DocRob

A great addition to my electronic bookshelf. I used the KLP issues about the Arado 234 and the AEG G.IV during my builds and they were very helpful. Cheers Rob

Let me introduce you to this sinister looking drone. The Neuspotter is also based on a design Kow Yokoyama for the MaschinenKrieger universe. The kit was first issued by Nitto 40 years ago and my Wave boxing marks the 40th anniversary. Still it looks cooler and somehow more frightening than modern drones. I started with the sensor unit, which besides the strange colored plastic features coil springs, vinyl tube and different wire diameters for the numerous antennas. The age of the mouldings is visible, but everything fits as it should. I will quick build the Neuspotter and then decide, if I add him in my scenery. To get a better idea about how the Neuspotter looks, I add this illustration, which comes with the kit. Cheers Rob

After quite a long journey some more goods from Japan arrived at my home. It seems, I have an Italian phase with car kits at the moment with the re-released Alfa Giulia, a car I always loved and nearly bought one many moons ago. The kit seems to be of decent quality, and even has an engine to show. I may add a set of PE for some further detailing. The 1/20 Neuspotter from Wave might be added to my sandbox GB entry. The version, I got is called 40th anniversary edition and since more or less as many years, I wanted to have one, among other of the veneer Nitto kits of MaK subjects. I also got a lot of drill bits for my MFH kits, a new pointed tweezer and Hasegawa Flexible Cutter. The cutter has a tiny rotating blade, which may be helpful for cutting masks for organic shaped camo patterns. Cheers Rob

Thank you Chris, I´m blushing. I´m also lucky, that second effort worked better than the hairspray, which never failed me before. Suggestions for the window treatment came through some of our knowledgeful regulars and I tested the different methods on spare parts. The effect, I´m after is a sandblast through a storm, therefore the undoubtedly very robust windows of the Kampfanzug wouldn´t be penetrated, just blinded. Cheers Rob

Glad you found your mojo back with the Lightning, PW. The result is stunning, the NMF fits the brutish beauty perfect. Cheers Rob

Thanks for showing, Kevin. this is retro cool somehow. We had a member from Belgium or Holland, who built rubber band driven planes, when I remember right. Cheers Rob

Can´t wait to see your approach on the Camel. It has been on my list for a while as well, but I also have the even cooler () looking Küster in my stash. And there is also an Nutcracker hover tank. Cheers Rob

Yes it is 1/12 scale, about as long as one of the American cruisers in 1/25 . Cheers Rob

Thank you Paul, indeed, he hadn´t the easiest of times. Good to hear, that your Camel arrived. I ordered my Neuspotter and other items from Plaza Japan in the beginning of October and it still is a no show. Cheers Rob

One has a Pinocchio nose The fit of my ZM Kai Phantom was indeed tamiyaesque. Cheers Rob

New kits in the hood. On a wombeling kick, I decided to hit the buy button on the ugly but appealing at the same time Gannet. It seems to be a nice kit and I think, I will build it in a rotten German Bundesmarine livery. For less than 60€, I couldn´t say no to this little bugger. I always loved the tiny Fiats and often drove in some, when I was young. I´m not so fond of Italeri kits, but this one seemed to be a decent one, lets see. Cheers Rob

After evaluating different methods on clear spare parts, I decided to use Tamiya Extra Thin for my sand blasted windows. I used the supplied brush nearly dry and applied the cement very carefully. This is only preliminary, to check the effect and more effects will be added, especially for the front window. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias for the suggestions, Hubert, Carl and PW. The clear parts are indeed polysyrene. I thought about using CA as well, but fear a not very controllable application. I will try thinner and matte clear on some spare parts. One side window should look blinded, the opened windshield only on the side, which calls for a faded effect. All will be followed by dust and sand deposits. Cheers Rob

Thank you Martin and Kevin. After the hairspray thing didn´t work, it was clear, that it will be substituted by a multi layer weathering effort, starting with sanding, scratching and other sorts of mechanical abuse, followed by steel paint and then light sand paint. Later I will add more layers of sand, dust, but that will be done together with the base. Cheers Rob

On went the second layer of dry paint dabbed on. This time it was a light bone color, called Moonray Flesh. I also applied the paint with a stiff old brush, but this time not only in the direction of the sandblast, but also a bit more from above to simulate some bleaching. This is only the basic weathering and more will be added later with sand deposits and dust everywhere. I have to decide, how to weather the clear parts. I´m open to any suggestions. The sandblast should have blinded this canopy side, but the other and front window should be relatively clear. Cheers Rob

Time for some pointillism. I lied a bit about the looming panic, because the hairspray didn´t work like it should. I hate to alter my original plan, but this time, I didn´t bin the project and instead worked on a plan to add the sandblast effect with different kind of paints, dabbed dryly onto the surface with an old brush. It took a while to get the Extreme Metal Steel dotted, like intended, one side blasted, the other nearly unharmed. Cheers Rob

So true Kevin, I usually work out my painting and weathering process in advance with the finalized picture rendered in my head and mostly stick to this plan by the numbers. Not this time. This is often a point, where I ditch a project. In this case, I decided on a different approach. Cheers Rob

Fantastic progress Hubert. Glad that the production of the reinforced struts went well. Your experiences with 3D printing will be kind of a guideline for us non enlightened. In surfing we call the first person in current dummy Cheers Rob

Thank you Carl, I used sanding sticks as well. Your wear looks absolutely fantastic and I managed something similar with my F4-U, using multilayer hairspray. With the Kampfanzug it was different somehow, because of two factors, I wanted decals to be similar treated than the rest, which meant an additional gloss layer of Pledge and a sealing layer of W&N acrylic matte. The second factor is the shape of the Kampfanzug and the idea of having a sandblast wear, not impacting with the airflow, like with the wing, but straight on. Cheers Rob

Another interesting attempt, in parts, I will replicate some of it the other way around. I´m not in panic mode right now, but felt, bast work substractive, removing material and then add new layers. Yup Hubert, but unfortunately, this time it didn´t work too well. The colors I chose (Tamiya XF) dried rock hard, even when sprayed in thin layers and were not easy to remove. The fiber pen left a lot of unhealthy glass fier shards, but had nearly no effect, other than sticking in my hand . Cheers Rob

It´s time for some heavy wear and tear for the Kampfanzug. Unfortunately, the hairspray wasn´t working like planned, possibly due to many layers of paint and varnish on top. Right, plan B, scratching, chiseling, grinding, sanding and rubbing was incorporated using a variety of tools, to achieve different looking wear, a messy affair. I don´t like the effect right now, as it doesn´t look like my planned sandblast treatment, but it will have to do as a first stage for weathering. I will try to accomplish the sandblast effect with sponge chipping and stiff brush dabbing. You can clearly see, that one side is almost stripped of paint, while the other is relatively unharmed. I want to simulate a one sided sandblast, to add some dynamic into the weathering. Cheers Rob

A yellow winged beauty, PW and nice pics with good lighting. You could use a larger aperture for more DOF (depth of field), to get the whole plane captured in sharpness. Cheers Rob

What the nose art says, Rod. I love the shades in the metal finish and nice photography too. Cheers Rob

Fantastic rigging job, Mike. Your DH.2 will be a beauty when finished. Somehow your build motivated me to start my Fe.2b or Caudron G.III soon. Cheers Rob

You should become a fortune (or in this case misfortune) teller. I started with the chipping yesterday, but it proved difficult. The hairspray barely worked and I thought about additional sponge chipping . Cheers Rob