Stevearado's Workbench

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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Hello everyone,
It has been a while since I've posted workbench photos, and finally creating one on the new forum. Things have been off and on for the past few years with things getting started and nothing finished. :sad: Life and other things/interests got in the way. Now, I am working to get back into the swing on things and get some models built. I am planning to finish at least one by New Years as an amnesty build.

Currently, I am working on a pair of 1/144 Platz N1K2-J Shiden Kai (George) fighters. Here, I am installing the engines and cowlings prior to cleaning up the seams:

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Now, I am in the process of painting. For the undersides, I painted them with Floquil Platinum Mist to start. The next day, I masked off some of the panels, and sprayed them with Floquil Old Silver. There is some difference in shades depending on the light, but not as much as I wished. Oh well, I can live with them.

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I am currently away for Christmas, but I will pick it back up once I return.
Thanks for looking.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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AndrewR
In the basement lab
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Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by AndrewR »

Those are neat.
Up in the Great White North
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Stuart
Raider of the Lost Ark Royal
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Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stuart »

Very smart!
Stuart Templeton I may not be good but I'm slow...

My Blog: https://stuartsscalemodels.blogspot.com/
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Thanks for the complements.

I completed my "New Years Amnesty Build", a Hobby Boss 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-10 a while ago.

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I started this build in 2008 as an easy build for when I was on travel for work. I packed my airbrush, tools, and a prepainted photo etch seat belt set prior to flying out. After landing in Indianapolis, Indiana, I stopped at a hobby shop in Plainfield where I was a few weeks prior and picked up the kit along with the appropriate paints. I worked on the kit in the hotel room in Bloomington in the evenings when I was not working at the Naval facility at Crane, IN. I got the main assemblies done and the aircraft painted before mailing it back to Maryland. Once I got back from travel, and the build arrived in the mail, I applied the decals, weathering, and dull coat. Then, life got in the way, some parts went missing, and the build was shelved. Over a period of 6 years, it sat with some sporadic attention (prop/spinner painted and nose spiral applied), but I could not find the missing landing gear doors. In 2014, I moved from my old apartment to a townhouse. While cleaning up, I found the gear doors in a pile of papers. I had stuck them to a piece of scrap cardboard for painting when I got distracted with the other stuff going on in my life, and they got buried. This past year, I decided to start doing "New Years Amnesty Builds" again as part of getting back the modeling mojo. I got the gear doors painted and installed along with an antenna mast, DF loop and polyester thread for antenna cable. The aircraft is modeled after the special high altitude unit from 1945 as the overall RLM 76 scheme was easy to do on travel using an airbrush with propellant cans. I used a picture and information in the Squadron Messerschmitt 109 In Action Part 2 (page 50) as reference. the decals are aftermarket from different sources.

This brings my final 2015 A:B:C ratio to 15:1:1

Thanks for looking.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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Asoka
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Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Asoka »

Nice Messer! ...the Galland hood makes it look quite different... :)

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Asoka
Skill, Patience and Humbrol, with a hairy stick!
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Thanks, Asoka!
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Three days ago, I decided to pull out an Aurora boxing of the 1/72 Heller Messerschmitt Bf 109 K (at least it said it was a K on the box). However, I found that the kit inside was not of a true K, but something along the lines of a G-14. No problem. I decided to backdate it to late G-6 to match a decal option on an aftermarket sheet I have. Up to this point , the main assembly is complete with all of the seam work done.

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In the cockpit, I scratch built a battery box cover with MW 50 from thin styrene sheet and angle. I also redid the gun sight with some styrene strip, and will add a piece of clear sheet before installing the canopy along with tape for seat belts.

On the underside, I closed off the top part of the wheel wells, and added some detail using styrene strip and sheet:

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Moving to the tail, the kit originally had two rudder tabs found on the G-14 and later versions. I sanded those off, and filled the hole for the tail wheel as it was not accurate for the aircraft I am doing.

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The tail wheel shown is out of a Hobby Boss Bf-109 G-2 kit. That kit shares a common sprue with their G-6 and G-10 versions, and contains extra parts that have been helpful. Among those are all 3 wheel types, extra small cowling bulges, and a short and long tail wheels. I plan to use the Hobby Boss wheels as well as those in this kit were not so good.

I plan to finish this 109 for my model club's January theme "Old Enough to Vote" (a kit originally produced before 1997). Also, this is the first kit in years that I am building and leaving the raised panel lines intact (for the most part, some were lost when cleaning up the seams). So far, I should be able to achieve that goal.

Thanks for looking.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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skypirate
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Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by skypirate »

Great to see the old Heller 109 'K' getting an outing and a facelift.
For years I had that one in the stash, but eventually replaced it with the more modern A-Model kit, which I have not built yet.

cheers,

David
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

A good amount of progress:

A new gun sight was scratch built using strip styrene and some clear plastic from a container.

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Canopy masked off and ready for paint a couple of days ago:

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As of tonight, much of the painting is complete. Still need to do a splotch scheme:

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The replacement tail wheel is temporarily in place and will be painted soon.

Thanks for looking.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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mjatx
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Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by mjatx »

Your Gustav is looking very nice. I like the color scheme you've chosen. The splotches on the Gelb cowling are very unusual.
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

mjatx wrote:Your Gustav is looking very nice. I like the color scheme you've chosen. The splotches on the Gelb cowling are very unusual.
Thanks mjatx.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Progress for tonight:

The splotched paint scheme was applied, along with Future and decals.
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I decided to go with RLM 66 for the splotches as what I read in the decal sheet leaned toward that direction.

Also, I modified the Hobby Boss main gear wheels, and mounted them to the landing gear.
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As you can see, they are a great improvement over what came in the kit (on the right). Initially, the mounting holes
in the Hobby Boss wheels were too big for the Heller axles to fit properly. To fix that, I drilled out the mounting
holes to accommodate a small length of styrene rod as a plug. The plugs were then drilled in the center with a
small bit at first. Then, bit sizes were worked up gradually until the holes were big enough to snugly fit the Heller
gear.

The prop and spinner are assembled, and the center cannon has been drilled out. Needs touched up still.
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Finally, I began painting the replacement tail wheel assembly. The originally tail wheel is also pictured.
Image

Thanks for looking.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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Clashcityrocker
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Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Nice work with all the small improvements, it's looking good.

Nigel
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Clashcityrocker wrote:Nice work with all the small improvements, it's looking good.

Nigel
Thank, Nigel.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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Stevearado
Series 3 and Beyond
Posts: 13
Joined: May 4th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: Stevearado's Workbench

Post by Stevearado »

Tonight, I am calling this one finished. A clear coat has been applied, and the final bits are installed. The wing and
fuselage crosses were oversprayed with RLM 75, and exhaust stains applied with Tamiya Smoke. The drop tank and fitting
are from a Hasegawa kit with stencils from the Eaglecals sheet. Here are some final shots:

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Image

Thanks for looking.
Steve W.

2017 A:B:C = X:X:X
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