ophthoidoug

Watching closely, with the Aims mistel conversion lurking in my stash. Wasn't sure about the panel-joints in the top of the fuselage when I looked at the sprues but yours looks superb. What did you fill them with? Did you have to re-scrib any of it? Rivet-work adds to how good yours is looking. Any advice about the fuselage for someone who hasn't tackled it yet? Thanks & thanks for sharing

Hi Peter 1) first apologies for my lousy photographs, I'll take some better ones (including the other birds - Wouter) & post them later ... 2) yes ... I think the wing-to-fuselage join is a "story". I looked at a number of builds when tackling mine and although several were beautifully done (some of the incredible wood-finishes come to mind), almost all showed a poor joint in this critical area. The kit would have you plug the wings into place with tiny plastic bolts, which although reflective of the original design - make for a poor finish here in this scale. It seemed to me (just my own opinion again so I hope nobody will get bent out of shape with me) that the nicest models I saw online had been finished with the wings separate from the body. I considered this as an option - with the wings in a jig in a railway cart (!)but ultimately wanted a quick/uncomplicated build ... A compounding problem (yet again ... just my own opinion) is the clear yet contoured nature of these parts making a perfect join in the area v challenging indeed (even after first spraying all the sprues with Mr Surfacer - which I tried). Sanding, re-scribing and loss of detail would all be problematic so after some thought, I decided to finish the kit with the center panel removed, allowing display of the beautiful engine detail and allowing me to cheat by not even having to make that difficult join... The multiple panels would allow a number of permutations in this regard ... I often weather warbirds heavily but wanted this to be fairly clean... Paints were home-mixes of Tamiya acrylics, marking sprayed on using commercial masks & with a light scattering of a few random dry-rub stencils Grateful as I am for some of the ZM subjects I wish they'd steer a little more away from gimmicks like multi-colored plastic (Ta 152), fuselages so scalped of panels as to make a neat finish a v challenging undertaking indeed (Uhu) & clear body parts (Horten). I wonder if perhaps these might be more appropriate aftermarket/alternate parts (?). I prefer (for example) Tamiya's trend back in this direction comparing their Corsair to say their Spitfire. As always ... just my own opinion Bit of a rambling answer but I hope it answers your question, just as others have taken the time to kindly answer my own questions... Best from SoCal Doug

A few pics of the big 1/32 ZM Horten. Finished it straight from the box. Relatively quick & straightforward build, though I have to say I hated the "clear" panels - made them challenging to work with and made edges & seems difficult to judge. I thought about different ways of finishing the model to allow some internal display and also to help me with the challenge of the wing-to-fuselage (such as it is) joint. Ultimately this is how it ended up & is the main reason I'm sharing - since although it makes a nice addition in my cabinet it not in the same league as some of the masterpieces I see on this site. Kept weathering to a bare minimum. Hope the pics are of decent quality, they're just taken with my phone. Its surprisingly big parked next to some of my other Luftwaffe birds! HKs new Dornier should be arriving with the mail this afternoon :-) Regards to all

Really enjoying this. You'll motivate me to pick up on my big mistel again. Can I ask what matt-coat you used on the engine nacelle's? I'm still looking for a perfect flat coat that isn't "eggshell" &/or doesn't leave a fine powdery dusting ... thanks for sharing Doug

Well, the engine with panels & latches etc arrived at my house today. I've always liked detail sets, having previously built an "opened" butcher-bird in 1/48 using the excellent Aires set but I have to say that this is the most amazing resin detail I have ever seen - for any aircraft in any scale. Its absolutely stunning! The cost of all these detail sets (firewall, engine, cockpit, undercarriage etc) will easily make this build more expensive than a new Tamiya kit (the relatively paltry cost of the Revel kit itself aside!) but the potential is amazing. I'll tackle it as soon as I finish my current JV44 D9 and can't wait to start seeing 1/32 butcher-birds appearing on the web and on contest tables with their guts exposed...

Superb weathering! I just layed down Mr Surfacer 1500 on my corsair last night Now pondering a US vs FAA scheme since I have markings for both (?) I will be using your excellent pictures as a reference when I weather mine Thanks for posting Doug

V nice I made a Tamiya buzzbomb in 1/48 a while ago as part of a 190-composite (http://www.hyperscale.com/2010/galleries/fw190v1mistelde_1.htm). Wonder whether a 1/35 rocket would look OK to the eye under a 1/32 190? I'll be thinking up reasons to order several Revel butcher birds :-) Thanks for posting

V nice indeed, just the right amount of weathering & superb rivet lines Does your first pic imply that you riveted with a punch-wheel or individually with the punch? Did you tape down the steel rule/guide or free-hand it? Rivets are still a bit of a learning curve for me... Thanks for posting

Beautiful!

Just stumbled across this thread! You should know that you've ruined my day I literally had to concentrate to separate the reference photos from the photos of your build If I have some free time tomorrow I'll get back to trying to assemble Tamiya's perfectly engineered corsair ... or maybe just take up stamp collecting instead ...

oh boy oh boy oh boy! I'm going to start accumulating these sets (& others like the wheels, undercarriage legs, decals etc) in anticipation. Eduard responded to my customer inquiry with an affirmative, in that they are working on a complete engine & mount. This is indeed a great time for large scale aircraft enthusiasts - some of Tamiya's big birds as well as the stunning stream of Wingnuts kits come to mind, but an accurate butcher bird with all of its panels opened up in 1/32 scale will probably be my ultimate kit & I literally can't wait to tackle it!!! Thanks for the review & keep em coming Doug

Actually pretty excited about this one too I saw a stunning one in 1/48 recently - perched on a scratch-built catapult & masterfully weathered in multiple "sun-faded" shades of blue I second the HpH catapult comment/wish. I built their Arado catapult & love the result! They take commissions based on numbers so if enough folks were willing to pre-order one, they might consider it ...?

Wow! Amazing work. This is why I keep looking at this forum... Would love to se a w-in-p for this build. I have this kit in my stash - can I specifically ask for your experience/advice wrt to the side windows? I've heard that their fit isn't great. Did you use aftermarket replacements? Did you have to use filler/sand etc? Anything you'd suggest? I'm going to hold out for the RB Scheuch Schlepper before starting mine Thanks for sharing Doug

Although the picture of part; riveter & steel tape sort of tell the story, I'd love to watch a video of you riveting. Do you mark the lines first? Do you tape the steel guide down for each line? You specifically describe re-defining each rivet with a needle after using the riveting tool - do you sand these areas afterwards? Apologies if the questions seem pedantic but although I haven't tried riveting anything yet, I'm guessing its a lot more difficult than it looks to achieve the perfect finish I see here...

Outstanding! I've seen the photos so I know how weathered many Japanese aircraft became but I often look at a model and feel its been spoiled by overzealous and/or unrealistic weathering. Everyone has their own taste but to my eye the finish on yours is perfect.

Great looking accessories Great photos too - I really need to learn to take better pictures. I've already posted this elsewhere but for anyone interested who's reading this thread, I emailed Eduard to ask about a full "brassin" engine (as per the 109 set for the Revell kit) and their response was that they're working on it now & plan to release it around September. The firewall/gunbay is already out. To me, very few aircraft models look as eye-catching as 190 with its engine panels opened & dropped. I can't wait to tackle this in 1/32 scale... Now then - what are the odds that Revell will combine their 109/190 with a Ju88 and offer us a mistel? Not sure there'd be anything left on my wish list after that :-)

Thanks I might need to do a better job of photographing some projects - they were quickie pics, taken in the cabinet using my I-phone. Just finished both the (Hasegawa) 109 and the DVII in Udet's (red) scheme & am enjoying Wingnuts so much that I've started on the (early) Hansa-Brandenburg. I had previously started the HK Pfeil but have it on hold until I can change it to the next version (projected to come out shortly after their mossie) - I should be able to use the cockpit, decking & engines I've already finished. Eduard will be releasing a "brassin" engine for the new Revell butcher-bird (? around September according to them) so really I just need to keep clearing my stash until then :-)

Very cool The D-VII banner already stimulated me to build a Wingnuts kit in Udet's (red) scheme. I was told this week by someone involved in the HK production process, that next Pfeil version will be released behind their mosquito. Also heard from Eduard today that they are in the process of making a full "brassin" engine for the new Revell 190 (wheels, spats & firewall already surfacing and the engine scheduled for "around September"). These two things (Dornier fighter & 1/32 F8 with full engine bay) would probably at the top of my hypothetical "wish list" so needless to say I'm a very happy camper... Need to work on clearing the stash a little now ... Doug

Thanks for posting The grey/green contrast works well for this aircraft. I'm just getting ready to tackle the wing-to-center-section joints now. Its the one part of this kit which concerns me (made more challenging by the clear wing & body parts which render accurate joins even more challenging). I'm planning to airbrush the parts on the sprues prior to working with them, try to position them as accurately as possible and then tackle whatever gap remains with Mr Surfacer 500. I'd like to try and avoid sanding/re-scribing if possible (?) Watching how others handle this kit with interest... Doug

Fantastic build & finish!! Already attention-grabbing, even with just the synthetic stand. The Ju88 will complete the work of art. I have the Aims mistel conversion in my stash but haven't braved it yet. Can't wait to watch yours unfold... I wonder whether you'll rivet it? I think I probably should but it's a daunting task. Thanks for sharing. Doug

Wow - at the end of long, tiring Friday, you guys have restored a little of my faith in humanity. I like to think that whoever stole your kit had little to no idea what they were taking because I'm not sure I can place someone who chooses to appreciate and build a kit like that into the same mental bracket as someone who would steal one. Nice to see worthwhile human beings holding the line. If it were feasible I'd buy the next round of beers for everyone! Doug

Looks great I'm working on this kit now, side-by-side with a WNW DVII. The engines are great little kits in their own right and the potentially complex tubing arrangement of the central structure is well engineered and fits extremely well. Although grateful to have 1/32 kit of this aircraft available, I personally don't like the clear body & wing skinning, think it looks a little "gimmiky" & in particular makes accurate fitting of adjoining surfaces much harder to evaluate (my personal taste in finishes by the way, in no way detracts from the skillful work of others!). Largely because of this feature, I'm also concerned about achieving a perfect wing to "center section" (probably can't call it a fuselage on a flying wing :-)) joint... I think I'll probably airbrush the clear components prior to assembly so that I can see what I'm doing? Not sure whether to build the wings completely before attaching them (ie spars, upper & lower skinning) or attach the spar-structures first then add the upper and lower panels??? If it works out reasonably well I'll post a few pics. Thanks for sharing, it's great to see how others are tackling this kit & to learn from everyone's tips & techniques. Doug

As a follow-up to my last comment, I see that ZM are in the early stages of a 1/32 FW190 (see their "Old Man Blog" # 56). Doubtless, it'll include a full engine. Just like my hopes of a 1/32 Do335 - it never rains then it pours :-)