 (Balice FYI is the current Airport at Krakow which is also still an Aitforce base - interesting aircraft sitting on the apron as you approach the domestic terminal)

 

As for PZL 11 Decals I have the leftovers from Techmod sheet 72120 PZL P-11c - but that sheet does not have your geometric pattern - I can scan what I have left if you are interested - let me know.

Edited by Savenosouls
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On 5/25/2021 at 8:01 AM, Savenosouls said:

Wee decal update - the geometric pattern you posted - is as far as I can tell on the decal sheet for (wait for it) the Mistercraft Boxing of PZL P-7 "Transylvanian Fighter - I know this because I built one and used the decal sadly. The decal is part if the PXL P7-a 122 Fighter Squadron, 2nd Air Regiment - Polish Air Force, Krakow Balice, 1935 (Balice FYI is the current Airport at Krakow which is also still an Aitforce base - interesting aircraft sitting on the apron as you approach the domestic terminal)

 

As for PZL 11 Decals I have the leftovers from Techmod sheet 72120 PZL P-11c - but that sheet does not have your geometric pattern - I can scan what I have left if you are interested - let me know.

Thanks very much for the offer, but I would like to try and make a mask for spraying it when the time comes. Incidentally, today I learned that the 'geometric pattern' does in fact signify a folded paper horse! This according to the armahobbynews.pl blog. Every day is a school day :D

 

Thanks again for your kind offer though :thumbsup2:

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