1/48 Me 410A-1/U-2 Dietrich Puttfarken - Me/FW Group Build

[Maximowitz]

Bloody marvelous Andy!

 

[ellis995]

 

[Crimea_River]

Cheers fellas. I appreciate all the kind words.

Picking up where we left off, the finished rear armament mechanism is now painted and done.

The final bits before closing the canopy up were the various wires and the junction box for the antenna. The below pic shows the antenna lead to the rear radio compartment. It was originally molded into the frame but I cut this section out and replaced it with copper wire.

Next, another section of wire was run up the side of starboard canopy (seen at left). The end of this wire goes to the junction box on the port section (at right) which I fabricated of plastic card. It will be impossible to actually connect it since these halves will go together at an inaccessible point so close will be good enough. Also seen on the right piece is the wire that runs from the antenna mast over to the junction box. This shot also shows some gusset plates that I added with plastic card as these were evident in several cockpit shots I have of this aircraft.

The same bits now painted up:

Finally, it was time to get the canopy on. This took a lot of careful fitting (some filing was required) and after I was satisfied, I glued the starboard section down first, a little at a time, to ensure the best fit all around. Once this had set, the port section was dry fiitted and several passes with a file produced a satisfactory fit. The below picture shows the halves together with the upper seam clamped. After this, the lower seam of the port section was aligned and glued down.

This was a lot of fiddley work and could have easily gone south but I'm happy to say that the fit was pretty good.

Thanks again for looking in. To everyone, I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

STUPENDOUS WORK Andy!!!!!
And Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!

 

[fubar57]

Outstanding Andy. Happy Holidays

Geo

 

[vikingBerserker]

Wow, I gotta say, "DAM!"

 

[Airframes]

Excellent work Andy, and a Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year to you too.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks everyone. Spent a bit of time yesterday cleaning up the seam on the canopy and various touch-ups not worth photographing.

 

[treyzx10r]

Andy simply amazing,the detail you're putting into this build is absoluely incredible.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Trey. Still a bit of a laundry list of "to do's", namely scratch built flame dampers, exhaust stubs on the exposed engine, more wheel well detail once the doors go on, main gear struts etc.... Then it's off to the paint shop. I have a long break before going back to work on the 9th and should get a decent amount done in between ski days.

 

[Crimea_River]

Today was flame damper day and I went all out. Having researched as many sources as I've had access to, I set about scratch building some straight, tubular units. Most photos show this style but there appear to be a couple of variations. Nonetheless, since no photos exist of my subject aircraft, anything is speculation anyway so I chose the simplest to make.

I started by cutting two lengths of 4.8mm tube and thinning the ends. The side with the open engine will not have tubes so I'm just making the two for the starboard side.

Next, I fretted over whether I should try to make the grilles in the front of the tube and decided to go for it. For these, I started with a pair of punched discs of plastic card and 30 gauge wire cut into circles of varying diameters,

After gluing the circular wires to the discs, a cross hair pattern of stretched sprue was added.

Then the completed discs were glued into the tubes.

Next, I set about making a slot to fit the tube over the exhaust stubs. Simply drilling some holes and opening the slot with a sharp knife did the trick.

The tubes dry-fitted over the exhaust stubs:

Next, fastening straps were made with strips of Tamiya tape

Finally, not leaving well enough alone, I though I'd try my luck at the clamps on the straps. A narrow piece of plastic card was cut and tiny holes drilled to receive a length of sprue.

Et voila!

Thanks for checking in.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Why do you even buy kits? Outstanding work!

 

[T Bolt]

WOW I think I made a mistake moving myself to the advanced category.

 

[Torch]

Looks like C#@p, please when your done send me this pile of plastic of course very carefully packed mind you.........dumbfounded by the amount of talent on this board when it comes to modeling...

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. It's not always I have the mood to go this far but something yesterday just clicked. Hope to get the other 3 clamps done today.

 

[rochie]

great stuff Andy, they look amazing

 

[Airframes]

Cracking job Andy, get yourself a large Scotch - Jan's paying !

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, in that case, I'll fill my wine carboy!

Worked on the drop tanks today but will be hitting the slopes tomorrow. Pics Friday.

 

[Njaco]

Jeez H Christmas!!!! Tryuly superb work!!!

 

[Maximowitz]

I assume there will be scale figures of Puttfarken and Lux to sit in the cockpit?