Luftwaffe Double Build – Update 3

September 4, 2016 Uncategorized Comments (5)

One down, one to go.

I put the finishing touches on the FW 190A-5.

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I am pleased with the end result, but exceedingly frustrated with the decal situation.  As I still haven’t firmly diagnosed the problem, and I replaced my Microsol and Microset with new bottles, I’m still going to blame Eduard’s decals. I refuse to believe I was at fault, because I am a man.

Regardless the Butcher Bird fills a hole in the miniature airforce and looks nice next to Eduard’s new tool Bf 109G-6. And, they both look great juxtaposed against the allies premier fighters from the European theater such as the Tempest, Spitfire and Mustang.

The Stuka is moving slow as molasses. Italeri confounds me. The fit is surprisingly good, as is the detail. But, the parts need more cleaning up than I would’ve expected and some are broken.  Not only is the bomb trapeze broken on the sprue and unusable, but I just discovered that the pilot’s sliding canopy is malformed.  I believe it would be called a “short shot” when the plastic didn’t fill the mold as appears to be the case. That means I am going to have to wait on replacement parts to be shipped from Italy.  Who knows how long that will take.  Italeri is batting 1000 with broken and malformed parts. Granted, I only have two of their kits, but the 1/72 C-130 that I will be building for a friend had the fuselage cracked in half upon delivery.

Anyway, since t20160901_235228he last update nothing much has happened. The gaps have been puttied and sanded, panel lines have been re-scribed,  the horizontal tail has been installed with some other miscellaneous bits, and the next big step is masking and priming.   It’s a lot of hurrying up to wait.

As time still slips away towards the baby-hiatus, and with the FW finished, I decided to fill the opening in my schedule with a quick build. I threw around some ideas, including building Hobby Boss’s ME 262, but I ultimately broke into Trumpeter’s 1/48 Mig-3. Something about the winter camo seemed like it would be an interesting addition to the collection, and a departure from the Luftwaffe’s famous three tone mottle and splinter camoflage.

This has been a fantastic experience to date. The parts fit together well. Detail is good minus the rather stark instrument panel in the cockpit.  Eduard’s zoom photo-etch fixed that issue with great results.  It took a day to paint and assemble the cockpit, and another day to assemble the wings and the fuselage. I drilled out the wing root intakes and added some brash mesh for interest, other than that and Eduard’s zoom PE this has been a simple assembly.  Color me very impressed with this Trumpeter kit. If it is an indication of things to come with the 1/32 P-38 I have in the stash, it will be a joy. Good thing, because there are about a million parts to assemble in that kit.

 EDIT: As the Stuka is progressing so slowly, and the Mig 3 so quickly, I’m thinking of doing a “Great Patriotic War” double build. If I do, Ill be adding Accurate Miniatures Yak 1-b. I’ll built it straight from the box, with Montex masks. 

 

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5 thoughts on “Luftwaffe Double Build – Update 3”

  1. Really liking the Mig so far, and I’m glad you’re having a good experience with the Trumpeter kit. I really want to add their SBD-3 to my stash as I found I really great reference photo I want to build. And I think I need to borrow your Writing to Win book.

    Reply

    1. The Mig is surprising. I like it. I’ve got an Accurate Miniatures SBD 2. When you’re ready to build yours, I’ll jump in and do it with you. I’m actually going to do mine in flight, diving, brakes extended, and trapeze dropped. I think that would be interesting (prop blurs, of course).

      How’d you know about “Writing to Win”? It’s a good book (probably cheaper to get a used copy on Amazon, than ship my copy to you and back). Are you in the legal field? It’s pretty good in that context.

      Reply

      1. Ha, no. I’m a lowly steelworker. I saw it in your picture of the Stuka on the FlightPose. Just figured as much as I’ve enjoyed your writing, it might help me.

        It’ll probably be a little while until I get the SBD. Hoping to get the release to go back to work on Wednesday from my concussion. Once I’m back, I’ll have the extra cash to get it.

      2. Nothing lowly about being a steel worker. I’ve been wondering about how you were healing. Glad you’re okay and heading back to work.

        I had forgotten I moved that book over to where I took that picture, and I was racking my brain trying to figure out in what context I would have brought it up in one of our discussions. While I’ve recommended it to many of my co-workers, who tend to write like lawyers too often, I imagine it would be like reading about the science behind concrete drying to most people. If you’d like to read it, I’ll happily give it to you. Better you read it then it sit on my shelf collecting dust.

        But, I’d rather recommend books that would leave you with a better impression of me, and my profession, than that. Haha.

        Thanks for the compliments, though. That means a lot. How is that massive Texan coming along?

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