stevegallacci

I'm nearly to the painting part of of my build of the 'K-1-L conversion. The basic conversion does not include the wing cannons or fences. I added my own fences and as it will be done up as a '109 from the movie, "Der Stern von Afrika" won't need the wing guns. Was a painless simple slice and add on, with minimal fitting fuss. The only tiny complaint was the lack of instruction for what might be needed to be done in the cockpit, like removing the cannon cover and a little detail on the photo-etch that presumably goes somewhere, but where?? The kit does include decals for a standard Spanish machine as well as a movie "109".

From what I can best guess, the HA-1109 are original german-built '109G airframes and the HA-1112 are Spanish production and include provision for internal wing guns and rocket racks and have the wing fences. The K-1-L and M-1-L refer to the new engines.

The Special Hobby V-1/FZG-76/Fi-103 in 1/32 is the closest to an accurate kit of the subject I've found so far in any scale. There are a few surface details to quibble about/correct/add, but by and large it is pretty much right on for the subject. If anyone is really interested, I can list (or diagram once I figure out how to post images here) the details, though the kit straight out of the box is about 95% of the way to a correct representation. I don't have but have seen images of a deluxe edition kit with the motor valve assembly displayed that looks really good too. Have ordered but not yet received the 1/32 Reichenberg manned version as well, though images of it look very promising. I"ll also be doing a JB-2 from the kit as well with all the little detail differences. Glee!

Looking good. I did the same gear leg shortening to my several Trumpeter '262 builds and will do the same to the Revell kit I just started. Regarding the gun hatch and fuselage assembly and fit. I found the kit plastic both soft and thin and lacked really positive joints and alignment, so also struggled with the gun doors (just left them closed) and the forward canopy section. The wing root was also a bit of a chore. Really liked the cockpit details, though added the emergency canopy release lever and faked in a decal for the electrical panel labels (an odd lapse in the kit)

Well, technically 1/35 scale, but building, with a lot of corrections, the Bronco V-1 and Reichenberg IV. The base kits are not awful, but have some odd bugs. Big one being the wing span and cord are notably off. The tail plane and elevator is in the wrong place (and the fuselage needs rescribing to go with it). The motor intake is the wrong profile, and there are various details that could stand to be redone, removed and repositioned, or added, depending on your level of rivet-counting. As I've been away for a good long while, it will take me a bit to figure out how to post images, but I'll have snaps of the progress. I'll be getting the Special hobby 1/32 V-1 and will compare and contrast.

The Revell kit can be somewhat fixed, though some of the accuracy issues are inexplicable. I talked to a guy who claimed to be involved and he said the head of the project had some kind of issue with how the design was to be interpreted. There was the implication that others knew the kit had errors, but could not do anything about them. I'm ever so slowly doing one and fixing some of the fuselage issues, the cross-section of the real fuselage is WTF. Reworking the engine nacels will be more of a challenge.

While the Trumpeter two-seater is nice enough, it is also a fussy build, due the the rivet monster aspect and some lapses in some details. It looks like a lot of those are going to be avoided with the new kit. I'm sure looking forward to it, though will likely Do Things to it, as I already have a fully tricked out 'B-1a/U1 done.

First impression from the photos - Yay, not a rivet monster. The slat job might be nicer than Trumpeter. The back seater's equipment looks better. Can't tell for sure from the snaps, but the Trumpeter Jumos might be prettier, but likely still undersize, and the intake depth may also be short(?) The cockpit sill looks right, the Trumpeter kit kind of faked it, and there isn't the dumb notches for the open canopy option. I'm personally not so keen on all the separate control surfaces, but that is just me. I'd be curious to see if the flaps can be set properly in the down position, as they should travel aft as well as down in the real thing, not simply hinge. Looking forward to this.

I got my Trumpeter to at least look like a P-51B with some reworking of the forward fuselage and the canopy. Not hard, but fussy, and not a rivet-counter level fix, just a bit of eye-balling from someone who doesn't know the type, but can look at a photo. The old Revell kit is just ugly, even just as a kit it was crude.

If you want some work to go with it, a He111Z is possible. Or get REALLY adventurous and do a Ju488.

My reveiw only lists it as the "AV-8B" but did find that Dave Root wrote the tweak article about it. To do it really right would mean replacing the wing entirely. The simple fix would be to put a bit of a warp in the lower wing half, then warp and lay in the upper wing to it, filing down the pinched radius.

Actually RLM 66 or possibly black (unlikely but not impossible) was an alternate paint for landing gear hardware. Plenty of photos, especially late war, of landing gear hardware so painted. I usually do my '262 gear in 66. RLM 02 would be the common default, though I wouldn't be surprised to find 65 or 76 to show up on occasion as well. Never seen any images that would support overall bare metal, though would not discount silver paint/dope on some vintage types. As for wheel wells, especially late war items, 02 or unpainted would be more likely, or a lick of 65 or 76 or ambiguous pale primer grey might get in for some limited corrosion control. 66 for the well? Almost certainly not.

It was another guy who did a an in-depth tweak list kind of thing, with diagrams and numbers and stuff, about how any number of features were the wrong size/place/shape.

Years ago I did a review build of the earlier released kit and did a wing kink fix. Is there a search function? And someone else here did an in-depth accuracy bug bit. To amend what was mentioned above, the canopy might no fit worth spit, regardless of the cockpit. My sample sure didn't.

If anyone is getting serious, I could suck a copy of the fuselage I have, It is a male mold with a few scribed-in bits, but mostly blank with nose and cockpit areas in place as solid. Have started and could dust off the pattern for the bombardier nose too.