mc65

mmmh... so far I haven't been attracted by Quinta products, apart from the high cost, it seemed to me from the photos that the indexes of the instruments protruded from the frames. now this picture of yours is intriguing me, it looks really well done! From 1 to 10 what grade would you give it? TIA, Paolo

thank you all, pals! Ernest, what about your P51B? did you completed it as per your daughter scheme? Well, finally some rain has arrived here, revitalizing the weed I've been giving up. hey, looking closely, it's not that far from the RLM82! can you see that at Reichs Luftfahrt Ministerium weren't entirely wrong? which then, coupled with the RLM 83, begins to make more sense, come on. it must be said that the red 1, although more than known and documented, still has sides to explore. here, in this sense, searching I found a drawing with that strange blob in 82 at the root of the right wing. very unusual, it would seem a poetic license of the author, except to better study the historical photos... huh, look at that?? seems to make sense... probably a paint retouch after a major repair, as well as the lighter leading edge, in which the band in 83 remains confined just beyond the wing main beam. in short, I give it credit, a pity that I don't also have the side views, for those I went a bit by feeling, always looking at the b/w photos and beautiful Jerry Crandall's drawings. for example, the spot at the base of the tail planes some sources claim is in 83, the same color as the one behind the cockpit canopy. but it seems to me darker, and it is highly probable it is a tone, if not a colour, different: the front one is from the factory, the other was made in the field or at the maintenance dept. let's also assume that they had the same color, it's almost impossible that they had the same shade, both for reasons of production batches and the aging of the previous one. so I used 81 corrected to darken it a little bit, and here we are. to be continued... cheers, Paolo

It gets better and better! the figures are always an ordeal, for those who do not dedicate themselves exclusively to them (and try looking at a model made by a figure painter? ) but in any case they look good to me. about the underside, I agree, it's an area often forgotten by modelers, for sure by technicians! I like the speckling, if I have my say, I prefer to use the pigments dissolved in water, shooting them after the oil streaking. this gives me the possibility of not risking mixing everything together, of having a mixture as thick as I like for the dirt pulled up by the wheels, and above all of being able to erase and start again practically infinitely at will. when I'm satisfied (that is never, let's say when I get tired) I fix everything with clear matt. one thing that in my opinion makes this dirt more or less credible is the direction of the mud splashes: due to the rotation of the wheels and the motion of the plane, they will be mostly inclined towards the tail, only some will orthogonally reach the surface near the vertical of the wheel. one last thing: especially in tailwheels, a lot of the dirt ends up in the tailplanes, we tend not to think about it, usually. forgive the length, sometimes on Sunday I happen to recite the sermon! cheers, Paolo

nice shot, find the decals! sometimes the search for the missing sheet approaches that of the holy grail! about the instrument panel, I take the liberty of giving my opinion: Eduard has done a great job on these, but today there are clearly superior products, like Yahu. sad to say, having a stash full of kit's boxes with their Eduard set within, but there is no game, IMHO.

thanks, Gazzas! as always, in the painting phase I manage to make some mess. generally speaking 1) I'm not good with colors 2) I'm not good with preshading 3) I am mentally confused, if not disturbed and in fact... let's start from the beginning: trying to figure out what was the best order to paint this thing (below first, top first, wing first, etc.) I started without any logic, i.e. testing the preshading on the wing with lighter green, the RLM 82. little childhood memory about this colour: the Dora I did in middle school came back to my mind, an Airfix 1/72, for which I got the colors indicated, and which I painted with a lot of perplexity... but what kind of color is it?? oh well, let's say it can work. so let's go with the fuselage, which is the most uncomfortable to mask and paint. trying to interpret the available photos and crossing the known data, I made a whole mental movie to differentiate the light blue on the fuselage: the difference in color tone between the front cowling and the rest of the power egg is evident, indicating a possible cannibalization of the former. then we know that tail and rudder were supplied by subcontractors who supplied them painted with a lighter shade than the normal RLM 76, with scattered patches of 75; and finally that the red 1 came from JG2, so it had a nice yellow-white-yellow band at the tail which most likely was covered following a rather extensive maintenance operation before being given to the JV44. this last thing in the photos does not appear as a discontinuity of any kind, but we are talking about b/w photos from almost 80 years ago, to whom do I wrong if I paint this area a little bit different? in short, a lot of self brainstorming to get here: in the end, with all the stains above, how much will we ever understand? but, doesn't it look a bit dark, that 76? and indeed it is a 78. after a moment of bewilderment and a handful of sedatives, I stripped the paint off the fuselage down to the layer of Alclad with very fine abrasive pads and body shop paste. and tried to get some semblance of preshading. holy patience. this time, before doing further abominations, I did some tests, also considering the reliability of the AK real colors. because I'm quite perplexed about AKs, an example for all. a RLM 02 Gunze compared with the AK interpretation: so with an eye to the reasoning above and one to the color rendering of the various paints available, I gave birth to this masterpiece. meh. luckily it's just a hobby. sometimes I wonder what philately must be like, maybe I should give it a try. to stay brainstorming, I received this photo from a friend, which I can't explain: it doesn't appear to be any of the known JV44 aircraft. the absence of the mgs in the fuselage suggests a D11, but in this case the external wing cannons are missing. also the engine air intake seems to have a bizarre shape. any ideas? the landing gear leg in the foreground is also interesting: apart from the area of the stencils left in the original color, the compression of the shock absorber is clearly evident thanks to the offset of the white band on the door. cheers, Paolo

maybe the test I did with different OD for the P51B may help? I used mainly Mr.hobby H-52 and AK RC024, using MRP just for highlights. in any case, expect a slightly higher consumption of color than usual... cheers, Paolo

woops! John, you're right, I was so happy about the opportunity given by the Revell canopies, that I posted the wrong photo! here is the two late style ones some steps ahead, the temporarily installed one Hase, and the Revell in the background. some steps, I said... well, let's proceed in order. after gluing wing and fuselage, I encountered some fit issue, not recordered precedently. obviously the cause lies in my interventions in the flaps and undercarriage areas. for example, the central part of the landing gear bay previously fell into place with a touching "click". before... now, after a series of curses I had to detach it from the rear contact point and saw it at a seam front. to then reduce the internal thickness and remove just over a tenth in length to make it go in its place. oh, much better now. on the top seam there are a couple of imperfect spots, nothing that a little putty and abrasives can't fix. having the burrs in hand to work on the Karman, I couldn't resist just sketching out the air intake: above there will be a nice "nicht betreten" stencil, how can I resist?? after a bit of work with burrs and sandpaper, I fixed the wing-fuselage contact line, facilitated by the fact that in this area there are the doors for the wing cannons and the coupling plates which make the junction easier to manage. a coat of primer to check the goodness of the bodywork, and onother one of Alclad, only in the areas where there will be some scratches. another photo that adds nothing, if not confirmation of the elegance of the lines of this aircraft, before I go to devastate it with paints. here, in fact, goodbye to cleanliness and elegance. more than a classic preshading, I wanted to try a random one, made with black sprayed through a cooker hood sponge. on the belly even more heavily, considering the color that will go there. then hairspray and salt in preparation for the final colours. I'll close it for today with a shot of the quality control inspector making his tour. oh, he's got eyes everywhere, this one! cheers, Paolo

b e a u t i f u l .

nice subject, and creepy kit! I've personally learned to distrust Trumpeters, but I'm sure we'll see terrific execution in your hands! If I may, have you looked at the kitsworld.co.uk website? they have several interesting decals for P47 razorback...

wow, the parts shown are incredibily realistic, congratulations! I don't understand why practicing on a big B25 and then making a P51 with the experience gained, but you are the boss! if I may, the shoulder straps on the seat have an unnatural trend compared to the buckles: so pulling the small strips to tighten them, they would actually loosen, I guess...

thank you all! Bevan, as they say "the devil is in the details"! I'm just curious if all these little improvements when put together will result in something resembling a Dora... well, I closed the two main subparts, finally. the trailing edge of the wing floats a little, thanks to the photoetched insert of the flaps. if on the one hand this makes the whole less solid, on the other hand it will allow me to play better with the junction with the Karman of the fuselage. the two butts that sprout in correspondence with the cannons are what they seem: two pieces of tube to center and protect the wires which, inserted into the resin bases of the cannons, will provide support for the brass barrels. and the looooooong fuselage. it did not present any alignment problems of the two half-shells, previously gluing the right and left parts of the tail to the respective half-fuselages, instead of creating a separate plug to be then glued to the assembled fuselage, as suggested by the instructions. here the only changes made, in addition to the separate rudder, were the tube passing through the reear fuselage to insert the lifting shaft, abnormally wide, at least compared to the standard 190, and the enlargement of the slots in which the elevators moved. ah, and the replacement of the two front pins by also inserting reinforcements at the rear. this actually wasn't a choice: I broke one of the originals in styrene. however, I decided to keep the system foreseen by Hasegawa to install the front part (cowl flaps-radiator-front cowl-propeller) for the convenience, given the particular coloring, of being able to proceed separately until the end of the painting. and finally... ta-daaah! the dry test of the parts was perfect, before I went to worsen flaps and landing gear bays... now there is a bit of putty and sandpaper to work on, but little stuff. yes, I believe I can (butter)fly! and now the doubt of the day. the Hasegawa kit provides two options for sliding the cockpit: early or late. the red 1 had a late, so little doubt about it. pity that the slide actually had two very different shapes, from open to closed: as the fuselage section was reduced towards the tail, the transparent part tightened coherently with the fuselage, thanks to a hinge on its top. hell of Kurt Tank! moreover, it was also equipped with an explosive charge to get rid of it quickly in case of a parachute jump, but that's another story... so all this talk? so I have an alternative! the Revell 190 kit provides early or late options, but also open or closed! There is a small difference in the top hinge, but if I wanted to make it open, I wouldn't have big problems! and both talk well with Hasegawa parties! while waiting to decide, I prepare the plane for the paint department with the hood closed in place, and I prepare the other side as well. now it's not long before the phase where I usually ruin everything with colors... too bad! cheers, Paolo

I personally have a love-hate relationship with USN planes, but I must say that your work is enthralling me and making me caress the idea of one of these beasts on my work table... carry on! regarding the last photo, the ratio between the two rudders is impressive, and the "blade runner style" photo is very nice! cheers, Paolo

just WOW!!

if I need inspiration when I'm stalling with my Dora project, I open this discussion... and I realize that I will never reach these levels of cleanliness and beauty, thanks for sharing your work with so many details and explanations! here I was a bit perplexed: "On the port landing gear retraction arm, I've added a small wire to represent the tail wheel retraction cable." but I guess you meant only on the starboard side, as you did on the model... I'm right, or better, starboard? cheers, Paolo

I agree with Kevin's request: what colors did you use for the overspray over the silver? very convincing! also, if I may, given the setting you will make (very nice, what reference are the pilots?) you will know that Tom's Modelwork makes IJN Carrier deck tie downs... just check the code #512

beautiful paintwork! if I may, in the last photo the low contrast between the white of the cross and the underlying color, especially on the left, creates a strange optical effect whereby the lower arm of the cross seems undersized. cheers, Paolo

thank you for interest and comment! well, little updating. carrying on the work of the previous sessions, I was stubborn to try to understand the issue of the spiral on the spinner, but let's go in order: the cockpit is practically complete. I added the throttle lever and its clutch, the landing gear lever, the headphone socket cable, and painted the last lights and controls. I positioned the cloche fully forward, wanting to place the elevators oriented downwards. test in situ with respect to the other components. the gunsight's position did not convince me, so I changed it slightly. now it sits a little lower and forward, so you have continuous glareshield padding. I then painted and positioned the blades on the hub. various retouching and oil weathering are still missing, but we're almost there. ditto for the main landing gerar's legs, here is missing only a little black oil and some dust. while I'm a little behind with the actuator arms and related electrical contacts. what else... despite having a Black Dog resin set and HGW decals to improve the control surfaces, I'm deciding to keep the kit's ones, which I find more than honest. after separating them from the fixed parts, I limited myself to adding the missing thickness with Magic sculpt. we will then see if we like them or if they need to be implemented/replaced. and we come to the issue of the spiral... this is a good photo of the Red 1. you can see something on the spinner, apparently a left-handed spiral. the front cowling without spots is also clearly visible, as was customary for engines complete with fully cowlings that arrived already painted from the factory with only the two lower and upper colors, without further stains. but you can see very well how the cowl flaps instead have paint dots, as well as the rest of the power egg, but you understand much less the latter because of the exhaust fumes. my hypothesis is that the cowl flaps come from another aircraft, or that the front annular cowling has been replaced on an engine unit that had been camouflaged in the flying group. it must be said that the Fw of the JV44 were all obtained from other groups, often machines that had already undergone several major maintenance interventions. the Red 1 was no exception: the spiral on the spinner, the tail two-color band on the tail obliterated, the right wing tip replaced, as well as the various scattered patches suggest more alterations and color retouches. and here another photo, also attributed to the Red 1 at the end of his life as an airplane, close to being transformed into pots and cutlery. now apart from the caption, nothing tells us that it is actually the same machine, if not the clean annular cowling in contrast with the cowl flaps, and the pattern of the spots on the cowl flaps themselves. after a series of comparisons between the two, playing with the contrast and brightness of the images, I am convinced that yes, it can actually be him, and here the shroud of the right-handed spiral is quite evident, as is normal. all this blablabla just to say that I have resolved to put aside the anomalous spiral and to reproduce a canonical one, and here it is. under the yellow it is relatively easy to make it stand out to the eye (less easy to photograph it). while to make it see-not see on the black part it's a little less simple. in the end I opted for black pigments. not that it's that visible, actually... sigh. well, if you've made it this far without a headache you're migraine-proof, I'd say! next steps, closing wing and fuselage, hope soon. bye bye, Paolo

Great result for a loooong journey, kudos! after a so demanding work, maybe I would choose a neat Tamiya kit, even if the Revell 262 is a simple and nice kit...

Mike, I'm not so sure: more than shadows they should be highlights, but I don't see how they could be! well, the long summer break made me lose the usual feeling with the work table, and I see that it takes me a while to get my hand back, I feel rather awkward, and objectively the work is progressing slowly and messy. for example, the propeller. the HD resin set is something simply gorgeous: perfect lines, micron tolerances, clear and comprehensive instructions. a high quality product, in short. sold to anyone who decides to do so, even to a clumsy as I am. let's see: as for the Bf109 G10, the idea of closing the hub details under the spinner did not appeal to me, so here too the magnet trick, with the bonus of not having the gun through the hub and spinner, therefore much simpler. hole to size, magnet, PE bolt, easy easy. then light layer of Alclad after protecting the contact areas with Maskol. all very nice, except that the tolerances are such that even a layer of Alclad creates sufficient thickness to produce difficulties in inserting and then turning the ring nuts in the hub. it will end, we will see later, with after assembling retouching. but above all, in the instructions it was well specified to leave 0.2mm below the spinner's base ring. did I take it into account? obviously not. and those two tenths were used to make the spinner sit well on its base plate, damn me. furthermorer, it was also indicated to reduce the internal thickness of the spinner, since the counterweights fit there very tight, and I first painted and then checked the hub-spinner fit. alright. after a lot of scraping with various drills risking damage, I solved it by gluing a 0.2 mm copper wire along the circumference. getting the right height of the countermagnet in the spinner required a million tests and different thicknesses, but in the end... then assembled everything with a certain attention and fibrillation with respect to the correct angles and the intrinsic fragility of the rear plate (there is a clear warning about that in the instructions) I gave a coat of hairspray and salt, and a layer of RLM 70. fast brutal scratching, and here we are. here at home after a round of black oil. the finesse of the Hasegawa mold is best appreciated in the annular radiator, simply painted with a coat of Alclad and an oil wash. while waiting for the various drying phases of hub's glue and colors, I alternated starting the cockpit, deciding to use the tin tub by adding only a few details of the Brengun PE set and counting on the painting (and on the poor visibility of the whole once closed in the fuselage). ditto for the semi-fuselages, in which few details will go. and that's all for today, next the propeller blades and the end of the cockpit. cheers, Paolo

thank you, glad you like it so far... for the rest I do not guarantee, however! full-bodied update today, ready? to begin, I closed the engine module. I replaced the kit's tubes and added more, as well as electrical wiring and a few bolts here and there. I also cut the ejection ducts of the MG cases, which will be redone with Eduard PE up to the belly of the fuselage. but nothing, it does not convince me very much. however, it is and remains, apart from a few other rounds of filth once in place. I opened the holes corresponding to the expulsion of the shells on the part of the kit, here is a test in place of the whole. it is true that we will not see anything of this area, just as it is true that they have tried too hard to provide this otherwise desolately empty space, but I do not know why, I am not satisfied with it. oh well, I'll like it, I don't have many alternatives! in reality this and other jobs were done as an interval in the riveting work, a via crucis that required frequent pauses. as well as several corrections to putty and sandpaper... but the bulk is done. so now I can install the fixed part of the flaps to the upper surfaces of the wing halves. on these there is, in correspondence with the flaps, a hole that made me waste a lot of time trying to understand its meaning, not being present on the photoetched parts: either I had to plug the hole on the wings, or open it on the photoetched parts. in the end I got there: it was a mechanical indicator of the extension of the flaps, the pilot could read the value in degrees through a strip that ran under it coherently with the flaps themselves. ergo, I drill holes in the PE. a couple (dozens of) dry tests to check dimensions and position, and away with epoxy and hairpins for curlers! other anti-fatigue things during the riveting were for example the welds to the fork of the wheel, using the black cyan, denser and more visible than the transparent one. and the main landing gear legs here we are almost there, only lining and weathering are missing. the placards come from an HGW sheet dedicated to the Dora. in parallel I began to think about the cockpit. I have several options for the instrument panel. since the one in the kit has a nice three-dimensionality, I tried to use it, drilling the main instruments. and then insert plasticard discs on which to place some Airscale decals. unfortunately I am not satisfied with the result. not that the idea is wrong, it's my realization that doesn't compete with the cleanliness of the Yahu set. which however is decidedly flat. and what if I place on it some PE bezels? we are always far from a 100% satisfactory result, but I would say that I give up. having to insert the tube for the flare gun into the panel, and in any case pierce the fuselage, I took the trouble to try to relate them. so in the end what remains of the rich Brengun set? well, actually several little things, one of which is the nice seat, in six comfortable pieces! well, that's almost everything for today... soon propeller HD, a spectacular set. speaking of propeller, studying the spinner, you can see quite well how there was, before the tip was painted yellow, a white spiral on a black background. somehow the spiral can also be seen in the anterior area (points 2 and 3). evidently the yellow, given without a common background, had a different rendering depending on the underlying colors. also, there is an ideal continuity with the part in the black zone (1) even if it is interrupted, perhaps for a later retouch. and so far... what I do not explain is that the spiral is reversed with respect to the direction of rotation of the prop. in all the other photos of spinner with spiral, this follows the direction of the motor: if the propeller rotates clockwise, as in the case of the Dora, the spiral starts from the base and rises to the right until it reaches the top of the spinner. here it is the other way around. ideas? thanks for any idea or suggestion you have about it, I don't explain this oddity. cheers, P.

wooooah! top notch work! Do you mind if I take notes and shamelessly copy? I have the same kit in stock waiting for the right mojo... cheers, Paolo

tried to follow the Rockie's instructions? Easy peasy... go to your Flickr page and click on the photo. In the lower right of the new window you will see four icons. Click on the arrow that points to the right, and copy the link that you see in the dialog box that pops up. Go to your new post window in LHS, click in the window like you would to enter text, paste the link, hit enter and your picture should show up... You don't need to use the "Insert image from URL" button at all

Mmmmh... maybe enlarging the circular hole will not solve interely the issue. what about shift it, instead? I mean, enlarging it a quarter of moon toward the fuselage, and filling the equivalent area at the opposite side of the circle. just my two cents! Cheers, Paolo.

er, ehm, John, actually I would have liked to shorten the main landing gear oleos to emulate a loaded plane, using telescopic antenna sections, which provides good strength and a nice chrome finish, but looking at the loooong legs of this model, I did not have the courage to do it! so, not much more metalwerken around, sorry! so, small update today tonight now: I was saying about the control surfaces. before starting to rivet, I separated rudder and elevator, they will give some movement to the finished model. the ailerons instead I think I'll leave them neutral, the wing will already have the extended flaps and the lower colorful livery, to make everything rather lively and lovely. here already separated in a dry test of the fuselage. but how much is elegant, this plane ?? and now, way to Rosie the riveter! I also sprayed at a few colors here and there, just to begin to see what we're really talking about. engine compartment, and front cowl parts. what else... the re-engraved upper cowling did not convince me at all, so I made another attempt with adhesive aluminum tape: it seems to me more interesting than some uncertain and badly engraved trenches... even here we will see after a coat of primer what it will look like. and that's all for today, next steps: rivetsrivetsrivets. cheers, Paolo

aaaaw, how not to follow? I was also tempted by the resin sets of the interiors, but the elegant lines of this plane made me desist from the idea of opening compartments and hatches. do you have good documentation, by the way? the book "aero detail 2" has several beautiful photos and drawings of the engine group and its compartment. cheers, Paolo