EmperorKai

Would love to have some lo-vis F-4S Phantoms in addition to the B - VFMA-112 / 251 / 321 / 333.  Tamiya 1/32 F-4J is easy to convert with the resin sets and ZM is suppose to be releasing their new 1/48 F-4S this summer.  Need some decal options!
 
Kirk
 

Curtiss 01-C cat. no. 32-04. Build by Ryszard Holak (Holart). Major General Fechet sky limousine. We hope you will like this very rare plane. Have fun while watching. Thanks
 

 

 


 

 

 

 
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Looks GREAT Taff.  You're in the homestretch buddy.
 
Nicely done!
 
Kai

Hey Taff- Looks AWESOME!  
 
I've encountered a "frost" kind of effect when an enamel coat went over an alcohol/water based wash (way after it was definitely dry) before with disastrous results.  When I first saw the patches in your clear coat, that was the first thing that came to mind.  After reading further though, the residual salt makes sense.  Good to know!
 
As far as the decals... my gut feel is to generally use as few coats as possible to get the job done.  If it were me, I would be inclined to just go with a shot of semi-gloss first.  I think it would get you pretty close if not back to a uniform sheen.  
The alternative would be to put down a thin, light coat of gloss (thinned just a bit more than usual) and then the semi-gloss, which I think would definitely cinch the deal.   With the recent salt issue, I think I would make this a second choice though.  That's my 2 pence anyway  
 
Hope this helps- keep with the great work!
 
Kai

Taff- the finish work looks great.  Really like the color variation that the salt method introduced and how you managed the effect with a follow-up pass with the airbrush.  Subtle and perfect!   I've always loved this paint scheme too.
 
Kai

Looking awesome Taff!  Very cool to see all your work coming together
 
Kai

Happy New Year's Taff!
 
Kai

Looking great Taff!  Way to man that fuselage!  
 
Kai

I'm pretty happy with how the Snakeyes turned out
 

 

The lift actuator for the wing (near the right side gear) was finished up as a separate piece so the angle of the wing can be adjusted.
 

MER's finally mounted on the pylon
 

A close up view 
 

Wing mounted!
 
Have a few final details left to go- canopy, refueling probe, and a missing antenna on the spine. 
 
Thanks for looking!
 
Kai

Paul, Teresa, Andre- Thanks!
 
Finally have some updates
 

The Zuni's were masked and painted with Testors Zinc Chromate Yellow and Gunze metallizer Chrome Stainless Steel.
 

The kit decals for the armaments in general are lacking (typical of Trumpeter kits), so quite a bit of time was spent rummaging through the scrap decals bin to approximate the missing markings. 
 

A final shot from above before the wing is permanently glued into place.
 

 

It's amazing how dramatically the launchers dirty up the feel of the Crusaders clean lines.
 

A nice pic of VMF-235 Death Angles over Vietnam with a full complement of Zuni's on the racks. 
 

A similar view for comparison
 
 

On the deck, loading up Zuni's
 

With the Snakes ready to go...
 
Will continue with a second post
 
Kai

Thanks guys!  Your encouragement is definitely appreciated.  I can't wait to see this one built, but working my way through the details is a bit of a slogfest.
 
Have been picking away at it.  A few update pics
 

Some detail work on the flap ends. 
 

At first, I intended to just embellish the cabin under the wing, but the more I looked at it, the more it looked like just starting over would be easier.  My main hang-up were the "fences" that are supposed to represent the various plumbing, rods and wires.  From the top, they look okay, but extreme oblique view that this will be seen, they just look like a bunch of solid walls.  
 
The replacement part is wider and takes into account that I thinned the fuselage sides along the wing center section to be more in scale. 
 

The new replacement dry fitted in place.  The forward bulkhead was removed.  There is a photo-etch piece that will cover the top part of the forward bulkhead, hiding the front end of the new cabin detail.
 

There are still a few details to go, but I'm not going to go much further.  Once the wing is in place, visibility will be limited, but it will look much more representative of all the business going on.  The main piece still missing is the hydraulic actuator for the wing.  There is still some clean up- for example, the far side of the fuselage has been thinned, but the near side has not.
 

A view of the starboard side.  Not sure what the silver thingy is, but it matches my references pretty well.  Aluminum tubing and candy wrapper foil was used.  The aft bulkhead of the cabin will be painted black so the details diminish into the shadows once the wing is in place.
 
This section was my main dread- I think it will be downhill from here.
 
Thanks for looking!
 
Kai
 

Thanks guys!
 
Okay, so I've officially cleaned up after the Sturmovik project and diving into this one.
 

The open box.  Still waiting on the AMS seat, pitot tube and just realized today that I need to order the Zuni kit from Fisher (more on that below).
 
After following along with John's F-8 build and his experiences, I think I'm going to bug out on the Rhino intake, so that's out.  I also decided to scrutinize the aftermarket much more closely before committing.  For the most part, everything else looks good with one exception.  Here's how it looks so far:
Eduard Exterior set- will use about 75% of it.  Some good stuff in there Eduard Weapon set- will only use about 25% of this set (rails and pylon details). Eduard Wing Central Section- almost all of it, though I will run my own wires Aires everything set- absolutely gorgeous set.  Will use everything except the seat.  Some minor mod'ing and Eduard PE where appropriate SAC Landing gear- toss up there...
The SAC landing gear is soft on the details compared to the kit parts.  It also has a rough texture that will need to be buffed out, which potentially could soften edges even more.  It's also evident here that the SAC gear will sit differently.  The strut on the left side is longer, which means the aircraft will sit a bit lower (if I am visualizing it correctly).  The kit strut also doesn't look right where it connects to the main gear stem.
 

The smaller strut from the kit is a bit heavy compared to the SAC piece.  It's subtle here, but the SAC piece is also slightly shorter to accommodate the piece above.
 

The front gear on the SAC piece is better on the representation of the details, but the kit part is better on execution.  
 

The exterior side of the front wheel "cradle".  Here, the details on the SAC piece are especially soft.  The kit part on the other hand has those horrendous punch marks.  It's also interesting that the SAC piece is shorter on the horn side.  Will have to check to see which one looks more accurate though I don't think it will be all that noticeable.
 

The back side of the "cradle".  Won't be all that visible, though I do like the gist of the idea on the SAC piece in general.  The kit part will lock in at a specific orientation whereas the SAC piece will articulate and need to be fixed at the desired angle.  Initially I thought this would be a good thing (and showing it strapped in on a catapult, it probably helps), but now I'm not so sure- just one more thing to keep track of.
 
At this point, I am leaning towards dolling up the kit gear.  At most, I might build both and pick the best one.
 

One of the other challenges are the Zuni rockets.  The kit comes with 2 LAU-33 launchers.  First problem is I need 4, so I will need to acquire or build the difference.  The rocket warheads also seem heavy on the details, so they'll need some work or replacement.  In my case, I'm just going to order the Zuni kit from Fisher and use those.
 

Lastly, and to be nitpicky, the edges of the center section of the launcher run that along the top of the barrels should extend out more, as on the upper LAU-33 Zuni launcher here (picture contrast adjusted so it can be seen easier).  Also of note is that the 2 launchers on the opposite side and the upper launcher seen here are LAU-33's.  The bottom launcher in this photo is the LAU-35, which is a slightly different version that was always used on this lower station only.    The Y launcher on the sides of the F-8 were different on each side.  In regards to the portside Y launcher, and from what I get from the flight manual, the folding fins of the Zuni rocket are longer than the distance between the barrel and the side of the fuselage, so the LAU-35 is offset(?) further outboard for better clearance.  I have no detail shots of this to confirm how exactly the LAU-35 accomplishes this, but there you have it.  I also found some indication on a French website that the LAU-35 is 1.2 inches shorter (hey, we all know the interwebs never lie, right?).
 
I could easily live with the LAU-33's as is, but bottom line is I need another one and an LAU-35.  So I'm in for building a couple no matter what and will probably build out all 4 so they are all the same.
 
The final note is that the Victory Production decals have some great info.  It mentions (new to me, sorry if this is old news) that the Y launchers in the kit are identical, when they should in fact be different.  I'll be digging into that next to see what is involved.
 
Anyway, I'm off to the races!  I'm no expert, so any input/clarification/comments/criticisms are appreciated!
 
Thanks for looking!
 
Kai

What I have so far, with more on the way.  AMS seat, Rhino intake (re-posted on ebay recently), Master Model pitot and the SAC landing gear.
 

Some of my references.  A couple more on the way including the Schiffer book Crusader!  Also have the Ginter series in pdf.
 

I've really been wanting to do these markings for quite awhile- seems like a good opportunity now to finally get around to it.  VMF-312 was at Da Nang for about 6 weeks, from Dec '65 to Jan '66 for 718 sorties.
 
Right now, looks like I'll be doing the wings straight, up, flaps and slats down, refueling probe out, brakes open, but everything else closed up.  In typical Marine style, will hang Mk82's and Zuni's.
 
Will follow up with open box and more pics later
 
Kai

@ssculptor, Sorry for the "88"
 
Today I put all parts of Breguet in boxes, I will move house the next month.
Inventory of parts, fuselages are not visible because in a box already closed.













Now, must wait this autumn to mold and cast resin again.
but during this period, I will made several part as propeller, engine, wheels....

And in the display, with the friends !

Finally it's done !
 

 
I've started it more than one year ago, but most of the time it stayed on my bench half built and untouched. I restarted it a few weeks ago, and was very happy to meet this model again. It was a pleasure to build for a resin kit, with a very good fit and a very few issue (maybe the only issues were my fault).
The painting was not easy though, as i had to cut masks for everything, and the yellow wings also ask for a lot of masking. Yellow is definitely not an easy color to paint. It is almost translucent, and even the tiniest bit of dust is visible.
The olive drab color is a mix with british dark earth and US olive drab, to get something a bit khaki. The white is also a mix to get something more creamy, and the yellow as well (pure yellow + a bit of orange).
 
Of course it's straight of the box, except a few things, like the antennas, and of course the rigging. This aircraft is not the easiest to rig, especially just in front of the cockpit, as there is a very few space between the upperwing and the engine cowling. It's a bit like building a boat model in a bottle. The control cables are EZ line, the structure rigging is Prym flat elastic wire and the antennas are Uschi elastic wire. The turnbuckles are basically brass microtube cut to lenght, and they are not present everywhere as some rigging points were inside of the fuselage.
 
Now i can jump on the next build to be finished, and i think it will be another Curtiss bird, as i have a P-36A about 75% build.
 
Here is a link to the WIP thread : http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=54237
 
 

That cockpit looks real great, nice weathered, just lovit.....
 
/Mal

An item to add to the bill of materials, just received the Montex mask for the Zoob's aircraft.
 
Montex K32194 about $19 delivered Design @ Marketing Intl 10 days order-to-delivery time
Includes markings for 2 versions, both of which were on my short list
 
 

Yellow 3 with the summer camouflage scheme has the wooden rear fuselage with the external stiffeners.  If doing this version, the rivets and panels lines on the rear of the fuselage should be removed and the stiffeners will need to be added as the kit does not include these.  The stiffeners were added to address structural failures with the wooden fuselage.  Internal reinforcement was implemented on the factory production lines subsequently thereafter, so this design feature was not widespread (I believe it was on single seaters only).  Yellow 3 also had wooden wings, so the rivets and panel lines on the outer wing panels should be removed there as well.  Lastly, I'm pretty sure the summer scheme on Yellow 3 should actually be green and black-green, not the brown shown in the color profile.  
 

The profile for Yellow 3 indicates an unknown unit- the VVS research site provides some information on this (http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/il-2/il2-camo/il2-1942/il-2model1942.htm)
A.V. Chuvikov, 606th ShAP, 214 ShAD Za Otradnova ("For Otradnov", a fellow pilot in the unit that was KIA in Autumn 1942) Chuvikov himself was KIA in Spring 1943 Massimo Tessitori also has a beautiful rendition of this aircraft with the green and black-green scheme at the link above  

Also of note is the orientation of the number 2 on the winter scheme, which should be level with the ground when the aircraft is static on the ground.  It should be off kilter from the aircraft horizontal axis.
 
 

One of the questions I had while ordering this was whether the set included the masks for the slogans on both sides of the aircraft or not.  This in turn raises another question- when are slogans on Russian aircraft duplicated on both sides or not.  There are countless photos that show both ways (or are inconclusive).  I speculate that stencilled slogans relevant to the unit (dedication, ceremonial or duplicated on multiple aircraft) might be duplicated on both sides, but it seems reasonable that hand painted "passion" slogans were on one side only.  I could be wrong, and I certainly welcome any insight on this.
 
The set does in fact include masks for the slogans on both sides, though it recommends (by virtue of the provided profiles) that the slogans were most likely applied on only one side. 
 
Hope this helps anyone else interested in this set
 
Kai

Mal, CATCplSlade- Thanks guys, a lot of notes and improvements to the kit that I mention here will also apply to the 2m and 2m3 versions of the Sturmovik.  You've probably already seen this, but I'll mention anyway- Jason Moore did a fantastic review of the IL-2 on Skis and the follow-up IL-2 (this kit) that points out many of the obvious and not so obvious.  I also came across some additional info that I'll be sure to note where appropriate.
 

As mentioned in Moore's review, the tail wheel fairing needs to be cut back on the single seat versions.     
 

Also noted in Moore's review, the lower armored bulkhead just behind the fuel tank needs to be cut down. 
 

The armored bulkhead with the upper tang removed and the part thinned in general though this part could be just as easily cut from sheet plastic.  As I understand it, this bulkhead was in reality 12mm thick so the part needs to be around .015" thick

Here is a schematic with armor plate thickness on a 2 seat IL-2
 

Strangely enough, the kit is missing the panel line around the wing root-  It's almost as if it was an oversight.  This panel line is especially important on the trailing edge as this will serve as the demarcation between the forward metal portion of the fuselage and the wooden rear portion of the fuselage (which needs to be smooth).  One important note is that the panel line is missing at both the leading and trailing edge of the wing root fairing. 
 

The upper panel line here for comparison
 

And another shot from the underside with one side completed, again for comparison.
 

The fuel tank is in itself pretty straight forward.  Only the top will be visible through the rear windows.  The instructions call for this part to be painted black, however I've seen photos where this is a tannish or a light green primer color.  None of the photos I've come across are particularly clear though.  As with many things Sturmovik, there is a great deal of variation depending on where and when the aircraft was constructed. 
 
Kai

Some cockpit pics.  I actually completed this about 2 weeks ago.
 

Instead of grinding down the clear instrument panel, I decided to just cut a replacement from sheet plastic and save the IP for the spare parts box.  From there, it was pretty straightforward to apply the Eduard instrument panel.  The missing dial on the lower right was punched separately.
 

The interior of the fuselage is actually pretty sparse out of the box.  Raw photo-etch on the starboard side.  Some of the details looked too "photo-etchy, so I replaced them with the original kit parts, which looked closer.
 

The cockpit floor almost complete.
 

The rear bulk head just behind the pilot seat is a good example of bang for the buck.  Here it is compared to the original kit part.  Note that the upper and lower sections of the bulkhead are separate, and won't ultimately come together until after painting.
 

Here, holes have been drilled in the kit seat.  To achieve a more scaled appearance, the part was thinned where the holes were opened up.
 

The seat with the Eduard seatbelts, and prior to some clean up and finishing.
 

The seat in an IL-10
 

The fuselage sides ready for the pin wash.  The base color is MM Dark Ghost Gray, a dark gray wash, and an airbrushed clean up coat of thin MM Light Ghost Gray.  The engine area was painted with a similar process, but with a base of MM Italian Olive Green, the same wash, and a overcoat of MM Faded Olive Drab.  Generally, I don't get too hung up on the color proper, but instead focus on the net effect.  I'm pretty confident of the cockpit colors, however the engine area color is somewhat speculative.   
 
Next up- The engine and fuselage
 
Kai

Ok here she is. Photographed on my driveway the other day.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Thanks,
 
Dan

LIGHTNING vs CONCORDE
The Lightning that once overtook Concorde was described as 'the best of the best' by Flt Lt Mike Hale at the roll-out ceremony for XR749 at Teesside Airport on September 28th 1995. Now an instructor with 56 Sqn at Coningsby, Mike flew 80 sorties in XR749 after the aircraft was allocated to 11 Squadron at Binbrook. He has a particular affection for the aircraft: "The Lightning was an exceptional aircraft in every respect, but XR749 was one of the best of the best. It is probably the best aircraft that I will ever have had the privilege to fly. Because of her tail code BM, she was known as 'Big Mother', although the tail code changed to BO for her last few months on 11 before joining the LTF in January 1985. She was a very hot ship, even for a Lightning. She remained my aircraft for all her time on 11 Sqn despite my being entitled to an F6 as I moved up the squadron pecking order. I invariably asked for her to be allocated to me for the major exercises such as MALLET BLOW, OSEX, and ELDER FOREST despite her being a short range F3 - there were invariably plenty of tankers about!"
His memories include the time in April 1984, during a squadron exchange at Binbrook, when he and XR749 participated in unofficial time-to-height and acceleration trials against F-104 Starfighters from Aalborg. The Lightnings won all races easily, with the exception of the low level supersonic acceleration, which was a dead-heat. This is not surprising when the records show that the year before on one sortie XR749 accelerated to Mach 2.3 (1500 mph) in September 1983.
It was also in 1984, during a major NATO exercise that he intercepted an American U-2 at 66,000 ft, a height which they had previously considered safe from interception. Shortly before this intercept, he flew a zoom climb to 88,000 ft and, later that year, he was able to sustain FL550 while flying subsonic. Life was not entirely without problems, however, as in a three month period his No 2 engine seized in flight and its replacement failed during a take-off when intake paneling on the inside of the aircraft became detached and was sucked into the engine.
In April 1985, British Airways were trialing a Concorde up and down the North Sea. When they offered it as a target to NATO fighters, Mike and his team spent the night before in the hangar polishing XR749 which he borrowed from the LTF for the occasion, and the next day overhauled Concorde at 57,000 ft and travelling at Mach 2.2 by flying a stern conversion intercept. "Everyone had a bash - F-15s, F-16s, F-14s, Mirages, F-104s - but only the Lightning managed to overhaul Concorde from behind".
 
 
 
 
 
I hope ive done her justice
 

Hi all!

My new model.

WIP: http://www.greenmats...r-148-monogram/