Three of the five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships operate together in 1941. They are HMS Valiant (nearest to camera), HMS Queen Elizabeth, and HMS Barham. Each carried a main battery of eight 15” guns.
French bombers of the 1930s had an appearance which could be described as “unique” if the observer was trying to be kind. This is a French Navy Farman F.222 in flight which shows off the general configuration of the type to advantage. The wing was mounted high on the fuselage, while the four Gnome-Rhône 14N radial engines are mounted in pairs in separate nacelles under the wings. Defensive armament is light, with only three 7.5mm machine guns in manual turrets. When one considers the Farmans were contemporaries of the “shark fin” B-17 Flying Fortresses they suffer greatly from the comparison.“Le Centaure” was the F.220 series prototype. She was converted into a mail plane and given the civilian registration F-ANLG. Propulsion was four Hispano-Suiza 12 cylinder in-lines. She is seen here on 19JUN36.The French Air Force purchased 10 F.221s which were powered by four Gnome-Rhône 14N radial engines. They were painted in an overall dark brown with the exception of the engine nacelles, which were left in natural metal.24 F.222 bombers made up the next production run. This is a bomber of 2 Escadrille of GB I/15, seen at Avord, France in September 1939. Note the distinctive bat insignia on the fuselage.The nose of the Farman was extensively glazed, a modeler’s nightmare without a masking set!“Jules Verne” was originally completed as an NC.223.4 mail plane variant, one of three constructed. Refitted with bomb racks, she made history as the first Allied bomber to attack Berlin on the night of 7-8 June 1940, and again on the night of the 10th.On 20JUN40 a French fighter pilot named James Denis “appropriated” a Farman and flew to England with twenty comrades to join the Free French Air Force forming in England. Denis went on to become an ace credited with nine victories. This is reputed to be a photo of the Farman piloted by Denis on the flight to England, taken from a Coastal Command escort.During November 1937 the NC.223.1 series prototype “Laurent Guerrero” made a record-breaking flight from Istres, France, to Santiago, Chile. She completed the trans-Atlantic flight in two days, 10 hours and 41 minutes.“Sub-Lieutenant Casse” was one of eight NC.223.3 bombers powered by Hispano-Suiza 12-cylinder inline engines. She is seen here operating as a transport in North Africa in 1943.The last of the series were three F.223.4 built as airliners. This camouflaged example is operating in the transport role.
This is the old Heller Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stosser, a neat little pre-war parasol fighter. I picked up the kit at a model show for a whole Dollar! Many of the parts had been detached from the sprues, but it’s all there. It’s actually a pretty nice kit, a little on the basic side by today’s standards, but what’s done is done well. Test fit is excellent, and the parts are molded well. I’m hoping for a rather quick and painless build from this one. Improvements will have to be done the old-fashioned way, I don’t know of any aftermarket parts intended for this kit.The cockpit is rather basic, consisting of a seat, rear bulkhead, stick, floor, and instrument panel. No surprises there, given the age of the kit. I am using the kit floor and bulkhead, their fit is great. The seat is a resin casting, the rudder pedals are Reheat PE from their generic Japanese cockpit set. The stick is solder, Evergreen strip provides most of the remaining added detail.I have opened the inlets in the nose, which means the lower part of the Argus 10 engine will be visible. I made a basic engine out of Evergreen, and also scratched a new instrument panel. The Fw 56 was one of those designs which had cockpit sides where the upper panels folded down. The port side panel had damage where the sprue gate was detached, so I fabricated a replacement which will be shown open.The interior was given a coat of Alclad and the fuselage halves are joined. The cockpit floor is really long, but the extra will not be seen past the instrument panel and rudder pedals. Seatbelts are Eduard PE.I’ve had a devil of a time shooting a worthwhile picture of the cockpit, this is the best I could do. The opening is small, obviously it would be even smaller with the side panel up.Here’s a shot of the nose, I have opened up all the slots and inlets, plus an additional scoop under the nose not shown here. The engine is visible inside the bottom inlet, but it’s a little hard to see. There’s a little refinement needed on a couple of these openings. Oh, the wonders of digital photography!The wing was rescribed, and primed in white. Here the chevron markings of the Royal Hungarian Air Force are being applied using insignia red, white, and willow green. The chevron was used until March of 1942, a black square with a white cross was used after.The camouflage in progress. I am masking with a blu-tac equivalent, and working backwards starting with the darkest color first. I’m using a black and white photograph of the port side of this aircraft as a guide and extrapolating the pattern from there.The basic camouflage has been applied and the masks removed. There’s some touch up required, but I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t worse. I originally intended the fuselage stripe to be white, but the more I read the more I lean towards the stripe being yellow.After a heroic struggle, the wing finally succumbed and is now mounted securely. On the first attempt, I discovered that the fuselage struts shouldn’t actually be set into the locating holes so thoughtfully provided in the fuselage, but much further down. The locating holes are simply to give the modeler additional practice in filling, sanding, and touch-up. On the second attempt, I discovered a similar situation with the main struts, the wing attachment points should be located slightly inboard. The third attempt was successful, mainly due to the influence of Bob Marley and all his Wailers continually reassuring me that “every little thing is going to be alright!”Done, and pictures shot! All in all, a fun build, despite the struggles mounting the wing. There is a small amount of rigging, done with Nitenol. I discarded the kit supplied windscreen and replaced it with three small pieces of clear acetate cut to fit. I also made tiny reflectors for the gunsight. The side numbers are decals from the Aviaeology 1/48 scale Japanese numbers set, which went on without difficulty. The aircraft appears to be pretty clean in the picture, so the only weathering was done with powders.
This is the Platz MQ-1A Predator, a really nice kit. The military calls them Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), but the American Press insists on calling them drones, which is something else entirely. Molding is outstanding, and very delicate. Platz has taken extra care in packaging, the small probes on the tail fins were protected with taped paper sleeves. Lots of extras on the decal sheet including a “Deadly Force Authorized” sign and markings for live & training Hellfire missiles.
GermanyArmy Capt Justine BoltenNorwayUSAF T-38IDFUSMCChinaWWI Ambulance Driver Wilhelmina Drummond HarlandPakistanNorwayAustriaIDFHRH Princess Ingrid of NorwayUS Army Captain inside a UH60 Blackhawk in IraqSerbiaUSAF Capt. Laney Schol – F-35 pilot, Eglin Air Force Base, March 24, 2022USAFATS girls using an identification telescope (IWM)Israeli Air ForceFranceOfficer using stadimeter aboard USS McCampbell (DDG 85)USMC Lance Cpl. Amber Duggins, OPFOR during exercise at Camp PendletonColumbian Col EJC DIVAEREACapt. Cathyrine Armandie, F-15E Strike Eagle Weapons System OfficerFrench Air ForceATS Dispatch Rider 1943WREN cleaning a Lewis gun aboard a coastal craft. (IWM)Corporal Clara Grundon Women’s Army Corps 1944US ArmyIDFUS Navy sailor aboard the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis (CVN-74)Kurdish YPJUSN and RAN quartermastersSerbiaHollandUSMC F-35B pilot Melanie ZiebartAustraliaWomen with a Will to Win!USAFM-60SwedenJadwiga Pilsudska, Polish ATA PilotIDFChinese PLATurkeyCanadian WAC operating foot pump
One of the 2008 limited run Special Hobby P-40s all assembled and ready for primer. The wing guns are represented by bumps, I drilled these out so I could fit some Albion tube barrels later. Canopy masking is Tamiya Tape. Fit was pretty good, with the wing / fuselage joint needing a little work.This is the 2017 Special Hobby “P-40D” kit under primer. The surface detailing is much improved over the earlier kit, and the fit is everything you would expect from a more modern kit.Three of my subjects will be in variations of the attractive Dark Earth over Sand desert scheme. Masking here is done with poster putty. The color separations were applied at the factory and the pattern is standard. I was able to peal the masking off and transfer it between the models as needed which saved some time.A piece of plywood makes a convenient place to hold the models on the bench. Here are the colors used for the P-40D in the USAAC standard Olive Drab over Neutral Gray scheme. This particular aircraft was one of two captured by the Japanese on Java wearing an unusual falcon head on the nose. There are a few photos of these aircraft, but the color of the nose is debated, some seeing a patchy yellow paint job, some yellow with red mottles, and others representing it a as solid yellow. Photos of the falcon P-40s here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/colorful-curtiss-p-40-warhawk-markings-part-1/This is one of the limited run P-40L kits in French service wearing a scheme comprised of Dark Earth and Sand with Azure Blue undersides. The upper surfaces have been touched up with a darker brown, the kit instructions call it “Fresh Dark Earth” using the same color as regular Dark Earth, but I chose a darker shade, C520 Lederbraun, lightened with some white.The kit provides some PE braces to use for attaching the drop tanks. I have had little luck using any PE parts in any structural capacity, plus one of the four struts pinged itself into oblivion as I was removing it from the fret. I anchored the tank to the fuselage using metal rod and fabricated braces from Evergreen strip, both decisions proved vital to keeping my sanity.The completed batch all together. Markings on the two on the left and center of the back row are from Kits World and represent aircraft from the 79th Fighter Group, the other two markings are kit decal options. The kit decals were fragile and grabby and required some care to apply but they laid down well. The newer 2017 kit is a big improvement over the 2008 limited run offering despite the newer kit’s problem with the oil cooler location which I showed in Part I. Both are buildable but the newer kit will make you a happier modeler!
Most aviation buffs are familiar with the Mistel composite aircraft used by Germany at the end of WWII. These consisted of Bf 109s or Fw 190s mounted above unmanned Ju 88s, to which a large warhead was fitted. The pilot in the fighter aimed the Ju 88, then detached while the bomber flew on autopilot to (hopefully) impact the target.
The Mistel composites’ low speed made them vulnerable to interception, so German designers proposed three variants based upon jet aircraft. Mistel 4 utilized Me 262s for both the upper and lower components. The Mistel 5 design used the He 162 as the piloted aircraft, with an Arado E 377 purpose-built payload which was also jet propelled using two BMW 003 engines. The Mistel 6 was to utilize an Ar 234 C/E upper component, and an unpowered E 377 lower.
Dragon kits the Mistel 5, which contains an He 162, a powered E 377, and a take-off trolley. They also make several versions of the Ar 234, which include the Ar 234 C/E with four jets. Modeling a Mistel 6 is possible by combining the two kits.
I started construction with the take-off trolley, and immediately ran into one of the fit problems Dragon kits from the 1990s are famous for – the axels on the four main wheels do not reach all the way across. I drilled out both sides and replaced the short axels with bronze rod. The vertical supports were trapped within the assembly, but not glued so that the proper angle could be determined later. The pins at the top of these supports were also replaced with bronze rod for strength.Here is the E 377, test fit on the trolley. Just leave off the engines and fill four holes for the unpowered version – easy. The attachment points for the Ar 234 are different from the He 162, so there are some simple changes on the upper side as well. I added weight to the nose just in case.Another shot of the trolley, with details added. Four Walther rocket units were specified to add extra thrust to the combination at take-off. I have not discovered a drawing which shows the rocket arrangement, so the supports and bracing are speculative. The Monogram Monarch volume does show details of the cart’s plumbing and braking ‘chute, so these were used as starting points.Fit issues reared their head again with the Ar 234. The camera bay cover is a clear part, but is smaller than the opening. It should be correctable with shims if you’re modeling a recon aircraft, but I just used filler here. The belly recess has an ugly seam, so I just covered the whole area with thin card. The gear is up in this configuration, so I filled the nose well with shot. The main wheel doors fit their openings well, but the nose doors were hopeless. The engine nacelles presented fit problems as well, as did the nose section. Test fit the clear parts and file down the fuselage sides early to avoid fit problems there.A shot of the details added to the front office, which was pretty fun. There is a nice big flat transparency right over the pilot’s seat, so much of the interior is visible. The instrument bar and rudder pedals came from an old Fw 190 PE fret. The throttles are 1/700 ship’s railing. I set the kit seat aside and used a spare Hasegawa Fw 190 seat instead. Bits from the spares box filled voids behind the seat, and seat rails were built up.The painted cockpit, with the seat in. I tried something different with the painting this time. The interior was first sprayed with Alclad black primer. Then a thinned mix of acrylic RLM 66 cut with about 25% white was misted down and from the front. This was allowed to build up more on the horizontal surfaces, less so on the verticals, which resulted in a “shading” effect. Then an even lighter mix of RLM 66 was lightly drybrushed on the edges and high points. Instruments are spare decals from Fine Molds Bf 109s.Luftwaffe splinter schemes give you the opportunity to visualize what a couple hundred pieces of masking tape would look like if they were flying in formation. This scheme is illustrated in Smith & Creek’s Monogram Monarch Ar 234 volume. This is an 81/82/76 scheme, the 70/71/65 scheme was also authorized. I used Testors enamels, if you’re using these note that Testors calls out the Lichtgrun as RLM 83, Smith & Creek call it 82.Here’s the 234 painted, decaled, & coated with Future, awaiting final details and weathering. I “assigned” the 234 to KG 200 as A3+KB. The kit decals were not very sharp and had creamy whites, so all the markings except the Werk Nummer were replaced from aftermarket sheets.The E377 was finished in a 71/65 scheme with wavy separations on the sides and under the leading edge of the wings. The separations were painted using stand-off masks cut from the kit box, cut using wavy scrapbooking scissors from the local craft store. Yeah, it’s cheating.The cart / trolley / dolly thing, with basic painting done, awaiting finishing. The Walther rockets will get ignition wires added just as soon as I can figure out where the darn things went.Now on to try a new (for me) weathering technique, using oils. This is described by various terms, “pin wash” and “oil filter” among others. Basically, you spray the model with a protective coat of Future (Klear), apply dabs of oil paint all over the model, and then do your best to scrub the oil off with thinner. This is one of those techniques which looks horrible while you’re doing it, but works out OK in the end.I was able to find a basic set of artists’ oils at the local craft store for less than $10US – cheap! There were a dozen small tubes of various colors, but even the smallest tubes are enough to last for years. Here is the Arado with a bad case of the spots, applied at random. All the colors in the set were used, as you can see. A small dab is enough.Next the colors were spread around on the surface. Excess color was wiped off the brush frequently. I found that the white almost disappeared when spread, while the black was the most persistent. The colors are diluted with thinner, and smeared in the direction of the airflow. The desired effect is to slightly distort the base color, to break up the monotone toy-like appearance. It should be subtle, very little of the oil is left at the end. You can keep removing the oils with thinner until you’re happy with the color.Here is the overall effect on the underside of the E 377. As a bonus, the oils will lightly fill the panel lines as well. A flat coat will even out the sheen and make the finish even more cohesive.I was pleased with the way the oils worked, here is the finished model. I won’t use them on every build, but they provide an interesting effect that could be combined with other techniques – especially on large models with single color camo schemes. A couple additional points: It is possible to wear through the Future if you scrub hard enough. Also, blending a large area with several colors turns into a thin brown wash as the colors mix – not entirely a bad thing, but something to be aware of.Shown being towed by an Opel Blitz for scale.
This is a 50 year old kit, an Italeri reboxing of the old ESCI mold. I like the looks of the Jagdtiger and love the ambush scheme. The model represents a vehicle which fought in Germany during the last weeks of the war.
WHENEVER ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS (LIFE,LIBERTY,AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS) IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE A NEW GOVERNMENT― Thomas Jefferson
Inch High Guy 