Renovating the D-9 Build

[Tudor Gh]

Hello again gentlemen,

 

I have decided to return to my last built bird, especially since I've been working on armor models lately and I have been missing working on planes. I have been putting this project aside for long enough, it is now time to engage in it. With the help from my dear friend Martin (martinnfb), we have identified several mistakes and elements that need correction in order to turn this already built model into a better one. Most of the work will evolve around surface defects, weathering, and little details.

 

The landing gear will encounter some heavy changes: wheels will be re-adjusted, so that they are perfectly parallel, and their vertical axis is 2 degrees off from the ground normal line, or 88 degrees from the ground plane. Yellow wires will be added along the support arms, and the starboard support arm will also feature the cable that activates the tail wheel system.

 

 

The under-nose area will also be touched up. The plate connecting the wing section to the engine cowling was corrected, and the engine cowling will also reveive treatment, as seen below:

 

The wing leading edges have had all their seams filled in with super glue and sanded appropriately.

 

The scratches previously done on the upper wing surfaces will be cleaned off, and re-done. This includes the wing roots (the most pronounced scratches) and the front, towards the leading edges. The areas of interest will be painted with a layer of ALCLAD Aluminum, then covered with the respective camo colours, which will then be scratched off with to resemble a realistic damage effect (from workers and pilots climbing onto the planes). The same will be done on the areas on the sides, under the gun cowling, then on the gun cowling itself. The damage near the JV 44 emblem will also follow the same trend.

 

The air intake on the starboard side will also be corrected, with a more realistic weld line being added from stretched sprue. The starboard engine cowl will be repainted free-hand instead of the ones seen below.

 

The canopy was removed and cleaned, and will also have an aluminum-coat followed by paint-and-scratch.

 

The following details will also be implemented/corrected:

- tail wings and elevators will be hollowed out and detailed

- the Morane antenna will have a less brutal shape, and will be sanded down to achieve the real shape

- the propeller nose will be scratched and weathered

- the antenna wire will feature the spring-insulator attached to the tail

- Luftwaffe crosses will be darkened, to avoid the unnatural clean look

- brown/black washes will be added in the landing gear well, near the wing roots (dirt from workers' boots), near the fuel fill caps

- wash will be subtly applied to give the plane an overall weathered, beaten-down look

 

The main purpose of this project is to improve my weathering and finishing skills.

Secondly, I plan to return to IPMS Vancouver with a better model

 

 

Hope you're excited as much as I am,

 

Tudor

Edited January 29, 2012 by Tudor Gh

[brewer]

I'll be watching this renovation

[Martinnfb]

Well...is this all my fault?

Very ambitious reno project. And as far as I know you Tudor, you will go nuts and the result is going to be the 190 overkill.

Cheers

M.

[automaton]

Interesting project, Tudor. I believe one of the biggest challenges will be protecting the rest of the paintwork during the extensive handling of the model that's going to inevitibly happen. The model already has a lot going for it, and the reno work will definitely add to that. I'll be watching this one.

 

Regards;

 

Automaton

[Tudor Gh]

I have omitted a few extra details (and some were added by martin):

 

- the bulges on the fuselage, under the gun cowl, will be removed

- the flaps will have the angle indicator added to them, which can be seen through the holes on the upper wing

- the cowling in front of the gun one will have its hinges remade, since the present ones are virtually a "mess"

- the 20mm gun cowls, at the wing root, will have their ugly seams removed and filled in

- the wing roots will have the large seams sanded and corrected accordingly

Tudor

Edited June 4, 2011 by Tudor Gh

[nmayhew]

 

cool

 

especially interested in stuff like the flap indicator you mentioned - i may have to go back and add that to my Dora!

 

cheers

 

Nick

[robtmelvin]

A very ambitious project indeed. I've never "renovated" a build myself (yet), but it seems to me that in some ways it would be even more difficult than simply starting from scratch. I really applaud you for going back and doing the work needed to get a prior build the way you want it to be. I think most of us would just use it as an excuse to buy another one and do another build.

 

Bob

[Tudor Gh]

Hello everyone!

 

I am glad to return once again to LSP Forums, after having finishing another semester of school and securing a summer job until my final year in university. That being said, I acquired some free time to continue working on the D-9 renovation. During school, I finished a 1/35 King Tiger, which has a few add-ons pending, prior to being posted here

 

The nose cowling was cleaned, sanded, filled with super glue, and sprue was added in the faulty connection between the gun and engine cowl, respectively. Alclad II Aluminum was used to identify as many surface mistakes as possible. Sanding galore followed.

 

 

The wing root seams were filled and sanded many many times, in order to achieve the real look of the plane: the gun hatch/door is supposed to be a seamless piece, while the separating wing links run outside of it. Again, Alclad II Aluminum was exclusively used to reveal the nature of the surface (I am absolutely amazed with Alclad products). Rivers were re-punched here and there.

 

After rinsing and repeating the glue-sand-aluminum coat process, the plane was airbrushed with the final camo scheme. I also consulted the black/white pictures of this plane closer than before, and tried to replicate the camo. Scratches were added to the fuselage, and painted with aluminum, to reproduce the worn-out characteristics of this JV 44 bird.

 

1200 and 1500 grid sand paper was used to lightly scratch the paint layer, revealing the aluminum layer below. This was done in the wing roots, and areas on the cowling where damage is usually done: near the edges, and where the cowling hinges open etc. Sprue was added to the side of the air intake to replicate the weld seam. It looks a bit thick now that I take a closer look, so it will be reduced later. Scratches appear on both sides of the fuselage, in the vicinity of the cockpit. The JV 44 emblem has worn out too much, unfortunately, and this will be remedied with some spare decals.

 

 

The wing roots are also scratched using the same principle. Lastly, the scratches on the canopy frame and canopy tail were obtained by masking the aluminum coat, painting with green and then sanding.

 

 

A silver pencil was used for touch-ups on all scratches. Unfortunately, my camera has a hard time revealing these scratches, but I find them satisfying when I look at my plane in my room

 

I hope you enjoy the pictures, and please feel free to add comments, pieces of advice and such! Constructive criticism is much needed.

 

Thank you,

 

Tudor

Edited January 29, 2012 by Tudor Gh

[Martinnfb]

..Is there a diagnose for this??.. just kidding . She looks Little scary , but as far as I

know you Tudor at the end she's gonna be a marvel, heads up

[nmayhew]

Tudor hi,

 

i can't remember from my build, but are you sure that weld seam should be there on the intake?

 

i seem to remember i put one on there only to sand it off again...i think the intake is one piece, with a separate 'ring' at the front

 

sorry i should have mentioned this earlier, but at least IF i am right, it's easy to sand it off again

 

keep up the good work

 

Nick

[Tudor Gh]

Martin, thanks for your "unique" support.

 

Nick, I have a few pictures of the D-9 intake, and these can be seen a small, subtle, weld seam. It's one of features that I think it may be present. I'll consult more pictures, and will decide for sure. Thanks for the advice!!

 

Tudor

[Tudor Gh]

Salutations, gentlemen!

 

I come with some good news! I finished school this very last December, and managed to earn a long-awaited vacation after 4.5 years in Engineering school. I took this opportunity to finish the pending project of renovating the D-9. Since my last update, I managed to break both landing gear legs (too much handling led to the plastic failing at the joints). The model was put aside indefinitely, until a few weeks ago.

 

The final refurbishing steps included closing the landing gear legs and covers, adding the wheels inside, to make sure that the closed landing gear position looked as accurate as possible. I filled in the little gaps between the landing gear covers and wings. I painted all luftwaffe crosses, re-touched the camo scheme a bit here and there, added some more scratches. I also managed to re-apply the JV44 emblem decal. Finally, I added a steel spring to the antenna wire, which I made from scratch (fine wire split from electrical wire).

 

All in all, I believe I managed to salvage the plane from all the misfortunes I passed it through.

Its aerodynamics surely make it look different in my cabinet now

 

Here are the pictures of the finished bird!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed,

 

Tudor

[Martinnfb]

sleek..... me like it long time