1/48 MPM Heinkel He 177 A5 "Captured Bird", FINISHED :-) !!!

[Ohm-men]

I found the time to get a bit more done on the Big Heinkel. Progress is a bit slow as a kit this size takes some extra pre-planning in order to avoid mistakes later on.

I started on the cockpit and the other crew compartiments. Since this kit is a short run, there is a lot of cleaning and dry fitting.
I also tried a (new to me) paint technique. The idea is that you imangine a light bulb above the part that you are painting in order to create shadows. Since the Heinkel had a RLM 66 "Schartzgrau" interiour, I had to avoid of making it apear as a black hole.

Since Eduards Pre painted etchings for this kit are more RLM 02 then RLM 66, I tried darkening them with high grade watercolours to get them closer to the cockpit colour. Cockpit is far from finished, but it gives you some idea.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far!

 

[fubar57]

Great

 

[SANCER]

Great stuff so far.
Saludos

 

[Ohm-men]

Thanks for all the kind responses. I realize that the pics I took apear quiet dark. I'll try to post some better ones later on.

So Far I concluded that there is a minor mistake in MPM's cockpit build up. The bulkhead that holds the radiorack and the ammo box for the C-stand, will not fit as the ammo box sits in the way of the floor, making it impossible to line up the cockpit floor with the bulkhead.
So I think I will cut out a slot so the ammo box will slide in the cockpitfloor. Since this will not be visible, I'll go ahead with this.
If this does not work, Then I'll have to cut the Ammobox in two and glue one part on top and the other to the bottom of the cockpitfloor in order to get things aligned and getting a good fit of the fuselage halves.

I also think that the "tail end charlie's" office will give me some grief as well. MPM kind of oversimplified the end of the stinger. Pics show that this was a rather complicated construction on the real aircraft in order to create the necesary azimut for the Mk 151-20.
And since I'm not gonna put the cannon in, I'll have to improvise a bit regarding the detail on this part.

As you can see in the pics of the He 177 A5's tail, there were actually some kind of "brushes" added on the "moving part's" of the tail.
I never noticed this before...Now I have to come up with a somewhat realistic solution to create this in the 1/48th scale...

 

[Airframes]

Nicely done - the re-painting worked out well.
I have a drawing of the cockpit layout if it will help at all.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

In 1/48 scale, it's likely not worth trying to replicate the brushes on the turret. Maybe just ad some strips of tape.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good start, so far moving along nicely.

 

[Ohm-men]

Nicely done - the re-painting worked out well.
I have a drawing of the cockpit layout if it will help at all.

Thanks! Turned out to be pretty easy. I have a set of Windsor and Newton Auquarel paint which has a very strong pigment and works really great on painted model surfaces. I wasn't sure it would work on Eduards pre-painted brass parts, but after a few layers, I was able to build up the effect. The really nice thing is that since the paint is water based, it's easy to clean of with a damp tissue. And since it's very thin paint, it's also easy to paint arround the nice coloured details of the Eduard set.
I must say that these pre-painted etchings are fantastic.

As for the cockpit drawing, it will be of great help. There is one part I'm still very puzzled about. If you look at the front of the cockpit, you can clearly see the Pilot's and Co-Pilot's Foot steering divices and the bomb sight related boxes. But there is a space under the cockpit floor right under the above described items. In the kit this apears as a void. But I can't imagine there was nothing...Perhaps there was a perforated bulkhead or some strenghtening plate or some cables? Under this "void" sits the cannon (Mk 103-20) But even "Weal's" cutaway drawing is not really informative about this "void", so is Eduard's interiour set as they provide no detail part for this either. If anyone can shed a light on this, it will be most helpful.

In 1/48 scale, it's likely not worth trying to replicate the brushes on the turret. Maybe just ad some strips of tape.

That's a great idea! I'll go with that. I'm sure that a thin piece of Tamiya tape on the tail surfaces will give the desired optical effect.
Thanks for the tip!

 

[Airframes]

I can't get to the book which has the drawing at the moment, as I have a team of people replacing part of my central heating system. But I'll get to it later this evening and scan the drawing and post it here.

 

[Airframes]

Finally got rid of the gas fitters, plumbers and electricians, and got to the bookshelves !
Here's the cockpit drawing, and a section of the cutaway drawing from the book 'Wings of the Luftwaffe', by Eric Brown.
If you need the 'key' to the numbered parts of the cockpit, let me know, and I'll scan it in sections, as it is divided between two pages.
Incidentally, this book gives the Werke Nr of the captured He-177A-5/R6 as 412951.

 

[JKim]

Good Greif! Great start to a very interesting kit! Cool markings too!

 

[Ohm-men]

Hi all. I made a bit more progress but's it has been slow. The eduard interior set is very demanding and a true test for the nerves as there are a lot of very small parts that are almost impossible to add to the model.

Though I'm in need of some help. The seat of the gunner in the cockpit remains a bit of a mistery to me. Eduard provides a new base for it and somehow the modeller must put the kit's seat on this new part. But I don't see how...

Here are some pics from the Eduard website. Though they are of some help, they still don't show how to exactly place the seat...
I know there is a Pilot's manual for the He-177 with loads of pics in it, but I can't seam to find it anywhere.

 

[Wurger]

How do the new base and the armchair look like? Especially the seat underneath...

 

[Ohm-men]

I'll try to post some pics later.
The new base is a flat square with a hole in one corner, where you are suposed to mount the chair on. Presumebly by glueing a round piece of plasticcard to support the chair. Problem is that the kit's seat underside is not square and there is a small circle which could be used to glue it, but if you use this, then the seat is to far of the actual dome where the gunner should normally has his head in.
I hope the above makes some sense. I hope to see a pictue-re of the actual seat in a A5 just to get the idea where this seat should be and how it "sit's" compared to the base plate...

I looked through all my references, but drew a blank.

 

[Wurger]

Let's see how these look like. I think I know how you should attach the seat there but need to see these parts to confirm.

 

[Ohm-men]

Thanks Wojtek! I think I found a solution for the gunners seat. I looked again over Weal's drawing (which is posted by airframes) and it seams the gunners seat was attached on the flat plate by some kind of telescopic pole. I made an estimate regarding the height based on the above mentioned drawing and came up with this. I enlarged the base on which the seat will be attached in order to keep it straight after I glue it. I used two diameters of plastic tubing (one solid and one holow) to give the pole some body. I'm pretty happy how it turned out. I think the seat sits at it's appropriate height. t's not glued yet in the pics, as I need to position it a bit further back. But it gives you some idea.

There is still a ton of work on this kit and it's not easely tamed... But I feel I'm getting some grip on this kit. I love the pre-painted Eduard stuff, but it's a pain to install...

 

[Wurger]

Yes, I have thought about the same. However I would make it in easier way. Just a plastic stick and not too deep hole drilled in the bottom of the seat as a slot for the stick..