Hey Shrimpman that PO2 is amazing.

I am starting with Eduard's P39 and Authentic Details decals.

Sigh. I'm at it again; you know, that changing my mind/build thing. I have a longstanding dream to build all of America's WWII single-seat fighters in 1/32 in the colors of the highest scoring ace on each type. There are a series of Theater campaigns coming up which will allow me to really build several of these, and it recently occurred to me that I could build one for this campaign: Namely:



in the markings of Grigoriy Rechkalov, high scoring P-39 ace with 50 or 52 kills on the aircraft (depending on the source). Decals by Zotz.



Here's hoping I can stick to this one. I've started painting the interior, anyway!

Michael

Linus, Michael, good choices! Opposite to the Americans, the Soviet pilots loved the Cobra.

I have also made some small progress on my Peschka. It takes quite some time to glue all these interior parts into the fuselage and most of them in the rear fuselage are not visible anymore once the halves are closed. So it's more or less just useless killing time but I hope I have the fuselage halves glued together and sanded by next weekend.







Have a nice Sunday!
Torsten

Torsten: I cannot wait to see that airplane finished.

Michael: the kit looks nice, but WAY! too big for my small apt.

I finally applied the light blue to the under surfaces.

Nice progress on your Yak, Bob! Will she get summer or winter camo?

I also came a bit further with my Pe-2. Friday I glued the fuselage halves together. First I pressed the halves together and then applied Ethylacetate with a brush step by step. Was easier than I thought ....

.... the fitting was quite good but on the underside behind the bomb bay occured a big gap, which I could only close with filler (a mix of flour and glue). The result is not perfect but better than before ....




.... sanding on the other parts was not more than usual. As I said the fitting here is good ...

.... and finally I want to say it with the legendary words of Neil Armstrong "That's one small step for mankind, but a giant leap for me". Or was it vice versa .... ?



.... fitting of the wings is excellent. No problems here. Next step will be filling all those holes. Hopefully I can throw some paint on it this week. Now, where is my kitchen paper?

Stay tuned
Torsten

Torsten,

Even with the gap, that Pe2 looks like a really nice kit.
Good detail and all.
Can't wait to see it finished.

Nice work so far guys!

Here's where I am on the 1/32 Special Hobby P-39Q. Cockpit done and fuselage halves together:





About as expected for a limited run kit, perhaps a little better. I thought the Soviets used the Sutton harness in WWII but wasn't sure if they switched them out on Lend Lease aircraft. The kit came with American belts and harnesses so I went with them. Wings next!

Michael

@ Torsten, that is the first time Ive see flour used for a putty/gap filler. Thanks for the tip.

@ Michael, if I had the room to store 1/32 my eyes would love the ability to see what I was working on. Nice cockpit on the P-39.


Bob

Michael: I love the subtle weathering you did for the cockpit. Wouldn't the P-400s the British gave up to the Soviets have the Sutton harness? The P-39Q came directly from the U.S. of A. so they would have the later American seatbelts. At least that's my theory.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Here we go !

my first submission for this campaign is the LA-7. I've opted for the eduard profipack in 1:72.

I've started the building a few weeks ago, but i've only found time to edit and post the photo tonight.

Hi everyone this is my contribution [/URL]

Some more progress on Irina's bird. Yesterday I sprayed primer all over and covered the white identifications stripes for "Operation Bagration" around rear fuselage and rudders. Or was it for "Watch out! Girls flying!"? Can't remember ....

And fresh from the paint shop this evening here comes a gaudy blue underside, Russian Light Blue from Agama ....

Next now is part-masking the underside against overspray from the upperside. Hope to have done most of the painting by next weekend. Stay tuned!

Torsten

This weekend I made a major step towards the finishing line. My Peshka got the camo ....

Camo 1 Russian Tan (Vallejo)


Camo 2 Russian Green (Vallejo)


Camo 3 Dark Grey RLM 74 (Vallejo)


.... and this are the paints I have used


I'm pretty satisfied how the camouflage came out. Everything is sprayed freehand. I think I can take away the masks on the underside later. Some minor correction sure have to be done. Next step will be installing the canopy and navigator's gun, painting the propellers and the wheels. I'm surprised that the waist machine gun of the radio operator didn't break off during painting (not yet ....). Oh, and I guess you have noticed that I've made a decision concerning the left engine ....

Torsten

Torsten,
She's coming out beautifully. Great job on the free-hand camouflage. Can't wait to your finished model.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Coming on really well Torsten! I've never tried Vallejo, I normally use Tamiya. Do you like it?

Michael

Thanks, Don!
Me either! I work on this model for 7 weeks now. Normally it's 4-5 weeks until a kit crosses the finish line over here. But 435 parts for this kit is also not my usual standard. Even my Leopard 2 have only a bit more than 200 parts. I guess, I need another 2 weeks until the Pe-2 is ready for take off ....

Michael, in the meantime I have 48 different Vallejo paints and they work really well with my airbrush. I thin them with 25-30 % Sidolin Window Cleaner and they go on the model really smooth. They are my first choice when I need a tiny pigmentation for thin freehand lines without a lot of overspray. You should check them out.

Torsten

Just a small update without photos today, guys. Had half the day off from work to kill some overtime hours and spent the time very useful. Demasking was "highly successful" .... Only some minor corrections on the underside with Light Blue. Wheels are on, entrance hatch is on, all bombs are on, exhausts are on. Now the Peshka rests upside down on my contruction rack until tomorrow.
Tomorrow I have to fire up the airbrush one more time to paint the propeller tips and the stuff around the machine guns. I'm really happy how the kit turns out now. And Don is right, she'll be a beauty ....

Torsten

Ready to get some colour on this. I can't get over the fit of this kit! I picked up another one for later!

Your "Flying Tank" looks great so far, Ryan. Some years ago I've built the old Accurate Minatures Sturmovik, reboxed by Italeri. It was a lot of fitting, filling, sanding, sweating and swearing work .... But now the model rests on my "shelf of pride" and it was worth the work. That Tamiya kit must come out of an other galaxy, it seems. Guess I have to have a closer look at it at my LHS. And Revell Germany brings out the single seater Il-2 this year. Wonder what kit that could be ?

Anyway, after going a long way my Peshka can already see the big hangar doors at the end of the assembly line. Fresh from the work bench I just airbrushed Bodenglänzer, our equivalent to Future. So tomorrow is decal time. Everything should be finished in a few days ....







So with my next update I will show you the finished model ....

Torsten

Torsten, your Pe-2 looks great. That is another on my list of kits to get. Regarding the Accurate Miniatures Il-2, I've been building one parallel to the Tamiya kit. It's not as bad as I had expected, it just requires more attentive building I guess.

Ryan, you should really get this kit! It's fantastic, Zvezda did a great job here. Though it still has its little flaws. Over here I've paid 29 Euros for the kit.

Anyway, guys, I call this beauty ready for take off. After a really slow start, in the end it became quick to finish this build and lasted 7 weeks in total. Finished Saturday evening. I will add later better photos in the gallery and of course in my assembly line thread with a bit of background story over in the WW2 Forum. These are just first shots .....

Petlyakov Pe-2, "White 24", 125. GvBAP, Balbasovo Airfield, Summer 1944, Pilot: Lt. Irina Osadze







Happy modelling and good luck for all your campaign builds!
Torsten

Great job Torsten, a really nice plane!
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Thanks Don!

Very nice indeed Torsten!

Michael