How will you paint your plane? What kind of camouflage ?
rumen, i attempting to duplicate Helmut Wick's 109 that he was shot down in over the channel. it's going to be a very challenging scheme for me since i'm not very good at painting.
< Message edited by tubig -- 2/2/2007 12:49:49 AM >
rich and rumen, yes it will very challenging. for the mottling effect i bought a sea sponge at the local diy store that i thought would give a good simulation. i think airbrushing will give a too "consistent" look whereas the sponge is more irregular. but i still to do the cockpit before painting and i've been procrastinating on that because i just hate doing cockpits.
ok, i guess i've put off the cockpit as long as i can. as i've mentioned before i'm not a big fan of cockpits as they are a project all to them selves so i'm not going all out on this. i'm not sure how far i'll take it, probably just some basic stuff.
the first thing to do was add some detail to the rear which has an access panel. aluminum tape and plastic tubing with "hinges" cut into it was done for this.
here's what i'm doing for the instrument panel. i was sent some photos of the instrument panel and i just resized them to fit. i wish i could give credit to who sent them to me but it's been so long i really don't remember. i will be adding a few things to this. it's just taped into place for now.
since the Revi gunsight is such a prominent item up front i thought i had better include at least an approximation to it. i've read so much about model lab board in RCSI that i wanted to give it a try. after googling i found what is probably the same thing as model lab board in the US as something called Ren Shape 440 (actually there are other brands but this is what i could get in small quantities). good stuff. it's easily machinable using hand tools and sandpaper and gives a smooth finish that i don't think will take much more prep than going over with fine sandpaper prior paint. sample packs are available from Freeman Supply.
pic 2: starting the gunsight i cut out a block of RS440 and glued on a piece of brass tubing. then i added a balsa insert into the tubing so i could paint it silver. after drying, i added a drop of 5 minute epoxy to simulate the glass.
pic 3: the reflector is a piece of clear polycarbonate glued into more RS 440 into which a slot has been cut.
pic 4: a little more shaping and the two glued togther. the excess RS 440 in the rear will be removed before painting.
i realized i hadn't done the nav lights. so here they are. i had to guess at the cover for the wingtip lights as i didn't have a clear photo of their shape. i could see one half of their shape and went on the assumption that they are symmetrical.
more cockpit work. today was seat day. this was to be made from balsa and plastic but to get an idea of the shape of the back i first made a card paper mock-up.
pic 2-3: then transferred the card paper to the plastic. i used a heat gun to help shape the plastic to the balsa seat before gluing into place. i also carved out the balsa seat bottom to better seat the pilot (not shown).
pic 4: while looking at other stuff to add i noticed that the horizontal stab trim actuators are fairly visible so i decided to drum them up using lite ply.
the flap adjustment and horizontal stab trim actuators halves were glued onto some plastic tubing. to simulate the chain i used some 5oz. fiberglass cloth which i soaked with ca to stiffen it and cut it to 1/8". probably a little big per scale but i think it will look ok. it's difficult to tell from the photos i have of just how may different sections of chain there are, it looks like three so i made some extra. i'm hoping when painted black and the ridges highlighted the fiberglass will give a fairly reasonable simulation of the chain.
pic 2: and the other stuff i did today, seat adjustment handle, seatback support, throttle quadrant and circuit breaker panel. the cb panel still needs some red lights on top of the cb's.
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RE: BT Bf109E-4 - 
i will be adding a few things to this. it's just taped into place for now.
