Bruce_Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
More fiddling with the Ta152. Almost nothing fits first time so lots and lots of fiddling, cutting, sanding and correcting.  This may not look like much work but it's days of messing about, swearing and general frustration.  But that's half the fun of a short run kit, you just have to do it!
 
First up, the resin engine insert for the wheel well.
 

 
Then I finally put the wing sections together.  Easy to type on the computer but a real dog of a job in real life.  A lot more tape used than seen here, plus clamps and clips. It was a case of a bit of glue and clamp a section, then move onto the next section.  Took forever!
 

 
Motor gun tube from old Contrail tube. Brilliant stuff!
 

 
 A tiny amount of Mr White Putty on the starboard leading edge.
 

 
Gun camera added to the port wing.
 

 
PCM's prop blades aren't quite right, trailing edge too wide at the root. Left is revised, right is kit original.  At greater pitch, the trailing edge would bind on the radiator cowling.  
 

 
All three blades modified.
 

 
And that's it so far.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 

Hi Guys,
 
More fiddling with the Ta152. Almost nothing fits first time so lots and lots of fiddling, cutting, sanding and correcting.  This may not look like much work but it's days of messing about, swearing and general frustration.  But that's half the fun of a short run kit, you just have to do it!
 
First up, the resin engine insert for the wheel well.
 

 
Then I finally put the wing sections together.  Easy to type on the computer but a real dog of a job in real life.  A lot more tape used than seen here, plus clamps and clips. It was a case of a bit of glue and clamp a section, then move onto the next section.  Took forever!
 

 
Motor gun tube from old Contrail tube. Brilliant stuff!
 

 
 A tiny amount of Mr White Putty on the starboard leading edge.
 

 
Gun camera added to the port wing.
 

 
PCM's prop blades aren't quite right, trailing edge too wide at the root. Left is revised, right is kit original.  At greater pitch, the trailing edge would bind on the radiator cowling.  
 

 
All three blades modified.
 

 
And that's it so far.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 

Hi Guys,
 
More fiddling with the Ta152. Almost nothing fits first time so lots and lots of fiddling, cutting, sanding and correcting.  This may not look like much work but it's days of messing about, swearing and general frustration.  But that's half the fun of a short run kit, you just have to do it!
 
First up, the resin engine insert for the wheel well.
 

 
Then I finally put the wing sections together.  Easy to type on the computer but a real dog of a job in real life.  A lot more tape used than seen here, plus clamps and clips. It was a case of a bit of glue and clamp a section, then move onto the next section.  Took forever!
 

 
Motor gun tube from old Contrail tube. Brilliant stuff!
 

 
 A tiny amount of Mr White Putty on the starboard leading edge.
 

 
Gun camera added to the port wing.
 

 
PCM's prop blades aren't quite right, trailing edge too wide at the root. Left is revised, right is kit original.  At greater pitch, the trailing edge would bind on the radiator cowling.  
 

 
All three blades modified.
 

 
And that's it so far.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 

Hi Guys,
 
More fiddling with the Ta152. Almost nothing fits first time so lots and lots of fiddling, cutting, sanding and correcting.  This may not look like much work but it's days of messing about, swearing and general frustration.  But that's half the fun of a short run kit, you just have to do it!
 
First up, the resin engine insert for the wheel well.
 

 
Then I finally put the wing sections together.  Easy to type on the computer but a real dog of a job in real life.  A lot more tape used than seen here, plus clamps and clips. It was a case of a bit of glue and clamp a section, then move onto the next section.  Took forever!
 

 
Motor gun tube from old Contrail tube. Brilliant stuff!
 

 
 A tiny amount of Mr White Putty on the starboard leading edge.
 

 
Gun camera added to the port wing.
 

 
PCM's prop blades aren't quite right, trailing edge too wide at the root. Left is revised, right is kit original.  At greater pitch, the trailing edge would bind on the radiator cowling.  
 

 
All three blades modified.
 

 
And that's it so far.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 

Hi Guys,
 
More fiddling with the Ta152. Almost nothing fits first time so lots and lots of fiddling, cutting, sanding and correcting.  This may not look like much work but it's days of messing about, swearing and general frustration.  But that's half the fun of a short run kit, you just have to do it!
 
First up, the resin engine insert for the wheel well.
 

 
Then I finally put the wing sections together.  Easy to type on the computer but a real dog of a job in real life.  A lot more tape used than seen here, plus clamps and clips. It was a case of a bit of glue and clamp a section, then move onto the next section.  Took forever!
 

 
Motor gun tube from old Contrail tube. Brilliant stuff!
 

 
 A tiny amount of Mr White Putty on the starboard leading edge.
 

 
Gun camera added to the port wing.
 

 
PCM's prop blades aren't quite right, trailing edge too wide at the root. Left is revised, right is kit original.  At greater pitch, the trailing edge would bind on the radiator cowling.  
 

 
All three blades modified.
 

 
And that's it so far.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 

Hi Guys,
 
More fiddling with the Ta152. Almost nothing fits first time so lots and lots of fiddling, cutting, sanding and correcting.  This may not look like much work but it's days of messing about, swearing and general frustration.  But that's half the fun of a short run kit, you just have to do it!
 
First up, the resin engine insert for the wheel well.
 

 
Then I finally put the wing sections together.  Easy to type on the computer but a real dog of a job in real life.  A lot more tape used than seen here, plus clamps and clips. It was a case of a bit of glue and clamp a section, then move onto the next section.  Took forever!
 

 
Motor gun tube from old Contrail tube. Brilliant stuff!
 

 
 A tiny amount of Mr White Putty on the starboard leading edge.
 

 
Gun camera added to the port wing.
 

 
PCM's prop blades aren't quite right, trailing edge too wide at the root. Left is revised, right is kit original.  At greater pitch, the trailing edge would bind on the radiator cowling.  
 

 
All three blades modified.
 

 
And that's it so far.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 

Finally nearing completion - after waaay too long.
 
Replacement roundel arrived Thursday - so was able to sort that and crack on. Quick photos - colour is a little out of whack - but hopefully looking OK.
 

 

 

 

 
Just the aerial wire and radiator flap to be added - then a gentle buff to impart a slight sheen - then some oil and dirt weathing.
 
Iain

Hi Guys,
 
This time it's adding rigid brake pipes to the undercarriage legs.  Usually they were routed between the leg and the door, behind the door attachment bolts.  First photo is the leg as supplied (with my brass pin mods).
 

 
Small vee notches cut behind the attachment bolt faces.
 

 
Here's my rat tail files.
 

 
I used the rat tails to deepen and round off the vee grooves.
 

 
Plastruct 0.6mm rod cemented into place as the rigid pipes.
 

 
The effect of pipes behind the fixing bolts.
 

 
Later I will add twin flexibles, one to the brake nearest the leg and the other to the axle to run thru to the outer face brake.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
I've done a bit of work on the Ta and the three Bf109 builds, so here's the relevant bit for this aircraft.  The kit IP has a resin base then a colour etched set of panels supplied by Eduard. I've done a very basic assembly, airbrushed some AK Interactive Ultra Matte varnish over it to kill some of the printing artefacts then added Micro Krystal Klear on the gauge faces.
 
Here's the IP before today's work. you can clearly see the print artefacts.  Yes, it really isn't that blue either!

 
Photo taken before the Krystal Klear has actually dried fully so some milky bits visible.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi guys,
 
Next up is guns.  The kit wing guns are worse than dire and the two on the cowling aren't there at all!  Good starting point then! I've chopped up the guns from QuickBoost set for the A-7/A-9  as its the same items for the Ta-152 C-1.

 
The gun rear has this beam that fits in a slot on the Hasagawa spar
 

 
A bit of chopping for now!
 

 
Test fit into the wing, seems OK so far.
 

 
But it will be a dog to get the guns into the wing once it's assembled, if they go in before that they chance getting knocked off.  So I chopped off the resin barrels, drilled out the stubs and added new brass tube barrels. This way the guns can be painted and fitted, the wing assembled and the barrels pushed in thru the front wing holes. The wider resin tube aft of the brass isn't actually part of the gun, it's a debris guard for when the undercart retracts and will be painted 02. The big lump at the rear isn't part of the gun either, it's the clamping fixture on the spar.
 

 
The cowling gun troughs ere blanked at the rear so I drilled out and inserted some more brass tube. Obviously I trimmed off the sticky outy bits!
 

 
The cowling was test fitted a few days ago, in fact before i got involved with hacking up the wings.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
I didn't mean to cause offense but comparing apples and oranges?
 
When I built the first Ta I knew there was something wrong with the basic model from PCM but didn't know what.  In the couple of months since then I've read everything I can find, a lot of it contradictory, so my conclusions are best guess.  I'm coming from the position of being a tech in the RAF many years ago, not as a modeller per se. So I want to know what that lump is, why it's there, what it does and how it does it.  The shape of the rad cowl as modelled by PCM just didn't add up at all, opening the shapes would make huge gaps, not very useful when you want all the air into the annulus and thru the radiator segments.
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
Some colour on the Ta152 at last.  It's only the cockpit and not much at that.
 

 
After a bit if Black PLW and some dry brushing with a paler grey.
 

 
Some colour on details.
 

 

 
As you can see, nowhere near finished.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 

Hi guys,
 
Next up is guns.  The kit wing guns are worse than dire and the two on the cowling aren't there at all!  Good starting point then! I've chopped up the guns from QuickBoost set for the A-7/A-9  as its the same items for the Ta-152 C-1.

 
The gun rear has this beam that fits in a slot on the Hasagawa spar
 

 
A bit of chopping for now!
 

 
Test fit into the wing, seems OK so far.
 

 
But it will be a dog to get the guns into the wing once it's assembled, if they go in before that they chance getting knocked off.  So I chopped off the resin barrels, drilled out the stubs and added new brass tube barrels. This way the guns can be painted and fitted, the wing assembled and the barrels pushed in thru the front wing holes. The wider resin tube aft of the brass isn't actually part of the gun, it's a debris guard for when the undercart retracts and will be painted 02. The big lump at the rear isn't part of the gun either, it's the clamping fixture on the spar.
 

 
The cowling gun troughs ere blanked at the rear so I drilled out and inserted some more brass tube. Obviously I trimmed off the sticky outy bits!
 

 
The cowling was test fitted a few days ago, in fact before i got involved with hacking up the wings.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
This time it's adding rigid brake pipes to the undercarriage legs.  Usually they were routed between the leg and the door, behind the door attachment bolts.  First photo is the leg as supplied (with my brass pin mods).
 

 
Small vee notches cut behind the attachment bolt faces.
 

 
Here's my rat tail files.
 

 
I used the rat tails to deepen and round off the vee grooves.
 

 
Plastruct 0.6mm rod cemented into place as the rigid pipes.
 

 
The effect of pipes behind the fixing bolts.
 

 
Later I will add twin flexibles, one to the brake nearest the leg and the other to the axle to run thru to the outer face brake.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
I added the IP supplied in the kit, minus a few of the micro sized do-dads.  The seat belts in the box are early issue Eduard colour etch so a bit clunky, I've put in belts from Eduard's Luftwaffe belt set.  OK, so HGW would be more realistic but I'm not up for hours of struggle and anguish, never mind the cursing and swearing.
 

 
The red outer dial Bezel was fixed in place with more Krystal Klear.  For once I managed to get one bezel off the fret without ruining it.
 

 
That's it!
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
This time it's adding rigid brake pipes to the undercarriage legs.  Usually they were routed between the leg and the door, behind the door attachment bolts.  First photo is the leg as supplied (with my brass pin mods).
 

 
Small vee notches cut behind the attachment bolt faces.
 

 
Here's my rat tail files.
 

 
I used the rat tails to deepen and round off the vee grooves.
 

 
Plastruct 0.6mm rod cemented into place as the rigid pipes.
 

 
The effect of pipes behind the fixing bolts.
 

 
Later I will add twin flexibles, one to the brake nearest the leg and the other to the axle to run thru to the outer face brake.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
I added the IP supplied in the kit, minus a few of the micro sized do-dads.  The seat belts in the box are early issue Eduard colour etch so a bit clunky, I've put in belts from Eduard's Luftwaffe belt set.  OK, so HGW would be more realistic but I'm not up for hours of struggle and anguish, never mind the cursing and swearing.
 

 
The red outer dial Bezel was fixed in place with more Krystal Klear.  For once I managed to get one bezel off the fret without ruining it.
 

 
That's it!
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
I've done a bit of work on the Ta and the three Bf109 builds, so here's the relevant bit for this aircraft.  The kit IP has a resin base then a colour etched set of panels supplied by Eduard. I've done a very basic assembly, airbrushed some AK Interactive Ultra Matte varnish over it to kill some of the printing artefacts then added Micro Krystal Klear on the gauge faces.
 
Here's the IP before today's work. you can clearly see the print artefacts.  Yes, it really isn't that blue either!

 
Photo taken before the Krystal Klear has actually dried fully so some milky bits visible.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
Some colour on the Ta152 at last.  It's only the cockpit and not much at that.
 

 
After a bit if Black PLW and some dry brushing with a paler grey.
 

 
Some colour on details.
 

 

 
As you can see, nowhere near finished.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
Another economy build in progress.
 

 
Nothing added.
 

 

 
IP straight from the kit, dry brushing, washes and Krystal Klear on the gauges.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
I've done a bit of work on the Ta and the three Bf109 builds, so here's the relevant bit for this aircraft.  The kit IP has a resin base then a colour etched set of panels supplied by Eduard. I've done a very basic assembly, airbrushed some AK Interactive Ultra Matte varnish over it to kill some of the printing artefacts then added Micro Krystal Klear on the gauge faces.
 
Here's the IP before today's work. you can clearly see the print artefacts.  Yes, it really isn't that blue either!

 
Photo taken before the Krystal Klear has actually dried fully so some milky bits visible.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
More of the batch build 109 kits.  Here are the cockpit side walls, not yet finished.
 

 
Here's the cockpit floor after a wash and dry brushing.  I will add Eduard colour etch belts soon.
 

 
Current financial constraints mean no Yahu or Eduard IP so it's back to basics - the kit parts or nothing.  I decided not to use the Air Scale decals and did a bit of dry brushing, washes, etc, then Krystal Klear over the gauges. Not the best but that's it for this kit.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
The F-2 interior is taking shape slowly. 
 

 
Straight OOTB.
 

 
I will add Eduard etched belts.
 

 
Simply the kit IP.  I'm not throwing money at this one as I'm out of funds!  So its paint, wash, dry brush and Krystal Klear.
 

 
Hope someone out there likes it.
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
Another economy build in progress.
 

 
Nothing added.
 

 

 
IP straight from the kit, dry brushing, washes and Krystal Klear on the gauges.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

Hi Guys,
 
More of the batch build 109 kits.  Here are the cockpit side walls, not yet finished.
 

 
Here's the cockpit floor after a wash and dry brushing.  I will add Eduard colour etch belts soon.
 

 
Current financial constraints mean no Yahu or Eduard IP so it's back to basics - the kit parts or nothing.  I decided not to use the Air Scale decals and did a bit of dry brushing, washes, etc, then Krystal Klear over the gauges. Not the best but that's it for this kit.
 

 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby