A pair of 1/48 Halberstadts

[lcarroll]

Bud,
   As usual, stunning work. I admire your approach to the move; priority appears to be getting the Modelling Area set up....."atta boy"!! I have a move in the future which stays much on my mind, I may have to seek counselling from you to get through it!
   Looking forward to the next progress report once you are up and running again.
Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

Wait, you have 5 houses?

[IFF1418]

Wonderfull Bud! I'm amazed how you people can obtain such a beautifull paintwork. Really astonishing! This forum is full of masters in modelling.

Very kind regards

Patrick

[stefanbuss]

This is  a very impressive show of modelling skills. I hope everything works well with moving the house.

Stefan

[coyotemagic]

Thanks so much for your kind comments, guys.  Sorry I've been remiss in my responses, but the worst is over and I should be back at the bench soon.  In addition to moving and preparing the Elk Grove house for the new tenants, our son is home on leave from the Navy and he's taken up residence in my modeling room until June 9.  Progress resumes then.

Bud,
   As usual, stunning work. I admire your approach to the move; priority appears to be getting the Modelling Area set up....."atta boy"!! I have a move in the future which stays much on my mind, I may have to seek counselling from you to get through it!
   Looking forward to the next progress report once you are up and running again.
Cheers,
Lance

Just feel free to ask, Lance.  I'll be glad to offer any assistance I can provide.

Wait, you have 5 houses?

Not for long, Bo.  We're selling the house in Montana this month, then we'll be back down to 4.  I'd really like to get rid of the one in Tucson, but the market's pretty soft down there at the moment.
Really looking forward to getting back to the bench.  This moving stuff is exhausting.
Cheers,
Bud

[Ernie]

Hope the house affairs has been happily sorted, Bud, and you are
able to get back to the important Halberstadt business .
  I'm looking forward to the next bits of the build...no pressure, though!

Cheers,
Ernie

[coyotemagic]

Thanks, Ernie!  The house is really looking good and we love it out here.  Coyotes, deer, turkeys and critters of all types abound.
Wow, I can't believe two months have past since my last update!  So many household projects, but things have finally slowed down a bit and I got a little done on the lozenge.  At first, I was going to use the Mirage 5 color on the Karaya kit and the Wood and Wire 4 color on the Mirage kit, but I liked the looks of the W&W decals so much better, I decided to use them across the board.  5 color on the Karaya, 4 color on the Mirage.  Then I was faced with some confusing information on the orientation of the bolts of lozenge fabric.  One source said that Roland applied the fabric 45 deg to the cord on the top wing and span wise on the bottom wing, while the Halberstadt built machines had the fabric applied to the top wing cord wise and span wise on the bottom wing.  Another source had both companies going 45 deg on the top wing and span wise on the bottom.  However, every photo I saw in every reference, both contemporary and restoration, clearly show both top and bottom wings from both manufacturers to be applied at a 45 deg angle, so that's what I went with.  Here are the clearest photos I have and the only ones not violating any copyright laws.

http://www.wwi-models.org/app/sbj/srch/Macn.php?action=uArchList&subjId=163

With my work area finally set up,

I started off my muting the preshading a bit.  It was too harsh, shown through too much and altered the colors of the lozenge.  These decals are fantastic but are very translucent.

Trust me, it shows through much better in reality.
Another problem the decal translucency presented was how to go about doing the rib tapes.  Just cutting them out of the lozenge bolt decals and slapping them on was not an option.  They were far too dark and lost the lozenge pattern almost completely.  I finally decided on cutting strips of white decals the same width as the rib tapes and putting them down first, then the lozenge.  My first few efforts on the underside of one of the wings showed a bit of white along the edges, but I eventually got the hang of it.
All the bottoms are now finished.

Mirage above, Karaya below.
I'm just now getting started on the tops.

Reckon I better get back to it, my friends.  This lozenge stuff is really time consuming.
Cheers,
Bud

[RAGIII]

Bud,
That is a really nice work station! The models of course are your usual beautiful work! The Lozenge looks terrific!
RAGIII

[rhallinger]

Looking very fine indeed, Bud!  Welcome back to the table.f . 

I've always been fascinated with the look of lozenge, and you have done a great job with this pair!  Very nice.

Regards,

Bob

[Des]

Welcome back Bud, great to see your work area all set up and functional. Your work is top notch as usual, the lozenge is looking really good so far.

Des.

[lcarroll]

Glad to see you survived the trauma of moving Bud, and that you're work station is back up and running. Nice work on the Lozenge, and there is now no doubt in my mind that my Wood & Wire purchase will be the white background version, Thanks for the hint.
Cheers,
Lance

[coyotemagic]

Thank you so much for the warm encouragement, guys.  It's great to be back.  Although I complain about the time consuming task of applying lozenge to so many surfaces, I'm really enjoying it.
Thanks for the tip, Red.  I found the white based decals in 1/32 scale, but not in 1/48.  Are they available someplace other than Nordland?
Richard, thanks again for the stickers, mate!  They're scrumptious!  Can't wait to use them.
Cheers,
Bud

[Ernie]

Good to have you back at it, Bud!  I'm happy that everything
went well with the move, and it's nice to see you have a good
place to do your modeling.  I think you have done a masterful
job on the lozenge.  I appreciate the way you have explained/shown
it.  That will be a great help for me in the future.

Cheers,
Ernie

[coyotemagic]

Thanks again, Ernie.
Cheers,
Bud

[mgunns]

Hello Bud:

Outstanding work on the lozenge!  I know how painstaking it can be and especially the rib strips twice!  Nice work space as well.  Lots of light.  Where did you move to.  I know you lived in Sacramento, where now?  We are coming out to Pleasanton in September for anniversaries, her parents 60th and our 3rd.  Anyway, looking forward to seeing these two as  you progress.

Best

Mark