elger Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Some years ago I came across the concept art by Jakub Rozalski. Some of his work pertains to a re-imagining of the 20s, 30s, and 40s with robots. In my early teenage years I visited the casemate museums at Kornwerderzand several times. These weren't bunkers, I vividly remember the guide telling us on our first visit, but casemates. Kornwerderzand on the western shore end of the Afsluitdijk was one of the rare strongholds that was able to withstand the invasion of Nazi-Germany in May 1940. Nazi-Germany invaded on May the 10th, 1940 and reached Kornwerderzand on Sunday May 12th. The units there held out until the bombing of Rotterdam on May 14th forced the Dutch government to surrender - much to the dismay of the defending units at Kornwerderzand. There was a line of defense to the east ahead of the casemates at Kornwerderzand. It consisted of trenches and dugouts and was known as the "Wons Stelling". This line of defense was no match for the invading army and was quickly overrun on the 12th, with heavy losses on the Dutch side. Lehrgeschwader 2 was one of the units that provided close-air support. This was a unit that wasn't actually a training unit, but a "mixed-formation [unit] tasked with the operational evaluation of new types of aircraft and/or with the development/evaluation of new operational tactics or practices". Messerschmitt 109E-3 "Black 12" was flown by Leutnant Helmut Mertens on the 12th. Presumably, as Mertens made a low pass over the Wons Stelling and his aircraft was hit by small arms fire. (There were no anti-aircraft weapons there). A single bullet hit the fuel line and the engine ground to an immediate halt. Mertens made a successful belly landing just outside of the village of Pingjum. The aircraft was lightly damaged and was sent to the factory in Leipzig for repairs and returned to frontline service by August 1940. Pingjum is used by the German army units as a temporary base and launch various unsuccessful attacks on Kornwerderderzand the next few days - that is, until the capitulation of the Netherlands, officially on May 15th 1940. I'm planning a small diorama and the main feature will be the Airfix 1/48 109E kit. The Airfix kit is relatively cheap and captures the look of the 109 really well (better in my opinion than the competition). You can also build pretty much every E variant from each box, which is good value for money. Detail is a bit sparse and soft, and those panel lines are rather awful - I'm trying to reduce them a bit. I added some parts of Eduard's Zoom cockpit set, as well as a resin seat from SBS and a resin control stick from CMK. I painted the cockpit with Mig Ammo, Vallejo, and Games Workshop acrylics. Read to close up the fuselage I've also started working on the figures: Three are resin and two are from Tamiya's "German Infantry on Maneuvers" set. Thanks for looking - updates will follow... 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kais Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Elger, Nice work. Your man third from the left is carrying an MG tool kit on the right hand side of his belt, but is carrying a Gewehr 43 over his shoulder. Should he be carrying an MG 34 or maybe a Kar 98? My apologies for nit picking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Hello Elger !! Nice build and a good story behind it !! Keep carry on Man !! CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 5 hours ago, Kais said: Elger, Nice work. Your man third from the left is carrying an MG tool kit on the right hand side of his belt, but is carrying a Gewehr 43 over his shoulder. Should he be carrying an MG 34 or maybe a Kar 98? My apologies for nit picking. Love the nit picking! I'll see if I can replace the rifle. Did anyone notice I glued the wrong left arms on the cream coloured resin figures? Neither did I until I started painting them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlogger Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 A well searched project. I bet result gonna amaze us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Great start and great backround. I will be interested to see the diorama progress. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 Small update. While the Airfix kit can be built wheels up - it has parts for the main gear in that position, the tailwheel is weighted which is incompatible with that option. I fixed this by laminating some sheet styrene, and then sanding the wheel to shape. The main airframe has been assembled and primed. I reduced the heavy panel lines by blasting the main parts with 5 layers of Tamiya primer from a spray can - really up close and thick (the way you're not supposed to prime). After drying, I sanded the primer off, and ran a q-tip with a bit of Mr Leveling Thinner along all the panel lines because I was afraid I had obliterated them completely. Now they are actually nice and subtle under a thin coat of black Mr Surfacer (also from a spray can this time). The main canopy doesn't fit very well which is rather disappointing. The canopy is about 0,5 mm more narrow than the fuselage, leaving a rim on the side where it meets the fuselage. Plodding on regardless - until the next update! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted November 8, 2020 Author Share Posted November 8, 2020 Basic colours on - ready for decals 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Decals added - aircraft markings mostly from the spares box; stencils from the Airfix kit. Up next: some light weathering and some dirt on the underside to simulate the effects of the belly landing. Thanks for looking! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 The aircraft is mostly finished. I weathered it lightly with oils and an enamel pin wash. Mud was made with Mig and AK interactive enamels mixed heavily with dark brown pigment powder to give it texture. Next up I'll finish the base and the figures. Thanks for looking! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Inching closer to the finish with this project. Making the base was fun - but more difficult than I thought in the end. I started by laminating pieces of Ikea insulation foam board pieces together: The water was made with Mig "Acrylic Water" - which works okay. I tried making thin layers but they started cracking almost every time as they dried. Eventually a top layer remained mostly intact, but then I still added a layer of Future to make the water look more reflective. I invested in a static grass applicator to make the grass stand up - nice to do this sort of stuff for a change I have to admit I also finished the figures - painted mostly with Vallejo acrylics (from the Panzer Aces range for the skin tones). I used a black and brown filter made with Future to add shadows. Going to put all the things together asap - RFI thread will follow. Thanks for looking! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Finished! More photos of the finished project - they are here: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 On 10/22/2020 at 1:48 PM, Kais said: Elger, Nice work. Your man third from the left is carrying an MG tool kit on the right hand side of his belt, but is carrying a Gewehr 43 over his shoulder. Should he be carrying an MG 34 or maybe a Kar 98? My apologies for nit picking. Sorry I was not able to replace the rifle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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