JeroenPeters

Nice review! Two things though. Can you post a pic of the canopy and photo-etch? The box with the word 'canopy' looks big?

Cheers guys! She's finally on her legs. Now on to the final bits 'n bobs!

Special Hobby (SH48162) Supermarine Walrus Mk.I “Battleship Eyes” Product number: 8594071084523 Available here from Special Hobby for € 45,91 Introduction Supermarine wasn’t just famous for it’s Spitfire design. From 1930 right up till the end of world war II it was renowned for building durable and reliable flying boats. In reply of Australia’s request for a reliable flying boat to patrol it’s waters, Supermarine came up with the Seagull. From this Seagull the Walrus was developed in 1933, with the main difference being a more strengthened hull and structure. These were delivered to the Royal Navy that used them from warships as fleet spotters. Hence the name: Battleship’s eyes. When the war broke out, the Walrus was deployed for a wide range of missions. Ranging from Artillery spotter, Air to sea rescue and even bombing mission. Although its principal intended use was gunnery spotting in naval actions, this only occurred twice: Walruses from Renown and Manchester were launched in the Battle of Cape Spartivento and a Walrus from Gloucester was used in the Battle of Cape Matapan. The main task of ship-based aircraft was patrolling for Axis submarines and surface-raiders, and by March 1941, Walruses were being deployed with Air to Surface Vessel radars to assist in this. During the Norwegian Campaign and the East African Campaign, they also saw very limited use in bombing and strafing shore targets. In August 1940, a Walrus operating from Hobart bombed and machine-gunned an Italian headquarters at Zeila in Somalia. The kit The Walrus is one of those subjects that take me back to my early days of modelling. An dofcourse I’m talking about the Matchbox version in 1/72. You know.. the one in 3 different kinds of plastic. Yellow, white and blue. Since I don’t model in 1/48 anymore, my kit would have tob e the HPH 1/32 Walrus. A daunting and expensive kit, but very complete. From this über detailed kit I will look at the 1/48 Special Hobby kit and see what’s what. So here’s the Special Hobby Walrus Mk.1. Special 500 pieces limited edition. First of all: This is a re-release of the older Classic Airframes kit. This means it might come with the flaws and benefits of the ol’ Classic Airframes kit. From reviews and build logs I could find on the Classic Airframes kit there are some steps in the construction that will test your skills. The engine’s housing had no locator points, which means it can be difficult to fit the in total 8 spars that connect to the engine. From what I can see they are now present in the Special Hobby offering. As soon as you’ve mounted the engine it’s smooth sailing, right to the point where the rigging starts J Bear in mind that this is a limited run kit (only 500 pieces made). This means no locating pins through out the model and lots of test fitting before grabbing the glue. On opening the box you are greated by a good deal of grey resin, grey plastic and photo-etch. This kit is very complete. The plastic is limited to only 3 sprues with a total of about 60 parts. All the other parts are featured in resin and photo-etch. Oh my.. Sprue 1: The insides of the hull are smooth, so all the detail comes in resin. Side walls that appear to fit snugly go along the length of the fuselage. Extra interior detail are tiny. Even the compass in the instrument panel comes separately. All the resin is crisp and requires minimal clean up. The seats are delicate and adorned with detailed photo-etch seatbelts. All in all a very complete cockpit. Even the throttles are present and separate, made from photo-etch. Inspection of the plastic surface details reveals fine panel lines and detail. Next up is the construction of the tail. Again very complete. Even the trim tab and control rods are supplied separately and made from photo-etch. Propellors and struts: (no sink marks) Strolling along the instructions, tiny details keep me amazed for a 1/48 kit! The little foot steps on the struts leading to the engine for maintenance. The 3 part photo-etch eye to attach a rope… It’s all there and I can imagine this kit blown up to 1/32 proportions will still make up for a detailed model. Sprue 2: One thing I don’t full understand are the wheels. These are offered in plastic, and might as well have been made from resin with some weight flatteing. No worries. I’ve discovered CMK / Quickboost offers these. Sprue 3: Resin parts: Side walls: Wheel bays: Pegasus Engine: Seats, Runners for rigging, guns, floor, etc.. The machine guns are small treats though. Very delicate and detailed. Handle these with care! Should you break them (or need even more detail), Gaspatch offers some really cool ones’: http://www.gaspatchmodels.com/machine-guns-1-48/ The canopy is very clear and crisp. This for one is a major improvement over the older Classic Airframes offering, since that featured a Vac form one. Well two actually, in case you mess one up. Later Classic Airframes kits I believe also included this canopy. If these moulds are exactly the same as the CA kit, you might need some strips to make the canopy fit the fuselage tight. So watch out in this area. Another thing to watch out for are the runners for the rigging made from resin. There are 16 and watch out… you’ll need all 16, so don’t let the carpet monster snatch one! (4 pics above!) The biggest improvement over the Classic Airframes’ I could find was the photo-etch. The CA Walrus did not include seatbelts, and with this Special Hobby Walrus… it does! The decals have been printed by Avioprint.cz. They register just fine and from experience I know they settle down well. Schemes The first scheme to choose from is the L2228, named ‘Spotter’ or ‘Sportivento’ on board of HMS Sheffield cruiser. The name refers to it’s involvement in the battle of Cape Sportivento. Top side features camo pattern in Light slate grey, Dark slate grey, Extra dark sea grey and Dark sea grey, with a total Sky grey underside. The second scheme supplied features a unknown serial number/9B, on board of the battleship HMS Warspite during the first period of service in the Mediterranean1940-1941. She took part in the battle of Calabria (known in Italy as the battle of Punta Stilo) and battle of Matapan. Top side features camo pattern in Light slate grey, Dark slate grey, Extra dark sea grey and Dark sea grey, with a total Sky grey underside (i.e. same as scheme 1). Conclusion Overall I’m very impressed with this kit. Back when I used to model in 48th scale, Classic Airframes was a brand of choice and so I think it’s great to see a company like Special Hobby re-releasing them and spicing things up where needed. The locating pins on the engine housing for instance and the photo-etch fret with seatbelts. As far as I can tell the resin is from the same moulds as the CA kit. A very complete and very detailed little kit of a venerable subject. Recommended and I’d rate this kit a 7.5. Our sincere thanks to Special Hobby for the review sample. Jeroen Peters

One more..

Cheers guys! Ok. Sprayed some Gunze smoke for extra accents. Then some Mr Hobby Matt Clear (H20) followed by silver pencil chipping. Getting there...

No Stickers. But if there were, they would probably not have been in 1/32

Indeed! Same here. Happy B-day from below water level Cheers, Jeroen

Like it. Like it a lot. That Alclad clear seems to work great!

Junkers J.1

Wow!!!! You're on a roll! Those couplings are amazing. Great work. Ordering some in a minute..

Damn! A few weeks too late! Ah well... next time batman.. next time..

Really sweet..... You just can't weather these subjects too much. Outstanding work.

Nice work! Love it!

pffffff

Hi Ted, Thnx! Some small areas that I'm not too happy with, but I'll try to cover them up with artistic weathering

Thnx Radu! Just so you know. I'm using your bomb racks

Yup! The White House in Muxton! (As always). http://www.shropshirestar.com/lifestyle/food-lifestyle/2011/08/03/meal-review-of-white-house-hotel-muxton-telford-tf2-8ng/

This is gonna be EPIC!!!! Ofcourse I am going as well This will be good. Scoops, Indian place, New kits, Beers at the Whether to Spoon bar....

Hi Ralph, Watching a documentary yesterday, it featured the american test pilot that flew in the 234. He said the view was great. Like flying a helicopter. Like sitting in your living room chair and being able to see in all directions.

Hi Cees, I have no idea.. Since it's situated on the top, it won't be very functional for ground crew. Then again:maybe it was. To prevent them from walking over the top of the fuse onto the glazing (acces door).. There's just soo little photo or written reference of the Watson Whizzers machines..

Thnx! I've learned to not touch my models when drinking wine. What I do instead is look at them. Turn them and check for areas I'm not happy with. Some mental notes taken: • tone down the USAF markings • add port and starboard lights to wingtips. • paint aerial base black

Kagero Monographs 3D edition #54 (3054) Junkers Ju 87 D/G (Vol. I) Publisher: Kagero Written by: Marek J. Murawski, Marek Ryś Available here from Kagero for € 20,65 Introduction Kagero has become by far my most favorite publisher with their steady stream of 3D rendered supporting images in their publications. What we have here is the Monographs (a term indicating the description of a single subject) 3D edition covering the Ju 87 D and G variants. The second volume is also available which takes a closer look at the history of the final production ‘Dora’ versions. Actually when you buy the first volume, I recommend buying the second volume too, because the 3D rendered detailed areas of the Ju 87 are complimentary. Volume one covering the canopy, gear and external details. Volume 2 (#3055) covering cockpit (seat, gunsight) etc… Back to volume 1. This book covers the design of the Stuka, development, combat operations of the late types and offers a few biographies of crewmen. Details from the Kagero website: • 112 pages • painting schemes • 110 archive photos • 77 renders • 4 A4 sheet of scale drawings • format (sizes): (210x295 mm) • matte coated paper • soft cover binding Let’s walk through the book: Junkers Ju 87 ‘Dora’ What I can’t stand as a modeler is buying a book on a certain plane and begin hassled with the total history and development of that plane. I’m only interested in the exact type I’m planning on building. So it’s a relief to see this book starting the the development of the Ju 87 ‘Dora’. I explains the differences the D-version offered and shows pictures of these differences. Different armament, oil radiator, engine, etc… Close-up photographs show us the details of the D-1, D-3 and D-5 versions, varying from gun pod, cockpit and radio set-up. The Dora chapter ends with a couple of experimental versions. Ranging from the wing fitted personnel pods to the torpedo carrying V25 version. Junkers Ju 87 ‘Gustav’ On with the G-version developed with learnings from the Russian campaign. The most significant demand being smaller fragmentation bombs and the mounting of the 37mm BK 3,7 cannon. The latter giving the Ju 87 G the nickname ‘Kanonenvogel’. The eastern front 1942 – 1945 The next chapters deals with the theatres the Ju 87 D and G operated in. The eastern front chapter gives the modeler some great reference photographs of white washed winter scheme Stuka’s alongside a description of it’s service at the eastern front. Africa and the Mediterranean Despite the eastern front drawing the Stuka capacity away from the African and Mediterranian theater the dive bombing efforts of the remaining units became infamous among the British forces. This becomes apparent in the eye witness reports written in this chapter. Tank cracker and night assault aircraft The first Ju 87G-1’s with the 37mm canon pods were used against Russian boats behind German lines. After these successes the Stuka’s try their canons against Russian armour. This also proves to be successful and causes the pilots to become low level flying enthusiastic hunters. In foreign service This chapter deals with the service of the Ju 87 in foreign colors. Some good inspiration to model your Stuka in something other than the usual balkenkreuzen. Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy all had their Stuka units. But what I didn’t know some even flew with Russian, US and British insignia. Drawings Four pages offer detailed drawings in 1:72 scale (side, front and top) and it’s variants. Great for guiding your riveter! 3D renders! This is the chapter that appeals most to me. Almost 40 pages with very detailed and realistic renders of a Ju 87 D-5. Starting out with some overall views from all directions and followed by close-ups of the spinner, nose, intakes, wing-root, tail, gear and canopy. As said in the introduction, Volume 2 continues these artist renderings with cockpit and other inside detail. A taste of this is given by a last page render of the Revi gunsight… Conclusion I think you can guess by now that I am a huge fan of these series. The black and white photo’s offer inspiration and the 3D renderings offer accuracy and detail that simply can’t be seen in normal photographs. Add some detailed line drawings and I guess you’re good to go! Very highly recommended Our sincere thanks to Kagero for the review sample. To purchase directly, click HERE. Jeroen Peters

Nice one! Could really do with a figure. Squashed. Between the tracks

pfffffffff here's the periscope. Drilled through and with a copper tube inserted.

Decal time! One decal is missing from the sheet. A white line that goes on the spine, right behind the pit. No worries, I'll scourge it from somewhere else.