I put the finishing touches on my "Dora" this evening. Some last minute details were a handle inside the canopy, and tailwheel retractor cables that attach to the main gear retractors.

This was a very pleasurable build of a uniquely-painted aircraft. Thanks for letting me share it with you !






Now I can work on the nightfighters full-time.

Wow, that Dora is simply stunning! The detail you have put into those wheel bays is absoluty amazing! Real shame that TriMaster went bankrupt. Was that spiral on the prop a kit decal, you did an aamazing job on it!

cheers

Philip

Thank you Philip !

Yes, the spiral on the spinner is a decal, from the Eagle Cals sheet. They make some beautiful decals !

is it out of the box, because the details are incredible!

nice build, very nice~! thanks for sharing i love it!

Frank

TriMaster kits come with white metal and PE steel, so the detail that can be obtained OOB is incredable!

cheers

Philip

Hi Bill

Another beautiful build! Late-War German schemes are a modeller's dream.

I'm cursing slightly, because it looks like a TriMaster D-9 which I ordered has got lost in the post... Dohh!

All the best

Rowan

Bill,
She's a beaut! It is also a testimony to the fact that a plane can turn out fantastic without modelling the wear-and-tear and adding weathering.

Did the wing 'gear down' indicators and antenna come with the kit?

Thanks for sharing it.

Another beauty
One question Bill, Where does the antenna wire go after it enters the canopy. I cannot find it on any pics or pics of models anywhere. So is it just anchored to the canopy? Er 2 questions, What do you use for your antenna wire?
Mal

Wow Pix...WOW WOW WOW.

Let me guess... you free-handed the paint scheme. You bastage! Don't mind me... just green with envy! Gawd you're good!

Thanks for shareing


-Scott

Thank you Francois, Rowan, Keith, Mal, and Big Ton !

Francois - I cut open the wheel wells and added an engine from a derelict DML Ta 152 kit. The engine was wired and plumbed. I added hydraulic and electrical lines, along with the tailwheel retractor cables, to the gear legs with fine copper wire and solder. The aerial is a strand of speaker wire, which can be bent to the appropriate "droop" of the real thing. Kit details include photoetch parts, as well as white metal exhausts, gear legs, and tailwheel. The gun & cannon barrels are copper tubing, also from the kit. Most of the detail comes from the box, and adding little things finish it.

Keith - the aerial is a strand of speaker wire, and I cut short lengths of solder for the gear indicators. The kit has steel wire for these, but it's almost impossible to cut. There is a gauge on the instruction sheet for cutting the appropriate length.
I do all of my builds clean. I figure that weathering is a part of the environment. Since I don't do bases or dios (no room to start doing that !), weathering looks odd to me on a clean shelf. Almost like a clean bird in a wartime dio, but in reverse. Of course, we're all free to build 'em the way we want 'em. This is just how I prefermine.

Mal - the aerial passes over the top of the headrest, through a fitting on the canopy rail hardware, and to the flat portion of the fuselage under the rear of the canopy. Ifyou look very carefully at the third pic, you'll see it under the framing over the top of the hood (and on top of the headrest).

Big Ton - yes, the camo is freehand. The lower surfaces were masked for the metal and RLM 75 on the front of the wing. The topsides were only masked at the top of the cowling, and at the wingroots. The green gun cover would have been difficult to mask, so that is freehand also.


Thanks again for all the kind words ! It's a pleasure to share my efforts with you.

Thanks Bill, the wire is a bit difficult to see, so just to clarify, the wire parallels the top slop of the head rest and disapears at the rear of the canopy? This how I thought it went.
Thanks again, a wonderful model, I hope to have my Tamiya example finished soon.
Mal

Here's thev diagram from the instructions. The flat canopy is on the left, and the blown on the right.

I thought it might be a little difficult to explain.
Hope this helps !

just like to add another WOW! to this thread, i saw your in progress pics and thought that the cockpit alone was a heck of a nice job. i am really impressed most by the details you can see on the underside through the wheel wells. i see stuff on this site all the time that gives me something to aspire to,and you have really raised the bar with this kit, nice work!

Your Dora looks great. Very nice and clean build. Beautifull paint job. The spiner spiral looks very well done. Is it a decal or you paint it ?

Thanks Phil and Carlos !

Phil - yeah, I can sorta go cookoo on my cockpits. This is what I did to Hasegawa's Ar 234 with Verlinden and Eduard parts, along with wires and hoses:

Carlos - the spiral on the spinner is a decal from the Eagle Cals sheet. They make some of the best decals I've ever used, and the sometimes include picture documentation. If you build Luftwaffe aircraft, they're a MUST !

Thanks again !

two things bill, the first is i have just finished building a hasagawa 234, the nightfighter version,if you check out my gallery there are plenty of pics there. and ive only just realised that you have a nice avatar! lol
doh! why dont i just do this, heres my take on the 234 cockpit

Thanks for the clarification on the antenna wires Bill.
Mal

Hi all

Maybe I should have an on-line whinge more often!

My Trimaster D-9 arrived this morning... having begun its journey from America on Jan 2nd! I don't know where it's been in the meantime - perhaps it was sent via Timbuktu...

Still, it was worth the wait - it's a much cleaner moulding than the re-releases (plus, of course, it has the photo-etch and white metal parts).

All the best

Rowan

Great to hear Rowan, so we should see the finished pics on the forum in a couple of weeks? :-)
Mal

Hi Mal

With the Easter Bank Holiday to allow plenty of building time, I should have it finished by Wednesday!

Of course, I won't say which Wednesday - probably sometime in 2007!

All the best

Rowan