Danstream

Yes, the engine was a radial BMW 132, one of the engines that have a place in the aviation history. Thanks for your comment. Dan.

Dear all, first of all let me to collectively thank you all for your benevolent comments about my model, I am really flattered by them 🙏. Few answers: @Egilman, @Old Collingwood, @popeye the sailor, as I wrote in my other build, I will restart with my planes when I have finished with the 'dirty' sanding job on my ship. When I will start a new build, it will be only a pleasure to share it with all of you. @Javlin, one advise for when you will start your kit; the kit is very good, but the transparent pieces are broken down in several parts in an odd way and I could not assemble them satisfactorily. Eventually, I sourced an aftermarket replacement set. @Landlubber Mike, the engine is the one coming with the kit. It is a good reproduction and need only some cleaning. The metallic parts are painted with Vallejo metallic of various shades and then details are highlighted with Tamiya panel liner. I thank you for your comment, but don't be too harsh with yourself 😉, everyone has his own way of enjoying the hobby and there is not a right or wrong way of doing that. In my case, I start with looking carefully at period pictures of the subject trying to understand the way a specific aircraft ages and then trying to copy that. Furthermore, practice, as for any other field, from playing an instrument to making drawings or doing mathematics, is a key for skill improvement. Greetings to all, Dan.

Amazing workmanship and spectacular details! Saluti, Dan.

Dear all, seen the many positive feedback that I received from you about my Spitfire 1/48 in my previous post (thanks again), I decided to upload another build of mine finished a couple of years ago (I am a slow builder not only for ships, but also with aircraft) for your consideration. As written in the title, the subject is the Arado 196B, a much less known version than the Arado 196A, built from the good Revell kit in 1/32 scale. With few additions, the kit builds into an impressive model. This time I included also few picture from the build log. This time, the challenge was to make an interesting rendition of an aircraft with a dull uniform grey livery. I riveted the panels and applied a pre-shading as shown in the following. The mottled pre-shading was followed by several light coats of a Tamiya grey mix that reproduced the RLM 02. After assembly, I used washes of oil colors to weather and highlight panels and surface details. Exhaust stains were airbrushed. I hope you like it. Comments and critiques are welcome. Greetings to all, Dan.

Hi, @Lt. Biggles, for searching aftermarket parts, try to visit 'Scalemates.com'. It is a huge data base of virtually all kits in circulation. You search for a specific kit, f.i. 'Hurricane Airfix 1/48' and you get all the kits built of this type and at the end all decals and parts associated to it. Good luck, Dan. PS. Sorry, I have just seen that Scalemates was already suggested above!

Thanks, @Javlin. I am not sure I understood your question. Panel lines were highlighted with Tamiya panel liner and panels weathered by pre-shading, post-shading and oil colors. I avoided chipping because they would have distracted from the other weathering and also because aircraft not always have chippings in their operative life. Thanks, Dan.

Many thanks for the likes and the comments! @Old Collingwood, at present my production of aircraft models is on hold because of my Mayflower build. In addition, my Mayflower required so far a lot of sanding with associated production of dust which is not ideal for the airbrushing activity. Probably I will restart with aircraft in a short while. However, if not considered out of place, I can post pictures of few more finished aircraft in the next future in other separate posts. Thanks and greetings to all, Dan.

Hi, seen my glacial pace at progressing with my ship build log, I thought of showing here my last aircraft kit that I completed before starting my present Mayflower build. It is built from the excellent Tamiya kit 1/48 and it depicts an aircraft that took part in the Dunkirk operations. Finish is obtained with Tamiya acrylic paints and oil weathering. I hope you like it. Comments and critiques are welcome. Kind regards, Dan.

I like your nice paintwork. I might steal some of your ideas for my Mayflower build. About weathering, please allow me a couple of advices. Yes, you are correct to say that a matt finish is not ideal for oil washes, but there is also another very important reason to consider: the oils work with the same thinner agent of the enamel that I understood you have used. Therefore, the washes would mar your nice paintwork by dissolving it. You should apply a layer that isolate the paintwork from the oil. I am used to build aircraft models, and I used for this purpose a layer of Tamiya clear which, being an acrylic paint, uses a different thinner. Then, on top of that, you can apply oil washes that will also be helped running into the crevices by the glossy surface of the Tamiya clear. Once finished, you have to apply a matt or satin clear to eliminate the glossy shine. In substitution of the Tamiya clear, which I always applied by airbrush, you can use a floor polish called 'Future' or a Johnson 'Pledge' which both are very easy to apply by brush (you will need at least two layers). On line, you can find plenty of instructions about oil weathering, but if you need more details, do not hesitate to ask here. Best regards, Dan.

Spectacular model, Patrick. In some of the pictures, the model is so imposing that it is really difficult to tell that its scale is 1/110. I noticed that you are used to paint with Tamiya acrylic paints. I understood you apply them by brush. If yes, how do you manage that? I largely use them, but only by airbrush. In other builds of yours, I have seen that you brush them also on wood with quite realistic results. Also in that case, how do you do that? Again, my compliments for a very nice and very credible model. Best regards, Dan.

Kolderstok, in the Netherland, sell a type of similar design: https://kolderstok.com/en/collections/gereedschap/products/elektrische-plankenbuiger I have not used yet, just seen it on their site. Dan.

@Bob Cleek thanks for your clear and realistic explanation. Things are (or were) exactly as you said also in aircraft construction where I have some background. I smile when I read about confrontational discussions based on measurements taken directly from assembly drawings. As you said, the only reliable measures in drawings are the ones reported in writing. Thanks and best regards, Dan.

Just discovered this build of yours, I just ventured in this section of scratch builds. I started to read it from the beginning and it is a mine of information and inspiration. I will learn a lot from it. I will ask more when you are back on it. Glad to know that you defeated the virus. Greetings, Dan.

Hi all, some updates on my build, still working on the unfinished hull. I planked the deck of the small bow platform: On the stern, having added few strakes, I recreated the 'step' of the transom that now needs to be shaped round: I am also trying to add tapered strakes to recover the shape of the upper edge that needs to curve upwards. The actual required curve was lost when I applied the planking: I will need to add another tapered strake for obtaining a nice, smooth bending up of the upper edge that will guide the wale to be glued before starting the second planking. On the main deck, I added the gratings with their framing. The grating provided with the kit, in my opinion, had too large holes for this scale, hence I outsourced the gratings from Kolderstok with much smaller holes. After assembling and sanding them, I sprayed them with a light coat of Tamiya XF-59 (desert yellow). I have plenty of these Tamiya paints because of my activity with aircraft kits. Finally, this is how I have arranged the first planking on the transom 'step'. Still plenty of work to do to finish the hull. Thanks for dropping by and best regards, Dan.

Very sharp and nice work, Lapinas. I would think that the most scary part is over. Dan.

Hi Dan, decks with treenails look very good. It was worth the effort. Best regards, Dan.

Very sharp and precise work! It looks good overall and in the close-ups. Did you have to bend the walnut strips sideway for the second planking? If yes, how did you do that? Congrats for your splendid work, Cheers, Dan.

Hi all, I have worked on the bow platform, finishing the hull planking and adding the furnished bulkhead. I made also the hole that will accommodate the bowsprit. I drilled it with my Dremel and brought it to the final size with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. Next, I will plank the small deck of the platform. I am thinking of not using the bulwarks made of plywood provided with the kit, but rather I will extend upwards the planking of the hull. On the stern, I mounted the transom bulkhead which was modified as shown earlier. I framed the window cutouts to make a rabbet which the transparent panels will sit in. Best regards, Dan.

Hi Allen, I believe that for a model, where load carrying considerations are irrelevant, having more frames is important for ensuring that the final shape is geometrically good, which means that the surface is smooth with no discontinuities. A sufficient number of frames must be present in areas where the geometry changes steeply and where the surface is highly 3D, i.e. bow and stern areas. In the middle, it depends on how stiff are the strips you are going to use for planking. In my case, I would have liked more frames because when I lied down my strips, I could notice the position of the frames by the way the strips changed their direction. Eventually, I mostly corrected that by sanding the hull afterwards, but this implies that my planking probably ended up having a small thickness at the frames location, which might be not an ideal situation. Not having enough experience, unfortunately I neglected this problem beforehand (together with several other ones) . However, after all this long note (sorry for that), I think that to decide whether you want to apply more frames in a particular area, you could try pressing down one of your strips across several frames and check whether you can distinguish any unnatural change of direction at the locations where the strip touches the frames. Just my 5 cents opinion. Best regards, Dan.

Hi Gregory, it is my intention to drill a hole, because in the plans there is none. But I cannot believe that the mast is just butted against the bulkhead, there is no tenon. In addition, one of my original questions was whether you would see more plausible to cut into the bulkhead or into the bow platform. The latter seems more plausible to me. I have seen many other models where the mast pierces the platform only or both.

'Anelli con Gambo' means 'eyebolt', or a stem (gambo) ending with a ring (anello).

Hi Bill, in Italian (I am Italian), on a technical drawing, this means that you have a component which has the same denomination of another one and to distinguish the two you add 'bis' to the number (which, as said before, means 'second time'). You might go on with 'ter', 'quater', etc. Just for curiosity, these are numeral adverbs from Latin. Some times this is done deliberately (because maybe the components are identical, but on different positions) or because you realize that you have to squeeze another denomination number in between adjacent numbers. Best regards, Dan.

Hi Gregory, This is a snapshot of the plan. According to it, there is not any hole to be done. Regards, Dan.

Hi all, I am building my first wooden model and I would like to ask few questions about how to install the bowsprit on my model, which is a Mayflower from Artesania Latina. The instructions are not helpful in this respect. I have just completed the first planking and I am doing the decks. - Assuming that the angle shown in the A.L. drawings is correct, which method do you use to keep the drill bit at the wanted inclination? - How do you start the drilling? - Does the bowsprit mast hole cut also into the front bulkhead or stays only on the bow deck? - Once the hole is done, do you simply glue the mast in it or you pin it at its base and make the final adjustments by tensioning the cables? Thanks for any advice you might have on any of the above points. Best regards, Dan.

Good progress, impressive construction jig. It looks a quite fine and accurate design, as it can be already seen from the arrangement of the frames and of the decks. My kit is instead disappointing as far as accuracy and design. Looking forward to see more. Best regards, Dan.