DocRob

Nice start, seemed to be a decent kit, although some extra work will be needed, I guess. Cheers Rob

Still no masks at hand, spring can be awful here. It's the worst weather of the year, normally and every second day is a holiday, so no working customs, no working mail. Meanwhile, I painted the wheels with my usual workflow, spraying the hubs first, in this case semi matte black, then mask the hubs and spray the tires. Here I used Nato Black as a base and then sprayed the flanks with some drops of Field Blue in the Nato black. Last step are pigments in a concrete tone rubbed in for enhancing contrasts and simulating abrasion and dirt. Some details were picked out by brush on the hubs. The kit wheels look especially good, it's strange, how different the quality of the plastic parts are in this kit. Next were the parachute packs for the Ratos jets. I sprayed everything in RLM 22, masked the belts off and used Buff for the remainder. The ropes were painted by brush and then I rubbed in some concrete pigments. Cheers Rob

Beautifully done, or almost done, Peter. The markings blend in perfectly with the paintjob, which in itself looks great. The best thing you can achieve with a kit to my eye is, when everything looks right, which is definitely the case with your 109. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike for going through that long lasting thread. It's not the easiest kit to build, especially as a night fighter, therefore the long breaks. On the other hand, I was never completely frustrated and never thought about SOD-ing the Arado. I hope I can pull through now. The primer showed some areas which needed to be addressed and then it's decision time about the color scheme to chose. Cheers Rob

Very nice, I like the chosen scheme a lot. It's such a beautiful airframe and you nailed it. The kit itself is a gem, I built one a while ago and absolutely enjoyed it. Cheers Rob

Wow Kevin, great build and paintjob. There's lots of detail to spot. One question though, is that yellow color correct for the dinghies, it's a nice touch though? Cheers Rob

I will take a look, Carl. I modified mine too, added brass rods for stability, but have to make a reality check again. Cheers Rob

Thanks Peter, I don't like the AK chrome tape too much and expected more out of it. It's a bit rigid, not easy to cut with a blade on the template and could adhere better. I prefer Bare Metal Foil or Uschi van der Rosten's chrome pigment, which are nearly equally good, when rubbed onto a well prepared surface (best is a very fine primer). Cheers Rob

Sorry to hear about your broken LG, Carl. I hope mine will hold up. I gave it some thinking in advance, using two wires per side to key the gear struts, which fit into brass tubes on the wheel well side. All is glued in with half a ton of 2K epoxy. On the picture, the struts are only half way pushed in. Cheers Rob

While I'm still waiting for the 1ManArmy masks to arrive, I decided to do a little detail work and gave some love to the wheel struts. The oleos where covered with AK's chrome adhesive tape, but as this is a bit stiff, Bare Metal foil would have been the better choice. My Arado Monographs show the braking lines partly yellow and black, so I used my braded 0,5 mm Anyz line for the purpose along with Anyz resin connectors. The yellow line was soaked in Pledge, because otherwise it would have been to bright and have spots, where the CA stuck. The clamping strips were made from pre cut Bare Metal foil of 0,5 mm width, secured with some drops of Pledge. After drying, I will rub in some steel pigments and add some shadows and highlighting. Cheers Rob

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it seems to me the Eduard attachment points and AIMS wires are not a perfect match. If you have the attachment points already glued, you could use flat elastic rigging material, like Prym produces. I think EZ-Line is also available flat shaped. Cheers Rob

Fantastic progress Peter, painting and decaling / masking looks perfect. I used some masks on planes over the years and normally, I was pretty satisfied. Last time with my Corsair build, I had some difficulties to align the 1ManArmy masks for the stars and bars correct on the rounded fuselage. It was not the fault of the masks, quite the opposite, as 1ManArmy recommends to use transparent transfer film onto the mask, which helps placing and aligning different elements of a stencil or insignia. By the time, I had no frisk film, but used clear adhesive tape after my first fail, which worked as well. Cheers Rob

Thanks Carl, it seems more and more vendors don't send chemicals in larger jars than 30ml. I can only guess, it's the same with the aqueous version, but will keep it in mind, if my usual supply dries up. Cheers Rob

Great work all around Mike. I can't add to the tube thing question though, maybe it's a mine. I don't think there were dragged sonars by that time. The PE looks tedious, but adds a lot of detail. I can imagine the patience it took, to assemble these pieces. I never used PE flat rigging, but the AIMS set looks like you should slot the ends of the wires, maybe in a scalpel cut small hole. Measuring will be not so easy, but you could slot in one side and look where the second slot has to be then. Cheers Rob

Some goods arrived today. You might think the primer is nothing special, but it becomes harder to get the stuff sent to my island. Some Spanish vendors don't send these jars to my island anymore. This packet made it through from Germany. The spoked wheels are from Copper State models and will be used on my Albatros B.II and Stahltaube. A third set, I may use for my Fokker E.II. The Italian chap will be an addition to my lately finished Lancia ICM. The spoked wheels are luckily safely packed in boxes with padding material and separated in their bags with a staple. And they look ABSOLUTELY FREAKING MARVELLOUS . Cheers Rob

Not a complete kit, but maybe helpful for some inter war projects. 1/32 R-985 Wasp Junior US aircraft engine – ARMORYMODELS.COM Cheers Rob

Thank you shark and Carl, the shape of the plane is very appealing and somehow no frills. There are still some details to add, like the Naxos radar and fittings for the rudders and antennas, which I will not add until after painting. I guess, the slender looks will remain though. Engineering wise, it's a most interesting airframe too, so many new technologies envolved and it was even flying in different roles. The night fighter variant shows also, where development fails sometimes, as the Arado was not well equipped for the job. Cheers Rob

Interior is looking nice Bill. Which livery have you chosen for yours, plain green or camo? Cheers Rob

Interesting conversion possibility, Martin. Back in Berlin, a friend of mine got a drive session in one of these as a birthday present. The tank dated back to the NVA (East German Army). Not the best pictures, but clearly show, how to get your tank muddy . Cheers Rob

I built some WNW kits, Paul and with the first one, I had the same reservations like you. It's a learning curve, but it's manageable. The kits are absolutely fantastic and hard to screw up. Like you said, a simple rigging job helps at the beginning, but it's not so hard to do. The difficulty is the price tag now, with the D.VII with the ever lasting demand for the type. Another option would be another manufacturer. There are CSM, Roden, MikroMir and a lot of resin producers around. I built the MikroMir Fokker D.VIII and it's a crude cheap kit, which needed a lot of extra attention, but with some scratching and detailing you have a nice bird with only a tiny bit of rigging. Cheers Rob

I have the same kit and will cover it in Aviattic's linen finish decals instead of painting. The decals are still in the mail, along some sets of spoked wheels from CSM for my early WWI German birds, finely 3D printed. Are you planning to WIP the Fokker, Bill? Cheers Rob

Thanks for the information Martin. I knew some about these conversions, but how these armor boxes were constructed internally is news to me. I built the Tamiya kit a long time ago, using Legend resin upgrades and Voyager PE. If it's not the place to show the kit here, let me know and I edit the pic away. Cheers Rob

Thanks fellas, the Primer sprays supersmooth, but there are some areas, I need to address. The lower wing roots need more flller and foremost the area around the radar operator hatch. Cheers Rob

That engine looks fantastic Mark. Hopefully not all will be buried unseen in the car. Cheers Rob

It is indeed a very interesting plane Peter, well ahead of it's competition by far. I masked wheel wells, engines and the canopy with sponges, tape and liquid mask and gave the Arado a rub with an alcohol soaked cloth. I paid a lot of attention to seal the canopy section air tight with liquid mask and with filling the gaps before with Revell Clear, because I hope to hinder the inside of the canopy from fogging due to thinner fumes. Prime (er) time - I applied Mr. Surfacer 1200, which sprayed very well as always. After drying, I sprayed the canopy section gloss black, to accept the riveted decal strips for the framing, if I decide to use them. Now I have to check, where I have to further work on the surfaces, be it filling or scribing. Meanwhile I sprayed other parts like the Rato rockets and their parachutes, external fuel tanks and the parts for the landing gear, which will be detailed with chrome oleos and braking lines next. Cheers Rob