Germany
Joined: September 07, 2005
KitMaker: 5,609 posts
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Posted: Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 04:28 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I'd like to see you build the kit that I am currently building for the Vietnam campaign. It is Classic Airframes F-5 Freedom Fighter in 1/48 scale. The fit and finish is horrible which is a shame because it is otherwise a beautiful kit. Already I have around 50 hours building the kit and she's not ready for primer yet.
I'd really like to see what a person of your skill level could produce out of the F-5 kit. Like I said, she's actually a beautiful kit for someone with more advanced skills.
He will probably make it look like an easy build but this is a
B A D kit .. have it in the works for over two years now (on and off) nothing fits.. Last time I put it away as I tried to put the wind shield on .... tell me about Starfix ... but ..
you know Peter Q. Taggart's motto? "Never give up, never surrender!" ... (Movietip for all the Trekker out there: "Galaxy Quest"
)
cheers
Steffen
DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO HOBBY MORI
Merlin
Senior Editor
#017
United Kingdom
Joined: June 11, 2003
KitMaker: 17,582 posts
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Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 02:14 AM UTC
Hi Jean-Luc
It looks like you're busy coming up with another bit of miracle-working on the Hs 126! I agree with Steffen - if anyone can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, it's you!
I've not found the "new" Tamiya putty in my LHS yet, but I'll have to give it a try. I got some light-curing filler years ago that was meant for car repairs - it was great for building up major areas, but was really a bit too coarse-textured for the final layer in modelling work. What you've got looks as quick to use as "supafilla" (cyano & talc) without the hassle of mixing it. Definitely worth a try.
All the best
Rowan
BEWARE OF THE FEW...
As I grow older, I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me. - H. Rider Haggard
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
AeroScale: 4,347 posts
Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 03:04 AM UTC
Hi all!
Quoted Text
I've not found the "new" Tamiya putty in my LHS yet, but I'll have to give it a try. I got some light-curing filler years ago that was meant for car repairs - it was great for building up major areas, but was really a bit too coarse-textured for the final layer in modelling work. What you've got looks as quick to use as "supafilla" (cyano & talc) without the hassle of mixing it. Definitely worth a try.
Rowan, this putty is something you should try. But it is expensive! I paid almost 20€ for it at my LHS which is the price... of the Bf 109 F-2 kit from ICM!
I finished to work on the Hs 126's fuselage assembly... at last!
you can note on the picture above that the tail is slightly offset (2° according to plans). As I said previously, probably to counter the torque effect of the radial Bramo engine. The problem on FM's kit, is that the rudder is also leaned. I only noticed that after gluing the horizontal tailplanes. This is another bad surprise due to the poor design of the kit...
I didn't wanted to live with it so I used my Dremel tool and cut into the side of the rudder to be able to bend it straight. I filled the gaps with plastic and filler and sanded smooth. It may look spectacular on the pictures but it was an easy job in the end...
I also added a fairing on the landing gear legs (red arrow). On the Hs 126, the suspension system was inside the fuselage so the legs had to remain flexible and not fixed to the airframe, only the fairing was...
Below is the current status of the duo build. I didn't touched the Bf 109 since four days now because all my building time was devoted to the Hs 126. But now it's painting time for both kits!
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Merlin
Senior Editor #017
United Kingdom
Joined: June 11, 2003
KitMaker: 17,582 posts
AeroScale: 12,795 posts
Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 03:15 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I didn't touched the Bf 109 since four days now...
Hi Jean-Luc
You shouldn't complain too loud... I haven't had a chance to go near any kit in four weeks! :-)
All the best
Rowan
BEWARE OF THE FEW...
As I grow older, I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me. - H. Rider Haggard
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
AeroScale: 4,347 posts
Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 03:28 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I haven't had a chance to go near any kit in four weeks!
Hi Rowan!
Hmmm... so tell me how you did to write your reviews then!
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Germany
Joined: September 07, 2005
KitMaker: 5,609 posts
AeroScale: 5,231 posts
Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 03:46 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Rowan, this putty is something you should try. But it is expensive! I paid almost 20€ for it at my LHS which is the price... of the Bf 109 F-2 kit from ICM!
Try HLJ (orderd mine last weekend) .. 1200yen plus 400something s&h .. still approx half the price of LHS
I think your repaired the wrong thing on the tailplane. the Rudder is torqued on many single engined a/c, what is wrong in the kit (IMHO) is that the elevators should be 90° to the Längsachse (too lazy to look it up now .. the red line). So I think you should have cut the elevators and glue them on right ... but as I said: just my humble opinion
sleep well my friend
cheers
Steffen
DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO HOBBY MORI
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
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Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 01:46 PM UTC
Hi Steffen!
Quoted Text
Try HLJ (orderd mine last weekend) .. 1200yen plus 400something s&h .. still approx half the price of LHS
I have ordered twice at HLJ and I had to pay custom taxes each time. I don't know if you have to pay them in Germany too (I know Rowan never had to pay these) but here in France it seems the custom employees do their job very well... so unfortunately for me it is not that interesting...
Quoted Text
I think your repaired the wrong thing on the tailplane. the Rudder is torqued on many single engined a/c, what is wrong in the kit (IMHO) is that the elevators should be 90° to the Längsachse (too lazy to look it up now .. the red line). So I think you should have cut the elevators and glue them on right ... but as I said: just my humble opinion
Steffen, after having checked as much reference drawings as I could I think I did the right thing... but I'm not an expert by any means. The reference article you sent me confirmed what I thought. Below are top views that clearly show the entire tail (rudder + elevators) are offset by 2°.
The first two pictures and the text are from the Flugzeug Classic article. The drawings are from the net and I found two which show the correct offset tail and one with a wrong representation (never trust 3 view plans 100%)... Below are illustrations I made to show you how the kit's tail would have looked like if I didn't made the modification...
I exaggerated a bit in my drawing but I think it would have looked odd on the finished model. But again, I'm not an expert and maybe I'm wrong. But it's nice to see that building an aircraft model can lead to such interesting technical discussions!
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Germany
Joined: September 07, 2005
KitMaker: 5,609 posts
AeroScale: 5,231 posts
Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 - 02:18 PM UTC
Hi Jean-Luc
Super, Thanks! I never thought the whole tail is off set --- now I understand what you corrected. I just got that wrong .. I am not sure if FM is wrong in this case, but I agree it would look odd.
I agree never trust drawings .... or profiles .. not even photos ... trust noone .... the truth is out there
If you look at e.g. the Bf 109 you will also notice a torque in the rudder, but not in the elevators ..that is what I meant .. obviously wrong in this case.
re HLJ .. in Germany as long as it is under ~25 Euro it will go without charge, above that you have to pay an import tax (which is minor) but also VAT which is 19% now (in France too I guess) .. I will have to pay this time as HLJ is not able to cope with two different orders, they just throw it all together and charge you .. and they do not even send my Hasegawa GP (it just went from preordered to backordered .. rats)
best wishes
Steffen
DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO HOBBY MORI
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 12:59 AM UTC
Hi all!
Not much progress today, only a coat of paint to see if the surface finish is ok, some sanding and the kits are ready for camouflage painting...
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
AeroScale: 4,347 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 02:45 AM UTC
Hi all!
I applied the basic camouflage for both planes.
RLM 65/70/71 and yellow theatre markings for the Henschel...
RLM 76/74/75 and RLM 71/02 "snake" pattern for the Messerschmitt...
Of course the Bf 109 painting was more difficult to do...
Below are two pictures of the models in their current status.
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Germany
Joined: September 07, 2005
KitMaker: 5,609 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 02:55 AM UTC
Hi Jean-Luc
Great!!! and very inspiring
I too have a multimodel build going on .. the 109 and this "little" beauty
cheers
Steffen
DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO HOBBY MORI
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
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Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 03:46 AM UTC
Hi Steffen!
I don't think "little" is the right word! :-) The Wyvern is a beast! Even bigger than a P-47!!!
You seem to have the most difficult part behind you... good luck for the Suez stripes!
Jean-luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Germany
Joined: September 07, 2005
KitMaker: 5,609 posts
AeroScale: 5,231 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 04:01 AM UTC
DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO HOBBY MORI
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
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Posted: Friday, February 23, 2007 - 01:56 AM UTC
Hi all!
Just a little update to tell you that the models are ready for decaling after several coats of Future
I will use the decals from the box for the F.M. kit. For the Bf 109, I had to look in my spare box because I wanted to do a decoration that is not on ICM's decal sheet.
I hope to be able to post more interesting pictures tomorrow...
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined: June 01, 2006
KitMaker: 1,707 posts
AeroScale: 1,119 posts
Posted: Friday, February 23, 2007 - 02:07 AM UTC
Jean-Luc, would you mind awfully to explain more detailed how you did the 109 camouflage please? It's one of my alltime favorites.....
Great looking builds mate!
"I´m going back to the front to relax"
"THE BLACK CATS FLIES TONIGHT"
"Find your enemy and shoot him down - everything else is unimportant"
"When you're out of F-8's... You're out of fighters!"
Germany
Joined: September 07, 2005
KitMaker: 5,609 posts
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Posted: Friday, February 23, 2007 - 03:15 AM UTC
Com'on Jan ..
the pix above show more than 2000 words ... great art .. ask DaVinci how he did the Mona Lisa .. you still cannot copy it .. well most people can't
cheers
Steffen
BTW the sino-anglaise Dragon is done ... hope I can post some pix on monday (if the model survives the show this weekend)
DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO HOBBY MORI
Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined: June 01, 2006
KitMaker: 1,707 posts
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Posted: Friday, February 23, 2007 - 10:32 PM UTC
"I´m going back to the front to relax"
"THE BLACK CATS FLIES TONIGHT"
"Find your enemy and shoot him down - everything else is unimportant"
"When you're out of F-8's... You're out of fighters!"
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
AeroScale: 4,347 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 04:18 AM UTC
Hi Jan!
Yo don't have to be sorry! You have the right to ask me any question you want...
I applied the decals today. Some went well and some silvered. I will have to make some adjustments tomorrow. I hope it won't be too visible under a satin coat.
Now about that "snake pattern" of the Bf 109...
... since I knew my airbrush skills were not good enough to paint the pattern freehand, I decided to use Blu Tac for the darker netting. I took me an hour to apply the Blu Tac over the previously RLM 70 painted fuselage but I was sure to get something decent at the end. I then applied the RLM 76 Light Blue and once dry the RLM 02 in the "cells". Finaly the plane got it's RLM 74/75 upper camo and I played with pastels to blend everything together... et voilà!
Ok, it's not 100% accurate but it doesn't look to bad I think. However, talking of Art and Da Vinci is a little bit exaggerated. It's only modeling! I like to try new techniques, especially on cheap kits, sometimes it looks ok, sometimes not...
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
#029
England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: December 23, 2005
KitMaker: 6,249 posts
AeroScale: 3,270 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 04:36 AM UTC
That snakeskin looks very effective Jean Luc!
I never have any luck with German camoflage schemes
Do you use Tamiya colours for the RLM?
Nige
It's not the same, better, but not the same...
Removed by original poster on 10/31/07 - 19:13:26 (GMT).
England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: March 23, 2003
KitMaker: 2,124 posts
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Posted: Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 12:09 AM UTC
hi jean-luc! looks like i did the right thing avoiding temptation on that 126 kit! that said, you've got both these kits shaping up really nicely (the 109 scheme loks great) i find blu tac is a great answer to any tricky camo schemes
ipms member 10318, click the IPMS-UK link under the avatar to see!
ACCIDENT PRONE? ME? NAAAAH!
SCREW YOU PHOTOBUCKET! ------------------------------------------------>>>>
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
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Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007 - 01:54 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Do you use Tamiya colours for the RLM?
Hi all!
Thanks for your kind words...
Nigel, yes I only use Tamiya acrylic paints. For some of the RLM colors I use the formulas that can be found in some of Tamiya's kit instructions. For the others I make my own mixes based on the books I have.
Both planes are now on their feets...
I still have a lot to do (panel lines, weathering, small parts like actuators or antenna masts, aerial wires, struts etc...) but the thing I fear most is to get the wing of the Hs 126 in place! Uuuhhh!
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: March 07, 2005
KitMaker: 868 posts
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Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007 - 04:09 PM UTC
absolutely stunning Jean-Luc...interesting to see you leave the Hs 126 wing off...I did this on a 72nd kit ..and then couldn't get the wing on very well...glue everywhere....didn't do the finish much good...
is there a landing light aperture just under the starboard wing leading edge ..can't see it.... ...yes there is......
#041
Kobenhavn, Denmark
Joined: July 20, 2006
KitMaker: 10,069 posts
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Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007 - 04:59 PM UTC
Really great Jean-Luc!
Especially the Bf 109 is great. I think you captured the right look of the camouflage. Well done.
Campaign'oholic - 252+ campaigns completed
Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
AeroScale: 4,347 posts
Posted: Friday, March 02, 2007 - 02:39 AM UTC
Hi all!
Quoted Text
interesting to see you leave the Hs 126 wing off...I did this on a 72nd kit ..and then couldn't get the wing on very well...glue everywhere....didn't do the finish much good...
is there a landing light aperture just under the starboard wing leading edge ..can't see it.... ...yes there is......
Neil, yes I'm struggling right now to get the wing glued on! :-) As you can see I'm using my "plexiglas wing" technique. It worked on my CR 32 kit last year and I hope I will achieve an acceptable result this time as well.
And yes there is a landing light under the wing...
Quoted Text
Especially the Bf 109 is great. I think you captured the right look of the camouflage. Well done.
Jesper, the camouflage of the Bf 109 may look more spectacular but I prefer the Hs 126 model!
The Messerschmitt is almost finished, I think I will be done tomorrow with it...
I hope to finish the Hs 126 tomorrow as well but it really depends on how good the wing fit will be...
Jean-Luc
Better think one hour and build five minutes...
Than think five minutes and build an hour!
