popeye the sailor

Evening all,   more work  (with pics)   haversack and straps  done, the guys  head hanky  - done,  shakos  detailed, cloth hat  painted then some washes.
 
OC.
 
 

Been doing a bit of research  as  a  few of my  figures  in the 2nd KGL  have  bandana's  or head cloths  -  I did nornal asking around  reinactors and historians  and it  seems like they were  worn under the shakos  or soft caps  to  cushion them  - so  the few I have  just wearing thease  head cloths  are because they have lost their  shakos.
 
OC.

Evening all,   I did  a bit more  today  - not worthy of a photo,  I  have started painting the details  starting with the water bottle belts  and Black  rifle rounds  bag  straps.
 
OC.

Thank you kindly Alan.
 
OC.

Evening all,   more work  this evening  - starting to give the guys some details  - 
 
OC.

I really enjoy watching the details of those tiny faces emerge. Great work
Alan

I think that looks pretty good for a first try, like a juniper hedge....  I believe if you pull it out some more it will start to resemble a boxwood or barbarry type hedge as well..
Some of our railroad building brethren might have better advice....
 
Looking good brother...

it's a wonder why I didn't recall this.........we had trailers with single slider pins.  modern trailers have four,  two in front and two in back.  Wally phased out these trailers...not sure if there was a requirement for the newer system.  I looked at the back page of the instructions,  'cuz I knew that the slider actuator handle was included in the kit.



the G rails still need stop bars though....so I will add them.
 
....a funny story......
a trailer was brought to the shop {drive up,  as we call it} because the driver couldn't move the slider.  the common way to do this, is to chock a wheel position with a 4 x 4 block of Oak.  wood is the best form of chock,  guaranteed not to allow a trailer to 'drag'......ever this was unsuccessful.  so Jim and Little John {these two were inseparable } decided to get one of the trucks and free it by using the Jake brake.  our supervisor Paul was a little hesitant,  but Jim convinced him it would work....and so the 'go ahead' was given.  so,  here they are..........out in the yard,  hooked up to the trailer,  and driving it around the shop,  applying the Jake a few times.  I was talking to Paul,  being funny..............I started to mention a worst case scenario,  where the tandem gets ripped out.........when all of a sudden,  they applied the jake right in front of us!  what a noise it made!.....Paul was quite addled at this point....they were going probably around 30 MPH  when they did it.  they stopped..........of course the dolly moved....it had slid back.  when they backed the trailer up,  the rear stop bar fell out on the ground!  I saw Paul's face drop,  and the two backed the trailer up to the shop door.  by this time.......Paul didn't say anything.........he just turned and went back over to the truck side.  these two get out of the truck laughing.  it wasn't too long before the bar was welded back in place and the driver was hooked back up to the trailer.  you may be curious why they just didn't use the driver's truck to do this...........his truck was logged in assigned to the trailer.  if they would have used it,  Logistics would have been ALL over them....and the driver as well {for thinking  that HE did it}.
 
another funny story would be the day I showed these two how to make an Air Cannon...........but that's another day  

To subdue the camo contrasts a bit and to enhance the visibility of the panel lines, I applied Flory clay wash dirt type onto the whole airplane and wiped the excess away with damp paper towel and cotton buds. It's more visible on the underside naturally, but it ties the paintjob together. I will not apply more weathering, as I think, the service time of these night fighters was brief.


 

 
I resprayed and decaled the external tanks along the Rato rocket packs (not shown). There are no masks for the Ratos stencils provided by 1ManArmy. The gun pod was treated with clay wash as well and got it's resin barrels inserted. Now there are only some small works to do until final assembly, which I will start from the underside up, beginning with the wheel struts.
 

 
Cheers Rob

Maybe try Mr Color metallics. Theirs are some of the most durable paints I have discovered. Super Silver has a very fine pigment and looks convincing.

Thank you, normally, I have no problems, masking over Extreme Metals. They are more durable than Alclads and very robust and I painted the tanks some weeks ago. I was so astonished, because the 1ManArmy masks behave like normal Kabuki masks in all other cases. On the tank I used two different types of Kabuki tape for the rest of the masking, without issues. Learn something new, every day . Better there, than on the airframe. I would have blindly used the 1ManArmy masks with Extreme Metals as a base, given my experiences with both, color and masks. Now I'm forewarned.
 
Cheers Rob

The challenge of masking over metallic paint is always there. It's so frustrating to invest all the time and effort then see the paint underneath the mask deformed by the tape. I feel your pain.

Stripping off the masks revealed, that there are some touch ups needed here and there but nothing mayor, like paint running under masks or other gruesome incidents. The de-masking took about four hours in a sleepless night. The masks behaved perfect, adhered well and were removable residue free, at least here...
 

 
For black markings and crosses, I used a mix of two thirds flat black and one third Nato black, the white got a tiny drop of sand added and was only sprayed 90% opaque.
 

 
Super fine markings, heavily macroed:
 

 
With the last step of de-masking, I experienced something unexpected. While removing the masks of the external tanks, I found, that the 1ManArmy stencil masks were nearly impossible to remove, completely contrary than on the airframe and left they sticky residues onto the surface. 
First I suspected the red color to be the culprit, but it was the same Tamiya XF flat red, I used onto the plane, thinned with Mr. Levelling Thinner, where it worked flawless. When I removed more masks made from my stock Kabuki tape without issues, it became clear, that somehow the adhesive from the 1ManArmy masks must have been reacted with the base layer of Matte Aluminum from AK's Extreme Metal range. Normally these behave absolutely perfect and it was not the aluminum color which was affected. The masks were only for some hours on the tanks.

Warning be careful, if you plan to use 1ManArmy masks over AK's Extreme metals for a NMF paintjob possibly. I would recommend some testing on a dummy.
 
This is how the tanks looked after nearly half an hour of peeling. I couldn't remove the residues any further manually. I tried an alcohol/aqua dest mix, which was not hot enough and a rub with IPA removed the red color completely. Now it's deep cleaning, respraying and decals .


 
Cheers Rob

Thank you Popeye for providing all that insight and the planes codes. The V-designation means 'Versuch' and indicates the prototypes and test planes in order of the numbers. Up  to V8 the Arado's were A-models with a starting trolley, from V9 on B-models with retractable landing gear. The development of the 234 was constantly going on, for the airframe itself and for it's assignments in a reconnaissance role first, then the bomber variant and last the night fighter with the added rear operator place and radar equipment and finally the four engine -C variant, where only two prototypes flew in the last days of the war.
My code letterings are not on your list. Mine should have worn the SM FE code, but I opted for GM BC, as I have no masks for the correct one. I'm not so much of a rivet counter, but I want to know, what is wrong with my builds and here it is deliberately.

I also own Zoukei Mouras He-219 along a lot of add-ons, including a dreaded 1ManArmy mask set, because the decal sheet doesn't look too promising. It will take a while until I start this one after the Arado, but the Uhu always attracted me in a similar way like the Arado and some other weird and technological advanced planes. It appeals the engineer in me for some reason.

Short run kits, well, this is one, definitely. My evaluation of kits has changed. I do like to build some shake and bake Tamiya kits once in a while. You can fully concentrate on painting, weathering and learning new techniques on them with a relatively narrow time frame of building time.
The not so easy to build kits, I have in two categories, good and bad, as simple as that. Good means, I absolutely want to build it, no matter what, like the Arado or my MikroMir Fokker D.VIII. With these, I open the box and feel the urge to build them and try to find solutions for their shortcomings. The Arado had so many super detailed resin parts for the cockpits an other details, which besides the technical attraction made me want to build it. She sat on the shelf for some time, but I was sure, I will finish the build.
The bad ones, I try to omit. I don't buy Italeri kits for example, I don't like the idea of a mayor company issuing so many mediocre or bad kits. They are buildable, but that is not satisfying to me. 
I have several Special Hobby kits in my stash, but have to admit, I never built one until now, but there is no other reason, than my building schedule. I like their kits, which surely need some extra attention during the build, but what is modelling without a challenge .
 
Cheers Rob

More plane bondage. It doesn't look like much, but I finished the basic masking all over, including the external tanks and sprayed the crosses and white markings first, then the yellow triangles on top and finally a dot of blue for the oxygen inlet stencil. All these steps include permanent over- and remasking . My next build will be Kabuki free.
 
Cheers Rob


 

Very nicely done and in 1/72nd scale to boot!!!!
 
Tiny...

Very  well done  Greg.
 
OC.

great looking plane Greg!  nicely done  

Yep, they were well designed when they came out with a fully detailed period interior, (60's-70's) the plywood liner only reaches half way up the side walls leaving bare ribs and ceiling... Usually they had a single tiny light in the center of the roof as well... (they never worked)
 
This trailer model was state of the art in it's day... They do build into nice pieces with a little work so I would say they have held up well over the years....

great looking plane Greg!  nicely done  

some really cool pieces there.........must have been fun being there     super planes Greg......a very nice dio! 

sage advice Jack........I'll definitely keep that in mind {in the event that I lose mine  } 
 
some trailers do have them........most are older trailers though.   I've been seeing more companies leaning towards the container trailer.  the box is separate from the rail frame underneath.......mainly use in shipping to and from other countries by ship.  dry vans are good,  but they damage quite easily....means a lot of repairs.........a container is thick steel and hard to damage.  they are also stackable on the ship and at the yard.  since this trailer doesn't have one, it's a safe bet they weren't equipped with one.  as for the cargo........it probably wouldn't be hard to do.......haven't given it much thought.  I have the Budweiser wagon.......it has the cases of Bud,  but the decals are pretty bad.......after all, it is an old kit.  not only that,  they are stick ons .....YECH!!!!!!!
 
so I got a bit further with what I've done so far......the assembly should start picking up now.   the tandem dolly fits snug on the G rails,  as I mentioned earlier.  the G rails have holes for locking pins on the dolly to fit in,  so it won't move.  the dolly is moveable,  so the weight of the load can be adjusted,  to even out the weight across the axles {truck and trailer}.  on most trailers,  there are holes along the entire G rail.......on the model,  there is not.

seeing that I already have G rails in place,  it might be hard to drill them........but I do want to add the missing parts of the slider assembly.  usually there are four....two in the front and two in the back........but in this case,  since it's a short trailer,  I probably can get away with the two in the front.  I'll also need to add stop bars at the front and rear of the G rails.  more research needed....I'll see if I can find anything on this.

I made a goof already.........good thing it was an easy fix.  to keep the trailer in alignment,  you have the torque arms and radius rods.  they are attacked to the leaf saddles and the brackets on the axle tubes.  torque arms are always roadside,  and the radius rods curbside.  the old method for aligning a trailer {we have a portable alignment outfit}  is to align the rear axle and 'tram' the front axle to the rear.  adjustments are made at the torque arms.   to tram the front,  measure the distance from hub cap centers of the right side wheels and match them to the left side....adjusting the same way....at the torque arm.  my goof was that I didn't pay attention.....I just glues them in place.  thankfully,  they came off with little effort.  I cleaned up the mess and glued them on correctly.  I then turned to the interior.  the inner walls on these older trailer were mostly covered in plywood,  with scuff liners along the floor.  some have plastic dividers....some.....metal.........usually in 4' x 8' sheets.  now,  on 53 foot trailers,  there are thirteen a side {the last being a half sheet top and bottom}.  I' going to do this one another way, seen on newer trailers.  I bought some 1/16 x 1/16 evergreen strip for the dividers,  also simulated wall posts.  the riveted detail on the inner walls will be the guide to place them.  I cut a bunch of 3 1/2" strips,  and began gluing them on the inner wall.

I left room for the scuff liner at the bottom.......first one done.

once the other side was done,  I painted them with silver paint.  I'll let this dry over night


cutting the wood fillers is the next big task.  the front wall will also have a scuff liner and plywood.   the roof already has the roof bow detail molded onto it,  so I won't need to do anything with it.  hope to have more to show tomorrow
 

great looking plane Greg!  nicely done  

some really cool pieces there.........must have been fun being there     super planes Greg......a very nice dio! 

sage advice Jack........I'll definitely keep that in mind {in the event that I lose mine  } 
 
some trailers do have them........most are older trailers though.   I've been seeing more companies leaning towards the container trailer.  the box is separate from the rail frame underneath.......mainly use in shipping to and from other countries by ship.  dry vans are good,  but they damage quite easily....means a lot of repairs.........a container is thick steel and hard to damage.  they are also stackable on the ship and at the yard.  since this trailer doesn't have one, it's a safe bet they weren't equipped with one.  as for the cargo........it probably wouldn't be hard to do.......haven't given it much thought.  I have the Budweiser wagon.......it has the cases of Bud,  but the decals are pretty bad.......after all, it is an old kit.  not only that,  they are stick ons .....YECH!!!!!!!
 
so I got a bit further with what I've done so far......the assembly should start picking up now.   the tandem dolly fits snug on the G rails,  as I mentioned earlier.  the G rails have holes for locking pins on the dolly to fit in,  so it won't move.  the dolly is moveable,  so the weight of the load can be adjusted,  to even out the weight across the axles {truck and trailer}.  on most trailers,  there are holes along the entire G rail.......on the model,  there is not.

seeing that I already have G rails in place,  it might be hard to drill them........but I do want to add the missing parts of the slider assembly.  usually there are four....two in the front and two in the back........but in this case,  since it's a short trailer,  I probably can get away with the two in the front.  I'll also need to add stop bars at the front and rear of the G rails.  more research needed....I'll see if I can find anything on this.

I made a goof already.........good thing it was an easy fix.  to keep the trailer in alignment,  you have the torque arms and radius rods.  they are attacked to the leaf saddles and the brackets on the axle tubes.  torque arms are always roadside,  and the radius rods curbside.  the old method for aligning a trailer {we have a portable alignment outfit}  is to align the rear axle and 'tram' the front axle to the rear.  adjustments are made at the torque arms.   to tram the front,  measure the distance from hub cap centers of the right side wheels and match them to the left side....adjusting the same way....at the torque arm.  my goof was that I didn't pay attention.....I just glues them in place.  thankfully,  they came off with little effort.  I cleaned up the mess and glued them on correctly.  I then turned to the interior.  the inner walls on these older trailer were mostly covered in plywood,  with scuff liners along the floor.  some have plastic dividers....some.....metal.........usually in 4' x 8' sheets.  now,  on 53 foot trailers,  there are thirteen a side {the last being a half sheet top and bottom}.  I' going to do this one another way, seen on newer trailers.  I bought some 1/16 x 1/16 evergreen strip for the dividers,  also simulated wall posts.  the riveted detail on the inner walls will be the guide to place them.  I cut a bunch of 3 1/2" strips,  and began gluing them on the inner wall.

I left room for the scuff liner at the bottom.......first one done.

once the other side was done,  I painted them with silver paint.  I'll let this dry over night


cutting the wood fillers is the next big task.  the front wall will also have a scuff liner and plywood.   the roof already has the roof bow detail molded onto it,  so I won't need to do anything with it.  hope to have more to show tomorrow