Well, all, here are the pics of my latest bird… Again, not the greatest images, but they show some detail.
I used Moskit and PE for the cockpit (which turned out really well, I think).
My only concern was the rightness of the camo, colors in register, I mean. Only light weathering on this one… some paint chipping, but mostly down to the primer, not bare metal.
You all wouldn’t believe the bad luck I had with this one… But, as you well know, there is very little that can’t be fixed if one has the determination and patience.
I didn’t like the fact that you really can’t position the canopy in the open position on this model… So, I fitted the sliding part so it would stay in place, but be removable in order to see the awesome detail inside. I even added leather stirrups to the rudder pedals. I tried some thermaform for the canopy so I could fit the new glass in the open position, but no dice… I can’t seem to do anything with the stuff… I’ll never waste money on the stuff again…
Enjoy, and any criticism would be appreciated, especially on the color scheme. They seem to be right, based on photos of originals???
Nice looking bird !
I wouldn’t worry about the “rightness” of the camo colors. As long as they are close to your referrences, they will be fine. The environment & interaction of people & machines will alter the original color. Don’t worry about the “Accuracy Police.” They are usually only looking to find something “wrong.”
Great job ! Can’t wait to see your next one !
Nice work, Footcav. Absolutely. I like it, a lot. The colours look right to me. Was it an easy build? Or were your problems mostly centered around extra stuff you wanted to do to the model?
The sienna and khaki I’m not too worried about… The sienna should have a reddish color, compared to some of the colors one might see in the squadron books. I was just concerned if the blue gray was a little too blue… However, I wanted to do a fairly new plane and some of the builds I’ve seen on-line don’t look blue enough… If I had it to do over, I would add a little more blue to the cockpit color, although it has a bluish tinge out of the botlle. I’ll add the blue to my next three French planes: MS-406, Arsenal VG-33, and Bloch 152… Pics will be posted upon completion…
The kit was a pretty decent build OOB and the photoetch wasn’t too bad for my first time… Most of the problems with the kit were due more than anything to errors of my own making. Where the wings joined the fuselage on the underside required a good bit of filling and sanding. Other than that, my own mistakes account for most of the problems…
footcav,
i am curious, is the problem that the canopy is too small to sit properly in the open position?
that’s the problem w/ my 1/48 Tamiya Wildcat.
and i cleverly glued it ‘in place’ (open) before i thought of sanding down the inside edge some.[:(!]
i also tried to heat it up in hot water and widen it some, but it was not co-operating and i was afraid i would break it in two.
so my canopy looks like it is sitting between 1/16" and 1/8" too high. [}:)]
but i can live w/ it.
Nice job footcav42, I too like the colors very much. If I can make a suggestion, I think a wash would really bring out the panel lines. I couldn’t tell for sure if you had already applied one, if you have the pictures just don’t pick it up very vell. But if you haven’t applied a wash yet it could really add a lot to an already very nice model.
Nice job, but could the D.520 you built be N°90, blue 2 of the first squadron of GC I/3. In that case it would be Lieutenant Madon’s aircraft in winter 1940-41 in Algeria, and then a white arrow running “under” the squadron insignia and the roundel is missing on both sides of the fuselage.