Torsten,

Good to see you are still creating these magnificent models.

What is next?

Thanks Fred! Glad you like my efforts

At the moment I have 2 projects on my bench. First a Henschel Hs 129 for the Eastern Front Campaign and - over at Armorama - the K9FIN "Moukari", the new self propelled howitzer of the Finnish Army. But both builds are put on a "hold status" at the moment, due to a lot of work this month and some family affairs. Furthermore I'm preparing our expo next weekend which takes quite some time as usual. You know, table plan, staff plan etc. But I hope to restart everything in 2 weeks time ....

Oh, and congrats to your ice hockey guys for winning against Team Germany today! Let's meet again in the final ....

Torsten

Today I can finally show you my latest build, the Henschel Hs 129 B-2 from Revell (ex Hasegawa) in 1/48, which I have built for the Eastern Front Campaign ....



.... in 1937 the RLM ordered to develop a heavily armed and amored Close Air Support Aircraft for the new Luftwaffe. Henschel and Focke-Wulf built prototypes. But during the tests these prototypes showed poor flying conditions, were difficult to fly and underpowered with their Argus As 410 engines with 430 hp each. One Henschel prototype even crashed because of these conditions. At least the Henschel plane was only chosen because of its lower production costs. Development continued and because of the beginning of the war, mass production was ordered. But with stronger Argus engines the flight conditions didn't increase and because of the small cockpit it was nearly impossible for tall pilots to fly this plane. After the war with France suddenly a big amount of Gnome-Rhone 14M engine fell into german hands and the Hs 129 was fitted with these engines which was followed by a re-design of the plane because of the bigger engines. The flight characteristics increased and the plane fulfilled the needed requirements. The most produced variant was the B-2, which was equipped with a 30 mm MK 103 cannon, 2 x MG 151 (20 mm) and 2 x MG 17 (7,92 mm) and could also carry bombs. The aircraft was effectively used at the Eastern Front in the anti tank role which gave it the nick name "Büchsenöffner" (tin opener). The aircraft had a maximnum weight of 5110 kg and a range of about 560 km. The Gnome-Rhone enignes had 700 hp each and gave the Hs 129 a speed of around 400 km/h. Because of the low speed the Hs 129 often needed fighter escort. A total of 879 planes of all variants were build. Another war time user was Romania. The Hs 129 also saw some action in North Africa and was feared by the Russians as much as the Il 2 Sturmovik by the Germans ....




.... I have built "Light Blue H", an Hs 129 B-2 of the 4. (Pz)/SchG 1 during Operation Zitadelle, the Battle of Kursk, in July 1943. The aircraft was flown by the squadron leader Leutnant Georg Dornemann and shows an impressive scoreboard on the side rudder. There are 12 tank symbols and 8 aircraft symbols, which means that Dornemann also flew successfull low level attacks against soviet airfields. Of course the plane also wears the "Infanteriesturmabzeichen" (Infantry Attack Badge) on the nose to show the close bond with the troops on the ground. Dornemann was awarded the Iron Cross 2. and 1. Class and in December 1944 the German Cross in Gold. His last rank was Hauptmann (Captain). I couldn't find out much about his post war life. After captivity he settled in East Germany as a farmer. In 1953 he fled with his family to West Germany where he died in 1990, aged 80 years. The "Light Blue H" also had a long life for a war plane. As "White 1" of 10./SG 9 it was lost only on the 14. January 1945 ....



.... in 2003 Revell Germany came out with this Hasegawa kit and as it was a lot cheaper than the original I bought 2 of them. So it took me 16 years to build the first. Building the tin opener doesn't bring many problems. There are only gaps between the fuselage and the wings, which have to be filled with putty and carefully sanded not to destroy the details ....



.... the kit is completely painted with Revell Aqua colours, mainly No. 39 Dark Green (RLM 71), No. 40 Black Green (RLM 70), No. 49 Light Blue (RLM 65) and No. 310 Yellow (RLM 04). Except for the MK 103 cannon, the kit is build out of the box and of course not weathered. The gun is made of brass and comes from Modellbau Schatton in Germany. Revell offers 2 decal versions for this bird, one from the Eastern and one from the North African Front. Most decals are taken from the kits box. The special decals to build Dornemann's "Light Blue H" are taken from a decal sheet especially made for the german "Luftwaffe im Focus" magazine and the swastikas come from a Squadron decal sheet.

Again I say "Vielen Dank!" for stepping in and having a look at my latest build. I hope you've enjoyed the little walk around. Now on to a new kit, Airfix' new Bristol Blenheim Mk. I

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Torsten,
Another outstanding museum quality build. Paint and decaling are just spot on.

As usual, I really appreciate the time and effort you take in developing the history of the aircraft, the bio of the pilot and squadron, which just helps to bring everything into focus as one would expect from a displayed aircraft at the Torsten Aviation Museum.

Well done my friend, very well done.

Joel

Joel, thanks a lot for your kind words! The painting on this bird went very well but masking the splinter camo takes always a lot of time. But in the end it's always worth it. In fact there is a bit of silvering on some smaller decals. But that showed up only after I have sprayed Clear Matt Varnish. But it's not a big issue. Those decals are now at least 16 years old.

It's great to hear that you appreciate my little history lesson again. It always brings me a lot of fun to dig deep into the history of a pilot. Sometimes it easy when you have someone like Gerhard Barkhorn but sometimes it's very time consumpting to find at least a few facts. I think, the most time I needed for the research of Irina Osadze, the soviet Pe-2 pilot. That lasted about 5 months on and off.

And now I must have a look at your new Porsche!
Torsten

Beautiful Job, Torsten! I'm always glad to see a new post from your assembly line.

Gaz

Thanks a lot, Gaz! I'm happy to hear that you like what you see. This thread continues a bit slower now than before because some time ago I have re-discovered my old love for AFV's, being a tanker guy myself in the 1980's. So at the moment it's 1 plane, 1 tank, 1 plane and so on .... Right now I'm working on a K9 self propelled gun, the new toy for the Finnish Army. A real monster! But the Blenheim is already approaching the work bench. So no worries!

Torsten

Another very nice build Torsten, great job. I’ve always had a soft spot for the WWII twins, especially the less common models, and this one is a nice looking airframe. The poor performance was definitely an issue in the air-to-air encounters, but no doubt it helped in the “tin-opener” operations.

Many thanks once again for the informative post.

Cheers, D

Torsten,
Why not post your AFV builds as well on your museum assembly line? I'm sure a lot of guys would love to see them including me. I never get to Armorama these days, so if you only post there, I'll miss them every time.

Joel

D, thanks also to you for stepping in. It's funny, but the Hs 129 is not often seen on model shows. We talked about that last weekend at our club meeting. So I have something rare to show next time. I also like twin engine aircraft and if they have also twin booms it's even better (my callsign .... ). So you will also like my Blenheim then. But finishing that will take a little time ....

Joel, I did exactly that a few years ago on Armorama but as so many others on the Kitmaker Network I was also affected by that weird third party policy of Photobucket and my thread became useless if not destroyed. Last year I thought I give it another try and started a new one, this time with Imgur as the picture host. It's only post WW2 stuff mainly from the German Bundeswehr and NATO and I call it Leopard and other animals. So far there are only the latest 3 models in but I should add the other older ones, too. So far I have built 10 AFV (5 of them listen to the name Leopard .... ). If you like you can subscribe to that thread or I leave you a note every time I post something new in there. For the first time I have also started a build blog of my K9 Moukari on Armorama. Have a look if you like. This camo looks soooo cool! And for everyone who has missed my build of the Hs 129, you can have a look at the Eastern Front Campaign. My build is on the pages 2 - 5.

Have fun!
Torsten

Torsten,
It's easier for me if you pm me or just put a post in your Assembly line, as I'm a very long time subscriber.
Joel

Will do!

No wingy thingy today, it's "just" an earth crawler I have fin(n)ished recently. And as promised I would like to comply Joel's request to leave a note here when I have posted something new over at Armorama ....



Maybe some folks of you are also interested in tank steel but not so familiar with the forums there. If you like, scroll down my Leopard and other animals thread down to the bottom and have a look at the gaudy looking new Self Propelled Howitzer K9 "Moukari" of the Finnish Army.
If you want to make a comment, please write it down there and not here.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Torsten,
Just saw your post. Will be heading over after dinner and doing the dishes.

Joel

Torsten,
I just spent some quality time going through all your armor builds, and I'm really impressed to say the least. All with the exception of your last build are weathered, but just enough to show that they're operational vehicles. By no means is the weathering over done IMHO.

As for your Self Propelled Howitzer K9 "Moukari", it's a true museum display piece built perfectly, and it's spotless. Even cleaner then the day it rolled off the assembly line.

Your Armor builds are the equal of your aircraft builds, so you know just how I feel about them.

Joel

Thanks Joel for your kind words! Sorry for the late answer but I was offline the last 2 days. I'm quite proud of my new K9 with that splinter camo. Looks unusual. Was a lot of work. And because it's a vehicle "on show", there's no weathering on it. I have got some photos of the real Ps 522-29 at the Tank Museum in Parolanummi and it looks very clean there, only some very little dirt at the road wheels.

But you're right, my other armor builds are all slightly dusted with pastel chalks. You know how much I dislike weathering but here it is necessary.

And I already started working on the cockpit of the Bristol Blenheim. But before that build is finished I'm going on holidays to the home of my K9 now.

Torsten

Torsten,
Like I said, I'm really impressed with your armor builds, all are up to your standard high level of builds.

Have a great vacation. Cya when you get back.

Joel

Today I can show you my final completed build for 2019. It's the new Bristol Blenheim Mk. IF from Airfix in 1/48 ....



... the prototype of the Bristol Blenheim made its first flight on the 12. April 1935 as Type 142 with the name "Britain First". Later that year a first contract of 150 aircraft was placed and in March 1937 No. 114 Sqn was the first squadron of the RAF to receive the now called Blenheim Mk. I. Its speed was comparable to the speed of most biplane fighters of that time but when war broke out, the fighter development of other countries has left the Blenheim vulnerable with its speed and defensive weapons of only one 7,7 mm machine gun in a dorsal turret and a further fixed 7,7 mm machine gun in the left wing. The Blenheim was exported to many Air Forces around the globe, the most well known user during war time is probably the Finnish Air Force, where the Blenheim was also produced in licence. The Mk. IF was used as a heavy fighter and night fighter with four 7,7 mm Browning guns in a belly pack. Of 1552 built Mk. I about 200 were converted into the Mk. IF. The Blenheim had a crew of 3 and a maximum weight of 6532 kg. It was powered by two 9 cylinder air cooled Bristol Mercury radial piston engines with 920 hp each which gave the aircraft a top speed of 428 km/h at 3600 meters. It had a maximum range of 2350 km and a service ceiling of 8310 meters. There has only one Blenheim survived in airworthy conditions which was restored out of a canadian made Bolingbroke. The sole surviving original Blenheim is a Mk. IV, registered as BL-200 of the Finnish Air Force and can be seen at the Finnish Air Force Museum in Tikkakoski near Jyväskylä in Finland. And it is beautifully restored, believe me ....



.... I have built Q-YP, a machine of No. 23 Sqn, based at RAF Wittering, England, in February 1940 ....



.... Airfix came out with this long awaited kit in 2018 and it didn't stay long in my stash. The 216 parts go mostly well together, there's no need to use putty or even sanding at the transition of wings to fuselage because braces from the fuselage hold everything perfect in place. The only negative point I have to mention is the fitting of the canopy parts to the fuselage. There are only 4 parts for the whole canopy. I think more parts would do a better job here. At first I thought it was my fault, that it doesn't fit, but a friend of mine had the same problems. So it's the manufacturer's fault .... Finally I got it together with patience, force and a bit of swearing. I hope Airfix will fix that issue in the future because we want more versions of the Blenheim! For painting I have used Revell No. 8 Black for the underside, Vallejo 71323 Dark Earth and 71324 Dark Green for the upper side. The interior was painted with Revell 45 Grey-Green and the wheel wells were painted with Revell 99 Aluminium. For the cowling rings I have used again Vallejo 71068 Copper, the same colour as on the PZL 37. I have used EX626 from Eduard for masking the canopy. It's highly recommended on this green house. The decals are taken from the kit sheet and they are very good and lay perfectly into the panel lines. There are only very few stencils on the decal sheet. Airfix offers another version, the Mk IF as an all-black nightfighter. But I think this camo looks more interesting ....


I thank you for walking around the latest member of my Plastic Air Force and I hope you've enjoyed it. This kit is a fun to build with the exception of the canopy. With a length of 26 cm and a width of 36 cm it's no small model. I would like to see a Mk. IV in 1/48 in the near future because I want to build a Suomen Ilmavoimat Blenheim. Decals are already here ....
Finally I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year 2020. Stay well!

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Torsten,
Certainly another beautiful museum quality build for your ever growing miniature museum.

What ever issues you had with the canopy, you solved them 100% as it looks absolutely perfect in every picture.

It's always a real thrill for me to see your builds as they come down your assembly line.

Joel

Torsten! You should be able to cram in one further this year if picking a simple build, if not, this was a very nice grand finale for 2019 !

I'll do one in 1/72. One day...



Magnus

Joel, thanks for your kind words on my Blenheim. The fitting of the canopy is ugly as I wrote in the campaign thread. In my opinion more smaller parts instead of 2 big and 2 small ones would do a better job here. I did the best I could get out of this misery but I must admit that I'm not 100 % satisfied with the result. On the photo you can see the "problem zones" of the right side. The left side looks slightly better. I made the photo during the campaign. But the rest of the build is really good and I intend to buy another Blenheim to build a finnish one, preferentially a Mk. IV ....

Magnus, thanks for your encouragement to get another build done this year. In fact I have 2 kits on my bench right now and have already started my next campaign build. It's a MiG 21 from Eduard for the MiG Campaign but with 435 parts it won't see the finish line before New Years Eve, I'm afraid. My goal for this build is the end of February which would be in time for this campaign. I have completed a total of 7 builds (5 aircraft and 2 vehicles) this year which is under my minimum if I look just at the number. But some of my builds this year were a bit more complex than in other years. It started with the paint desaster on my SAAF Gripen in January where I had to remove the paint and repaint most of it, which took more time than usual. Another "long lasting" build was the finnish K9 with its splinter camo. I called the fun "Masking the Moukari". Started in March, finished in August .... Usually I need 6-8 weeks for a vehicle. I hope I can complete a little more in 2020. Have already enlisted in 4 campaigns ....

Have fun!
Torsten

It looks like a big part of the problem was the right forward fuselage side being not quite as wide as it needed to be.

Torsten,
As Jess said, the fuselage seems not to be wide enough. With such a large canopy, and so little fuselage to work with, I really don't know how you could correct it as widening the fuselage would cause other issues with the back portion of the canopy fit.

How do you plan on correcting this now known issue for your future build?

Joel

Jessie, Joel, thanks again. Yes, I also noticed that problem with the forward fuselage and of course I tried to widen it a bit. But with the painted cockpit already inside there's not much scope. To do it with force would have caused other problems as Joel mentioned. So I leave it as it is. I don't think about how to correct that fault on a future Blenheim. I wait for Airfix to do so and hope a Mk. IV kit will be better in this point. This is what I want to see on my shelf one day. Made this photo on my 2. trip to Tikkakoski in 2014. Have been there this year again for the 3. time .... It's a fantastic musueum!

Torsten,
What are the chances that Airfix will correct that issue as I'm sure it will involve repairing the mold?

Looking at the side view of the aircraft, for some strange reason the nose glass just reminds me of a B-25B. Go figure that one out.

Joel