DocRob

Salut les messieurs, get your Gauloises between your lips and enjoy some Camembert with some vine rouge , its time for some French feelings with the build of this early war beast. After finalizing my Dottie Mae, I decieded that it is time to finish some kits which where lurking in their boxes for a long time. Some years ago, back in Berlin, I build the Char B1 and it was completely tamiyaesque, meaning great. What makes the kit even better than most others by the brand, are the single link clickable tracks, which are fully moveable and durable enough for painting and weathering. The Char B1 to me has a special attraction, it looks like a beast from another time and has a little steampunk attitude in it. I was thinking more than once, that a conversion to a steam driven 'landship' would have been appealing, but then there are the great Colour schemes for French tanks, they clearly have a knack for that. For a start I sprayed the whole tank with 'Warm Sand' from the Mig range and added masks from J's Work for the camo. These mask sets are great for hard edged camo on flat, detail free surfaces. They are precut in Kabuki and adhere good. The second Colour, 'Pale Green', also from a Mig set was then applied. And that's where I am know with that French colossus. The figures might be used for a little Dio, but that's not already decided. Cheers Rob

I think it is a mean looking machine, like a dinosaur on the prowl. The bonus of this one is that you only have to paint the idler and the road wheel, all the tiny ones are hidden. After the camo, the beast looks very clean, but this will alter. I guess with that track layout, there must have been a lot of grease and oil involved and mud splatters everywhere. Cheers Rob

Bring it on Carl. I have a weak spot for naval planes specially with floats and the Kingfisher is one of my favorites. Can't wait to see your magic working. Salt and sun are not only for surfers, but also great for weathering effects. Cheers Rob

Hola Señhoras y Senhores, after centuries in an Austrian lake Dottie Mae surfaced again some years ago and underwent restauration and now after all these years is able to get in her natural element again. When Eduard announced their version of the Hasegawa kit, it was instantly clear to me, that I have to build one and it turned out to be a pure pleasure experience. The addition of PE and some Brassin wheels is great and enhances the kit by far, specially in the cockpit. The only aftermarket used, where Master gun barrels and 0,3mm lead wire for the ignition of the engine and wiring in the cockpit. All in all it took me a little bit more than two month to complete Dottie and this is pretty fast by my standards. I added some plastic strips on the fire wall in the cockpit to get a look of corrugated metal and wired the Instrument panel. Both is nearly invisible after finishing the kit, but it was fun. Same goes for the wiring of the engine. I used lead wire for that task and wouldn't miss the experience. The lady was painted mainly with AK's Xtreme Metal Colours, like polished, pale and dark Aluminium on Tamiya rattlecan primer and Alclad gloss black primer with a heavy dose of sanding to get rid of imperfections in between coats. The metal Colours behaved well, with a little to much grain for my liking, but that might have been my fault. Shininess is great as you can see and these Colours are very durable with masking and are sealable with future. You have to be careful with removing of panel liner. I nearly ruined my build while removing access panel liner. The other Colours used where from AK, Tamiya and my beloved Livecolour set of blacks. Right, I bored you enough with the details, its showtime! Cheers Rob

Thank you Carl, these Xtreme metal Colours make life a little easier with NMF. The durability is a clear plus against Alclads. As I'm not prepared to foil a kit at the moment, it has to be airbrush and Colour. To make a well worn NMF is not a big deal, but a high shine reflective one is hard to achieve. I will do further testing in the future and may try it on a P-38. Cheers Rob

Looking great, I like the newish, but used look, not easy to achieve. New is relatively easy, abused too, but the way you did it is the hard way. Me like. Cheers Rob

Without your hand it would almost look real or is that hand of yours out of scale? Cheers Rob

Hehe, haven't thought about Indy. What I had in front of my imaginary eye was the Char sans tracks as a kind of gondola for a steam powered Zeppelin. The whole thing would have been made of copper and brass with lots of patina. And then there were these tempting French camo styles... Cheers Rob

Thank you Senhores, some kits make it easier to achieve a good result and Dottie is definitely one of them. Cheers Rob

Hola lovers of the flying heavy metal, certain members in this place made my mouth watering with their inspiring builds of P-47's recently. I always liked the brutish shape of a Jug combined with a certain kind of elegance, which to my eye is the result of a well engineered design, not to mention the shiny appearance of the natural metal finish. After my stalled build of the captured Me-163 Comet, I had to choose a subject where the fuselage was not a matter of thousand parts to align, it had to be a KIS a keep it simple design a halved fuselage. That's how the Eduard P-47D limited edition ended it's shelf live. I will not bore you with an in deep WIP, but will just show bigger steps and wanted or necessary modifications to the kit and will emphasis the natural metal finish, which is a first to me, at least in 1/32. First steps were to cut and sand all the parts needed for the cockpit, engine, wheels, flaps and test fit and plan the build. Construction started with the cockpit which is nicely rendered in plastic, added with a hefty dose of PE. It's a simple construction and is done in a whiff. For enhancement, I drilled out the visible back side of the instruments with a 0,4 mm drill and added lead wire with a diameter of 0,3 mm into the holes and fixed everything with a tiny drop of CA. I never wired a kit before and because it is easily done I will do more of this in other builds and possibly with the engine too, where PE ignition wires are provided, which I may substitute with lead wires. I also added some small styrene strips to the front firewall of the cockpit to represent the corrugated metal, which was used there. After test-fitting the fuselage and cowlings, I didn't like the representation of the lower shape between these parts. There was a visible step which does not correspondent with the real thing. After sanding the lower part of the fuselage and rescribing two panel lines I was satisfied with the result. It's a ten minute fix and worth it. Now everything looks a little bit more like a real Jug. While watching this photo, I think I might sharpen the edges of the movable cooling flaps a little, if it doesn't give to much insight into the nothing of the backside of the engine. Cheers Rob

Thank you Senhores, it was a pleasure to build after my temporary stalled Komet. Cheers Rob

Tres cool. Cheers Rob

Hi Gaz, there are many influences causing different shades in snow covered landscapes. There could be blues, greys browns, even pinkish tones and, er yellow. Don't get fooled with photos. Normal light metering systems of cameras are prepared for a light gray 'norm light' and therefore have to be manually corrected to give snow the right look. Cheers Rob

Love your weathering style, your dirt looks dirtier than other dirt , especially on wheels and struts and that prop saw quite some action. Cheers Rob

Nice, love it, but what about the Dio? Cheers Rob

Looks good to me, you can add more later and more appropriate to the scenery if needed. I have the same process ahead with my mud, snow and ice covered T-90, so I'm in your footsteps. Cheers Rob

Splendid, love your Nieuport. The Soviet scheme is very attractive and as much as the decals lead to alcohol subjects, the Nieuport seems to be a little oil leaking. Cheers Rob

Thanks Dave

Thank you Gentlemen, with better weather I will try to do some outdoor pics. Cheers Rob

Hi Free, nice and convincing weathering. This bird looks well used. One question on the way. the underside of the wing seems to have received some dust colored stains/panel lines and there seems to be none of it on the upper side. Is that proposed or just an effect of light and photography? Cheers Rob

Some superlatives about that build and I mean not only the size. Cheers Rob

Another masterpiece on it's way Cheers Rob

Very nice looking Nieuport. Love the scheme and weathering. For a WW1 plane it seems easy to rig, I haven't noticed that until now. Who produces the decals? Cheers Rob

Hola Senhores, Dottie is done. Today I added the prop, the canopy, the guns and antennas and the gunsight. I hope you enjoyed the build like I did. It was a trouble free experience. The kit is great and the Eduard extras are as well. I will try to get some decent photos for the 'finished-section'. I want to thank everybody for support and comments Cheers Rob

Tremendous work on the Hip. The riveted surfaces will look great under some flaking paint. Can't wait to see how your project turns out. Cheers Rob