FreightDog

I thought you’d initially posted some photos of the original real aircraft for reference, then realised it must be the model! Absolutely superb. I’d love to know how you did the base as I could do with something similar.

Insanely brilliantly finished Wok-52! I always aim & dream of a finish as professional looking as that but don’t have the skills, patience or both

Love this aircraft, lovely build! In fact I love it so much I'm building 2 simultaneously

I did this as a quickie while I await my 2nd T-28 kit to arrive on the slow boat from China for by build thread on same, and the motor & light kit for the B17, I threw it together so fast I forgot to do a build thread sorry! As usual from me, it's motorised & illuminated because... well, because it can be, and I enjoy the photographic opportunities - need to obtain some sky or airfield backdrop for further goes :-). Bit of an issue with the engine sound on this, the way I coiled the cabling may be the reason the lovely startup and run sound is accompanied by whining feedback, something I'm in contact with MSM about as I'm a bit of an early adopter for their stuff. Extras: Master details pilot figure & metal MGs, Eduard cockpit dashboard & harness (waste of time, can't see a single thing with young Klaus sat there) Montex masks, and Magic Scale Modelling light & sound kit. Painted with a mix of Tamiya & AK, weathered with flory wash & AK grime. Thanks for looking.

haha thanks oh dear! Never mind as it’s taken me so many hours just to get this far I’m not going to go back and redo it now. I’ve never been too hung up on historical accuracy anyway. In my mind it’ll be a “what if” job. To be fair most of the attractive decal schemes available in nmf for the G are for the air show birds anyway... but then there’s the problem of my crew dressed in wartime uniforms, so I can’t win on this one

Small progress, tackled the wooden parts of the interior which isn’t something I’d done before and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I bought some of the lovely looking uschi wooden interior decals, but was put off using them by the precision I reckoned I’d need in cutting trimming and settling them so I tried doing it myself and I’m quite pleased how it turned out. I used the method of tamiya deck tan topped with varnish then burnt sienna and raw umber streaked over the top and worked till I was happy. I’ve left quite a lot on and hopefully it will dry at some e point so I can continue

Wow. I've just read this thread as I'm building the G but out of the box. This is on a completely different level and is a proper academic exercise. Blown away by your tenacity and skills. Me? When I was 8 the objective was to turn a kit into something looking like an aeroplane asap, and 44 years late not a lot has changed except I've now got an airbrush!

Bit more progress on the flight deck but not a lot. My first experiment with oil wash, as I’ve yet to find a commercial wash that isn’t gritty and doesn’t soak into even seemingly flat glossed surfaces. I diluted it with turps which I’d read somewhere but it reacted with the dried klear I’d covered it with and gave me orange peel. Caused me a lot of pain to remedy then repaint to tone it down. That’ll be a dead end on the washes then. Next job is to have a go at the wood effect for the floors, I’m following someone’s technique of tamiya deck tan with dry brushed oils over the top. What could go wrong? Bombs primed for the yellow stripe instrument panel will be quite late on as I’ll need the lighting kit. The wiring from that will blend in with the wires poking out the back of the gauges. More detail painting and placards to go on too. I think 90% of this kit is the interior!

Now yours looks just the inspiration I need!! Do you have a link to more pics or did you do a wip? I’m only doing the 3 figures, my 3rd guy is a navigator but I might stick him in the front depending on fit. My plan is to have it on the ground in an engine start scenario so I’m not sure where all the guys would be hanging out at that time anyway. Shame I’ll have to have the bomb doors open though as I’m planning to use the wall mount to store the thing.

Came to this late so had the pleasure of looking at it from start to finish. That’s really classy! Question on the alclad wings; how long did you leave the first coat of airframe aluminium before masking for the different panels? My experience has been alclad is too fragile to mask without a clear coat but maybe I’d not let it cure enough; the masking tape picked up the lacquer on removal.

This is a sort of dual build. I have the B/D version, which I intend to do with magic scale modelling motor/light & sound, and depending on how the sound board is programmed I may do in flight or on the ground starting up. I love this aircraft so I also have the C version incoming although I ordered it from China 6 weeks ago and I’m still waiting. The C will be static with all the panels open exposing the lovely detailed kit engine with the Airies cockpit which I’ve also started work on. In hindsight the kit cockpit is detailed enough that I didn’t need it. I’ve started the B/D and the crew which are from Aero Bonus and are nice but not a patch on the Master Details figures I’m using in my B-17 build. I’m mostly ready to put the B/D together but I’m still waiting for my light & sound kit to come from Belgium. I ordered it 5 weeks ago and they’re not answering my messages... hopefully they are still trading! Anyway state of play as of now. When/if the C and the electronics arrive, this should go together quite fast. Threading the PE airies seatbelts took me nearly a whole day. I do not like PE but they should look ok on the seat. Test fitting of crew into kit ‘pit & fuse join looking good. Engine will be covered up on this one but I assembled it & basic paint just so I know what pitfalls to expect on the C. Quite a good kit so far, Kitty Hawk used to scare me but I think they’re getting quite tasty now.

Thank you Chrish. My hear sank when I read the above about the fit though... I've had a quick dry fit, and I think I've got away with it, although Cap it forced to lean right...maybe he's checking something on the centre panel or something lol

Thanks for the positive words and tips chaps. Not sure how often to post updates, but my work has me away from home every other week, and from the stares from my wife my unbroken stint of production may be about to pause, so here's as far as I've got. Airscale placards arrived. These should add some interest to the inside as I can't be bothered with eduard etc on this one: Bit of a saga re paint. I had purchased a whole load of Vallejo model air a while back, as i had heard good things about it. I very quickly renamed it "wont-sprejjjo" as it would not spray from my trusty old Iwata, regardless of how much it was shaken, stirred, thinned etc. Thought it must just be my airbrush being picky. I've just had to change airbrush as the Iwata died beyond repair, and got a nice H&S, so I thought I'd try the Vallejo again, as I really like their interior green. No. The only way this substance will spray is at a million psi at max aperture and thinned to 0.001%. So it's all going in the bin, and I'm going to try some AK on another kit I've got going. Now I have to either homebrew the same shade from my Tamiya supplies, or try and see if AK or someone else so a close match. Anyway, interiors all sprayed now, with rough black boxes airbrushed also, to be neatened when I've got the colour licked. Cockpit rough painted. Detail to be painted next, though I should have done it before glueing the seats etc together, I was in too much of a rush to see if the figures would fit and how much work that would entail. Had another go at trying to be clever with the faces, think they look worse but I'm going to leave them alone now before I completely ruin them! May try one last dark brown wash once these are dried out, that seems to be the most flattering technique to hide sins.

First bit of work done then, the absolutely amazing Master Details figures. I've never seen anything quite so detailed, but then doing figures is a new thing for me. They aren't cheap at CAD33 each plus postage, but they come with 2 heads and 2 torsos; one for with O2 mask and one without. In a way its a crying shame as only an extra pair of arms and legs and I could almost crew the whole aircraft! Downside was the attachment points for the heads which made them quite precarious to fit. No poseability, they are sat in a fixed position, so I was keen to put together the cockpit to see if they would not only touch/hold the columns they're posed with, but would they even fit at all. Answer was no! They were almost bent over forward in the seat, and knees so high I couldn't mount the control columns. Had to bend them back at the waist and fill with superglue/pva, and send off most of their heels to get them in. I'm not sure my skills are going to be up to getting them to grip/hold where they should, and even if I could, the columns would be in different positions, which would be impossible. I'm hoping by the time they're fully inside it won't be too noticeable, and in any case they will be in a "startup" pose rather than flying so not the end of the world if they're not fully hands on. Figures were primed grey then the whites of the harnesses airbrushed, as if I'd have done it the other way it would have needed 80 coats of while over the darker shades. Everything else then painted around them. I've watched hundreds of tutorials on figure face painting, I've got the right equipment, but each try looked worse than a dark wash over plain flesh so I kept doing back to that. Gave the bodies a wash of thinned tamiya smoke. O2 masks and hose to be attached when cockpit ready. One thing I'm wondering; do I still need seat harnesses over their shoulders? I assume they're just wearing their 'chutes at the mo. The thought of bending PE over them scares me. Maybe I need the HGW fabric belts, or maybe I won't bother... hmm So, close up my poor skills show, but I think inside the cockpit behind the glass they'll do the job. Cockpit painting next.

Apologies, my fault I was looking inside the top thread entitled tutorials only!