1/72 Revell Arado Ar(E)555 - Finished!!

[81-er]

Bringing it back to the plane, I got the aluminium sprayed into the engine intakes and the leather on the seats (also including the bombardier’s seat from the Heinkel, so that can progress as well now):

 

 

Overall, I think the leather came out pretty well. One seat needs a touch-up to the bottom of the backrest, but I’ll do that after I’ve sprayed the RLM 66 on the rest of the seats, as you can guarantee I’ll pull more of it off with the masking if I did it now:

 

 

I’ve been on a wheel clean-up mission, an noticed something rather odd in the process. The nosewheels have a tread line running perpendicular to the wheel on them, however on one side of the wheel these align between the mould halves, but on the other they don’t! It’s rather amusing that Revell missed that one. Both wheels are like it as well:

 

 

 

I’ll have a look at the other kits and see if either of those is any different, as I plan on building one in flight and can afford to borrow a set of wheels. Otherwise, I guess it’ll have to be filling and then either rescribing or just running with a smooth tyre. The main wheels have a sooth centre section with a couple of grooves running parallel to the edges, so I don’t foresee it looking out of place if I go with the smooth nosewheel option.

 

Until next time

 

James

[JOCKNEY]

49 minutes ago, 81-er said:

Good to see I'm not alone in knowing the joys of being owned by feline overlords. In particular, those two are real cuties, Pat. How old are they?

James

 

Hi James

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your 2 cats, an advert for happiness  🙂

The 2 kittens are 5 weeks old we have an adult male and female Ragdoll cats, so the kittens are currently being looked after by them both, before going onto a new home.

A sealed new tin of model paint is one of their favourite toys for chasing across the floor, much more fun than a ball !

Really enjoying the Arado build, now trying to resist the temptation to start mine when I have too many builds on the go already 🤣

 

Cheers Pat

[81-er]

Ragdolls? I guess these ones still look a bit small compared to your adults!

 

I'm not one to judge a man for having too many projects on the go (glass houses/stones etc), but I can confirm that this is a fun kit to put together. Not bad for something tooled in the late 90's, but then again I do have a softspot for Revell's output from that time period. As I've said before, this is one of three examples I have, as well as designs on a 4th. I also have an Me-P1099 and four (yes, 4) of the Blohm & Voss BV P194, a Horten Ho-229, a couple of Aradao Ar-240's and a pair of Ar-234's in 1/48th... 

 

Maybe I should propose a Luft '46 GB for next year 🤣

 

James

[Alan P]

This looks really fun. Glad you're getting into it. 

3 hours ago, 81-er said:

Maybe I should propose a Luft '46 GB for next year 🤣

I'd go on that list 👍

[81-er]

13 hours ago, Alan P said:

I'd go on that list 👍

I may have to do it then. 

 

The first job for last night was getting the airbrush out. I got some RLM 02 on the nose leg for this, and a second coat on the radiators/oil coolers/whatever they are for the Heinkel:

 

 

 

After that, it was out with the RLM 66 for the cockpit parts (excuse the spec of plastic on the rear instruments):

 

 

 

I then had a little play with Games Workshop’s Nuln Oil to see how it works for a wash (well, I think):

 

 

Unfortunately, I don’t think I did a particularly good job of mixing the RLM 66 and thinners (mixed in the paint cup) as the rest of the cockpit parts all have very thin and watery coverings, so they’ll need another coat.

 

Next on the agenda was investigating the nose wheel tread misalignment. Both the other kits I have are exactly the same, so it’s obviously a problem with the tooling. As I’ll be building that kit wheels up, I did pillage the one of the main wheels and both nose wheels from the 2012 release kit as one of the main wheels for this kit has a broken axel (as does one on my other 1998 release, so I’ll do the same there), and I have a plan on the nose wheels. I’m going to fill and rescribe one and just fill/sand smooth the other and see which I prefer the look of. As you can see, a smoother look might match better with the main gear:

 

 

While I had the 2012 kit out, I thought I’d take a couple of shots of the state it’s in. This one was packaged badly from the factory (which it has to be as it was all factory sealed when I go it), and unlike the 1998 kits which pack the 3rd sprue with all the small bits sandwiched between the inside of the two fuselage halves, this one was packed with that sprue against the outside of the lower fuselage with some of the sharpest/most sticky-out parts against the outside. The net result is the underside is covered in scrapes and dings, so I think this one will end up with a full skim of filler over the underside and all panel lines rescribed:

 

 

The other odd thing about that kit is all of the wing leading edges have this odd pattern in the plastic, almost like someone’s had a go at them with a sander or file:

 

 

Coming back to the one I’m building, my next tasks was masking the engine intakes. From Nigel’s build, I knew he’d used 15mm long lengths of tape that he’d loosely rolled into tubes and fiddled into place, so I did exactly that. For reference to anyone else building this kit, the perfect size is a 9mm wide and 15mm long bit of tape. It’s also fiddly as anything and will drive you mad 🤣 Finished off with a plug of foam, I didn’t think it looked that bad:

 

 

 

I also did a dry fit with the engine pack and I reckon I can get away with painting the intake bands and masking them off again before I assembled the engine pack, which is a nice result and makes it far less fiddly to mask up.

 

It was way too late to get the airbrush back out at that point, but I sent everything up so I could paint the fronts RLM 23 before logging on to work (today’s one of my working from home days). That was met with mixed success. Three of the intakes turned out fantastic (and the colour is exactly what I was after), but the other three very much not fantastic:

 

 

 

The paint is Xtracrylic, and this is my first time using it. I don’t think the paint itself is the problem though. I was spraying with a much-reduced amount of pull back on the trigger than I usually use, and every now and then it felt like it clogged and no more paint came out until I pulled back harder on the trigger, at which point I got tons of paint! Is this the dreaded “tip dry” that I’ve heard mentioned? Or am I just a numpty and badly mixing my paint? Either way, I’ve got three intakes to sand back the runs on and try again. Another learning experience.

 

Until next time

 

James

[roginoz]

@81-er James, ya reckon you can reduce your photo size ?

 

There's something in FAQs in the Home page about ideal photo sizes.

Thanks,

Rog

 

 

[81-er]

I'll have a look at that, Rog. I hadn't realised as it auto-resizes on my screen and noone's mentioned it before 👍

 

James

[Toryu]

A lot of petty work here, too. Waiting to see it all come together!

[81-er]

On 4/25/2022 at 8:43 PM, Alan P said:

This looks really fun. Glad you're getting into it. 

I'd go on that list 👍

I'll just leave this here

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Nice work, James. I like the proposed colour scheme too.

I never did build one of these, but if I did, I'd extend the nose and fit underslung engine pods.

Or, and I just thought of this one, Build fairings into the trailing edges of the wings & fit props like the flying wing.

Why not?

[81-er]

Thanks Pete. I can well imagine you pulling those off, and they're pretty great sounding ideas as well. There's regularly a few on evil bay, just FYI

 

James

[81-er]

I’ve finally had success with the intakes. After a few failed attempts to get an even set, I managed to finish the three that had caused me issues by using an 80/20 paint/thinner mix. Unmasked, they’re looking pretty good. A couple of minor touch-ups will be required, but I’ll leave that until the camo is on as I can see there being some more there too:

 

 

I then masked up the blue and assembled the intakes into the engine pack:

 

 

I think I’ve got a plan to install the exhausts after painting, which will avoid a lot of nasty masking. This may or may not come back to bite me...

 

There’s a web at the front of the top fuselage that has caused some assembly issues on other builds, so I removed that and touched up the RLM 66 with a brush. I doubt it’ll ever be visible once the cockpit is closed up:

 

 

Speaking of the cockpit, I’ve given it a bit of a dry brush in light grey and detail painted some knobs/switches using a toothpick. First time I’d tried the toothpick trick, definitely won’t be the last:

 

 

 

Likewise, I had a go at the rear consoles:

 

 

And a thumb for scale:

 

 

Finally, I dry brushed the IPs. I’ve bought some Anyz instrument decals with the intention of trying them out on this build, but seeing how these look now, I don’t think I’ll do that. More than happy as they sit:

 

 

Next step is going to be tidying up the seats (my masking failed me there), fitting the seat belts, then I can get the cockpit installed and close her up.

 

Until next time

 

James

[Col.]

A nice level of detail in there James and nobody can tell you it's wrong

[81-er]

Thanks, Col. Indeed not. I've no idea if the Germans used green knobs/levers, but I liked the look of the paint 😆

 

James

[Col.]

A wee touch of colour works well to enhance the otherwise dark cockpit area

[Thom216]

Great looking progress! I like how the 'pit turned out. I've decided to put the rear parts of the engines on at after paint as well. Make like a little easier where you can.😉

[81-er]

Thanks, Thom. There's been some more progress over the weekend so far, but I'll probably wait until tomorrow to update with pictures as I'm hoping to get a few bits tidied up tonight. One of which being finishing the 3d printed belts for the seats. Pilot & bombardier’s seats & belts are in, the rear gunner’s one needs some tweaking to get the belts sitting right, and gluing back in as I knocked it off while trying to apply the belts 🤣

 

I’ve shamelessly stolen your idea about smoothing off the exhausts now, they just look some much better like that to me.

 

James

[81-er]

I’ve been rather busy since I last updated. First up, I cleaned up the filler on the bombs and got those and the exhaust nozzles mounted for primer:

 

 

They’ve now had a shot of primer, as has the main engine pack. Just imagine them looking like this, but black. The primer’s shown up a couple of niggles, but nothing too hard to sort.

 

Much effort has gone into the cockpit since I last updated. The Kitsworld seatbelts aren’t too bad to use, but I have found that they can be a little reluctant to stick at the ends if you’re wrapping them over the edge of a seat. That’s easily corrected with a little glue after they’ve dried out. I gave the cockpit a coat of Aqua Gloss before I applied them, which made the process much easier. I also gave it a coat after they were all fixed in place to give a little protection before I gave the whole cockpit a light wash with Citadel Nuln Oil. After that, it was glued into place:

 

 

 

 

I’m really rather pleased with that. Of course, pretty much none of it will be visible after close-up:

 

 

Oh well, it was fun doing it.

 

I had a dry fit of the fuselage to see how it went together. It looked pretty good right up to the port outer wing, which I’ve discovered is VERY warped:

 

 

Not entirely as visible as I’d hoped, but as well as being bent up it’s also slightly twisted front to back:

 

 

I’m pretty sure it’s all my fault and down to how I’ve stored the fuselage parts since removing them from the sprue, I don’t remember noticing it at the start. I know it’s fixable, but that left me a little deflated and I called it a night and stuck on Flight of the Intruder instead.

 

Halfway through the film, a brainwave struck me. I have two other examples of this kit in the stash, so one of those might be a suitable donor (with the view to fixing the damaged part whenever I build the scavenged kit). I had a quick check and both of those appear to be unwarped, so I think the idea is a goer. I’ll have a better look tonight and see, but it shouldn’t take too much work to get one of those knocked into shape enough to close the fuselage.

 

I did however pick up some reading material, I couldn’t not buy it with what’s on the cover:

 

 

I’ve also whacked a load of filler on the rudders with the plan of smoothing over the awful fabric effect on them. I’m hoping to be able to sand them back smooth to look like they’re covered with sheet metal, which would probably have been far more realistic. Expect photos when I remember to take them 🤣

 

Until next time

 

James

[81-er]

Not as much progress as I hoped last night due to ex-related drama. However, there is progress to report!

 

First up, the engines after primer. Some dirt specs to remove, plus a little filling/sanding/rescribing required, but not too bad at all:

 

 

Exhaust nozzles post primer:

 

 

I think these will more than do, so the next step for them is some top coats. I just need to decide if I’m going with an all-over burnt metal or having the outsides in aluminium with a little scorching to the ends and the insides in burnt metal.

 

Next up, a shot of the rudders to give you an idea of what I’m up to there. The one on the left has had some mild sanding to test the concept, the righthand one hasn’t been near the sander yet:

 

 

What I’m roughly aiming for is to have the control surfaces looking more like sheet metal than fabric. More photos as I progress with that.

 

Now, the main event; the fuselage!

 

I got the upper wing/fuselage parts out of the boxes for the other kits and both looked really good. I’d somewhat assumed the whole of the 2012 boxing wasn’t as well moulded as the 1998 ones because the underside of that is in such a bad way. Turns out I was mistaken there. In the end, the decision was made to swap parts for the 2012 boxing as I’d already raided it and leave my other 1998 complete.

 

I didn’t manage to get as far as paint last night as planned, but I did get far enough that I can start getting that on later. I’m working from home today, so I may manage to sneak over to the bench long enough for some primer in a bit. I did manage to get the gunner’s periscope in (and the masking on the outside), and this time I remembered to not shave off the eyepiece during clean-up :

 

 

The $64,000 question – does it fit? Yes, and rather well!  Both wingtips are slightly warped on this one, but that is very slight. During dry fit I worked out that I’ll be able to get rid of that by being careful with the gluing order. Shockingly, as a whole I think it actually fits better than the first top did, even ignoring the massively warped wingtip. These next two photos show the fit of the wingtips with only a few small strips of tape holding it together:

 

 

 

That is much, much better than the fit with the original. Looking good overall too:

 

 

While doing the fit check, it dawned on me that the two different greys used for the plastic, it almost looks like a two-tone RLM75 and late RLM 76/sky colour scheme, which isn’t a bad combo. I tried to get a better shot here:

 

 

That was the end of progress for last night. I’ve left it taped together in the hopes that it’ll keep the parts in alignment and stop any further warping fingers crossed). Since I discovered the warping issue I’ve been stashing it on the top of my vinyl glove box; the oval opening makes a nice cradle.

 

Until next time

 

James

[Col.]

Hopefully that's the warps tamed down and you're in for smooth progress again.

[81-er]

Thanks Col. I got some primer on at lunchtime, so with any luck I'll get the RLM 66 on early enough that I might stand a chance of closing it up before the the of tonight 🤞

 

James

[Toryu]

Wow, so many tooth-picks and ear-cleaners - you really care for your body! And what's those green things that look like candles? Nice progress by the way 🙂

[81-er]

That's just me keeping the modelling supplies to hand  The green things are actually micro brushes, they're just handle-up there

 

[81-er]

Yesterday was far more productive. I got the top fuselage primed at lunchtime and the RLM 66 on as soon as I finished work. Before I knew it, an aeroplane appeared:

 

 

One without warped wingtips! 

 

 

 

The worst of the fit issues are this slight step on the port cockpit/leading edge, and the small divot from where I removed the sprue on the starboard wing (both shown after some sprue goo):

 

 

 

Given the battle I would have had with the original top fuselage, I’m extremely happy at that! I’ll still fix the warped part, but the model that’s going to now be part of is going to get some modifications and will definitely NOT be built to a deadline, so I made the right call here.

 

Something I’ve been working on in the background is the new decals I’ll be making to change the aircraft’s code. I’m happy with this test print in terms of the font size and spacing now, though I think I want to made the blue of the J lighter as it’s not as bright as the RLM 24 on the engine intakes (it’s brighter than the image appears, just not bright enough):

 

 

I got the airbrush out and gave the exhaust nozzles a coat of Tamyia XF-84 Dark Iron. I think I’m happy with the base colour of these, but I have some burnt red and burnt blue weathering powders that I’ll use to give some variation:

 

 

I think my attempt to get rid of the bad fabric effect has been successful. This is the starboard fin, which I think only requires some rescribing now:

 

 

While I was messing with that, I couldn’t help trying it in location to see what the fit is like:

 

 

Pretty good on the outside then. I’ve seen some pretty horrendous gaps on other builds, so I was relieved by that.

 

The inside will need a little more fettling, but shouldn’t be too bad:

 

 

I think my plan there will be to reshape the lower portion to match the top without the fin in place, then put a fillet of plasticard on the mounting face of the fin to push it all out flush.

 

Might as well have a dry fit of the engine pack as well, right? Looking much more like a plane now:

 

 

I spent a fair bit of time on the port wing leading edge and the cockpit junction, smoothing out the worst of the issues ready for some filler. I made the filling my last job of the night, but there was plenty to fill. The wing:

 

 

The port fin:

 

 

Bombs:

 

 

And finally, the engines:

 

 

And yes, I’ve just noticed the sink marks in between the intakes that I missed as well  Never mind, I'll get them next session.

 

I’m visiting my parents tonight, so I’m unlikely to get anything done today.

 

Until next time

 

James

[Col.]

Good progress again James