1/72 Ju-88-R with FuG 202

[stevesoutar]

5 hours ago, Walter said:

Hey Steve you have assembled the dipoles incorrectly they should be in parallel. 

 

 

Thanks Walter - yes, they each need twisting through 45 degrees to make them all line up.   I have been pondering the best way to do this. I have some forceps, but they too clumsy for this job ....   I think maybe two bits of plasticard, one each side, so I can grip the brass & turn everything with the same force. I want to be sure the glue is solid before I start twisting them

 

 

Great close up of the real things, by the way - thank you !    I will probably omit the red & yellow terminals, and the really fine wires  🤪

[stevesoutar]

taking full advantage of our extra week, I have not done as much work over the last couple of evenings, but spent two hours today tidying up around the canopy with 2000 grit wet&dry paper 

 

 

 

 

 

[stevesoutar]

Small adjustment to the line of the HellBlau lower colour, as it was overlapping where the fuselage crosses sit

 

[stevesoutar]

Now the stage I've been itching to get started - the weathering and staining from those filthy rich running BMW 801 radial engines.

 

Step 1 - first attempt at the carbon build up on the wings, wheel bays and tailplanes - plus some light weathering on the uppersurfaces 

 

 

and above ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nickhenfrey]

All that soot and (I assume) oil!!! 

 

Great! 

 

Looking really good now Steve!! 

[stevesoutar]

5 hours ago, nickhenfrey said:

All that soot and (I assume) oil!!! 

 

Great! 

 

Looking really good now Steve!! 

 

Thanks Nick - I am planning a little oil & fuel staining as well - using a wet brush these pigment powders behave differently, so this is another small experiment to come 🙂 

[stevesoutar]

on the final stretch now - I am hoping to use silver solder to fix these worryingly delicate FuG202 antennae onto 1mm brass posts 

 

The ariels are bending every time I breath on them - if I can get them assembled I think I will coat them in a layer of cyanoacrylate glue to give them some more rigidity (I hope!) 

 

This is on the border between scale accuracy and insanity I think 

 

[stevesoutar]

This is the job I have avoiding for days while I puzzled out how to approach it

 

I have soldered all 4 x FuG202 antenna stalks & arrays - this may have been the easy bit !

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I "just" need to bend each stalk through 90 degrees, about 2mm from the post, consistently, in a corner, not a curve. 

I'm gonna have a short break while I think about the best approach

 

So I think I need to make two jigs - 

1. a square block of plastic card, 4mm wide, with two cuts at right angles, and a hole drilled through the centre (a little over 1mm, maybe 1.5mm) to get past the solder joint and able to get some stability from the post.  I should be able to use this to then bend the antennea into position
2. and a plastic card flat plate, with pilot holes to guide me in marking the location for the 4 post holes - it will need some kind of cutout in the centre to allow it to sit over the nose.  I want the posts mounted square, so guesswork will probably leave me unhappy on this complex curved surface 

Time for a coffee and a think before I start fabricating my gizmos

[stevesoutar]

Sitrep: FuG202 antennae will end up in the bin, or the spares box ...  I have decided I am not a watchmaker or jeweller, and never want to be !!

 

My ambition clearly exceeds my talent & abilities. (that old chestnut again)  🤪

 

 

this brass is way too flimsy, and I don't have the fine motor skills to bend these at 90 degrees, trim all the ariels to exactly the right length, THEN rotate the ends through 45 degrees so they sit parallel - these brass kits for the FuG202 in 1/72 scale are made for borrowers & faery folk only I suspect

[stevesoutar]

first time attempting to create a stencil from scratch .... 99% happy with it - I can minor adjustments with a fine brush

 

 

 

 

I have fam,ily stuff to do during the day, but I still aim to submit this to the gallery by tonight ....   final details will probably NOT include radar antenna ....  

 

[stevesoutar]

Finished ....  kind of    I'm happy, this will do until I can solve the radar array thing