Trumpeter E-25 update

I added a few decals just to jazz the thing up a bit;

The next time you'll see this is when it's finished so stay tuned people :o)

Airfix C-47; It's exhausting work!

Just a small update as the rudder now fits better and I took the opportunity to save myself some money on aftermarket exhausts by drilling out the kit supplied ones. Approximately 10 minutes work with a drill and dentists burrs and here you are;

The model is actually near completion as the undercarriage is next to be assembled and the glazing just needs to be put in.
It might seem unusual to add the glazing now but previous experience means it's an ideal time as no doubt the fit of parts, especially the landing lights, will need some filling, sanding and polishing to make them look like part of the wing rather than added extras and the windscreen will probably fit where it touches too.

Trumpeter E-25; Painting complete.

While I'm on a roll I added to the camo scheme by spraying dots of all three colours used;

It still looks fairly hideous but I'm hoping the weathering will turn it down from 11.
Tonight I'll add some decals from units that would have used Jagdpanzers and some numbers just to make it look half-decent.

Trumpeter E-25; Back on it

Well I've put all my toys back in the pram after a couple of days away from the bench and the last bout of modelling frustration and re-sprayed the E-25. As posted earlier I was having problems spraying the new Ammo paints by Mig which could have been down to my idea of using Tamiya acrylic thinner with them, although to be fair I DID experiment with this combination before I committed to painting the model and the thinner and paint seemed to mix well.
ANYWAY I'm sticking with Tamiya and Mr Hobby paint in future as they work fine for me.
So back to the model and I resprayed the base coat in places where needed then the camo was sprayed freehand, retouching with the base coat to remove any over spray. This time the colours are darker than originally planned as I used a 1:1 mix of Tamiya XF-65 Field Grey and XF-71 Cockpit Green for the...err...green bits and XF-79 Linoleum Deck Brown with a bit of the base colour thrown in for the red-brown.
I'm not sure whether to leave it like this or try again with the 'ambush camouflage' style of dots using the three colours alternatively placed over the model;

I shall have a think about that one.

Airfix C-47

 This model was supposed to be just an Out-Of-The-Box build but it's proving to be anything but, mainly due to the poor fit of parts. Whether it's just me or not I don't know as I have seen a couple of reviews praising it, however here's where I am at the moment.
The cabin door needed a strip of 0.010" (0.25mm) styrene adding around the edge due to the poor fit and but even after gluing the doors in place there is still a large gap;

 The engine nacelles need the rectangular locating tab removing and some material removing from the oil cooler fairings underneath (shown by arrows) to get them to fit otherwise you will have a step between the nacelle and wing;

I was particularly suprised by the rudder as it fits where it touches and has some HUGE gaps at the top and bottom, once again styrene strip was added to the bottom of the rudder and to the inside of the top of the fin.
When dry I'll sand them flush and try and fit the rudder;

At least the elevators fitted without any problems...
It IS getting there but it's not filling me with joy at the moment and not exactly a quick build either.

Trumpeter E-25 painted

As it's a 'what-if, paper panzer etc' I can pretty much do what the hell I like with this so today I tried some paints from the Mig Productions set 'Late German Camouflages', colours that were allegedly used in 1944-45.
All I have to say is that there are some 'interesting ' shades of paint;

Talk about BRIGHT??? Kee-rist!! :oD
Hopefully the colours will darken down a bit more with weathering. I painted the barrel and IR sights with the darker 'Dunkelgelb' included in the set for some contrast.
Hmmm....

Update; after today's spraying session (23rd August) the model will now be repainted as I just could not control the paint and it resulted in 'spiders legs' in a lot of places AND I put my fingerprint into the paint (AGAIN) which will need to be sanded out. To be honest the model was nearly thrown across the loft where I have to spray but I did'nt do it and it's in a box waiting.
Next time I'll just stick to Tamiya colours, the Mig set just does'nt work for me I'm afraid.

Trumpeter E-25; paint is on

I've managed to get some time at the bench today so I touched up the black undercoat then sprayed the base coat;

I've used Tamiya XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan for a basecoat as it more or less matches the German Dunkelgelb which was used in the later stages of WW2 plus it will darken with weathering.
You might notice that it's shiny, this is because after applying pin washes to the very matt finished SS-23 I had no control over them and they left 'tide-marks' everywhere on the model.
This time around as an experiment I added Tamiya X-22 Clear varnish to the base coat rather than gloss the model after so we'll see if this method works better for washes. Camouflage-wise I'm thinking of an 'ambush' style, hardly original but a scheme I've been wanting to do for ages. I may put some unit markings, crosses and numbers on too.

Airix C-47; Milliput-not just for gir...erm... figure modellers :o)

Before the lower wings were fixed into place I glued a length of 4mm square styrene inside between the top and bottom joints to give extra strength and prevent any flexing of the wing roots.
Once everything had set firmly Milliput epoxy putty (I use the white stuff) was mixed together, rolled into a 'sausage' then worked into the wing joints;

Using an old paint brush the Milliput was worked into the joints and smoothed out;

Finally any excess putty that had gone into the panel lines was just scooped out with a needle and there you have it! The joints made good without losing any detail through sanding if regular model filler had been used;

Using this method of filling a joint is only possible if you have a firm area to work with, any flexing will just crack Milliput as it does'nt bond to the plastic unlike Humbrol or Revell plastic filler so it's a good idea to strengthen joints like this.
By the way I got this tip from Brett Green, editor of Hyperscale and Model Military Int'l so I take no credit for the idea, just passing it along to you lot out there :o)

Airfix C-47; wings glued together

I glued the lower wings today but after a dry fit of parts there were a couple of minor issues to deal with before they would join together properly. The first one is the raised locating strips on the insides of the wings near the landing light as this prevented a good join, once removed the joint was much better;

The second one are the small locating pins on the insides near the wing tisp as these prevented the wing halves from joining so they were removed too, lastly there are a couple of raised mould-pin marks on the inside trailing edge and these were rubbed down just in case;

Once all these items were removed the wings were glued together, taped firmly and left to set;

The join between the lower wings was actually very good and just needed some liquid glue along the joint and more tape just to stop them springing apart.

Airfix C-47; Winging it

To cover the gap between the wings and wing-roots I've glued a strip of sheet styrene on the inside edge of the wing-roots then glued the upper wings in place, making sure they were glued to the styrene strip as well.
The idea is to use Milliput rather than body filler as I can shape it with water, that way I won't destroy any surface detail plus with the styrene sheet underneath both sides it *should* stop any flexing which would crack the Miliput.
I also took the opportunity to fix the tailplanes in place so by the time I can work on the model again the glue would have set firmly and all the joints can be done at the same time.

At least it's starting to look more Dakota shaped :o)
In case you are wondering I'll be painting the gear bays before I stick the cowlings on as I worked out that I could still get in the areas with an airbrush.

Airfix C-47; Wing roots

I dry fitted the upper wings tonight and oh dear...

The gaps at the wing roots are horrendous, particularly on the port side. I did think that the wing root inserts were the problem as I fitted them flush to the fuselage by mistake and they need to protude a bit but not to that extent.
Admittedly its just a dry fit of parts but that must be the worst fitting wing joint I have ever seen in over 40 years of modelling...wow! Hopefully when I glue and tape the wings to the fuselage it will improve but initial thoughts are that it's going to need a LOT of filling. Hmmm.....