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Paula & Dan · Last edited by Paula & Dan on Sat 30 Aug 2008 23:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Progress of Digs' build will be recorded here.
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Digs · Posted: Fri 25 Jul 2008 20:55 pm Post subject:

Oooh. Lots of choices here (after a quick peruse of the stash) :-

Beaufighter
Blenheim
Mosquito
Anson

Ju88
He111
Do17J
Do17 mistel

And things that I'm unsure if they count or not - are fighter bombers eligible? Though the Mosquito seems to have been deemed to be from the thread above?

Whirlwind
P38 Lightning

Decisions decisions

Here's a further question for the cognescenti - I have some PE for a Do17 but the E version. I also have an MPC Do17E, but I thought the MPC kits were rebadged Airfix. Am I mistaken? Or are the differences minor ones that have been made as the mould evolved over the years?

Paul

Paula & Dan · Posted: Sat 26 Jul 2008 11:35 am Post subject:

I think we'd say no to the Whirlwind and P-38 on the basis that they're really fighters. The Anson, as Rich has said, is out as well, but all the rest'd be good!

Cheers,

Dan
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Digs · Posted: Sun 27 Jul 2008 06:57 am Post subject:

Sorry, missed the edict on the Anson (and in fact still can't find the relevant bit of thread!).

Paul

Digs · Posted: Sat 30 Aug 2008 17:55 pm Post subject:

Right - have been perusing the stash while waiting for paint to dry

It narrowed down to Do17, Mosquito or He 111. In the interest of variety the winner is the He 111 H20. I've two boxings to choose from - an old US Airfix one or a modern Humbrol era one. That decision and photos will follow in a little while when I've got the North Africa GB finished. I can't cope with 3 on the go at once!

Paul

Digs · Posted: Sun 07 Sep 2008 10:53 am Post subject:

OK, some pics at last. Despite herself being away with the good camera. 20 minutes of hunting turned up all the bits for the damaged old one and it's actually playing ball for once.

As I said, I have two boxings of the Airfix He 111 - a modern Humbrol one and what I think is an American boxing from the 70s - here's the box tops:

Neither are exactly Roy Cross but the Yank one wins it for me, not on any technical merit but because at least something's happening in the picture! The Humbrol one must be playing along with the idea that the aircraft is a civilian airliner!

The other thing that struck me - the difference in box size.

Nope, it IS the same contents inside, just a modern marketing ploy (if one is feeling cynical), easier packing if one isn't. One bluey-grey plastic, one silver. 30 years has removed just about every component from the old sprues though.

The decals haven't changed that much - same aircraft codes and (to my surprise and dismay), equally basic.

The big difference though - Humbrol seem to have forgotten the black cross from the centre of the balkenkreuz - what's that about? Wikipedia has let me down here for any evidence that this is deliberate, despite the 'evidence' of the box art.

And onto the plastic:

Not so much to choose between them - there's a bit more flash on the newer moulding and the windows in the fuselage are notably misshapen as you might be able to see in the pic above. OTOH, some of the more delicate parts in the old kit (where absence of flash is a particular asset) such as the guns have got broken over the years. The only big difference I can see is the absence of a stand from the newer kit. Why did Airfix stop supplying these? Did the moulds wear out?

So which to build? Well, I do have a set of PE but having read the recent thread on the relative merits of the various 1/72 He 111 kits I think I'll save it for a Revell kit. Therefore no tarting up of the interior, therefore it needs the crew to hide the blanks, therefore I think I'll build it wheels-up and so may as well use the new kit! Save for swiping the stand.

Paul

Flash Flash · Silver Star Joined: 16 May 2006 Posts: 2938

I think that is one of the worst box arts by HUMBOL

ever!
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Digs · Posted: Sat 13 Sep 2008 17:08 pm Post subject:

Time for a construction update.

As I said in the 'Which He 111?' thread - this kit is a bit of a dog. Not much fits and in fact great chunks of it are out and out distorted. I'm starting to regret having started the Humbrol boxing - the older kit could not have been worse anyway.

But it's not all bad. After the initial dismay when I did consider lumping the whole lot into the bin, I'm actually starting to enjoy the challenge. And it's nice to relax a bit and think 'well if it turns out poorly, I can always blame the kit!'.

So onto the photos - poor quality I'm afraid as Jane has the decent camera again. One pleasant surprise with the kit - after Klearing the main canopy halves, they turned out to actually be transparent. So having installed the kit cockpit and painted it, I decided to add a bit more detail:

A bit of framing, some control bits and pieces, a subsidiary instrument panel and I've extended the bench for the nose gunner so he can actually reach his MG and given the poor fellow some cushions!

Paul

Heinkel51 · Posted: Sat 13 Sep 2008 23:16 pm Post subject:

Nice work there Digs

Cheers Peter

Beaufighter · Posted: Sat 13 Sep 2008 23:59 pm Post subject:

I haven't seen one of these out of the box and being built in 35 years. Can't wait for more!
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Digs · Posted: Sun 14 Sep 2008 22:17 pm Post subject:

Some more updates:

Wings together and filled:

I will fill the chasms for the working flaps with some plasticard. The landing light is going to be a harder task - the transparency was mostly flash and when that was removed, what was left does not fit the hole in the wing.

Cockpit mostly finished - some detail painting to do and the control yoke to add after the pilot.

And then a dilemma - the fit of wing to fuselage is horrible, but so is the fit of fuselage half to half. What to deal with first? Especially as the midships machine guns will be horribly exposed and fragile after fitting.

In the end I went for glueing wing to fuselage halves first - the fuselage held together with tape to try and get some semblance of symmetry out of a warped and misshapen body - here it is, with glue setting overnight:

Paula & Dan · Posted: Mon 15 Sep 2008 08:48 am Post subject:

Nice progress there Digs. I do believe that this is one of the best looking machines of all time and you're doing it justice!

Cheers,

Dan
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Digs · Posted: Thu 18 Sep 2008 21:47 pm Post subject:

A quick update - wings and tail planes on and some of the chasms filled so tonight I went for it and started tacking the fuselage halves together. Not the easiest of jobs getting everything (well, as much as was achievable) lined up, but this is how it rests overnight:

Digs · Posted: Sun 28 Sep 2008 18:27 pm Post subject:

Wow, 10 days since I last updated! Slow progress to report as the rest of life keeps on intruding. And why aren't weekends three days long??

Anway, the fuselage has been tacked up and I've had a first pass at filling the seams. The topside was OK, or at least not too bad. The full horror hits when you look at the underside:

The unusual design whereby the lower halves of the wings contribute to the underside of the fuselage, coupled with the distortion of one of the fuselage halves leaves some gaping chasms AND some overall differences in level between adjacent bits of plastic. The photo shows it after some cleaning up. I think the only way to properly 'make good' would be to fill it totally and rescribe panel lines as appropriate. Given the overall fit of the kit, I'm just going to make sure there's no obvious holes and leave it at that.

Moving on, I've installed the pilot and nose gunner. The pilot got some pedals to press on too, though they're barely visible in the photo.

And the greenhouse - on gluing the two halves together it became apparent that they too were distorted. They're together, but a top down view reveals that my He 111 canopy will forever be slightly banana shaped. Trying to hide the join will also be tricky, so to try and deflect attention from the outside, I added a couple of instrument panels to the interior out of scrap plasticard:

dancho · Posted: Sun 28 Sep 2008 20:22 pm Post subject:

Go! Go! Go!
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jhl1908 · Posted: Sun 28 Sep 2008 20:43 pm Post subject:

Looking good so far!
It will be interesting to see how your greenhouse fit the fuselage.

Are you going to use superglue to close the gaps on the wings?

All the best from Jesper.
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Digs · Posted: Sun 28 Sep 2008 21:51 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys!

Final pics for the weekend - canopy on: some interior detail still visible but Squadron vac form it ain't!

Jesper - I've never tried superglue as a gap filler. I tend to use PVA for small gaps and Humbrol filler for large.

Paul

Beaufighter · Posted: Sun 28 Sep 2008 23:24 pm Post subject:

I think the canopy's meant to be a bit banana-shaped isn't it?
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Softscience · Posted: Mon 29 Sep 2008 02:27 am Post subject:

yes, that looks more or less right to me
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Digs · Posted: Mon 29 Sep 2008 06:22 am Post subject:

OK, I assumed it would be symmetrical.

Nice to know! Ta!

Paul