At last! Welcome to this build’s big moment of truth. Making this:
Look something like this:
Or…similar. While I was tempted to go for 100% fidelity…the “AMS” side of the Force…I have found that stressing so much about complete accuracy doesn’t really do anything except suck the fun out of builds. So for my forays into 1/48 jets, I’m making a conscious effort to strive for verisimilitude over exactitude.
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Part I | Part II| Part III
With the cockpit sorted, it’s time to move on to the build portion of the build.
Overall, Trumpeter’s kit is straight-forward and hiccup-free. Still, there are a few areas to watch out for, and it’s probably a good idea to have a sanding stick or five on hand.
Before construction can really begin, there are a few central bits that have to be sorted out. Namely the cockpit, engine, gear bays and the MiG-21’s distinctive shock cone. This cone can move forward and back, essentially regulating airflow into the jet engine. The MiG-21F-13 has a noticeably smaller shock cone than later Fishbeds such as the MiG-21MF and MiG-21bis, in large part because later variants placed the radar behind the cone.
For this particular build, the shock cone required some serious weathering.
Here’s how I tackled it. (more…)
The Challenger continues!
In Part 1, the Challenger itself got built and received it’s initial paintjob.
In Part 2, I shifted direction to work on the display base.
This Part 3 has been a long time coming, as the Challenger got sidelined for a time so I could focus on finishing off the Me 262A-2a.
In this build post, it’s all about the weathering, and making a second attempt at a display base. Read on! (more…)
Part I | Part II| PART III
It’s amazing how our tastes and interests change over time, isn’t it?
When I was a kid, the vast majority of the models I built were jets. Mostly 1/72 scale. It was only relatively late in the game – into junior high and high school, that I really started getting interested in World War II subjects. And even then, I kept building jets right up until I wandered away from the hobby. In fact, I’m pretty sure this 1/48 A-7E Corsair II was the last kit I completed in my first modeling “career”.
When I came back to modeling in 2010, I found I had no desire to build modern jets. None. Zero. Instead I found myself drawn to World War II and then Great War aircraft. Modern stuff, I figured, was all boring, naptime gray, and didn’t have the same historical import as subjects from the two most important conflicts of the 20th century.
Then, somewhere along the way, I began to get some small urges. I think Eduard’s MiG-21 line might have had something to do with it, or the glimpses of some stellar builds on various contest tables. I snagged a handful of modern 1/48 jets…but never touched them.
Last year, things came to a head. I decided that, damnit, I was going to build a jet. And more than that, I was going to build it in 1/32 scale. I even started accumulating a stash of 1/32 jets. Then I started working on Academy’s F-16I Sufa kit, and it was a slog from the start. Nothing went right, and I daresay it stole so much of my momentum that it kept me from at least one and maybe two more completions in 2013. After fighting it for something like two months, I finally said enough, and put it away in such disgust that I decided to abandon 1/32 jets and sell off my small stash of them.
Instead, I opted for 1/48 as my scale of choice for jets. Started snagging some kits with the proceeds gained from selling off the 1/32 stash, even.
And now that the Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a is behind me and the Challenger 1 is rolling toward completion, it’s time to finally buckle down and BUILD. A. JET. (more…)
Part I | Part II| Part III | PART IV
It’s time to wrap this puppy up! The 262 has been a long time building, and finally, in Part IV, it all comes to completion. Strap in – here we go!
Picking Up
In Part III, I walked through my technique for masking and painting the putty lines on the Me 262. The result exceeded my expectations:
Part IV promises to be a longer post, bringing the build to a conclusion, or very near to it. Buckle up, and let’s dive in.
At last, we come to the reason I cracked this kit open in the first place. When I first stumbled upon Me 262A-2a Wk.Nr. 111712, I was intrigued by the unfinished appearance of bare metal covered in a latticework of putty. I’d seen this on other late-war Luftwaffe aircraft, but for some reason, when I saw it on 712, I had an epiphany. I knew how I could recreate the putty effect. And so I tracked down Trumpeter’s kit and got to work.
Part I | Part II| Part III
It’s been some time since this blog has visited the long in-progress Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a. In Part I, I walked through some early test-fitting and the build-up of the cockpit.
Part II is usually all about the construction, but honestly, the 262 built rather fast and uneventfully. So rather than focus on that, I’m going to use Part II to cover both the construction and the first phase of painting – up through the bare metal finish.
I can count the number of bases I’ve built with one hand. Hell, with one finger. When I was a kit, I made a very poor water base for Monogram’s OS2U Kingfisher. It was my first and last foray into placing a build into its natural habitat.
For 2014, I aim to change that, beginning with the Challenger.
My inspiration? This one maddeningly low-res photo. I’m not intending to recreate it exactly, but kinda get somewhere in the vicinity. More snow, more mud, more elevation…
The last few months have been tough ones. After finishing off the Hasegawa Ki-84 toward the end of October, I hit a rocky patch marked by an ultimately losing battle with Academy’s 1/32 F-16I Sufa kit. The Trumpeter Me 262 lives on, but I’m currently stuck waiting for some materials before I can move it into the painting stage, so I’ve opted to go for a nice, simple build in the interim.
And there is nothing more simple and straightforward than a 1980s-vintage Tamiya armor kit.
I’m not a huge fan of modern armor – the M1 Abrams bores me to tears, and the Leopard 2 and Challenger 2…meh. But for some reason I absolutely adore the original Challenger 1. Like all proper British designs, it manages to look at once both sleek and rough around the edges. And it has (had) more going for it than just its looks. Despite a generally poor reputation, the Challenger kicked all kinds of ass in Desert Storm, where it matched and even exceeded the US Army’s vaunted Abrams.
While it’s greatest exploits took place in the desert, I’ve chosen to go with the traditional European camoflage, and to attempt something I’ve thus far shied away from – setting this tank on a base. My inspiration comes from the picture below, of a Challenger cruising down a muddy track through a snowy field.
Part I | Part II| Part III
When the Academy F-16 build began running into roadblock after roadblock, I started searching about for something else to share the bench. And damn did I ever vacillate. Until I somehow stumbled upon this profile of a Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a:
It seems this particular specimen was left abandoned in a field in Austria after its port maingear collapsed.
I’m not sure if I’m going to try to tackle this sucker as a diorama setup yet, or just build it as is, but either way it’ll definitely be a looker. I’ve even got an idea of how I’m going to tackle all the puttied panel joints, but I’m going to save that until I start painting.
For now, on with getting this sucker off the ground! (more…)
