DocRob

I could help testing and consuming . Happy Chinese New Year Cheers Rob

After matte coating fuselage and wings, It was time to start with the undercarriage. Because of the fast drying time of the CA, I decided to build a jig for assembly out of a block of wood, which represents the underside attachment points of the fuselage. The little UC wing got pre rigged for the cross bracings and then glued on the struts. Then, after curing, everything was attached to the fuselage, including the cross rigging, which was inserted first in the strut's holes in the fuselage, followed by the CA'ed struts. I had a little wiggle time, to adjust the whole undercarriage. Finally, the turnbuckles were pulled taught and secured with CA. The extra brass work payed off, as the undercarriage would carry a B-52 now, in 1/32 scale. Then I attached the nose section to the fuselage, where the fit is not perfect, but I decided, I can't think of a makeable solution for this and finally glued everything together. It was the second high trouble area, I identified with the build and it proved the toughest one. There is a tiny gap now, that I can live with, so be it. The Spandau machine guns received a coat of black pigments, followed by some steel pigments and finally got the custom punched out round counters decaled with some Airscale dials. They are not attached finally. Last but not least, the leather parts were painted in different brown tones and still have to dry, as they are to shiny right now. Cheers Rob

No need to be jealous, I had a very bad elbow pain the last weeks and running was the only thing to do in the way of sports, which I did extensively, be it rainy, stormy, cold and rarely sunny. Today it was the first swim since four weeks, but the arm held up for a pretty long distance. Now, all my muscles are aching, but I guess the last coat of matte varnish should be dry by now and next up is the long awaited assembly of the main components, yeah .

That looks very WOW. Great modulation and great work with layers, beside from all the enhanced detail. Cheers Rob

Muchas Gracias Hombres, I'm still having fun with the Fokker and slowly see the finish line in the distance, but the ongoing repeated sealing with the necessary drying time is winding me up. Work for an hour, wait for the next day. If my bench wouldn't be that cluttered up, I would start another project in the meantime, but the weather is great, I will have a Jog instead and a swim today . Cheers Rob

Looking good, like Phil said. I have to build a Sherman (Firefly) sometime. I have one in my stash from Asuka, along with some nice figures. Keep on rollin' with this one. Cheers Rob

Today, I took all my courage together after the decal disaster luckily solved. The gloss coat was completely dry, so I used a clay wash to make the little Fokker a bit grimy and the decals stayed in place while rubbing the dried clay off the parts with a cloth. I will not go too far with the weathering, but the look should also not be brand new. Everything went well and tomorrow, all will be sealed with some matte varnish. Cheers Rob

That stuff never worked for me with the Vallejo colours, like Mr. Levelling thinner does with Tamiya acrylics. Cheers Rob

Personally I think the depth of a stash is relatively unimportant. What counts more is the will to build what you have, the dedication and people are different in that case. Some are hoarders, (I have to confess ) others are more selective or simply fast in fast out and up to the next one. The purpose for building models is also way different among us. Some have historical reasons, others go for the challenge, and some are doing it for pleasure and relaxation or all or none of it. I can't work on different kits at the same time except, they are connected in a way, so it's one after another, but I need a big stash, to let my thoughts wander to future projects and let me tempt by whatever reason I find. It's the same with books to me, I can't have only one book in the pipeline, I need a shelf full and have to develop some anticipation for the next one. I cannot finish a good read without having an idea about the next book. As it's the same with models, I need a stash to choose, but I envy others who are less dependent than me. Beside from hard facts like money, space, acceptance by the family,..., it is mainly a question about what type of character you are. I bought all my kits to build them, all my books to read them, all my vinyls to hear them (that at least has a checkmark ), all my shoes (I have a fetish here) to wear them, ... . I'm a hoarder, but I try to convince myself, that all purchases are for a purpose, which is more than adding to a stash. Not all of these projects will be realized for different reasons, but that's part of the game. I know it's partly hypocryte, but that's how I am . Cheers Rob

When all conditions are perfect, they spray well, but some colours were hardly to thin to a correct grade. sometimes I couldn't get decent results at all, they behaved like oil on glass not covering well. I have a lot of them and used them on many occasions. You can achieve good results with them, but the tendency to clog in the airbrush is higher than with other products. You can't thin them with Mr. Leveling Thinner, they will turn to a big tar like lump in the airbrush. I'm switching back to Tamiya acrylics and said leveling thinner. The results are more consistent, the painted surfaces are more durable and the tendency to clog in the airbrush is reduced with the levelling thinner, which gives better results and stress free airbrushing . Cheers Rob

The benefit in having only a few kits, is the percentage increase is much bigger with every new one. Stats never lies . Cheers Rob

Thanks Kai, I used your method on loose edges of decals before, which lifted a little during later steps of the build and it worked. This time I haven't expected any problems, as the decals lied down perfectly and looked like tattooed on. Cheers Rob

Wow, great result with the subtle figure painting. The figures with their individual poses looking great, enhanced by your fine brushwork. Cheers Rob

Thank you Carl, I read about that Tamiya decal potion, but never tried it. I will try to get a bottle of that stuff and test it on some stubborn decals You are probably right about the availability of the 3M rattle can glue Hubert. Not many aerosol driven cans are on the shelves here anymore and importing them is impossible, since they changed the types of aeroplanes for mail delivery to my island. There is a strict 'rattle can ban' in order for the transport. In this case, I think even this type of glue would have lifted the decal, because the type I used was luckily so much detacked, that it barely sticked on the surface. This was the only reason, I could pull the decals off the tape and reapply them. I pity and envy you at the same time, for not having reached the latter stages of a build recently, for obvious reasons . As much as I like painting, masking and weathering, decaling gives me the creeps and if I could outsource this step for money, I would . Failing at decaling as one of the last steps of a project just hurts too much. Cheers Rob

Thank you guys, the decals were saved by now, but there is fear left, that after varnishing them, they could lift again. It seems, coating them doesn't effectively hinder the lift off. The adhesion on the Pheon decals seems to be very low. Like Gaz said, I had a bad feeling with masking over the decals, but with a nearly completely decaled fuselage, it's hard not to. I will experiment with the white glue Steve, thanks for mentioning. On another occasion I have used some Tamiya extra thin and it worked without destroying the decal, but this was only a partial lift off. Cheers Rob

Today, disaster struck, at least momentarily. I don't know what it is, with me and decals? There seem to be a bad surprise with them, with the only exception of the Aviattic made. I wanted to respray parts of the engine hatch on the lower side of the fuselage and masked with ten times detacked tape on the triple sealed decals for protection, while adjusting the tape, I realized to my horror, that all the decals on the fuselage side lifted and broke together. Somehow I was able to rescue them from the near non stick tape and put them in place again. It seems, I have to seal them even more, as I want to use a dirt clay wash on them, without ripping all the decals away. Beside this, I managed only to apply the crosses on the gloss coated wings and prepared and painted parts for the small 1/72 Fokker E.V. And now it is,... ... are you ready for some football?... It's Superbowl time with pulled pork burgers and homemade cole slaw . Cheers Rob

A true statement in colour. This plane can't get lost, bei it on the shelf or in reality. I have a soft spot for unique paint jobs and yours is eye candy . Cheers Rob

I use only oil colours from Abteilung 502, because I have no others. I can't tell, if there is a difference between them and other oil colours. Generally spoken, for a long time my oil colours wer rarely used, because of their relatively long drying time. Since a while, I start to use them more and more and they are just great and very versatile. Woodgraining, figure painting, using them as a wash, streaking, using them as a filter,... The technique used is quite different from other techniques, but well worth a try. Cheers Rob

Progress is slowly at the moment, caused by lots of test fitting for spars, engine, cowling and wheelstruts and drying time as well. I glued the PE engine hatch under the fuselage and added my self made spars for stabilization into the front of the fuselage and added the PE firewall. Parallel I glued another self made spar into the cowling after installing the engine. All is secured with CA. Then I made the last bendings on the undercarriage struts and test fitted them with the small axle-wing, so far so good. The wings got a blending oil colour treatment with black or dark brownish black oil colour and fast drying turpentine, to thin them considerably. The mix was applied with a saw brush and then worked in, in the direction of the airflow. I'm really satisfied with the outcome, as the streaking blended better now and the colours match closer to the lozenge and fuselage olive tone. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gentlemen, even if I will fail to finish this build in a decent way, it will be a standout for sure. This is by far the brightest spot in my shelf and I will need sunglasses for the final assembly . @Kai: Scale 75 is a Spanish company which started with white metal figures in 75 scale and the matching acrylic colours. The colours are a bit delicate to use. They are difficult to thin down and heavily pigmented and therefore, I never use them in the airbrush. The benefit of these colours lay in their absolutely matte finish, fast drying time, their great ability to cover and their brightness, which makes them ideal for brushpainting figures. Cheers Rob

At least the counting didn't take too much of your lifetime , no Excel needed for doing the adds. It's quality that counts not quantity. Cheers Rob

Today, the last fuselage decals, the lightnings were added, among some PE for the Oil gauge and oil tank caps. Afterwards the whole fuselage got a Pledge gloss varnish to seal the decals. Then it was time for the wings. I masked sections on the upper and underside and used a saw brush and an old stiff brush to cautiously brush on the colour in the direction of the airflow. I made thin layers with some drying time in between. The colour was spread on some plastic and only the top of the bristles were dapped in. I used exclusively Scale 75 colours, because they dry fast and absolutely matte and have a good opacity. Afterwards I sealed the camo under a coat of Pledge and when dry, I will decide about further treatments with oils or filtering. Cheers Rob

Thanks Kai, the airmen must have had a lot of spare time, to paint all that bright colour schemes onto their birds. Cheers Rob

Thanks krow, I hope that the other kits are ok, but logic is against it. I keep the double sprue of course, if there is somebody needing it to build his Gotha. I saw a few built, but neither in night camo. After my recent experiences with Aviattic's lozenge decals, the task of covering the whole plane in night camo decal, isn't frightening me too much anymore. If you want the prop pic, please send me your email address, since it's only possible to send a linked attachment in a PM. Cheers Rob

Great display of skills and talent. Love the little scene, which tells a story. The weathering is spot on and seeing the surroundings, absolutely believable. Cheers Rob