Blohm & Voss 194, Revell 1/72

[Michel C]

I've learned so much from this site and this forum that I thought I should post a little something about my current build. So here it is:

The build is already under way so no pics of the box's content.

Here is some of the work done to improve the cockpit:

And engine:

That's all for now. More to come.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Michel C

[HOLMES]

Michel C

Oh wow !!!I am so looking forward to this classy Bird...

Nice work on the engine..Keep up the good work.

[ChernayaAkula]

Nice work so far! The cockpit looks A LOT better. Can't wait to see it painted.

[SmashedGlass]

Looking good Michel.

[Michel C]

Thanks everyone!

Some pics of the BMW 801 engine now painted:

The cockpit comes next.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Michel C

[Michel C]

Here is the finished cockpit of my B&V 194. It was painted with Vallejo paints and spruced up with some bits and pieces from the decal sheet. The work was fun and I'm not unhappy with the result.

The seatbelts and seat frame came from PART and the rudder pedals from EDUARD. These were not specifically made for this kit, rather they were leftovers from other kits. The map was made with cigarette paper colored with color pencils.

I used Future for the dial faces and Gunze matt clear for the flat finish. Some scuff marks and dirt were made with light gray and brown in addition to the usual dry-brushing and wash.

Next come the guns and closing of the gondola.

Thanks for watching.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Michel C

[HOLMES]

Absolutely AMAZING bit of work Michel

Love the details and the NEAT , FLAWLESS workmanship..WAY TO GO....

[Michel C]

Thanks Holmes for the nice words! :D

Here is what happened next. Before closing up the gondola the matter of the cannons needed to be resolved. I’d figured that four bits of hypo needle would do the trick but not so, as things turned out to be a bit more complicated (as usual).

By going over my references again I was reminded that the B&V 194 was to be armed with two 20 mm MG 151 and two MK 103 cannons and not MK 108 as I thought. Only the cannons’ muzzles would show but…

The MG 151 is not a problem. As can be seen on the pic the muzzle is a tube that easily can be done with hypo needle or the like.

However, the MK 103 with its heavy muzzle brake is much harder to scratch as can be seen here:

As scratching is out of the question there are two ways to go: whether we use the whimsical character of the RLM to justify a change from the MK 103 to the MK 108 (whose muzzle is a simple tube) or, why not, to four MG 151. That’s four pieces of hypo needle, done.

Or we follow history (if we can use that term in the field of Luft 46 ) and search for an after market MK 103. It turns out that there is a small German firm that produces accessories in turned metal, including the MK 103 in 1/72. Here is how it looks like:

With its amazing level of detail this piece would certainly add to the finished kit. Want to guess which way I chose?

Right!

A few days later I found this in the mailbox:

Here is how it looks next to the MG 151 in a quick dry-fit:

The caliber of the MK 103 is 30x184B meaning the cartridges alone were 184 mm (= 7’’) long. I wanted to know that because I intended to hollow out the ejection ports that are represented by decals on the kit.

So I that's what I did.

I blocked off the area behind the holes will pieces of styrene painted black. I offset them to increase the illusion of depth.

Here is how it looks like in the end:

Edited March 9, 2012 by Michel C

[Michel C]

Shooting such big guns is not without consequences: you get shot at! So let’s get to the back armor, which I had already scratched earlier (the kit’s part is way too thick) but needed redoing because there was no way to attach the thing. :blink:

Here is the new one I did that can easily be inserted between fuselage and pit and has plenty of area to use glue on.

And here it is in place behind the seat:

The headrest has been left off for after painting.

To be continued. :)

Edited March 9, 2012 by Michel C

[dogsbody]

That's coming along very nicely.

Chris

[Michel C]

Thanks Chris! :)

To get a build moving there's nothing like a good cup of tea! In this case green tea "Asian Temple."

First open the bag and empty it out.

Place the content in a tea infuser. Add hot water but make sure it is not boiling or it'll ruin the subtle taste of the green tea.

While the tea infuses let's go to the work bench with the empty tea bag, which will be very useful for the build'd next step: look at it closely and you'll see it has very fine mesh that is perfect to make a grille.

The one that I'll make will go under the canopy behind the back armor, which is an area of the kit with not detail whatsoever. The grille and a rail for the canopy opening mechanism will add some life.

The rail is made of a piece of lead foil (or whatever metal alloy they use these days) and the grille frame is made of a piece of soda can.

The trick when one scratches this kind of part is to make the hole or slit first and cut around after. Reverse the sequence and the piece will inevitably warp.

When I scratch small parts I always use my digital camera and sometimes the pc to blow up pictures of the pieces. This makes it easy to spot faults and then correct them.

The rest is easy. A piece of mesh from the tea bag was cut to size and fixed under the frame. This was then glued in place together with the rail using CA.

Edited March 10, 2012 by Michel C

[Michel C]

For delicate work for which I need both hands I like to use polystyrene, the type used to protect objects during shipment, to make a holder.

Done.

Time to paint. Gunze RLM 66 is used, lightened with some Tamiya Flat White (the two brands mix well), to keep with scale and zenithal lighting effect.

Wash and dry-brushing to make the details pop and voila!

Now it's time to sit back and admire the handiwork while enjoying...

...my cup of tea! :D

Edited March 10, 2012 by Michel C

[chukw]

Wonderful work, Michel- you're going to make a tea drinker out of me!

Cheers-

chuk

[Michel C]

Wonderful work, Michel- you're going to make a tea drinker out of me!

Cheers-

chuk

Wow, coming from you, Chuk, that's quite something! Although I haven't posted any comments to your in-progress threads I've been following them avidly. I've learned so much from them, I wouldn't miss them for anything. I take away a new piece of tech from each of your updates and they are always soooooooo entertaining. Hilarious at times and always highly aesthetic. So let me return the compliment and I promise I'll be posting my own words of appreciation to your unique threads in the future!

Michel

[ChernayaAkula]

It's great to see so much attention to detail!

Diggin' those big Mk 103s!

Edited December 1, 2011 by ChernayaAkula

[Michel C]

Scribing is not the modeling step that I prefer but it's got to be done. And I just bought myself a Verlinden template that'll make things more interesting. And anyway the only bit of scribing needed is to redo what was lost during assembly as the kit has very nice engraved lines.

Here is what I use:

The Verlinden template is on the right. On the left are the Haseg/Tri Tool guides for round lines on the fuselage.

I use dividers points for the scribing and Dymo tape as a guide. The razor blade and Tamiya Extra Fluid are to remove the plastic residues on each side of the engraved line.

When it's a complex line, like a rounded line on a rounded surface as here, I prefer to be sure by first tracing the line with a pencil before scribing.

Then you can verify the line before committing:

That looks good enough.

The Verlinden template has about everything one can wish for when modeling a plane in 1/72:

It's bendy and with some Magic tape one can hold it in position well enough.

One can even use it to scribe such details as tank caps.

Here is one of the kit's original tank cap:

And here is the one I made with the template:

That's it. As I said, not much scribing was needed. I hope I didn't bore you to death with this unexciting update. But having learned most of my techniques from the net (and still do) I figure that it might be useful to someone out there.

See you very shortly for the next update. :D

Edited March 28, 2012 by Michel C

[Michel C]

This kit is pretty good but the wheel wells are a letdown. Besides the pin marks smack in the middle of the well, the entire thing is wrongly engineered with half of it molded to the upper wing and half to the lower so that there is a joint going all the way around the well at mid-height. Great!

After sanding before assembly, re-sanding after assembly, filling and re-sanding it looked like this:

All my micro-sanding tools were put in play:

Priming with Mr. Surfacer 1200 revealed more flaws so more filling...

...re-sanding, re-surfacer, re-etc., to get to something acceptable. It's not perfect, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

OK, I'm reconciled with Mr. Revell, we can get on with it.

The rear wheel was empty so I closed it up with stock styrene and added some detail.

Painting is next: Gunze RLM 02 base coat after some pre-shading (of which not much will be seen later :( )

[Michel C]

Then the fun starts with some mud spatter.

Oil paints are used to make a thick wash, raw umber and mars black. Three grades will be used starting from straight raw umber and then darkening with black till a very dark brown is obtained. That'll create diversity.

All that's needed now is to load a flat brush with the wash and rub it against a toothpick sending a spatter of fine drops onto the target area.

The spatter goes all over the place. Protection goggles B) mandatory!

Then the usual wash and drybrushing.

And matt clear.

I like it dirty. Don't you?

There's one more weathering step to be done. Coming soon.

[Sebastijan]

that's a great tip on weathering the wells!

Love the progress so far!

[Michel C]

Thanks Sebastijan, glad you like it! ;)

Here is some more weathering I did on the wheel wells, with pigments, a first for me.

I used Mig products:

I experimented, learned, made mistakes, learned some more and managed to get something done that's not too bad. The methods I used can be sorted into three main categories.

1. Dust

I applied the pigments with a brush, dabbed some fixer (blue label) also with a brush and voila!

I did this behind the back armor where some dust was in order, if only to break up the color monotone.

2. Dried mud

In the wells, where mud accumulates and forms a thicker layer once dry, something heavier was needed. To do this I mixed the pigments with the wash thinner (red label) making in effect a thick wash. It is much easier to apply the pigments in a thick layer and control them in a liquid state than dry. Dry they go all over the place. The wash can be guided into the areas where one wishes to add more mud with much more precision.

Once the thinner has evaporated (few minutes) the pigments return to their prior state of fine powder. If one doesn't like the result one can just brush it away with a clean brush and start over. If one is satisfied, add the fixer and he's set. The fixer creates a thin film when it dries, that protects the pigments underneath even when the layer is rather thick.

I like the contrast in the corners where there is the dark stuff from the acrylic wash next to the lighter pigments. I think it adds dimension.

Here is the before and after pigments:

3. Runs

I wanted to show the effect water has (rain, condensation) when it runs through the dust/dried mud. To do this I used a brush dipped in wash thinner and made strokes on the sides of the well in the direction of gravity. The thinner dissolves the fixer and thus makes marks that look like water runs.

Seen "from below" it's quite realistic.

Wheel wells done! Time to get on with the rest. :D

[Daan]

Scribing is not the modeling step that I prefer but it's got to be done. And I just bought myself a Verlinden template that'll make things more interesting. And anyway the only bit of scribing needed is to redo what was lost during assembly as the kit has very nice engraved lines.

Here is what I use:

The Verlinden template is on the right. On the left are the Haseg/Tri Tool guides for round lines on the fuselage.

I use dividers points for the scribing and Dymo tape as a guide. The razor blade and Tamiya Extra Fluid are to remove the plastic residues on each side of the engraved line.

When it's a complex line, like a rounded line on a rounded surface as here, I prefer to be sure by first tracing the line with a pencil before scribing.

Then you can verify the line before committing:

That looks good enough.

The Verlinden template has about everything one can wish for when modeling a plane in 1/72:

It's bendy and with some Magic tape one can hold it in position well enough.

One can even use it to scribe such details as tank caps.

Here is one of the kit's original tank cap:

And here is the one I made with the template:

That's it. As I said, not much scribing was needed. I hope I didn't bore you to death with this unexciting update. But having learned most of my techniques from the net (and still do) I figure that it might be useful to someone out there.

See you very shortly for the next update. :D

I'm really impressed by the techniques you're using. Though I more a rotor person, I learn a lot of it. So it isn't a waste of time at all!

Thanks!

Daan

[Michel C]

Thanks Daan, great to know you learned something. It motivates me to keep posting (and modeling as well)! :)

[Michel C]

HNY to everyone and happy modelling!

I hope you found lots of plastic under the Xmas tree in view of a great modelling year!

Lets get on with the Blohm & Voss saga with the gunsight.

I used this...

,

...to replace this...

...with something that looks like this:

source

First I had to find a way to recreate the smoked glass. That was solved by using this good old roll of photo film.

That's an endangered species, stock up while you still can!

Quickboost provides an acetate sheet for the reflecting glass. I used it to make one of the two reflector glasses and made a copy using the film for the second one.

It was a piece of cake, only took me 5 attempts before getting it right.

The Quickboost detail is great although you see nothing before painting. After a coat of Vallejo Black Gray, though, it pops.

Some more paint and detailing work, attach the glass with white glue and voila:

In case you haven't seen it before and for those interested in this kind of thing there is a fantastic site with tons of stuff on Luftwaffe instruments. Its in German and English. Check it out here: cockpit instruments

Besides pics of the Revi 16B there are even pics of the mount:

Which was easy to do with some bits of copper wire:

[Michel C]

Glue the sight in place and that's it!

That puts the finishing touch to the pit area.

More to come soon! ;)

[ChernayaAkula]

So much WIN!