Luft46's Blog

Have made some progress today after very little modelling lately. The A bomb is now ready to have the fins added soonish and the Natter is marching along. All major parts are now added for the body and I’ve done work on the canopy and rockets. The front rocket piece is too wide for the body, should have test fitted this earlier so it’s back to Milliput to smooth this in,. The canopy needed a reasonable bit of fettling and the rear rockets are fun, essentially the nozzles need hollowing out as well as shortening to duplicate the photos in the Classic Publications Projekt Natter book on page 128. Below is the current state of play on the benchtop.

My son’s girlfriend recently went to Paris and bought us back a small gift, she didn’t quite realise how special it would be for a modeller…. an etched steel Eiffel tower.

On the more usual front I managed to finish closing up the Natter halves ready for filler.

No not a talk but the Brengun Bachem 349 rocket plane. I bought the whif in a box version with Japanese, Czech and Israeli decals. Frankly the latter 2 are beyond unlikely, as the primary mission of the Natter was point defence against a bomber stream which was unlikely to happen to either the Czechs or the Israelis in that time scale. OTOH if the Japanese had have got the Natter they at least had a mission for it in attacking the B-29’s fire bombing their cities. Yes it is unlikely but at least vaguely possible.
When I bought the kit I also bought Brenguns detail set. This consists of etched brass and resin parts. The brass details are mostly to add some detail in the cockpit and the exhaust area. The resin pieces are for the rockets and the exhaust area. I chose not to use the rockets as I will use them in some other project and the kit ones are adequate. The rest I will use. Like the old Heller kit this kit goes together pretty quickly even with the extra cockpit detailing. Like the Heller kit it also includes a faux wood stand. The photo below is my work to date before I join everything up.

And below is my other current project. This is also Brengun and a 1/144 Fat Man atomic bomb. This should also be a quick kit of brass and resin.

This is the Ace limited run kit from the Ukraine with all that implies. The main body is now part assembled using my patented Dual Bond technology, that is I used a little super glue to get the initial join followed by some Mr. cement limonene glue for a larger bond. This was done on the middle bit and both ends will be done tomorrow but there will definitely be some filling and sanding needed. I also used some instant “Air turns Blue” spray (otherwise known as swearing ) to get this to all assemble on about the fifth attempt.   The butt join nature of this was a little frustrating. I have also started on the engine for which 5 pieces of 4.5mm guitar string wire will be attached as per the instructions, it helps to know someone who plays. The engine was painted in Citadel Bolt Gun metal followed by a wash of Lifecolor Oil though a second coat of oil may be needed.

Being a typical Sydney summer it has been hot and moist most days which does not agree with airbrushing acrylics. I have done all I can in prep work for both the Hanomag and the E-10.  Now i just have to wait for a dry day. In the meantime I will be starting my next Aerosan being the more basic Ace kit.

Ok its all done bar the final assembly for the small and fiddly bits. As I know this will probably end up in a diorama I am reluctant to do the final bits and then have to do some manoeuvring to get it on the board so it’s back in the box time. Now for a quick desk clean and maybe all the part done kits from last year.

Final assembly tomorrow.

Sprayed this yesterday with Tamiya primer, the foam I used stuck to the sides so not happy with that. I did some quick paint chipping which worked but I overdid it so will back paint in acrylic. Lots of painting left to get the right weathered appearance.

Two weeks ago I placed an order with Jan of Hauler / Brengun and my small parcel arrived yesterday. So below are some quick photos.

From the top is the Zeppelin Rammer – this comes as 2 kits that are quite small, plastic is more limited run style and will need a little cleanup. The wings are a butt join and there are some minimal cockpit details which is all you will need, maybe a seat belt if you are keen. A small fret of etched brass gives you a gun sight, wingtip landing skids and control surface actuators. The canopy is reasonable with a small sheet of decals including the usual non offensive split Hakenkreuz ( swastikas)

Next up is the 1/144 Okha, man this is tiny. This is very nicely moulded with the 3 rocket exhausts moulded with the body and done well. A little dark wash will help a lot here. The kit is the body, 2 wings, tailplane and 2 rudders. Along with this you get 2 tiny vacform canopies , nice if you screw up the first attempt. The etched brass sheet has 20 micro parts which are sure to provoke a few swear words when putting them on. Lastly is a decal sheet with 4 decals being 2 with flowers and I10 and two with flowers and I18.

And the instruction sheet and canopies.

Last up  is the three etched brass sets. From left to right this is the 1/35 shopping cart ( trolley) for the Messy divorce dio – maybe next year, the 6 piece mobile barriers which I may use to renovate my Munchen 48 diorama and two sets of skis in 1/72 which I will use in my Aerosan diorama if I get to it. First I need to build a few Aerosans.

And lastly a fond farewell from my messy modelling area.

The year can be quickly summarised in the following photos, the first two being the completed Reference Material and Putty Hog dioramas followed by the partly done Helldiver and of course the 3 primered kits being the Bv P202, the Hanomag and the E-10. None of these primered kits look like making it over the line for being finished this year. Last up is the Extratech Aerosan and this is a faint possibility for finishing

. Having said all that I have had fun mostly modelling this year, not a lot finished but that happens some years .