**** DONE: GB-36 1/48 Bf110D - Axis Manufactured Aircraft of WWII

[Crimea_River]

Glad to see you've found another use for your mascara.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wojtek and Kirby.
Just having a short break from working on the exhausts and wheels etc - pics soon.
Andy, it is NOT mascara old chap, it's an eye-brow pencil, given to me years ago by a female friend - when my moustache started to go grey !!!!

 

[Crimea_River]

Right old bean, let's go with that...

 

[Airframes]

Got quite a bit more done, although didn't get as far as I thought I would - most of the time was spent cleaning-up and painting the resin exhausts and wheels, and going cross-eyed painting the 'whitewall' conducting tail tyre !
The pics below show the state of play to date, and I hope to get the remaining exhausts fitted, and the undercarriage, tomorrow afternoon.

PIC 1. It's a bit difficult to see here, as the flash has 'killed' the reflection somewhat, but the black code letters and numbers have been given a coat of semi-gloss varnish, in order to replicate the sheen as seen on aircraft of this unit, including W.Nr 3155 (see the pic of the wreckage, earlier in this thread).
PICS 2 and 3. The 'Quickboost' resin exhausts have been cleaned-up, painted and weathered, with the starboard side exhausts fitted in place. The port side will be fitted tomorrow.
PIC 4. The 'True Details' resin wheels, painted and with earth stains added.

More pics and details soon ........................

 

[turbo]

Looking good Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Kirby.

 

[parsifal]

nice work terry

 

[Crimea_River]

That's coming out beautifully. A fine addition to the collection.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Agree with all

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much chaps, it's appreciated.
Hoping to get the other exhausts, undercarriage and main canopy done later, and with luck, I might have it finished by the end of the week - hands permitting.

 

[Airframes]

It's progressing well (which is a bit worrying !), with the port side exhausts on, and the main canopy and the tail wheel in place, although this small amount of work was quite time consuming, with more clean-up of the Eduard parts required, and some poor fitting areas too.

PIC 1. The port side exhausts in place. For some reason, the CA adhesive would just not 'grab' these parts at first, and it took some time, after cleaning-off CA residue, to get the darned things to stay put.
PIC 2. The instructions call for what I believe is the trailing antenna remote (parts G85 and G45), to be mounted on the inside of the canopy, port side. This seemed odd to me, so I checked reference photos, and found that this unit was normally mounted in one of two locations on the port cockpit wall. The location for part G52, the roof antenna RF unit, is correct, although, unlike the old Fujimi kit, no wiring is provided for this in the Eduard kit.
PIC 3. Consequently, the parts were fitted to the cockpit wall, after painting in RLM 02, indicated here by the yellow arrow.
PIC 4. The RF unit was attached to the canopy using Humbrol Clear Fix, and the wiring added from stretched sprue.
PICS 5 and 6. The main canopy section in place. This was a poor fit, as it isn't quite wide enough along the lower edge, and wouldn't 'seat' properly. It was eventually coaxed into some semblance of the correct position, and gradually cemented in place, step by step, after first 'holding' it in position with Clear Fix. The joint line will be sealed with a bead or two of PVA once it has set, ad the area re-touched as required.
PIC 7. Eduard offer two tail wheel options, a 'solid' one-piece moulding, or a separate wheel and two-part yoke, the latter being used here. Anyone building this kit, do yourself a favour, and use the 'solid' part ! The fit is not good and there is a moulding seam around the center of the tyre tread area, plus heavy sprue attachment points to be removed. As the yoke is rather large, and touches the wheel and tyre, there is no advantage in fiddling about to paint and assemble these parts.
The tyre was painted after painting the hub in RLM 02, and then the 'whitewall' conductor area was added freehand. I had tried using a home-cut mask, but it wouldn't adhere very well. It's not perfect by any means, but after adding dirt/mud stains, it's passable enough - note that it is not as stark as seen in the pic, where the flash has 'burnt out' the contrast.

I'n expecting visitors later this evening, so I doubt I'll get any more done - shame, I'd hoped to get the main undercarriage legs fitted at least.
However, I should have another up-date some time tomorrow, all being well..

 

[Crimea_River]

Very good Terry and the tail wheel turned out very well. A couple of things:

I wonder if there was some casting residue on the resin parts that prevented the CA from adhering. It's a good idea to wash the parts with dishsoap before applying them. In the case of CA, I often find the stuff not working well on glossy surfaces, though I don't know if that's what you had there. When using CA on PE parts, for instance, I always score the surface with a knife or coarse sandpaper which usually does the trick.

I do have evidence of the trailing antenna controller being mounted as instructed by Eduard. The below pic shows it in this location though I don't know what mark Bf-110 this is.

You're right about the tail wheel. I did use the multi-parted version because I like seeing daylight between the wheel and yoke but the fit was not great.

For the canopy, I seem to recall having the same problem. I don't remember if I solved it this way but when faced with this situation, I will secure one side with CA (having first dipped the clear parts in Future!) and then "coaxing" the unglued canopy side out to be flush with the fuselage while applying CA to the joint with your third hand. This works well if the kit has thin glazing, which the Eduard 110 thankfully does have.

All in all, it's coming together beautifully.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy and Wojtek.

Andy, the resin exhausts were cleaned, and the mating surfaces lightly filed. The slots in the cowlings had been masked for spraying, and the masks removed. The starboard side attached without problems, but as mentioned, it took ages to get those on the port side to 'stick'.
I suspect that the instructions are correct for the trailing aerial remote, as the kit is for the 'E' variant. However, photos of earlier 'C' and 'D' models show the unit either where I've put it, or mounted alongside the rear instrument panel.
I might try to remove the canopy and re-fit it, if it will come off without damaging it.
Got a hospital and doctor's appointment this afternoon and tomorrow, but I'm hoping to get a lot more done, and possibly even get it finished by the end of the weekend.

 

[Crimea_River]

A bottle of CA accelerator might come in handy for cases like that.

 

[JKim]

The 110 looks great Terry! The working properties of CA glue are a great mystery to me. It is relentless when fusing your fingerpad to a toothpick but it sometimes refuses to grip on the simplest of parts attachments.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks John.

I've decided to live with the slight step on the bottom edge of the main canopy, as it would be extremely difficult to correct at this stage, even if I could remove the canopy without damaging it.
Instead, a bead of PVA has been run along the joint on both sides, reducing the step slightly, and will be re-touched and given a clear matt coat when fully set. Hopefully, this will improve the appearance which, to the naked eye, isn't actually that bad.
Meanwhile, the gun sight, windscreen, landing lamp and the main legs of the undercarriage have been fitted, as shown below.

PIC 1. The kit REVI sight is, as usual in most kits, a one-piece clear part. I was going to remove the reflector screen, which had a mould seam down the center, and replace this with a piece of clear sheet. However, this would not have aligned properly with the moulded representation of the sun screen, in its retracted position, so I removed the seam and polished the 'glass'. The sight body was then painted, along with the 'crash pad', and the 'sun screen' given a tint coat, mixed using Tamiya clear blue and clear green.
PICS 2 and 3. The windscreen has had the grab handles and the locking latch fitted, made from stretched sprue, and was then attached using PVA. Of course, as with the main canopy section, the screen is slightly too narrow at the edges, so the joints have been sealed with PVA, and will be re-touched once set. The handles and latch will also be painted at this stage.
PIC 4. Some years back, our friend Guttorm, from the R.No.AF Museum at Gardemoen, mentioned that the landing lamp covers on the Museum's Luftwaffe aircraft were tinted yellow. Now I'm not sure if this was standard on all Luftwaffe aircraft, or just for operations in snow conditions, which would make sense, as it would reduce glare, rather like car fog lights used to be in the 1950's and 1960's. Anyway, as this aircraft was based at Stavanger, Norway, I reckoned the lamp cover would probably be yellow, so the kit part was given a coat of Tamiya clear yellow, with the rear face in chrome silver. It seems to have worked quite well, I think.
PIC 5. The undercarriage main legs have been fitted, and will be allowed to set before adding the bracing struts, door guards and doors. The resin wheels will then be fitted, and fixed with a drop of CA once the 'flats' have been aligned, which I hope to get done tomorrow.

Once that's done, it'll then be time to make inroads on the fiddly, 'sticky-out' bits, including scratch-building the Lorenz beam approach antenna, and wrestling with the slightly complex opening section of the rear canopy.
With a bit of luck and a following wind, given I don't run in to problems, I just might get this finished over the weekend.
Thanks again for your interest and compliments, and I'll be back soon .........................

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice work Terry. There was probably a long discussion about it when Guttorm claimed the lenses to be yellow but I wonder if it was just the fact that the perspex aged in the environment over the many years.