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Revell Arado Ar 196 B 1/32


holzemjo

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So, finally some progress! I did quite a bit of work that doesn't photograph very well, namely fill a bunch of seams with either putty or CA and sand them. Had to rescribe some minor details on the main float, which didn't turn out perfect, but I am reasonably happy for a first try. The propeller had some nasty sinkholes on the back, that also got filled and sanded.

I also did some work that can be seen! :frantic: I went ahead and attached the cowling to the engine and then fixed the whole thing to the airframe, including the side panels behind the engine. Then I attached the rudder and horizontal stab and what can I say, it starts to look like an airplane!

b4KXaqH.jpg?1

The fit on the tail pieces was great, everything practically clicked in place and there is no need to fill anything :) The cowl panels on the other hand put up a bit of a fight and the result is mixed. In some areas I had to scrape/sand off some material, in some others, the cowl panels 'fell in', so that there is still a small step. It's definitely not perfect, but it looks ok now, I guess...

N24bI8s.jpg?1

That's all for now, hopefully I get some more work done tomorrow, but if the weather allows it, gliding will have priority :D Thanks for watching and a good night!

 

Greets, Jonas

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Hello you two, thank you very much!

Alex, you are right: I used about 30 2 cent coins, so all in all I buried 60 cents in there... Can't even get a beer for that... (Ok, you can, but you wouldn't want to :D) Definitely cheaper than lead! Will post some new pics later today, see you then!

Greets, Jonas

Edited by holzemjo
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So, as I said earlier, here is an update! We had a public holiday in Germany today and even if I had to read some things for university, I still had a good amount of time to work on the Arado and got a lot of things done! :) I started by constructing the wings, which, ailerons and flaps included, are eleven parts each that need careful cleaning up. Fit is very good apart from the ailerons where some cuts have to be made and some dryfitting was necessary. Here's one of them being clamped down. Always remember: if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing :D

7GsnZ1v.jpg?1

Next, I started working on the clear parts, which, to be honest, are a PITA. Every clear part consists of three smaller parts that have to be aligned and glued very carefully and even then, the seams are not always where the canopy frame is, so that it is really hard to get a good result. I fixed the side parts to the fuselage with tape and then fixed the middle parts in place keeping a careful eye on alignment. I will have to see what I can do about the canopy, right now, they don't look very clear...

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Next, the main struts have been fitted, I put the fuselage on top to help with alignment and taped it down to keep everything solid. Happy with the result!

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I then installed the rear machine gun. This was a bit fiddly but everything worked in the end. I had a look at some pictures of the Arado and found, that this seems to be the position the MG is locked if not in use (or at least close to it).

ozVZ1dF.jpg?1

Last, here is a shot of the whole thing, it really starts to look like a plane :frantic:  The wings fit really well, even without glue. This is a bit of a pleasant surprise as I read on some forums that you need to really sand and rework some stuff to get it to fit (there was some guy on a german forum, who ended up with a 3-4mm gap on either side and then decided to just smother it all in putty :mental: ). Well, I might have done some things right, or maybe I just got lucky :D

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Thank you all for watching and have a good night!

 

Greets, Jonas

 

Edit: I really need to work on my photo skills...

Edited by holzemjo
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  • 4 weeks later...

Soooo, at long last, there is an update! I have worked on this build on and off for the last couple of weeks, but either felt that progress wasn't worth

mentioning or was busy doing some other things (my final exam in French language studies, for example...). Now, some progress has accumulated and I want to show it!

First of all, I slapped some paint on the fuselage and the main float! While painting the float was quite straightforward, the fuselage was giving me some fuss due to the fact that the paint was quite translucent and required several (at least four) coats for a uniform result. As I don't have an airbrush and do all my painting with a brush, that took a significant amount of time!

alfJoLN.jpg

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The float has a red nose (just like a famous reindeer :frantic: ), but for some reason, I managed to crop that out in the picture I took...

I had ordered some EZ Line to do the rigging on this build. When this arrived, I started by adding the control cables for the rudder on the float. It's not in the instructions, but one of the detail photograhs on the box showed it, and I thought, it was a nice touch:

SWCi2sx.jpg

I tried painting the EZ Line in steel, which looks ok from farther away, but the photo reveals, that I have some touch up work left to do...

 

I then painted the underside of the wings and the struts for the support floats and got to work installing and rigging those. Again, some touch up work is required, but I am reasonably happy for a first try!

02ae0v3.jpg

 

I also started work on the canopy, which is really a huge PITA and one of the definitive weak links of this kit. The large glass structures are built up of flat panels. Those have huge tabs to glue them together, which feature very prominently on the finished product. In spite of this, construction is still very fiddly and it is a nightmare to get the angles right and to have everything sit flush with the fuselage. On the main canopy, they had the deceny to try and hide the tabs within the canopy frame, but on the rear canopy for the gunner, they didn't even do that! :mental: Long story short, here's the result:

AFioFwD.jpg

I taped that in place to protect the interior from dust while I wait for the HpH replacement canopy, that I ordered some days ago. There is no way in hell that I let this damned thing ruin the model on which I worked for quite some time now! (I do admit that my subpar glueing and masking skills play a role in the end result, but man, they don't make it easy for you...)

 

Next on the agenda: Installing and rigging the other support float, then uniting and rigging main float and fuselage. Slowly but surely, it's coming together! :frantic:

 

Thanks for watching and a nice day to you all!

 

Jonas

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Guys, whatchu all hatin' on my prop for?? :crying: :D

Speaking of props, that one got a coat of satin black and then some Uschi steel powder for the hub. It's a bit dark for my taste, I suppose the chrome one would have been ideal, but the steel powder is the only one I own right now, so that's what I used...

rwZSV4l.jpg?2

Doesn't look too shabby, even without a spinner, does it? :D

 

Next, I painted the 50kg bombs that I had previously treated with a bit of putty, to create a rough surface. It's not very regular, but it's better than

the smooth surface I had before. The green/yellow scheme is off a picture I found online. Again, looks a bit rough, I have to practise.

Pz644Yt.jpg?1

Here is one of them in position under the wing:

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After finishing the second side float, I moved on to a very exciting step, namely uniting the fuselage and the main float. I had predrilled some rigging holes in the fuselage and had preinstalled the EZ line, then glued on the fuselage and started rigging. Here's the result, I am reasoably happy for a first time :yahoo:

8VUTZom.jpg?1

 

This 'tool', that I found in one of our sewing kits, helped greatly in keeping my sanity during the very fiddly process (it's made for threading needles):

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And finally, I couldn't resist a dry fit. It's coming together, alright! :frantic:

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Next step is to paint the upper wings, then some detail painting, and then it's already on to decaling! How exciting! :)

Thank you all for watching and have a great day!

 

Greets, Jonas

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