DONE +++ 1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); "VN+DA/M48" (1st prototype), May 1945

[Old Wombat]

Nice piece of work, Dizzy!

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Well done - that paintwork looks very convincing! Good photography also.

[zenrat]

You can get Uschi Van Der Rosten 1/72 wood grain transfers.  I bought a set which includes sheets for a number of different scales but have yet to try it out.

[NARSES2]

That's useful knowledge, cheers mate 

[sandiego89]

The wood is fantastic!

Relly suits the GB theme well. 

[Dizzyfugu]

The wood is fantastic!

Thank you. I actually have no idea what the glued/bonded plywood surface would have looked like, but I remembered some childhood school chairs (O.K., not WWII era. but retro enough...) that had seats with integrated backrests, apparently created from a similar procedure, and they were surprisingly reddish and lacked contrast in structure. So I tried the Humbrol-Leather-On-Sand method, and after one attempt I left it as is, because I felt that anything on top would look too artificial and forced. I also considered panels with different structures, but the masking would have become messy - but I think it works fine.

Beyond the horrors of applying large-scale decals on surfaces with 3-dimensional curves, I am also not sold on the grain pattern of the Uschi von Rosen product, it's too symmetrical for my personal taste, and it looks rather decorative (for a passenger cabin?) than technical?

[zenrat]

I bought a set with mixed scale sheets mainly for use on 1/25 cars, but as it has a smaller scale sheet i will try an aircraft.
Maybe a japanese single engined fighter (IIRC they tried to develop some with wooden structures as they were short of metal) with extremely weathered paint exposing an underlying wooden surface.
It'll be tricky to pull off as i'd have to apply hairspray weathering over decals.

[NARSES2]

it's too symmetrical for my personal taste, and it looks rather decorative (for a passenger cabin?) than technical?

Totally agree, looks more like wallpaper ?

At least the sheets I have for WWI Albatross's looks like plywood. Just the wrong scale.

The wood used would probably have been steamed to get the curvature needed, it's amazing what you can do with wood if you steam it enough, and would of looked very much like the way you've represented it providing they hadn't done much more then varnish it.

[Dizzyfugu]

Yes, the Ki-106, for instance - a wooden version of the Ki-84. But, as you mention, doing weathering on top of decal material sounds hazardous! Would be a nice model, though, whatever technique to be used.