popeye the sailor

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

Oh the joys of masking!!

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
 

 

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

Looking forward to this fascinating project aircraft.

Interesting variant of this jet. The Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) really worked in a pit and flew backwards. That has to affect the RIO's visualization of an engagement. I'll tag along on this build.😄

Yeah they tried, but loaded down with the guns and radar equipment it couldn't get up the speed to do what night fighters did... Typhoons and Tempests could easily overtake it, Mustangs & Mosquito's could keep pace with it... As a bomber if the pilot was careful, they couldn't be touched...  The 4 engine "C" model was another subject altogether though, it could out fly the Me 262, easily....
 
It was the first jet bomber, as as such I guess it was a success, the first raid they went on was against one of the forward allied airbases, they all returned with only one receiving minor damage... The pilots attributed it to the speed of the aircraft... The ground gunners attributed it to their low altitude, sub 1,000 foot approach.... (which is the correct interpretation if you know the capabilities of the radar they were using) German bombers learned very quickly to stay away from US airdromes above a certain altitude, the radar guided, 90mm AA was absolutely murderous....

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

Unfortunately brother, there is literally no period photos of that specific aircraft version much less pics of the radar operators compartment.... There are a few pics of the nose radar antenna's configuration though...
 
There is only one AR 234 in existence today in the Smithsonian's collection, (currently undergoing restoration) but it is a B2 bomber variant without the night fighter equipment... I will say this, the panel they removed for the radar operators canopy is square with radiused corners... I have seen a pic of this opening in one of the books on the 234 line... (an AR 234 B2 that was one of 4 that came to the US for flight testing and turned over to the Navy and eventually scrapped)
 
Most of the imagery of the aircraft are artists renditions... (do not know how much artists license was applied to them) and the model companies are all over the map on this particular detail... (the Revell 1/48 scale production doesn't even have the radar operators station nor its canopy)....
 
What I would say it is is probably square with rounded corners, the canopy would be made to fit the panel that they removed to install the station in the first place... but that is an educated guess as I have been unable to find any real proof of this...
 
Sorry...
 

Interesting that there is a plastic kit company called Fly, seeing that there is also a Polish card model publisher going by the same name.

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

Hola fellow Modelistas,
 
after some positive resonance in another thread, I will do a WIP about my build of the Fly Arado 234. I bought the kit some years ago and always had the itch to built it soon and as a nightfighter.B-2N version. Now, that ZM announced a new 234, I felt it is about time to build mine without being tempted to buy a new one. I call that, err, stash management .
I always had a soft spot for the sleek and slender silhouetted Arado jet. It's technical advantages, design and engineering makes it a standout. Generally I don't really much enjoy to build German subjects, but some are so fascinating, that I make an exception.
 
The kit looks great in the seemingly small box, the plastic is a little crude in spots and the amount of cleanup is a little higher, than with some of the usual suspects, but nothing to worry about. The resin parts are breathtaking in detail and seem to fit very good to the plastic. on some of the bigger parts it's not even necessary to remove the pouring stubs.

I will not bore you with a review, because James Hatch made a brilliant one on LSM. This is a different version of the 234, but all the main components are the same. 

1:32 Arado Ar 234B-2/S3 - Aircraft Reviews - Large Scale Modeller
 
There is not a lot of AM around and I will use the masks from Fly, seatbelts from HGW, a Neptun antler from Master and last but not least the Yahu Cockpit set, which is not a PE IP-board, but single bezels with dials. This is clever, as the kit provided ones are good and very visible and the different panels which consist of instruments are in various different places in the cockpit. The dials and bezels are printed in Colour and in a very shiny finish, and the manual recommends, that you cover some flat base on the bezels and keep the dials like they are in high gloss finish.
 
I also have the two Kagero monographs along, which show a lot of plans, renderings and pics, but unfortunately don't show the night fighter layout. An here is where the trouble starts. I have no idea, how the window of the operator in the back looks. Even the Fly box art of two different issues show a rectangle window on mine and a oval window on the actual version. If somebody can enlighten me, I will be pleased.
 

 
The Yahu set

 
Being a short run kit without locator pins test fitting is a lot and so I cleaned the mayor components and was positively surprise, be the seemingly good fit.

 
  
 
I decided to start with the surgery of the fuselage and canopy, because if I would have had a mayor fail here, there would have been no WIP.
First was the fuselage opening for the operator in the back. It is necessary to remove a rectangle part from the fuselage, to insert the provided clear part. I used dynotape for the borders and cut with a saw and scalpels.

After a little sanding it looks like this.

 
And here is a little preview of what's in the fuselage. The backward facing place of the operator is supplied in resin parts, which seem to fit without cutting and grinding, splendid.
I only cut the cast block of the backward bulkhead, only to get the opening in it into the fuselage.


 
The second area of surgery was the canopy and it proved to be not too easy. you have to drill elliptical holes for the struts which carry the Neptun radar. Boy, how I hate to drill, grind and cut into clear parts. I used the measurements in the manual and copied them onto Kabuki tape onto the canopy. Then I drilled and grinded. You have to be precise while doing it, anticipating the angle of the struts.

 
The result looks like this. The upper struts are a bit to much to the back, but I hope, I can arrange the struts properly, because filling and drilling again is no option. I did all these surgeries, before applying a coat of Future to the cockpit, which hopefully enhances the clearness and makes applying the provided decals trouble free. Like James, I firstly wanted to open the front and rear canopy, but after the drilling job, I'm not that sure anymore. While cutting the fuselage with the dynotape, I noticed black residues after removing the tape, a killer for a clear canopy. So for now, the bird will stay closed up.


That's where I am now, reading my books about the 234. Be warned, that will not be a fast build, because there are others in line and I will do it proper.
 
Cheers Rob

It has been a while, since I was working on the Nachtigall, which I started 2019, but the kit, resting on the shelf was never forgotten. I need all my cojones to continue with it and after finishing some builds lately, I initially wanted to start the 1/32 HKM Do-335 B2, but then remembered the Arado. I love planes that may look quirky, but are so much ahead of their time engineering- and design wise, that they ultimately attract me, the more unusual the better. The Arado even beats the Pfeil in that subjective category and now, I hope I can pull the build through, having most of the difficult work already done.
 
If it's ok with the Admin's, I will copy the first post of my initial thread on Large Scale Modeler as an introduction, link the LSM-thread and continue it on both sites.
 
Cheers Rob

 

awesome job Jav!.........very well done on the camo too!  I wouldn't worry too much about the yellow......I get the same nonsense with it scream'in out at me too  

awesome job Jav!.........very well done on the camo too!  I wouldn't worry too much about the yellow......I get the same nonsense with it scream'in out at me too  

I bought mine when they were a current release, it's been a while. probably around 35 to 40 dollars at the time. 

I bought my Matchbox Vincent mid 80's, though I think it had been around a while by then.
Can't believe the asking price for these Revel kits on ebay, bearing in mind they could re-issue at the drop of a hat.

Nice little details, especially the wheels.

Thanks for the link. Will go there and check it out.

oh cool, love to see some pics of her
 
Trying not to be that guy that post pics of all his work to steal others thunder
 I made a Black Shadow into a Café Racer 
If you wanna see, you can read my build thread on my other non ship Forum home here:
 
https://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=28658