mike romeo Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Hi folks, Like Heather, I will be building the Ju52/3m; likely with a fading winter whitewash finish from the Eastern Front. At least that is the plan. Heather has saved me the trouble of displaying sprues shots, but here is the artwork on the classic black box: Knowing next to nothing about the '52, I will be raiding Heather's build thread for ideas. However, my plan is to build this as close to oob as I can. I have made a start. The plastic is quite hard and clean up of pieces is fast. I'm hoping it's not too brittle, as one of my fuse sides is a bit bent. Hopefully the interior and glass work will correct this, more or less: You may be able to see a slight short shot notch out of the rudder trailing edge of the far piece. Hopefully, milliput should solve this. Here's the interior: No assembly problems thus far. Once that's set, it'll get a scoosh of primer, ready for the RLM02 interior. I build slow, and I've got a few more things on the workbench. However, I hope to have this complete before Christmas, as I've got a second build planned for this GB. . . More soonish. Rgds Martin 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Nice one Martin, Welcome to the GB and good luck. I shall be looking at these threads when I come to make my AAC-1 Toucan, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 4, 2020 Author Share Posted October 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Wez said: Nice one Martin, Welcome to the GB and good luck. I shall be looking at these threads when I come to make my AAC-1 Toucan, Thanks, Wez! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 Following very much in Heather's footsteps, I made some progress on the '52 this evening. Finished painting the interior and got the fuse sides attached. Here's a closer view of what won't be seen once it's buttoned up. You will note the non-slip surface I added to the main cabin floor. I have managed to misplace one of the control wheels. I may find a replacement, or I may leave 'as is'. I doubt too much will be seen through the glazing. I have been very impressed by the fit so far. Long may it continue! The side glazing fitted very well. A bit of Tamiya extra thin round the edges and allowed to dry, and that won't be going anywhere. Noting Heather's comments about MEK (which I don't have), I broke out the PlasticWeld and that worked well. I glued the interior tight to one fuse halves, then dry'fitted the other half and applied PW to the joints underneath the floor. That got rid of my wavey fuse half. You can see in the last pic that the fuse bottom is dry-fitted. Here's a better view. A little trimming round the trailing edge roots and it fits very snugly. And here it is with the roof on. I'll let the fuse sides set up tonight and add top, bottom and tail plane tomorrow. Given the good fit, I see the major challenges as being painting and decalling. However, we'll see . . . Rgds Martin 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Coming along beautifully! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Your bottom fitted better than mine! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 37 minutes ago, Heather Kay said: Your bottom fitted better than mine! Modesty prevents me . . . In my kit, the chord of the lower wing centre section was too large. So, on the fuselage, where the trailing edge fillet cuts inboard suddenly, I just removed about a mil from the rear edge of the plastic there, allowing the centre section to slot right in. It's kind of difficult to explain, but was v. easy to do . . . Rgds Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 I got the roof and bottom on this evening. No snags, but not worth a pic. Rgds Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 That looks like a nice boxing of this kit Martin. I’m intrigued to know what’s the difference between the bog standard German 52/3m kit and the French Toucan? Cheers and nice progress.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said: what’s the difference If my instructions are anything to go by, there are some intake differences under the nose engine. They are called out as for the civilian version, but may equally apply for the French built planes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Heather Kay said: If my instructions are anything to go by, there are some intake differences under the nose engine. They are called out as for the civilian version, but may equally apply for the French built planes. Wot Heather sed + my instructions also show a difference in the air intakes of the wing engines. Sand filters for Fr operations? Rgds Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 So, got the tailplanes and wings on this evening. Reasonable fit all round, but some tape used to just ensure everything stays in place. And I've also put a base coat on the engine parts. So, a bit of dry-brushing on exhausts and cylinders, and possibly a dirty wash, and they can be put together. In other news, I found the missing control wheel and I whipped that on, quick smart. I'll start to work on the seams. Hopefully that won't take too long. I then need to mask off the windows. Rgds Martin 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Wow! Fast!! Looks like a nice kit from both the build threads. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: Wow! Fast!! Looks like a nice kit from both the build threads. Regards, Adrian Yep. Despite the size, there's not that much to it. The nice fit helps, too. Rgds Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I think it’s a fab kit. There’s enough in the cockpit to make it look busy, and nothing will be lost when the halves get stuck together. There’s scope for a full interior if you feel in the mood, but again it’s going to be all but invisible. If I’d set my mind to it, I’d have finished my build and had it painted over a weekend! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 So, work has continued since my last pics, although not much progress has been made. The gaps and joints have been fixed, mostly with correction fluid, although some milliput was also used under the nose. Although the joint was quite good, it was a bit concave, so filler was used to level up the centre part slightly. I then spent the evening beginning masking the side windows. Not my favourite modelling task, tbh. No pics because there's not much to show. However, thought I'd post to tell you all I hadn't forgotten about you . Rgds Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Due to the design of the kit, the completed airframe feels like the minimum of plastic containing the maximum volume. Seams keep popping under my klutzy handling! However, side windows are now masked and main gear struts added. The latter have large sink holes that will have to be addressed. After that, it's onto making up the engines and an explorative scoosh of primer. Rgds Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 18 minutes ago, mike romeo said: The latter have large sink holes that will have to be addressed. I’m glad you mentioned that. I forgot in my thread, even though I’d spent ages filling and sanding the things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 This is looking great Mike. On the subject of popping seams, I've come across this before, has anyone got any ideas for a cure, or probably best what to do to avoid it happening in the first place ? Cheers Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 The plastic is finely moulded with not much contact area. I think the best advice I could give would be, "handle with care!" So, do as I say, not what I do! Rgds Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 I’ve recently bought a jar of Gunze’s Mr. Cement S which is supposed to be a quick setting liquid type cement. I have to say, running a bead of this stuff along the join lines seems to keep things in place and might be a good solution to your seams popping. It’s no miracle glue, however handy to have in ones kit bag. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Hi folks, As my last post stated, slow progress continues to be made - and I have some pics to prove it! Here's the state of things at the moment. You can see the side window masking. The only filler used on top is the patch in front of the tail fin.The other white bits are correcting fluid, cleaned up with a cotton bud dipped in enamel thinners. Here's the underside: Bit of filler on the gear leg sink marks, and a shed load on the nose, where the join led to a concave surface. Looks to have cleaned up ok, although I have obliterated a raised panel line. Have to see if I can reinstate it with stretched sprue. And here's a close up showing that with Heather's tuition, I got the drag stays on in approximately the right position. I used masking tape over the corrugations on the centre section while I sanded the nose. Seems to have worked. So, next up, once the flaps have dried I'll add the ailerons & tailwheel, and then see what it looks like under a coat of primer. It may be ok. I confess to having some doubts . . . Rgds Martin 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Hi, I've done some of the above: one aileron and tailwheel are on, but when dry-fitting the second aileron, I saw I'd lost a couple of the attachment arms. This'll have been due to clumsy handling on my part. I have since replaced them with plastic rod bent over a candle flame and cut to size. Once that's dry, I'll have a go at attaching the remaining aileron. Handle carefully . . . In other news, I dry fitted the canopy. After a tiny fettle on one side, it fits well, so this may remain off for now. Finally, I added some sprue soup to the attachment points both to attempt to strengthen the join with the underside attachment point and also to make it look like a realistic structure. To get a smooth finsh, I went over the soup with tamiya extra thin to help it flow a bit rather than blob. Slowly getting closer to primer. Rgds Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike romeo Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Hi again, Having fixed the missing flap and aileron brackets with pieces of rod softened over a candle flame and bent approximately to shape, primer was then applied, followed by some judicious sanding of leading edges: I may use the primer as my white coat, as it doesn't completely cover the colour underneath. Compare the colour of the lower nose area with white filler underneath the primer (came up nicely, btw), and the colour of the rest of it. That's a better pic of the yellow Ostfront recognition markings, brush painted and soon to be masked. No pics, but I've started assembling the cowlings and engines. Fiddly! More pics when they look decent. Rgds Martin 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Great work Martin. These Ju 52’s do look after nice once built. I’m intrigued to know how the masking goes over all those corrugations. That would drive me bonkers I think! Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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