DocRob

Hello Mauricio, welcome back to LSM. What a great start for a rebench . The Spit's engine looks just right, covered with a little desert dust. Is the interieur from Eduard really a step forward compared to the Tamiya offer? I will use a lot of AM for my Tamiya Mossie, but for the Instrument Panel I'm not that sure if I use PE-stuff. Cheers Rob

Dosen't look too bad to me, Danny. You build a not so perfect base kit with suboptimal to work with paints into something. Sure you can argue about wasted efforts . The best way to handle it is to say lessons learned an get the canopy closed and to move on with a refreshing drink and project. There are worse looking 104's in the world Cheers Rob

Voila Gentlemen, nearly ready for takeoff now. Yeah I know, the pilot is lacking some colorful expression and there are some cleanups and touchups to be made. I completed the wheel section, installed the engine and exhausts, the cowling and the prop and guess what, everything fitted very well. I added the guns, which where only 'rolled' in Uschis Iron Powder, which gives a convincing metal appeareance. The position lights where added using Contacta Clear and finally, tataaa, the masks where peeled of the canopy. A little bad surprise here, since there got some color under the mask of the open canopy section. After unsucsessfully trying to polish that away, I decieded to leave it that way and tell everybody that all was intended as grime on that used warhorse . After finalizing I will post some proper pictures in the finished work section, not that slightly crappy "action stuff". I really enjoyed most of the build and I hope you did as well. Cheers Rob

Wow Jeroen, the "ugliness" of the maschine is translated into a piece of beauty by your work . You should leave that thing unpainted. Cheers Rob

Hola Senhores, the weather is not so nice so it's time for the lower side of the Raiden. Used a brown-green wash for picking out the details. At least, after all theese coats I still have the effect of the preshading, so the translucent-multi layer technic worked well. Next where the pigments for the exhaust trails. I used light sand first, then earth and then dark brown, dabbed on and the excess blown away with the airbrush. Having worked on so many effects it was time to seal everything, for me always a daring moment, because I hate too see a bad spot after sealing or remember that there was another effect I wanted to have done before that. I used a mixture of 25% Tamiya Flat Base and 75% Future, which to me is a good finishing shine that unifies the previous coats. I can't wait to make the final assembly, but have to, due to drying time. Cheers Rob

Thanx CB, Made my mind up and used some oils for enhanced "stressing" of the surface. First get the bird ugly, dabbed with yellow oils along imaginary and existing spars. Then it is time for blending and after doing so my head is spinning, becaouse of the odorless but not vaporless and for sure not effectless turpentine, yeah . I used different sized flat brushes to blend the oils, always first up and then along the fuselage. On some pictures the effect seems a little to heavy. Before I decide to further reduce the effect I let everything dry for the night. The lighting on my bench is worsening the effect on the photos as well. All in all I'm satisfied for the moment. Cheers Rob

This is a truely big bird and an even so huge project. You have my deep respect for the courageous effort to start this and stay with it. I wouldn't now how to handle that beast. It seem nearly the size like an adault Albatros. Nice works on the wings an nacelles. Enjoy your refreshment after lots of dust from sanding, but a screwcap wine, tss, tss, tss . Cheers Rob

At least you are back at the bench, no tents no Tigers . Your Tony is really looking fine and six days are next to nothing. My Raiden took me a month till now and that's a speed build for me and it is not even finished yet (Two days went into rescuing my PB-pictures, getting rid of my account and rework all my LSM picture links, grrrrrrr ). Back to your Tony, I like the very even finish of the carmouflage, not easy to achieve. The white around the insignia looks very bright, do you plan to weather them a little? Cheers Rob

Love that thing, thanx for showing. (edit: just seen that this is an old thread, but my biplane-question remains and is enhanced to "what are the users thinking"-questions) Actually I'm loking for a "Jig", a solution for all my large scale planes and found JH Models and Vertigo ones. I prefer metal to acrylic or wood for theese kind of tools, so I was amazed seeing this one by BOS and tend to go that way. One thing I couldn't see in the review and in the video is the ability to rig a biplane with a properly alignment of both wings. I would be interested if there is a possibility. Cheers Rob

Not much done lately but sealing the bird with a coat of future (the shiny appearance is not the finish) and decaling, which is not my favourite job, because there is always room for bad surprises doing it. That's why I prefer masks and using an airbrush, which is time consuming but controllable. This time everything went smooth, but I cutted the extra film away before applying. I'm still not sure about the next step but I think I stay with the original idea of using yellow oils for an enhanced "stressed surface" effect. Never done that before, so at least it's challenging. I just noticed on the pics that I made a bad mistake while painting, used a wrong color. Who mentions the mistake to me will recieve a very sweet virtual cookie . Cheers Rob

Nice "Changeup" (at least it looks like he's preparing one with his fingers) . There might be some little here and there's to improve but then it will be a homerun. I have been playing baseball for more than 25 years, meaning I loooove the subject. Cheers Rob

Yep, I even got a mail from PB the day before they made the change, thanx PB for the long term warning . My account is history Cheers Rob

That should fix it Cees, the backside is starting to look good . cheers Rob

Hi CG, if others don't see your PB-pictures you have posted somewhere, you have to update your account to a "500 Plus Plan" or use another source. If you don't see PB-pictures published by others, there is nothing you can do. It is up to the others to pay 400 bucks per anno or get rid of that annoying Company. maybe the more recent entries in that thread are helpful. Cheers Rob

Hi Mates, the next step is making a new kit looking like a worn warhorse, always a lot of fun. I scratched, penciled, crayoned, rubbed on and off again and got this: I'm not sure about the next steps. First will be a coat of Future to seel the done work and to apply the few decals. My inital plan was to work on the fuselage with yellow oils to enhance the "stressed surface" effect. I will loose a little of the "bare metal" effect doing this. I will take a nap about that. Anny suggestions or ideas are very welcome. Cheers Rob

Thanks Danny, the photos where taken by me two years ago at a place called Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt 50km north of my old hometown Berlin. It is an abandoned airfield, which was used through the Second World War. Later it was a base used by the German Democratic Republic. Since 1991 it was transformed as a museum. Since I'm from West Berlin there was no access for me to that airfield before it became a museum (and the wall went down) . It was my first visit there and they have some really interesting planes on show, some of them in let's call it suboptimal condition, like that Flogger. Some more pics are to be found in my threat (and I will add some more later): Link to the Museum: http://www.luftfahrtmuseum-finowfurt.de/ Cheers Rob

Don't drink and fly, Danny at least the goat cheese won't be a problem, but where to go with the pips in that crammed pit ? It looks so well used, like some pilot lived in it for several years. I love this torqouise color. The guy who invented that must have had a few beers to many either . If u stay with the used look, I have something for you. Cheers Rob

Hola Jorge, good to see some japanese birds around here. Nice work on the cockpit and the engine. There are many similarities between the Shinden Kai and my actual build the Raiden constructionwise. They obviously share a lot of components. Have fun with your build and I'm courious to see further steps, especially the paintjob. Hasta Pronto Don Roberto

Hi Danny, I'm sorry to hear about your fate. Sometimes real life gets between us and modelling and there is no more capacity and time for a hobby in such difficult times. Some years ago I had a very hard time personally and modelling helped me a little to got through that. Our hobby is time consuming and needs to focus on. The latter helps me to get my mind free again, after irritating phases in life. It is just a Hobby no more, no less, but a hobby might have implications in other (more important) parts of life. I solved all the subjects I had by that time and now I'm happy and satisfied with my life. Maybe modelling kept me focused in finding solutions by that time. Good to see you back at the bench. Cheers Rob

Some more pics. The cockpit is unmasked and recieved some details like visors and armored glass and handles. Everything is ready now for intensifying and sharpen the chipping. Cheers Rob

I saw the advertisment for TWM and thought that must be your "Seehund". Chapeau you found a nice place to show your incredibly painted and weathered partly yellow submarine . Cheers Rob

Yeah Ozzie, these Maketar Masks are really nice to work with. It is Kabuki (similar to Tamiya Tape) paperesque material which dosen't stretch, which is good and the reason I chose these and not the vinyl type masks. Yellow an red sprayed and covered well due to the white priming, no clogging issues here, phew. Does it go more ugly than that? So it's about time for a Striptease, always an anxious and positively nervos moment of anticipation and YES, I'm satisfied with the result. It is hard to see on theese photos, but I used different shades of red on the spars to enhance the volume effect. Working with masks is always a lot more work than appliying decals, but I prefer it that way, because I have much more control in the process (specially on a not much stenciled plane like the Raiden). Next up is the assembly of the main components (the cowling is not crash bended ) and the painting of the Spinner, which I forgot . Cheers Rob

Nice takeoff. It is good to see that not the whole world is spinning around pre colored Photoetch. Your paintjob gives a nice feel for depth, subtle and tonal balanced. Cheers Rob

Best wishes from the other side of the Atlantic, get well soon. I learned in your Tiger-field build that there are no real obstacles for you to finish a model, did I mention the left hand by the way..., just joking . I hope you recover fast and completely. Cheers Rob

Hi Ozzy, thanks for your kind words. A nice collection of subjects you have to choose from for your next adventure. I will finish "Red Star 47" for the Resin-GB next or maybe a 109 Emil with a lot of Resin I started some month ago. Back to the masking, predominant subject of my days right now. For the first stage of chipping on the Raiden beast I used Mr. Masking Sol Neo, which is pretty thick and easy to peel off. You have to be really carefull while applying because it tends to get a little blotchy. I used a very fine stiff brush and a sharpenend toothpick. On my Corsair build I used Microscales Micro Mask, which I chose because it is thinner and more fluid, meaning it is easier to apply on fine detailed parts. This way it worked, but peelin off the stuff proved to be a nightmare, because it sticks like hell. I will not use that stuff again. Speaking of Masks, the beast is clothed in Maketar precut masks. And dressed to paint (I'm a coward with overspraying) Finally some color, white for the Rondels and priming for the following red and yellow. I always have my troubles with white, red and yellow. Theese colors tend to clog in my airbrush much more than others. For the white I used Tamiyas flat white, which was horrible in every degree of thinning. Then I switched to a Scale 75 white which was slightly easier to handle. For red and yellow I will use my 0,4 mm Airbrush, not the usual 0,2 mm nozzled one. Cheers Rob