Stalled

August is not a peak time for modelling activities. There isn’t much news on the new kit front, in many parts of the world it is too hot to do anything other than head for the beach, and there are just too many other distractions about. I’ve even noticed that hits on the 72 Land blog are down this month, though that may be related to the lack of new content as much as anything. So it will come as no surprise that I haven’t made much headway so far in August.

I’ve got a couple of items ready for paint. First, the He-162 and Ar-234 are still sitting there, staring at me reproachfully. The Ho-229 that is due to become a what-if USAF fighter awaits its Zinc Chromate wheel wells. The Sword P-47N needs its primer coat, which will be True Blue so I can just mask off the tail and cowling portions. And there are various little cockpit bits that need to be dealt with as well. The Revell Halifax has also gotten the canopies masked and is ready for the first coat of Black paint on the underside.

In construction terms, I’ve made a bit of progress on the Emhar FJ-4. The fuselage is together, and Mr Surfacer is applied and awaiting further attention. I’ve already sanded off the raised lines. Wings are next for construction and sanding.

I’ve also been toying with an idea concerning another two what-if models. I haven’t felt the need for another P-51 or F4U in the collection for a while, but I ran across two interesting ideas on the What-If Modelling forum recently. The basic premise is that the USN decided to navalize the P-51 and the USAF decided to put the F4U into European service. So what you end up with is a Mustang with a tailhook in GSB and the Corsair in Olive Drab and Neutral Grey with nose art (probably swiped from a P-47 sheet). The last thing I need right now is to add more models to the production line (with little moving forward, it has become one big traffic jam) but the idea does have some entertainment value. This probably isn’t the time to revive the B-36 in Bomber Command markings.

Siga/Ace North American FJ-1 Fury

Travelling down the 72 Land production line along with the Martin Mauler was another of the line of Siga/Ace postwar USN types, the North American FJ-1 Fury.

The Fury is essentially a jet conversion of the P-51 Mustang, which has very similar wings, tail and canopy. No wingfolds, though NA did devise a clever kneeling nosewheel, which allowed Furies to be packed together closely on deck to help with storage space. Being a first-gen jet it was underpowered, and development led to the more famous F-86 with a larger engine and swept wings. The FJ-1’s first flight was in September of 1946 and had been retired from squadron service by 1953. It served primarily as a test aircraft, though it did operate in VF-51 and Naval Reserve units. It was a contemporary of the Vought F6U Pirate (recently kitted by AZ Models).

The Fury was, if anything, a rougher kit than the Mauler. Though I certainly appreciated the injection molded canopy, the fit was approximate and there is a generous bit of filler under that blue paint. But the real trial came about when the time came for decals.

These markings are the rather famous “Weekend Warriors” nose script from the example that flew from the Oakland NAS in 1950. The decals look good on the sheet, but are excruciatingly thin, and react to water the way that other decals do to setting solution. They wrinkle, fold on themselves, and almost crumble on contact. Flooding the area to be decalled with water is essential, and even then you are trusting to luck in order to get them in place without a wrinkle. I did manage to get the largest decals specific to this particular aircraft down, but the smaller stencils were an unmitigated disaster. So you’ll see very little in the way of maintenance markings on this model. In retrospect, the biggest flaw is the loss of the red intake lip warnings around the nose. I really should have painted them instead of trusting to the decals.

Still, even with those problems it makes an interesting addition to the postwar naval lineup. I’ve got the Emhar FJ-4 in process now, and will of course add the Special Hobby FJ-3 whenever they get around to actually producing it.

I've been trying to space out the completed models because I haven't actually finished anything since early July. It just isn't a typical time of year to be working on models, especially when it is 92 degrees outside and warmer than that in the model room. We're supposed to see some 70s next week, so I'll try to get some painting done to advance the production line.

This is completed model #409 (#34 for the year), finished in July of 2012.

Building the He-162 and Ar-234

I haven’t been much of a presence in the modelling blogosphere in the last couple of weeks, primarily due to the onset of a heat wave – look, 94 IS a heat wave in Seattle – which means I have barely ventured into the modelling room. With no functioning central air and a room that faces the morning sun, it is barely survivable. I don’t even do much lawnwork this time of year. It is mostly sitting in front of a fan with a drink and ice; lots of ice.  

But there were a few days where I was able to put some time in. Mostly in the dark and cool of night, and mostly on construction. This was centered around the DML He-162 and Ar-234.

We all know the knock on first-generation 1:72 DML kits: look great on the sprues but don’t fit worth a damn. Probably the poster child for this complaint is the Ta-152. I’ve never had the intestinal fortitude to attack that one, especially with the new-tool Aoshima kit providing a much better modelling experience. But I am finding that it still holds true to a certain extent with the two types I’m currently working. The detail in both the cockpit and wheel wells is pretty impressive for our scale, though that means lots of extremely small parts that take some convincing to part from the sprues. The fit of the major components has been very indifferent too, the worst being on the dorsal engine covers for the He-162 and the wings and cockpit surround parts on the Ar-234. Still, I imagine a more talented and meticulous modeller than I would be able to manage the kits without too much trouble.

I’m trying something of an experiment with painting the cockpits. Both are fairly exposed, so I’ve built them up unpainted. I’ll spray them both with a matte version of RLM02 and then do some detail painting of the various panels and handles. I don’t think they should be much more difficult to reach as part of the fuselage (remember that the cockpit surround on the Ar-234 doesn’t come as part of the fuselage but is added later). We’ll see. Hopefully the photos below will better explain what I mean.

I’m also gradually building up the cockpit for the Huma Ju-87 as well. I think the combination of tiny plastic parts and large expanses of clear cockpit glass will show to advantage. Or conversely, it will expose my ham-fisted incapacity as a modeller.

Finally, I’m progressing on a rather secret project that, with a modicum of luck, will show up in print at some future date.

Siga Martin AM-1 Mauler

I have a lot of USN models in the display cabinet in Gloss Sea Blue markings. Even an ancient rivetty Airfix TBM Avenger, which I need to replace with the newer tool Hasegawa version. But I have always liked the simple color scheme with its white insignia. So I decided to go to that well once again when beginning work on today’s finished model, the Martin AM-1 Mauler.

The Mauler was designed as a shipboard attack aircraft in the late stages of WW2. The design had as its competition the Curtiss XBTC, Kaiser-Fleetwings XBTK, and of course the Douglas Skyraider, which it rather resembles. The Boeing XF8B might have been in the mix too, if only because the look is so similar. The first flight was in August of 1944. The Mauler did make it into carrier service with six attack squadrons but eventually lost out to the Skyraider’s greater reliability and handling qualities. I’ve actually seen one of the surviving airframes at the Chino museum in California, and there appears to be one in Tillamook Oregon as well.

The kit is from Siga/Ace, a short-lived company from Ukraine that managed to produce a short series of postwar USN types before vanishing. They are somewhat crude short-run kits, with soft details and large sprue gates. Fit was exactly as you would expect, and required a fair amount of putty and sanding. No effort was made to replicate the type’s unusual comb flaps, and I have heard there are issues with the location of the wheel wells. Neither of which stopped me. The kit does have petite engraved panel lines.

Siga decals are a bit notorious, though they do look ok in the box (what til you hear about the FJ-1’s decals). I did manage to get these off the backing sheet and onto the model without major mishap, though they are very thin and are prone to curling up on themselves if you are not fastidious. The markings are for a Dallas NAS aircraft in 1951.

Generally, I was satisfied with the result. The CzechMaster resin kit is likely more detailed, but I am always more comfortable with plastic if I can get it. And the Mauler fits my enjoyment of obscure aircraft types (likely the least-recognized USN aircraft that actually made it into wide squadron service). I did about have a coronary when googling for information on the type: there is an unbuilt example on ebay running for $65! Too bad I didn’t have an extra.

This is completed model #408 (#33 for the year), finished in June of 2012.

New additions (2 of 2)

I have been known to start a new model for the weirdest reasons. A movie, a documentary I stumbled across on the Military Channel, books I’m reading. As I was reading the Schiffer Project X book on the Ho-9 (while getting ready for the Go-229 build), they mentioned a foursome of the plane’s contemporaries that were in various states of development when the war ended. Me-262, Ar-234, Ju-287, and He-162. Though I own them all as kits, I was amazed to find that I had only built one of them, the Me-262. So out came the DML Ar-234 and He-162 and the Huma Ju-287.

Both of the DML kits are from their first big effort at 1:72 aircraft. These models were notorious for looking great in the box and not fitting at all. The Ar-234, for being multi-engined, is surprisingly small.

The Ju-287 was one of the later Huma products, and was one where they used their technique of producing plastic pieces that were amazingly small and delicate. Almost like photoetch, but in plastic, these pieces used regular styrene glue. Much of the cockpit details are on this small fret, along with some exterior details. I have no idea exactly how they did it – or what they made the molds for these bits out of. But no one seems to have pursued the technology since Huma went toes-up. A definite loss for those of us with an abiding distaste for photoetch and superglue.

I’m on the fence about the last kit that I pulled out after seeing it in the Ho-9 book: the Planet Models Gotha P-60 project. Although it is an interesting shape (the upper view is reminiscent of an F-117 of all things), I already have a Planet Models resin in the queue, the Northrop N1M. So this one may return to the garage and await further inspiration.

So that should give you a flavor of what will be coming to a blog near you in the next few months. I can’t guarantee that others won’t be added or that some of these won’t drop off the list, but if there is one thing you can say about the Lord High Executioner of 72 Land, it is that he is a capricious cuss.

New additions (1 of 2)

As I may have noted on this blog before, I enjoy the transitional periods of aviation design: going from biplanes to monoplanes and from props to jets. Some of the also-rans and never-builts in those categories are fascinating aircraft. And many are available in resin, if not in injected plastic. So it is no surprise that I have built a lot of planes from the early days of jet aircraft, especially naval aircraft, from the late 40s to the early 60s.

Following the recently completed (but not yet introduced on this blog) FJ-1 and AM-1 Mauler, I decided to add the Emhar FJ-4 and F3H Demon. The story I have heard is that these are two kits that were in development at Matchbox when the company ceased production. They certainly look like Matchbox models, except for the absence of trench panel lines (in fact the lines are light raised). The cockpit, especially, seems to be in their style. That is not a compliment, alas. The ejection seats are rudimentary and built as part of the cockpit tub and there isn’t any detailing.

We need to have the FJ series completed in 1:72. True, RVHP produced an FJ-3 in resin (though I have heard that RVHP is temporarily shutting down due to illness) and Special Hobby announced an FJ-2 in plastic in 2009 (though they have yet to deliver). I know there is a Falcon conversion set out there, but have never seen one.

I like the F3H Demon just because it is a unique shape. That small nose and those close, semicircular intakes. And, like the FJ-4, there is an aftermarket Xtradecal sheet with alternate markings, so you are not confined to what comes with the kit.

Another WW2 twin has been added at the same time as these two naval fighters. This is the Trumpeter Vickers Wellington. There seems to be a lot of IMC controversy about the two Wellingtons that have been introduced in the last few years, from Eduard and Trumpeter. The engineers complain about lots of detail inaccuracies from Eduard, and the visualists complain about the overdone fabric effect on the Trumpeter. I’m not too thrilled with the fabric effect, but I have seen photos of completed models, and with some light sanding and a coat of paint I don’t think it looks too bad at all. And I have heard that the Trumpeter kit builds pretty well, always a consideration for me. So that is the one I’ve chosen. I will be using the Eduard kit’s decals for the Middle Stone and Dark Earth camo with the donkey nose art.

Next: some Luft46 and late-war jets added to the production line.

Trawling the stash

My trawl through the stash in the garage was made distinctly more difficult this weekend by the fact that I have just closed down our storage unit and brought all those boxes into the garage and basement. You never realize just how much crap you have accumulated in one of those units until you try to move it all in the space of a few days. One casualty of the move has been my lower back, which means I have been walking around at about a 45 degree angle most of the time. Without any access to the good stuff (I’m drug-resistant enough that OTC meds don’t really do much), let’s just say I’ve been spending a lot of time horizontal catching up on my reading.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t hobble out and find some new models to place at the beginning of the production cycle. Oh, I’m still slowly pushing the Italeri SM-82 and the Williams Bros C-46, to keep them from ending up on the Shelf of Shame. But I did want to get some brand new things started.

One was the result of a bungled assembly job. Now, I’ll admit that it is not easy to mess up a modern Revell kit. But I found a way. Typically, it was due to impatience and a seeming inability to read instructions (none of us has that problem, certainly). It was the Revell Gotha Go-229, the production version of the Horten Ho-9 flying wing. Let’s just say that I decided to ignore most of the interior of the main wheel well – until I found out that with the way the kit is engineered, a lot of the inside is visible from the outside. Plus I managed to glue some gear doors shut which fouled the nose wheel’s gear struts. And you can see the nose weight hanging right above those doors I thought should have been closed. Definitely a royal clusterschmazz. What to do?

Well, as luck would have it (why can’t I catch this sort of break in my income hunt?) I actually have two copies of this Revell kit. Since I have relatively few duplicates in the stash this was not a foregone conclusion. I believe I bought a second one when I had forgotten that I already had a copy of the kit. See, brain farts can in some instances produce good results!

So here’s the plan: take a little more care on the second Go-229 and put it in Luftwaffe markings. Go ahead and complete the first one, but put it in USAAC markings and make it a What-if model. Now there is a (thankfully) small segment of the modelling public that absolutely cannot tolerate whif models, though even that part seems to have shrunk in the last 10 years. Wait til those guys see my 1:72 B-36 in Bomber Command colors. But I kind of enjoy the tangent. I have done a lot of Luftwaffe 46 types in my day, but not many Allied whiffs. Well, there was the Northrop Vector, the fourth V-bomber, a Brit version of the B-49.

Next: some more new additions to the production line.