ICM 1:72 scale Heinkel He 51

[Bustedwing]

Well this is the second Luftwaffe bi plane I'm having a go at. It will be the first time I ad the rigging wires as well. I built a Number of RAF WW2 bi planes when I was younger 40 odd years ago but never tried rigging them. If this works out I might drag out my Swordfish and have a crack at it.

It has some fairly decent cockpit detail for the size of the kit. I only added the photo etched belts.

There are also no slots or locating pins for the lower wing and the stabilizers so I used some brass rod to make some as well as removing the elevators to pose themdown .

 

[Wurger]

 

[Capt. Vick]

 

[SANCER]

Nice start

 

[Crimea_River]

I agree.

 

[Gnomey]

Nicely done so far!

 

[parsifal]

Different ways of approaching the rigging issue. The way I am most comfortable with is to use invisible thread

If the wings have two halves for each part, you can conceal the thread ends within the wings. if not the best way in my opinion is to try and incorporate the end of the thread along some seam or strut.

Anyway there are guys here that have a wealth of experience and happy to help ive found.

BTW, nice progress so far.

 

[Bustedwing]

Well it was kind of interesting to paint something other than 70.71 over 65 ! I started out farting around with invisible thread but couldn't get it taught enough so it didn't look saggy. I tried lighting a toothpick on fire, blowing it out and using the heat to shrink it but after a half dozen or so times gave up. I ended up using EZ Line black instead. I used forceps to hold a bit of tension on it while the super glue set which works well. So far so good. The wings may be a different story !

 

[fubar57]

Good stuff Graham. Love the colors of the He 51s

 

[parsifal]

so unusual. looks great.

 

[SANCER]

Se ve muy bien Graham
I remain attentive to what follows.

Saludos

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Great looking model so far.

Have you considered joining us for a Group Build on Nov 1? The subject is WW2 bombers.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Bustedwing]

Great looking model so far.

Have you considered joining us for a Group Build on Nov 1? The subject is WW2 bombers.

Sure I would love to. I'm not too fast though !

 

[parsifal]

Sure I would love to. I'm not too fast though !

If you entered the next GB (heavy hitters), it starts 1 November and runs through to 03 March '19

 

[Bustedwing]

Ever slid across the Tri line and hit doggy poo ? Well I'm all ready to glue the top wing on. Got all my holes drilled, all my stays strung and guess what ? The outer wing struts are too short or maybe the fuselage braces are too long but they're already painted and glued in place. I tried making some new braces out of styrene but they were too thin and like rubber so I ended up making some from aluminum which I crazy glued in place. The other chien de poo poo is the exhaust. You have to glue the individual stacks onto the manifold which is not a big deal really. The problem is the instructions don't give an order of assembly so I glued the top of the engine cowl on before placing the exhaust. The exhaust fairings take a lot of clean up to fit over the stacks. Then the exhaust just doesn't fit period. I sanded as much off the back of them as I could but no luck. I ended up having to pry the cowling back off and shaving down the inside of the fuselage before they would fit but they're in there !

 

[Bustedwing]

If you entered the next GB (heavy hitters), it starts 1 November and runs through to 03 March '19

Curious enough, I only really build Luftwaffe planes and the closest I have to a " heavy hitter" is a Ju88. I do however have a 1:72 scale Enola Gay B-29 that I've never given much thought to building. I think that's about as " heavy hitter" as one can get ?

 

[Airframes]

Very nice work, and glad you overcame the strut problem.
The Ju88 and / or the B-29 would be very welcome in the next GB.

 

[parsifal]

"heavy hitters" is interpreted as basically any bomber. The only real stipulations are that it is from WWII and is a bomber or strike aircraft of some kind. Cannot be what might be categorised as a fighter bomber.

So either of your suggestions would be suitable, as Terry says.

My nomination, btw, is a Ju87G. About as non-bomber , whilst still being a bomber, that it gets.