Hey Joe,
I wouldn’t worry too much about fit with the kit. The only issue that I had was a bit of a gap at the upper wing to fuselage. A bit of filler and careful sanding and it was fixed. The engine nacelles fit very well and I had no gaps where they attached to the wings. Be careful with the tail wheel - I broke mine off and had to drill and use a short length of tubing to fix it.
Steve
Mr Surfacer is some amazing stuff! I always use it on top of putty to get a better smooth surface!
Hi Luft Modeler, your Shinden is very nice and looks like mine [:)]
Thanks for all the kind words and tips regarding the Mr. Surfacer. I have put it to good use on this project (you can see where this is going…lol). Anyways, I got to assembling the airframe recently. Well, the kit isn’t exactly a “pig”, but its no walk in the park either. I started by sealing up the fuselage and then discovered the panel lines along the bottom are slightly misaligned. Its not too bad but its still noticeably annoying. I then turned to assembling the wings. There are wing tips that need to be added for the A-4 variant (Hasegawa style). These are too thick and will leave a step if glued together first and then added. Its best to attach them to the respective upper and lower wing and get a good fit, then sand them from the inside. Once sanded, join the wings together. Thats what I did and it worked. My biggest headache came when I went to add the wings to the fuselage. They just dont fit very well. The wings are slightly too narrow for the wingroot fillet, which leaves a slight step at the bottom. I decided to seal the top seams with Tenax which then left good sized gaps on the lower seams. Once these top seams were dry, i used masking tape along the bottom and forced the wings down which joined the lower seams. These were then fused with Tenax. This technique restored the diherdral. The seam looked sloppy to me with a few small gas here and there (either my fault or the kits), so I used Mr. Surfacer in the seams. Once dry, I removed the excess with 91% Isopropyl rubbing Alcohol. Its not perfect but they are passible. I added the tail elevators and rudder without issue. I then test fitted the engine mounts and to my chagrin, these fit perfect.
A test fit with the Jumos in place. Its starting to look like a Ju-88…
You have to install the landing gears before attaching the engines, so I assembled them as well. These are nicely detailed. I painted them Gunze Aqueous RLM 02, added brake lines from fine wire, Later they will be given a Detailer wash to grunge them up.
I test fitted the gears and they fit perfectly as well…
Thats where I left off. I’m about to start on the canopies…ugh…
Joe
Joe, maybe I’m just extra “blank” after a hard day but could you expound on this a little:
" i used masking tape along the bottom and forced the wings down". How does the making tape play a role in forcing the wings down? I’d like to build one of these someday (that indeterminate point in the looming future, lol) so I’m watching and, hopefully learning! Thanks, Gary
Gary…sorry, that would have been easier to show than tell. My fault for not snapping a pic. I’ll try again…lol. Take a long strip of masking tape (cheap kind) and fasten it to the wingtip. Pull it firm across the bottom and attach the other end to the other wing tip (the tape is now wing tip to wing tip spanning the bottom. Once in place, start at the wingtips and press down on the tape working your way towards the fuselage (the tape will stick to the plastic). As you do this, the wing dihedral will be forced downward. When its where you want it, glue the seam and leave it to dry. This same technique works like a charm on the upper wingroot gaps too.
Joe
Alright Joe! That I understand; thanks for taking the time to explain further. That sounds like a good technique to remember and use. You know, sometimes just remembering these tips when you need them is the hard part. One of these days I gotta get myself organized…(apologies to Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver”)[:D]
That build looks great! Although as a newby, I would have no idea how to make those mods to bring it all together and look that great. How do you know what knob is what color, or where there should be an extra oil line or wire that’s not part of the kit? Most of the Squadron books I’ve seen have black and white photos and most are a little blurry at best.
Beautiful work Joe!!
Jeez!! He breaks out the Luftwaffe build!! I’m REALLY looking forward to the scheme youre gonna bust out with this one!
BTW do you have a pre cut mask for the canopy/ or are you going solo on this one?
Nice work on this gem of a kit.
Thanks everyone. You are way to kind. This turkey is showing me just how mediocre a modeler I truly am. I’m still fiddling with wing roots which I just can’t seem to make look right. I’ve resorted to sanding the area smooth and I will forgo scribing the root line back in. Berry, cockpit knobs and such are mostly “artistic license” (fancy modeling terminology for making things up). I just try to make it look “busy”, to draw the eye there with pretty colors…lol. I paint levers, knobs buttons yellow, red, and sometimes blue to accomplish this. Nathan and Steve, you have been a world of help on this project, especially in pointing out tricky spots. I decided to take the easy way out and hit up Spruebrothers for canopy masks, otherwise I would be masking until Spring and having HE 111 flashbacks. I also bought an Eagle Cals sheet since the kit decals are allegedly lousy. I’ll have an update soon, Joe
Ummmm…I’m not buying into that! I know you aint one to gloat but don’t cut yourself short either Joe. lol. [;)]
Hey Joe,
Are you going to do a splinter scheme on your 88? I made my own Tamiya mixes for RLM 65 and RLM 71 for my 88. Here are the ratios I used on my 88 in the Reich Defenders GB in case you’re interested:
RLM 65 - XF2:9 + XF5:1 + XF8:1 + XF21:1. I usually use 1-2 drops of 91% Isopropyl alcohol for every 3 drops of paint and spray at around 15psi. (XF2=flat white / XF5=flat green / XF8=blue / XF21=sky)
RLM 71 - XF67:9 + XF49:1 + XF62:1 + XF2:2 + XF5:1.
(XF67=nato green / XF49=khaki / XF62=olive drab / XF2=flat white / XF5=flat green)
WIP pics are on page 26 in case you want to check them out.
Steve
Yes…mediocre. Its only takes a Monogram kit (or the like) to expose my true colors…LOL. I have very little patience for ill fitting parts and excessive putty and sanding. Thanks for the compliment Mustang.
Steve…I ordered an Eagle Cal sheet that I believe has a few in the standard splinter scheme. I’m gonna pick one. I’m still waiting on it and the canopy masks to proceed. Thank you for the formula, but I recently invested in Gunze RLM colors which look perfect to my eye. I may give your recipe a try to see how it compares to Gunze. I’m going over right now to check out your Ju-88…
Joe
This I’ve been waiting for! Thus far she looks great. I too want to build a BoB version of the Ju-88 (which is the A-1) and ended up purchasing the conversion kit from MDC. It sits in the kit box until my skills are in a place to deal with it[;)] Keep up the great work!
Joe your skills are anything but mediocre. Great build so far. John
Hello, I haven’t had much bench time lately since I have been waiting for my canopy masks to arrive from SB. On their arrival, I added them. These were the first ones I’ve ever struggled with. Some were cut a tad too big. It was either this or the kit molds shrank over the years. No biggie, I muddled through it. I also plugged away at the frame and finally got it to where I was satisfied it would look ok under paint. This thing was a great exercise for me in filling and sanding, which I admit I need on occasion.
Some have written the engine nacelles fit poorly. I had no such problems and I’ll go as far to say these caused me the least amount of aggravation. I needed a touch of filler on one and that was it.
I suppose I’ll be the first to say I’m not impressed with Mr. Surfacer 500. Unless I’m using it wrong, I just dont see it being a improvement over Squardon Putty. Squadron dries faster, sands easier and the acetone trick works much better. Maybe I’m just old school. I had trouble with the gondola fitting the contour of the lower fuselage and it left gaps where they met. Here I used the Mr. Surfacer which took forever to fill the gap. It dries way too slow. I found that Isopropyl wiped it smooth, but this also took forever. Here you can see where I used it on the starboard side gondola/fuselage joint. It was almost two nights of work to make this area look passable, and I’m still not completely satisfied.
The Eagle Cal decals came at the same time as the canopy masks. I decided on the top subject, a KG51 plane on the Russian front in early 1942. Theres nothing special about the subject other than I thought it was the most interesting one on the sheet, and it resembled one of the kit options I had been considering.
I figured I would start by preshading the airframe flat black XF-1. This was an exercise in patience since this thing is fairly large.
I then painted all of the theater markings and such XF-3 Flat Yellow cut with a touch of XF-7 Flat Red to brighten it up a bit.
I then taped off the yellow areas with Tamiya tape. The scheme calls for the standard RLM 70,71 over 65. I started with the 65. I concocted a 50/50 mix of XF-23 Light Blue and XF-2 Flat White then sprayed the bottom. This was lightened with more white and I made condensation streaks. I then taped of the control surfaces and painted these an even lighter shade. Not accurate but it certainly looks good to my eye.
The underneath then got a postshade with diluted Nato Black XF-69 and Red Brown XF-64. I usually stop when I think its enough, but I will probably do more when I add the exhaust stains.
I then used Blue Tac to mask off the demarcation lines and I started on the upper scheme of 70 and 71. I am quite fond of Gunze’s RLM colors. To my eye they are right on. I just wished they had the pigment consistency of Tamiya. The Aqueous line goes on translucent and requires a ton of paint to get the coverage I need Perhaps their lacquer paints perform better. I got my base coat down and called it a night. I havent decided whether I will fade the panels or do my normal streaking. I faded the panels on my Corsair and was pleased with the results.
More to come soon…
Joe
Sweet Jesus that thing is big!! =] You haven’t run out of room to store these yet?!? lol
Can’t wait to see the canopy on her.
Lookin’ good Joe!!