Egilman

Thank you Lou, They can be torture that's for sure, (and I put three sets together all made for different models) Your's isn't done yet brother so finish comparisons aren't valid at this point. Besides we have to look at the overall model when making such judgment calls and mine isn't done yet either... Thank you for the compliment, It means a lot my friend......

It's part of the fun.... My wish is that kit manufacturers go just a little bit closer to what is actually smoothly buildable instead of absolute detail.... Leave the absolute detail for those that are willing to put in the work and want the pain..... But learning how to model does not make model companies any money....

Now that is a job, but I've seen them done, as I'm sure you have... I'll be there.... {I like watching masters at the craft work)

Thank you Jack....

Oh yes, I remember when Accurate Armor started producing complete tank interiors and getting crazy money for it... My thinking was why would I want to paint a Mona Lisa, then put it in a closed box with a pinhole as the only way to view it? I've avoided such up till now... So I've had my taste of super detailing, and gotten my fill.... And as far as this kit, it needed the cockpit work, no doubt about that, but the seat was quite presentable as it was. I really didn't need to swap seats. So I have a magazine cover shot sitting right here on my desktop and I did it..... The true feeling is relief that it is done... (and a slight sense of pride creeping in there which I hate to admit) Thank you all for the likes and compliments and discussions..... They were definitely motivational..... Now on with the rest of the build....

Thanks Craig, I always wanted to do one of those super detailing jobs. But I should have known better..... But when the miniature pilot and crew chief show up, they can adjust all the seat straps as needed, cause all the individual adjusters are there... (don't know how they will like the brass straps, but I'll let them figure that one out) Thank you very much....

Thank you Nick, At least one thing I know now is I can work at that level, but someone is going to have to seriously pay me a lot to go there again... Masochism is the word, and an apt one as well...... It's when dreams of fidelity to accurate details meets reality..... {chuckle}

My pleasure Carl, I try to help when I can. They are out of Poland, I hope it works for you... EG

Ok Brothers, I think I'm done with the seat.... Most of that isn't going to show but it's there... I know it is.... {chuckle} Gonna take a bit of a days break for recovery here and then start assembling of this bird.... As an aside, I will not do this level of detail again, once was enough, most of what was just done will never ever be seen.... I went ahead and took a shot under natural light. the limitations of my camera are apparent... Anyway, Onward... EG

https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Bf-109G-6-Swiss-HASEGAWA.html 1/48th scale And according to the site they are in stock... And the set has aircraft 705, which is the scheme for the eduard kit... (it also comes with gun barrels and canopy masks, both inside and outside, a real deal if you ask me)

Thanks OC..... Fiddly?, you said Fiddly? they are way beyond fiddly into don't breathe on it while assembling territory.... My mind is already considering other options for seatbelts/harnesses in the future... These look nice but are a whole lot of headache to assemble right and if you lose a part? forget it they are done.... There has to be other easier options....

Been kinda busy today, so I figure that I would sit down for a relaxing build session. Give her a bit of time.... Doin seat belts.... (relaxing, right) That is six parts..... I think I lost the clasp for the right side three times before I finally got the strap through the buckles web loop... And yeah, they had to be folded as well, no glue.... Now that they are done, they get glued to the seat..... Give a new definition to relaxing.... a few seconds of absolute concentration, an instant of OH CRAP!, and 40 minutes of searching for this microscopic part of which there is no spare.... Now that we have defined relaxation, (modelers edition) we need to get a memo off to Webster's right away... (got to get it in the next edition) But, I'm making progress.... EG

Ah, we can't have the workin' people milling around now, there's a war on you know........ I have a feeling they will find something to do.....

Oh yeah, dedication is the name of the game.... Nice jeep color also btw...

Well we know better Lou.... (and there is always hope for the relations, at least that is what momma used to always say) {chuckle}

Yep, there certainly are..... there is hope for us yet....

Amen Brother...

From Middlebranch, Ohio to Graham, Washington; Ordered March 11th arrived June 4th almost 8 weeks? they must have sent it by pony express.... I think the virus has attacked the mail service worse than anything else.... My F-104 wheels are still in customs in NY....

Thank you brother, I's working on it.... And an unplanned update. Sometimes despite all the research and effort that goes into making good accurate parts, they flub one... Here they flubbed one.... The seat on the left is an optional one in the Brassin kit for the Lockheed C-2 ejection seat and is untouched. It represents what they think it should look like... Except that the protrusion sticking up an 1/8th of an inch, (4 scale inches) doesn't exist on the real seat.... As you can clearly see , the emergency kit only rises to the height of the seat at the back end....... So I had to modify the seat to be accurate... The seat on the right represents the corrected kit part..... I figured I would post this for those that believe that the resin AM offerings are the end all and be all of accuracy, I say that although they usually are very accurate, sometimes they can be wrong in their representations..... It pays to do your research I always say, this is a good example..... The seat is now corrected to match the actual item..... EG

Single color cars or anything for that matter, especially when scaled down generate a monochromatic effect. Like an all silver car, all the details get lost in the color. It happens more with lighter colors than darker colors... It's why manufacturers use trim and other exterior parts in other colors complimentary or contrasting to breakup the monochrome effect.... bumpers in black chrome, bezels around lights, door trim etc etc... It's a lighting effect problem that has been around for ages and will not go away ever. (especially for what we do) It's just the nature of how light/colors work..... You fight against it on shiney car bodies, you accentuate it in camouflage.... Find a scheme you like that looks good to you and replicate it....

Ok an update, basic painting done..... As you can see the grey has taken on a bluish tint, that is cause when I started looking at colors I realized that the light aircraft grey was just too light, almost whitish in appearance. so I went and bought a bottle of plain aircraft grey, gloss and repainted, the gloss helps with the decals and is a much more accurate color and flattens out well... I used olive drab for the seat cover and dark euro green for the survival pack. the Red is Insignia Red slightly darkened.... Anyway, decals up next then the PE, then we get to figure out the paper retaining straps.... Onwards....

Yep, they were great, problem with them was two fold... making them for every kit that has been released in 4 different scales, and how many you had to go through before you learned to use them correctly..... It was a full time job all by itself keeping up with the kits, modeler inexperience, and with prices to reflect what they are actually worth in materials and time and then make a profit? It doesn't surprise me that they went away.... Great idea, very practicable for the modeler, impracticable for a long run product.... In fact you see this market effect manifest itself in kit aftermarket products all the time. New kit, New PE & Resin, after the initial pressing run and sales the Aftermarket guru's are all over it until the sales slow down to normal and the aftermarket products for that kit start disappearing from the marketplace...... The old classic kits and the kits becoming classics remain covered but the initial runs fade away fairly quickly.... I still have resin parts for some tanks from companies that have been out of business for 20 years... About 6 months to a year after a kit release the AM will have matured and that is the buy point. But, when you buy you buy it all, if you time it right you can get everything you need for about half the initial asking price. Take the Trumpeter Hornet for example, $225.00 when initially released, (I got mine as a christmas present from the Admiral she paid $205.00. I purchased enough b-25's to do a full flight deck and several AM sets for it for another 250 ish bucks... Today, you can get the kit for $85.00 and most of the aftermarket has gone away, just the essential PE sets remain.... I"m at 450ish for what I have and today you can purchase most of what I have for less than 200.00. Some of what I have you can't find anywhere.... or was produced by one company, they went out of business and is now made by another company (for a bunch more money)... Like anything else sometimes it's just not worth buying early.... Of course some of us wind up doing what I'm doing here, converting a kit to use current AM... Not my first time, but I only do it with models I really want to look good.... Ah, the life of a modeler.... EG

Who said you need PE to build a nice cockpit? (of course it helps having a cockpit in the kit that looks like the real thing) Nice Job Brother....

I get that Mark, I know they are there, but to be honest, I won't go through the very real excedrin headaches of doing it again.. I reached my limit on how far I will go with this one.... Can I do it? yes..... Will I do it again? emphatic NO....

Next step is the seat... I have the Brassin seat from Eduard, it comes with decals and PE but it doesn't come with all the harnesses that were used on the Lockheed C-2 seat... For that I aquired the Eduard Super Fabric cause it gives you those harnesses. and along with it's own set of PE... Pretty much all the harnesses are included in brass in the brassin set there is a couple of small PE details in the fabric set the brassin doesn't have along with the restraint netting... So, what I"m going to do it primarily use the Brassin PE (cause it is a complete kit and the parts just fit) and augment it with the Fabric set for those few parts missing..... Anyway onward with the seat.... once this is done I can go back to the main aircraft, the Hase F-104C has the cockpit assembled as subassemblies which come together when the fuselage is assembled. So, as a result I won't be able to give a complete shot of the finished cockpit until it's in the aircraft..... Unfortunately that is the way it was manufactured.... Onwards...