SPA Modeler

speedgraflex wrote:I am anxious to get started. Martin at HGW just shipped Luftwaffe seat belts, so exciting to have great aftermarket parts available; the levels of authentic reproduction are incredibly sophisticated.

You can say that again. Some of the AM stuff out there is truly fantastic.

As with all Zoukei-mura (and other brand) kits: check at least twice before adding some glue! It´s also a good advise to check the following steps to watch out for any possible fit issues later on!

Looking forward to your start on this one!

Thomas_M wrote:As with all Zoukei-mura (and other brand) kits: check at least twice before adding some glue! It´s also a good advise to check the following steps to watch out for any possible fit issues later on!

Looking forward to your start on this one!

Thomas, would you recommend a particular brand of glue or glues to use? I'm used to building with CA and some styrene dust as a kicker -- please advise. Tamiya tape was a big step, and I'm so much happier now that I'm not ripping up paint as well...

Hi Bruce,

I built the ZM 1/48 Ta-152H-1 last year. It was my one and only ZM build. I thought the kit was very good overall and you should be able to get stunning looking representation of the Tank fighter when all is said and done. There were some things that I was not particularly enthusiastic about but that is more about personal preferences than any shortcoming of the kit itself. I prefer to build my aircraft buttoned up so ZM's philosophy of packing on the internal detail and using separate panels on the wings and fuselage was not necessarily a plus in my eyes. The engine details are fabulous but wanting to preserve the beautiful lines of this fighter, I elected to close all panels. Fit of these panels was not perfect and required some putty in the resultant gaps.



If I were to criticize anything about the kit itself, it would have to be the cockpit. The details in this area are not very sharp. The instrument panel especially suffers from a lack of scale definition and could greatly benefit from an aftermarket upgrade.



Be careful of the aileron actuators on the undersides of the wings. They are difficult to secure and I ended up losing both of mine. I hope that helps!

Jkim, first of all welcome to SPAModeler!

Looking at your pictures you did a fine filler job! Is your Tank already finished? Would love to see some pics!

speedgraflex wrote: Thomas, would you recommend a particular brand of glue or glues to use? I'm used to building with CA and some styrene dust as a kicker -- please advise. Tamiya tape was a big step, and I'm so much happier now that I'm not ripping up paint as well...

Bruce, I don´t do my builds using CA glue. I only use it for photo etched parts. Years ago I discovered Tamiya´s Extra Thin Cement for my builds, and never went back! Tamiya also offers this glue as "Tamiya Cement", which is much thicker than the previously mentioned one, and as "Tamiya Extra Thin - Quick Setting". All of them are on my bench, ready when needed! You shouldn´t have trouble to get them at online stores and even, maybe, on the big "A".

jkim wrote:Hi Bruce,

I built the ZM 1/48 Ta-152H-1 last year. It was my one and only ZM build. I thought the kit was very good overall and you should be able to get stunning looking representation of the Tank fighter when all is said and done. There were some things that I was not particularly enthusiastic about but that is more about personal preferences than any shortcoming of the kit itself.
If I were to criticize anything about the kit itself, it would have to be the cockpit. The details in this area are not very sharp. The instrument panel especially suffers from a lack of scale definition and could greatly benefit from an aftermarket upgrade.

Good morning jkim,

I think your 1/48 ZM Ta 152-H1 is the most stunning, successful and detailed first person account of building this particular kit online.

I printed out photos of your build of the cockpit as inspiration for my own build:




I am over the moon that you're here on SPA Modeler. I have about a thousand and one questions for you, but I will start with one, if that is alright?

What would you recommend for upgrading the IP? I was going to take the advice of Stikpusher whose knowledge exceeds mine to purchase Airscale Decals to replace the dial surfaces. Airscale is on holiday until the 21st so I have been reluctant to purchase decals. I saw in your build log that you used a precision punch to cut out the disks, here I go breaking my rules, but question number two is who makes the punch?

Sincerely,

Bruce

Thomas_M wrote:Jkim, first of all welcome to SPAModeler!

Looking at your pictures you did a fine filler job! Is your Tank already finished? Would love to see some pics!

His Tank build is finished. I came across his build log online and have studied it with care!

Thomas_M wrote:Jkim, first of all welcome to SPAModeler!

Looking at your pictures you did a fine filler job! Is your Tank already finished? Would love to see some pics!

His cockpit and engine painting are top notch, too! I was curious what he felt the pros and contras were and so happy he wrote!