Gotha Go 244 - 1974 Revell - Italaerei build... with trepidation!

GrauGeist · May 30, 2021

The low spots where the paint tore away can be built up with a few extra coats after you've done the sanding and prep work.

But it is looking fantastic, otherwise.

southerndoug · Jul 6, 2021

Look what Italeri sent me for 16 euros... some shiny new decals! Pricey, and no swastikas, but worth it seeing as how I've nearly spent a year on this thing, and was not looking forward to ruining all my effort with yellowed and poorly registered crumbly old decals.

Have been spending quite a bit of time lately fixing the peeled paint disaster, and after quite a bit of cursing, am almost happy with the result. A gloss coat has gone on, and I'm almost ready to start with the decals.

Crimea_River · Jul 6, 2021

Good stuff. Keep us posted.

southerndoug · Jul 21, 2021

Right then: decals underway. Have been having a bit of trouble, but we'll get to that...

First up, the tail cone. Having experienced the disaster of peeling paint due to tape, and not wanting to go there again, I elected to give the yellow tail band decal a go rather than masking and spraying.

With hindsight (such a wonderful thing, hindsight...) I should have cut each straight section as a seperate decal, rather than trying to apply the funky snake of a thing. Pretty well stuffed it right up, and will now have to either paint the resultant gaps OR remove the decal, mask and spray anyway. What would you guys do? I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have used the decal in the first place...

My other annoyance was the lack of swastikas in the new decals that Italeri sent me. So I checked in my new stash of unbuilt kits (yeah! I have a NEW stash now!), and raided my Eduard Bf 108 Taifun 1/48 decals, which were a very close size fit to the horrible ones I still had from the 1974 issue. However, as you know, they are split so as not to offend anyone, and I didn't do a great job of applying the first one:

...so I'm thinking I might need to do a bit of steady hand painting to fix that gap, but my question to you guys is: how do you apply those annoying split swastikas???

Other than that, I've had mixed success with some of the larger decals. The fuselage has the "hessian bag" faux canvas texture going on, and I really wish I'd sanded that back now, because when placing the decal, and using Mr Mark Softer, it gets sucked into the surface and there is almost NO time to move them into position before friction and a soft decal conspire to setting the damn thing in place. I got lucky with all 4 of the 4V+ES registration letters/number, but it was a close thing. I've noticed a bit of silvering here and there, but seem to have been able to fix that up with a bit more Mark Softer.

And that, comrades, is where I'm at!

Thanks for dropping by!

Wurger · Jul 21, 2021

Grant Barr · Jul 21, 2021

This one is coming up really nice Doug! Your paint work is beautifully done. You're right about the tail cone band - I would likely have masked and sprayed rather than use the decal. I don't have anything against decals per se, I just think that carefully masked and sprayed paint gives a much better effect.

Cant help you with the swastika question - not had to use any of the new fangled split ones just yet...

Keep up the good work - it's coming up a treat.

Wayne Little · Jul 21, 2021

Nice work.

Crimea_River · Jul 22, 2021

With Grant on the decals. The split swastikas have nt given me much trouble - just need to fiddle with them long enough to position them exactly right. Let them sit a bit before applying setting solution.

Really liking the look of your model though.

Gnomey · Jul 22, 2021

Good work so far!

southerndoug · Jul 25, 2021

Two steps forward. one step back, as the saying goes...

Had a much better result with my second attempt at the split swastika, trimming the join with a sharp x-acto before applying, letting it sit and set a bit before the lower half joined it, and voila:

But while sanding some mistakes at the rear cargo area, I heard a "pop" sound, and noticed that the whole upper fuselage join had let go, including the join to the canopy area. This was at about midnight last night. Couldn't believe it. I ran some Tamiya extra thin cement down the join, and decided to call it a night.

Back at it today, and have applied some thinned Tamiya putty after a bit of sanding. I'll let that dry before I have another go at it.

Not too sure what to do about the canopy join though.

I'll finish this bl**dy thing eventually!

Wurger · Jul 25, 2021

Crimea_River · Jul 25, 2021

Keep at it man. Looking great.

CATCH 22 · Jul 25, 2021

southerndoug said:
..so I'm thinking I might need to do a bit of steady hand painting to fix that gap, but my question to you guys is: how do you apply those annoying split swastikas???

I can tell you what I did (only 1 time though!) with a split swastika:
1. Applied first the bottom part (could line it better with a panel line).
2. Let it dry (overnight) and applied 1 layer future over and around it (with a brush).
3. After drying (1 hour or less) applied the second piece, trying to match the first one. In my case the decal didn't change its form or size so the 2 parts matched perfectly with no visible gap or overlapping.
4. After applying the second decal a very fine line (edge) was visible between the 2 parts. Applied some future over it. Done!
Read somewhere sanding with 1000-1500 over the "future sealed" decal will smooth the edges. Didn't try it with the swastika but on a different model and it's true.
Cheers!

Gnomey · Jul 26, 2021

Nicely done so far!

southerndoug · Aug 27, 2021

After fixing the crack in the fuselage and canopy, I moved on to weathering, and my first attempt at using oil paints. I didn't want the "straight out of the factory" look, and opted for fairly heavy weathering to upper surfaces, and much less so on the undersurfaces.

...didn't come out too bad! (apologies for the white balance issues in the photos)

A coat of flat varnish sealed it all in.

Finally removed the canopy masking, only to find quite a bit of dust/blemishing on the inside of the canopy, probably as a result of dust etc getting in the cargo door. I did some careful "washing" with water on a 000 paintbrush poked through the door and managed to clean up most of it.

Then it was on to fixing the cargo door in place. Used some brass rod as well as Evergreen plastic to replicate the main struts, but have little idea how this was attached in the real thing, so they are dumbed down a lot. Not super visible anyway. Also added the two small "handles" visible in some images of the cargo door, using fuse wire. Doors had glazing added to window ports, and were both glued in the open position. A landing light outboard from the port engine from a (very) old Heller Fieseler Fi 156 Storch that I fortuitously had left over from the 1970's, and a pitot tube from an equally ancient Hasegawa Bf 109E added some missing detail to the kit. Finally, a scratch built aerial of the correct height was added aft of the canopy (rather than the stubby one in the middle of it, as supplied by the kit) with some fine rigging by Uschi. I wanted to flatten the tyres where they contact the ground, but now they're attached, I'm a bit scared to try, due to how delicately the main wheels are attached to the axle.

You may have noticed I painted the nose patch yellow. I decided (in the absence of any official information, mind you!) that this was the most likely colour for this patch, as the aircraft of KGr.z.b.V. 104 and 106 had yellow on the cowlings of their Ju 52/3m's, which the Go 244 replaced (only briefly though). Some black and white images that I've found show this patch standing out as prominently as the yellow tail band, so I don't think it's just more Hellblau. Anyway, happy to start a debate on that one!

And so, finally, after 14 months, I declare this zombie built! It fought me the whole way, but I've tried a heap of things that I normally wouldn't have, and have learnt a lot along the way. I've kind of come to admire the lines of this aircraft, built in only very limited numbers (<150 airframes total). It's still the only decent kit of the Gotha 242/244 in any scale, although I see ICM is due to release a 1/48th scale Go 242 sometime this year. Looking at the way ICM produce kits, that could mean a Go 244 will not be far behind. I could be tempted...

Thanks for following along, and adding your comments and encouragement along the way. I've enjoyed the journey and your virtual company! I'm well and truly suckered back in to model making now (you should see my stash!).

cheers, Doug