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"Picchiatello", the Italian Stuka - Ju 87 B-2


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8 hours ago, giemme said:

they sort of dignify the rough job I did by scratch building the pilot seat and the gunner seat structure.

 

Well, if that's your idea of rough I'm glad you don't get to see any of my scratchbuilding very often...!!

 

I'm liking how all your other rough work in the 'pit is coming along too - excellent!

 

Keith

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10 hours ago, CedB said:

More superb stuff Giorgio - those seats and sight look the business! :) 

Thanks Ced, glad you like them! :thumbsup: 

 

2 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Wot Ced said.

Was the bar there to stop the pilot head butting the gun sight in a vertical dive?

 

John

 

 

2 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Meticulous cockpit work going on here Giorgio. Love the way the seat and support are coming along. That I/P bar is curious. Maybe @Biggles87 is right!

 

Terry

 

Thank you John and Terry! :thumbsup: Schemes and pictures show the bar to have a soft padding on it, so I'd say it was definitely to protect the pilot's face and nose - don't know if for the dives (when they often passed out, hence the automatic recovery system the Stukas had) or because of the tendency this model had to tip over on careless landings

d38ff130f6aaa0a03ba9996be5de3276.jpg

 

 

2 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

Well, if that's your idea of rough I'm glad you don't get to see any of my scratchbuilding very often...!!

 

I'm liking how all your other rough work in the 'pit is coming along too - excellent!

 

Keith

Thanks Keith, you are way too kind :thumbsup: 

 

1 hour ago, perdu said:

Standing out as outstanding G, these little bits are what turns your builds into pieces of artwork

 

Brilliant seating, move along I want to sit down.

Alright, alright, no need to push ... :D  :D  Thanks Bill, much appreciated :thumbsup:

 

Ciao

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On 02/11/2020 at 14:41, Spookytooth said:

All looks very nice there G.

I would not worry to much about the seat belt buckles mate, who really is going to know the difference.

 

Stay safe.

 

Simon.

Thanks Simon :thumbsup: Buckles will stay like that, it will be our secret :winkgrin: :rofl: 

 

WE progress report, everybody - trying to complete all the prep work before starting the painting stage for the cockpit. There's one notably missing thing inside the tub in this kit, that is the ventral sighting window. You can see part of the external closing panel here:

 

sightingwindow1

 

which goes right below the firewall

sightingwindow2

 

covered by tape, but it's there

sightingwindow3

 

So I did a  quick dryfit of the IP with the rudder pedals in position, to determine the correct location for the window

sightingwindow4

 

marked it

sightingwindow5

 

drilled out and refined with files

sightingwindow6

 

then I used 0.3mm styrene sheet to cobble together the window tunnel

sightingwindow9

 

Again, a dry fit in place

sightingwindow7

 

sightingwindow8

 

Inclination to be corrected, and I'm not going for the full trunking because the only part that will be seen is the one protruding from the tub floor (actually, it also shows through the firewall, but I'll get to that in another installment) 

 

I did mention the rudder pedals, right? Here's what they should look like on a B series Stuka

pedals1

 

pedals2

 

Both the above pics come from the Valiant book - apologies for posting them so abruptly, but I couldn't find better images to show the difference with the kit parts:

pedals3

 

Which are somewhat like the pedals on later Stuka series. So I designed a replacement on the Silhouette software, and cut them with my Curio (the holes have been all re-drilled with regular drill bits)

pedals4

 

the outer framing was done with 0.1mm brass sheet, bent and glued in place with CA. I used a Dremel sanding disc to shape it accordingly to the real thing.

 

I then removed the kit pedals and glued the scratch built ones in place

pedals5

 

Added straps from wine bottle cap foil

pedals6

 

Base coated with Tamiya Flat Black, by airbrush - together with the inner side of sighting tunnel

sightingwindow10

 

Then I airbrushed them with decanted Tamiya Gloss Aluminium, while the internal of the tunnel received a coat of RLM02

sightingwindow11

 

After brush painting the straps, a black tempera wash and glued in place

pedals7

 

The sighting tunnel received a clear cover, in the form of acetate cutout, glued in place with Formula 560 canopy glue (still curing in the pic)

sightingwindow12

 

The clear part needs to be trimmed, but I'll do that once the glue has completely set.

 

Now I only need to glue it in place, then I can start painting the tub. Next time, though - meanwhile, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

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14 hours ago, giemme said:

 

sightingwindow7

 

Very nice progress!!!!

This is something I may steal for my Loire Nieuport.

I've seen some pictures of kits showing a rectangular window under the cockpit which I suppose must have been similar to this. 

Those pedals can speak!!!

ciao

Massimo

 

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On 09/11/2020 at 00:52, CedB said:

Very nice pedals and window / tunnel Giorgio, great stuff :) 

Cheers Ced, thank you :thumbsup:

 

On 09/11/2020 at 00:52, Terry1954 said:

Lovely rudder work there Giorgio. Definitely NOT words I initially heard from my flying instructor in days gone by!

 

Terry

Thanks Terry :thumbsup: Rudder work must be complicated at first, right?

 

On 09/11/2020 at 06:29, Biggles87 said:

Indeed, another fine piece of micro engineering on the pedals.

 

John

Thanks John, glad you like them :thumbsup:

 

On 09/11/2020 at 10:07, bbudde said:

Great work Giorgio!

Cheers

Cheers Benedikt :thumbsup:

 

On 09/11/2020 at 13:50, Spookytooth said:

Fine work there my friend.

Those rudder pedals look a damn sight better mate.

 

Stay safe.

 

Simon.

Glad you like them, Simon :thumbsup: 

 

On 09/11/2020 at 15:03, Massimo said:

 

Thanks Massimo, you are too kind :thumbsup:

 

On 09/11/2020 at 15:29, keefr22 said:

 

Oh so true - in both cases! 

 

Nice update G!

 

K

So rudder mork must definitely be hard! :D Thanks for the

 praise, Keith :thumbsup:

On 09/11/2020 at 16:06, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Looks like I’m a bit late to the party... 😬 Fantastic scratch building, Giorgio! 👍

No problem Nikolay, welcome on board :thumbsup:

 

On 09/11/2020 at 16:25, fubar57 said:

Great scratch work Giorgio. I'm really enjoying this build

 

 

 

George

Cheers George, glad you like it :thumbsup:

 

On 10/11/2020 at 19:33, The Spadgent said:

Awesome painting Giorgio. 👏👏👏

The seats. The IP. The pedals. Beautiful work dear boy, excellent scratch work to.

 

Johnny

Thank you Johnny :thumbsup:

 

On 10/11/2020 at 19:43, perdu said:

Pedalling beautifully Giorgio, wow

 

And thrice wow!

Too kind, Bill - thank you :thumbsup:

 

On 12/11/2020 at 00:33, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Giorgio, the crew area is coming together in an amazing fashion... I don't really have anything to add other than seconding all the compliments... thank you for sharing all your techniques, I am always amazed at what your builds accomplish.  Best,  Erwin 

People sharing techniques on here is what allowed me to up my game - and sharing my builds is what allows me to get corrected and improve :winkgrin: 

 

Apologies for the lack of updates during the week, everybody - I haven't been lazy, though :winkgrin:  I'm now very close to buttoning up the fuselage halves - it feels quite unusual this early in the build, for my standards at least... my head is spinning already!:rofl: 

 

Anyway, here we go: sighting tunnel glued in position, and the window got masked with Oramask

 

sightingwindow13

 

sightingwindow14

 

I also opened a rectangular hole on the tub floor, near the gunner seat, to house the seat height regulation pedal

gunnerpedal1

 

Time for some paint! Tamiya Flat Black, thinned with cellulose thinner and airbrushed, as primer/base coat

cockpit1

 

cockpit2

 

I did spray it also on the fuselage areas that are going to be visible when the tub is in place

cockpit3

 

Then a coat of RLM02, airbrushed 

cockpit4

 

cockpit5

 

cockpit6

 

I added some white to the mix and went over the side walls and the tub floor, trying to spray from the top to keep some dark recesses

cockpit7

 

cockpit8

 

I then gloss coated the whole bunch and proceeded with detail painting, drybrushing, chipping and weathering with a black tempera wash - and a final flat coat (W&N Galeria Flat Clear, thinned with water and airbrushed)

cockpit10

 

cockpit11

 

cockpit9

 

cockpit12

 

The sighting window got unmasked and received a coat of Aqua Gloss, by brush

cockpit13

 

With the help of a blue tack blob, I glued the radio equipment in place

cockpit14

 

Ammo drums got painted too (Lifecolor Matt Gun Metal mainly)

cockpit15

 

then I scratch built the seat pedal; to reproduce the anti-skid pattern, I used a wood file and a hammer, embedding the pattern on plasticard

gunnerpedal2

 

Then I cut a suitable shape out and glued it to a brass bracket (from 0.1mm sheet). Here it is after painting and weathering

gunnerpedal3

 

Ammo drums in place

cockpit16

 

Same for the empty drums bag and the seat pedal

gunnerpedal4

 

Here's a test fit of the tub floor: the seats and control column aren't glued

cockpit17

 

cockpit18

 

I still need to scratch build the opening lever for the sighting window cover panel, then I can glue the sidewalls to the tub floor and eventually join the fuselage halves. With some luck, this is going to happen during next week :) 

 

All comments welcome, as usual

 

Ciao

 

 

 

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The cockpit is coming on really well.

Slightly off topic, I bought some more Lifecolor paint recently and I know that you're a fan, as am I. Do you know if the formula has changed, these were in the ' Mimetico ' range, which I already use, but seem slightly thicker in the bottle and don't get as frothy when stirred. I have recently started using steel balls, rather than my adapted cocktail stirrer for mixing so this could have something to do with the frothiness.

 

john

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8 hours ago, CedB said:

Superb internals Giorgio - just superb :) 

Thanks Ced, glad you like them :thumbsup:

 

54 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

The cockpit is coming on really well.

Slightly off topic, I bought some more Lifecolor paint recently and I know that you're a fan, as am I. Do you know if the formula has changed, these were in the ' Mimetico ' range, which I already use, but seem slightly thicker in the bottle and don't get as frothy when stirred. I have recently started using steel balls, rather than my adapted cocktail stirrer for mixing so this could have something to do with the frothiness.

 

john

Thanks John :thumbsup: As for Lifecolor paint, the only Mimetico range I tried is for Italian WWII fighters - I used them for my Macchi C202 e C205 builds, you may remember them. These paints are semi-gloss, or satin if you will, so they definitely have a different consistence compared to regular Lifecolor paints. I wouldn't really say they are thicker, they just seem to have a different viscosity.

 

One more thing: I never shake Lifecolor paints, I always use a cocktail stick as stirrer, either if I have to brush paint them and thin with water or airbrush them and thin with IPA and water - if they go bubbly, there's also a chance they'll go flaky and clog the airbrush or leave residuals on your brush work.

HTH


Ciao

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10 hours ago, giemme said:

So rudder mork must definitely be hard!

 

Yes, and not just at first for some of us...!! 

 

That's some lovely work on the 'pit Giorgio, cracking stuff! And that method of embossing the plasticard is genious - I'm going to try & remember that!

 

Keith

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