Pastor John Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) Hi everyone, 16 years ago as a London Baptist Pastor I moonlighted in my spare time my AIMS hobby. Shortly after releasing the Ju 88 G-6 conversion I presented as best I could the Mistel S3. The resin parts were mostly solid due to the limitations of the equipment I had back then and sadly also the first batch included vacform parts that were not provided to me in UV resistant Pet G as requested and so over the years turned yellow. Well fast forward a few years and I started being able to cast thinner and hollow parts and anyone that contacted me about the yellow vacforms got replacements but the years and many many models shows have not been kind to the poor old girl and so during this time while I am away from AIMS recovering from hand and elbow surgery it is time for a re-think! The 1/32 AIMS Mistel S3 had been made purely for display purposes with no fine details either represented or painted - in fact I have a whole Ikea wardrobe full of the beasts! (other companies make wardrobes lol). Now that their original purpose is no more - as on the rare occasion when I can do a model show I cannot haul around a whole table's worth of Ju 88 display conversions - I am hoping instead to slowly get them finished. Obviously trying to finish a model after it has been - er...finished....is not ideal but i hope I can do something with the poor things. At a glance my Mistel S3 looked the easiest and quickest to over-haul but I am my own worst enemy and so instead to just ripping the canopy off, finishing the cockpit, and then filling and painting the model etc, I have ended up instead basically rebuilding the entire model! Away went the solid engines and solid fuselage extension; and I thought at the same time I may as well chain drill out the rear bomb bay doors, other hatches and the rear gear bay doors. In has gone my latter edition hollow fuselage extension (followed soon by my hollow engines), AIMS tail wheel set and rear fuel tank set, and finally some work to the cockpit. I await a test shot of my own AIMS rear gear bay set and then they can be fitted out also. So what a mess! I can only do a little bit each day due to my hands but actually the pain from the modelling is nothing compared to the pain using the computer and writing this. Anyway intro over, I hope you like and will enjoy it developing. I will be seeking to model Mistel S3 W.Nr. 460066 which was found without a Fw 190 composite - so that will save some work haha. A Very Happy Christmas to you all. Edited December 20, 2021 by Pastor John IainM, John1, Isar 30/07 and 28 others 30 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landrotten Highlander Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 You got me interested, will be following. Per chance do you have any conversion kits left? Pastor John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroen_R90S Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Happy Christmas to you as well! That's a serious chunk of model! Pastor John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor John Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 All my Ju 88 sets need new silicone moulds, low sales per year due to Revell kits being unavailable and my bad hands mean that I have pulled all the products for now but will make new moulds when my hands are better - regardless of the sales issue chukw, Out2gtcha, Isar 30/07 and 7 others 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Good to see you back, John. Best, Hans Pastor John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Really good to see you back building John, I like your idea of completing your completed show models but must be a little difficult, you are off to a great start on bringingbthe G-10 into shape with your later update parts! I will be following with interest as I have your S3 conversion on the go as well, not worked on her in a little while but this was where I left it and the link to my wip if you are interested; I really like the G-10 at Bernburg with a 190 just dumped on top of her fuselage spine, would make a really interesting diorama! Regards. Andy Fanes, Paul in Napier, scvrobeson and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor John Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 (edited) Thanks Andy great stuff Edited December 22, 2021 by Pastor John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Good luck with your recovery. Please do reissue those kits! I am collecting Ju 88’s here and there just so I will be able to use your sets in the future monthebiff and Pastor John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor John Posted December 27, 2021 Author Share Posted December 27, 2021 (edited) Hi everyone, my AIMS 1/32 Ju 88 gear bay test shots just arrived! I have been able to do a little bit more to my 1/32 AIMS Mistel S3C over Christmas, my hands are ok with modelling a short while every day but after just a few moments using the keyboard and mouse the carpal tunnel syndrome flares back immediately - just as bad as before the operations. It is very sad news for me but I press on and just do what I can. Anyway the Jumo 213 Es and the exhausts have been modified a little. I am using the A-1 kit which means needing to change the right side exhaust stacks. also there should be a plate at the back on the right as well as a plate the length of one stub at the front each side. This plate has a concave air inlet - so a little to do changing parts only designed to have a flame damper covering everything. Some more detail was added to the fuel bay and tail wheel bay also. The cockpit had more of the A-1 kits parts added and this was a big mistake as they are nothing like the details needed from the A-4 onwards and I have to make some changes - mostly to the right wall and folding co-pilot seat (which from the A-4 onwards has different fixed legs and a different way of folding. Well back to the big news and the arrival of the Gear bay test shots. The fit of the floor plate is 100% perfect but my hope of fitting it into my already made model has taken a knock - it is just impossible so I will have to razor saw even more of the gear bay away to do what I planned. Onwards and upwards! Happy New year to you all. Edited December 27, 2021 by Pastor John Vince Blackburn , MikeC, LSP_Kevin and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc65 Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 Just WOW! Pastor John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor John Posted December 27, 2021 Author Share Posted December 27, 2021 (edited) Well good news and bad news - good news - I managed to saw off cleanly enough a section of the rear which allowed with only gentle flexing the PE floors to slot in. Bad news - I was so focused on making the door skins as real as possible with 2x layers of 0.2mm brass followed by a half etch layer to show the raised rivets for the inner skin with a half etch outer skin to allow the rivets around the edge and cut outs - looks fantastic but for one simple problem - it is impossible to accurately mould to shape. The doors might not look too bad when open but they can never be conformed to the gear bay shape. Have to re-think the product when my hands can use the design program again. Edited December 27, 2021 by Pastor John LSP_Kevin, Fanes, Paul in Napier and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 Great progress Jhn, your gear Bay set looks superb and a step up from the Profimodeller set. Have you tried annealing the brass prior to starting to form them to the correct shape. O did this with the Profi set which is thicker brass and worked well. Regards. Andy Pastor John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor John Posted December 27, 2021 Author Share Posted December 27, 2021 I only flexed them over a tube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 This is what I managed, took a little time but was pretty happy with the results Never used them but managed to get the shape after heat treating the brass. Regards. Andy Paul in Napier, chukw, scvrobeson and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcour Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 That is georgeous work!! Pastor John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now