Outstanding finish Mike! Bravo!
Clemens, finally some pics! Engines and gear bays look great indeed.
Pics look good, you are learning the Nikon quickly. You’ll just have to figure out how close the Nikor 18-105 will focus (I don’t have that one so all I can go by is the specs). Resolution and image quality from the D5300 is pretty good, you’ve probably all ready found that you can get away with cropping tighter than you used to. Some playing around will let you know how far you can go.
You might try shooting close-ups at around 85-90mm. The lens will be a bit sharper there than at full 105mm zoom. That said, they look fine as is.
You know, Photographic mag has a forum to discuss such things, this is Fine Scale model forum. (LOLOL) Greg… sorry, JUST KIDDING! Lolol… I m realy glad someone here understands camera issues, I sure dont. LOL… I wish I had a better knowledge about such things, but my Nikon doesnt have interchangable lens like the Richo I have but the Richo is SLR. Film shooter. Again Greg… just kidding!
Yep, I got carried away, Doug. [:)] Someone starts talking camera stuff and I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. [;)]
Thanks, guys!
Mike, your 152 looks magnificent! I like the clean look you went with!
Greg: I actually took all the “close-up” pics from at least 50cm away and simply zoomed in on the photo afterwards. I got 24 megapixels to work with so I might as well use them… [;)] I’m only taking pictures with al lthe pre-configured modes of my camera ATM because I still have to figure out all the stuff I can adjust in manual mode.
Joe: No curses were yelled at the assembly line yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get my fair share of problems once I start joining the fuselages with the wings…
I need some help with my Eduard A-8…
I’m using the Eduard PE set to dress up the gun bays, gear bays and engine, but It requires some slight modifications to the base kit:
I have to cut out the cooling flaps behind the engine so I can add the PE and I simply have no clue how to do this properly. They are way too small for my saws…
Any advice would be a great help…
Clemens, I just glued mine on without cutting out below (never thought of it to be honest). I think you saw a pic early August.
If you cut out those two that are together, not sure how you will glue the middle one?
Were it me, probably drill holes, then clean up with a #5 blade and a jewelers file. Pretty small area to work, for sure.
Be curious to hear what the real answer is, now that I’ve spouted off. 
I’d prefer to just glue them in there, but the PE set I’m using requires you to place PE parts around and in the holes. I guess I’ll get me a few small drills at my LHS then… Thanks for the tip!
Thanks Greg, Rigidrider and Clemens – I must say it looks good in the display case and in the end that’s what matters! I’ll forge ahead on the others today and hopefully have some progress to report tonight.
Clemens, you’re certainly ambitious to work with the most temperamental kits, and then increase their complexity with the dreaded etch! My hat is off to you, sir!
Cheers, Mike/TB379
Ahah!! That will solve the problem of what to fasten that center one to. Should be cool. Guessing with the PE as you described, the square hole won’t have to be terribly accurate, which should help.
Re the drills, I use mine more often than I’d have thought. Don’t forget a good pin vise! Tip: My Tamiya pin vise is the best one I’ve ever had.
I hear that!! I’ve gotten to where I’ll use the pin vise to hold tire/wheel assys for painting. I usually drill into the tread on the bottom where the tire meets the ground to hold it for painting.
Clemens: You Sir are making dynamite progress. Each part for each aircraft looks great. i especially like the effect you achieved with the mix of gold and titanium. That really does look good. Keep hanging in there buddy. It’s coming along just fine.
Mike: You are a prime example of the saying, “When somebody hands you a lemon, make lemonade”. You have transformed that cantankerous kit into one gorgeous piece of “Hot Damn”! That is a really fine example of excellent modeling skills. Give yourself a firm pat on the back and accept my hardy “WELL DONE”!! It has indeed been a real pleasure to watch you bring that kit to life.
Joe – thanks, buddy! I accept that pat on the back with the greatest gratitude! It was a challenge, to be sure, and I’m just glad I made a decent job of it!
I’ve made some progress on the Hobby Boss D-9 yesterday and today. The windscreen needed attaching, there was some rubbing down to do on the underside, then the canopy masks went on. It’s actually a Ta-152 set which is slightly different and needed modification and completion with tape. In the end, I could have done the whole thing with tape, given the corrections necessary. Hey ho… Here she is, first a state-of-the-project shot:
And here’s the canopy, with masking complete:
Next up, mask the wheelwells, tailwheel and gun barrels, then spray the 66 over the canopy, preshade in NATO black, and, if there’s time, get the 76 onto the underside.
I’m hoping to just maybe have this one done by the time the decal issue for the A-8 is sorted, and cruise through them all…
Cheers, M/TB379
PS: I checked the decals in that Academy A-6 and they are useless, so that one remains on the back burner until the AM sheet I was going to use for it turns up – it’s around here somewhere…
Right, made a little progress here, I got the canopy interior colour sprayed, then changed to black and preshaded the airframe. I was hoping to go right on to the 76 but the AB needs a strip and clean before I get to the main paintjob. Here she is with the colours to be used:
It’s a good job the underpainting doesn’t need to be precise – because it sure won’t be!
Target for tomorrow is the 76, early enough to harden off during the day so it can be masked later, and maybe get to the 83.
Cheers, M/TB379
**Mike:**This one’s coming right along Mike! That prop spinner looks like a million bucks. Did you use a mask or decal on that? Oh and another question—Which pic of that beauty of a 152 did you want in the Completed Builds section.?
**Clemens:**Youre gonna have to go to work in the kit manufactuing business. Youre the next step in the assembly line of being able to rival Franklin Mint. Hell instead of the kit manufacture putting the sprues in the box, they could just give them to you to assemble (assembly line style that is) and kick out completed builds to sell. Good going here bud! [Y]
Mustang – the spinner is a decal from the Superscale sheet for Rudel’s bird. it was designed for a different kit with a very different incidence on the cone, because it really did not want to fit and had to be coaxed into place with setting solution and a knife. It’ll look better with some touch-ups and a clearcoat, at the moment it’s actually a bit scabby from some angles!
Re the 152, my second pic from the top in the sequence I posted would be a good one!
More updates soon,
Thanks again,
Mike/TB379
Man I hear ya on that spinner decal. Most of mine take in the upwards of 7-10 coats of Microsol before they “behave”. Good job on yours.
I’ll get your pic posted soon brutha!
7-10 coats – yep, that sounds about right. I was wondering if my chemistry was getting a bit old and losing its “oomph” but it sounds like that’s normal!
Cheers, M/TB379
Mike, you don’t mess around, man. Looking good!
Hat’s off to you, that spinner looks really good. Decals or masks, those spirals are not among my favorite things.
Thanks, Greg, they’re a forbidding challenge, to be sure!
Progress today, I thoroughly cleaned the AB this morning, then got the 76 on. I gave it plenty of drying time, then made up some 75 and did the mottle on the replacement rudder of Rudel’s bird with the fineline tip. To be sure of it staying where it should be, I put a couple of clear coats over it too:
The rudder is now masked and I’m working up the rest of the masking. The 76 showed up some imperfections in the leading edge that will get dressed before I move on, but my target for tomorrow is to get the 83 onto her.
I’ve looked at renditions of Rudel’s plane and there seems to be a fair bit of interpretation in the markings, some folks are using the somewhat mysterious RLM 84 for the fuselage sides. I’m probably not going to go that way, but stay with a three-colour scheme – we’ll see!
Cheers, Mike/TB379