DocRob

Thank you Craig, I think with the sleek and huge Arado, it's a good idea to enhance some detail areas, to let the eye wander. I guess, that's what you mean by 'pop'. I like to replicate materials out of the plastic, that don't look plastic anymore. It's one of the keys which drives me in modelling. Cheers Rob

Still no masks at hand, spring can be awful here. It's the worst weather of the year, normally and every second day is a holiday, so no working customs, no working mail. Meanwhile, I painted the wheels with my usual workflow, spraying the hubs first, in this case semi matte black, then mask the hubs and spray the tires. Here I used Nato Black as a base and then sprayed the flanks with some drops of Field Blue in the Nato black. Last step are pigments in a concrete tone rubbed in for enhancing contrasts and simulating abrasion and dirt. Some details were picked out by brush on the hubs. The kit wheels look especially good, it's strange, how different the quality of the plastic parts is in this kit. Next were the parachute packs for the Ratos jets. I sprayed everything in RLM 22, masked the belts off and used Buff for the remainder. The ropes were painted by brush and then I rubbed in some concrete pigments. Cheers Rob

Like I already said over on LSM, your Schnellboot looks perfect Kevin, great work. Cheers Rob

A very interesting build thread, thanks for pointing out the shortcomings of the kit. I plan to purchase and build the Amati Fifie and your log is extremely helpful. Keep on the nice work. Cheers Rob

While I'm still waiting for the 1ManArmy masks to arrive, I decided to do a little detail work and gave some love to the wheel struts. The oleos where covered with AK's chrome adhesive tape, but as this is a bit stiff, Bare Metal foil would have been the better choice. My Arado 234 Monographs show the braking lines partly yellow and black, so I used my braided 0,5 mm Anyz line for the purpose along with Anyz resin connectors. The yellow line was soaked in Pledge, because otherwise it would have been to bright and have spots, where the CA stuck. The clamping strips were made from pre cut Bare Metal foil of 0,5 mm width, secured with some drops of Pledge. After drying, I will rub in some steel pigments and add some shadows and highlighting. Cheers Rob

I masked wheel wells, engines and the canopy with sponges, tape and liquid mask and gave the Arado a rub with an alcohol soaked cloth. I paid a lot of attention to seal the canopy section air tight with liquid mask and with filling the gaps before with Revell Clear, because I hope to hinder the inside of the canopy from fogging due to thinner fumes. Prime (er) time - I applied Mr. Surfacer 1200, which sprayed very well as always. After drying, I sprayed the canopy section gloss black, to accept the riveted decal strips for the framing, if I decide to use them. Now I have to check, where I have to further work on the surfaces, be it filling or scribing. Meanwhile I sprayed other parts like the Rato rockets and their parachutes, external fuel tanks and the parts for the landing gear, which will be detailed with chrome oleos and braking lines next. Cheers Rob

Thank you Ken. Meanwhile, there is some detail work to be done. I added the PE hinges to the wheel doors and the breaking parachute release mechanism to the fuselage, where I used 0,55 mm brass rod instead of the supplied thread. Cheers Rob

Catching up very late, but this is absolutely beautiful, well built and refined with lots of detail, chapeau. Cheers Rob

I saw this lovely kit for the first time today and yes, I want to build it. Right down my alley. a small precious boat in larger scale. Cheers Rob

Hannants in the UK has them available: Yellow Wings Aircraft decals - YW32008 | Hannants Cheers Rob

It will take some days to get here, but I will post pictures. They have more chain sets in their catalogue. You have to open the .PDF on their site. Falcon Scale Models - Catalog / Katalog Cheers Rob

I ordered the resin chain and if you are still interested, I will post some pictures, when it arrives. Could come handy for your second Honda - hint . Cheers Rob

The thing got wings finally and it's tail. Fit is good so far, but a little filling will be needed at the wingroots. The Arado is a big kite and one of the main goals until the finish is not to knock off the protruding FUG antenna posts. She will not be a tail sitter, my glued in weight was sufficient. Cheers Rob

Thank you Craig, it's not the nicest of joins, but I guess painted and maybe decaled it will look ok. Decaled means, Fly provided strips of decal with bolt detail to apply over the canopy framing. I'm not finally decided, if I use these. I will look for the videos you recommended. Sometimes I watch modeling related footage during building sessions. I never spent so much time around clear parts with cutting, sanding, drilling, filling masking, gluing in parts of different materials, ... The cockpit is indeed the focal point of the Arado. Cheers Rob

I took all my guts and glued the canopy shut, first the lower half, followed bey the upper glasshouse. I used Tamiya cement and after the glue had settled, ran Revell Contacta Clear over the seams three times for filling and sealing. The radio operator compartment was closed as well and received the same treatment. Cheers Rob

The masking was done a long time ago and I have to say, it was maybe the easiest part of this build . Cheers Rob

Slowly progressing with the cockpit. After finally gluing in the instrument panels struts, I added the struts for the FUG antennas and hope they are more or less correct aligned. Not an easy job, because the cockpit is slightly tilted to the front and you have only the curved canopy shapes for orientation. I finally made some touchups and let some Pledge run around the drilled holes in the clear cockpit parts. Next will be final masking and then the canopy will be glued in place, first the upper half, then stowing the cables and then the lower half. Cheers Rob

Wow, what a beauty Craig with only one thing missing. You have to build a second one to present them side by side with and without fairing. I can't say, which I like better. It's a pity to hinder the eye wandering over the precious engine and other details, but the slender look of the faired bike with your beautiful paintjob is a stand out as well. Decisions, decisions, at least for my build to come. Cheers Rob

I managed to get some of the hard stuff done. I'm never to keen about gluing parts into canopies, but here it's a bit more than the odd rearview mirror and it's a mix of materials, plastic, resin and PE. The canopy was bathed in Pledge before masking, a long time ago and my recent glue tests showed, that there is no fogging with my CA and Tamiya cement. I somehow fiddled in the IP and the IP framing, after I installed the base strips for the antler struts. It was not easy to align the parts without smearing glue somewhere on the inside of the canopy, but I think, I got it done. The IP got two shim parts made from styrene, where they meet the canopy for a larger gluing surface. Now I let that dry until tomorrow and then will attach the lower struts of the IP framing and make some touch ups. Cheers Rob

Th Arado was also a great reconnaissance airplane, being able to fly very high and having less engine vibrations, than prop driven planes. It was a very steady camera base and delivered pictures of unmatched sharpness. Cheers Rob

Thanks, the next steps will determine the fate of the build. Closing the canopy is very delicate with a lot of stuff going in. I also made an error, right in the beginning, drilling the holes for the FUG's antennae posts to far to the rear on the upper canopy half and I hope, I find a good antennae alignment, but not the correct one. There is no way of filling and re drilling in the clear part. If I ever build another Arado 234 (quite possible), it will be a one seater for sure. Cheers Rob

Good to have you here Ken. The backward facing operator was a common design with German night fighters, like it had been done in the He-219. With the Uhu, it might have been space issues, keeping the radar equipment behind the operator and not between pilot and operator. With the Arado, I don't know, why they have chosen this layout. Cheers Rob

Thank you for your thoughts Egilman, I know the Nachtigall is almost as rare as the Caudron, I built with only a few being altered from -B2 to the -B2N version. My sources leave me to think that four to five Nachtigall Arados were built and flight. The Kagero book states firstly there were two converted from the reconnaissance version. Later one of those crashed and three (more?) formed a unit which tried to hunt Mosquitos, but without success. Generally the suitability to the nightfighter role was put into question by the pilots, because of lots of light refractions in the huge canopy and the lack of frontal armor. The specific layout of these B2N are highly obscured and every kit and every illustration shows another interpretation of the bird. Questionable areas are mainly the rear station, the Naxos antennae, the radar and the gun pod. The kit supplies a clear part for the radar station of the aft cockpit, with an engraved oval opening. The hatch engraving is out of the middle and too small for an entry hatch to my eye. If nobody knows the truth, you can go freestyling and that is what I did. I widened and squared the opening and after painting, I will add the hatch, which I assume would have been locked in place with some handles and without hinges. The only picture of the real thing, which showed up during my build over on LSM, was a tiny facsimile of the rear hatch, which is very blurry. I was not able to find the publication, where it was published. I know, it's more oval than mine, but I can live with that. Cheers Rob

Fly is a Czech company producing a wide array of kits mostly in plastic, but with added resin and PE. Their models tend to be a bit off the trotten paths, which is very refreshing, but often not so easy to build with the short run technique used. Cheers Rob

If you followed me until this point, I may can interest you into the process of the build, which was not without difficulties and can be read here. Arado 234 Nachtigall on Speed - LSM 1/35 and Larger Work In Progress - Large Scale Modeller After evaluating, what I had done, re-reading my LSM thread to catch up, I wanted to close the canopy now and started to add detail to the cockpit and bezeled and wired the instrument panel with the Yahu PE parts, which are cleverly done. The manual calls for 1mm pre drilling, where the dials should go and the backside of the dials has a protrusion, to place them. The bezels have a little nub for aiding the placement, which has it's counterpart on the dial. This way, you can be sure, the instruments are orientated correct. Cheers Rob