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Bf 110E-3/trop 2.(H)/14 North Africa - almost done


Fanes

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I've been working mostly on my 1/48 109 this day but during watching TV I found motivation to dive into the camera mount.

Before picking some plastic sheet, I considered to maybe use a 3D printer for this.
Some CAD hours later I ended up with this:

571808-34859-50.png

 

I have to check the dimensions against the AIMS camera and then I should be good to go.

Edited by Fanes
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1 hour ago, Shawn M said:

looks great, have you seen the OWL Resin conversion set in 1/48?

Looks pretty detailed and could be a good ref.

I found their 1/48 set at the beginning of my research.
This set has some nice details and come with some reference, too.
2016-07-07+4_1429463477.jpg

(source 72news.eu)

There is additional material in kkarlsen's Ar 234B-2 build. In my opinion there is something wrong with the owl set and the picture it seems to be based on (2nd one in kkarlsen's post).

The lower frame is upside down. The teardrop-shaped mounting plates in the corners should be facing the floor.

But that's just my interpretation!

 

I added a CAD mdoel of the camera to work on the dimensions of the frame and I really like the result:

572053-34859-33.png

 

I may add more detail if I settle on a 3D printing method and service. The highest precision could be achieved via PolyJet (UV curing of thin layers), but I would need to do at least 35 pieces (1,4€ each). Printing resin in SLA technique would be possible for 34 pieces (0,70€ each). There's no way I'll do such a huge amount of recon conversions in the future.

 

While searching for a better possibility for printing the frame I turned my attention to the armament.
I started with the rear gunner's MG15 which recieved a nice brass barrel from Master and an ammo drum strap out of styrene.

572052-34859-33.jpg

 

If anyone is interested in a RB50/30 camera frame - hands up!

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Agreed - the Master barrel is in my opinion a must have for the MG15!

 

Speaking of MGs - I added the distinctive dust covers for the front MGs. Brass tubes from Albion Alloys (outer diameter 1.8mm, i.d. 1.6mm) were used for this task.

These covers can be seen on all Trop Bf 110s. The 1.8mm tubes fit the dimensions of my drawings and are a snug fit over the barrels from Dragon.

Cut to length and mounted as a quick mock up:

572894-34859-44.jpg

 

The only thing missing is the dust cover for MG No.3, which needs to conform to the squared opening and the nose shape. Maybe with thin styrene and the good old smah-moulding?

Work on the cockpit continued. I filled all openings for the MG FF stuff - no pictures, because boring.

572895-34859-20.jpg

With the dimensions from my CAD camera mount I was able to determine the placement of the rear seat - no issues expected here. The seat itself is from the AIMS F/G conversion - thanks a lot @Pastor John! The support is again thin styrene cut and bent to shape. The front MG15 ammo drums and the shell/drum bin recieved new handles. The other ammo drums should be invisible afte closing the fuselage.

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This is all looking rather lovely Joachim. I'm curious to know how much of that detailed camera will be visible, or are you planning to have it out of the aircraft?  Ah, I've just had a closer look at the Owl sheet, it's quite a big lump isn't it so clearly visible through the canopy! :rolleyes:

Edited by mozart
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11 hours ago, BloorwestSiR said:

That looks great! What size styrene did you use for the handles?

I used the thinnest sheet in my stash which is 0.15mm.

1 hour ago, mozart said:

This is all looking rather lovely Joachim. I'm curious to know how much of that detailed camera will be visible, or are you planning to have it out of the aircraft?  Ah, I've just had a closer look at the Owl sheet, it's quite a big lump isn't it so clearly visible through the canopy! :rolleyes:

You're absolutely right Max, I've been thinking about this for a while now. The camera itself will be quite visible, but the surroundings (mounting frame and auxillaries) are likely to disappear in the dark.
Option 1: Live with it and be happy to know what's there, or

Option 2: Display the camera outside of the airplane (like here), but then I have to go into super detailing the cockpit floor and the inside of the camera window - there is almost no reference material for that.

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