Airfix Ar196

[Mark M.]

I lost my mojo on my Academy F/A-18 build, so I dove into another to get myself out of a self-induced rut.

Newer boxing of the Ar 196 by Airfix. Same "great" old mold, but newer more reliable decals. Side-opening box gives it away as a repop of an old kit.

First thing I did was chop the flaps. I don't know why. Then I had to model the shape of the wing and the curve of the flap. After a ton of effort (fun effort, mind you) I came across some references showing I'd taken too much flap!

You might think I cut into the aileron, but it was the other way around. I had to put some back onto the wing root!

So I cut part of my flap and had to put it in place and putty up 1/5 of the work I'd just done.

Cut the "movable parts" bits from the flight surfaces and filled in those gaps. Built balances on elevator and cut the rudder off. Added the oil coolers (?) to the engine as well.

Getting started:

The flaps modification

Whoops, let's put some of those back where they belong!

Using the elevator to hold the stabilizers in place while gluing:

All the control surfaces finished:

A minor addition to the engine:

Let's not forget the floats!

[Old Man]

Looking good, my friend!

[Kostucha]

Coming along well! I like the extra details you added to the engine. Good work on the details!

[Mark M.]

Lot of tinkering work. Masked it, shot the lichtblau under sides (and used that as a primer for the upper sides too, on the floats as well).

Upper surface (masking falling off, have to touch up stbd side cockpit a tad):

The bomb racks I scratched to go with the Fujimi wing bombs I had left over from my Judy build (perfect size, better fin scale, even the pegs were perfect!). Bomb sitting in rack just to give idea. Noflash/flash:

I lined the floats with strengthening ribs made from narrow wire. CA glued the wire to the hull along the raised panel lines. Not sure if it's 100% right, but it makes sense and I'm hoping that once all the camo is on the upper surfaces it will add a tiny bit of definition. Hard to see with the flash on:

And finally the exhaust pipes I'm scratch building using thick-gauge wire and plastic card. CA the card to the end of the wire, and white putty the joint, sand down and use a file as needed:

The excess wire will be clipped, and the wire will fit under the cowling (the trailing edge having been thinned out), into 2 grooves I've ground out of the fuselage here (old pic before paint):

The two white rings I've added to the front are to extend the nose out along the exact same diameter as the cowling mount "lip", so that the extended "lip" will mount to the cowling, but further inside where the engine cowling is the original thickness.

You see, by thinning the cowling trailing edge, I destroyed the only surface I could use to mount it to the airframe, and this extension allows me to glue it in place later. The center hole is drilled to avoid any potential conflict with the prop retaining bolt, and happens to be a perfect hole for getting my tweezers inside there for some wiring I'll do later.

Edited September 6, 2009 by Mark M.

[Patrick_Nevin]

Yay! Nice engineering, Mark!

[Kostucha]

Excellent progress for sure. Great job on this unique kit.

[JMan]

Very nice looking! Cant wait to see this beauty come to life with the addition of paint and those floats!

[Mark M.]

Going to need a bit of putty where the floats attach to the plane... I'm thinking of painting the floats separate, attaching afterwards, cleaning up, then lichtblau touchup painting with a brush around the puttied/sanded areas. Too hard to airbrush or hand brush the paint on if you attach 'em.

[JMan]

Cant wait to see them!

[Kostucha]

Going to need a bit of putty where the floats attach to the plane... I'm thinking of painting the floats separate, attaching afterwards, cleaning up, then lichtblau touchup painting with a brush around the puttied/sanded areas. Too hard to airbrush or hand brush the paint on if you attach 'em.

Adding any weathering or water stains on top of the floats if they're attached would be nearly impossible too, especially with the size of the kit. That, and risking damaging them (personally, I leave any landing gear off until the very, very end. If I were you, and it's only my two cents, I would definitely do like you are thinking, and attach them afterwords. On smaller scale a/c models, I would use cattle wire or other wire, bend it into shape, and slide it into where the landing gear would mount up, or in this case, floats. This way you're not damaging anything when you're handling it (and avoid finger prints). Again though, just my 2 cents.

[Mark M.]

I saw a couple other folks doing the floats a different way. Some replaced them with resin or PE legs, some cut them off at the float, attached the legs to the plane, and then used some sort of locator pin system to reattach them. For me it was already too late. I'd glued the struts to the floats before I thought about how hard this was going to be.

I had to sand/file/putty/fill/ the area where the floats merge with the legs. A part of each float was actually on each leg. Perhaps not the best way, but it ensures the floats only fit one way (I guess... no telling what Airfix 1960s logic is!)

[Mark M.]

Little snag with the colors....

IPMS Stockholm color charts, which I generally have a high respect for, shows 2 grey shades used for Kriegsmarine sea planes. Most other references (model boxart, other builds, some paint stores online) show shades of green.

Here's an example:

http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?f...081+34058+34092

The two two square are the Stockholm colors, the bottom 2 taken from a random paint color swatch webpage.

The kicker is the photo of the trashed Arado from Smithsonian or NASA storage (I don't recall which). It's definitely darkish, and possibly greyish.

Of course that frame is totally trashed, weathered, and beaten, so who knows if that's the original shade or not.

Thoughts on what colors I should use?

[Mark M.]

curiouser and curiouser... Seems the colors given by IPMS stockholm correspond to the same FS numbers as "Euro I Grey" and RLM 66 (scale black).....

Seems very dark to me.

[LDSModeller]

Little snag with the colors....

IPMS Stockholm color charts, which I generally have a high respect for, shows 2 grey shades used for Kriegsmarine sea planes. Most other references (model boxart, other builds, some paint stores online) show shades of green.

Here's an example:

http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?f...081+34058+34092

The two two square are the Stockholm colors, the bottom 2 taken from a random paint color swatch webpage.

The kicker is the photo of the trashed Arado from Smithsonian or NASA storage (I don't recall which). It's definitely darkish, and possibly greyish.

Of course that frame is totally trashed, weathered, and beaten, so who knows if that's the original shade or not.

Thoughts on what colors I should use?

WWII Luftwaffe colours for Marine flying were RLM 72 Grun (green) and 73 Grun (green) (for the likes

of Arado 196/FW 200 Condor etc) my understanding of this is that the 73 is a somewhat greenish bluish grey colour

Here is a link to some colour chats that may help

RLM Colours Chart

Just scroll to 72/73 , it does give some paint Types (testors etc)

Here is a link by Testors which gives RLM colour buttons (hold the cursor over the button)

Testors RLM paints

Hope that helps

Alan

[Kostucha]

Great links Alan, that helped me out for sure, hopefully it's helped Mark too.

Mark.

[Mark M.]

Photos to come soon. I did some searching online and found a few discussions from older builds, and tend to agree with the idea that the RLM colors for Kriegsmarine planes are misrepresented as "green" greens, and are more "grey" greens.

In the end I used ModelMasters FS 36081 Euro I Grey and PolyScale FS 34052 (?) RLM 70 Black Green

It might not seem right when you read it, but I'll post some pics in a moment (I have to edit, crop, resave them all, upload them, etc) and I think it looks pretty good.

[Mark M.]

I masked the undersides, shot my lighter shade, masked again, shot my darker shade, and removed the masking.

I just remembered 1 touchup I need to do, but have since fixed most of the paint seepage you see in these pictures.

Somewhere along the line, the struts put and outward pressure on the fuselage, and split the seam. It is barely visible here, but very visible in reality when handling it. I had to fill it in with thickened paint (lichtblau), then using the tips of 3 different-shaped iron files, file away the ridges, then repaint THROUGH the rigging I'd already paintsakingly put in place.

Going to have to get some balsa, carve a canopy shape, and smash-form a new one. I thought about ordering replacement Airfix parts and smashing off of them, but the Airfix parts are horribly inaccurate. Too short, squat, and wide, not to mention squared. The real things are narrow, sloped, rounded, and taller. Going to have to figure a way to do this (I've never done it before).

[Kostucha]

Mark,

She's looking great!!! When it comes to vacu-forming, there's a lot of good tips on ARC - both in the forums, as well as in the tips 'n tools section.

[Mark M.]

The problem for me is coming up with the positive to use as the form/shape. I've got a bit mocked up with plastic card for the forward windscreen. I'm going to tinker with that until it looks good, then extend it back all the way til the end of the greenhouse area. That means probably smash-forming 2 or 3 (depending how well it goes) once the mold is 110% perfect, because I want to position the canopies opened. One piece for the windscreen and non-moving middle portion, and 1 more piece for the sliding cockpit and gunner's canopy. Maybe a third if I screw up either of those lol!

I'll post some pics later. Still in the infant stages right now.

To-Do list:

- shoot future for decal application

- apply decals

- canopy creation/masking/attachment

- attach engine (leaving til the end, to avoid breaking the prop blades)

- pitot tube and aileron balances (created from the tabs I cut off the ailerons in the first place)

- detail the MG81Z tail gun (or replace)

- dullcoat, and admire!

Raining and 48 degrees F today, so no shooting Future right now :)

EDIT: One thing I didn't mention yet, you may have noticed. I cut off the flimsy flap of a radio mast on the tail and replaced it with the head of the narrowest needle I could find. I left about 1/4 to 3/8 of the needle shaft in place, carved a groove in the plastic halves of the tail and trapped it between them with CA. I'm planning on doing something similar for the front radio mast as well (using a needle) so that the parts can take the tension of a taught wire without breaking, like plastic would. You may see some photos where it's resting upside down on this, and that's why it wasn't collapsing (it's metal!)

edit: updated to-do list

Edited September 13, 2009 by Mark M.

[Mark M.]

Carved out the windscreen vertical piece first... Got the base measurement, notched the dead center for the top, and measured out a "top" roughly as wide as the "ledge" that the forward windscreen protrudes into. It ended up being a tad too wide for my tastes (the Airfix mold is overly wide at this point) so I angled the forward sheet of glass inward at the top.

Pretending the white plastic is glass plates, that is.

Put the top on, then hand-fit the front plate, and then glued in place. Reinforced 3x over underneath so it holds up to the stresses of repeated filing and sanding!

Hand fit the front-left and front-right angled panes, sanded smooth, and gave the entire thing a rounded once-over.

I then fashioned a duplicate of the vertical upright piece. After that I made 2 mirror image panels and placed them all together. I need to round out the top, and then repeat the process again. I can't go straight to the back end of the canopy because it narrows with the fuselage a bit.

Once I have it all, I'll putty it, or maybe buy some Bondo, and sand it smooth and paint/cover it with something. Once that's totally done, no mars, no blemishes, I'll use that as the master for creating a new acetate canopy.

Quick comparison of mine vs the Airfix molding...

Edited September 13, 2009 by Mark M.

[LDSModeller]

Photos to come soon. I did some searching online and found a few discussions from older builds, and tend to agree with the idea that the RLM colors for Kriegsmarine planes are misrepresented as "green" greens, and are more "grey" greens.

First off, as I understand it the Kriegsmarine did not have an offical air arm like the Royal Navy (FAA) or the US Navy.

Aircraft like the Arado 196 belonged to the Luftwaffe, who also provided personel to fly/service them and they were painted in Luftwaffe colours.

RLM 72/73 are Actual Greens and RLM 72 somewhat resembles Black Green (hence it's darker apperance) but is lighter in tone.

RLM 73 is a Green Grey, (but not a true Grey Green like RLM 74) hence lighter in tone when compared to the

darker RLM 72.

Consider this photo

Yes, it's an old photo and if you look above the inner starboard engine nacelle you can see the two greens

well enough even though the camouflage is worn.

I have models such as the Ar 196 and FW 200 Condor in my stash and wanted to paint them correctly, all the research,

I have done has lead me down the path of Green and Green, and not Grey Greens.

Anyone who has ever studied aircraft over marine environments knows that type of enviroment is bad for paint finishes

which can play havoc on colour interpretation (I live on an island nation and our Air Force flies over the ocean all the time, and it can leave aircraft camouflage looking tatty after a period).

At the end of the day, you are the modeller building the kit, so your call on how you interpret paint schemes etc.

Regards

Alan

[JMan]

Very nice job on this beauty. Cant wait to see how your canopy turns out! Good luck!

[Mark M.]

Alan, excellent food-for-thought.

More food for thought (which helped influence my choice) is that even Luftwaffe aircraft that flew low-level missions over the channel (or over the sea) deviated from basic green/green colors, including some browns, blues, and grey, to better camouflage themselves against the wavetops. Certain recon bf109s come to mind.

Coupled with the photo of the Ar196 in storage.... I realize that could be a product of lighting, shadows, and the camera settings used, but it looks very dark to me, and more blue tinted than green.

I took it to indicate less-standard colors than usual LW RLM greens, so that made me sway towards the "other" interpretation of RLM 72/73.

Too late for this particular model (I couldn't repaint it if I wanted, now that the floats are on and it's rigged), but it looks like I have to revisit the debate for the next plane I build! I'd love to have an Ar95W to go next to my Ar196.

Cheers!

[Mark M.]

Some work on the canopy. The Airfix frame isn't 100% accurate, so I went with "what looked right compared to the frame it was sitting on" -- i.e. about twice as tall as it was deep, sloped inwards, narrow, and getting thinner towards the rear.

Note I've extended it all the way back, but the tail gun position's canopy doesn't extend this far. I'll be cutting the newly formed canopy piece to end where it needs to, at an angle.

More of the frame on, got the shape in place:

All the holes and gaps filled in. Need to let this sit overnight, reinforce it, putty the hell out of it, and sand the whole shebang into a smooth single piece.

[Mark M.]

Slathered a thin layer of putty onto the canopy, need to let it dry, sand, repeat, several times. No pics of that.

Brush painted some future where the decals will go.

Turned to the tail gun. I initially intended just to tweak the main shape, add the feed belts, and ended up adding ejection chutes, handles (cocking handles??) out of wire, and a mount for a gunsight, and finally tacked on a spare PE ring/bead gunsight pair onto it.

Took me all evening's modelling session. Hard to work this small for me. Had to use a magnifying lense to position the PE. Next time I may skip it lol!

EDIT: The default gun barrels are too short for my tastes, but I didn't really feel like risking breaking off the gunsight in order to stick some clipped-wire replacements in there.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Mark M.