A few more kits on hand

I recently acquired a few more kits to keep me going, as well as some more paints and a few new brushes. My wife also got me a new airbrush for Christmas, something I've been needing for a while now.

The first kit is the Tamiya 1/35 Tiger I Initial Production:

 This kit was purchased for a SIG build on the International Scale Modeller forums. This is an out of the box build as I just didn't have the money to get any PE or resin upgrades. Oddly enough it's the first Tiger I've ever built even though I've been a model builder over half my life.

Next up is the Revel 1/32 Spitfire Mk IIa in the new tooling:

This kit was also purchased for a buddy build on the ISM forums. Again a pretty much out-of-the-box build although I will make what upgrades/corrections I can as I go along and with materials on hand. Since this buddy build lasts all year I may break down and get some resin upgrades if money will allow.

The last new kit is one I've been after for quite a while now, the AMT 1/25 Kenworth K-123 Cabover:

This is a more personal project, although I may also enter it in an upcoming group build. My uncle drove a truck like this from the late 1960s/early 1970s until he retired. He was an owner/operator and leased it to C&H Transportation of Dallas, Texas for his entire driving career. My uncle was a Marine in WWII and had some severe PTSD (although it wasn't called that back then) issues after the war. He started long-haul truck driving as a form of therapy and stayed with it from very shortly after coming home. I think finally being able to buy his own truck was one of the proudest days of his life. I plan to build this kit and finish it to resemble his truck. My cousins are going to go through their photo albums for pictures of my uncle and his truck to assist me. It's builds like this that bring something a bit extra-special into the hobby for me.

Ju 88 started

I decided to go ahead and get started on the Revell 1/32 Ju 88 kit. Opening the box revealed quite a few sprues of rather large parts. Everything is so BIG! After looking through the sprues and reviewing the instruction manual I was worried that I might not have enough paint on hand!

One thing I've decided is that I'm not going to try and document every single step for this build. If you search on Google you will find there are already several good reviews available in both written and video form. I'm just going to try to document the highlights and/or trouble spots I run into. 

Construction begins with the cockpit. Or more precisely, the starboard cockpit wall. There are several other parts that are attached to it before it is painted. Color callouts in the instructions are all for Revell paints that aren't available in the US. Looking online I did my best to find color equivalents but some of the lists I found left me scratching my head in confusion. In the end I used Tamiya XF-22 RLM Gray as the base color for the interior as shown here:

Detailing the parts with black, white, and leather brown brought it to life. Here it is with the other bits I've been working on:

I still need to give it a wash and some dry brushing to show wear. As you can see the cockpit area all by itself is nearly 4 inches in length! Once installed in the fuselage and with the canopy parts in place the cockpit area will be a bit over 4 inches by 2 inches, a lot of area to paint, detail, and weather!

This is a BIG box!

While she was out running errands prior to Thanksgiving my wife stopped by a hobby shop to look for a particular kit for me. They didn't have the one I want but did have something else that's been on my list. Even though it was a bit on the expensive side ($50!) she brought this home for me:

This is a huge kit. Well, compared to what I have been building at least. The wingspan is 24.8 inches (63.0cm) and the length is 17.8 inches (45.3cm), quite a bit larger than anything I've built in a very long time! In years past I have built larger models but it's been a very, very long time since I tackled something this size.

The kit is produced by Revell Germany. One of the things you'll notice if you look at the artwork carefully is the lack of a swastika on the tail of the bomber. German law prohibits the display of the swastika as a Nazi symbol. They don't include them on the decal sheet so I will have to source aftermarket decals when the time comes. There are also a lot of aftermarket detail bits available from Eduard (photo-etch for interior and exterior, resin wheels, etc.) but I'll have to make do without since it would more than double the price of the kit!

I'm going to try and take my time with this one. Given the scale there is no excuse not to take my time and try to paint as much detail in the cockpit as possible, especially given the huge canopy area. My primary concern at this point is whether I'm going to have enough paint when it comes time!

Eduard 1/48-scale Messerschmitt Bf.109E-4 Weekend Edition (Kit 84166)

While at the hobby shop a few days ago I picked up this Eduard 1/48-scale Messerschmitt Bf.109E-4 Weekend Edition kit. As this is my first Eduard kit I went into it with great anticipation and have not been disappointed. Even the packaging sets this kit apart from the majority, with a sturdy box holding beautifully molded parts protected by resealable plastic bags. The clear part are in their own ziploc baggie. The decals are superb as are the instructions.

Eduard's Weekend Edition kits are the same plastic parts as their Profi-Pak kits, but only the plastic parts. They don't include the photo-etch or canopy masks, and rather than the multiple choices in marking include decals for only a single aircraft. In the case of the Bf.109E-4 those are for W.Nr. 5819, Obstlt. Adolf Galland, Geschwaderkommodore JG 26, Audembert, France – December 1940, a find choice for this iconic aircraft.

Inspection of the parts shows the magnificent recessed panel line and rivet detail:

This detail is consistent across every part of the aircraft's surface. Such a change from the raised panel lines and rivets I was so used to in the kits of the 70's and 80's!

Interior detail is a bit less prevalent as this model is intended to use Eduard's photo-etch details. It is still excellent in quality and will build into a great looking cockpit. Here are the cockpit walls for reference:

The kit includes a fully detailed DB-601 and gun bay for displaying the kit with the cowlings removed. I decided to forgo this option as I just don't have a safe enough spot to display what would be a very delicate model.

Building starts with the interior parts. The cockpit, firewall, oil cooler, and tail wheel all need to be built and inserted into one fuselage half before the fuselage can be closed up.

Oil cooler:

Interior parts were painted with a base coat of Tamiya XF-22 RLM Gray. Details were picked out with flat black, flat white, and flat yellow.

There are two options for the instrument panel included in the kit. One is flat panels to be used with supplied decals, the other is raised detail panels for painting. I chose a third option and applied the decals to the raised panel using several applications of Micro-Sol. The result was well worth the effort.

The panels were given a light misting of Testors Dullcote to knock down the gloss of the decals. After installation you can't tell they weren't hand painted. Once they and the other interior parts were glued in place I closed up the fuselage. I also built the wings at the same time.

The fuselage goes together with nearly invisible seams except in the area of the oil cooler under the chin. There I had to used a dab of Squadron White Putty to smooth things out.

Once the glue had set up properly (and a small accident had been cleaned up after knocking my Testors Liquid Cement bottle over) the wings were joined to the fuselage. Once again the seams were nearly invisible and required no filling. Even the wing root/fuselage join, an area where many models have issues, was miniscule. The cowling and access panels for the engine and gun bay were also installed.

More photos to come!

More goodies!

Yesterday I acquired two more kits. The first I won in a Twitter giveaway by DragonUSA Online. Here's what I won:

Later on I took a trip to the hobby shop to pick up some paint for this and a couple of other models. I made the mistake of browsing the aisles and ended up bringing this home as well:

 

Both are fantastic kits. I fell in love with Dragon kits while building my Hummel and expect nothing less from this kit. The Bf.109E-4 is a kit I've looked at before. I've been wanting to try an Eduard kit and this seemed like a good one to start with. And yes, I did get the paints I had gone to the shop for originally plus the paints for the Emil. All in all a very good day!

I have commited camouflage...

Yep, the Hummel has its camo scheme:

The scheme is for a Hummel with the 2.SS.Pz.Div. "Das Reich" on the Eastern Front in 1944. Still have decals and weathering to do.

Caution: Wet Paint!

Put the first color down on the Hummel:

Model Master Acryl Panzer Dunkelgelb (Dark Yellow). Still have to add the camouflage colors - once I determine for sure which pattern I'm going with, that is! Red Brown and Dark Green, or just Dark Green. Not going to attempt the winter schemes as I do NOT like airbrushing white paint.

I've also been working on painting and weathering the tracks. First time ever doing anything but painting them steel and I think I did okay:

Primed with Tamiya Light Grey, then base coated with Model Master Metalizer Steel (Non Buffing). After that a wash of Model Master Acryl Shokoladenbraun (Chocolate Brown) and a wash of Model Master Rust enamel. Finally dry-brushed with Steel on the contact surfaces. Might have gone a bit heavy on the rust wash but that's okay.

More work on the Hummel

Finally managed to get a bit more done to the Hummel.

The model is just about ready for paint. I still need to assemble the tracks (Dragon Magic Tracks) and set the length so I can permanently attach the idlers. Once that's done it will be time to prime and lay some paint! The paints I will be using are Model Master Acryl over Tamiya primer.

I only started using the paints a few weeks ago but I'm really liking them! After a bit of a learning curve (you MUST use a good primer with these for them to stick) I find they go down quite well and give an excellent finish. They brush well, resulting in a smooth, flat coat. Airbrushing also provides excellent results, although depending on the airbrush you may need to thin them a bit for them to flow properly.

Hummel progress

Slowed down a bit the last few days, didn't really make any progress on the Hummel until last night. Here's what I got done:

The photo-etch on this little box took me 45 minutes to do - yeesh!

I decided to go ahead and close the vision ports since there's zero detail inside the driver's compartment.

 

The gun was actually done a couple of days ago, just forgot to upload the pic.  I have a few more bits on it, 66 of the 69 total pieces (!!) that go into its construction. The paint is Model Master Acryl Panzer Dunkelgelb (Tank Dark Yellow), the color all German armor was painted from 1942 on. Green and/or brown were added in the field, either by brush or sprayed with painting gear that was standard equipment for German armor. There are three photo-etch brass plates that go on the gun as well, two info plates and the range plaque. Those will have to wait until all the painting is done as they need to be painted black with white details - oh, joy.

There is still a LOT more to go on this including the Magic Tracks - 144 individual track links per side. There's also a lot of photo-etch still to go. One thing I have discovered is that bending photo-etch without a purpose-made bending jig is tough, especially for some of the tinier bits. So far I've only managed to lose one piece, a mounting frame for the first-aid kit, due to trying to bend it with what I have and managing to break it instead. Ah, well, live and learn. This is my first photo-etch enhanced kit and I'm learning as I go.

Awesome kit so far, despite a few bobbles along the way. Can't blame those on the kit, though, they're entirely the fault of the builder.

Arizona update

I've been working on the Arizona and made a little progress. I did end up repainting the decks in  lighter color. I've also been painting the superstructure but think it's getting redone as well. There has been a lot of controversy over what color scheme the Arizona was in on Dec. 7, but documentary evidence from just after the attack and some found in the National Archives in the form of an order from Admiral Husband Kimmel give a strong push to her being painted Sea Blue ("Mediterranean Blue" in Kimmel's order) with the tops of her number 1, 2, and 4 turrets being insignia red. Prior to that she would have worn Dark Gray on her hull and Light Gray on her upperworks. Given that by the time Kimmel's order was issued she carried OS2U Kingfisher spotter planes and the kit gives you O2U Corsair biplane scouts I'll go with the earlier paint scheme.

Here are pics of how the model stands now:

Overview

 

The fore and aft masts aren't glued yet, still need to paint them first. That aft mast was a real bugger to get built! Three legs, two platforms, and the aft fire direction tower all trying to slip out of place and not line up right. It took me an hour to get it done!

Paint comparison

 

It's hard to tell but on that last photo there are three distinct shades of gray paint. I've run into a problem in that the gray paints I have are either too  dark or too light. The paint on the #3 turret barbette is almost right and I'd use it if it weren't gloss - I just don't feel like trying to hit all the necessary surfaces with dullcoat after painting them. The gray on the upper deck and that on the vertical surfaces on the aft deck are just too darned dark.  Guess it's time for another trip to the hobby shop. Oh, darn....

USS Arizona

The USS Arizona, BB39, is one of the most iconic ships in history. Originally launched in 1916 she proudly served with the US Pacific Fleet. On the morning of December 7, 1941 she was moored alongside Ford Island in Battleship Row, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She had recently returned from a fleet exercise and her crew was enjoying the relaxed routine of a ship at dock on a lazy Sunday morning. Most of her crew were at breakfast when the general quarters alarm sounded, the last thing they expected to hear on that fateful day. For most of them it would be their last as Arizona was hit in rapid succession by a torpedo and two bombs. The second bomb was armor piercing and struck her forecastle near the base of one of her 14" turrets. Since she was at dock many of the normal underway safety measures were not in place and it was likely that some of her internal doors were not secured. Whether that was true or not the blast from that second bomb ignited her forward powder magazines. That massive detonation and the ensuing fires killed many of her crew and trapped hundreds more below decks with no way to escape. When she settled to the bottom 1200 men went with her.

Last night my wife bought me Revell's 1/426 USS Arizona. It isn't a kit I would normally buy for myself but I'm glad she chose it. It allows me to build my own small memorial to the ship and her crew. I only hope that I can do it justice.

I will update this post with photos as the build progresses.

UPDATE 1

Started building the kit and here is the progress so far. First up ia the hull. As with most ship models this comes in two pieces, left and right halves. There are alignment tabs on the lower hull that are supposed to help the two sides line up. Unfortunately they do rather the opposite and I ended up cutting them away to get the outside of the hull to align properly. Also pictured are the forward and aft sections of the lower hull. These can be problem areas as it's very difficult to get them to close up properly. I used regular 1/2" masking tape laid about 3/4" apart to pull the sides together tightly then ran liquid cement along the joint from the inside. Some seeped through onto the masking tape but a few minutes work with an X-acto and fine sandpaper will take care of that.

 

I also started painting some parts by hand. Most of the work will be done with my airbrush but there are some spots where that just isn't feasible. Both the forward and aft main deck sections will be done entirely by hand. This is the forward main deck. I used Testors Acryl paints, Earth Red for the base with a wash of  Armor Sand. I'm not entirely sure I like the result and may just go over it with a lighter color. What I need to do is find out what kind of wood her decks were and try to find a paint that will match. The dark color on the lower right is Tamiya Medium Blue, a very close match to the Ocean Grey that her upperworks were painted. It isn't cooperating to well, but then again it is a 20 year old jar of paint so I may be asking to much from it!

 

More pics to follow!