How to mangle a 1/72 Airfix/MPC Stuka

[Brian da Basher]

I also apologize for these pics being a little fuzzy. A certain Howling Mouse seemed hungry for updates, so I shot some fast ones yesterday morning before work to send to him. I'll do my level best to post better shots of the completed A-13 Strike Shrike. I've got to say I'm very pleased with how the yellow turned out. At first glance it seemed a little too orange, but once it dried it lightened up nicely. Here's the last of 4 new pics...a shot of the underside so you can see how those spats look.

Brian da Basher

P.S. The bottle propping up the wing is Advil™ that I stocked up on for the painting of the tail stripes.

[K5054NZ]

Congrats on such a fantastic build Mr Perri! Magnificent!

Ya know, that looks so real.....I'd swear I've seen that particular plane in a book on USAAC history...............


Crazy? Nah....it comes with the title of "kitbasher".  

[philp]

Brian,
she is looking sharp.  Have fun with the rudder stripes.

[cthulhu77]

Retro coolness personified...awesome!

[Leigh]

Lovely piece of modelling and that may be the ugliest plane I've ever seen, worthy of the "Blackburn" name. Nice one mate  

[Allan]

Hi Bri,

Could you one day give us a tutorial on making spats in the techniques setion of our site please?

Allan in Canberra

[philp]

Come on Brian, when you going to get those stripes on the tail?  It has been days.
Really, can't wait to see another masterpiece finished.

[Brian da Basher]

Thanks for the comments and the nudge gents! The spats for this one were very simple. I used the two halves of the rocket tubes from an Aifix Me-109G for the front (leftover sprue would've worked too) and I cut four identically shaped pieces for the sides from clear plastic sheet, getting the size by eyeballing and trimming. I assembled each spat with CA, using clothespins to clamp them together in the back. The wheels were slipped into the opening at the bottom and glued to the side. I was lucky that the leftover wheels from that P-40E were a nice fit. These spats were much easier than my normal method of molding globs of putty by hand.

Good news on the stripes. I did the corrections in white last night and will try to add the red this evening. One thing I've learned from my mistakes is not to rush, but work when the feeling strikes. New pics as soon as I finish the rudder markings.

Brian da Basher

[John Howling Mouse]

No pressure but I am looking forward to seeing those stripes in place.

I know you already have struts in placed but maybe you could also add a whole bunch of stretched sprue cables and radio aerials....in 1:72, that would be your kind of "fun" !

I'll bet you're one of those modellers with the stash of truly rare, ecclectic kits, right?  Biplane and early monoplane kits that most of us have never even heard of?  Kinky!  

[Brian da Basher]

Well I finally got the tail stripes done tonight. I brush painted them by hand and fought with this barely 2 month old brush the entire time. Here's the first shot. As you can see, they're far from perfect, but "close enough for government work".

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

These extreme close-up shots really show off all the flaws. I used the wonderful Polly-Scale Blue and Red for this (there's RLM numbers, but darned if that matters to me) and Testor's white - all acrylics. I used Post-It™ notes cut to size not as a mask, but as a guide to get a straight line on the outboard edge of the blue stripe. I don't know why, but I had an easier time rendering these stripes in 1/144 than I did in 1/72. It took a bit of trial-and-error but finally I got a result I was happy with. It looks much better in its real scale than in this super-sized one.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Here's a shot of the canopy. I painted all the framing free-hand and it was a challenge since the entire thing is scratched from clear sheet and  there were no guidelines to help me. Baz, you and I must be on a wavelength because I couldn't help but add an antenna and an RDF loop. The antenna is from the kit and the RDF loop is a 1/144 prop ring with a bit of the sprue left on as a base. I might add an antenna wire but I decided not to add any bracing wires as I always thought they detracted from the look of the original Shrike. This shot also shows off the cowl guns which I made from bits of old landing gear struts. These shots are little teasers. The last step is decalling and I should have finished pics up by the weekend.

Brian da Basher

P.S. I'm not sure what's considered rare Mr Howling Mouse. Perhaps those Boeing 247s, the Ju-86, the Fokker DXXI or the Fiat CR-42 in the stash? Usually I'm forced to kitbash my oddball subjects out of something quite ordinary.

[philp]

Brian,
The stripes look great as well as your freehanded canopy.
Great job.

[K5054NZ]

WOW!!!      


Ah Bri, you've done it again! Absitively splentacular me old mate! Can I have one?



Sheesh, you think your stripes are nasty? Did you not see the "scratchbuilt" finflashes on the Chocolate Chippie?  Sheesh, painters these days!




ANYWAY, that is a magnificent job Bri, and although it's still early, I think I know what's got my vote! WOWZA, that thing is class! Woo hoo!

[John Howling Mouse]

Brian, you painted those stripes and the canopy framing by hand?!  1:72 scale?

You must drink decaf, exclusively!

I'm going to send you some Tamiya masking tape with those spats.  Why should you be spared the "enjoyment" of masking just because you have steady hands?!?!