GazzaS

If I only had the slightest interest in whirlybirds.

Thank you, Hubert.

Guten Abend, liebe Freunde! Through my short evening periods each night, between when I have a few minutes here and there for modelling, I have not been idle. I assembled the Eduard PE armor head shield and masked and painted the canopy parts. Now... I heard this phrase at my club meet the other day: "One of the best adhesives you can find is Clear Nail Polish". I've had some for some time that I was going to use for another project.... but never used. So, instead of worrying about CA fumes, I decided to attach the shield with clear nail polish. It works! And feels less fragile than a CA joint. It's not very tacky as you start to use it, but once it dries, it's very rigid. Now... I have a special request: I need a pic or three of the hinges on a 109 canopy. I have no idea what they should look like. I also used the same nail polish for attaching the wingtip light covers: I drilled small holes in the clear plastic and inserted some paint 'light bulbs'. Kai... I'm sorry it's taken so long to produce the requested photos: Our intrepid pilots provides some scale for the parachute. This is the reverse side of the parachute pack. As you can see, I constructed every detail before I folded it into a small parcel. I inserted a small brass tube at the forefront of the fuel tank to emulate the real thing. Most of the dents are pretty hard to see. Also... these macro photos illustrate the limitations of the new phone's camera. I'll have to go back to the Canon Olympus. Viel Spaß beim Plastikmodellbau, meine Herren! Translations provided by Google translate. If they're wrong... please let me know.

Love the intricate work!

I used to like wargaming. I can play cards, but it really doesn't thrill me as much. But PC games get old and AI's are never very bright. I did some online stuff, but I never had much success. Perhaps it was quicker hands and better internet connections... but I haven't wargamed in years. I miss competition on a person to person basis with a historical twist. Anyway... that's my other, dormant hobby.

Nice!!

Looks nice, Ern.

Peter, It's a bummer you have to go through this on the eve of completion. Hopefully you'll be able to resolve the issue satisfactorily. Thank goodness for great customer service. Because of clear-parts-issues, I've been modelling with open canopies whenever possible. My issue is always some tiny piece of dross that always materializes clinging to the inside of the canopy once the model is closed up. I don't put anything on the glass as I expect some tiny spot will always require some polishing effort after unmasking.

Great job, John!

Ok, just a mini sort of update. and the status of various parts: 1. Droptank. Dented. Painted and decaled. Awaiting oil staining and weathering. 2. Parachute. Assembled. Painted, awaiting weathering. 3. Pilot. Ready to go. 4. Deck Chair. First attempt an abysmal failure. Found a drawing and measurements. Ordered plastic strip for second attempt. 5. WfGr 21. Ready for detail painting and weathering. 6. Base. Not even started, yet. 7. The aircraft. (Hopefully) have the surface worked clean. I've cleaned off as much test paint as possible. Masked fore and aft canopy parts and added antenna mast. Took pics with different phone as I now have a new secondhand phone passed by the missus. Happy modelling!

Looking good, John!

Great chain and gears, Rob!

Thank you, Kai! It wasn't really an article. They just copied and pasted my RFI notes.

Praying for you, Harv!

The problem, Ern. Is guys like me. Only re-started building models 5 years ago after a 35 year break. While you've been suffering with 109's, I've been without models full stop. There are others like me, too. But guys like me have a problem. Most of the 109 molds are shit. Trumpeter, Eduard, and Revell... are all shit. They all have something wrong requiring major body changes that haven't been addressed by AM. The Hasegawa kits are better shape-wise, but really just enlarged 1/48 kits. And regarding the 190A... the PCM is a bit of a monster... unless you like sanding. The Hasegawa A5 is vaporware...unless you break into Rog's house. There are a few A8's, but still leaves a lot of versions untouched unless you wanna buy a multitude of the PCM kits... and do more filling and sanding for hours. There are really no Luftwaffe fighter counterparts to the nice stuff done by Tamiya. Our choices are simply over-large 1/48 kits, or wildly inaccurate kits. The only respectable 109 1/32 kit is the Dragon E. ...which has also been re-released by HGW in limited numbers.

Like everyone else I love the intake. But the rest looks great, too.

She is a beauty, Kai! No need for any more weathering as you have captured everything perfectly. I'm really glad you persevered with this kit and made it into a stunning example of the Mirage. You should be very proud of your accomplishment. Now... tell me about the Tornado.... I've been thinking about a Luftwaffe Tornado recently, myself.

I'm glad you've been spared, Peter.

Thank you, Peter. Yes... the lounge chair is a bit of work. Some pieces might not be true to scale.

Thank you, Kai. With all of the card games in the US, I've never given much consideration to what other card games there might be. Even in reading the memoirs of German veterans, skat is the only one I've seen mentioned. I have ordered some plastic strip .7mm X 3.16MM (or something like that) to build the chair with. The construct as it is now looks rather pathetic. I still have hopes of achieving a decent looking lounge chair. The only thing that could be better would be a smiling pilot in the lounge chair. I will do more to the 109 this weekend. My club has a meeting Saturday so I won't be working on it during the meeting. I hope to have a relatively lazy (i.e., lots of modelling) sunday. I have to do a little work around the windscreen as I needed to do a bit of work to get it plumb. Once that and masking the clear parts is done, I can do some test painting.

Thank you, Hubert. I'll be looking forward to the ZM product. This build was supposed to be a special, all-in build that I was going to do my best to achieve a perfect result. But Revell drew a moustache on my Mona Lisa. But I will continue as I am close on the aircraft itself.

Thank you, Kai. I think Herr Weiroster deserves a full diorama... at the least. And the lounge chair was a common item to German pilots at readiness near their aircraft, so maybe there'll be a reason for future lounge chairs. I had to order some styrene for the chair. The materials I have here just won't work. I have an E7, too. Someday, I would like to remember these men at their game of Skat in plastic. Is it still played in Germany? I have no idea how it's played. The only card game I'm any good at is hearts. I suck at poker.

OMG... you're right! I'm about ready to commit seppuku in frustration. Balsa just isn't the answer. Gonna see what BNA has in strip form. I have some thin sheet... but no way it is rigid enough to stay straight after cutting.

Well.... don;t say I didn't warn you. I don't know that it will ever look like a leather and canvas creation... Here is the basis of my construct. A small piece of balsa wood trimmed and sanded to represent the casing and silk folds inside. Now... I don't have all of the things that would have been useful. I didn't have any lead foil so I used masking tape to make the straps and cover the backpiece. I also used a small piece of aluminum sheet to form the backpiece before it was encased in tape. Now... I built the entire thing, strap for strap. And then I folded it in a way that I think it might have been laid on the tailplane. Then I painted it. There will have to be weathering to give shadows and shape to the straps. But who knows what it will look like when done. Another thing will be required... Herr Weiroster's lawn chair: I can fabricate it from balsa, wire, sheet, and maybe milliput. Who knows.