SPA Modeler

John is working in 1/72?! Oh I do look forward to seeing how you work your voodoo magic in this scale

Thanks for checking in guys! Appreciate the looks and the comments, as always!

BorgR3mc0 wrote:Great work on those exhausts. It are the little things that count when modelling.

Thank you Borg! There are certain things that I pay particular attention to like exhaust openings and gun barrels.

LyleW wrote:I see it, I don’t know how you did it. The holes are centered and lined up. Great work so far!

Didn't know either until I tried! It's just like the 1/32 D-9 builds I've done but obviously on a much smaller scale. Just had to be a wee more careful.

Medicman71 wrote:Very nice! But man that's a ton of rivets. Really nice work on the exhausts, I so would have messed that up bad.

Yes, the rivets are definitely visible and all over. Like I said, not a deal breaker for me but I could see how it could bother some especially at this scale. I want to see what they look like after painting and weathering.

Stikpusher wrote:John is working in 1/72?! Oh I do look forward to seeing how you work your voodoo magic in this scale

That is correct, Carlos! Gonna see firsthand how people deal with things at this scale. It's an interesting learning experience so far. Some things are actually easier/faster but others are definitely more difficult and maybe not do-able. Will definitely be a challenge, especially when we get to the painting stage. I envision laying down parts of the camo finish under magnification, which will be a first!

The mod to those exhausts were very nicely done John - I'm looking forward to seeing how this build progresses.

Oh my. I'm definitely pulling up a chair for this

Stuart wrote:The mod to those exhausts were very nicely done John - I'm looking forward to seeing how this build progresses.

Thank you Stuart! I'm curious about how this will progress as well!

After hollowing out the exhausts, my thoughts drifted over to the gun barrels, which are significantly smaller than the exhausts.


Looking at the kit parts, I noticed that one of the wing MG151 20mm cannon barrels were already bent.


Since the wing cannons are simply hollow tubes, I thought that brass tube could be used to make quick replacements. Using the unbent kit gun as a template, I cut two sections of Albion slide-fit brass tubing (1.0mm and 0.8mm) for each barrel.



The MG131 13mm cannons mounted over the engine aren't as easily replaceable since the barrel ends feature a conical section. The kit barrels are not perfectly round due to the seam imperfection and hollowing out the ends gave a slightly messy result.


Gotta put the thinking cap on to see how to proceed. There might be a chance that the kit parts could be cleaned up and made to look presentable but you can only do so much hollowing out before you start losing the exterior surface of the barrel.

And there is this option by Master to consider...


Pretty cheap as far as aftermarket price is concerned. Would be less than $8 shipped. I think I just talked myself into ordering it!

John, you just found one of the virtues of 1/72… kits and aftermarket are less expensive than for the same thing in larger scales. The vice being you need the skills of a micro surgeon to use them…

This is gonna be good to watch.

Stikpusher wrote:John, you just found one of the virtues of 1/72… kits and aftermarket are less expensive than for the same thing in larger scales. The vice being you need the skills of a micro surgeon to use them…

Yeah, those barrels are gonna be so tiny! But I can also use the pitot tube so the $7.50 will be well spent, I think!

BlackSheep214 wrote:This is gonna be good to watch.

I hope so! It's funny looking at my pics because the parts look like something you'd find in a 1/48 or 1/32 build. It's a rude shock when I go back to the modeling desk and see how little everything is.

Case in point... the engine. It's a jewel of an assembly. Eighteen parts and they go together quite nicely. The pics make it look like a respectable rendition in 1/48 scale.






But this Jumo 213 fits on the pad of my index finger!


The engine is not completely glued but I've temporarily cobbled the sub-assemblies together using Blue Tack. The question running through my head now is... should I add some wiring??? I really wanted to keep this build simple but the old tendencies seem to be kicking in.

You're right with nothing to gage scale that engine looks like it could be 1/48 or bigger. The AM seems to be a good buy.

That looks extraordinary for a 1/72 kit. Surface detail is sublime.
I'm in!