IBG Models Gotha Go 242 build review (3)

 

..ready for painting using mostly Xtracolor enamels..

IBG Models Gotha Go 242 build review (2)

 

Gotha on its wheels (briefly for the picture) and almost ready for paint. Still plenty of smaller detail parts to be fitted but given that a certain amount of masking will be necessary, I've left these off..

Another view, with 72nd scale 109 in the picture. I've planned to pose the cargo ramp door open having replaced the plastic struts with some metal rod  (to the right, to be painted separately)

IBG Models Gotha Go 242 in 72nd

 

Here in the 'garden of England' we are in the middle of a week of 20 C/ 78 F sunshine, so the modelling stuff goes out into the garden. Just coming to the final stages of the new IBG Models Gotha Go 242. The build log is elsewhere but here's a view from the garden..

Rolf Pingel's Battle of Britain Kommandeur I./JG 26 machine - Hasegawa Me 109 E

 

Fourth completion of the year!

Hasegawa Me 109 - is there an easier build out there? Not sure though that I'm 100 % convinced by the shape of the nose. Decals from Kagero. Pingel's Emil was photographed during November 1940 - the blue of the fuselage now heavily mottled, although the machine still has large areas of yellow.  I used Xtracolor enamels. 

of course, once again the aerial isn't right. I've since replaced it with something a little more acceptable, although I hate wrestling with EZ Line. The trick here is to zap the super glue with accelerator ..

Hs 123 Airfix 'Vintage classic' - applying EZ line/AMMO rigging

 

 I finished this Hs 123 last year - but was always unhappy with the aerials. I decided to replace them  with EZ-line - and took a few new photos. Application technique has been 'refined' since my rigging efforts with the new-tool Airfix Swordfish and the Airfix Tiger Moth. Firstly, decant some accelerator into a lid. Next apply a drop with a cocktail stick to the anchor point. Then touch the EZ line aerial dipped in super-glue for instant results.

..another Revell/Eduard Dr.1 - Richthofen's last machine 425/17 "Three wings for the Red Baron"

 

..time for a red Triplane. What collection of aeroplane models worthy of the name could possibly fail to feature Richthofen's Dr.1? This is the Revell re-box of the Eduard kit - and I'm still having trouble aligning the wings. For some reason the middle wing is slightly askew. 

Richthofen's all-red Dr. 1 was 425/17 - and this was the machine in which the 'Rittmeister' met his end. However Revell supply the old style crosses which is not accurate for the Red Baron's last flight.

Spot the 'deliberate' mistake - I've put the 'Axial' stickers on a non-Axial prop. Will have to fix that. Finishing was not as straight-forward as it might have seemed. Firstly what 'red' to use? and, secondly, how to 'weather' it? In the end I elected to go with  Humbrol 'crimson red' (132) brush-painted in very thin layers and to 'tone' it down a little I tried the oil dot filter method..

Photographed on Leon Bennett's "Three wings for the Red Baron" (Helion, 2019) - a treatise on early aeronautical science and the cul-de-sac that was the triplane. The book examines why exactly Richthofen was such an enthusiastic advocate for a machine in which both himself and other leading German aces lost their lives. Spoiler alert - it even appears that his 'admiration' for the Sopwith Triplane was based on no more than hearsay...and if Leon should happen to chance on this page can I just point out to him that 'la vache' has another meaning in French...

See my other Eduard Triplane build on this blog here

Boater Bill's colourful collection of WWI machines - Eduard Dr.1 in 72nd

 

Yellow: Lothar von Richtofen, Jasta 11
Black: Josef Jacobs, Jasta 7
White: Hans Weiss, Jasta 11
Blue: Wilhelm Schwartz, Jasta 13
Lilac: Rudolf Stark, Jasta 34b
Green: Friedrich Kempf, Jasta 2 Boelcke
Red/white: August Raben, Jasta 18

Bill's best tips for building the Eduard Dr.1 in 72nd

" Some things I learned the hard way:

- The wing struts have a top and bottom. If you put them in upside down, they fit OK on the bottom wing, but the top wing’s angle of attack will be way off (trailing edge way too low) and the cabanes won’t fit.

- Make sure the wing struts are parallel when installed when viewed from the side. There’s a little bit of wiggle room in the middle wing’s slot- any misalignment will be magnified by a top wing that is skewed, with a leading edge that is not parallel to the other two.

- It is easy to put the stab on upside down (twice!). It is too easy to overlook the little dimples that are for the strut braces on the bottom - that is the only difference between top and bottom. (No key or tab to align the stab with the opening in the fuselage.)

- Pay close attention to part numbers for the landing gear struts- it is very easy to mix them up. I learned to not remove the second one from the sprue until I had glued the first one in place, on the correct side. Ditto for the cabanes.

- I found it best to install the cabanes on the top wing first, let them set for a bit, then attach the wing to the model.

- The stab braces are very flimsy- I broke about half of them while trying to clean up the sprue attachment. A similarly sized piece of Evergreen styrene is less brittle, and easier to handle.

- The guns won’t fit properly unless you sand the fuselage opening part to make it a little wider.

- If you are adding a pilot (I used the nice PJ Productions resin figures) don't bother to install the seat.

Bill's WWI slideshow is here

Recent addition to Bill's collection from the Revell kit a JG III Dr.1   - all markings painted and masked. Intending to do some of Loerzer's machines so posted here..