Desk Flyer Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 Hello everyone, very excited to be part of this Group Build of... monumental proportions 😊 So many interesting builds to follow, so much talent on show! I'll be entering with the 1/72 Arado 196, a kit I actually bought in my teens (a loooooong time ago). Simple instructions for a simple kit: The kit's decals are unusable. So I decided to go for a new set of Royal Romanian Air Force decals: Kora suggests that Romanian examples were delivered painted just like the German ones which is just the way I like it. The pieces are nicely moulded and flash is almost non-existant. Clear parts are good enough for me... But... and that's a big but, I did get some extra parts as you are about to see... 😉 Thanks for looking. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 Great to see another different kit joining the collection especially in a Humbrol box, a real blast from the past. Good luck with the build. cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 I'm not sure that the Romanians ever got their Arados. There is an Arado in Bulgaria and I've seen it suggested that it was intended for Romania but never made it in time. But I cannot confirm this story - I must admit that I'd prefer making a Romanian Arado from this kit than working on the vacform I have of the He.114 that they certainly did use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 Great to see both this Heller Arado and a self proclaimed GB ‘newbie’ taking part. Big welcome to this Heller Group Build @Desk Flyer, I hope you enjoy the show and take an active part in a number of WIP’s. Now we don’t expect you to comment on everyone’s models (that’s what we hosts are for), however its a great way to get to know many members the world over and I’m sure a handy way to pick up many modelling tips along the way. Cheers and have fun.. Dave 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 Nice one, this is a lovely little kit, I have the Encore version in the Wez Heller Hoard, so glad to see it here. Original catalogue number was 241 back in 1979 (during the Heller Golden Period)! Thanks for joining our little Group Build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klr Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 Great choice. Takes me back to 1982, when this one of my very first Heller kits. One of the very best that Heller (or just about anyone else!) has ever produced, IMHO. About the only thing that's not perfect is that the cylinder heads need to be sanded down slightly for the cowling halves to fit. And that's it really. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 That's a nice one! I guess we've all been to the attic digging in our boyhood treasure chests... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 23 hours ago, Graham Boak said: I'm not sure that the Romanians ever got their Arados. There is an Arado in Bulgaria and I've seen it suggested that it was intended for Romania but never made it in time. But I cannot confirm this story - I must admit that I'd prefer making a Romanian Arado from this kit than working on the vacform I have of the He.114 that they certainly did use. Hi @Graham Boak thanks for looking and commenting. From what I've read the Romanians got delivery of some aircraft in crates but they only had time to assemble 2 of them. If you look around the internet you may find colour profiles of them but I haven't seen a picture. As for the Bulgarian example, I have seen and photographed it at Plovdiv some time ago... This one is one of a few I took that day. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 Thank you @JOCKNEY @Rabbit Leader @Wez @klr and @Toryu for looking and for commenting. Now as I said, during the build-up phase I decided to invest in some resin. And then I decided to invest in some PE as well... But first I got some reference material: I like (paper) books with my kits. I guess you could call me old fashioned? Then I got these... They look marvelous, better than I expected. But as if I wasn't in enough trouble already, I decided to punish me even more... And finally, say hello to my little friends: The kit included a basic MG 81Z so I got one to replace it. Then I found out that the MG 81Z applied to the A-5 version while the A-3 models had a single MG 15 for the radio operator and a fixed synchronized MG 17 firing through the cowling and the prop disc. Oh well... Tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll be cutting plastic 😊 Happy group-building everyone! Thanks for looking. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 The game is afoot! Once again the assembled resin engine wouldn't fit in the cowling but this time it was only by about 1mm so I sanded down the cylinder heads... More PE fun to follow! Thanks for looking! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 Hi @Desk Flyer Last time we heard from you, the Arado was on the way and you had made a start. I hope you 2 haven't had a falling out ? Have you done anymore since we last heard from you ? Cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 With all these aftermarket embellishments this is going to be a helluva detailing job - good luck! (I'm just despairing over mine, my pincers seem to come from a plumber's toolbox...) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted November 3, 2020 Author Share Posted November 3, 2020 21 hours ago, JOCKNEY said: Hi @Desk Flyer Last time we heard from you, the Arado was on the way and you had made a start. I hope you 2 haven't had a falling out ? Have you done anymore since we last heard from you ? Cheers Pat Hi @JOCKNEY thanks for thinking of me. No, I haven't given up. I am still working on it but made little progress, not enough to make for a meaningful contribution here I'm afraid. Lot's of PE to fold and glue, you spend a whole afternoon just for the cockpit controls then another just for the floats etc... If all goes well I may be posting an update this weekend? I want to spray some primer (everything looks better with some primer on) before I post. 😉 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Hi @Desk Flyer, how's the progress on the Arado? I hope you managed to get your primer coat on in the meantime. Would be nice to see this classic coming along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 Good evening people. Although you probably wouldn't believe it, I've been working on my Arado all this time. But I have very little to show for, some times going one step forward and then two steps back. I started the project with the PE interior. This was supposed to replace the very basic interior provided by Heller: Early on I decided that I'm going to use some of the original parts as I think they look better than their PE counterparts. The pilot's seat for example: It looks more... three-dimentional if you know what I mean. Anyway, there was lots of fun to be had bending and super-glueing tiny parts when they thought they knew better... Then I turned my attention over to the floats. The existing detail had to be removed and then the PE to be fitted. The tricky part here was that you had to make the PE to curve before you glued them on. Or at least, you had to try: After much name-calling and abortive attempts, a compromise was reached. The floats have won but at least the war ended: Then it was the engine's turn. I used a resin BMW 132 engine to begin with. The first thing I did (after the Heller Potez 631 - Neomega Gnome-Rhone 14 fiasco) was to make sure the resin engine would fit inside the cowling. In fact it wouldn't but it only took a light sanding of the cylinder heads to make it fit. Looking at it I thought it was a bit too simple so I went on to add my own carburetor inlets using Evergreen styrene and PE parts: That's the engine next to the gunner/radio operator seat. Another combination of PE and original kit parts. So far so good. But the problem was I still thought the engine to be too simple and on top of that I noticed you could peer inside the cowling from behind. So I decided to add the air intake manifold as well as the exhaust and intake ducts. I used soldering wire, copper wire and a part from the original kit's engine. I will be adding the push-rods later on and I think that would do. Then I went back to the interior. The side walls were fitted... Dry fitting checks were carried out to make sure everything fits... But I couldn't leave that empty space between the pilot and the radio operator like that. So I made a divide using the PE parts and white styrene sheet... Then, at long last, everything was ready for a coat of primer! In this family picture you can also see the spinner and prop blades, the guns. the exhausts, the cowling and the instrument panels. Thank you for looking and for commenting. To be continued... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I wouldn't call this "very little to show for" at all! That is some very decent progress with excellent detailing! Now, please keep filling us in on the proceedings, you're doing great 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 Thank you @JeroenS you are very kind 😊 Another update coming up later tonight 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Fantastic details! You seem to like these PE improvements as much as I do. But it's taking its time... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 Thank you @Toryu I call that "Anger Management" 🤐 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 So, where were we? Ah yes, the pre-primer family group photo. Well, anybody noticed which well known family member is missing? I almost started spraying before I noticed I forgot about the canopy. So back to the bench for one of the least loved jobs associated with aircraft models... Clear parts cut, cleaned, treated with Future, dried and masked. Now (days later) I'm ready to spray. This time I thought I'd give Humbrol's acrylic primer a try. So I thinned it down with their own thinners, poured it in and began the application. Let me tell you straight away I was not impressed at all. It was even worse than the Vellejo grey acrylic primers. The Humbrol stuff came out blotchy, uneven and would stick or cover the surface. I tried different distances and trigger settings but the results were not good. A few days later I gave this stuff a second chance with my 'B' project (I like to have a second project running in parallel to my main project, a 'B-side' for those who remember vinyl singles) trying different thinner-to-paint ratios and the results were equally disappointing. The final verdict is to keep this away from my airbrush from now on. The next step was to spray RLM02 all over the interior surfaces. I used Mr. Hobby Aqueous H70. For the prop blades RLM70 I used Mr. Hobby Aqueous H65. For the instrument panel RLM66 and radio stack I used Mr. Hobby Aqueous H416. I love Mr. Hobby Aqueous! Then I applied a light dry brushing to the instruments and painted some details using Humbrol and Revell enamels on cocktail sticks. Then the instruments (backing film) was glued and drops of gloss varnish were administered And guess who forgot to attach the PE handles on the canopy before spraying RLM02! Doh! Then I applied a gloss coat to the interior (Vallejo), then a wash (Tamiya), then a matt coat (W&N)... In between stages, I was working on the 'bare metal' parts as well. A combination of Humbrol and Vallejo paints were used... Then, after everything has dried, I decided I was only going to make things worse so it was time to hide them inside the fuselage the best I could. Remember the 'dry fitting and measuring' in the previous post? Well, now it was time for the real thing the interior wouldn't fit inside! 🤬 I had enough. No more mister nice guy! Tip of the day: If you guys ever want to completely disassemble any super-glued PE parts very quickly then let me tell you high frequency vibrations (the kind you get from a rotary tool while grinding down PE sheet or plastic) works like a charm! Insert more 🤬 After I re-glued the tiny bits inside, I began closing the two halves starting from the tail... and slowly working my way forward adding interior bits along the way. By the way, this is my reply to anyone who says Hazelnut & chocolate spreads are no good for you! I hope you are enjoying this thread. As always, thank you for looking and for leaving a comment. To be continued... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 This is impressive stuff indeed which is going to end up with a stunning Arado 196 with the detail of a 1/32 kit! Impressed with your ability with the photo etch too. All I've added to my OOB build is some seat belts, and it must have taken at least half an hour of colourful language before I got the belts to stick to the seat rather than my fingers or tweezers! Must be the glue I'm using as it sticks absolutely anything except photo etch to plastic. Following with much interest. I do like that etch set though, and the engine looks superb. Did I paint my interior the wrong colour? I just went storming in with the RLM 66. Agreed on the Hazelnut spread! With four girls in this household, I have a seemingly endless supply of Nutella jars (other brands are available) which are great for my white spirit and the lids make fab paint palettes. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Yep, great skills on show here. I like what you've done with the engine, but the cockpit is something else. Rgds Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 Thank you @fightersweep although I do not feel particular capable with PE... It took me the entire day's session to get the belts right. I use gel cyanoacrylic glue with PE parts as I found it tends to stay in place and so a smaller drop will do the job. As to the colour, I went for RLM02 as the standard colour favoured by german interior decorators at the time. I haven't seen any colour photos of the cockpit taken in the 40s so you could be right. Having said that, after I had painted my cockpit, I picked up a copy of last month's FlyPast magazine only to find they had an article about an Ar196 restoration. The photos show there is a lot of RLM66 in there (main instrument panel, radio stack etc) but still there is no definite answer. I ❤️ Nutella jars/glasses! It's a hard job having to eat the contents in order to use the jar but that never stopped me 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 Thank you @mike romeo you are very kind. I'm glad you like it. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desk Flyer Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 Good afternoon everybody and happy new year! 🙂 So, after a day or so the clamps were removed. Some putty was needed but it wasn't that bad after all But I wasn't just watching glue and putty drying. I was doing some hard work actually: Scribing! All panel lines were traced, scribed, sanded and re-scribed. It wasn't 100% successful but it was good enough. Many lessons learned. Then the wings were assembled and some filler was needed Then I had a general dry fitting test to see how bad things were to become... First the floats and struts Then the wings on the floats and finally all major sub-assemblies together. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't that bad either. The floats and struts looked to be the hardest part of it. Then the fuselage was glued on to the wings... with just a little bit of putty and sanding needed Then I decided I wasn't torturing myself enough so I had the impulse to add the rigging between the floats/struts/fuselage. Holes were drilled, lengths of EZ rigging lines were cut and drops of CA glue were administered... The first thing I learned was that no matter how many hands you have you always need one more... After spending many evenings threading, knitting and swearing I turned my attention to the cockpit once more. I added some detail to the radio operator's instrument panel and fitted in the cockpit all remaining parts then the canopy was fitted Then the V struts were made to fit Which the did after some persuasion but at the cost of some (small) gaps Two sessions, some Vallejo acrylic putty, cotton buds and cocktail sticks were needed to heal this and most importantly without breaking anything. Finally, all the small details were added on the fuselage and wings (so they can be broken off later) Primer time is drawing near 😉 I hope you liked the update and (as always) thank you for looking and for leaving a comment. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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