DocRob

Only some small updates today, but painting will follow soon. I painted the canopy cockpit grey (RLM66 from AK) after attaching the precut masks, added the anti glare dashboard cover and the gunsight, a clear part, which I sprayed after masking the optics with liquid mask. Some final weathering and highlighting was added to the cockpit parts and the headrest and lether cushioning were painted. The last views, before botteling up. Nearly ready for painting now Cheers Rob

Thanx Paul, the point of no return on that TA-152 was the bending and glueing of the flaps, nothing is gonna stop me now from finishing this one. As it is my first ZM-kit the difficulties caught me by surprise, I was expecting something more refined. All in all there are no problems which can't be solved, but I was looking for a quick build and was willing to concentrate on my first German paintjob with all the RLM things and mottling and so on. I have that same P-51K in my stash and hoped it would be better. Lets wait and see what this one will bring up. I just don't understand the philosophy of ZM. I like the idea of opening the cowlings for engines and weapons, but the way ZM realised this is not sufficient to me. Some of the inner assemblies do not look the part, they seem toyish. My first thought was to show everything of the 152, but after I started the build that changed to "I don't open up, I don't bend PE-hinges for the cowlings, who cares about the already painted engine, ... Usually i have a fixed picture of an actual build in my mind. Minor changes are possible, but this one changed a lot, since I started. Cheers Rob

Not even ready and promptly discovered room for improvement. I removed the inwards LED's and duct-taped them outwards for easier cleaning of the booth and added a second strip, because the emitted light was too cold. It's hard to see, but the first picture is only warm light, the second one is a combination of cold and warm light together and much brighter if needed. Everything needed for the booth construction was found in the house, so the spent total equals nada . But now, get away Raiden and back to the TA-152 again. Cheers Rob

I'm not sure if I will get me one, but other than Danny I think that the choice of subject is an interesting one. This plane may not have great significance as a fighter in WW1, but the way it is constructed and engineered shows the development of a new kind of planes. You can easily see the familarity with a JU-52 for example. That there is nearly no rigging involved is not only a nice touch for the WW1-kit-coward, it is also a sign of that new era of plane constructions after the war. On the other hand will the corrugated Aluminum make the task of masking not to easy. Looking at the instuctions, I love the option of showing the wings seperated from the fuselage with internal detail supplied. I guess this will tempt some of you . Looking at the paint schemes nearly gets me convinced that I will buy one, because there is one placed in Adlershof, a suburb of my old home town of Berlin. Cheers Rob

My cheapo enlargement project for my spraying booth is finished. I cut the plastic box, glued some flexible LED-Strip in and attached everything to my existing spraybox with Duct-Tape, so the foldable design of the old one will be kept if needed. There is enough space now for even more than the 46 cm wingspan of the TA-152. Cheers Rob

Thanx mikester, I hope you are right about the progressing engineering of ZM. I have a Mustang, an UHU and a Horten in my stash. Actually I'm bugged by another problem, which is sidetracking me. As you can see it will be hard to manouver that bird while spraying. The shortcoming of my booth is nagging in the back of my mind since sometime. There is a Mosquito and a B-25 to be sprayed in the future. A solution has to be found and today i might found it. That's not the final booth, but it is my new compartement. In the next days I will cut a rectangle in the backside and fix the old Ventbox right there. Lighting will be provided by flexible LED strips. Cheers Rob

Glued the upper cowling in place (after taking this photo) and again did a lot of test fitting around the nose section. At least everyting seems to fit with lots of effort, glue and brute power. In my last text I mentioned the problem how to fit the engine struts and engine into the fuselage and wing section, because of the multi dimensional alignment points. I think it can be done, if you change the order of assembley and do not as shown in the manual. It should work, if you glue the engine struts to the fuselage and after this is done, add the wings. I don't understand the engineering on such an expensive kit which is newly tooled. Around the air intake you could look through gaps into the engine compartment. Other parts do fit perfectly. The small intake got drilled open. A very nice addition by ZM are the supplied canopy masks. The vinylesque material is easy to work with and they fit perfectly. Cheers Rob

Very nice job, and a rare and interesting subject. At first sight I was tempted to look for a second wing. I like the unusal paintscheme and the way you subtly did some preshading and mottling t make the look even more interesting. Cheers Rob

Thanx Darren, don't know who will win in the end, but at least I accepted the challenge . I think I will adopt your method of painting your splendid Typhoon for this one. Cheers Rob

Amazing, I wish I had the time, the courage, the talent and the patience to do these kind of builds. I love the metal works of the cockpit parts, as I was an engineer in my former live . Thank you for showing that jewel and if there is more to show I will follow. Cheers Rob

Some little progress was made the last days. I fitted the engine and engine mount into the fuselage and the engineering on these parts turned out to be a nightmare. The align points are multidimensional, so there is no way to fit everything in cleanly without heavy bending or cutting of alignment bolts. For future builders I would recommend to leave the front cockpit section unglued into the fuselage until this step, because you have more room to manouvre while assembling and try to fully understand how everything is connected. I had to cut the lower alignment bolts to get everything together properly. I used so much force (and glue) on many different areas of the build to get everything aligned, that I wonder if when ready a small pointing of a finger will let everything explode . I never test fitted so much on a 1/32 plane and I dislike the multi part orgy for the wings, cowlings and fuselage more and more. That might be the last time the engine can be seen. I experimented with PE-hinges made from the additional exterieur set, but I dont think there is a way to leave the cowlings openable and gain a proper fit of the cowlings when closed and I want to have the undisturbed shape of the plane in the end. Finally done, phew , the metal flaps where a nightmare to build, at least the upper ones without the plastic rods. Many of the small struts came loose and they had to be glued seperately. I used a different technique for the second one, but breakage rate was the same like the first attempt, so no recommendation here. I really like the result and now that they are ready there is no way stopping me that TA-152 project. Finishing these was a gamechanger, I don't want to put so much effort into something for the bin, so watch out TA-152, I'm ready for you . Cheers Rob

Welcome to LSM David, that is a truly impressive build. Is this really an all metal Spit? I'd like to see more pictures of this excellent piece of workmanship and I might throw away my 1/48 Spit XVI from Eduard . Cheers Rob

Hi Danny, nice haul. the meaning of the russian might be a warning message, that you could gain hallucinations by viewing at the torquise cockpit color for more than an hour , but my russian is a no show as well. @Cees, cant wait to see a 1:1 Spit scratch build, that would be a first and truly Large Scale Modelling . Cheers Rob

Amazing, not only great attention to detail, but very lifelike as well, stunning skills combined with the eye for the situation. Cheers Rob

Hi Wouter, that's what I thought, brass should be strong enough. Albion Alloys have Slide Fit brass tubes in their programm. Like the name says different diameters can be slided into each other There is one set with 0.4 - 0.6 - 0.8 - 1.0 mm and it seems that they have a 0.3 - 0.5 - 0.7 - 0.9 mm set as well. Maybe that helps. With plastic you have even to reduce the pressure of your airbrush while painting . Cheers Rob

Wow Wouter, that is quite a project you started here. I really like the work in the cockpit area and the general attention to detail. Will these fragile antennas be robust enough 3D-printed? Cheers Rob

Hi Dave, and welcome to LSM. It seems you are in the right place seeing your great Scammell. You did that moving tool justice by making it look used like it should be. Among other things I like the wood effects very much. The bended ladder looks like the real thing after some little accidents. Are these the tyres supplied with the kit? Cheers Rob

Hi Spliff, what about a bluegrey filter on that repainted panel? Does it really show that much after adding the flaps? That is the downside of translucent effects, it's nearly impossible to repair. Nice fading effect on the flaps, looks like fabric like it should. Reminds me a little of faded blue jeans. Cheers Rob

Hi Oz, thanks for the encouragement. I really liked your gorgeous UHU and kept a lot of your comments in the back of my mind, because I have a ZM-UHU in my stash as well. One thing that you mentioned was the bad dimensioned panels, so I wasted no effort in using these on my TA-152. I might had given them a try, If I had been gone for an all open approach on that bird. Like you say, these ZM birds are a mixed bag, some areas are really nicely detailed, while others look like they are designed for 'Fisher Price toys' . After connecting the wings to the fuselage with the help of rubber bands ,clamps and meters of adhesive tape I test fitted the metal flaps and they seem to fit. For the first time I compared the lower flap to the plastic part, a moment where all the pain constructing it is forgotten. I hope that momentum will carry me through the cruel bending and glueing of the second one, which I began yesterday. Chees Rob

Hi Rich, I don't know if it is only me and my very sloooowly island Internet, but I can't load the pictures in your (picture heavy) MAZ thread. Maybe I have to wait for the beginning of the next page or the installation of fibre optics on my tiny island (projected) Cheers Rob

Thanx for the comments and recommendations Tony, I checked some of the potential problematic fittings you mentioned first thing in the morning. The difficult thing is that you can only test fit preciesely after you glued together some of the subassemblies (like the wheel struts only after the wing is glued together). There is not enough adhesive tape in the world to have a proper test fit of the fuselage and wings . The wheel struts on my one seem to fit. The metal ones I bought are a little easier to insert than the plastic kit's ones, so only a little work with the proper alignment. The wingroot seems to fit with the fuselage and wings, albeit looking to be a very tight fit. I will only test fit the metal flaps before the marriage of wings and fuselage, because I don't want to break or bend the delicate PE-flaps. Feel free to post some pictures of your build. Cheers Rob

Thanks Rich Managed just some little steps, mainly because I got a little fed up with the kit. I believe you know the feeling, when there are more and more complications on a build and the mojo drains. In my case it is about the difficulty to build flaps (homemade and half done ), but mostely because of the strange engineering of the kit. Test fitting showed that there will be a huge problem with the fit of the engine cowlings, probably because the PE for the cockpit was half a millimeter too wide. Other problems can be seen in the pictures. The alignment of the metal barrels is not correct and in the second picture you can see the enormous gaps in the frontside of the wings. I hope I will find a way to align everything properly, with the help of some physical bruteness and lots of glue. Many of my problems have to do with that multi part constructions of the wings and fuselage. In my opinion the price for showing the inner organs of the bird is way too high compared to a soso detailed interior which will not be as convincing as it should (Look for the toyish guns and ammunition boxes for example). The next days will be do or die for the kit. All depends on fitting the metal flaps into the wings and addressing the cowling problem. You will loose every fight with theese guns That's what I call a gap Cheers Rob

Hi Jason, I like your approach. You put a lot of effort into that rare direct comparison between similar kits. Can't wait to see furter steps. I was a little biased towards Thunder Models, but let's wait and see. Cheers Rob

Hi Johann, it dosen't took you long to present this beauty. It just recently hit the shelves and here she is. Nice and subtle painting and weathering. Cheers Rob

Hola Senhor, I failed to even see these ejector marks on my one. Thankfully I left my Corsair in Berlin, when I left for Spain, so no bad feelings and on my photos I couldn't see anything. Hope you dryfitted the inner flaps thoroughly to the fuselage and wing, as on my build this was the worst fitting assembly of the whole process. Cheers Rob