"The Star of Africa" - Hans-Joachim Marseille's Do-335 A-2/Trop - Yellow 14 - FINISHED!

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks Mikkel!  I am planning doing exactly that. I think what my plan is now, is to assemble the two missiles to the point of getting their size and measurements, so I can fit them to the pylon, then fit the pylon to the wing, so I can tell how much of a spacer Ill need.  

[Mebo]

Sounds good. I cant remember, but did i include a "finished " pylon in the package with the tightening (!?!?)  bolts attached ?

 

If so please note the spacing between the pylon and missile :-)

 

Have fun.

 

Cheers

 

Mikkel

[Out2gtcha]

21 minutes ago, Mebo said:

Sounds good. I cant remember, but did i include a "finished " pylon in the package with the tightening (!?!?)  bolts attached ?

 

If so please note the spacing between the pylon and missile :-)

 

 

Cheers on that. I forgot about the possible space between the missile itself and the stabilizer bolts. Its not a huge space, but a space none the less. Ill account for that too. Fortunately with teh super long legs of the Dornier VS teh stubs on the He-162, I dont foresee any real issues with height of the pylon itself. In this case, Im almost more worried about where the pylons will go from side to side on the wings, as to not interfere with the gear or landing light, since the pylons go very close to the edge of the wing. 

 

From what I can see they are very close to the main gear, and very forward, with the fronts of the pylons up actually near the leading edge of the wing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I intend to put my missile pylons near this same location, depending if the X-4 missiles require any special modification to placement because of their size/shape.  

[LSP_Ray]

15 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Thanks Rick.  On to some more progress!

 

Ok boys, slight change of plans. I initially started out intending on doing a black base of primer to bring things together. I thought I had enough Mr Surfacer 1500 black, but alas no. I did however have enough Mr Surfacer 1500 grey. 

So in this case, Ive gone from black basing and a blend coat to something even better (I think). I sprayed the whole thing with Mr Surfacer 1500 gray, and then intend on doing some pre-shading of the panel and rivel lines.

 

The reason Im doing this is not just because I didn't have enough black MS.  I know a lot of you guys do not like pre-shading but in some cases I think it does actually add some visual interest and even in some cases some realism.

In the case of the Do-335 Im doing it for multiple reasons:

1 - It will break up the monatone nature of all that RLM 78

2 - It will add some overall visual interest to simulate a shadow effect (even though this is not how panel lines wear, it does create the illusion of shadow)

3 - It will go some distance to simulating the putty the Germans used in WWII for the panel/rivet lines, and convey that aspect of the Lufwaffes build process (that remained the same in my version of 1944)

 

 

 

I started off by finish sanding everything with 6000 grit polishing cloth, and got everything coated nicely in 1500 MS. This is all RIGHT out of the paint booth with no finish sanding or prepping what-so-ever. There are a few areas that will require some attention and a re-spray of primer before pre-shade can begin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also got the main airframe completed with a smooth layer of MS 1500:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areas like this panel on the side of the fuselage are areas that will need to be filled, sanded and touched up before any paint can begin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The underside turned out well too, and I used the extra set of MLG doors to use as masking for the main wheel wells, but had to use masking tape for the nose well. Fortunately, the only really large gaps on the underside are between the fuse and small main gear door, which will not be seen at all since the doors will be eventually posed open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, its coming together. I DID however find a couple of things I needed to do last night before paint gets started in earnest.  

 

One, was to add the Trop umbrella holders to the port side of the fuse. Done! (Pics on that later). I also forgot that I am going to have to make some adjustments for the pylons where the X2 Ruhrstahl X-4 wire guided missiles will hang.

 

Thanks to Mikkel (our own "Mebo" here on LSP) I received the X-4 missiles last week. They are little works of art, and come with a @#$-load of parts! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They will build up into stellar looking little missiles in the end:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I need to do now, is separate the two pylons (Mikkel sent me extras for an eventual forward swept wing, V-tail Me-162D project!) Im going to use and modify them to fit the big Dornier's wing. I was going to use four X-4 missiles, but with the deign and placement of the Do-35s MLG, it was too awkward and looked too crowed with 4 on. 

 

I actually got all the pre-shading done last night, and shot the white fuselage band, as well as the white under-wing tip sections before remembering I had to mod the X-4  pylons and get them placed before painting starts. 

Back on the bench tonight, and will take some pics of where Im at progress wise.

 

Cheers! 

 

 

I like the look of those rockets! Mebo: where can we order those from?

[Fvdm]

Those little missiles look fantastic. Your primer is smooth so i presume you use the leveling thinner? I think this combi works real good.

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks gents! 

I actually spent some time last night and made some small fairings for the umbrella holders to make them a bit more aerodynamic. I also spent some time yesterday building up the X-4 missile pylons. 

On Mikkel's suggestion,  I used some strip styrene to build up the height of the pylons since the He-162 they were designed for, has much less room under the wings. After I sand them smooth, I will figure out where I want them positioned, and mount them in their final resting positions before paint. 

 

2 hours ago, Fvdm said:

Those little missiles look fantastic. Your primer is smooth so i presume you use the leveling thinner? I think this combi works real good.

 

Thanks, no actually its just straight Mr Surfacer 1500 grey thinned with normal Mr Color thinner. I do like Mr Color leveling thinner, but find most times the normal stuff is what I have access to here locally, and seems to work nearly as well. 

The primers smoothness is also enhanced by some finish sanding I did with an 8000 grit polishing cloth.

[Out2gtcha]

Once again back on it last night. This time, I completed the pre-shading/putty line work. I used some MRP PC-10, as I thought black too stark, and wanted something more in tune with the earth tones of the airframe.

 

Now here I made a few boo-boos on the outer leading edges of the wings. I have since corrected that. I wanted a more organic hand painted look for the pre-shading, as I wanted it reminiscent of the putty the Germans applied to the panel/rivet lines. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The underside too turned out ok, with a hand sprayed organic look to the lines. Most of this heavy look will be wiped out with the overall color, as I just wanted hints of the shading underneath:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also got all the little smaller parts shaded as well, including all the flying surfaces, cowling and gear doors:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also worked on getting the Trop umbrella holder completed as well. Its not perfect, but will add a unique dimension to the build IMHO:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not perfect, but you can see where Im going with this. This is just some hardened steel piano wire:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I added some tiny fairings from some styrene tube cut to shape. I will go back over these with primer to find any faults, then re pre-shade over the area that was sanded:

 

 

 

 

  I have ordered a resin 3D printed Umbrella from Floyd at  Werners Wings. This does not come with an umbrella stand/pole, so Ill be using some piano wire to supplement.

The 3D print of the umbrella itself if very nice:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I got a bit of a small X-4 Ruhrstahl assembly line going, and got two missile bodies assembled, along with two wings to check size and placement of the pylons, as well as getting a start on making the pylons deeper with the help of some styrene strip:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im thinking by the time the Germans got to the point of where they were in MY 1944, the X-4 missiles probably would not have been left bare metal and wood, but not exactly sure what color they may have been.............

 

 

Cheers till ur older! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Thunnus]

Awesome what-if project Brian!  Perfect subject since the Pfeil was such a late entry into the war.  I love how smooth your primer work is!

 

I am a pre-shader myself and think it can be used to get a very nice effect.  I employ a mottling technique to add a little tonal variation... kind of an inverse of black basing.

 

 

[monthebiff]

My favourite pre shade technique as well John, work a treat for me.

 

This really is looking mighty fine Brian!

 

Regards.Andy 

Edited February 19, 2019 by monthebiff

[Shawn M]

Hans demands his umbrella have a fringe edge!

 

Love the work Brian!

[Out2gtcha]

Awesome work John! Thanks all. I'll fix the primer issues and get the umbrella brackets smoothed and finalized, then get back on the pylons, and get those primed as well.

 

[Mebo]

Outstanding work Brian. This project is so awesome. Cant wait to see it sporting some faded paint :-)

 

Happy modelling.

 

Mikkel

[LSP_Ray]

That is looking good, Brian! Man, those rockets are detailed! I wonder if they would have just been given a shot of RLM02, or one of the bomb colors. I am sure you could rationalize just about anything.

[rigor]

I've seen pics of them in 76. But don't know if that was fact or not . Oh yea looking killer there Brian really like that color for pre shading might have to give that a try 

Edited February 19, 2019 by rigor

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks once again gents.  After discussion with Mikkel, and him reminding me I had a LOT of documentation on the X-4s and I think I'm going to end up gong with the same raw colors the museum piece is in..................

 

 

Loads of color variations!   Ive got some MRP metallic colors coming and some Uschi wood decals that Ive always wanted to try, so this will give me a good excuse: