Here are some pics of two of the builds currently on my bench.

This is the Junkers Jumo 213E-1 that's included in Dragon's 1/48 Ta 152H-1 kit. I added wiring and hoses from fine copper wire and micro solder.





And a shot for scale, with a #11 blade.


Here are a couple shots of the cockpit, with added Eduard photoetched parts.



And here are three pics of my first comission work, Hasegawa's 1/48 B5N2 Tenzan ("Jill"). Extra detail is from the Eduard photoetched set. I mixed Gunze acrylics for the Nakajima cockpit color. This is nearly a dead-on match for the out-of production Aeromaster Warbird acrylic color.





Also "competing" for space on the workbench are Monogram's 1/48 C-47 (about to be camoed), and Tauro's 1/48 Macchi 202 (early stages).

Gotta get back to the bench now !

VERY NICE!!
A shame to place all that detail in a fusealage(sp) were you wont be able to see it. Great work! hope you post shots of the finished work. Who ever gets the commision work should be very happy! :-)
Steve

Hi Bill!

If the outside will look as good as the inside! Wow!

But hey! How can you build so many kits at the same time? Do you have six hands! Are you some kind of octopus!
I'll better call the MIB patrol! :-)

Good luck with your project!

Jean-Luc

Very nice, didnt realize how small the engine was till you put it next to the blade.

The ammount of detail in which you paint your models is truley amazing...

cheers

Philip

Superb, as always Bill. I can't wait to see the C-47, I have it in my stash and I know yours will be an inspiration which will probably have me building it sooner rather than later.
Mal

Thank you Steve, Jean-Luc, shain, Philip, and Mal !

Steve - the detail in the Jill's cockpit is still pretty visible once finished. I'm using Squadron's vac canopy, which will be cut open. This is the second one of these that I've built.
The Ta 152's engine cowling pieces will be glued open, so all except the very top of the engine can be seen.

Jean-Luc - I'm disabled, so I spend 30 to 50 hours a week at the bench. You can get a lot accomplished in that much time !

shain - that's why I put the blade in the pic. I figure that we all know how big a #11 blade is !

Mal - here are some shots of the C-47.

I scratchbuilt the throttle quadrant.



I replaced all the windows with thin clear sheet. These are MUCH clearer than the thick plastic parts.



The right engine, with added pushrods and ignition wires.


The left engine.


I scratchbuilt the wheel wells. The kit's are empty and inaccurate.


I'll be doing a base for this one, and adding the kit figures. There are nine paratroopers included, but only three different poses. I'll be redoing the flag patches with a Prismacolor pencil to get sharper stripes. I also need to redo the back of the pilot's jacket. The drybrush is way too light and too heavy. I also need to fill the ejector pin mark on the boot of the far right paratrooper.



Thanks again !

Thanks Bill, wonderful. The static line cable is a nice touch and the moulded on seat belts look good. Nice figures too, I started to paint the ones in my kit, but that's as far as I got
Mal

Wow, Wow, and WOW!

As always it looks great Bill!

I too have been thinking about adding a goony-bird to my collection and seeing what you've been up to may have sealed the deal!

Looks Great!

-scott

Thanks Mal and Scott !

Mal - I tried a different approach to painting the figures. I added black to the base colors (flesh, OD, etc) and painted the darkest recesses first. Next was a drybrush of those colors with less black. I then drybrushed the unaltered colors, followed by two more drybrushings, with added white oil paint. I glossed them with Future, and applied a thin dark gray wash to selected areas. A lot more work, but I'm more interested with the final results than I am with what's needed to get trhere.

Scott - the C-47 is currently out of production, but RM is pretty good about rereleasing kits. They're selling for premium prices on eBay now, so you'd probably be best off to wait.


I got the camo on the Jill's airframe this weekend. I used the out-of-production Aeromaster Warbird Acrylic Nakajima Navy Green and Nakajima Navy Gray paints. I dislike acrylics, since every one but Gunze dries on the airbrush's tip. Occasionally, it will unclog itself, leaving a run like the one you can see on the underside of the nose. After cleaning the needle and tip, I added Future to the paint. This slows the drying time, and seems to help the paint flow better. The leading edge ID bands have been undercoated with white in preparation for the yellow.



Here are some of the detail pieces, with Eduard PE. The metallics are different shades of Alcad.


I'm getting a few hundred bucks for the build, so I'll be happy if I can do at least one a month. My disability check doesn't allow me to buy too many new kits !

Thanks again !