VintageEagle

Thanks for the comments! The main gear actuating arms have been painted.  Here are all of the landing gear components presented together.  The brake lines still need to be added and I may give them a bit of weathering before I call them done.
 

 
 
I made up some pre-painted wiring harnesses for the main wheel well bay.  Still thinking about how I want to go about painting and assembling the wheel bay components.
 

Hi Guys,
 
Had a little break after Focke Factory and built some tanks and Sci-Fi which I've just posted on Non LSP Works, so have a look.
 
Here's a start on Revell's take on the Me262, the two seater night fighter version.  Actually a very good kit, here in the UK it's extremely good value.
 
Cockpit sub-assemblies painted and all kit decals applied. I added Fine Molds belts.
 
262workz by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Cockpit together.
 
262workz by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Fuselage together, wings on, no real filler just some Mr surfacer.  Excellent fit of parts.
 
262workz by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Start of the big mask up.
 
262workz by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Some colour at last.  Primer was Mr Surfacer, grey on top, black underneath.  ALL, and I mean ALL paint so far has been Mission Models MMP, really beautiful paint to spray and my go-to now. This is their take on RLM76 with the first mottle in 81
 
262build by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Rest of the mottle in MMP's 82.
 
262build by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
The wings with MMP RLM82
262build by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Areas under the slats I've shown as bare metal, this time MMP's Faded Aluminium.  Slats on for show, still loose.
 
262build by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
photos of Red 8 show lots of wear on the engine, my attempt with masking tape, sponge and a lot of swearing!
 
262 Build by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Not sure whether to put the walkway stripes on or not.  Close examination of all my books on late was German planes would suggest not.  You see them in artwork but not in photos of the aircraft.
262 Build by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
I made a slight faux-pas when I designed my masks and only noticed the swastika was wrong after I'd airbrushed it on. Luckily a bit of spit and a few strokes with a sanding stick and it was gone.  MMP paint feathers beautifully so no raised edges.
No tail! by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
And a redesigned and cut mask later . . . . . . .
New markings by Bruce Crosby, on Flickr
 
Hope you like it!
 
Regards,
 
Bruce Crosby

The only similar set I know was produced by Hasegawa in their Tritools series some years ago.
 
Unfortunately, it looks like the straigth rules set is unavailable whereas the curved ones are still in stock here and there.
 
Hth
 
Thierry

Another option: use a permanent ink fine tip marker to do regularly spaced marks with a rule on a Dymo strip and use it as a guide!

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=PE%20TEZ031
 
These are nice i have a couple of their tool too great stuff

For straight rivet lines, you can use a metal saw blade 12 teeth per cm, you will obtain a 0,83mm pitch.
you will have a better guide with saw blade than the P.E. rules.

After the overall coat of AS-12, the forward section was painted in Alclad steel, simply because this section was indeed made of steel. Also, some underside panels have been painted with Alclad dark aluminium.
I have now started to roughly apply dark grey over panel lines and rivets, following the pattern seen on the Me-262 111711. A lighter grey will be used over the steel section.
 
 

Beautiful detail!
 
Gaz

Impressive work, Roger!
 
Kev

I'm new to riveting. But I know every time I feel brave enough to go freehand, I regret it. DYMO tape, the kind used in those label makers, makes a nice straight edge that doesn't move, unlike a flexible ruler which seems to migrate. YMMV.
 
Good luck,
 
Gaz

I'm finished the riveting on the Hasegawa Spit Mk I over Christmas, its my 3rd completely riveted 1/32 build. Before starting the riveting process, I use calipers, various straight edges, and a sharp pencil to draw the lines on the aircraft of where I want the rivets to go (you need a good set of plans for this). Typically I do the fuselage and wing halves separately. After drawing the lines, I use DYMO tape to ensure a straight line for the riveting tool. 
 
Rivet wheel is used for flush rivets, Rosie the Riveter for domed rivets, in the case of the Spitfire Rosie (along with the metal template guide that comes with it) was used on aft (more or less) portion of the fuselage. The template is placed over the line being riveted and taped down at the ends with Tamiya Tape.
 
When using the rivet wheel, recommend you mark one cog/tooth with a Sharpie and always use that tooth as the starting point. It allows you to go over a section if you feel you didn't use enough pressure the first time. 
 
When laying the DYMO tape down, try to work it so the tape is always on the inside/covering an area that has just been riveted, so the tape does not lift off pencil likes from an unriveted area. Even then you'll likely have to re-draw some lines because of wear/handling. 
 
After the riveting is complete, take a normal pencil eraser and erase the remaining pencil lines. Then step back and admire the miracle of your work.
 
As careful as you may be when gluing the halves together, you'll likely need to do some touch up riveting.
 
Oh, and when drawing the lines, join the wing/fuselage halve together to be sure the rivets line up where required.
 
Its a long long process and it may drive you nuts. I do it in bits and pieces, one section at a time, building ... dare I say it... tanks.... in between.
 
Over Xmas my son, who was home from University, walked by me while I was finishing the wings. He thought I was totally nuts.
 
He may have a point. Oh well it seems to make me happy..... I think....
 
Cheers and have fun!
 
Dave/Ironman1945

Great show!
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Good evening,
 
OK, I call the cockpits done! Wow, that took me half a year.... But I am quite happy with the result. Now, if only the rest of the plane works out like that I would be happy with my first build in 20 years.
 
As mentioned before, I added the following from scratch:
 
Deviation tables right console Handles for emergency release of bomb load (one handle for the A-8, two for the F-8) Emergency power button on upper instrument panel Knob on fuel **** lever The document strap and rudder pedal straps were made out of paper instead of the etched parts from Eduard I used control sticks from Quickboost and the column from Eduard (I drilled a hole into the sticks and glued them onto the columns  
I used Mr. Color RLM 66 and Tamiya's flat coat as a finish.
 
Now, on to the cover of the upper instrument panel. I'll add some rivets and details. After that, riveting. 
 
All for now.
 
Cheers,
 
Roger
 

 

 

Good evening,
 
OK, I call the cockpits done! Wow, that took me half a year.... But I am quite happy with the result. Now, if only the rest of the plane works out like that I would be happy with my first build in 20 years.
 
As mentioned before, I added the following from scratch:
 
Deviation tables right console Handles for emergency release of bomb load (one handle for the A-8, two for the F-8) Emergency power button on upper instrument panel Knob on fuel **** lever The document strap and rudder pedal straps were made out of paper instead of the etched parts from Eduard I used control sticks from Quickboost and the column from Eduard (I drilled a hole into the sticks and glued them onto the columns  
I used Mr. Color RLM 66 and Tamiya's flat coat as a finish.
 
Now, on to the cover of the upper instrument panel. I'll add some rivets and details. After that, riveting. 
 
All for now.
 
Cheers,
 
Roger
 

 

 

It's been a long time since my last update. I have been working slowly but steadily on the cockpit. I decided to two two cockpits simultaneously so that I can learn from the first and improve on the second. This will save time and avoid that I stop this build when something goes wrong as I will still have the 2nd one to complete. 
 
The cockpits are almost done including the upper instrument panels. I only have to add the belts to both. The belts are ready and waiting to be glued in place. I had removed the first belts as I was not completely happy with them (didn't paint the etched parts and they were too shiny; the shoulder belts were a bit too short) and have prepared a set of to new belts for both cockpits.
 
After that, I'll focus on the cover of the upper instrument panel and then will finally be able to move on to the riveting of the fuselage. So, for now a quick teaser of how the cockpits look like (if you look carefully, you will see that they slightly differ from each other, one will be an A-8 and one an F-8 cockpit). The deviation tables on the right console, the control stick & wiring, the knob of the fuel lever, the emergency release handles for the bomb load (one in case of the A-8 and two for the F-8) and (not visible in the following photo yet) the button for the emergency power setting of the engine were built from scratch. The rest is Eduard.
 
More photos to come once the belts are in place and the cockpit complete.
 
Cheers,
Roger
 

Good evening,
 
Time flies. I spent several evenings on the fantastic RB Productions pilot belts. In my opinion, they look more realistic than the HGW belts, even though those are great too. Only a few remarks for improvement:
 
Late production belts were of synthetic material and had a greenish color and not the yellow/brownish color of earlier belts. It would be great if Radu would consider adding those colours as well. I'd be his first customer  The manual confuses the left and right buckles on the belly belts (at least based on the Luftwaffe cockpit photos I had available as a reference). The "male" buckle would be on the belt without the small brown triangle on top (which in reality would cover the female buckle once the pilot is buckled) and the "female" buckle (that is slightly bent in ca. 45 degree and not 90 degree as per instructions) would be covered by the small brown triangle. The triangle goes up to the point where the buckle is bent by 45 degree.   
I only noticed this after I had already started assembling the belts. The "male" and "female" belts are correctly installed on my belts, but I think in my cockpit the left belt should be on the right side and vice versa. A detail that nobody will notice, but I thought it is worth mentioning here. 
 
The stitching of the belts is added by a small saw-tooth edge in the photo etched frame holding the belts. After adding a light brown wash, they are well visible and look very realistic. 
 
The only "accident" happened when I added too much superglue to the left belly belt so that parts of it was pushed outside onto the seat cushion and is now slightly visible. 
 
I have also added some additional small painting details on the consoles. 
 
Nick, thank you very much. I have posted a reply in your thread. Meanwhile, I have checked the original photo and I am pretty certain that the original lower wing panels were left in place.
 
Cheers,
 
Roger
 

 

Good evening,
 
Thank you all for your kind comments. Visually not a huge update, but I have added a flat coat and a clear coat to the instrument faces. I have also added a bit of more contrast to the leather cushions.
 
I must have used the wrong thinning or wrong distance when applying the flat coat as I got a bit of frosting on the surface. I used ca. 50:50 thinning with Mr. Leveling Thinner. Fortunately, it could be fixed by adding a wet layer of pure Mr. Leveling Thinner. I am quite happy with the result.
 
Next will be adding the missing bits and pieces: control stick, levers, handles, throttle, gunsight, etc. After that I'll paint the inside of the fuselage (both cockpit and tail wheel area) before I either directly join the fuselage halves or first add riveting. But I am not sure if I should not make it too difficult for the first build and leave the riveting for my next build.
 
One thing I noticed with the Eduard cockpit set. The late production headrest of Eduard has a half circle shape like on the early production headrests. White 48, however, had a circular headrest. I will have to fix this one, but that's something I will do last.
 
Cheers,
 
Roger
 
 
 

 

 

Good evening,
 
So, finally I can post two photos. Note that I have not yet added all the bits and pieces (control stick, rudders, some handles and levers, belts, auxiliary panel to the lower instrument panel) yet as I first want to finish dry fitting it into the fuselage in order not to risk breaking off some small parts. I also haven't managed to apply the flat coat yet. After the flat coat, I also plan to add clear coats over the individual instrument dials.
 
Note the dirt on the floor. German instrument panels usually had the electrical wiring diagram codes of the instruments painted onto the panel. I tried to recreate this by applying some tiny white dots and dashes with a very sharp brush. Electrical cables were usually wrapped by yellow plastic at the end of the war, which I also tried to recreate. I will add some more drybrushing / shading to the leather cushion as it looks to flat right now.
 
One questions I have for you experts: I have tried Tamiya, Mr. Color and Vallejo flat coats tonight, but none of them were really flat. I may have used the wrong mixture or thinner as I have read very positive things about e.g. the Vallejo flat coat. What do you usually use to seal the cockpit (flat, satin, which brand, which mixture)?
 
G-Man, I have to try Mr. Mark Setter and Mr. Mark Softer then. When I wanted to buy it at the local hobby store it was sold out and I went for the other brands, but I have heard good things about the two Mr. Marks. At least when the cockpit, filling and sanding is done, the fun part can begin. Better to start with the hard work and then the fun :-)
 
Cheers,
 
Roger
 

 

 

Hi G-Man,
 
Thanks. I haven't applied a silver base and therefore couldn't use this chipping method. I tried a silver pencil, but it didn't give satisfying results (not very sharp edged scratches). I tried to apply silver paint with a very fine brush, but again the result was not so convincing to me. So, in the end I decided not to add any scratches. I didn't want to mess up with the cockpit to ensure that I don't lose motiviation.
 
In addition, looking at a wartime color shot of a captured Fw 190 G-3 cockpit (from the J. Ethell collection), I could hardly see any scratches in the cockpit, but what was much more prominent was the dirt on the floor from soil on the pilot's (and GI's) boots. I therefore tried to recreate this dirt using a light earth wash and it turned out reasonably well.
 
I have used water colors for applying details and dry brushing. Both worked very well. The dry brushed effect was toned down when I applied the gloss coat before applying the decals, but I may dry brush the cockpit once more after the final flat coat. I applied the decals using Microsol/soft (having tried similar products from Tamyia, Revell and Vallejo, the old Microsol/soft still gave me the best results). I have also dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage and am 90% done with this task. As @monthebiff pointed out in post 12, the lower instrument panel indeed required some trimming to fit the fuselage.
 
It's incredible how many hours just finishing the cockpit took me, but I guess I will be much faster next time as I experimented with different methods this time. I will post pictures once I have applied the flat coat (hopefully tonight). I am quite happy how it turned out so far considering that it is my first one in years.
 
Roger

Thanks Kev. I think you nailed the issue. I will try to first apply a flat coat. So, here's the adjusted sequence I will try:
 
1 Paint in acrylics RLM 66 Mr. Color
2 Airbrush shading, moderately applied (highly diluted black acrylics)
3 Wash (AK Interactive)
4 Flat coat (Vallejo)
5 Drybrushing with Enmael 
6 Detail painting with a brush
7 Chipping with a silver artist pencil
8 Clear coat (Tamiya)
9 Decals with Microsol/set
10 Flat coat (Vallejo)
 
I will be back with the results soon.
 
Cheers,
Roger

G'd morning,
 
OK, I have spent some time to first lighten up the RLM 66 and then to experiment a bit with different weathering methods. Remember, it's all new to me after I finished my last model more than 20 years ago.
 
I was first trying to figure out the painting sequence and came up with the following:
 
1 Paint in acrylics
2 Drybrush (in enmael?)
3 Paint details
4 Add moderate chipping to the floor using an artist pencil
5 Add dirt on the floor
6 Add an enmael-based black wash
7 Apply a clear coat Tamiya acrylics
8 Apply instrument decals
9 Apply a flat coat (Vallejo)
 
Quite a few steps for such a small part that will mostly disappear in the fuselage. Now to the execution. I used the Revell cockpit to experiment a bit. Here's what I have tried so far:
 
DRYBRUSIHING:
I already struggled with drybrushing. This is a method I used already 20 years ago, but for some reason it didn't work properly this time. Maybe because I was trying to use enmael over acrylics? The edges became shiny, but not really lighter as almost no paint was deposited. Maybe I used the wrong paint or should have waited longer so that the brush dries a bit more before I started. Any good advice?
 
WASH:
I used an AK Interactive black wash and applied it with a small brush, which worked quite well. I didn't even have to remove the excess, but could merge the wash with the brush.
 
DIRT:
I used a sand colored wash by AK Interactive that I applied with a small brush to the cockpit floow. The color was probably a bit too light. Anyhow, it worked also quite well, but I remember having seen better results, but I don't know how they were achieved (possibly pastel or pigments?).
 
CHIPPING:
I applied very moderate chipping using a silver pencil. It worked well, but the chips are not as sharp edged as you probably can achieve using other methods. What are your recommendations for chipping inside the cockpit?
 
SHADING:
I haven't tried it yet, but was considering using the airbrush and highly diluted black paint to add some shades to panel and corners. Will have to try it I guess.
 
Spent a whole evening for what is probably basics for most of you, but that's part of the learning. Next time I will know a bit more and be a bit faster. Would appreciate your thoughts about how best to weather the cockpit (not overdone, but still adding depth and character).
 
Cheers,
Roger
 

I probably will lighten up the color a bit before adding shades again. In reality it is lighter than it appears in the last photo, but since it will be quite dark anyways in the cockpit, it's probably good to lighten the color a bit. 
 
Here's a fragment of a main instrument panel of a Bf 109 G just to show how dark RLM 66 was (compare RLM 66 with the black instruments): 
 

 
By the way, the rpm indicator and fuel gauge were not the ones originally installed in the panel, as they were for a Bf 109 K-4 (rpm indicator) and Fw 190 (fuel gauge). The manifold pressure indicator is the correct one for a Bf 109 G-6 and may have been the original one that had been installed in this panel.
 
Is drybrushing still the standard method for bringing out highlights (if so, I assume Enmael over Acrylics should work ok for drybrushing)? I also may add chipping using a silver pen and adding dirt using e.g. AK Interactive dust.
 
Do you have some recommendations how to make the cockpit more realistic looking?

Good evening everybody,
 
Tonight I have used an airbrush for the first time in more than 20 years and it was even a first for me when it comes to using acrylic paint.
 
I primed the resin parts using Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black using a 2:1 ratio (i.e. 2 drops of Mr. Levelling Thinner and 1 drop of Mr. Surfacer), which went quite well. 
 
I then painted the cockpits with Mr. Color RLM 66 using a 1:1 ratio with Mr. Color thinner, which also went well. The photos don't really show much difference between black and grey, but in reality the colours are clearly different.
 
I might have used a too high pressure (2 bars) since when I pulled the trigger on the airbrush too much rearwards, it started to "spit" a bit. But all was fine at a low setting. 
 
The black primer already gives some shades and depth to the cockpit. I will try to increase this effect a bit in the next step using the Revell cockpit always as a Guinea Pig.
 
Cheers,
 
Roger
 

 
 

 

Good evening,
 
Again, not a big progress, but I have ordered some Mr. Surfacer 1500 for priming and am waiting to use my new airbrush for the first time. I will use the Revell cockpit for practice first before I have a go on the Eduard cockpit. I have installed the map holder made out of a photo etched part. As soon as the primer arrives, I'll post an update.
 
Cheers,
Roger
 

 

Good evening,
 
Just a tiny update: instrument panel and seat cushion cut and sanded. Note the correct selection for an Fw 190 F-8 of the auxiliary panel with the ASK190 bomb sequence selector and ZSK 244.
 
Cheers,
 
Roger