Peter s Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 My "build at least one of every aircraft flown in the battle of Britain according to the Wikipedia list" project nears completion. I've saved some of the biggest until the last not least because I wanted to work out a few things on some cheaper models first. The colours I used on the "old v new Stukas" really worked for me so I've repeated them again on an Heinkel 111 P2.The P2 was the definitve version of the He111 at the start of the war (especially Poland) but by the battle of Britain most were H1 and H2 versions - similar but with slightly larger engines. Airfix have recently released the P2 and H6 versions. In retrospect I should have maybe gone for the H6 and backdated but scheme B for the P2 is "France 1940" so that'll do just fine.This is a lovely kit with the single gripe that the fuselage windows do not fit well and need some serious sanding and dry fitting. Most of the glass can be fitted towards the end of the build so there was no reason to paint the cockpit at an early stage and seal it behind perspex. For a big box its a relatively simple build. To get to this stage took just 2 hours (I am a fast builder though)/media/tinymce_upload/244cbeb02d10194feac0795e1623dfbd.jpgWhole aircraft primed in tamiya NATO black then painted with Vallejo RLM 70/media/tinymce_upload/d3eeaa432ae6905b590a79ed8069e61e.jpgCounter colour of RLM 71 plus about 1 part to 5 Grau-violet applied. The Vallejo RLM71 is a bit too olive brown and has a bit too much contrast with the darker green. The grauviolet fixes that./media/tinymce_upload/2f39dc96eeef4c737b7ee3fd3786f806.jpgI've rather exaggerated the panel line shading at this stage but after a bit of filter is applied its less extreme than it looks. As the P2 was past its best by the battle of Britain I can justify a more faded dirty look which suits my style nicely./media/tinymce_upload/e72ff736ad83474b46b8d1a1240ec5c1.jpgSimilar deal underneath. The main cuppola is mostly clear but will end up mostly blue. Thats being done as a bench job and will be fitted at the end.There's no bombs provided for the vertical bomb cells. In theory it could take 250kg bombs but the surplus bombs from Airfix kits such as the new Me 262 are too fat for the cells so I've got some resin SC50 bombs. These have been fitted to plastic tube to ensure they hang at the right height. 6 are going in the plane with 2 reserved for diorama purposes./media/tinymce_upload/987c369d169c02d0857c6f7058104ab6.jpgThere's a crazy amount of detail on these bombs - including the silver screw in fuses.More to follow soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bish1707821547 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Looks good so far. I built this last year and backdated to a P-1 with pre war camo, it was a nice build. Though i did have issues with the fit of the outer lower wing sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Thats a nice idea... Airfix did a Stuka-B in Spanish civil war markings but it was basically the same RLM70/71 scheme as WW2. The A- stuka with the "trousers" fought in a more complex (4??) colour splinter scheme. You don't get a lot of opportunity to model these pre-WW2 versions. The He111 is well along now so I'll try and get some more photos taken tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bish1707821547 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Look forward to seeing those. I do like the pre war scheme, i have done a 72nd Ju 87A in that scheme.This is my He 111 that i post here back in Jan. https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/forum/172nd-he-111p-1/?p=1/#post-316808 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Look forward to seeing those. I do like the pre war scheme, i have done a 72nd Ju 87A in that scheme.This is my He 111 that i post here back in Jan. https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/forum/172nd-he-111p-1/?p=1/#post-316808That is VERY nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 /media/tinymce_upload/f9ae36063e1540b0b0f95e5ad805dabf.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0e9d7b0b4ecdd9b3c7f063097fdffbe4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/692309df8d56da117b98a4f526527ae7.jpgProgress.... decals are on, props fitted (And both spin perfectly... normally I don't care but this kit is designed to make it easy). I've used the B option from the kit but ditched some "art" which looks like a chalk drawing from the rudder and added Xtradecal formation markers (the big pink bar on the starboard wing and rudder). Cockpit is painted. Pilots are both Airfix stuka crew from the new tool. Their arms come as separate parts so actually hold the controls. The rear gun position is big and exposed so I've a czech master resin guy going in there as its highly visible. Adding the bombs probably isn't worth the time or cost but its the little details that matter. Whats left to do is mostly clear parts. Normally with those I glue them with Klearfix, hand paint the lines initially with a Tamiya paint (often silver or black) then do a second coat with the vallejo base coats. A sharpened cocktail stick dragged along the lines shortly after tidies everything nicely. Acrylic can be removed from clear very easily this way & its quicker than masking off a million tiny panels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Personally, I'd tone down the pre-shading. I don't think I've ever seen one looking like a patchwork quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padefc Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I like this Peter great job the paint scheme works for me looks so much better than hu 241&242 I think it is belter job really is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Personally, I'd tone down the pre-shading. I don't think I've ever seen one looking like a patchwork quilt.It doesn't look quite so obvious "in the flesh"... I think its a lighting thing at this stage, I'm just taking phone snaps under the lounge light. Mind you I was interested by the pics of the JU88 at Cosford Airfix showed a couple of weeks ago. There was some heavy staining on the edges of the underneath panels. Not as extreme as my model but considering that plane would have never flown in that coat of plate it was surprising.See link:https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/aerodrome/defecting-junkers-a-fascinating-wartime-story/media/gene-bluefoot/d/_/d_the_story_of_the_wartime_defection_of_a_luftwaffe_junkers_ju88_nightfighter_on_the_airfix_and_corgi_aerodrome_blog.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 I like this Peter great job the paint scheme works for me looks so much better than hu 241&242 I think it is belter job really isThanks. Straight out of the bottle I'm not that keen on the Vallejos. They need "tweaking". Technically they work brilliantly but the RLM71 especially is very olive-brown. I've posted a link and a pic of the JU88 on the airfix aerodrome from last week (which iwaiting for moderation). That highlights how very similar the two upper shades are and also a surprising amount of staining around panel edges. The upper shades are a bit too similar for my liking but thats what the real thing looked like. I did the old tool JU88 that way and it virtually looks monocolour. Accurate but not such a pretty model. If I'm going to do 2-tone I want to see 2-tone at the end. I'm stretching this one a bit... A P2 at the height of the battle of Britain will be an old plane but warbird standards so its getting a slightly exaggerated weathering job and I can justify a bit more fading than might be realistically expected. I've always liked the 1960s movie "Battle of Britain" for that reason. Their Spitfires and Hurricanes especially are filthy. Maybe unrealistically so but they look like combat veterans not museum exhibits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Here's some real pics of in service He 111s. There's a reasonable amount of panel edge staining visible which given the dark upper colours and the old B+W pics is surprising. /media/tinymce_upload/5370b5cc29e537b89e1a709aba96822d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/de658b2388b197dc2ea9d417de521b2f.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/ebe74f3333928a98b1951fd36e6c4ffd.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/88e709fd8c7c877023109b96ff4ce619.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/4ee07982c64deee310ba272674f689ea.jpgSadly I can't find many original colour pics. Most seem to be post war CASA's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 And the final pics.... /media/tinymce_upload/aa98c3703b883af5f3b128beac5fb350.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/8ebbb6d98b90b073a5b36f740a2a1389.JPGUsing my airbrush I can make the props spin but never both at once which is annoying./media/tinymce_upload/6dc146198a91f3718ba9c99f2c87d088.JPGI've put a filter on this one to give it a "Signal magazine" style 1940s colour look. Its unfortunate that it was published as propaganda because some of the photos in surviving copies of that magazine are the ultimate source when I want to see what a real one looked like./media/tinymce_upload/8af2843cccd5bd5b69e6c4118609d607.JPGLikewise in Black and white the panel shading isn't that obvious. If anything mine looks smarter than the real pics I uploaded./media/tinymce_upload/96120dad4bb4b56fc3f1df08b599fa6a.JPGUnderneath. I'm usually guilty of neglecting undersides but not this time. I used Mig pigments to dirty the tyres and because it would probably operate from a grass strip I flicked a thin mix of pigment and water onto the undersides to recreate some of the muck the wheels may kick up. Thats commonly done by WW1 aircraft modellers but not so much for WW2 planes./media/tinymce_upload/bfe6b3e2e45e356d719fdb2787581033.JPGGot the prop spinning again. Believe it or not it took as long to paint the canopy frames as it did to build the original plane.... 2hrs. I had a couple of beers after that session./media/tinymce_upload/daf6d2df05a6659b331668918a15d975.JPGWith some figures for scale./media/tinymce_upload/6ca51c0e68dcda1da1b95ba2e5e6e3ae.jpgAnd finally... I keep saying I'm a big fan of the 1960s Battle of Britain movie.... soooooo......../media/tinymce_upload/1b52927e9c3ef3479787d332ede030af.JPGDAGGGA-DAGGGA-DAGGGA.......! I'm a very serious first aider and I've a huge box of expired dressings (still perfectly useful just not trustworthy once they're past the date) so the smoke is the cotton wool from one of those superglued onto a brass rod.Overall a truly superb kit. I'm not sure if its the best model I've done but its the best "big German" by far. My single criticism was the side windows. I'm not the first to say that either but the fit was terrible. LOTS of sanding and dry fitting. Fortunately the rest of the clear parts were a great fit but the nose is complex. Don't think of assembling it without a proper clear glue. I used Kristal Klear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 I'll put this as an extra post because the Bf 109 is not an airfix and if the mods aren't happy I quite understand. The F model saw service in the battle of Britain from October 1940 onwards so its on my list. This was a kit so simple it was like Lego. I had so many problems getting the shades of grey "right" that at one point I stripped it back to bare plastic and started again. It worked out OK in the end. The He-111 taking a step back looks even more realistic./media/tinymce_upload/d736ac0f33251183f6410907fcb6eb24.jpgAgain "Signal" style./media/tinymce_upload/7f35aef7d0de84cafb253ff0b6437352.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 I'll put this as an extra post because the Bf 109 is not an airfix and if the mods aren't happy I quite understand. The F model saw service in the battle of Britain from October 1940 onwards so its on my list. This was a kit so simple it was like Lego. I had so many problems getting the shades of grey "right" that at one point I stripped it back to bare plastic and started again. It worked out OK in the end. The He-111 taking a step back looks even more realistic./media/tinymce_upload/d736ac0f33251183f6410907fcb6eb24.jpgAgain "Signal" style./media/tinymce_upload/7f35aef7d0de84cafb253ff0b6437352.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 An excellent build Peter. The weathering is spot on and brings your model to life just perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter s Posted August 5, 2020 Author Share Posted August 5, 2020 An excellent build Peter. The weathering is spot on and brings your model to life just perfectly. Thanks! It took me years not to panic when something looks wrong or overdone half way through a build. Learning to have faith in the final result doesn't come easily. I've got the Vintage classic SM-79 part built now and its the same.... its looking rough as hell at the moment but once the decals are on and all the fine details painted I'm hopeful it'll be worth sharing shelf space with the Heinkel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padefc Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 Look stunning that Heinkel well done !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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