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Otto's Mobile - Some 1/144 Builds


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Our first Grandson, Otto, arrived last October. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of, er… what did Shakespeare call them? Infants "Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms". Not to mention the nappies… Of course nature does its thing with your brain and I must admit he is an endearing little smiler.

 

I had warned about a lack of interest until the Lego came out but then they visited and, when my daughter brought him into the man cave, he was obviously fascinated by the models on the ceiling. "Perhaps you could build him a plane mobile" said my daughter. Right.

 

I had seen some 1/144 models on the forums but not many in my 'WWII Europe' general theme. Then I saw something about Zveda's 'Art of Tactic' range and Eduard's Super 44. The hunt was on.

 

51165153963_6c3a2f0e15_z.jpg

 

The Eduard Spits, the P-47 and FW-190 from Model Hobbies.

Zveda from Amazon. I have a Hurricane apparently 'in the post'. Fingers crossed.

 

What's in the white box?

A mobile motor that plays music.

Of course it comes with tinny, child appropriate tunes but it does allow 'downloads' to its memory card so something more appropriate was loaded:

 

51158095880_a78a31d283_w.jpg (Click to see the video)

 

So far, RAF and Dambusters Marches, 'Aces High' and the theme from '633 Squadron'.

Better.

 

I'm planning to start these as a bit of a rest from building the B17s but we can have a look at the kits in a minute.

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Let's have a look at the kits.

 

Eduard Spitfire IXe combo with two wing variants :

 

51156244885_0908dbd170_z.jpg

 

Lots of transfers to give three options for each wing type:

 

51156243085_26b195a347_z.jpg

 

Paint masks? They're going to be fun to fit on these…

 

51155139421_fb0f5e4c39_z.jpg

 

Two other part trees:

 

51156246380_17a1afc435_z.jpg

 

51156245695_dc2f0751ca_z.jpg

 

I've saved the broken off blade and radiator cover safely (I hope).

The detail of this kit is impressive for the scale. Look, separate exhausts:

 

51154476202_42327730a3_z.jpg

 

The carpet monster is salivating already.

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Eduard FW-190D-9 next.

 

51155386793_ced97e3540_z.jpg

 

With four schemes:

 

51155158091_904b6e0f56_z.jpg

 

All those white lines are for Heinz Sachsenberg's mount which has red undersides with white stripes.

Shan't be doing that one then.

All of them are mottled so I think I'll be testing my eyes on this one.

And the others.

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This is a great plan! Your are a softie really eh Ced. 
 

I’m a big fan of the down loaded music, I’m sure it will be very soothing and sleep inducing!

 

Rob

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Eduard P47-D bubble top:

 

51149776677_1053c84ce0_z.jpg

 

Nice moulding:

 

51151559640_84f4d09bfe_z.jpg

 

…with five scheme options:

 

51150454101_bf8501cb69_z.jpg

 

Nice to see the stripes an so on as transfers - can you imagine masking that?

I think it'll be Frank Middleton's mount - mostly NMF.

I like NMF.

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Now the Zvedas.

As mentioned above I think these kits are designed for war gaming; there's an insert about 'Art of Tactic'. Quick, snap build but the detail's still good.

 

Me-109:

 

51156271410_7a1eef5857_z.jpg

 

Look - wheels up option!

The transfers are 'generic' and the canopy, er, basic:

 

51156273945_9006d909c3_z.jpg

 

Same for the Stuka:

 

51154500252_5e95940e18_z.jpg

 

My first decision is what to do about the painting.

I think it might be base coats with the airbrush and brush painting for the camo.

Should be fun?

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After another period of seam sanding on the Fort I was tempted by this:

 

51165041751_25c5fa6cf5_z.jpg

 

A bit of flash / mild misalignment:

 

51164378022_f55e794731_z.jpg

 

…and some weird gate positioning:

 

51165043236_3db445759e_z.jpg

 

I don't think that's a gunsight :D 

Off the trees and cleaned up:

 

51165828599_2fb0d15f1a_z.jpg

 

Nice detail eh? Crisp moulding too.

Before I knew it:

 

51164406417_c698475ab7_z.jpg

 

'No glue required' they say, but I couldn't resist using TET on the wing and tailplane joins.

The u/c isn't glued to save having to mask it - I'll pull them off (fnaar!) and paint with the upper surfaces.

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2 hours ago, rob85 said:

Your are a softie really eh Ced.

Exactly my same thought! :D

 

This should be done by next WE, right? :rofl:

 

Ciao

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A nice distraction Ced. I have a couple of those Eduard 1/144 spitfires and they are really quite superb little kits.

 

The mobile sounds great, but be warned ........ when one of my eldest two (twins of course) was still quite baby like (he is 41 now), he was fascinated by a twinkly blue mobile I had made from paper, foil etc, all in the shape of birds and aircraft. Thinking it a good idea to hold him up closer to the arial display of light, shape and colour, he became quite fixated with it all, and before I knew it, had swiped across the whole lot with one hand, bringing them all down in one go! Interesting that this particular son went on to become a software engineer developing missile system software in the defence industry. I reckon that early experience gave him a taste for bringing things back down to earth!

 

I'll follow this one with a keen eye and a magnifying glass!

 

Terry

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What a fun project.

 

The Eduard and Eduard rebagged Platz kits are superb and among the best in the scale. The 190 even has stencilling!

 

Be aware the FW190 and P47 have the 'new' Eduard decals. Only a few seconds in hot water to loosen them any more and they fold and float away.

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An excellent plan Ced. The Luftwaffe March from the Battle of Britain film would be a good addition to balance things out a bit.

 

Martian 👽

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Martian, you beat me to it!

So, 

The Great Escape

Lawrence of Arabia

Band of Brothers

Where Eagles Dare

Star Wars theme

The Blue Danube (Think 2001)

All stirring Stuff

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Hi Ced,

 

What a splendid idea for young Otto! Great aeroplane choices, and the option for downloading proper music onto the mobile motor is a winner!

 

As someone else who's recently been elevated to Grandadliness, I'm watching your progress closely!

 

Cheers,

Mark

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22 hours ago, giemme said:

Exactly my same thought! :D

 

This should be done by next WE, right? :rofl:

 

Ciao

21 hours ago, bbudde said:

Yep Ced, you cannot begin to learn early enough!:whistle:

Schallplatten-Iron-Maiden-Vinyl-Iron-Mai

I expect some RFI's later this evening?

Cheers

:D Thanks Giorgio and Ben. Not quite that fast, the B17s need attention (but this is fun!)

Ben it's not that version of 'Aces High' but the Luftwaffe march.

 

20 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

A nice distraction Ced. I have a couple of those Eduard 1/144 spitfires and they are really quite superb little kits.

 

The mobile sounds great, but be warned ........ when one of my eldest two (twins of course) was still quite baby like (he is 41 now), he was fascinated by a twinkly blue mobile I had made from paper, foil etc, all in the shape of birds and aircraft. Thinking it a good idea to hold him up closer to the arial display of light, shape and colour, he became quite fixated with it all, and before I knew it, had swiped across the whole lot with one hand, bringing them all down in one go! Interesting that this particular son went on to become a software engineer developing missile system software in the defence industry. I reckon that early experience gave him a taste for bringing things back down to earth!

 

I'll follow this one with a keen eye and a magnifying glass!

 

Terry

Thanks Terry :) 

I'll be warned and warn the daughter - hopefully it'll last!

 

19 hours ago, Tim R-T-C said:

What a fun project.

 

The Eduard and Eduard rebagged Platz kits are superb and among the best in the scale. The 190 even has stencilling!

 

Be aware the FW190 and P47 have the 'new' Eduard decals. Only a few seconds in hot water to loosen them any more and they fold and float away.

Thanks Tim, warning heeded! 

Now I just need to remember… :) 

 

19 hours ago, Martian said:

An excellent plan Ced. The Luftwaffe March from the Battle of Britain film would be a good addition to balance things out a bit.

 

Martian 👽

Thanks Martian :)

think that's 'Aces High' (according to the album) but I may be wrong…

Nice rump de dumps.

 

14 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Martian, you beat me to it!

So, 

The Great Escape

Lawrence of Arabia

Band of Brothers

Where Eagles Dare

Star Wars theme

The Blue Danube (Think 2001)

All stirring Stuff

Thanks Pete - what a soundtrack! 

I'll try to find those too.

 

11 hours ago, Putty Animal said:

Nice one Ced.  Dont forget the Platz/Eduard Hellcat and P-51.  Those are crackers too :)

Thanks PA :)

I don't think I'll be venturing back to this scale after this though - too tiny!

 

9 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Hi Ced,

 

What a splendid idea for young Otto! Great aeroplane choices, and the option for downloading proper music onto the mobile motor is a winner!

 

As someone else who's recently been elevated to Grandadliness, I'm watching your progress closely!

 

Cheers,

Mark

Cheers Mark :) 

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Last night I had the strangest decided I could bash together another Zveda.

 

Look - wheels up option!

 

51166298436_bfd88c468c_z.jpg

 

 

Nice.

The tailplane is designed to fit in the slot in the fin:

 

51167409240_3854cdb611_z.jpg

 

 

There are stepped location pins on each one that fit together:

 

51165653282_57e5646d06_z.jpg

 

 

Just don't drop them and get them mixed up:

 

51167420950_b7c7f40232_z.jpg

 

 

With a bit of wiggling they fit really well:

 

51167424485_03180fd8ea_z.jpg

 

 

Done!

 

51167116049_0be55898d8_z.jpg

 

Still no sign of the Hurricane :(

 

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1 hour ago, CedB said:

Still no sign of the Hurricane

You mean like this one. I think I got it free with a magazine some years ago. I'd started to hollow out the cockpit and sort the underbelly intake etc. There is even a scratch built seat in the first picture on the large piece of plastic sheet, waiting for the Brengun seat straps. It has been on the "must finish" list for some time.............

 

IMG20210509123643 IMG20210509123658

 

Terry

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Nice one Ced!

 

If you didn't know, Revell do range of 1/144 kits and so do Academy, I have their Mustang and it looks to be a cracker

 

Just saying

 

You can get an awful lot of 1/144 kits in a display case....

 

All the best, and hugs to Otto  (is that appropriate these days??)

 

Geoff

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Those Zvezda ones look.... well.. miles behind the Eduard kits. Hopefully we'll have a nice new range of early war 1/144 aircraft from beacon models in a few months. Having built their 3D printed prototype of a Spitfire Mk1a, I think they'll be on par with the 1/144 Eduard kits easily.

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10 hours ago, CedB said:

Still no sign of the Hurricane :(

If it’s any consolation I have two KP S199s in the post since February :( 

 

Nice jingoistic idea for a mobile Ced, I’m sure  mr Schickelgruber did the same thing for his grandchildren :) ( although of course it would have to have been biplanes)

Edited by Marklo
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4 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

You mean like this one. I think I got it free with a magazine some years ago. I'd started to hollow out the cockpit and sort the underbelly intake etc. There is even a scratch built seat in the first picture on the large piece of plastic sheet, waiting for the Brengun seat straps. It has been on the "must finish" list for some time.............

 

IMG20210509123643 IMG20210509123658

 

Terry

Nice one Terry - that's looking great! :)

 

3 hours ago, Kitsticker said:

Nice one Ced!

 

If you didn't know, Revell do range of 1/144 kits and so do Academy, I have their Mustang and it looks to be a cracker

 

Just saying

 

You can get an awful lot of 1/144 kits in a display case....

 

All the best, and hugs to Otto  (is that appropriate these days??)

 

Geoff

Thanks Geoff :)

I didn't know Revell did a range so I Googled it and wow, I wish I'd found this site before!

eModels have five pages of 1/144.

If the Hurri doesn't turn up soon I'll ask for a refund and order from them - they've been great in the past.

 

2 hours ago, Brandy said:

Don't forget to add Ride of the Valkyries! That should help the little 'un sleep!

 

Ian

:D I don't think this is a lullaby replacement Ian - they have one of those - so loud music won't be a problem.

I hope.

 

2 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

Those Zvezda ones look.... well.. miles behind the Eduard kits. Hopefully we'll have a nice new range of early war 1/144 aircraft from beacon models in a few months. Having built their 3D printed prototype of a Spitfire Mk1a, I think they'll be on par with the 1/144 Eduard kits easily.

You're right Adam, they are… but horses for courses I guess :)

I hadn't heard of Beacon models but I see they're starting a Kickstarter campaign for their BoB 1/144 kits.

They look great.

 

25 minutes ago, Marklo said:

If it’s any consolation I have two KP S199s in the post since February :( 

 

Nice jingoistic idea for a mobile aced, I’m sure  mr Schickelgruber did the same thing for his grandchildren :) ( although of course it would have to have been biplanes)

Thanks Mark :D 

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Time to start an Eduard. If I do the 190 then I'll have all the Luftwaffe ones ready for painting.

 

Step 1 - apply the seatbelt decals to the seat:

 

51167608396_4293370db6_z.jpg

 

You have to be joking! Just getting the seat painted strained my poor old eyes!

I did manage to paint the internals:

 

51167619341_22f8cc5fcd_z.jpg

 

Before I knew it:

 

51168413479_44eeb3246f_z.jpg

 

My worry with most kits is how the 'wheels up' option works.

Airfix are really good at this supplying separate parts.

Others, sadly, not so I'm used to butchering the bits.

How do they fit?

 

51168505919_b2aa9ac778_z.jpg

 

51168510109_838e13847b_z.jpg

 

Not then.

Chiselling out the leg mounting worked:

 

51167985863_51986ca4de_z.jpg

 

Then sanding a bit off the wheel so it fitted 'sideways' and also some off the front gets them in:

 

51168918905_d14e674efc_z.jpg

 

And there we are done:

 

51168606654_b30edac281_z.jpg

 

The chopped up credit card is protecting the pitot.

Experience counts!

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💭

 

 

I wonder...

 

 

 

 

 

How many pieces of aerial polystyrene a child's mobile need?

 

 

 

 

 

 

However we already know this is grandad's mobile not Otto's.

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