DocRob

Sharp looking camo, Scott, it´s weird, how Revell messed up the scheme in their manual. Cheers Rob

Not an easy build, it seems, Mike. I like how you address one obstacle after the other and the fuselage looks the part now. Wouldn´t it be helpful to use some small brass rod pieces as connecting points for the struts? Cheers Rob

Ahh, nothing for me, Carl, no resin updates no hundred part PE burner cans. Cheers Rob

Nice work on the paintjob Mark, I like how the pre shading works and gives enhanced contrast to the grey. Cheers Rob

Today, I added some multi color sponge ´chipping´ onto the non lozenged areas. I considered brown Flory clay wash, but decided against, as there are not many panel lines or similar on the fuselage. Then the bat got wheels - Does it make it a Batmobile? The undercarriage is very robust luckily and I added the first rigging through the beforehand glued in eyebolts. I used Infini flexible thread here, which was great to work with, elastic and therefore easy to tauten, but stiff enough to fiddle through the aluminum tubes, even for the second time. On with the wheels, wich are luckily included in two versions, weighted and normal. I chose the weighted ones for the heavy bird. Hard to imagine landing this huge bat on an improved airfield with four wheels the size of my mountainbike´s. Cheers Rob

Here you go, Peter, I hope, the picture shows the progress a bit clearer. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike, honestly, you can´t beat Aviattic lozenge decals, period. They have the best color rendition to my eye and they are superb to work with. Another advantage is the possibility of pre shading with the clear backed sheets and the woven linen effect. For the AEG, I liked the colors of the WNW supplied sheet better than with some of their day camo sheets and costs and the need to cut all the lozenge decals to fit precisely let me use the kit supplied ones. You need huge amounts, if you cut them from sheets and you have to cut them, that the lozenge pattern fits on the borders, which can be hard to achieve, a thing I learned with the naval hex, I used on my Hansa Brandenburg build. I feel with you considering the Staaken, she is a big bird and needs a lot of sheets, even in 1/72. I have an Aviattic distributed Gotha kit in 1/48 with cookie cut Aviattic night lozenge decals. I wonder, how they look compared with WNW. It seems, the night lozenge was often overpainted with a dar yellow translucent varnish. I applied something like it here and together with the matte coating, it took away a bit of the edge in the lozenge, contrast wise. Cheers Rob

That´s what the camo is for, Peter, a night stalker in it´s cloak . I will add one or two ´after´ pics from a bit closer. What I tried to replicate was a yellow tinted varnish, often applied over the printed lozenge camo of the original, which in my case gives a slight sepia toned look, like in old photos. Cheers Rob

Not a lot of difference between these two pics, at least at first sight. What I tried to achieve, is to make the huge wings a little bit more interesting. First, I used a sharpened AK weathering pencil blue green and rubbed the tip over all the seams on the wing spars, quite tedious to do, but did a bit of highlighting. Then, I mixed Tamiya smoke with some drops of Tamiya clear yellow and sprayed it in slightly irregular patterns over the plane in the direction of the airflow. This tinted everything a bit and blended in the decals even better. Next was a matte coat, but the Tamiya LP matte clear was not matte enough for my liking. Therefore, I used Pledge with about 25 percent of Tamiya flat base mixed in. I would have liked it a bit more matte, but didn´t dare to add more flat base, as there is a risk at about thirty percent, that the mix sprays with a frosty surface. On the lower wing, I had some decal lifting on the trailing edge. I ´glued´ these in place with decal adhesive, but this will be a weak spot until finishing the build. Cheers Rob

Great work on the -E, Chris. I really like ,how you dig through that array of obstacles. Your cockpit looks great and thankfully the -E, -EJ, -EJ Kai questions were dealt with, at least in theory. I feel your pain in advance concerning the stenciling. When I built my Kai Phantom, it settled the fate for other modern jet builds for me . Cheers Rob

Looking great Peter and absolutely dynamic. I didn´t wonder at all, when you described, there were only a very few blemishes after priming. I had a huge reload of Tamiya Kabuki tape lately, as some builds require virtually square meters. If you want some relaxation from the Kabuki burden, build a WNW AEG. There is nearly no masking involved, if only because you don´t dare to put tape onto the overall lozenge decals . Cheers Rob

My wife returned yesterday from her Berlin trip and brought back some goodies for me. You wouldn´t think it special, but where I life, it´s nearly impossible to get Tamiya cement anymore. It´s in 40ml jars and only 30 ml are allowed to be shipped internationally, so I´m glad these will last for a while now. I added some Tamiya lacquer flat and semi flat clears - and- The Proxxon foot pedal. It´s pure genius, if you often use your Proxxon for drilling, polishing or routing. Have you ever experienced, drilling a 0,5 mm hole and finding the right spot with the rotating drill bit. Not anymore, set it in place and tap, why haven´t I seen this before. Lots of polishing bits for my Model Factory Hiro´s white metal preparation. Yes, it´s plural, there will not only my Crocker motorcycle from MFH, but another one is on it´s way. Some thin copper wire for producing my own eyelets and other causes and finally some Gaspatch resin eyelets, where I hope they take the strain of fishing line riggging. The metal ones were nearly completely spent on the WNW AEG lately. Cheers Rob

I like it as it is Ernie, gives some depth to the paintjob. I guess these planes weren´t polished after every turn. Cheers Rob

The struts are really the only very fragile parts, especially these for the nacelles. They have fair sized connecting points, but directly behind, they are extremely thin and fragile. Not to forget, that some of these points need to be rigged and therefore drilled. Cheers Rob

Ooops, these gear bay doors look really ugly, hope you can fix that, Gus. The good thing with the splinter camo, as extensive the application is, it will hide the little bumps here and there for sure. Cheers Rob

Some years ago, I mad this little stand for Set and Sol. The Mossie is looking absolutely fantastic, Phil. Thanks for the info about the barrels. I will substitute them with Brassin, but may will have the same problems. Will you weather her or leave her factory fresh? Cheer Rob

Some kits arrived after a long trip from Japan, the packet including my eagerly awaited Infini 0,135 mm flexible rigging line. A Tamiya P-47, for which I have to wait for a special decal set. Would be the perfect in between build. I like the Cosmo and the resin figure is way too cool, to let it pass. I´ve never seen the Japanese TV show, but anyway... Last but not leas, my first Dinosaur kit from X-Plus in 1/35. Do I hear ´build a weird dio´? Cheers Rob

Today, my long awaited parcel from Japan arrived, which included my Infini 0,135 mm aero flexible rigging thread. I never used the stuff and was eager to see, if it is suitable for the classic ´ thread through tube - then through the eyelet - and back a second time through the tube ´rigging and it worked. So this will be my method of rigging the nacelles, which are very delicate with their struts. The outer wings will be made with the same process, but with mor rigid fishing line instead for extra stability. Cheers Rob

Thank you Jeff, if you look closely, there are some tiny folds and creases in the decals, but nothing too critical. It´s difficult, to handle the wings, without damaging the decals, especially on the sharp trailing edge. I will have to patch a little t the final stages. I used lukewarm water with a drop of detergent to apply the decals, used a flat brush to get rid of bubbles and then hit everything with MicroSol. Around the corners, I added Tamiya decal adhesive softener type and a hairdryer, which is essential. I tried Tamiya Mark strong softener, but it proved too aggressive and on the tiny spots, I used it, I diluted it with water. Cheers Rob

Thank you Martin, the kit is delicate, but due to the relative short fuselage relatively save to handle. That will alter, when the wings will be attached finally. I broke two struts though, simply while test fitting. They are very fragile close to their connecting lugs. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, it´s a critical state of the build, where everything comes together and a good plan is necessary. The struts were bent on the sprue, unfortunately. One of the engine cages (the tube construction holding the un-cowled engine) was completely broken and mis-casted. Luckily, my plan was to only show one engine without cowlings. Cheers Rob

Today, I test fitted the engine nacelles with their struts to the fuselage/wings, not for vanity, instead for good reason, as it proved impossible to add the cabane struts to their fuselage holes, which they share with the nacelle´s struts. I will have to shave a bit off the lugs, despite, there is no color onto the lugs and holes in the fuselage. While testing, I broke one strut, because these are very fragile, close to the connection points. As this is the area, where some rigging lines lead, later, there is no way drilling through the strut and to weaken it further. I have to find another way and may rigg the nacelles with elastic thread. Speaking of cabane struts. If you ever build a WNW AEG, watch out closely, when to add them. They skipped my attention in the manual completely, until I inspected the rigging diagram and asked myself, where do these struts come from. I found them relatively hidden in the manual then. I then drilled out all the holes in the wings, where attachment points for the rigging will be with a 0,4 mm drill bit and then added Gaspatch metal cast eyelets, glued in with CA, orientated that the struts won´t interfere with rigging too much. Before airbrushing and decaling the wings, made photos to show, where the holes for the eyelets lay, which proved to be helpful now, when I probed them with a needle. With my kit, one side of the cabane struts where completely bent on the sprue. I tried to righten them, but that proved extremely difficult, as I didn´t want to break them. I used a hairdryer and bent them little by little. You can see one of the struts still bent on the picture. Cheers Rob

I finished decaling the wings and matte coated them. I´m happy to have finished the decal phase now, never in my builds, decals have covered nearly the whole kit like here. I also started to weather the fuselage and will prepare the wings now, with fitting in the eyelets for rigging. The manual mentioned, that many AEG´s received a yellow / green tinted varnish over the lozenge cloth and I will see, If I replicate that too. She is a big girl for sure. Cheers Rob

I really liked my old Aero-Pro compressor, it never failed me, lasting 34 years of permanent use and minimal maintenance, the last years usually with humidity between 80 and 95%, but last year it leaked. I ordered the fastest available one, with good reviews and all the features I'm looking for. In my case it was the Sparmax TC-620X. Living remote like me, there is not a great deal of availability and after nearly a year, I have to say, I like the Sparmax a lot, running relatively silent and not permanently due to the air tank. I doubt, it will last for 34 years like the old one, but seems to be build solid.

What a fantastic chance, Ernie, a one in a million build, it doesn´t get more exclusive. WNW twins are a pure joy to build, but this is HUGE, I guess the tail in itself is larger than a Camel. The camo does it´s job, it´s hard to see all the details. Can´t wait to see some progress with that beast and yes, fishing line rigging might be a good idea for the wings as well. Cheers Rob