Huma Me 209 V1/V4 in 1:72nd (2009 build)

Continuing my on-going series of ‘Luftwaffe’ types that can be easily finished without an airbrush, this my Huma Me 209....piston-engine speed record holder until the late '60s when it was overtaken by a modified Bearcat. The 209 was apparently an evil little aircraft which featured an incredibly small wing (and horrendously high loading) and a ‘novel’ cooling system dispensing with radiators to reduce drag - hot coolant was evaporated via holes in the wing so that the machine left a trail of steam behind it. Engine life was pretty short as the 200 gallons of coolant "evaporated" in 30 mins...

Like all Huma kits this is reasonably moulded if a little tricky to assemble. The cockpit was bare so I've put a bit of 109 etch in, not that any of it can be seen. Fit is not brilliant overall, but you do get two sets of wings and two cowls in the kit (for the V1 and the 'military version ', the V4). Finished appropriately enough in BMW blue.with a Halfords rattle can for a super glossy smooth finish.

Italeri Bf 110 E Wolfgang Falck, Kommodore NJG 1

Bf 110 E assigned to Wolfgang Falck, Kommodore NJG 1, Deelen, Holland, late 1940 - the first Bf 110 painted overall black for nightfighting duties. Note the rudder kill markings - Falck in fact never actually shot down a bomber at night!

56th Fighter Group ace Robert Johnson

56th FG ace Robert Johnson scored his last victories on May 8th 1944 in LM-Q named -in homage to his crew chief - 'Penrod and Sam'. This was the only T'bolt he flew while serving with the 62nd FS and after beating Rickenbacker's victory record he was taken off combat ops.

Focke Wulf 190 A (Revell & Academy kits in 72nd)

The Revell & Academy Fw 190s side by side in the colours of Heinz Bär's 'Red 13' (JG 1) and Staffelführer JG 11 Erich Hondt. Note how horrible the Academy kit is with its barn-door type wing & hopelessly oversized ailerons. The rudder and engine cowl are also under-sized. In fact the front end bears no relation to the actual aircraft - easily Academy's worst 72nd scale kit.

Italeri Bf109 G-6 in 72nd scale

Haven't done much modelling so far this year. I do most of my work in the garage and its been far too cold to spray of course. This is the Italeri G-6 in 72nd scale, not a bad kit, a bit industrial in places, especially the undercarriage and the gear legs are located way too far apart. I have been attempting to paint this freehand in an effort to replicate the well known 'Yellow 1' as flown by Manfred Dieterle of I./JG 300 on wilde Sau 'Wild boar' sorties during 1943. I haven't quite got enough wiggles in my waves but I'm not too unhappy with it for this scale. Now to find some decals somewhere in the spares box for it. {Painted with Vallejo acrylics and my PremiAir G35 - not a bad piece of kit for £30)

Chuck McBath's 'Dottie Dee II' 63FS/56th FG Revell P-47 (72nd)

Chuck McBath's 'Dottie Dee II' 63FS/56th FG

56th FG P-47 Charles McBath's 'Dottie Dee'

..wasn't sure what I was going to do for the recent 8th Air Force campaign on aeroscale.co.uk and as I still hadn't started anything going into the final weeks, I grabbed this Revell 72nd P-47 from the pile..thought I'd try one of those neat looking 63 FS machines in blue. (just click on the pics for a larger image..)

Cockpit straight OOB with (champagne bottle) foil belts....





..think I've built this kit three or four times this year.....the only real 'problem' area with the Revell kit is the gear which sits perpendicular to the wing; looks much better raked forward a little as here - rather than pinning the legs, much easier to cobble together a new 'mount' using a prop 'disc'







started painting today ...note the 'scrap' plastic model which I use for getting the airbrush settings just so..freehand for a bit of a 'ragged' look ...(well, that's my excuse..) Colours are pretty approximate, some RLM 76 hellblau suitably doctored and some Flanker blue from Xtracolour - looks like this will be finished as Charles McBath's 'Dottie Dee' (right in lower pic)






..kit decals were a pain and only stayed on with a coat of white glue and plenty of Klear (!!).. but aside from some yellow prop tips and a flat coat this one is finished ...