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Soooo, no fans of Polly S or Model Masters eh?

How many people here use primer when painting with acrylic?

Here's the 3 D effect I'm looking for in exhaust headers. Need some more cleaning.

Basically how to replicate a radiator hose clamp. I think masking tape would be too grainy, I thought of aluminium foil strips but not sure how well it'll adhere to the plastic using CA glue. Or how well it'll take acrylic paint for that matter. Thoughts? Thanks.

Up first a photo of the wire leads to the cowling guns synchronization gear, with the canister of the same gear. I gaffed when I thought the molded locking ring was flash and sanded it off. Replaced it with a twist tie from a loaf of bread. ] Next is a pic of an attempt to replicate in miniature a nut at the end of what looks like an old style electrical coil on automobiles of yesteryear. It appears on the right front of the DB 601 engine in the BF 109. The original was octogonal in shape, mine is four sided, but I wanted some relief to the front of the coil and 8 sides is a little tooo much for me in this size. More to follow, slowly.

Without a color code on these wire hogs I'd hate to have been the one to track down a short. "Which black wire is it?"

Thanks, sounds like color code identification for engine fluids is universal and hasn't changed from grandpa's generation to mine when I was dealing with military vehicles (marine craft). If so this makes it easier for me, because I still have all my course books with such information (memory slips after 20+ years). The hard part will be identifying the different system components. I guess I'll be learning a lot of German words as I translate the manual. The loom you speak of sounds like the old stuff used in buildings years ago, can't remember right off the top of my head what were on the diesels in the waterborne vessels I was on. But I noticed some of the engine and weapons assemblies having a single lead off a controlling mechanism, the cowling gun interrupter for example. It's these single leads that I was referring to as far as color coding. It's great to hear they weren't hung up on tracing the wiring too much. I can dig that since none of my referrences are in color. I have plenty of yellow wire that can fit scaled down 10 gage. Phil, can you tell me if the return is for oil? This helps a great deal, thanks all.

I'm replicating, trying to anyway, the wire that serviced the engine compartment on my BF 109. I have this tech manual, But it's written in German (As you can see) and the wiring diagrams provided don't show anything that I think would represent wire color for the individual componants. I really would like all this tedious work to stand out and be correct. Also, does anyone know what the cap with the hose coming off it was on the top (bottom) of the engine? I'm guessing it was the oil breather and so would empty back into the engine block somewhere, but I can't seem to find anything about the hose routing in the manual. Thanks, Jim.

Thanks Guys, good news all the way around. Smithery, I appreciate the offer but my skills at transforming figures is non-existant. Come to think of it so is my painting experiance. Never bothered with any of the figures that came with all the other kits I did in the distant past. (Except for that old yellow Arora Zero kit in which the pilot's bust was part of a fuse half). This diorama will be the first time I try my hand at making plastic look alive. Those figures you have would need... come to think of it I could use one for the Brit side, be cool to have the two pilots conversing about the mechanical woes of the Spit. Funny how I forget there are two halves to this project since I haven't received the Spit yet. Good to talk things though, ideas develope further. I wouldn't want to try to do major surgery though, to change a pilot to a mechanic is way beyond my ability.

I can't find 1/24 figures. I'm old enough to remember when the likes of Revell had 1/24 scale model a/c in abundance, available at the local K-mart. And which pc program would you use for said posters? You can't expect me to paint them? Sorry Typhoon, but with a name like yours I took too serious a look at your post. BTW, anyone here have IL2 COD?

Actually Typhoon I'm speaking according to the prespective of one looking at a chart. East is left, which gives me a thought. Combinding what Mike said with the idea of making east and west directional, having the 2 sheds' rear walls open to a laminated piece of a chart of the English channel might add to the technical aspect of the story without words. I wonder how much charts have changed over the years?

Very good ideas all, Junkie's idea would answer the question that I hadn't thought of as of yet, the background in the verticle. Although his depiction of the a/c are backwards. The Brit ought to be on the left side indicating an eastern orientation to the German in France. And as Wumm said, facing each other, maybe the lightening flash could be gray green, the color of the channel as I imagine it is. If I'm wrong then someone please educate me. I like the drawing, I hope you don't mind if I use it.

Sounds good, and maybe one of those sign posts next to each shed, the kind with the arrows on them, the German one reading London on it the British one reading Berlin and each pointing at the other.

I'll have to devulge my dioramic idea in order to get responses to this post. So first the idea. I've received an BF 109 E and just sent away for a Spitfire 1A, both 1/24 scale from Airfix. The one platform the diorama is to sit on is to be of two scenes. It's during the Battle of Britian and both scenes are to be depictions of maintenance on both aircraft. The German pilot is to be looking at his watch and the British pilot is to be looking at the skies. The title is to be something along the lines of "The race is on." I think that will tell the story in a nutshell. My question is of the technical aspect of this diorama, and as the title of this post indicates, it has to do with the divider between the two scenes. Or, the representation of the channel/airspace that seperated the two sides. I thought of 2 mirrors back to back that would reflect the scene of each. But that would put a greater barrier between the two depictions than what I really want. Then I thought of a body of water the size of a creek betwix the two which might confuse someone who might not see the channel, as I intend for them to see, in the strip of blue. Any thoughts for the divider?

Oh yeah, those are purdy. Thanks Kagemusha.