72 Gustav

[Guest]

Bringing this one back from oblivion. Several years ago I went to a modelling club we have on the grounds, just down the road. It’s a bit ad lib but there was a bunch of new kits that you could just help yourself to! I decided to show a little (rare) restraint and picked the little Revell Gustav.
This was during my 3 decade ‘lull’ where I sat at a table and put most of it together. I tried to free mask the canopy, got impatient and hand painted over the top (It turned out not too excellent. I cleaned off paint and re-masked a few weeks ago) Never used any primer and obviously just used a brush. Then I took it home, never went back to club and put it away in a box.

Recently whilst doing another build I added the primer.

So here we are with a retro build…

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[Guest]

So I’ve done some reading up (despite my earlier rant the Aircraft FAQ seems pretty useful:smiling4 in this new landscape of those wonderful flying machines…

Learnt a few things. What I will attempt now is some general surgery. So maybe I’ve jumped a few steps but this is really just a learning platform but going live. So here goes!

[Guest]

Cutting and sawing require much more care than I thought - not to mention we need to keep our digits as part of our hand in order to be of use - the urge to hack away must be resisted!

First of all I needed a reference to make my plan. This little gem is a cheap and available AFAIK - and it’s a Feist!

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so I found these very quickly

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I made a slight over cut so that must be repaired later. This was no mean task - this would normally be done before any construction- I had to scribe and saw more than I’d like and then use a de bonder which took off the primer. No dramas. It will have to be redone anyway.

It was still impossible to separate the split flaps so I tore them off - trying to keep at least one side in good condition to use as a template for scratching a new set.
Next session I will address the damage and scatch away into the unknown - yet again! I will probably try to cut of the tail flaps as well

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[Guest]

Hope you all had a great Christmas break!
inside flaps done - angles are irregular so cutting becomes an exercise in persistence. The outer flaps have been cut. I didn’t realise there were outer outer flap plus the slats at the front - this aircrafts wings is about 40% flaps lol

Im not sure yet about adding any details on the insides. I’ll wait and see to see if I can wing it :smiling5:

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[Guest]

I’ve added the mid flaps. I will leave the tail, slats and flaps alone as this really was just an exercise in sawing with a bit of scratch.
I may have to add some raised ‘bevels’ (?) to the outside trailing flaps.
Drilled holes on rear fuselage for the push bar. Centreline rack was missing 2 bolt holes so drilled them in. Supercharger intake had none. So drilled that. Only some slight filling needed otherwise it seems an ok kit

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[Guest]

Another prime after some filling and sanding. Small pieces added, the brass df loop I made fell off and I’ve yet to make a new one, I kind of forgot but no worries. New 3rd gen paints used. The scheme I’m going for is the standard RLM 74,75 & 76.

I didn’t realise that the primer is almost an exact RLM 76 so that was a bit tricky. I’m still learning to get to grips with my ’training’ airbrush. Thing is I think I’m pushing the boundaries a little with the Neo - I think it maxes out (or minimums out) at about 1/48. 1/72 may be a Bridge too Far.

The 74 will go on tomorrow hopefully

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[Guest]

It’s been too long! An update is well in order. I have 2 more unfinished kits to do plus this one that hopefully will be finished by weekend.
I had a tough time with canopy - free masking on a 1/72 is a tough scale to cut one’s teeth on - especially the Erla canopy. The flap rebuild has gone reasonably well. I dug out another Erla canopy and tried using masking fluid. That was not brilliant at least at this scale.

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Anyway this kit (which isn’t very specific on the box) will try to represent the ‘Mtt Regensburg’ factory build.

There are two small bumps (or jowls) up front - to make room for some cylinder head covers on a slightly different engine: DB605ASM
Also this plane has the cheeks by the cowling (for whatever reason). In fact there is a dizzying array of versions and ‘cross breeding’ between the G6/G10 and G14.

The fighter group is JG 27 - donated by the green band. Incidentally I have rarely been so thwarted when trying to mask the fuselage of this 109. It really is a head banger due to the tapering of the fuselage and reduction in diameter - perhaps it will be the same on all future kits?

Also to note is the df loop (made from wire) has no ariel - sometimes these were dropped. (I actually knocked it off when trying to decide yea or nay - thus it was decided!) The tail wheel is a fixed short based one that was occasionally used instead of a fixed long one.



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You will note the slightly unusual paint scheme underneath - I haven’t looked into it at all but there were some unpainted panels.

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I thought I would also attempt to get a figure painted up so summoned up this pilot.

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so whilst painting pilot;
scalloping?
exhausts
coat of varnish
decals
weather
antenna wire

then finished - back up to 1/48

[Guest]

Hello Gentlemen! Thanks for the interest!

Some progress made. The decals are much more time consuming than I initially thought. I have done the main ones - now just the stencils to do.
Ive attempted the scallops.



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The crosses under the wing had to be adjusted as they were the full Balkenkreuz with the white border and black outline. I managed to cut them off and apply
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The canopies still need fixing - I have an idea I will try out.
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The Luftwaffe pilot…I had to scour the net and my own sources (I’ll probably buy a ref book on uniforms). The pilot seems to be wearing a SNCO summer flight suit but wearing his officer cap.
There looks to be a strap across his body - I think this is wrong. It should be a zip of some kind. I also have no idea what he is carrying. Maybe a pack-lunch?

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Exhausts done. Nothing doing really but the exhaust streaks will be done in due course

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So the timing for this kit will most likely slip a few days - but that’s okay.

[Guest]

Just finished the figure. Wow! This little kit is taking more time than I could imagine.

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…but a little further back (and a more likely view) and the impression is ok
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[Guest]

That’s the build over. At the last hurdle I kind of messed up. A little too much artistic flair - I used some oils then decided to use an acrylic (pin) wash that I just could not clean up.
I won’t go on - I was a little disappointed but despite the investment in time am happy for the experience gained which will surely serve me well in future! Thanks for watching