Tintin 1/72 - Udet U-12 Flamingo... from scratch. FINISHED!

[Rick Lowe]

Steve, I agree about the scratchbuilding - once you give it a go, even if the first few attempts turn to bin fodder, you gain skills and the next project/idea holds fewer fears.
You also get an 'eye' for how to break things down into manageable, doable bits. 

[zenrat]

Coming along very nicely. The 10 thou skin method with the ribs impressed from the rear works. I usually use a blunt pencil and lay the card on a pile of paper to allow the rib to form without damage. I also think scratch building is a rite of passage in modelling. Once you've cracked it you start to look at all sorts of former impossibilities from a different viewpoint.

Regards, Steve

Steve, I agree about the scratchbuilding - once you give it a go, even if the first few attempts turn to bin fodder, you gain skills and the next project/idea holds fewer fears.
You also get an 'eye' for how to break things down into manageable, doable bits. 

Agreed.
You also get better at guestimation.

[Rick Lowe]

Oh yes, very much agree! 

[zenrat]

Here we go.  I scored the back of the panel  here with the tip of a round file.  It's subtle (I had to fiddle with the picture settings to get it to show up well) but to scale.  I'll be using this technique some more.  Good tip, thanks.
Stoopid Taxi WIP 13-01-2019 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Now, back to the Tintin...

[PR19_Kit]

Here we go.  I scored the back of the panel  here with the tip of a round file.  It's subtle (I had to fiddle with the picture settings to get it to show up well) but to scale.  I'll be using this technique some more.  Good tip, thanks.

Glad it worked, and you'll probably find they show up better when it's painted.

[strobez]

That looks like it would've worked better than what I did, which was just glue the ribs on the outside and then slope the sides with putty... Wish I'd done this technique, but live and learn I guess.

We're past that stage now though, I'm afraid.  In fact we just started to veer off from a real-world Udet U-12 Flamingo, and into the realm of Herge's imagination...
So the first thing to do was cut a pilot notch(?) in the upper wing, just like it shows in the book.



Then I added some vents to the side of the cowling.  There should be three, but I only added two by mistake... oh, well, no one will notice.  Also I scrounged up some wheels leftover from my first Area 88 1/144 B-1 build... so that should work, right?



Finally, using some two-part epoxy putty... and we've got a couple of huge juicy spats.  Some sanding and shaping will be required, but that stuff gets sticky fast and I figured a bit more that could be sanded back would be better than not quite enough.

[Rick Lowe]

Spats!! Where's BdB when he's needed?

Coming along nicely - keep it up!

[zenrat]

Mmmmmm, spats...

[strobez]

Yes indeedy... spats are "in". Of course these ones needed some serious sanding to bend them to my will.


With the plane finally fully assembled, it was time to get some paint on... for real this time!


Looks pretty good... but I shouldn't have looked at it under direct sunlight... 


So... return of the putty...


And once again sanded into submission. So well, in fact, that I put a small hole in the cowling, near the wheel on the right side.  Luckily I caught it in time and a bit of CA glue and some gentle sanding should fix the issue.

[Rheged]

This is coming along very nicely indeed.

Trouble is, when I scan quickly down the new posts list, all I see is Tintin 1/72 - Udet U-12 Flamingo and I immediately think of this aircraft:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Flamingo

[strobez]

After seemingly ENDLESS coats of yellow paint, I'm cashing this one in.  There's still a few spots where the undercoat is peeking through, but they're not that noticeable, so I won't tell if you don't.



I was able to repurpose the ladder that I originally created for the Loch Lommond Whisky tanker, so good to go.  Oh, and after breaking two attempts at a wooden propeller (how did I do it before?!) I just grabbed a spare from a Spad XIII out of the box.



I was also pleasantly surprised at how well the Red Duck decals worked.  I was prepared for disappointment, but they don't look half bad.

Here's some final vanity pics...

[Rick Lowe]

Coolness! Nice work again (that comment is sounding a bit monotonous, but it's always applicable!) 

[zenrat]

What Rick said.

As it's airbourne the lack of crew concerns me.  But its your build.

[NARSES2]

As it's airbourne the lack of crew concerns me.  But its your build.

That's because it's being flown by Snowy 

[strobez]

That's because it's being flown by Snowy 

I am going to replace that as my new standard answer...