Peterpools Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Rob Just finished doing the IP panel decal on the Songbird and have found the exactly as you, as well as with the past few builds, I've done, all with Cartograpf decals, they do need a long soak time for the decals to come free from the backing paper - I have no idea as to why. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 On 2/20/2024 at 2:25 PM, Martinnfb said: Lovely detailing as always Doc. On 2/20/2024 at 3:29 PM, Jeff said: A joy to watch this build , Rob. Thos is going to be a beauty. Thank you Martin and Jeff, there are kits, which due to their design and quality invite to do a bit more detail wise. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 20 hours ago, Peterpools said: Just finished doing the IP panel decal on the Songbird and have found the exactly as you, as well as with the past few builds, I've done, all with Cartograpf decals, they do need a long soak time for the decals to come free from the backing paper - I have no idea as to why. Hehe Peter we are exactly on the same stage with our builds, but somehow, I have an inkling, that yours will be finished first. It´s strange, how long these Cartograph decals need to soak. I dip them into warm water with a drop of detergent in it and place them on a wet sponge. These needed three minutes at least to be movable, which meant, I had to alter my usual workflow. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Rob I'm sure the Songbird will cross the finish line first as it's no whereas complicated nor as difficult as the AEG. I do just about the same and can't understand why the decals are taking so long to loosen up from the backing paper. I also found with the Jug build the Cartograf decals, they felt a bit stiffer. So far for the Songbird, they feel as normal; soft and very thin. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 That’s really strange, my experience with Cartograf decals is completely different. Highly playable with almost instant reaction to hot water. Perhaps a bad batch? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 12 minutes ago, Martinnfb said: That’s really strange, my experience with Cartograf decals is completely different. Highly playable with almost instant reaction to hot water. Perhaps a bad batch? Martin I've had exactly the same experience with Cartograpf decals on my last two builds, and the Jug was a brand new release. Not sure why but I'm guessing there might have been a change in how the decals are made at Cartograf. You know the old axiom: when something isn't broken and perfect; time for a change to fix it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 51 minutes ago, Martinnfb said: That’s really strange, my experience with Cartograf decals is completely different. Highly playable with almost instant reaction to hot water. Perhaps a bad batch? 35 minutes ago, Peterpools said: I've had exactly the same experience with Cartograpf decals on my last two builds, and the Jug was a brand new release. Not sure why but I'm guessing there might have been a change in how the decals are made at Cartograf. You know the old axiom: when something isn't broken and perfect; time for a change to fix it. Ok, mine are a bit older, but only some years, stored in their bag with the protective sheet on top in the closed box. To be fair, they behaved well, after the long soaking time, but I never experienced that before. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 It starts to get cozy in the front office. It´s time to add the numerous details and it´s a good idea, to follow the manual with the progress. Guess how I found out. I had to wiggle one bulkhead in, because I glued the sliding pad too early. The seats are oil painted on sand yellow and accentuated with toned variations of the base color. After a coat of flat, I had a semigloss finish, which was treated carefully with 4000 grid sandpaper, to remain glossy leather patches and some worn dull areas. On most of the metal parts, I applied a very slight rub of iron pigment with a cotton swab, a technique, I use very often to enhance the metal appearance of these parts. Somehow it looks right scale wise. There was a lot of detail painting in places and I used CA mostly, as it´s not so thin to spoil surfaces and bonds well, even with painted surfaces. Cheers Rob 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Wow, that looks fantastic Rob!! Really nice job! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belugawhaleman Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Great detailing Rob. I like how you did the leather on the seats. Very nice. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 11 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said: Wow, that looks fantastic Rob!! Really nice job! Thank you Mike, I hope a lot of the detail will remain visible through the openings in the turtle deck. I have lots of fun, applying wear and tear in convincing unity, at least, I hope so. I already spotted some details on the pics, which need to be adressed. Cheers Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 9 hours ago, belugawhaleman said: Great detailing Rob. I like how you did the leather on the seats. Very nice. Thank you Paul, I love to work with oils for leather. This time I wanted a dark brown look and worked through the different shades from near black in the deepest folds to a bit highlighted base color on the parts with most exposure. After I sprayed on the semi matte coat, the effect was less visible, too less for my liking and I thought about, how to improve it. Used and worn leather has different patches of shinyness, depending on the wear and tear and I thought, the 4000 grit sandpaper did a good job representing this. Finally I dabbed some metal wax bronze onto the knobs with a toothpick. Cheers Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Rob Some mighty terrific progress: weathering and the details are spot on the money. Of course, the leather seat and weathering is so brilliantly done. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 More detailing and adding of pre painted parts took place, before closing the cockpit tub. WNW has a great photo in the manual, which shows the bomb release switches in the observer station, but added none in the kit. I used Albion Connecto brass parts for this. I cut the crosses to size and glued them into the switchboard. Later, I added cables for each of the switches. That´s how it looks now: Now it´s time for the seat belts, where as usual the HGW instructions for the paper and PE belts has some errors. It´s always the same with HGW, they have some great products, others are a complete fail, but the manuals are always wrong. I closed the cockpit tub, but not before checking, it fits into the fuselage, which it seems to do, phew. I haven´t added the steering wheel, because I can´t find my PE-fret, where some tiny parts have to be added to the steering column and I hope, I can find it in time. I toned down the backside of the seat with smoke pigment, because my oil color woodgrain looked too new for my bird. Then I simulated the decks for fit and what remains visible. Cheers Rob 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Rob Looking so good. It's hard to believe WHW would show such a great detail imaged of the bomb release switches in the observer station and not provide the parts in the kit. Nice solution to the problem and the office is looking mighty good. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Amazing detail, especially the worn leather looks spot on. Truly an awe inspiring work. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 17 hours ago, Peterpools said: Looking so good. It's hard to believe WHW would show such a great detail imaged of the bomb release switches in the observer station and not provide the parts in the kit. Nice solution to the problem and the office is looking mighty good. Muchas gracias Peter and yes, even WNW was not perfect . I guess, they decided, these switches are too small to be produced with injection technology. Strangely, they supplied a decal, showing the places for the switches and casted holes into the plastic for them. Another thing, I missed is the typical complete picture of the cockpit in color, which was provided with all WNW kits, I knew before. Not a biggie, but a good reminder, where everything has to be placed. Cheers Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 17 hours ago, Martinnfb said: Amazing detail, especially the worn leather looks spot on. Truly an awe inspiring work. Thanks Martin, that´s where the fun starts for me, thinking about a fitting look for details like the seats, render a picture in my head and try to make the plastic look like it. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 I applied the first batch of lozenge decals today. They went on beautifully on the inside of the fuselage and need to be flat coated then. Initially I wanted to assemble the HGW seat belts, but couldn´t find the heart in me to start. There are four pairs to be made for the captain/observer in the front cockpit, the pilot, the foldable co-pilot seat and the rear gunner. Interestingly these four stations were only manned by a crew of three on night missions often only two crew members. The captain/ observer crept through a tunnel out of the front cockpit for takeoff and landing, because in case of a nose dive, he would be crushed in the front office. Speaking of nose dives, to distract me from the seat belts, I even had a peek on the waves for surfing, but on this cold, grey, stormy day, there was no surf to speak of, so back to the belts. Well in the end, I assembled all four pairs and now my eyes are hurting . They are a bit simpler to build u, than the WWII ones, but fiddly as well. Again, it was helpful to fiddle the belt parts through the buckles, when these are still on the PE fret. On the picture, they havent received their brown oil color wash, which will be followed by a matte coat tomorrow. Cheers Rob 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Rob, did you have to paint the inside of the fuselage for decals ? As in , did you have to paint it gloss white.? Jeff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 7 hours ago, Jeff said: Rob, did you have to paint the inside of the fuselage for decals ? As in , did you have to paint it gloss white.? I pre painted the inside of the fuselage, where the decals went with Tamiya XF-17 dark blue (the color between the decals, a bit hard to pick up) and then gloss coated for the decals. Dark blue should be the base for the outer night lozenge decals as well, along with the only painted parts of the plane like turtle decks. The outer night lozenge camo decals are darker, than these on the inside and I will test, how they look on the named dark blue or gloss white, like I usually use, when I plaster WNW kits with Aviattic decals, but I guess the kit decals are very opaque. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 5 hours ago, DocRob said: I pre painted the inside of the fuselage, where the decals went with Tamiya XF-17 dark blue (the color between the decals, a bit hard to pick up) and then gloss coated for the decals. Dark blue should be the base for the outer night lozenge decals as well, along with the only painted parts of the plane like turtle decks. The outer night lozenge camo decals are darker, than these on the inside and I will test, how they look on the named dark blue or gloss white, like I usually use, when I plaster WNW kits with Aviattic decals, but I guess the kit decals are very opaque. Cheers Rob Thanks Rob, I have a couple WNW kits I want to try and am very late to the party. I have always read about painting for Aviattic decals but was a bit vague on the WNW decals. Thanks for the tutorial , Rob Jeff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 You go brother 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Rob Much appreciate the short bio on how the pilot lands his plane - sure he hasn't much faith in his aircraft. Interior cammo decals look good but not sure why they would go to that extent? Glad you decided to go with the HGW bets - they surely look mighty good. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 1 hour ago, Peterpools said: Much appreciate the short bio on how the pilot lands his plane - sure he hasn't much faith in his aircraft. Interior cammo decals look good but not sure why they would go to that extent? Glad you decided to go with the HGW bets - they surely look mighty good. The HGW belts were a must in my case, because I lost the supplied PE fret. Luckily there were not many parts on it. The interior decals will remain visible through the huge trap door in the bottom of the AEG. There is a tilting window, openable for shooting downwards with the LMG from the rear gunner position. When you look through the manual of the AEG, there are many pictures of nose dived planes. I´ve no idea, if this is because it happened so frequently or because of curios photographers. I can imagine, it could be difficult to land such a monster on an improvised field airport in nighttime. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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