dodgem37

Thank you, Ads, DB. DB, I am honored, humbled, and also dumbstruck by your and everyone's compliments, believe me. 'I can only aspire to develop into this level of modeler.' All it takes is imagination, a willingness to make and learn from your mistakes, and a LOT of supplies! 'Hat's off to you and the rest of the guys on here that are in this class!!' I thank you on behalf of myself and everyone else who does as good of a job as we can do. Well, I've put aside the WG-21's for now and pulled out Ol' Betsy here to finish her off! Wouldn't you know it, while shaking up some gloss grey I bumped the rudder and broke the tailwheel off. Serves me right, being such a smarty pants and not using a tooth pick. I've done some reading on Bf109K-4's to get a handle on when and maybe where they were produced, when Reich defense bands were introduced, and paint schemes from this period, and have decided on the following path to take. Please correct me anywhere along the line if I'm wrong. Without getting too boring, K-4's were produced from July 1944 to the end of the war, May, 1945. Reich bands were introduced prior to K-4 production (January 1944), so the band wear and the scheme wear should be relatively equal. Not all K-4's had the wing underside completely painted. Metal panels were left natural metal with flaps and wingtips being painted. The lower wing crosses were in different locations depending upon production facility. The lower wing crosses on this aircraft are close to the wingtip. Maybe the upper wing crosses are also. I have to check. I don't remember the production facility, so I'll have to check that too. Maybe it's WNF. Tail assemblies were wooden, I think the primer was red-brown. Well, there's a start. I sure hope there's a finish. Thanks for looking in, and thank you all for your very generous compliments. Sincerely, Mark

A lot of evolutions is right. I sure hope something positive comes from this effort. But nothing too soon. I've set it aside and have moved back to the K-4 build, to get on with some painting. Sincerely, Mark

Nice detail work. Sincerely, Mark

You have a remarkably gifted hand, Ralph. Beautifully rendered. Sincerely, Mark

My hero. Sincerely, Mark

Good show, bro. Sincerely, Mark

You should be posting this image here: http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1310183479/What+is+it+with+1-32nd+scale-. Sincerely, Mark

Only 3 votes (including mine) for the B-26! Boo Hoo. I'm surprised Derek hasn't voted for the P-61 as of yet. I thought he'd be the first one in line. I did vote a second time for the P-61 though, not that it needed any more votes. Currently it's outdistancing the B-26 by almost 600%! I have to admit, having a P-61 on the shelf will be really, really cool. Sincerely, Mark

Over on HyperScale: http://www.hyperscale.com/2011/galleries/p51dtamiyateaser32_1.htm Sincerely, Mark

'I have to agree with everything said so far. There is an incredible amount of snobbishness shown to 1/32 scale models. I have no idea why!' They're ignorant. Sincerely, Mark

I've been plugging away with round 2. Measured the tube diameter with tape, overlaping the tape. Cut the tape within the overlap, which gave me the dimension I needed. Measured that distance against some aluminum sheet, then cut, and rolled it onto a 1/4 inch tube. 21mm x 40.5mm Taped the 1/4 inch diameter aluminum onto the tube, measured the aluminum with tape and repeated the production process. 22mm x 40.5mm. That is the nylon end of a burnishing tool from back in the Letraset/Geotype days. Sanded it down to give it some bite and drilled some holes to glue down the guide rails. This time they are in the location of the fasteners. Center-line is for the hanger base. Rolled it over the tubes, making the diameter a little bit bigger. An even 7mm diameter. The rocket rolls around a bit, so hopefully with the guide rails installed the fit will be better. Photos show the rocket nose closer to the front opening than what the rocket I have offers. I may need to cast it, cut it, and add a spacer. I'll see. Cut a channel into a 1/4 inch tube, made the guide rail, and set the return of the guide rail into the channel. Slipped the 1/4 inch diameter sheet on and underneath the guide rail base. Score lines divide the guide rail base and as such will help me align the outer tube. Then slipped on the other tube. Bad photo, but I think you get the idea. The rail base will be the join point, hiding the seam from within. All of the interior structure will help keep the exterior in the round when I adhere the exterior tube to the rail base. The exterior tube has a bit of spring and can be squeezed shut to abutt. It's not glued as of yet. I'll sand off any residual glue. Epoxy is the front runner. Thanks for looking in. Sincerely, Mark

That is such a nice build, Brian. Just a great thread. Pardon me for showing my ignorance. The picture is of a MK.XIVc? TIA, Sincerely, Mark

It seems you've found a new love with which to make rivets. I imagine you may have wished you had 'found' JB earlier when you were doing all of the earlier rivet work. Are you using pins in the middle of the punched discs, or another mystery material? Their reflection is different. Wonderful work, Pete. Sincerely, Mark

That's the one. Page 106, although the rear end is in shaddow one can discern the ring of the rocket in the tube (Pg. 107 has an illustration). Page 110, bottom left photo has the rear end in sunlight. Both show a retaining clip. Pg. 107 is on top, Pg. 110 is on the bottom. Sincerely, Mark

Simply fantastic work, Phil. 'I used elastic type stuff which I use for aerial wires normally' You gotta name? TIA. Sincerely, Mark

I don't know how in the world I missed this thread. Vaughn you are da bomb! Sincerely, Mark

I don't have the time to follow thru now, as I have to go to work, but I will continue our conversation thru PM's so as to not bore others with the minutia. Sincerely, Mark

Groovy. Thank you, Matt. While thumbing thru my Prien & Rodeike book looking for F-4Z/Trop stuff I came across some more images of the tube. Two are clearly showing the wiring running along the outside (at the wheel side) into the junction box, the semi-circular firing rod in place, and a locking arm, all similar to that of the Nebelwerfer. I got lucky. Sincerely, Mark

I have found the following referencing F-4/Z Trop: Item 1: Several machines were equiped with a propeller with significantly wider blades. Prien & Rodeike, pg 27 Item 2: Trop F-4's always used late (large) supercharger air intake as part of the trop equipment. ibid, Pg32. F-4Z used the GM-1 injection system, requiring an enlarged oil cooler beneath the engine which MAY have been the Fo870 oil cooler standard on early G-series aircraft. ibid, pg. 27 Specific to Marsaille: Marsaille's F-4 WNr. 10 059, sand filter, deep oil cooler, early blades. Photos taken June 1, 1942. ibid, pg. 46 Good luck with finding additional material. Sincerely, Mark

Really, really good work. I second Matt. Flaps down and everything. Sea worn weathering. Good job. Sincerely, Mark

Not too late, Kevin. Thank you. I see the guide rails are smaller than what I had done. That certainly would help the fit. Sincerely, Mark

Nice clean work, bro. Looking good. Sincerely, Mark

Lookin' good. I see you've prepped the leading edge for the scalloped (wavy) line. Sincerely, Mark

I have PhotoShop CS & CS4. Install the program. Save the drawing. I'll help you with the program. Sincerely, Mark