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Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (072) - Mistercraft rebox - Swiss Air Force [FINISHED]


klr

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When I first built this kit from Heller-Humbrol, it was numbered 227, part of a "block" of Luftwaffe kits in a contiguous numbering block. That suggested to me that these were not the original kit numbers, which turned out to be the case.

143920-11104-pristine.webp167688-11185-80-pristine.webp

 

I bought the Mistercraft boxing to do a Yellow Swiss aircraft with red trimmings. Unfortunately, the supplied Swiss decals are not correct for the subject in question, but I have a cunning plan.

DSC01446_dr_020.jpg

 

No expense time spared on the interior. The fuselage floor is not quite wide enough, so I will need to extend it slightly on the starboard side:

DSC01454_dre_020.jpg

 

Edited by klr
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  • klr changed the title to Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (072) - Mistercraft rebox - Swiss Air Force

Slight hiccup, as I seem to have mislaid one of the transparency parts. Just as well I have a wooden floor ... and some other kits that I could rob the missing part from, in the hope I'd find it later.

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  • 1 month later...

... and I'm back. I found the missing part in the (unclassified) spares box a while ago. It was the starboard angled windscreen. So here's the completed glasshouse, minus the roof for now:

IMG_20210128_103807_dre_025.jpg

 

Note the temporary plastic insert (Plastic Soldier Company sprue yet again!), used to force the fuselage out to its proper width. I left this in a couple of places along the cockpit for a few days each. Also visible are a couple of gaps between the starboard door and the adjoining parts.

IMG_20210128_103824_dre_035.jpg

 

Simultaneously, I also assembled the main wings and cockpit roof. This is not the recommended order of assembly, but I was more wary of the wing to cockpit roof join, than fitting the cockpit roof itself.

IMG_20210128_105255_dr_025.jpg

 

Next, undercoat the framing with the interior colour, namely Hu 31 (for RLM 02). This also worked as a primer to show up various gaps and other blemishes to be fixed:

IMG_20210128_163542_dr_025.jpg

 

Next, put it all together. As I do, I had already attached the tailplanes, using these as a guide for getting the main wing assembly attached at the correct angle.

IMG_20210128_183342_dre_030.jpg

 

Note that there is a "step" at the back of the roof. This is not a problem with the alternative roof part with the MG mount. I will probably put some plastic card just behind it, and sand it down for a smooth transition.

IMG_20210128_183413_dr_030.jpg

 

I will also finish up the framing undercoat, and fill in any other gaps along the roof join. Then I will have to apply at least two coats of Hu 69 gloss yellow to the framing. And after that, it should be all downhill. Hopefully I'm not tempting fate, but I think that once the basic airframe has been successfully assembled, the rest of a Storch should be straightforward, relatively speaking..

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Ok ... lots to report since the last update, but not finished yet.

IMG_20210131_142856_dr_025.jpg

 

At first I painted the main wing struts yellow ...

IMG_20210201_100431_dr_025.jpg

 

... but then checked the instructions, which said they (and the undercarriage legs) should be red. I could find no reliable period photos, and I didn't trust computer-generated renderings that show some struts and legs in yellow. Naturally, this was going to get messy:

IMG_20210202_153447_dr_025.jpg

 

As is my want, I painted in stages, so that there was somewhere to hold onto when applying those horrible decals. The Swiss markings supplied with the kit were not correct for this subject, so I used spares from the Mistercraft boxing of the Bf 108, with using Japanese Hinomaru that were of the right size and colour, and overlaying those with Swiss crosses from the Bf 108.

IMG_20210203_155032_dr_025.jpg

 

The decals still required a lot of touching up, being as brittle as Propagteam decals, and that ain't good.

IMG_20210204_130534_dr_025.jpg

 

The leading edge slats are now attached and painted:

IMG_20210205_121113_dr_025.jpg

 

... but the undersides still need a bit of work. I've also started on painting the main part of the fuselage. The aileron balances have since been painted and attached, so the kit is built.

IMG_20210204_130552_dr_025.jpg

 

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This is seriously good and what a stunner of a colour scheme! Is this brush painted?  If so, that's pretty impressive as from experience, red and yellow are never, ever easy colours to apply with a hairy stick.

 

I'm sure I have this in the stash. It's given me the itch to build it now.

 

Steve 

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2 hours ago, fightersweep said:

This is seriously good and what a stunner of a colour scheme! Is this brush painted?  If so, that's pretty impressive as from experience, red and yellow are never, ever easy colours to apply with a hairy stick.

 

I'm sure I have this in the stash. It's given me the itch to build it now.

 

Steve 

It is indeed brush painted! And yes, both yellow and red can be awkward to paint as a base colour, especially gloss in my experience. There's at least one unfinished kit somewhere that is testament to that.

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So ... I painted (and repainted) the rear fuselage and tailplanes:

IMG_20210208_130250_dr_020.jpg

 

But the fuselage serial codes were in white, not black, and not suitable for this scheme. I managed to make some up from spare decals:

IMG_20210209_102159_dr_025.jpg

 

I'm still on schedule to finish this by the weekend, but I need to give higher priority over the next few days to other kits.

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  • klr changed the title to Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (072) - Mistercraft rebox - Swiss Air Force [FINISHED]

That is a bit helluva brilliant wee job. I'd lost sight of it, I know, damn hard to do & then, there it was again in the gallery so over here I popped to see how it got there (with me still? :D ) & I do like what I've seen, after my eye sight recovered & I'd donned some shadz. ;)  A really nice bit of work there. I can feel a need coming on, for a nice dull camo'd example. :D 

Steve.

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