ZM TA-152 Fritz Auffhammer all red scheme

[TomR]

Well its finally time I post my first build thread here. Started this a little while back and the build is going pretty well. I can say that ZM's quality has gone up massively since they got started 10 years ago. This kit is one of their first and while the detail is really remarkable , the fit of some of the parts, especially the engine is not great. I guess building Tamiya and Wingnut wings can spoil you. I'm planning the scheme based of Fritz Auffhammer's Red test model aircraft. Its a pretty striking scheme that I've always wanted to do.

Cockpit has come out really good in my opinion, probably one of my best yet. This was tricky because the instrument panel and firewall didn't fit right so getting everything straight and aligned was not easy.

 

As you can tell the weathering is very minimal save for some light dirt. My reason is this aircraft being a factory early production and test bird likely would have had maybe 100 hrs or so on it by the end of the war. So except for some muddy boots I don't think the cockpit saw much wear and tear.

 

The engine had a pretty significant gap where the oil pan was attached. Perfect use for loctite UV adhesive. a couple of layers and some test fitting sealed up the gap almost flawlessly. the gap was right at the front of the engine under the main gear housing.

 

All filled in.

 

Supercharger is also done though I still need to paint that little oil filler cap.

 

Time to finish up the engine and add a bit of weathering to it. Hope you guys enjoy the build

Edited August 15, 2019 by TomR

[Out2gtcha]

Very nice start. I like the clean look of the pit

[Ryan]

Mee too.

[ringleheim]

Looking good so far.

 

I have not yet built a ZM kit, but in studying them online, I have noticed what you say about their quality improving over time.

 

The HO-229, for example, seems like a better kit than some of the earlier offerings.

 

 

[TomR]

 

16 minutes ago, ringleheim said:

Looking good so far.

 

I have not yet built a ZM kit, but in studying them online, I have noticed what you say about their quality improving over time.

 

The HO-229, for example, seems like a better kit than some of the earlier offerings.

 

 

 

The 229 was the first kit I built when I got back into plastic models. I made one mistake that ruined it....I forgot to paint the interior of the landing gear wells. But it was a wonderful kit to build, the fit was perfect to the point where a paint layer could prevent certain parts from fitting. Zm’s new stuff is really good 

[Gazzas]

Very nice cockpit!  Are you doing it cowls open?

[TomR]

6 hours ago, Gazzas said:

Very nice cockpit!  Are you doing it cowls open?

Well cowls removable, I tend not to do dioramas or anything like that so normally I'll leave the cowls attached unless I want to show the engine. Someday I'd like to do a plane with the cowls cut and realistically propped open though. Thanks for the compliments

[DonH]

[SCRATCH BUILDER]

[TomR]

Well I got quite a bit more done last night then I thought and the engine is done except for grease stains and smoke and rust on the exhausts. Nearly had a disaster that turned into a good lesson learned. Normally I like to make my own washes because quite frankly, I find the commercial washes way too dark for my taste. Plus, I can turn the color of the wash if I make it myself. Normally, I'll make washes with oils, but due to wanting to put and oil based grease stain on I made my black was with thinned Vallejo air with some retarder. Normally it works like a charm but in this case it started to attack the aluminum paint I had used (Vallejo Metal Color). I love their new metallics but I should have known this might happen because these paints are crazy thin and require no thinning. In any case the wash started eating at the aluminum finish but fortunately I was able to finish the wash with no damage done. Side note if like acrylics and haven't tried the new Vallejo Metallic Color line you should, they are pretty amazing.

 

I added extensions to the hydraulic lines on the left side of the engines to make them look complete and realistic. Hydraulic lines were added to the front of the engine as well. I also added a data plate to the back of the supercharger gear case that was not included in the kit. ZM's concept note book came in handy with the engine especially. Their pictures are so helpful compared to what can be fond on this airplane online. A bit of touch up to the glue mark on the ammo can and some grease/oil stains and this engine will be done. On to the fuselage......

 

Oh one side note the "71" on the engine mounts refers specifically to the Ta-152 held in the National Air & Space Museum. For all my effort I could find no reference to the build number of the particular aircraft I am building so I decided to use a known sequence. While its not accurate, if this is the biggest "mistake" I make on this build, I can certainly live with it. Sometimes their is just a lack of information when your subjects are obscure. 

 

 

 

[Ryan]

Bravo, looks very nice.

 

Ryan