ophthoidoug

Fantastic build. From pictures of others on the net, my own feeling is that attempting to over-weather actually makes these models look unreal & toy-like. Yours is just right. Will refer to it for guidance while I'm painting my own. I too have fond memories of building an Se5 with my dad when I was a boy. Thanks for posting

Beautiful! Only those of us who've tried, know how difficult it is to achieve that kind of finish... Can I ask you to share some painting details? *which paints you use for the grey/green wing surfaces (specific brand & ID)? *did you use any kind of surfacing or priming agent before painting? *what final satin coat you finished with (specific brand & ID or custom mix)? Thanks for posting this one!

A couple of quick (cellphone) shots of the latest model to clear my bench - Tamiya's big beautiful XVIe - finished in natural metal & South African colors. V difficult to get good quality photos of the finish/shading/reflections ... Unsurprisingly the kit fell together. Markings were a mixture of custom masks, Alleycat decals & Techmod stencils (I rate the stencils v highly indeed!). Painting comprised Mr Surfacer followed by Alclad then faded using heavily diluted (Tamiya) acrylic white & paneling with Comart inks (mostly grey & smoke). Now then, somebody in New Zealand has been kind enough to send me a Camel & an LVG in a large box & I can't wait to get stuck in! Best from SoCal Doug

Guess I'll keep replying in this forum in case others are interested? I'd also like to put a camel on this turret. The Shapeways turret in 1/48 is around $160 (roughly 23cm in length) . (I'm told that) rough guessing based on materials & cutting techniques would likely put a 1/32 turret at around $500 (roughly 35cm in length) but it could be done. Its exponentially more expensive based on a 1.5 size increase in all 3 dimensions as well as the associated material wastage... Not a cheap date (? wonder if we could knock it down by ordering more than one) but it would look spectacular. Going to keep chatting to him & see where it goes ...

*Hope nobody minds the lateral conversation/pics - never sure whether that should be strictly private but I'm always interested things others post?

Hear you about the weekends man! I have 2 toddlers & an old Jeep I'm trying to restore and we're in the middle of construction (not to mention my stash of unbuilt model aircraft that can probably be seen from space). Pasted the only pic of my Arado catapult I could find on Shutterfly. Can't take much credit though because it was shake-n-bake resin kit. I feel much more challenged by the turret. Just emailed shapeways to see if they could make me one in 1/32 (there is for example a large 1/48 USS Texas turret available on their site right now). Whatever your reservations about any small aspects of your build - its an inspiration! For anybody in Southern California - the Airforce is still planning on demonstrating the F35 at the Chino show this weekend :-) Doug

Just amazing!!! My WNW Camel arrived this week & I've been thinking about a similar base to put alongside my Arado/Catapult... Do you have any work-in-progress pics? Awesome build - thanks for posting Doug California

I'm an aircraft builder I'm not even supposed to be looking here :-) Your build is amazing!!

Enjoyed the recent JV44 190 post, will try to upload a few pics of my most recent build using my phone... Very basic build - Hasegawa kit with Aires engine, Gunze colors, markings are a mix of decals (walkways) & masks (insignia & the slogan under the cockpit believe it or not - masked using the Montex set)... V pleased with how it looks in the display cabinet alongside my recent 109 On deck now are the Wingnuts Se5a & ZM Pfeil as well as the (real!) '43 MB Willys I'm restoring in my garage Hope nobody minds me tacking a few in-progress pics & a jeep shot onto the end of my posting (?) Doug

Really nice!! Would love to see any in-progress build pics & hear more specifics about probs with this kit. Its on my list but not yet in my stash...

Looks great! Love this aircraft. I have this kit in my stash, hoping to get to it soon (Wingnuts "hisso" on deck rn). I previously built the (ZM) Ta152 & Horten (& totally agree with your sentiments about clear plastic - sprayed the Horten sprue trees with Mr Surfacer before starting the build) and am happy with how both turned out. The Uhu however was a different experience for me & currently languishes in the stash of kits that may or may not ever be completed. The body breakdown was so (unnecessarily) extensive that I found it very challenging to end up with a decent looking fuselage - too many gaps & joints. Might just be my lack of skill & as I said it's unfinished but at least for now I've given up on it.

Yeah, someone just forwarded the new duelist link to me (Camel + LVG) Best release I can remember! Despite having built a large number of the WNW kits (in fact switching to 1/32 pretty much because of them), I've been super-frustrated not to have bought or built an LVG (now of course out of production). This duel/kit is the perfect solution - a new offering as well as the chance to go back and pick something many missed out on. Great work Wingnuts!

Looks like you might have derailed my own Wingnut Pfalz project by posting that giant Dora ... ;-)

My jaw is sagging! Just amazing Would love to see it next to something to give an idea of size - like a person or piece of furniture? I'm really only a plane guy ... but ... I might just look around for one of these ... Whatever your "loss of mojo" moments may have been, I can tell you that your amazing build is an inspiration to others Thanks for posting all the construction pics Doug