Falke 9LM

[Pete in Lincs]

Time to start another build and what better than yet another Maschinen kreiger scratchbuild? 

This one has been planned for a while and is one of my favourites.

Falke kits are fairly rare and rather expensive over here. I've had a couple in the past but sold them! Hence this build.

 

Some time ago I got a Jaguar XJR 9LM (hence the thread title) from @bootneck I can't remember if it was a donation or a kitswap.

It had been slathered in around 0.50mm of black enamel by person or persons unknown.

So this week it went into a poly bag with Dettol. That took care of the easy to remove paint.

This morning I've been getting rid of all the (very) hard crusty & difficult bits. Wet n dry, a metal scourer & sharp tools

Now it looks like this..

It took most of the morning, but It's fairly clean now and ready for filler and acrylic paints. 

 

To go with the Jag I obtained a Revell 1/32 P-38 from @theplasticsurgeon for the cost of postage.

I think it was an old build that had been lurking in the shed for years. I used the fuselage for another 

scratchbuild a while ago, the Sturmdohl walker. This afternoon I sanded all the paint off the rest of the parts.

So thanks again to you guys. Oh, and last year I sold an unbuilt P-38 to  @stevej60 I think, and he's still not built it! Tsk!

Mind you, they are getting rare and expensive nowadays. I'd still like another for the next scratch Falke though.

You may have noticed table tennis balls in the box above. They will  anti gravity units. Obviously.

 

Here's a mock up of the parts layout. (The front to the left).

The oval bit in the middle is a plastic tablespoon (Yes, that is what you're supposed to use) It will become the access hatch. 

I have a choice of either of the two guns in the foreground. Both came from broken toys and will be altered as need be.

In case you're confused about the Falke, here's a link to a picture of a Falke boxtop from scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/9/6/5/1288965-20006-90-720.jpg

More pictures and waffle will probably be coming later this week. Thanks for looking. Comments are always welcome.

Cheers, Pete

 

[rockpopandchips]

I was just looking at ebay for a P38 and you pop up with another..... I think I'm to tight to pay for a new one....😁.

Anyway follow along for the ride.

[Hunter Rose]

Oh cool! Will definitely be following 

[stevej60]

On 28/04/2024 at 18:30, Pete in Lincs said:

I sold an unbuilt P-38 to  @stevej60 I think, and he's still not built it!

One day Pete,one day,good luck with this one!

[Pete in Lincs]

Hi Guys, Time for a bit of an update I suppose.

Let's start with this one. The start of boom fettling. Here I've shaved off the stubs from the wings,

 

This panel is where the turbo superchargers lived. That changes on a Falke. Other technical stuff fits in there.

In the background 1mm card has been cut to support this panel. Without being part of the wing it's not too rigid.

 

Here I've added more card at the front (Here at right) this will help when I glue the top panel in place. The mating surfaces are pretty thin.

For anyone building the P-38 this is a GOOD thing to do. @stevej60  This is your handy hint for today!

I've also blanked off part of the oil cooler intake (here at left) This is a normal Falke thing. Along with all the other modifications.

 

 

And here we have the two booms finished but for filler etc. The rearmost one is for the left side.

The intakes on the upper surfaces here have different blanking pieces top and bottom.These need smoothing out with filler.

The red tape is holing everything together while the glue dries overnight.

Many thanks for looking in. Comments and questions are always welcome. 

Cheers, Pete

[Amaurosisbrown]

Now I’m interested in this Falke!
I have form with a Silk Cut Ma.K., they could be stable mates.

 

[voozet]

It looks very interesting. These modified aircraft fuselages are very Falke'ish (as far as I can tell, because I know the world of MaK mainly from your scratchbuilds 😊). I wonder how the Jaguar will look like between them.

[Stickframe]

It's fun to see how you are conceptualizing, cutting up, and pulling all of this together.  The Jaguar is a cool idea - and I'm curious to see with what you do with/make the spoon top work.

 

Cheers

Nick 

[Pete in Lincs]

Thanks for the comments. Chaps. The booms got filled and then rubbed smooth today. Some of the Milliput is still a bit soft but should set okay.

This afternoon I've been adding plastic card to the chassis to beef it up. It's a bit flimsy for a Tamiya! And I filled in the arches on the front section.

Pictures and another update later this week, hopefully. Cheers, Pete

[Pete in Lincs]

A midweek update! You lucky people!

I said I'd fettled the chassis, Here on this inside view, the cutouts for the wheels have gone. 

 

So now the underside is nice and flat. A blank canvas for the tech stuff to come later. Wheelarches are gone from the body sides too.

 

Back to the booms. Lots of careful measuring, cursing, rubbing out and remeasuring before I wrapped the cardboard template into place for cutting.

Actually, chain drilling initially. Then smooth the hole sides with rough sandpaper (YES) wrapped around a knife handle to smooth things out.

Then the flapper wheel to expand the hole for a good fit. I also had to cut away part of the inner U/C bay for clearance.

On a previous Falke build I'd cut the balls to fit the contour of the booms. Nerve racking!

 

It's a 40mm hole BTW. And this is the end result. Getting the second one in the same place took some doing.

I Sometimes I Always amaze myself when doing this stuff and it comes out looking good.

There aren't a lot of fixed reference points to use when measuring up. Lots of curves too.

But in the end both holes have been deemed close enough for Government work. 

 

And here we are. Some of the Milliput was still soft. I'd taken great care to mix it well too. So that got scraped off.

Once I was happy with the above state I smeared cheap superglue over where the duff Milliput had been.

That dried quickly and those areas then got covered in Humbrol filler. That will now be left to dry for 24 hours.

Later on, a third TT ball will get halved and fitted near the back of the chassis, under the engine. All as per a proper kit Falke.

There isn't an undercarriage on a Falke. It sits on the three TT balls A.K.A. Anti gravity units.

Many thanks for dropping by. The tea trolley will be around soon. Once Mabel has found the teapot. And the teabags..

I think the Dog had it away with the biscuits. Probably the teabags too

Cheers, Pete

 

 

 

[Hunter Rose]

Coming along nicely Pete! 

I've become totally absorbed with figure painting lately but I've got a Hughes 500 helicopter kit screaming out to become a Heinrich power suit and every time I see your cool ma.k builds I get a bit closer to actually doing it! 

[Pete in Lincs]

1 hour ago, Hunter Rose said:

I've got a Hughes 500 helicopter kit screaming out to become a Heinrich power suit

Good luck with that. I scratchbuilt a suit once. It's on here somewhere. You'll need drop tanks for arms and legs. I think that's how they built the first ones.

The joints will take some thought. 

[Pete in Lincs]

And here we are again, a few days later. I've been busy, so here are more pictures.

 

Yet more filling and sanding happened to the booms. Then careful measuring and drilling resulted in this.

That's a wooden dowel at the front and a length of sprue sticking out at the back here. All is just loosely assembled for now.

 

I needed a pilot. This guy is assembled from a Tamiya pit crew box. The arms are from somewhere else though.

His seat is built up from layers of plastic card and will be detailed up as an ejection seat. Not a lot will be seen by the end of the build.

The idea is to build the cockpit from the inside out. 

 

And here we are with booms slotted into place so you can see the scale of this thing compared to the figure.

There's still armament, underside and the engine to go after the superstructure is built. Plus other greeblies to fit.

Thanks as always for looking in. Cheers, Pete

 

 

[Hunter Rose]

Ah the good old tamiya pit crew figures! A must for any 1/20 kit bashing! 

Looking good Pete! 

[rockpopandchips]

Look good, looking forward to see what you do with the Jag to make it look more Ma.k and less Jag?.

[voozet]

It looks nice. Will you leave the cockpit uncovered or do you still want to use the spoon?

[Pete in Lincs]

50 minutes ago, voozet said:

uncovered or do you still want to use the spoon?

It will all be built up to look something like the original Falke. Hopefully!

[Pete in Lincs]

Ready for another update? Are you sitting comfortably? Where's my coffee?

I've had a busy week with Grandkids but managed a bit of catching up this afternoon.

 

I did some detailing on the seat. Mostly just greeblies. But the height adjustment lever is seen here sticking out at the front.

Headrest was a 1/35th bedroll from a tank model. Backrest is card.

 

He's sitting nicely now I took a huge file and flattened his backside. More greeblies here too.

 

More nonsense on the back. None of this will be seen when the seat is fitted BTW. But hey...It's wot we do!

 

Ignore the large black rubber bands they are just squeezing everything together while glue dries.

The engine bay. The mounts are here to the right. The inner paneling that took me over an hour or more will also never be seen again.

 

And here's why. This is most of the engine sitting in place. It still needs it's share of greeblies and paint. 

The forward part of the engine is part 1/32nd Me262. The central bit is a bit of rear fuselage from a large jet model.

 

The rest of the engine. The white bit on the end of the engine was a truck wheel. 

The three parts on the cutting mat, from left to right were, part of a motorbike gearbox, a bike disc brake, a jet nozzle with a bike wheel inside it.

They will all get glued onto the truck wheel to resemble some sort of jet nozzle assembly. It doesn't have to work. Just look like it might.

 

The big green thing in the background. It's the seat and tank fairing from a large scale motorbike model. It will need cutting to fit.

Part of a haul of bike stuff donated by @Alex Gordon a few weeks ago. Thanks Mate!

The right hand end, the tank, will become the inside of the upper half of the cockpit.

That will then be covered over with a scratchbuilt rounded  outer skin in order to make it look more like an original Falke.

On top of it is the business end of a plastic spoon which will become the hatch cover. Okay @Stickframe ?

I hope that the build makes a bit more sense now. More pictures next week, all being well. 

Many thanks for looking and the usual terms and conditions apply to the coffee machine and biscuit jar.

Letters and donations to the engine bay at BFPO 43. 

Cheers, Pete.

 

 

 

[Stickframe]

Well Pete, I'm deeply shaken to see you destroying a remarkably versatile household implement, the humble spoon 😄  The rescaling effort looks great, taking the Jag into a completely different realm looks cool - and looking forward to seeing more!

 

Cheers

Nick 

[TheBaron]

17 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I hope that the build makes a bit more sense now.

It will do after two more tequilas and a lie down.

 

Seriously Pete, you know my perpetual fondness for your visual riffs and this project is of the usual high standard of inventiveness. Great work.

[FG2Si]

Wow, great looking project Pete. I wouldn't have thought of using a Group C car for the fuselage but you're making it work. 

 

My LHS seems to keep getting in the old Revell P-38 kits. They've had several come in recently and now I know where they're all going to. 

[Pete in Lincs]

5 hours ago, FG2Si said:

My LHS seems to keep getting in the old Revell P-38 kits. They've had several come in recently and now I know where they're all going to. 

I wish. They are Hens teeth rare over here except for the odd one on the bay. and they are approaching 40 GBP nowadays.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Guys. I should be back at the bench tomorrow. 

[Head in the clouds.]

Sorry for jumping in late Pete, I thought I had set my preferences to flash up when you posted but now't is happening so just had a catch up. Looking good so far and nice to see more plastic spoon recycling. Don't like to see them in the sea or road side you know.

[Pete in Lincs]

On 18/05/2024 at 21:43, Head in the clouds. said:

I had set my preferences to flash up when you posted

OOER!

 

The more the merrier, Gary. I think there's still room on the comfy sofa if the others squeeze up a bit. 

Some Gannet's had all the doughnuts though. 

 

It must be time for another update. So lets see whats been happening this week...

On the front we have a gun. Stolen from a toy so it needs more detailing Next to it the sensor array. Stolen from the front of a Helicopter.

These are just placed there for the picture BTW.

 

In the cockpit the wiring looms and some twiddly bits have been installed on the RH console.

 

And likewise on the left and front too. The throttle is at an angle on purpose, it seems a more comfortable position?

 

Lots of card was sacrificed to get to this stage for the cockpit. And the spoon has been installed on a bit of undercarriage.

 

The spoon has insulation, courtesy of foil from a can of coffee. The ones with the orange plastic lid.

 

Building up the cockpit sides. Wood, Industrial strength superglue and 0.50mm plastic card. 

 

Card has been cut roughly to shape and superglued to the wooden stakes. This glue is almost instant.

The clamps are just for added insurance. It should just need a skim of filler for the final shape.

 

And here we have it temporarily assembled to get you excited about the final basic configuration. 

There are lots more bits and pieces to be added to the skin before we get to paint. So it's not out of the woods yet.

But, it's coming along steadily and I'm fairly pleased with it. I just realised that I didn't run these pics through the enhancement programme. Drat.

Despite that, I hope you like and made sense of what you've seen this time. More soon I hope.

As always, comments etc are very welcome. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Pete

 

 

[voozet]

It looks better with every step, less and less like a car and more like a MaK vehicle. On the other hand, if you had chosen the Beetle instead of the Jaguar, it would have been easier for you 😉