1:32nd scale Hannover Cl.II

[Mike Norris]

Wonderful results so far Mike, and very near the finish line. This will be another masterpiece for the collection.
Out of interest……you mentioned that you changed scheme due to problems with the lozenge decals. Originally I read that the fuselage lozenges would be a challenge (hard edges v soft edges). Did you get as far as trying any techniques…..on test pieces or whatever? Or might that be something for the future?

David

Hi David,
It wasn't so much as a problem with the decals themselves.
It was that I'd applied 'clear' backed decals to the wings etc.
That meant I couldn't add the required rib taps as 'clear' shows up dark and 'white' backed shows up way too bright.
So I chose to change the scheme rather than go to the expense of more decals of the correct type.

As for the fuselage lozenge.
I was going to try either airbrushing them using masks or using the 1:24th scale decals from 'Aviattic'.
As to whether the lozenge was in fact soft edged I think is debatable.
Why soft edge the fuselage main lozenge but leave the fuselage rear lozenge sharp edged, as is the wing and other lozenge and the upper wing centre section?
I think it's possible the apparent soft edge is the result of light colour over spray over the fuselage.
Over spraying of the fuselage of Hannover Cl.II aircraft was fairly common, similar to that of the Halberstadt Cl.II aircraft.
I didn't get to test and experiment though, but it will be something for the future,

Mike

[Flik63J]

Ok thanks Mike.

David

[Mike Norris]

Hi all,
Landing gear fitted.
Wireless aerial and generator assembled and painted.
Swivel ring and mountings assembled and painted for the observers Parabellum machine gun.
Additional grab handle added to the swivel ring.

Now onto the pre-rigging,

Mike

[Tim Mixon]

Masterful building skills!  I wasn’t a fan of this scheme until you convinced me otherwise.  Really nice work.  Thank you for the detailed pictures of the radiator and gun ring.  I need to do some work on the Airfix gun ring. 

[FAf]

Fantastic work, as always! Clean, crisp and with lots of different details to look at.
/Fredrik

[pepperman42]

Nice update.

Steve

[RichieW]

Excellent work Mike. The texture painting on the gun ring is stunning. Hope you don't mind me asking, how did you achieve that effect?

Richie

[Mike Norris]

Excellent work Mike. The texture painting on the gun ring is stunning. Hope you don't mind me asking, how did you achieve that effect?

Richie

Hi Richie,
I airbrush primed a grey primer, such as ‘AK Interactive’ Grey (AK-758) or similar‘.
Then airbrush with ‘Tamiya’ Dark Yellow (XF60) or similar.
Brush ‘Windsor & Newton’ Griffin Alkyd Vandyke Brown oil paint.
Wait a few minutes then with a brush lightly dampened with White Spirit, gently brush off the oil paint to achieve the desired wood effect,
This oil paint dries very quickly and can be clear coated with acrylic or lacquers.

Mike

[RichieW]

Thanks Mike, it looks slightly different to your usual method, I guess you were just after a different look. It has certainly worked fantastically well. I must try that Windsor and Newton paint.

Richie

[Mike Norris]

Thanks Mike, it looks slightly different to your usual method, I guess you were just after a different look. It has certainly worked fantastically well. I must try that Windsor and Newton paint.

Richie

Hi Richie,
It's the same method I use when applying wood effect by brush painting.
The good thing about those oil paints is they don't need to have linseed oil leached out before use, like standard oil paints.
They dry within a very short time, again unlike standard oil paint.
The colour range is just a good.
I tend to use Raw Sienna, Raw Umber and Van dyke Brown.
When brushing off the paint, the brush is dipped in White Spirit then brushed off on paper towel, as too wet a brush will just lift the paint off,

Mike

[Mike Norris]

Hi all,
The upper wing has fitted.
Pre-rigged with resin anchor points, blackened 0.5 mm diameter Brass tube and 0.12 mm mono-filament.
Rudder control cables also rigged with 'Proper Plane' turnbuckles, 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament and blackened 0.4 mm diameter Brass tube.

Now it's onto final rigging,

Mike

[RichieW]

Looking good Mike, sorry to plague you with questions but my results with brass blackener have been a bit mixed to say the least. I remove the lacquer coating and lightly sand but find the coating often gets removed with handling. Is there a trick I'm missing?

Richie

[Mike Norris]

Looking good Mike, sorry to plague you with questions but my results with brass blackener have been a bit mixed to say the least. I remove the lacquer coating and lightly sand but find the coating often gets removed with handling. Is there a trick I'm missing?

Richie

Hi Richie,
I don't remove or scuff Brass or Nickel-Silver tubing (Albion Alloy's).
I just immerse the tubing into 'Blacken-It' solution and leave it until I see the colour change to dark or black.
Then remove the tubing and dry it on kitchen roll.
If you leave it in for too long it can cause the tubes to stick together so I roll them when drying to separate them.
I got my bottle a long time ago so not sure if it's still available, as it's hard to find in the UK.
That said, I've not tried other solutions that are available for modelers.

https://www.walthers.com/blacken-it-weathering-solution-for-metal-4oz-118ml

Mike

[RichieW]

Thanks Mike, that's a different brand from the one I have. It's a bit hit and miss, lovely when it works though. I'll see if there's something with a similar chemical make up to the one you linked.

Richie

[FAf]

Fantastic look with those linen decals!

On the subject of blackening tubes - I don't do anything to my Albion tubes either and I basically use Mike's method but with AK 174 Brass Photoetching Burnishing. Haven't tried it on anything but brass though...
/Fredrik