Ju88 Next on the line

[Guest]

Excellent work there Steve, I think this one is gonna take a while! That's a lot of bits to assemble even before you get to painting it!

Patrick

[stona]

It is a lot of little bits. Those units are mostly airbrushed,detailed with a fine brush,then dry brushed with a lighter shade of RLM66 and then drybrushd again with aluminium in some areas.The paint is basically Xtracrylix but there are all sorts on there. The photo rather washes out the effect and makes everything a bit light. Once I get all the bits ready to go into the fuselage I'm planning an oil wash to dirty some areas up a bit and tie it all together. This is gonna take a while! At the moment I'm spending several hours a day on it but work will soon prevent that.

Incidentally I have come across a few very minor problems with some parts. The worst has been on part of the assembly for the rudder pedals which have been badly formed. As they are not too visible I'm going to build the bits up into the correct shape and swallow the loss of detail.Most of it has scrubbed up well....so far.

Cheers

Steve

[yak face]

looks great steve, the cockpit seems very busy and well detailed, the seat will look fab with the etched belts on it , keep the pics coming ,cheers tony

[stona]

Quick update,featuring a piccy that's even worse than my norm. I have been working on the beast! More sub assemblies and even a bit stuck into the fuselage. I reckon when all these bits get assembled the fuselage at least will suddenly make progress.

BTW Tony the belts will be by yours truly from scalpel blade foil (SWMBO has purchased wine recently which seems to have very stiff and thick foil. I drank several bottles just to be sure.) I am trying to stick to my OOB" rule" but I may see if I've got some instrument decals amongst my spares as there are none included.

Speaking of belts, in my very limited bomber references I have found pictures of the seats for all visible crew positions apart from the radio operator. I'm guessing just a lap belt but if anyone knows better let us know.

Cheers

Steve

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[Guest]

It's always nice to see someone so dedicated to their hobby-drinking wine!!

Patrick

[yak face]

steve, from what pictures ive seen ,although the radio operator had a full size seat id agree with you on just the lap belt.In the pic ive seen you can only see the bottom corner of the seat and theres definitely a belt visible for the lap , if there was a shoulder belt too ,i doubt hed have been able to reach forward and operate the radio equipment.From what i could gather ,the beaufighter observers position was just a lap belt too, it was probably in keeping with the tradition of giving the back seaters a bum deal(!) as far as comfort goes- just look at the wire basket for stuka gunners and the luxurious leather strap stormovik gunners had to balance on!!! cheers tony

[stona]

i doubt hed have been able to reach forward and operate the radio equipment. tony

Thanks Tony,that was my logic too! I'm looking forward to the "anti cavorting chain" on Gladiator111's Swordfish.

Things haven't gone well today. Revell's instructions leave a bit to be desired and I've actually taken the bulkhead back out of the fuselage and decided to go in a different order. The way that Revell would have you do it you can't really "dry fit" the various bits until it is too late to do anything about it AND some of the sub assemblies locate or line up very vaguely. I don't think this is a particularly easy kit to build. It's got nothing to do with the number of parts but rather the way it has been engineered.Having said that it can be done and it's quite good to have a bit of a challenge.

I wouldn't want to put anyone off building it,it's great value for money,but they should be aware it's not a "shake 'n bake". Some of the reviewers were either being paid by Revell or were building a different kit!

Cheers

Steve (off to see if the next wine bottle has more suitable foil)

[yak face]

steve , dont forget yoghurt pot lids too, often they have a slight texture to them as well as being a bit thinner than wine foil-not as much fun to acquire though!!!!! cheers tony:cheers:

[stona]

Upper cabin has all the bits in,a bit of a touch up required. Trying to get tail wheel assembly done so that the fuselage halves can be joined. I'll do a proper update then.

Cheers

Steve

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[stona]

Fuselage joined but needs a bit of fettling to be ready for a photo. I paint a dark colour on the inside of seams which colours the "ooze" on the outside to let me know that I've got a good seam. It doesn't look too clever before a clean up! No decals for instrument panel so I painted it as below.

Also started masking plexi-glass. If you don't like canopy masking you might not want to look at that photo!

Cheers

Steve

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[stona]

Where am I going to put this!!!!! I've got enough sub assemblies done to dry fit wings and tail assembly. This thing is big. The snap is with a P-47 which is a big model and a Bf109 which is about as small as 1/32 gets. The Ju88 is bigger than a 1/48 B-17.

Cripes

Steve

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[yak face]

Only one option if the shelves arent big enough ,steve... im sure swmbo wont mind it hanging from the bedroom ceiling! tony

[stona]

Disaster....ish. Fuselage decided to go for test flight off my table. Broke and loosened a few fixable bits in cockpit including entire bomb aimers assembly. Also had an amazing bit of luck. It landed nose down on the front bubble/gondola which is largely clear parts. Normally I attach these with very strong watch crystal cement but because I couldn't find it I'd used the much weaker Clearfix. What a result! A bit like an F1 car, lots of bits came flying off but nothing broke so really I've just got to stick it all back together. It's cost me a few hours but could have been a LOT worse.

I'm sure this has happened to quite a few of us but I think I've got away with this one. The only bit I can't get back in is an oxygen bottle which I just can't reach and I'll live with that.

Cheers

Steve (looking on the brightside)

[Guest]

It's never nice when that happens Steve-though I bet the look on our faces when we see that slow-motion slide off the table or workbench must be funny! to others! Glad the damage wasn't too bad. Patrick

[yak face]

wow!,could have been a major disaster if it had blitzed the clear nose parts steve, glad it didnt do too much damage. cheers tony