Danstream

Chris, please note that from now on I will not refer any longer to the fact that this is a card model. For me, this is a proper good scale model irrespective of which is the material it is made of (although this still amazes me 🙂). Great progress on your model, I love the struts and the wires arrangement (which is typical of a 'sesquiplane'). Kind regards, Dan

Hi Denis, German aircraft had the interior painted in the factories with RLM 02 (and IP on some was RLM 66) until Nov 1941. After that date, everything visible from the cockpit windows was painted with RLM 66, which is a dark grey. The rest of airframe remained RLM 02. This is the basic guideline, of course if you google the topic you find also endless discussions about that. That's right, the Stuka did not built up at a fast rate its diving speed, indeed it was a (hopeless) slow aircraft because it was very draggy. Of course the diving brakes also contributed their part to slow the dive. Apparently it was 'at ease' with very steep dive angles. Lou, the Stuka was fitted with an automatic diving recovery system that pulled-up the plane if and when the pilot was blackened-out. For more information about diving speeds and altitudes, see for example: https://www.fighter-planes.com/info/ju87.htm In period footages taken from the cockpit, I saw the pilot firing few bursts during the dive probably to get some clue about how to aim the plane from the tracer bullets (but this is an supposition of mine). The design of the ailerons and of the flaps was a Junker trademark of that time. For example, the Ju-52 had the same design. I suppose that it had some advantage in simplifying the design of the wing structure, but surely was not efficient to reduce the drag. In fact it disappeared with faster airplanes. Probably it was even dangerous for promoting flutter phenomena. There is one thing I always wondered about the Stuka diving maneuver and it is about the accommodation of the gunner in the back. Differently from the pilot who had a proper seat, the gunner sat on a sort of 'picnic chair' with no backrest or headrest (he had a sort of leather strap across his back) and enjoyed the ride facing backwards, I guess it must have been quite an unforgettable experience. Several years ago, I built the old (and good) 1/24 Airfix kit to find that this ugly guy had its own deadly sort of 'beauty'. Sorry for having hijacked your post Denis, I hope you didn't mind. Cheers, Dan

Thank you Ken! Great that you like it! Although at slow pace, I am progressing. Never built before, I find this aircraft one of the coolest so far (have I already said that?). Dan

Hi, following Denis' suggestion, I went a bit on with my build. I must admit that I find this phase of preparing the large fuel tanks a bit boring and also finishing the many missiles is not very exciting. I should have thought earlier to close the slots that are there to hold the tanks so to omit them and display the airframe in its sleek and beautiful shape. Too late for that, these are the tanks now after the usual black followed by several layers of paint: Transparent clear and matt are still missing. I will not weather them much, because I do not want them to catch too much attention. Meanwhile, I brush painted the pilot's seat which is a QB resin replacement. This is the only aftermarket used for this build, if we exclude the new decals. This is the most prominent piece that will be visible through the closed canopy glass and I wanted it to look cooler than the simplified part supplied with the kit. I painted it with Tamiya acrylic paints, Vallejo metallic for the buckles and the I sealed everything with a light coat of clear matt. Finally, the cockpit is now complete: That's all for now, thanks for your interest, Dan

I am sorry reading that. I have the same issue, I always wear compression socks and take anticoagulants during long haul flights. Unfortunately, sitting long hours in the office and at the hobby desk is not a good thing 😒. I try to make breaks and take my dog for long walks almost every day. I am not modeling these days, my models languish on the desk, but I prefer to walk in the sun, when I can. Take care, Dan

She is really a beauty. Are you planning any final transparent layer? kind regards, Dan

It looks very good EG, reflectivity is very credible. Surface details are awesome, I can even see some waviness of stressed skin, am I right? Best regards, Dan

Good progress on this graceful plane. In Italy, this jet was quite popular being used as military jet trainer and by the aerobatic team of the Italian Air Force (Frecce Tricolori). One comment/suggestion: please reduce the thickness of the air intake walls, from the picture where your hands hold the wings the walls look very thick. Best regards, Dan

Yes, these circular sectors are weights to bring the center of mass of the elevator on top of the hinge line. This is one measure to avoid flutter or aerodynamic coupling between vibration of the tail and the elevator. Tabs are on the trailing edge of the elevator. Nice splinter camo, by the way. Dan

Thanks Javlin and thanks for the 'like's. Small bit and pieces take very long, hence, just small progress at the time. Added black smoke puffs of the starter exhaust on the belly and LG pieces now permanently mounted: Main LG: Nose wheel: Back to tanks and missiles. Kind regards, Dan

Although clearly we have never met, your post stroke me. I hope everything will go well. Give credit to what the doctor said and try to keep up your spirit. Anytime you want playing with our toys, we will be here to have a good talk and to listen to you. I want to see your handsome silver Sabre finished! Take care, Dan

Nice and clean build. About the decals, the shining effect of the decal carrier is called 'silvering' in the plastic model community. It is caused by air trapped between the film and the roughness of the matt paint. I am afraid it will not go away with a matt coating. At this stage what you can do if that really disturbs you is: - paint over the obvious film with the colors of the camo (least invasive). Or: - With patience, if you have not sealed the decals with a varnish, remove the decal with repeated application of decal liquids (or warm water); once removed, you can: - cut and remove the biggest carrier film portions and reapply the remaining parts with decal liquids, or - brush a product like 'Future' over the paint of the decal areas and reapply the decals with liquids; at this point surfaces will show a variation of finishes which will need to be made uniform with a layer of matt coating. Perhaps all this is too cumbersome and not worth the effort, but this is up to you to decide. The model has anyway its own character of an 'old school' model and I would leave it as is. Best regards, Dan

Good fix of the dihedral angle. About that large gap, that needs to be filled with a styrene strip, any other filler will crack with time. Good luck, Dan

Good progress, it's an airplane now. Dan

Good steady progress, looking forward for more. By the way, speaking of a good filler that can be sanded and even scribed, have you considered using CA glue mixed with talc powder? Best regards, Dan

Finely crafted and finished model! I am not an expert of these vehicles, but I can recognize that. By the way, I read today that this old type was just deployed by Russia in Dnepr. Congrats for the nice result, Dan

Amazing result. Even more amazing thinking that is made by folded paper! Truly enjoyable model. Congrats, Dan

Good to see you back in action. Good move on replacing the gun ports although not trivial surgery. I am wondering whether it something could be planned at this stage for their finish. I mean, they have typically a shiny metal finish which stands out from the rest of the aluminium finish, hence could it be convenient to cover them with a kind of kitchen or tape foil now, before inserting them in their squared hole? Just a speculation, I never did it before. Best regards, Dan

Hi, a small update that concludes the application of the camouflage of the main airframe. I masked again the metallic panels in view of the final coating of matt clear varnish. In fact, I want to retain the shiny finish of the metallic panels: After spraying a thinned layer of Tamiya matt (doped with some drops of gloss), after long time, I can remove all the masking tapes also from the canopy: I am pleased with the variety of finishes of the metallic parts and painted surfaces: Now I will concentrate of the huge drop tanks and on the missiles. Best regards, Dan

Precise and clean build. It looks like a fine model. Dan

Thank you Dave! I appreciate your evaluation. I will remember the 'rivet trails' definition. Dan

... and sharp result, if I may say it. Dan

Hi, some progress on my F-15. Similarly to the upper side, the panel lines of the underside of the fuselage were treated with Payne's Grey oil color, while the wings were left natural with the exception of the control surface gaps. I might come back later to the panel lines of the leading edge. Then the jet nozzles were glued on and some stains were added by putting some black oil color dots on panel junctions and smearing them with a flat brush. Also the nozzles were drybrushed with black oil color. The underside engine area of F-15's might get really dirty by gases leaking from the junctions, but I prefer to keep the weathering quite limited. The engine area seen from the above will remain cleaner: A rear quarter view of the jet nozzles area: The jet exhausts of the kit are quite simplified, but I preferred not to replace them and get the best I could by playing with paints and oils. On the upper surface, I added some streaks of color from the hinge lines of the surfaces as suggested by some pictures. Finally, I sprayed a transparent layer of Tamiya Smoke and clear yellow on the underside of the engine area to mimic the discoloration of this area as seen in pictures: That's all for now, I hope you like my weathering effects. Best regards, Dan

Thank you Alan. I am not a master, but if you have any question on the above that I am able to answer, please do not hesitate to ask. Dan

Hi, After having applied (almost) all the decals onto the fuselage, I sprayed the last coat of gloss to seal them. Then, the diluted oil color was liberally brushed on the panel lines of the upper side. This operation is always a bit frightening to me: After 20 minutes, I removed the wash with a cloth damped with white spirit: Next, the underside fuselage will be similarly treated. Meanwhile, I restarted working on the exhaust jet pipes because they will be glued on soon. With a fine brush, I picked few details with aluminium metallic paint and Tamiya panel liner, then I sprayed a mist of flat brown to mute down the contrast of the metallic parts: Best regards, Dan