Kahunaminor

Mighty fine looking builds Troy. I particularly like the angle of bank on the flying one, well done. Regards,

Bravo Max, An excellent finish and great photos, particularly the photo edited ones! Regards,

A brilliant job Max, I had an enjoyable read with a good coffee and great subject. It has certainly reinforced the large Bf110 desire that sits in the back of my head. With 2 Dragon 110E trops sitting in the loft, one for Pastor John’s conversion, this scheme has me hooked for the other.What colour did you use for the ID markings “G9+LN” ? Regards,

Sometimes it just pays to slow down and re read the instructions, you did it once for a reason, right? Marked some things that you need to pay attention to? Then just got all excited and ditched the instructions, becoming complacent in your knowledge of the build sequence: Enough said. Perfect Plastic Putty should resolve this easily enough, I hope. Regards,

Thanks muchly gents, School holidays here at the moment so my time is spent refereeing my two children and generally ensuring each of them sees another day and doesn’t kill the other or cause actual bodily harm. I have managed some sporadic bench sessions for minimal gain. My beloved wife did get them some time with friends today so I kicked on. The stencils have been completed and the majority of the control surfaces have been added. It was time to give my creation legs! The tail wheel has been attached as has the MLG at that jaunty angle favoured by the Messerschmitt designers. The oleos have been coated in Bare Metal Foil chrome and then covered with Tamiya tape for preservation: The drop tank has some plumbing and a breather tube that needed to be added. Some lead wire and a couple of holes: That saw me up until this morning when it was time to attach the Brassin exhausts. Each was cut carefully from the moulding blocks, one side at a time as they are handed. Three hours and a lot of swearing later, both sides were installed with the PE shields hiding a lot of misadventures: In between sides, I made the upper and lower brake lines and added the uppers to the MLG covers: I also started prepping a little side project out of left over pieces from this build: Regards,

The stencilling continues as does the touch up work. Having painted the markings in Tamiya XF acrylics, I have found if you VERY CAREFULLY scratch away at any offending paint goofs with a toothpick, you can remove the misaligned paint. Do not use a really sharp item such as a pick or scalpel but a medium hard pointed object will work. The aim is to carefully remove the acrylic top coat from the lacquer coat below. There were some areas were it was a matter of mask and repaint, leaving a slight ridge but I shall 5ake to them with some Micromesh. Onto the pictures: I use the stencil instructions and mark off the ones that I have been applied to help me keep track. Probably not really necessary for a WWII build but for some modern jets maybe an idea: Work also continues on the wheels and peripheries which are being weathered as well prior to adding them. Regards,

Good to see you back in the saddle on these mate. Regards,

Thanks matey, I thought I had punted it but it has been hanging around in the background and just sapping me of energy. I am going to let the markings settle for a couple of days before I have at the touch ups. Mainly the hakenkreuz and the fuselage need attention. Then onto the remainder of the stencils before a thin gloss coat to seal it all for weathering. Regards,

Nicely done that man. The devil is in the details and you have certainly added some devil. Regards,

And I’m spent. For a first effort, I am pretty happy. I can see some touch ups to be done. Learned a few do’s and don’ts but it is all learning. A couple of days and the remainder of the stencils can go on: Regards,

Welcome back, I have been laid low with a chest infection this past week so no spraying. I have been working on the double chevron masks using old school measurements, angles and Tamiya tape. I photocopied a couple of copies of the decals so I wouldn’t damage them and marked up the double chevrons. It takes a few goes but I think I have one that looks good. Ruling the lines was throwing out the cutting so I went back to putting the points with this nifty ruler that has holes in it. Easier to see the cuts and adjust as needed, not entirely foolproof thought as some additional tape required. Now to replicate it for the other side! Hopefully, I will have more soon. I just need to pick up my lung from the floor! Regards

Progressing with masking the markings. I learned from my P-51 build where I placed the mask outer mask, sprayed the white then covered the white and sprayed the blue left a sort of white halo around the blue. So this time I figured any mask that had a complete one colour outline, like the white of the swastika, could be done in a similar fashion. Placing the outline in the correct position and spraying the entire interior of the mask. Then replacing the internal pieces so they sat right and then weed out the black. At least that was the theory, right? Those boundaries that were multi coloured needed to be done individually. Have I confused you yet? So it was place mask, weed the required section, paint, wait.....wait....replace masking, weed the next section, paint, wait.....wait....extreme wait and then remove. You get the idea: Some touch ups here and there but pretty pleased. The black and white looks very stark but will be toned down. The cold hard glare of the camera shows up all the flaws that the naked eye misses. Double chevrons and bar to go: Oil cooler flaps and flaps added to the wings: Regards

Welcome back. Plan b with the “double chevrons†swings into motion. I had a friend over and explained the “too tall†masks. He looked at me, looked at the decals, looked back at me and said, “It’s two parallel arrow heads and you have the decals as a template. Well within your skill set methinks.†Lightbulb moment. Stand by Kenny, there may be a Santa Clause play. The masks have been placed and the areas for the white ‘weeded’ out. I think I still need to adjust the port underside on a little as it is skied. The rest I am happy with but will check using the photos for fidelity : Regards

Good to see you back at it Troy. Take the advice of your medical team and go easy. Your public and the kits will be here. Congrats on your success at Expo. Regards,

Various AK washes on the wheel wells, MLG and wheels: Maketar masks in either kabuki or vinyl for the markings. Unfortunately the “double chevron†is too tall to use so it will be back to decals. I have picked out the masks to be used and marked them with a dot: Fuselage masks in place and awaiting the upper/lower wings and swastikas: I hope to get paint on over the weekend. Regards