Swords of the Unjust (2 x 1/72 IBG Fw 190D-9)

[perdu]

4 hours ago, Procopius said:

I was bedridden all day with chills, drifting in and out of feverish sleep, and every time I woke up, I could hear her angrily screaming at them. The real best medicine is discovering that Parent A isn't really that much better at this than Parent B.

Truly, you do not know how happy this makes me for you, but I 'spect you have an idea Edward.

 

4 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

The ultimate goal is that they don't wind up in a college bell tower with a high powered rifle. 😉

 

Mostly very true, but wait, what if you bring them up only to hit the RIGHT targets...

 

PC the FWs are taking on the sheen of a well executed (no bell towers please) Edward IX build.

 

My Luftcamknowlege faltered with the mid war period's Heinkel Uhu in Hellgrau with added squiggles, so it is quite rewarding to see that eventually they decided to echo the early RAF Sky, Brown and Green.

 

Remarkable.

 

I am really enjoying this journey into the dark psychopath's Armed Forces, probably shouldnt be huh?

[mick]

ggod progress on the camo for both birds

[Procopius]

10 hours ago, John Laidlaw said:

Fever dreams are fascinating.

True story: about twenty-five years ago, when I shared a room with my younger brother, I had a severe fever and believed I was Cuba, the island nation, and that he was Florida, and my pillows were boat people whom I had to fling to his shores. I am not making this up. Poor James just lay there as I feverishly bombarded him with pillows.

[perdu]

I have been that brother...

[John Laidlaw]

34 minutes ago, Procopius said:

True story: about twenty-five years ago, when I shared a room with my younger brother, I had a severe fever and believed I was Cuba, the island nation, and that he was Florida, and my pillows were boat people whom I had to fling to his shores. I am not making this up. Poor James just lay there as I feverishly bombarded him with pillows.

I rest my case! That is excellent.

[Procopius]

Another rotten day, starting at 3 AM when Grant started vomiting with a high temperature. His temperature persisted through the day, hitting 102.4 F this evening before we could finally agree that whether or not he "wanted" kiddie tylenol to bring it down, he definitely needed it.  I'm thoroughly exhausted.

 

I made it down to the grotto tonight and masked off the flaps and fuselage on the 190D, then sprayed AK aluminum.

 

PXL_20220514_000551051 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Honestly fairly pleased with that masking job. 

 

Then I began to lay down the RLM81 layer on the upper fuselage freehand with my 0.18 Mr Airbrush Custom (which is far more capable than I am, but using it makes me feel like a Big Man). I didn't realize, however, being a bit weak on my German colours, that I'd reversed the colours for the fuselage, putting down RLM81 all along the front two thirds or so of the fuse rather than RLM82. At about this juncture, I was joined by a remarkably chipper Winston, who after being an incredible, amazing pill all day, was suddenly quite chatty and delightful. I sometimes worry he's just a night owl and we're missing out on the best parts of him by making him go to bed at 7. 

 

Winston puttered around while I corrected my mistake and sprayed the RLM82 on the fuse and wings. (I need to redo the RLM81 fuselage parts tomorrow.) This is, incidentally, what AK calls "version 2" of RLM81 in their book, which is basically the green version of RLM81, the other two being brownish colours.

 

PXL_20220514_004947560 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

After this, I cleaned up the airbrushes, explained that paint consists of a carrier and a pigment to Win, then carted him upstairs and off to bed. Which is where I'm going now myself. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Looking good sir, Its quite possible he is a night owl I was. Starting at the age of five Id be up till 12-1 in the morning and would wake up at 4:30-5. Did that for almost 40 years. My official bed time as a child was 8:00 pm and eventually 9:00 pm. My mother would just let me stay awake provided I was in bed. I wound up watching tv most of the time. I actually credit this all with my interest in history. When I was 8 I caught the old Kirk Douglas film “The Hero’s of Telemark” and it was like love at first sight. I never stopped attempting to learn about WW2 or history in general. So you never know Winston maybe an artist or Historian someday and may credit the fact that he couldn't sleep as a reason. 

[Chuuurles]

I admire the blistering pace and dedication you put into you’re modelling, through thick and thin. I Would not have guessed you were sick judged by you’re output 😛 

 

Hope you feel better soon. 

[Procopius]

8 minutes ago, Chuuurles said:

I admire the blistering pace and dedication you put into you’re modelling, through thick and thin. I Would not have guessed you were sick judged by you’re output 😛 

 

Hope you feel better soon. 

This is really the only thing keeping me going right now.

[AdrianMF]

20 minutes ago, Procopius said:

This is really the only thing keeping me going right now.

Much appreciated by all of us!

[Procopius]

Win and I went down to the grotto today after a squirtgun fight as part of my tasking to keep him from waking Grant and Mrs P -- the former has been intermittently feverish and vomiting still.

 

 

I fixed up the camo and cleaned up the painting on Black 8. The AK paint dries quickly and beautifully using Mr Color self-levelling thinner, but I found it tended to spatter more than Colourcoats does for me, possibly due to my unfamiliarity with it.

 

More later.

[Procopius]

So: the real reason the Luftwaffe proved helpless in the face of Allied airpower: they couldn't see their own damned stencils and walked all over the parts of the wings they're not supposed to walk on. They must have been falling out of the sky with big jackboot dents all over.

 

PXL_20220515_033541671 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

These wing walk stencils were excruciating to put on -- I wrecked half of them and had to rob the second kit's stencils to finish them. And after all that heartache, totally invisible!

 

The other decals are more or less all on, but there are like a hundred stencils on the sheet, many of which are kind of ambiguous as to placement, some of which are variants, and so I skipped a lot. My time is precious. If you really care whether stencil #77 (a "no step" on the supercharger intake) is missing (it isn't), well, you have my pity. I got all the big ones on, plus the Eaglecals sheet had a few stencils that were unique to Black 8, so naturally I used them. 

 

PXL_20220515_033930092 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

It's kind of frustrating, because I feel like this is the rare model that invariably looks worse in my photos than it does in person -- I want to blame the rivet detail, but I can't think of a sufficiently good pseudoscientific reason to do so. 

 

OH! I almost forgot! I masked off and painted the black panels around the exhausts, 

 

PXL_20220514_232202467 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

PXL_20220514_232210860 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

It turned out slightly imperfect:

 

PXL_20220514_232751835 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

PXL_20220514_232740961 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

But on the real thing, it doesn't look that hot either:

 

 

 

n.b. this is a photo of the actual aircraft I'm building as it looked after being hauled out of Lake Schwerin. If you flip the image right-side up, you can almost hear the "donk!" sound it must have made hitting the water.

 

So far it's been about eight or so hours since Grant last threw up, though we had to give him an anti-nausea drug that's normally prescribed to cancer patients. So we'll see if he makes it though the night. It's been a miserable few days, with his temperature repeatedly spiking and uncontrolled -- and uncommanded -- emissions from both ends of the G-unit. The poor little dude looks gaunt and haggard:

 

PXL_20220515_000735432 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

He's spent a lot of time sobbing "I hate this" over the past 72 hours, and: me too, little buddy. Today, in the hopes of finding peppermint ice cream (to entice him to eat something), I drove to three different grocery stores through thick swarms of badly driven luxury automobiles, including an Alfa Romeo trundling along at five miles under the speed limit (until I tried to pass him, anyway), which seems to me to defeat the point of even having one, but what do I know, and the current preferred whip of soccer moms with those big sunglasses that make them look like giant insects from Hell with expensive yet mysteriously unflattering haircuts, the Porsche Cayenne, a car I have never seen being driven in full compliance with the rules of the road, nor indeed parked within the confines of a single parking space, ever. And I see a lot of Porsche Cayennes. It turns out peppermint ice cream is not, as I had assumed, anything close to a standard flavour of ice cream, and it couldn't be obtained anywhere.

 

I did find this, though:

 

PXL_20220514_175006361 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

I assume, and do not need to investigate further to prove myself horribly, terribly right, that this has the look, consistency, and taste of loose stool.

 

Winston is no fool, and he noted somewhat plaintively, that we were giving a lot of attention to Grant, and none to him; I pointed out (not in these specific words) that we were trying to enjoy what little time we had left with Grant, whereas since the good die young, we had literally centuries more time to spend with the Win-Pin. He has a not very endearing habit of always trying to get a little more than you give him, which always reminds me of this line from Stanley Elkins's amazing short story "A Poetics For Bullies" (literally the only decent thing the man ever wrote): 

 

Quote

I vie, strive, emulate, compete, a contender in every event there is. I didn't make myself. I probably can't save myself, but maybe that's the only need I don't have! I taste my lack and that's how I win — by having nothing to lose. It's not good enough! I want and I want and I will die wanting, but first I will have something. This time I will have something.

 

Winston is a howling void of need, of want, as am I, on some level, probably many. He wants a built model. He doesn't mean to smash them, he never does, but anything that can be broken dies at his hands, victim of his powerful entropic field. He wants a built jet model. He wants a model of his own to make. He wants to use my airbrush. He wants to paint his own model. He wants wants wants. It's so tiring. 

 

We are all prisoners of who we are and who we were, to some extent. Some of us have more luck than others than escaping from the prison of our self. With Winston, far more than Grant, I am reminded of the Edward I once was, so so long ago, terrified of a god who barely tolerated him, burdened with great promise, struggling to navigate the labyrinthine world adults had made for him, just smart enough to be able to perceive their hypocrisy, just dumb enough to do no more than that. He is me and not me at the same time, of course. Every success or failure as his parent changes his potential future and who he is and who he'll become. As I sat with Grant today and rubbed his back while he threw up into a wastebin, I reflected, as I often do, that at one point Hitler was a child with parents who loved him, just in case I ever feel like just showing up and bringing all my love* is enough.

 

Anyway, long story short, I bought him the Academy P-47D/F-86 two-kit set with markings for Gabreski's aircraft. It's a surprise. 

 

 

* When Mrs P comes home from work, the boys always run to ask her if she brought them anything, and she always replies "all my love", to which they exasperatedly ask "anything else besides all your love?" And yes. On Fridays she brings them McDonalds as well. 

 

 

 

[Stew Dapple]

... and yet, despite everthing, despite the rivet detail, the paint blip, the invisible stencil transfers and the disconnect between the appearance of the real model and the appearance of the model in the photo's... despite all that they are still looking ace mate  

 

On top of that you also provided the most interesting writing I am likely to encounter today, if not this week. 

 

Thanks Edward, hope you are feeling a bit better yourself, and that Grant improves enough for you to relax your worry-muscle for what remains of the weekend  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Procopius]

6 minutes ago, Stew Dapple said:

On top of that you also provided the most interesting writing I am likely to encounter today, if not this week. 

 

"So interesting, darling!" I exclaim to my wife as I choke down another hearty bite of the fish and rice dish she's decided is a special treat.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

19 minutes ago, Procopius said:

I did find this, though:

 

PXL_20220514_175006361 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

I assume, and do not need to investigate further to prove myself horribly, terribly right, that this has the look, consistency, and taste of loose stool

I lost it when I read this passage, my wife thinks Ive cracked now. When We get together next month I’ll take a look before I head your way for peppermint Ice cream, my in-laws always seem to find it ? 

[Stew Dapple]

Now then mate, take a compliment as i was intended please  I was not using 'interesting' as a euphemism 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[FalkeEins]

55 minutes ago, Stew Dapple said:

 

On top of that you also provided the most interesting writing I am likely to encounter today, if not this week. 

 

 

....and 'laugh-out-loud' chuckles to boot.  There's a sit-com in here......or at least a pilot episode....

[Troy Smith]

On 13/05/2022 at 07:43, perdu said:

that eventually they decided to echo the early RAF Sky, Brown and Green.

they had brown and green pre war...  but, this was  like Temperate Land Scheme,  a ground concealment scheme,  in the same way the RAF switched to Day Fighter Scheme, as an offensive mid altitude mostly grey scheme. as did the Luftwaffe from 41-44, and the VVS did in 1943, and that the RAF and Luftwaffe found that black was not the best colour for nightfighters.... 

We are so used to seeing models out of context it's easy to forget the reason for the colours used and why they changed. 

 

Neat work on the Doras @Procopius I wish more pics of Black 8 were out on the net though, they few that are seem to be here

http://www.daedalus-berlin.de/Fw190D9_bergung.htm

 

cheers

T

 

 

[jackroadkill]

8 hours ago, Procopius said:

terrified of a god who barely tolerated him, burdened with great promise, struggling to navigate the labyrinthine world adults had made for him, just smart enough to be able to perceive their hypocrisy, just dumb enough to do no more than that.

 

Okay, first off, that's me too, so I feel your pain and Winston's.  If it's any consolation he'll probably not turn out like me - in early middle-age, bitter, grumpy, cynical, sour, suspicious, irascible, worn down by life, sick of other people etc etc.  Hopefully and much more likely, there's every chance he'll just be a normal human being who does normal human being things and laughs with you about when he was a kid and loves you for all the fun that you gave him.

 

Secondly, the builds are looking sound, and who cares a tiny toss about all of the stencilling?  I'm a firm proponent of the "late-war overspray" school of Luftwaffe models.

[Procopius]

Quick update after mucking about with oils all morning thanks to the kindness of Mrs P:

 

 

 

 

[Procopius]

Almost impossible to get a photo that reflects what it looks like, but did exhaust staining with Tamiya Smoke, which always fills me with fear.

 

 

 

 

[perdu]

It shouldn't.

You won.

[Martian]

On 12/05/2022 at 03:29, Procopius said:

 

So far a headache, sore throat, and slight nasal drain. I had thought it was allergies from the high pollen count yesterday, but I felt pretty dire this morning (not helped by Winston waking us up between 1AM-3AM last night complaining his "penis felt weird" -- not hurt, mind you, just weird -- and then went through a series of other complaints that only a very exhausted little child unaware of how close his mother and father have inched towards the precipice of strangling him can.

You mean like this?

 

 

Seriously though, I hope you get over the Covid soon. Had it twice now and it sucks. Apparently, kids are super spreaders of this particular type of lurgy and your offspring may have given it to you. In which case the picture above may be of assistance. Just a suggestion.

 

Helpful of Mars 👽

 

 

[HAMP man]

12 hours ago, Procopius said:

Every success or failure as his parent changes his potential future and who he is and who he'll become.

A possible lead onto a debate of nurture against nature, give me the boy until he is eight and I will give you the man, is too simplistic. Thought provoking though, I wish I had your insight twenty years ago, might not have changed what I did but I would've  understood why.

Anyhooo

The stencils are required even if they are miniscule, because you know they are there. It seems to me that these models require experience and skill to get the best out of them, the perfect sugar / fat combination, which is being evidenced under combat conditions.

 

Box on

 

Strickers

[Procopius]

And one down!

 

PXL_20220516_014317801 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

As is traditional, everything went wrong at the last moment.

 

The landing gear lacks a positive fit for wheel to gear, gear leg to gear door, and most criminally, gear leg to fuselage. This is a big issue for me with any kit, simply because the "sit" of an aircraft is such a major, yet ineffeable, part of its look. 

 

PXL_20220516_014335955 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

I lost one of the cannon, so had to steal one from the other kit -- a problem for Future Me, so oft put upon -- and used metal Master barrels for the actual protruding barrel bits. 

 

I opted to dullcoat with an acrylic dullcoat by Mig which refused to do anything properly, beading up and blorting, presumably because it sensed the presence of its deadly foe, AK paints. 

 

Just like the real aircraft, I did in fact paint each gear leg a different colour, though it's barely noticeable.

 

PXL_20220516_014552534 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Another kit that looked like it was going to turn out a cracker but somehow the finished product is once again less than the sum of its parts. However, it only took me eleven days to finish, which is like, pre-child levels of construction speed. So there's that.

 

The other kit is held up by the Exito decals, winging their way to me from Poland. Hadn't expected things to go this quickly. Exito suggests the power egg portion of the aircraft is a different colour scheme to the rest of the plane: 

 

This differs from the already spurious scheme in the box for the same aircraft as misidentified, but I have zero idea what they're basing the colour of the nose on: the only photos we have are of a dismembered Focke-Wulf corpse, and you could steadfastly maintain it was a vivid puce and defend it to the death with little fear of contradiction from the available evidence I've seen.