No love lost

[The Wooksta!]

Having had enough of both Ju 390s for a while, I wanted something simple to work on as something light, so I've pulled out a Heinkel He 177 that's getting an He 277 conversion.
And it's the Airfix kit, so it's pretty basic.  And the conversion is the Toad one which is pretty basic.

So far all I've done is add some new engine cowlings - the resin copies of the Ta 152 DB603LA ones are a good fit - along with cleaning up some flame dampers.  The wings are drilled to be pinned but most of the work has been adding a cockpit interior. Both the Airwaves and Extratech ones are useless for the interiors, so out with the plastic card.  Looks pretty decent.

Photos will follow at a later date.

[The Wooksta!]

Some photos.

Wings with better engine cowlings, copied from the IBG Fw 190D-15 DB603LA cowls.  The laughable kit one is there as a contrast.  The original Toad is just as bad, this at least has a better pouring lug.

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The trailing edge is thick but not as bad as the incarnation before this one.  Still need to drill the location ports for the mass balances. Oh, and fit the wheel doors in the closed position.

Much of the work has been done in the cockpit, using the Revell one as a pattern.  I've added a radio panel, admittedly from a Ju 388 but given it's at the back in a dark space, I doubt few will notice.  It's about the right size so it works.

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And here's what it looks like closed up.  I had to glue the barbette mount as a forward datum to line up the floor.  TBH it should be lower down but again, I doubt few will notice.  There's very little left of the original kit floor and if I was to do it again I'd start from scratch.

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There's a seat to go on top of that peg, plus a bombsight and the pilot's seat, but I need to make a mould for the latter.

[NARSES2]

Nice scratch cockpit Lee 

[The Wooksta!]

Some bits that need moulding.

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The bits on the right are for the Ju 390A, so moving on...

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These are what we are interested in here.  The yellow bits are from the Antares He 277 conversion and much better than the Toad bits, the fins on the latter are too tall and very thick.

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Definitely not using those.

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The Pilot's seat.  I think it's from the Toad Ju 388J-4 and it's two companions found their way into the Planet 390 that's underway elsewhere. 

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And finally the back end.  Needs some more filler to blend it all in but I'll do that when the fuselage gets closed up.

[kitbasher]

Nice scratch cockpit Lee 

It is indeed 👍

Impressive effort all round, Lee.

[DogfighterZen]

Great stuff, and the cockpit looks very good.  

[The Wooksta!]

Got a bit further with the wings.

The wheel doors re now glued shut and sanded flush.  These were not a good fit and needed much fettling.  The starboard outer cowling was a bit Meh and needed replacing.  Also drilled out the locator points for the mass balances.

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The resin replacement tail surfaces.  Definitely an improvement on the Toad bits.

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Close up on the pilot's seat.  I was really happy with how this came out.  Also a few of the resin flame dampers.

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Bit more work to do in the cockpit to do, as I'll need to find a suitable seat for the gunner and locate a bomb sight, but I think I can steal one from a Dragon Arado Ar 234 that's suitable.

[The Wooksta!]

After struggling with the wheels for far too seriously long enough by half,I decided "sod it!" and pulled out the wheels from the Antares He 274.  They're still on their casting plugs and thus easier to copy.  They appear to be direct copies of the Revell 177 wheels.

Mould is done, the rubber poured and it's now curing.

[buzzbomb]

Still good to see some of the older resin conversions being used, if only selected bits. Plus great work casting your own bits and bobs.

[Weaver]

Great work Lee - that cockpit looks really fiddly to get right.

[The Wooksta!]

First trio of wheels done - a trio as one of the masters was not worth using - second trio curing now.  The first set are already cleaned up and ready to prime.

Managed to source a bombsight from a Dragon Ar 234 - saw one at the club t'other meet and had an "aha!" moment.  Just need a seat for the gunner and I can start painting the cockpit.

The location points for the undercarriage legs have been dug out but one of the Airfix legs is badly moulded - has to be a mould issue as a later boxing has similar issues.

[The Wooksta!]

Still good to see some of the older resin conversions being used, if only selected bits. Plus great work casting your own bits and bobs.

The one I'm using is the Reichbitz conversion.  Toad masters but different owner.  IIRC the casting was done by MDC and a step up from Toad, although most of Toad's casting when done by Martin Blundell or Phil Robertson was top notch.

I have another one, by Swan Model engineering, and I think the wings are too far gone to be useable.  Trailing edge is way too thick.

[The Wooksta!]

Great work Lee - that cockpit looks really fiddly to get right.

It was.  There was a great deal of swearing.  Just the bombsight to go in, a seat cushion and the gunner's seat and I can start painting.

[Wardukw]

This amount of work is at a high amount Lee but mate she's really starting to look the bis now