Hannover Cl.II & IIIa. Airfix 1/72

[Tim Mixon]

Louvres, Radiators, Pippi Longstockings.

Louvres,
I cut some Archer resin louvres into smaller lengths then applied over a gloss coat. I sealed them with a thin coat of CA as well. These louvres are closer together than on the original aircraft therefore more of them. It still gives a better representation than the few the kit had.






I also put three on each underside engine access hatch.



Radiators,

I sanded off the kit radiator and plan to use one from the extra center wing section from a Roden Albatros kit.




Trace around the part and then cut out the section. Be sure to not remove plastic up to the lines. Start small and remove small sections till it drops in.



I added card stock framework and the underside damper made from Evergreen.
Also added the underside of the gravity fuel tank and cut out the hand holds.



Here’s the parts ready for
primer. I’ve already put one coat of primer on the fuselage and made small corrections. Mostly on the underside wing join.



Pippi Longstockings,
The new Datafile has strong evidence of the underside of some Hannover’s being painted in solid block sections. Most likely this was the same color match for the lower lozenge.
I have not seen anyone model this so maybe I’m the first?
Pretty gaudy colors!



Relax!  Take a breath.  I’ve toned it down with Tamiya Deck Tan



Looks closer to the Datafile color plate to the unassisted eye. What so you think of it?

Thanks for looking in!

Tim

[RichieW]

The Archer louvres look really good, I doubt anybody will grumble that there are too many. Very neat job dropping the replacement radiator and I love the paint scheme. With all the modifications and possibly a unique paint scheme you will have a real one off model. It's great to see this old kit being given so much respect and care.

Richie

[DaveB]

I agree with Richie on this -

Very clever detailing work on this one so far.

Regards

Dave

[DaddyO]

Been watching your progress on this one with great interest - fabulous work and love the painted bands on the underside

Paul

[Flamingo]

Really like your work on this old lady!

Never knew about Archer louvres, too late.

Tried to punch louvres with a small screwdriver and a hammer, but how to get them evenly spaced?

Joachim

[KiwiZac]

Lovely work Tim, I'm very impressed by how well your paint matches the reference!

[WD]

Tim,
      That's brilliant work on both the louvers and the radiator.  That paint and then thinned deck tan over it if fantastic IMHO.

Warren

[lone modeller]

Got to agree with all of the above, especially the detailed additions that you are making. I also like the underside colours.

Stephen.

[Tim Mixon]

Wing Work:

I decided to start working on the center wing section camouflage. This area was all hand painted on the original aircraft.  I’ll try and match the colors of my latest decal purchase.
I only have Aviattic 4 color lozenge decals. My aircraft use the five color lozenge.
I ordered and received new 5 color lozenge decals from Quinta studios.  I’ve never used them before but have read a few reviews. I understand they are quite translucent and not printed on white paper.
First I roughly drew out the pattern for the lower surfaces.



My colors are as follows:
Lower Lozenge
Mauve: custom mix of Model Master paint
Dark blue: Tamiya Blue/Black
Green: Tamiya Sky and Medium Green 3:1
Tan: Tamiya dark Yellow
Orange/Brown:  Testors light brown/ trainer yellow 1:1
Five color lozenge:

Mauve:  custom mix of Model Master paint
Dark blue: Tamiya Blue/Black
Light Blue: Tamiya medium blue and white 2:1
Tan:   Tamiya Dark Yellow
Green:  Tamiya Sky and Medium Green 3:1
Painted the underside of the upper wing and lower tail section




Then colors toned down with dusting of Tamiya Deck Tan





Five color painted on upper center wings.
The Hanover CL-II has been toned down with Tamiya medium blue overspray

The Hanover CL-IIIa toned down with Tamiya IJN Green
Both have a coat of Future floor polish. I need to mask and paint the yellow warning markers for the observer / gunner. This will protect the paint and hopefully prevent any paint lifting off with the mask




I’m bringing the fuselage sections and paint with me on my business trip this week.  Hopefully I’ll have time to finish painting them.
Thanks for looking in!

Tim

[KiwiZac]

Just lovely work, Tim! Your handpainted lozenges look fantastic!

[Tim Mixon]

I was able to cover a lot of ground this last weekend.
The fuselage of both aircraft was hand painted in irregular “hexagonal “ lozenge patterns. I matched the color to my Quinta lozenge decals as much as possible.  Next I masked the undersides and oversprayed Tamiya dark green  on the CL-IIIa and Tamiya medium blue on the CL-II
II




Next I masked and painted all flying surfaces flat white in preparation for the lozenge decals
I also sprayed a light coat of Future floor polish to gloss the surface.



Then I got the bright idea to mask the ribs and spray Tamiya clear smoke to highlight the ribs under the translucent decals.
This was a lot of work and maybe not really necessary. We’ll have to see.
.


I did a heavy coat on the surfaces to be covered with decals, and a light coat on the clear doped underside of the CL-II
.

I read a few decal reviews about these newer Quinta decals. The biggest thing to note is that they are transparent.
Here are my thoughts:
I’m liking the color when applied on white background. The lower rib pre shading is subtly noticeable.

.

They are very translucent!
.


I positioned one bolt over the other to see what it would look like if I cut rib tapes and applied them. I’m not sure I like the result. Pretty dark and transparent.

.


Because of the transparency, you’ll need to make sure that the edges are level and not overlapping onto the upper surface.  I’ll need to trim away some on the edge here:

.


Here’s the upper lozenge rib tape overlay. Way too dark for

.


The rib pre shading is not very noticeable on the upper surface.
CL-IIIa complete

 

The above image shows the leftover decal from two complete upper and one complete lower set. (I was able to complete both models)




CL-II completed





My thoughts on the decals:
PROS
1. I really like the colors
2. They behave very nicely and conform to details well
3. Very thin and snuggle down with little to no need for softener.
4. Fairly resilient to tearing
5. Able to cut with scissors without edge damage
6. Affordable

Cons:
1. Very dark and transparent when overlapping
2. Unsure how I will create rib tapes
3. Need to be very careful with estimating how much coverage you need ( Not really a con just caution)
4 They don’t make a four color pattern yet!

Overall, I’m quite impressed with how well they work. I’ll definitely be using them on future projects. 
Thanks for looking in!
Tim

 

[pepperman42]

Thanks for the update. They're coming along nicely.

Steve

[RichieW]

More excellent work Tim, the lozenge decals look good but I love the handpainted section you did.

Richie

[lone modeller]

Very good use of the transfers - they make finishing the model much easier than painting by hand as I did when the kit was first released!

Stephen.

[jeroen_R90S]

This is really impressive work!
For the rib tapes, maybe cutting up a sheet of these will work? These are not transparent. I think Aviattic also does lozenge bolts on white paper, but I found that sometimes after cutting the white edges of the decal sheet show up -could be me, though.

https://www.eduard.com/eduard/decals/aircraft/1-72/fokker-d-vii-5color-lozenge-1-72.html
Eduard also do a specific sheet with Fokker D.VII rib tapes, though perhaps the full lozenge sheet, if cut carefully, might work?

For other colours I used one of these Wingnut Wings rib tape sheets cut in half, but they only have blue/pink/linen.

Jeroen