Hello. I started the Dragon 1/48 scale Ju88 Balloon Cutter. I installed the cockpit parts, including the photo-etch items. The photo-etch is wonderfully thin, making it easy to remove from the tree and bend. I had to remove some of the conduit on the sidewall so the cockpit floor would slide back against the rear cockpit wall. I replaced the section that I cut away with some fine solder. I botched the bracing that holds the two boxes, so I used some thin plastic rod sanded down to replicate that. I hope it will look better under paint. I should have used some stretched sprue. I sanded off some of the raised detail in order to let the pre-painted photo-etch parts to lay flat. I'll start applying the cockpit color this weekend, I'll keep you posted. Thanks for looking ,Wingman out.

Hi Michael!

Nice one!

I will follow this build with great interest. Do you plan to make modifications to the kit or will you build it out of the box? In both cases I'm sure it will be very spectacular. I can't wait to see more...

Jean-Luc

Hi Jean-Luc. Thanks. I'm just going to build it out of the box. I just applied the base color to the cockpit and I'll pick out the details on Sunday and then add a Future wash to it. I'm curious to see if the balloon cutter itself holds up, I hope it doesn't sag on me. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hi Michael!

Yes, the balloon cutter device seems to be very fragile in the kit. Maybe styrene rods, as replacemement for some photoetched parts, would give more strenght to the whole assembly. Good luck on that one!

Jean-Luc

Interesting project. The cockpit looks good. It will be a big bird when finished. Hope the ballon cutter device turns out good.

I am looking forward to see more of this project.

Hello. I was thinking the very same thing. I'm going to start picking out the detail in the cockpit today. Wingman out.

Thanks Jesper. Yeah, she'll be big. I'm running out of room for all my builds when their done. I'll keep you guys posted, thanks for looking, Wingman out.

I'll be watching this with great interest, a nice start

Mal

Thanks Mal. I just finished attaching the belts and installing the seats to the cockpit floor. The prepainted photo-etch is nice, but make sure you don't cut too close to the actual part when removing it from the tree, some of the paint might chip off if your not careful. I'll button it up after checking for any shining spots from glue. I'll post a photo of that later. Thanks for looking everyone, Wingman out.

Excellent start there. I have this kit and I've been itching to start it but I'm a little fearful at the moment.

May I ask how you do the future wash? Is it a case of mixing the paint with the future(Klear) stuff and washing it on as per the normal oil wash?

Thank you and I look forward to new updates as you progress with the kit.

H

Thanks Howard. I do the following. I apply the base coat, I then pick out all the detail with a small pointed brush and let that dry. I then apply a coat of Future to the areas I want the wash to be in with a brush, basically all over, this allows the wash to flow more easily and evenly. The wash I used for this cockpit was Future and a bit of India Ink. I poured some Future in a small plastic cup and then added one or two drops of India Ink to that. I didn't want to go too dark so I didn't add a lot of the India Ink. I then used a wide soft brush to apply the wash. I applied it to the shoulder and lap belts too.Future will start to dry in a couple minutes so don't do a lot brush stroking or you'll end up with brush strokes on the surface. After I was satisfied with all that, I applied some Testors Dullcoat via the airbrush. I have to dry brush some Raw Umber on the one seat to make the head rest look like leather. Hope this helps, thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Thanks for that Wingman I'd like to give that technique a try when I can get some inks. It's come out really well in your pics and I look forward to seeing more progress.

H

You're welcome. Thanks for following the build log. I'm moving on to the fuselage. I've noticed some panel lines that seem to vanish. We'll see what happens, thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Sorry guys, having trouble loading photos to the build log. DUH! I'll keep trying. Wingman out.

Anyway. I totally botched the build. So while I'm cleaning up the landing gear, I realize that I should have waited to assemble the wing halves and install the landing gear into the wing halves[BECAUSE THEY DON"T FIT WHEN THE WING HALVES ARE TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}. The drawing that shows how the wings halves go together does not show you to install the gear at that point. The landing gear assembly is another drawing on a another page of the instructions. This could be a poor layout of the instructions or a fault of my own. So, I'm gonna turn it into a diorama with jacks up and into the gear bays and the landing gears and wheels out for repair. Ther won't be any figures because this will be an abandoned Ju 88. It's going together O.K. The removable canopy comes in two halves as does the gondola under the cockpit. We'll see how well these go together. I dipped these parts in Future to avoid the fogging you get with the glue. The wing root fit is pretty good. The wings, tailplanes and cockpit tub are all in place. I'm still working on fixing up the seams in some of those areas. I'll try to keep you guys posted. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hi everyone. If you're still interested, you can go to my gallery and see the progress of the build. I attached the clear parts, the fit is O.K. here. I'll try to post some photos later this week. Sorry you had to see them this way. I feel like a real clutz not being able to post to the build log, I'm sure it's something on my end, anyway, thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hi Mike

Rest assured, you're not the only one having problems with the new gallery system. I added an illustrated Step-By-Step Guide that I hope might help.

All the best

Rowan

Hi Michael!

Here are the pictures...







Jean-Luc