1/48 mirage halberstadt cl.iv

[ALBATROS1234]

this will be an experiment. i have never successfully done a build thread. one reason, i suck at taking photos and only have my camera on my phone to contend with. also i am prone to short attention span so didnt think it would work out plus didnt want to waste time i could be modelling to post photos. well i am going to try.

first off this will be an out of the box "plus" build. i have added a bit of scratch built embellishments. first i somehow lost my rudder bar/pedal so i scratched one from scrap plastic(stretched sprue sanded flat and then heel loops from stretched sprue.) i also added copper wire connected to the base of the hand fuel pressure pump, the fuel gauge too connecting it to the fuel tank under the pilot seat. all of the gauge bezels are photoetched from the airscale fret as well as airscale guage decals. i used a few parts from the b.e.a.m. fret mainly the magneto face and handles for the control panel.i used a random watch part to make the throttle look better as the molded on part was soft. i also used another watch part to add a handle to the aerial crank to which i also added a strtched sprue weight and used some elastic thread to make the cable which spools up the retractable antenna/weight.seatbelts are those which came on the mirage fret.everything was hand painted.so here we are. please exuse the poor photos,i hope you can see something but they dont do the build any justice.

[radio]

Exellent build up to date and very nice pictures, Scott.
Cheers
Martin

[Des]

Great to see you posting a build log Scott, and what you have done so far proves this is going to be a great build to follow, an excellent choice of subject.

Des.

[Pgtaylorart]

Great to see you posting a build log Scott, and what you have done so far proves this is going to be a great build to follow, an excellent choice of subject.

Des.

Yes, I'm happy to see your build log too, Scott. Your wood tones look very nice and the photos are good too. They show everything we need to see.

George

[TobyCoulson]

I have to say I'm very impressed with your work on this so much so I've gone and ordered one. I just hope mine is half as good as yours when I get round to doing it. Also I'd not heard of this manufacturer before. A sort of win double

[Alexis]

Nice work so far Scott .

You say handed painted , did you use a dry brush method for the fuel tank ? She looks like so shiny !



Terri

[uncletony]

Glad to see you posting a build log, Scott! Rock on...

[ALBATROS1234]

thanks guys.this is one i statred a while back and did a bit of work over the holidays since i had a bit of extra time. i appreciate the compliments. my photography doesnt do it justice.the wood grain is my own oddball technique where i start by doing an acrylic basecoat of a beige,tan or panzer dunkelgelb depending on which color i lay the grain down with. the way i do it is to start with putting some thinner in the lid of an enamel base paint. in this case testors fl. brown(old school square bottle 1166-rm11661)with the beige,model master leather with the dunkel gelb and model master insignia brown with the tan. anyway the thinner makes a thickish wash which i quickly spread across the part in the grain direction. in a minute or 2 when its pretty dryish i then begin to remove paint with thinner using random strokes in the direction of the grain sometimes going a bit wavy depending on what i want the final to look like.the good thing about this technique is if you take off too much paint you can add by dipping it in the jar and adding darker streaky elements back in and back and forth play with it til it looks right to my eye. let this dry for at least an hour and brush on a coat of thinned tamiya clear yellow which pulls it all together. final coat of future to enhance gloss. i usually use at least 3 to 4 different colored woodgrains to make it appear more realistic.

the fuel tank was an experiment. i used some gold colored metallic powder i got from the art supply store with some laquer thinner and dipped in thinner then powder with a beat up 1cm wide brush and buffed it into the part until the tone way even. the laquer thinner causes the pigment to bite into the plastic somewhat so as long as you dont handle it too much it remains shiny your fingers will take the stuff off eventually. i also sometime use different shades of gold leafing paint bought from the art store. you need turpentine to thin this.

[dtomko]

That's some great work, Scott.  The fuel tank really looks like metal and the woodgrain is very convincing.

Drew

[coyotemagic]

So glad to see you posting your work, Scott!  Wow!  That cockpit is awesome and you photos are just fine.  Better than most of mine.  I have the Pheon sheet, so if you need some decals, let me know.
Cheers,
Bud

[GAJouette]

 Scott,
Great to see you posting your projects again. Outstanding first progress my old friend. Still the same first class skill and craftsmanship I've come to expect. I wouldn't worry too much about the quality of the photography they look just fine. Outstanding wood work my old friend. Keep up the excellence.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[RAGIII]

Scott,
Really great to see you do a build log! Beautiful work to date. Your woodwork and overall interior are Awesome!
RAGIII