He 277

[dumaniac]

Guys - let's not forget this is a hobby - lots of old men playing with plastic, paint on models which are not to scale (check out the fuselage wall thickness for a start) with engines that don't work and wheels that don't turn.

We could get into a discussion of what Adolf's original intentions were but maybe we could discuss the regimes which created the circumstances which allow these dictators to flourish. Should we not model topics from victors the first world war? Where does one draw the line?

Name one country that has not done dreadful things to minority groups for political or financial gain?  Even my Australia has done some stuff in the past which we don't shout from the rooftops.  Even what we are now doing to several of our country men is not great - but does it stop me from modelling Australian topics?

So let's not forget, this is just a hobby which entertains old men (there probably are some ladies but are a minority).  What do we achieve?  Apart from self entertainment, we create employment for manufacturers of plastic, resin, paint, magazines and similar.  Will we change anything by our hobby - don't think so.  But the hobby contributes to money exchange between countries to assist world trade.

Leave plastic to modellers and politics to politicians - its just a hobby.  

[RotorheadTX]

A little Aves, a lot of grinding, a little more Aves...well, you know the
drill. Another picture or two tomorrow evening.

Doc,

are you doing any surface prep before applying the Aves?? I tried patching some mods on an Italeri JU-188 wing, and found that Aves would pop right off the plastic with a little torque applied, leaving no trace of application!

Believe me, I am not trying to sound alarmist, or undermine your project, I just want to know what I might have done wrong!! I love Aves epoxy, but the lack of adhesion has left me scratching my noggin.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Doc Yo]

 Rotorhead- Re: Surface prep. I don't usually do a whole lot of surface prep, but I have encountered the problem you're talking about. If I'm
spreading a large flat patch over anything relatively smooth, I'l rough it up with a wire brush first. That'll help, but when I 've had this happen,
I can usually just set it back in place with a dash of zap and that sets it solid. The only other thing I can think might help would be washing the
styrene-some companies use a bit more mold release than others, I gather.

Ranger- That is a terrific looking bomb! And honestly, it looks plenty large enough to be a proper nuke to me. I'd like to see it cast, as I could
see using it on any number of SF builds.

Some progress, far to go.


new canopy mold gets close to finish

[RotorheadTX]

Thanks Doc, I appreciate the ideas. I'll have to take another swing at that 188 project.

[Gondor]

Doc, what references are you using for this build as I like the look of it and have an old Airfix He 177 in my stash somewhere.

Gondor

[Doc Yo]

 Tex- One other thing I might mention. In addition to water, Aves is semi-soluable in alcohol. Wetting the underside of the patch with either might help the adhesion.

Gondor- I'm mainly using William Green's Warplanes of the Third Reich, and a couple pages xeroxed from
the Mafred Griehl book ( He 177,He 277,He 274 ) which I enlarged to get me fairly close to 1/72 scale.

[Taiidantomcat]

I have an increasing dislike, now bordering on hatred, of Luftwaffe '46. 

...Maybe not the best GB for you 

trying to lighten the mood a bit

[Supertom]

Guys - let's not forget this is a hobby - lots of old men playing with plastic, paint on models which are not to scale (check out the fuselage wall thickness for a start) with engines that don't work and wheels that don't turn.

Speak for yourself, I'm not old  

Leave plastic to modellers and politics to politicians - its just a hobby.  

True!  Model on!

How do you like this Aves stuff by the way?  I hear "works in" better.  I'm having a hard time with working Milliput into fine join lines like the fuselage-to-windscreen seams.

[Doc Yo]

Tom- Since I started using it, I like Aves just fine. I still tend to use good old Squadron white putty for very fine
work, but Aves can be thinned to a near-paste consistancy that works well. The drawback is that since it isn't
a "hot" filler, it doesn't react with or bond to the styrene, which, as Rotorhead dicovered can be a bit problematic. I used A+B putty for years after reading about it in Fine Scale Modeler, but Aves has it all over
my old standard. It dries nicely hard, but remains carvable, in contrast to the A+B, which was like marble. Great
if you've done it right the first time, but otherwise...

Regarding Wooksta's remarks, I don't begrudge him his opinion, and I don't regard his opinon as an attack on
my modeleing habits and tastes. Given that I was already aware of his disdain for Luft 46 generally, I was
rather impressed that he took the trouble to comment, and to pay me a rather high compliment in the bargin.
I've gone through similar emotions over the years, albeit on somewhat broader terms. In the main, what I
build are models of war machines. Engines of destruction, no more no less. In the meantime, I do what I can
to do some good in the world, and frequently recall a comment made by Stewart Brand in the old hippie classic,
The Whole Earth Catalog. He was writing about an entry on SPI games, one of the bigger war game companies of the 1980's. I'm paraphrasing. " ...a good look at whatever is going to replace war someday. Peace won't. Conflict is too interesting". I hope thats not too glib an answer, but I would like that to be the end of the public discussion.

[matrixone]

The He 277 is a great subject to model and the best part is very few models of it are going to be built by other modelers.

About building models of machines used by the bad guys...I don't like the Nazi government for all the terrible things they did but not building models of the aircraft they used will not erase any of the crimes committed or bring anybody back to life so I will go ahead and build them because I like many of their designs and camouflage schemes and not because of the government that used them.
Yes the Nazis were evil but to be fair there is no government now or in the past that is totally innocent of crimes so does that mean we should stop making models of all machines used in wars?

Matrixone

[The Wooksta!]

No, it doesn't mean you or anyone else should stop building whatever you want but I for one find Luftwaffe now distasteful at least and I simply don't think I could build them again wth a clear conscience.

[matrixone]

The Wooksta!
I am building three Me 262s right now and lately have done some reading about some of the problems the Germans had when trying to mass produce the Me 262, one area that held up production of finished Me 262s was a shortage of wings and the factory that built the wings were falling short of production goals and an investigation discovered that the factory used a lot of slave labor with the slaves actually being worked to death, many slaves died from starvation while at their work stations.
I know what you mean by not being able to build the German stuff with a clear conscience, at times I feel a little guilty for building models of the Luftwaffe machines especially after reading accounts of how some of those late war aircraft used forced labor in their construction, it takes some of the fun out of making models of them for sure but I still like the aircraft designs and the camouflage used on those aircraft are great subjects for modeling.

Sorry Doc Yo for hijacking your thread!

Matrixone

[Gondor]

The He 277 is a great subject to model and the best part is very few models of it are going to be built by other modelers.

Matrixone

I fully intend to build one, once I get the reference material and then gather some parts to help build it.

Gondor

[Spey_Phantom]

i like the progress your making on your He277, cant wait to see it finished  

MOD NOTE:

i would kindly ask not to post anymore comments regarding to Nazi and Axis warcrimes.
i have recieved some moderator reports that some pople have a problem on this sensitive subject.
the purpose of the GB is to have fun, if you want to build Luftwaffe aircraft, go ahead.
luft'46 is a modeling subject based on intrest in german technology research at the time, NOT a tribute to facism.
remember, the war is over (see rule 4)
all posts regarding these refernces will now be edited or removed.

[Green Dragon]

Great progress Doc, glad I could assist with the parts. Those sections of wing/cowling you had to remove look massive, didn't realise so much had to be cut out! Hope the rest of the build goes well!

Paul Harrison