Fw 190A-8 Gets its Decals

Following on from the practice on the Space Marines the DecalFix comes out for the Fw190's decals. The practise has helped, topside first (see below):

Next the "belly" (see below, note I have not gone for the 'drop tank variant but the smooth underside instead);

Finally the daunting "nose cone spiral"! Boy was I glad of the Space Marine practice with the fiddly bits and curved surfaces):

I was happy with the end result but dis have to extend the white line with a bit of paint at the base of the nose cone. I was relieved to finish the whole process and put a Matt Varnish over it as soon as possible.

I need now to do a small repair job to the silly bit of plastic that "fell off" the wing (not a 20mm cannon but on the extreme wing tip [radio?]) when my youngest son was inspecting it!

Canopy Capers (Airfix Fw190 WIP)

Calm, calm, calm. I approach the Fw190 canopy with trepidation .. I cannot use conventional glue as that would end up in one unholy mess resulting in painting over the canopy, hence I use ClearFix. A slow sticking fragile glue that does not smear canopies. Actually the Fw190 has a large part of the rear canopy to paint over (see below, aka the black part):

Now I had bit of a struggle to get the canopy on. The 'blooming canopy' part was being pushed off by a chunky piece of rear cock-pit detail. Hence I had to shave this back until the full canopy fit nicely over it, luckily the "shaved part" was totally hidden by the painted part of the canopy. A bit like the front cockpit detail (chair/instruments and control stick) fantastic detail that ends up hidden in 90% of the possible configurations - closed cock-pit with pilot at helm (see below):

The black primer over the canopy trimmings was then covered by the dark grey paint (see below):

The glue and paint in these kits goes a long, long way. In addition to this kit I have put together some eighty odd Saxon and Norman 25/28mm plastic figures.

:)

Decals beckon next!

The "Butcher Bird" ... Continued (Airfix: Fw190-A8) WIP

The basic paint scheme is added (see below):

The underside is "lined" via covering recesses with "Vallejo Black Wash" (see below):

The upper works are treated accordingly and then touched up with e original paint (see below):

Likewise the underside is touched up in its basic paint scheme (see below):

Coming along nicely!

Airfix Fw 190A-8

As a kid I had made the obligatory "rite of passage" construction of RAF (several different types [II, Vb and XIc]), the Hurricane and the infamous Mosquito Fighter Bomber (of 633 Squadron fame). On the baddies (sorry I am falling back to "war comic" stereotypes here) I had the Ju87 Stuka, Heinkel He111 and Dornier Do17z Luftwaffe bombers. Later in life I caught up with the Me109. However the Fw 190 was "the one that got away". So riffling through my "magic box of unmade boxes" I came across this little gem, the re-tooled Folk Wulf Fw190A-8 (see below):

Early days but has been a dream to put together. The glue goes a long, long way as I have used it for a box of 28mm Norman Foot Knights as well.

WIP, looking forward to painting it ;)

1/144 Revell Ju 87's

I could not decide what to do with a bit of extra time hobby on my hands. I could not get into the painting mood so I decided to finish off the assembly of some 1/144 Mini-Kits, two more Stukas to make a flight of three (see below):

These are old but nevertheless good kits. These are destined to be part of a 1940 Battle of France German air contingent for a 10mm demonstration game scheduled for 2015.

More Luftwaffe planes ...

Just before I moved onto the Battle of Britain Spitfires a chance conversation with a fellow wargamer resulted in the dispatch of some unfinished Luftwaffe kits to my door as part of a communal "build" for a larger game. This will represent 1940 German "air assets". In total three Stukas and a Ju88 destined to bomb the French. A dibble and dabble of glue completed the part-assembly of a Stuka and Ju88 (see below):  

So two more Stukas to go before the RAF gets its second turn!

Note: There are a lot of bare plastic kits waiting at the end of the production ready for a mass paint.

More Revell 1/144 Aircraft (Lufwaffe: Battle of Britain)

Battle of Britain era, Me 109's and a Stuka (see below):

I now have my Me 109 "swarms" (8 planes) and a Stuka flight (4 planes). Time to scramble some RAF fighter production now, some Hurricane Mk I's next up on the assembly line.

More Revell 1/144 Aircraft (Pacific War/Battle of Britain)

While "in the zone" of putting together 1/144 aircraft, I finished off my single-engined (Pacific War) American planes and started on the backlog of Battle of Britain aircraft (see below):

I know they will come in useful one day! I am still lacking in Japanese opposition (I have two Zero's) but am waiting for the Revell kits to hit the shops in my area. I reckon six in total would be a nice force. Meanwhile I will try and build up the US force to flights of three.

The Battle of Britain forces stand at 8 x Me 109's, 3 x Me 110's, 6 x Mk I Hurricanes and 6 Mk II Spitfire's. It is just a case of making them up and painting them.

Just Putting Plastic Things Together (WWII 1/200 and 1/144 Luftwaffe) : Part V

I have had time to put together some recently acquired Zvezda Luftwaffe "assets". The first of which needs no introduction as it is the tri-motor "Iron Annie" which was the mainstay of the German airborne logistical effort throughout the Second World War, the Ju-52 (see below). Prior to the Second World War it even had a brief font-line bombing career with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War (SCW). The Ju-52 served in all theaters of operations with the Germans, transporting the "must have" lubrication needed for their mechanised armies.

It's roll as a paratroop and air-landing carrier (in the latter case literally crash-landing on airfields while fully loaded with combat troops, see Holland [1940] and Crete [1941]) is iconic as was its participation in the doomed relief operation to Stalingrad 1942/43. Finally who cannot forget the opening (and ending) scenes of "Where Eagles Dare". After putting together the Zvezda 1/200 kit my only thought is that I probably need another three ;)  

Another two Luftwaffe companions to "Iron Annie" (also of "Warlord" comic strip fame), this time in 1/144 scale, is a pair of Ju-87 Stukas (see below):

This acquisition brings my Stuka flight up to three, which (famous last words) should be enough ;)

They Stuka kit snaps together (with glue) nicely and is cheap enough (between £2.50 and £2.75) but with the new Revell kits are coming in at under £2 (£1.99 to be exact your honour) Zvezda have serious competition, which is a good thing for the paying wargaming public.

WWII School Project Completed: 1/48 Spitfire Vb and 1/72 Dornier Do.17E (Airfix)

The deadly foes on the table (see below) with wait ... hold the front page .. decals applied :)

"Snowdrop leader, Snowdrop leader,this is Snowdrop Six, Tally Ho!" ... sorry I couldn't resist it ;) ... I think it looks magical onc those big decals have gone on :)

Meanwhile the bomber drones on (see below) and I think its more sombre decals make it look very menacing (Note:By virtue of European Law Airfix are not allowed to depict the swastika, which would have adorned the rear twin tail flaps - and it is far too hard for me to try and paint on given the project deadline):

Now with a coat of protective varnish on (see below), from a very old but 'reliable' tin of Humbrol 'enamel style' matte. This was after I had an unmitigated disaster trying to use the more modern acrylic matte varnish (in their square tins) and getting it horribly wrong. I had probably rushed it but it looked to my terrified eyes to be drying with a white "winter camouflage" sheen to it .... argh. And this was the Sunday night before the Monday deadline and I had been left in charge putting the "smelly varnish coat on" after the rest of the family had gone to bed! Luckily I had started on the German Dornier Bomber first and spotted the damage, which meant it was so much easier to repaint (I would have ruined the Spitfire's decals) ...whew!

One last flypast before I hand them over with compulsory sound effects "wheewwwizzzooo" (see below). I also like the angry yellow wing stripes and machine gun read patches on the wings. 

Anyway I am chuffed to bits with them both and even better my eldest son thinks they are cool too, paying particular attention to the Spitfire ("that's my boy"). I do intend to "tart" then up a bit when I get them back from the school display, although I've heard the German Dornier has already taken a bit of "flak" damage from the hands of Year 3. I plan to hang both planes from my son's bedroom ceiling.

School WWII Project Nearing Completion

Well we had fun making these.

The magic Humbrol Clearfix worked wonders on the previously tricky (as in I always messed them up) canopies (see below):

It was 'really' useful on the Dornier Do.17's expanse of canopies to fill in the missing gaps in the perspex (see below):

The "Spitty" gets its undersides painted in a peculiar XF-12 IJ Grey, which doesn't seem quite right but according to my conversion chart matches to Humbrol 64 (see below):

The Dornier gets a more traditional paint scheme of light blue for its underside from a 'really' old Humbrol acrylic range they had, but after all these years it's still ready to use from the pot, unlike some more modern paints I could name (see below): 

The Spitfire starts to come together nicely when its camouflage pattern is put on. I am using XF-61 Dark Green and XF-82 Ocean Grey 2 (RAF), the latter being a newer Tamiya paint colour I spotted while I was in a local model shop (Hobbycraft). I was looking at the Tamiya colour schemes on other model kits and borrowed this one off a Tamiya 1/48 RAF Mosquito kit (see below): 

The 1/48 scale Spitfire was such a nice kit to put together, far easier IMHO than the 1/72 scale kits I am used to. You stand a fair chance of even painting the "yellow" along the wing tips and "red" machine gun patches (see below):

The Dornier also gets it's Blitz camouflage scheme. A jagged edge XF61 Dark Green interlocking with a XF-27 Black Green (see below):  

This was the later Luftwaffe 1940 camouflage at the time of the Battle of Britain as opposed to the three colour, with a light grey and a brown alongside a green in the instructions, dating to 1937. The propeller housings get a bright white covering while the propeller blades get a surprising XF-61 Dark Green (I was expecting black) covering (see below): 

They are taking shape nicely but we are coming to that dreaded phase of mine, the decals, however for aircraft they simply are a must! Also, for the record, there were little hands helping me along the way, though they did take long telly breaks from time-to-time (Merlin and Mr maker being two of the CBBC culprits).

New 1/144 Revell WW2 Aircaft :)

•  Stuka
• Me 109E
• Fw 190D
• Me262
• Spitfire
• Hurricane
• Tempest
• Typhoon

:)

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234927980

Something for the air war sir?
Cheap too retailing as £1.99 which is a very sensible price for a fighter
Good as the Zvezda kit is creeping up in price 

If I remember correctly these are very old molds (I had a Revell Me109E, Stuka and a Dornier D0.17 unless the latter was a mad dream of mine)    

Airfix Dornier Do.17 E/F Assembly Question: Am I doing it right?

As part of the 'WWII School Project' I am putting together a Dornier Do.17 E/F, but am I doing it correctly? A classic old Airfix kit of a plane that tried to 'bomb my dad' when he was in the 'Home Guard' (see below):

 
I came to "an assembly issue". It all started with this chap, the rear gunner and radio operator sitting on his stool (see below):  

Looking at the instructions I see a different diagram (see below, top left corner - the spar that the seat sits on looks to be completely he wrong or rather a different shape - a classic Airfix now get out of that or have I missed something?):

This is how I put it together (see below):

Not being quite happy with it I changed it to thus, with a 90 degree twist to the gunner to sit more centrally (see below), but have I done it as intended? Or is it a case of a change/amendment that was never corrected in the instructions?

The crew now "complete" inside the fuselage and with the wings on (see below): 

A bit of a cockpit close-up (see below):

The whole thing from a distance (see below). Next to do is the clear glass canopies, previously a nightmare operation for me but now I use my secret weapon Humbrol Clearfix :)  

"Model on" as Paul from NZ says ;)

Just Putting Plastic Things Together (WWII 1/144 Luftwaffe): Part II

Jumping away from RPG Fantasy and Sci-Fi a couple of small scale kits caught my eye from the "to do" pile of unmade kits, 1/144 Me-109's from Zvezda (see below):

This brings my collection of Me-109's to a total of four, in other words a nice little "finger four" Luftwaffe Schwarm.  

The kit is a basic 'almost' snap together affair, but I think it will paint up nicely. The only unfortunate downside is their attempt at decals (I think I will be trying to paint mine on).

Footnote:
Looking around the net I just spotted an interesting Zvezda new 1/144 kit the Hawker Hurricane Mk I, which immediately goes on the Xmas list. They also seem to be going British, doing a 15mm Matilda II and Bedford truck! If only I could justify getting one as I game in 20mm, 1/200 and 1/1300 - No way can I sanely go into another scale! 

Fearless Pierre learns FEAR ...

The morning sun broke through the clouds and greeted the Entente pair of scouts. Again an Englishman and a French man head towards the German lines "a hunting" (see below):

As regular as clockwork the Boche appear, two scouts guarding a two-seater. With battle cries of "Tally-ho" and "Merde" the battle commences (see below): 

The Englishman is fearless and bold (some say too fearless and too bold) diving into the center of the melee without a passing thought to the killing power of modern industrial machinery (obviously a product of the British class based "gentleman's elite" old school system). Pierre meanwhile hatches a cunning survival plan called "come in from the side" (see below):

The Englishman clashed head-to-head with his foe and mutual "greeting cards" (of damage) were exchanged (see blow):

Pierre for all his fancy planning ended up in a similar position as the Yellow Albatross of "Kev" angled across to meet him (see below):

Pierre suffered a far more dangerous outcome. The "rat-a-tat" greeting from the Spandau (courtesy of Killer Kev's Albatross) is met with a resounding metallic ping from deep inside the N17's engine bock, followed by an conflagration of fire, flame and caustic choking smoke. Pierre is left blinded with the Nieuport 17 losing height rapidly and the whole world swirling around the top of his head. Out of control, helpless and with his life flashing before his eyes Pierre fights ingloriously with the controls. The fire fans out and the immediate risk of explosive oblivion seems to have receded.    

Barely managing to level the stricken plane off, the N17 disintegrates upon contact with a small copse of stunted trees, gorse and brush mercifully wet and springy from recent rains. Pierre is flung to a position relative safely amidst the wreckage. The 'Fates' have ordained that this fallen angel to survive once more, even granting him the luxury of falling on the right side of the line. "Nine Lives Pierre" seems to have used a fair few of them up by now. Some five missions to his credit, no kills, but twice 'shot down' and the cruel statistics of war say that the 'third time' usually gets you. Pierre has now earned the right to a "pass" in his commanders eyes to savour a week's respite with Eros in lively Paris, as a stark contrast to his daily dance with Thantos over the Western Front.

A short and not so sweet duel, summed up in a single posting. Still to be continued on Pierre's return from Paris!

Final Parting Shots ... To Be Resumed (WoW WWI Dogfight)

Even in his departure the brave Englishman flying the Sopwith Pup took a parting snapshot at the Yellow Peril (aka 'Kevin the Junker'). The resounding retort back that clattered along his airframe confirmed his conviction that it was really time to scatter while his plane kept together (see below): 

Pierre waves his English comrade off (see below). While his plane was structurally intact (as in over half its hit points intact) and bullets were still in the barrel Pierre still fancied his chances, particularly given his current tactical advantage (almost but not quite "tailing" the Yellow Peril Albatross, see below).

A streaming dog fight ensued as the the chain of scout, scout and two-seater did several circuits of the board (see below). The two-seater was always at a disadvantage being just a tad slower but annoyingly its rear gunner started chalking up odd hits on Pierre's N17. 

Again and again the Yellow Peril remained just out of reach of Pierre, as he never quite gained that "killer position" (see below). Again the Pink Terror's rear gunner is seen waiting patiently for his chance to "pop" Pierre on the return orbit. 

With his ammunition now almost spent and his plane's "rudder and tail" mechanism now rather tattered Pierre calls it a day. Frustratingly his last few shots seem not to have made any impression on the Yellow Peril. Despite both the Sopwith Pup and N17 passing many a damage card to "Junker Kevin" the steely German seemed to be as resolute and combat fit as at the start of play. He must have had nerves of steel? With a gentleman's nod and salute to his German opponent Pierre heads West to find friendlier skies (see below): 

Leaving the German Imperial Air Service in his wake Pierre breaks off contact (see below). The engagement was counted as a tactical draw (one German shot down, one British retired and teeth drawn as Pierre vacates enemy air space). The campaign carries on with the Entente still holding the tactical advantage over this section of the front. Pierre makes a mental note to consult his 'temporary RFC armorer' regarding the ineffectual French machine guns. Was it the sighting mechanism or the bullets at fault surely not crack-shot Pierre's skill?

Further investigation at the airfield (post game examination of the damage packs) reveals Pierre had been using training ammunition 'blanks' (literally a stream of "0" and "minor no left/right turns" cards). Cursing his luck Pierre retires to bed clutching a bottle of cheap cognac while accepting the Englishman's invitation for "morning clay pigeon shooting" the following day.